Three hundred beats per minute

And the three of them walked together.
Three girls.
Footsteps overlapping.
With three unsteady, determined, quickening heartbeats

The tiny plastic barricades in each ear made each pulse louder and faster
and they couldn't help but wonder
why the entire world wasn't glaring at them for making such a racket.

The first of the girls was not quite there
but then again she never really was.
This wasn't her time or place.
Not yet.
A few more years perhaps, when the world had ended.
Slightly behind the others –
suspicious and unsure of the exact protocol
for the mission they were about to embark upon.
But she walked.

The second of the girls was not completely there either.
Though she wished with all her heart that she could be.
Her feet stepped with the others
as out of time as she could possibly manage
faster than the other girls would permit.
Her eyes darted all around, then back again
Searching. Hoping not to have missed something important.
The only important thing.
She wished the final girl would hurry, walk faster, stop wasting time,
Dragging it out…
But she walked.

The last girl was there. Completely.
As hard as it was to walk, walk she did.
Running would not speed up time,
would not make anyone appear faster
or anything happen sooner.
She felt the first girl drag her back (distracted and uneasy among so many strangers)
She felt the second girl drag her forwards (ignoring everything single mindedly…)
Her steps felt too heavy, too loud.
A wave shot up each leg at every footfall.
Three times for every pace.
Three times the energy.
Three separate heartbeats.
Finally the footsteps stopped

and so did her heart.