Becoming Them: A Zombie Novel

Three

     Arriving at the bathroom, I hurriedly scanned through it for any scissors. A rusty metal shelf was stuck against the wall. I sifted through the contents on it and found a number of things, such as: toilet paper, sponges, towels, even one knife, but also, a large electric razor. This would do wonders in getting rid of my hair. Not that I actually wanted to get rid of it, but this was just the first step in being able to help out, and it actually made sense. I didn't want my hair to blow in the wind and into my face when I needed to be focusing on killing zeds, or what if those things ended up pulling me down by my hair? Would be a stupid way to go down. So it just had to be done. I was gonna show Adrian that he made a mistake in not wanting me out on the field with them.

     Grabbing the sharp knife as well, I slowly crept over to the large, faded mirror which hung on the opposite wall to the shelf. I could see my reflection clearly enough. I breathed in and out as I laid the razor on the sink and proceeded to slice through my long strands of hair with the knife.

     After my hair was short enough, I turned the razor on and got rid of the last remains until all that was left was a bald scalp peppered with black dots as a reminder of where my hair used to be.

     I sighed. My head felt lighter and colder. It felt good, and I didn't look too bad if I'd say so myself. Placing the razor and knife back onto the shelf, I bolted out of the bathroom and made my way upstairs.

     A door was in my sights as soon as I made it onto the top of the steps. I opened the door, turned on the light and scoped the place out for anything that resembled something I could wear. I had enough of this dress anyway. The colour was wearing off, and random tears had appeared on the frills.

     To my right, a hefty closet stood alongside the wall. I shifted open the weighty door and found it contained a collection of tops, jumpers and t-shirts in a considerable number of different sizes, most in a large pile on the floor of the closet while some were on hangers.

     Being quite tall for my age favoured the numbers of clothes that I could elect. I selected out a few dark-coloured t-shirts and shirts that looked to be my size. After that, I scanned through the drawers hoping to find comfortable trousers of some sort. I ended up discovering a pair of tight jeans and track pants, too. Holding the small cluster of clothes in my hands, I left the room and walked down the hallway.

     I opened the door to the room I shared with Evie. Two beds stood in front at the end of the wall and were neatly made. I dropped the heap onto my bed, picking out a black t-shirt and the jeans to wear after my bath. Leaving the clothes in the bathroom, I hurried outside to the well where I managed to receive a full bucket of clean water, which I dropped into the bathtub as soon as I entered. The last step in finishing my transformation.

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     I was glad I got to change my clothes; the loose clothing fit me perfectly.

     I sat on the couch in the living room and waited for the rest of the group to return.

     Looking out the window, I caught sight of Joe at her post, looking bored. She happened to look my way, and her face mirrored nothing less of shock and bewilderment. She stood erect, scanned her surroundings one more time before making her way to the door and slipping inside.

     "What the hell did you do to your hair?" she asked, smiling like it was difficult to contain her laughter. I shifted in my seat, suddenly uncomfortable. Did I really look that bad?

     "Um, I ... well—" I struggled to find the words. "Well, I saw everyone else with no hair and I, um, asked Cara why everyone had their hair cut. She told me it was so that no zeds could grab onto the hair. I don't want that happening to me."