Alexandra's POV—
"Don't untie her. I am warning you all, especially you, Shuren," Tom warned. He threw me on the ground before closing the door with a thud.
A pair of hands helped me to sit. Wait? There are people in here? Suddenly, a loud voice rang which confirmed my suspicion.
"Shuren! What are you doing?!" yelled a woman. Her voice was full of disapproval as if she committed a crime by helping me.
"Shut up! Shimran, I don't know about you but we can't leave like that. Those bastards have tied her so tightly," said a new voice.
"But can you answer why is she covered with so much blood?"
"Does it matter?"
"What if she is a zombie? We should be more careful."
"I don't give a damn about it."
My blindfold was removed. Getting back my sight, I looked around my surroundings. I was in the basement of the house. It had a musky smell in its air. Dust and spider webs graced its very body. Light bulbs were like decorations of the basement, which had no value whatsoever. The lamps and candles eradicated the darkness.
"Mphmm!!" I lifted my face a bit, signalling them to remove my gag. A red-haired woman with green eyes laughed, "Yeah-yeah, I am removing it." She removed the cloth around my mouth and took out the stuffing.
"C-can you t-throw it away? I-I d-don't it again back... in mouth," I said, with a hoarse voice. Dammit! It feels like my throat is turning into the Sahara Desert. The woman nodded and threw it away with all her force.
"So, now... who are you? Before that, my name is Shuren," said the woman, named Shuren.
"I am Alexandra Swann. Do... you have water?" I asked. I will literally die if I don't get some water.
"No, you—"
"Yes, I will give you," Shuren interjected.
"Are you serious?"
"Shimran, she is just a captive like us. We should help her," said a woman, with a kind voice. It was the same voice who decided to speak on my behalf like Shuren.
Shuren grabbed a bottle from the corner of the room and helped me to drink some water. After drinking to my heart's content, I sighed contently. My throat was moist again.
Shimran gritted her teeth angrily. By looking at her face, I can say that she clearly doesn't want them to help me.
Shuren said, "Sorry, we can't untie your hands."
I shook my head and said, "It's fine."
Apart from me, there were five women in this basement. The kind woman said, "My name is Lia. The woman who untied is Shuren. The stingy one is Shimran, and the twins are Jessie and Weslie." The twins waved at me.
"Hello!"
"Hello!"
They said in unison.
Lia asked, "How did they catch you?" She was clearly looking at me with serious eyes. The rest of them were also giving me serious looks as well.
"They caught me when I... lost consciousness while escaping zombies," I lied. Well, it was half-baked lie.
"You were escaping zombies? Then, why are you covered up with blood?" asked Shimran. Dammit! She is perceptive. She was clearly not buying my words.
"It's the blood of my friends. They scarified themselves to save me," I muttered sadly. They flinched visibly at my words, especially Shimran. She never expected me to say these words. She had guilt written all over face.
[You lied again.]
'Why do you even care?'
[I don't.]
Now's not the time to argue with it. I have to escape from here. Just one day, and I can escape from here.
Shimran apologized, "Sorry, it wasn't right for me to ask you that question." I looked at her in shock. I never thought she would apologize. Well, it was a lie... but this apology could make up for her past behaviour.
I said, "It's fine. No need to be sorry. It's difficult but I am trying to leave all those traumatic memories behind."
Shuren nodded in agreement. She said, "You are right, Alex. Can I call you that?" I nodded in approval, "Alex, it is then. This is the end of the world. I, no... we all have lost our family members to those monsters out there. Each one of us carries a 'trauma baggage' with her. It's better to leave those thoughts behind."
Jessie said, "Yeah. I still can't believe that almost a week ago, we were living a happy life. I-I... and Weslie lost our parents to this apocalypse. J-j-just a-after that... w-we were caught by these people." Her voice started to break at the end of the sentence. Weslie, her twin rubbed her back trying to soothe her pain.