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Tilly to don the clothes as fast as she could. Elapsed time, fully dressed, Tilly clocked in at just under three minutes, and that was really pushing it. She wondered what kind of maddening schedule required such fast costume changes, unless the Entertainment division was trying to cram every entertainer they could into the program. Sure, why not? The all-mighty dollar was behind everything that motivated FTALC and United Western Mining.
    â€œTuck your hair under the hat.” said Sue Lin, and took a box cutter from the counter and began cutting the clothes into strips, shredding pieces here and there, letting them hang off the body. Next she used a can of spray paint to dirty up the look. After she slathered pancake makeup on Tilly’s face and added black smudges to the eye sockets, she stood back and said, “The living gawd damn dead. Wear whatever you think is sexy underneath, and I’ll make this wardrobe a one-piece-breakaway. Then for your finale, you yank the costume off, kick your shoes into the crowd and pitch your hat across the stage. You’ll have their eyes popping out of their heads when they see the real you.”
    Sue Lin caught sight of someone throwing a temper tantrum with a wig. “You there! You are a complete asshole. Turn the wig around. It’s backwards!” She turned back to Tilly. “Now, everything we have done has taken less than 12 minutes. I want you to prepare all of your acts in the same fashion, ready for quick changes like mini-productions. Give a lot of thought to each routine; timing is everything. I want enough acts and costumes for six days.”
    Tilly looked in the mirror, made a scary face and clawed her fingers.
Zombie girl
. Maybe her stay here wouldn’t be too bad after all. With a little luck and a whole lot of pluck, this could work. Maybe.
    On the fifth day, when Tilly arrived at wardrobe, she didn’t see Sue Lin around so she changed into her clothes and applied her makeup. She practiced some dance moves and tested her voice. She caught a guy watching her in the reflection of the mirror. Dressed in a suit with long tails and wearing a top hat, he looked like a magician, complete with pleated black cape. He had dark eyes under thick brows. After a while, she found his stare annoying, throwing her concentration off. She turned around and hunched her shoulders. The young man approached.
    Tilly said, “So? What?”
    â€œNothing,” he said. “Just watching your warm-up. I fill-in between your acts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the walking dead getting pumped up to dance before. Sorry, I’m Buddy Gunner Bell. I’d give you my code number but that’s all a bunch of crap.”
    She looked him up and down. “I’ll give you a little over three minutes of time. That’s how long it takes me to change.”
    â€œSuit yourself. More work for you, less for me. How long you in for?”
    She looked over the tops of the racks and between the scurrying bodies, trying to spot Sue Lin. “Six months, unless I get time off for good behavior.”
    â€œNo time off except for a bonus break, but you have to be damn good and drag a lot of coin for that. I’ll be here for five months. What’s your name?”
    â€œYou’ll hear it announced.” She went back to practicing her moves, watching Buddy Gunner Bell grin at her and walk away. Nice teeth, she thought. Long black hair parted in the middle. Hazel eyes. Not too shabby. She might have seemed rude, but right now she needed to pump herself up and find that “zone.”
    â€œAh, there you are!” Sue Lin bleated from across the floor, elbowing actors out of her way. She gave Tilly the once over, head to toe. “Not bad. Keep the hair tucked. You think of a stage name yet?”
    â€œSunshine will do. Some pig nicknamed me that in the beginning.”
    â€œGood for you, Sunshine. You gonna knock ‘em