Are We Dead Now?

Nine

Rin wasn't truly awake until he fell into the lake.

Yeah, it surprised him too.

Well, actually, it scared the crap out of him, because he was so disoriented, he didn't know which way was up or down once his head was submerged. Luckily, he was just in the shallow part, so he was floundering for nothing. Rin was glad no one saw that.

After he dragged himself out of the water sopping wet, he went inside to see where he'd slept and if it was safe. Any walkers here might have thought he was one of them since he was A.) covered in blood and B.) not moving.

There was blood splatter on the walls. The building itself was a wooden cabin, American style. It would've been nice if it didn't smell like blood and have the very stuff splattered everywhere.

It had a bathroom, one master bedroom and a spare bedroom, a small living room, and a kitchen. There were two closets.

Rin looked in the closets and nearly cried. There were some clean clothes hanging in there with work boots sitting under them. Fuckin' sweet.

This was a treat! In the other closet, clean sheets and blankets, towels and extra bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

Out of stupid curiosity, Rin turned the knob in the shower, just to see if there was at least water left in the pipes, but he got a full blast of it. Then he realized that since this cabin was in the wilderness, it probably had its own septic tank.

That time, he really did cry, because he got to take a shower. In the vanity, there were some pills, pain medicine, antibiotic ointment, and an old fashioned razor-basically a sharp, flat piece of shiny metal. Rin had never used one of them, but he could at least try.

With his hair washed and his body void of dirt, he was refreshed. But his back and head still ached. Less so after the pain medicine, of course. He cleaned the gashes on his back off as best he could, but there was no bandaging those huge gashes. His head, though, there was something he could do about that.

First, he cut off most of the hair on that side using his trusty knife he'd had with him since this all began. Then he used the old razor to shorn it even shorter until he reached the desired length. He didn't have anyone to look good for besides himself, but that was enough for him.

He'd braided his hair to keep it out of his face, but hey, the one-side-shaved look didn't seem too bad. He'd definitely have some nasty scars on the side of his head when these healed. It had torn off the scalp in those places too, so there was going to be no hair growing there anymore. He burned his old clothes in the fireplace and put on some clean ones. A black shirt, a flannel, some pants, and the work boots. He was surprised they actually fit him. He found a backpack that looked like it had seen better days, but it still looked better than his own after a few months.

He stuffed necessities and extra clothes in it. With old cloth, he sewed little pockets in the sides as holsters for his weapons.

Rin knew he needed to keep moving, but hey, what was wrong with a few days of luxury? He'd stay just a while longer.