The Human Adjustment

Chapter Ten

As I looked in the sink mirror I was shocked by my appearance, I hadn’t properly looked at myself since that first house we found. I looked distinctly worse than before. My hair was clumped limply to the sides of my head with dried blood, my face was patchy from exhaustion and my eyes looked incredibly tired. The clothes that I was wearing were completely ruined and worn out. The blood was overtaking my whole body. I felt disgusting. This was why I needed a bath. I could hear the laughter of the others coming faintly through the closed window in the bathroom. I wandered over to the frosted window and I could just about make out a fire glowing warmly in the cold night. I could see figures standing around it, their movements were coherent to the sounds I was hearing. This image brought a smile to my face, this all felt familiar, normal. I turned back towards the bathroom and went to turn the taps on when I suddenly felt like I was being watched. I looked out the open door to the bathroom, into the empty hallway. I stared for a second, waiting for something to pop out. I was almost willing for something to come out so I didn’t feel like I was being paranoid, but nothing did. I shook my head slightly, shaking the nervous thoughts from my mind and bent down to turn both taps on. I could no longer hear the others laughter as it was being drowned out by the roar of the water. I looked back to the open doorway and closed it slightly; I didn’t want to lock it, just in case. I turned back and walked towards the full length mirror that stood in the corner of the room, walking towards it I took in my full appearance. I was horrified by it; I looked like one of them, the turned. The gush of the water began to sound more muffled which distracted me from staring at myself in the mirror. The bath was almost full so I bent over and turned the taps off, the voices and laughter came back through the frosted window, making me smile again. I began to take off my bloody clothes, placing them carefully on the chair that sat next to the full length mirror. I pulled my jeans off and stood there in my underwear in front of the mirror. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes; I was finally able to relax. I could feel the steam from the bath envelop my body. As I stood there, eyes closed I felt like I was floating, daydreaming. My body was in full relaxation mode and it was a welcomed feeling. However, my serene state was unexpectedly disturbed by grunting. My eyes shot open, someone was behind me in the mirror. A gasp escaped my lips. I quickly turned around and standing only a foot away from me was a turned. His mouth was full of blood and it dribbled down his sickly grey flesh. His eyes were shifting rapidly from side to side but somehow I could feel him staring straight at me. His legs shuffled him towards me and his bruised, cut up hands reached out for me. I screamed and frantically looked around for a weapon, I was completely vulnerable. Realising that there was no way of me getting a weapon I punched towards his chest, but this just made him lunge towards me more. I side stepped as he tried to reach for me again.

‘Finn! Someone help!’ I yelled, hoping I would be heard. My back was now to the bath tub, the turned was about two foot in front of me, standing in front of the mirror. My mind raced, I was trapped by this beast. Then out of desperation I launched my right foot out and hit him hard in the chest, this caused him to fly backwards, crashing into the mirror, shards of glass whistled past my ear. I was falling backwards; the force of my kick had pushed me backwards. I saw the ceiling flash in front of my eyes before I felt a sickening thud come from the back of my head, and then darkness.

I was suddenly hovering above myself. The sensation was indescribable, I felt weightless. My eyes widened, what was happening? Was I dead? I looked closer onto myself; I had fallen into the bath tub, a small cloud of blood dispersed in the water around my head. My whole head and most of my body was submerged, I wasn’t awake. My body convulsed as bubbles escaped my mouth and popped open on the surface of the water. I was drowning.

‘Wake up! Wake up!’ I yelled down to myself ‘Please!’ I attempted to reach down to myself but that was no use, it was like I didn’t exist anymore, like my cries were lost in the world. Next to the bath tub on the floor was the turned, he had a large shard of glass in his neck and blood was spluttering from the wound in an erratic way. He was still alive though, shuffling on his hands and knees along the floor, they were creating a scratching sound as they trudged through the fragments of the once full length mirror. My attention rested on myself again, the bubbles from my mouth were becoming sparse, I was dying. I felt helpless. I couldn’t die now, it was only the beginning and I couldn’t leave the group; we needed each other. After what seemed like a lifetime I saw something from the corner of my eye. Finn burst in through the bathroom door, his mouth dropped. I went to shout for him but no words came out. He quickly pulled his knife out of his belt and plunged it into the turned’s head. He then bent over the bath and wrapped his arms around my body pulling me out. Water splashed over the side of the bath, flooding the floor. I wasn’t breathing. Finn placed me gently down, my skin looked pale and my lips looked like they were turning blue.