Thinking

"It actually grew back!?"

I whispered in shock, watching my hair, which had already been cut short, start growing as if it had come to life.

In just a few breaths, it had grown back to waist length!

Every pore on my body seemed to open, and my scalp began to tingle.

It wasn't because of the long hair. My scalp was tingling because I was scared.

Anyone would feel that way after seeing their hair grow so fast.

I even wondered if there was some kind of alien on my scalp.

My whole body was tingling, and goosebumps had risen all over me. At that moment, there was only one thing I wanted to say!

"That scared the life out of me!"

Well, I'd already said it. The hair had also grown back to its original length, reaching about my butt—cough, my backside.

At the same time, I suddenly felt weak, like I did after a morning workout. My stomach also began to rumble.

"Could it be..."

I looked down hesitantly at my long hair, then sighed helplessly.

"Looks like... I really have no choice but to keep it."

The hair seemed fixed at this length. Since I couldn't cut it off, I could only leave it alone.

At least it wasn't harmful, right?

Still, the rapid growth felt a little strange.

And the fact that it used up my own energy made it even stranger.

Actually, strange wasn't the right word. It was awful.

There was hardly any food to begin with. I might not have eaten anything for a month, but at least I hadn't been hungry until now.

After my hair grew back, my hunger returned too. It wasn't too bad, but it was still a problem. I had no idea when I'd be able to find food, and fresh fruit would have rotted after a month. Besides, it seemed as if the whole city had lost power. Without electricity, anything that needed to stay fresh must have spoiled.

Meat, vegetables, fruit... and all the frozen food must have gone bad too.

As for convenient foods, I didn't know what had caused these monsters to appear, but the outbreak must have happened very quickly. That left one obvious possibility.

The people who hadn't been infected at first would have thought to barricade themselves inside their homes.

Convenient foods would have been their first choice. In other words, every convenience store and supermarket must have been ransacked by now. A month had already passed; there was no reason to think any of that food would still be left.

At the thought, I felt a wave of helplessness.

But worrying wouldn't help. I could only lie down on another clean hospital bed and fiddle with the Type 64 pistol in my hand. First, I pulled out the magazine.

With a "shhk!" the magazine slid free. I counted carefully: six rounds left. The magazine could hold nine, right?

Then I suddenly thought, Could there be another round in the chamber?!

At a time like this, one extra bullet could be a lifeline!

Thinking of that, I hurriedly picked up the gun. Remembering how people in movies unloaded their guns, I gripped the slide and pulled it back!

"Click..."

My hand slipped, and I stared at it, dumbfounded...

It was my first time handling a gun, and I had no idea how much force to use. I was also surprised by how tight the slide was.

The second time, I gripped the gun firmly and yanked hard!

"Ka-chak!"

There was a sharp click, and a bullet dropped straight onto my chest. I was lying on the bed to conserve as much energy as possible, so it landed just below my collarbone.

I lowered my head, and the cold bullet slid straight down my collar!

The shiny yellow bullet rolled across my breasts, bounced playfully once, then slid down to my navel!

"Brrr..."

The icy sensation made me suck in a sharp breath, and every hair on my body stood on end.

I hurriedly grabbed the mischievous little Bullet-kun, but a line popped into my head out of nowhere. Without thinking, I blurted it out.

"Bullet-kun! Are you an alien?"

A breeze drifted by. The scene was painfully awkward...

Even though I was the only one there, it was still awkward, okay?!

All right, this was nothing more than a little physics problem caused by gravity.

"How long does it take a bullet to fall..."

I joked to myself, but it wasn't funny at all. I could only hold the bullet in my hand and keep fiddling with it. At the same time, I couldn't help thinking of the novel I'd never finished.

I wondered how badly the readers would curse me.

How many more hairs would my editor pull out?

"Those people..." I looked out the window. The moon still shone brightly, and the stars still twinkled in the sky.

"How many of them will actually survive?"

I murmured, closed my eyes, and placed the pistol beside my pillow. Holding a golden-yellow bullet in my hand, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I didn't wake until a clear birdsong came from outside the window. By instinct, I reached for the phone I was used to keeping beside my pillow, but a chill came from my palm. I jolted awake and sat up, no longer half-asleep!

At the same time, a low growl came from outside the door, making me shudder.

"My phone!"

The ringtone was still going. I spotted the phone on the bedside table, snatched it up, and immediately hit the silence button. At the same time, I dropped flat onto the floor!

"Tap... tap... tap..."

A strange set of footsteps came from outside the door, like someone walking across the tiles barefoot with wet feet.

I held my breath. I had no idea what was outside. Hiding under the bed, I reached toward the pillow and grabbed the pistol and magazine.

Carefully, I pushed the magazine into the grip. A faint "ka-chak" told me it was in place. At the same time, I suddenly remembered there was still a round on the bed—the mischievous little Bullet-kun I'd been holding last night!

But there was no time to look for it now. The footsteps had stopped right outside the door!

I didn't dare move. I lay flat on the floor, staring at the door... at the little window above it. There!

Something was there!!

I barely dared to breathe as I stared fixedly at the little window.

"Hah... hah... hah..."

Something outside seemed to be panting heavily. I was terrified!

I stared at the little window until...

"Tap... tap... tap..."

The footsteps started up again. Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief, my whole body going limp as I slumped onto the floor. After all, I was on such a high floor, with nowhere to retreat. If a Zombie charged in, I could only shoot—and that might drive every Zombie in the entire building into a frenzy.

Or maybe some of them weren't Zombies at all.

I shook my head, trying to drive that terrifying thought away, and slowly got to my feet.

Even though that thing had left, I still didn't dare make much noise. Who knew how good its hearing was? What if it heard me?

After standing up, the first thing I did was...

Turn off the alarm!

Only after I'd turned off all the alarms did I let out a long breath and drop onto the bed.

"Something's poking me..." I reached down and pulled a bullet out from under my butt. I stared at the golden-yellow Bullet-kun, speechless.

"So... you really weren't trying to take advantage of me, were you?"

As soon as I said it, a chill ran through my body...

I'd actually started thinking of myself as a woman without even realizing it!

How terrifying was that? I didn't know, but I felt a strange sense of loss.

With a sigh, I put the bullet into my bag. For some reason, I hadn't loaded Bullet-kun into the magazine...