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.The small hair cutting tool opened in her trained fingers and snipped gently at the hair above her ear.A tiny lock drifted to the floor, settling like a long black snowflake.She looked down at it and exhaled sadly.With the first snip completed, her courage swelled."I know you're beautiful, but you gotta go.You're too long, and if you think about it, we'll save a fortune on conditioner.Raven locks I love you, but today, I bid you farewell." And the hair began to steadily fall around her, forming a black ring on the floor at her feet.Mallory hadn’t cut her own hair in years.It was always a recipe for style disaster, especially for someone who prided themselves on looking good, and making others look good professionally.Mallory took her time, cutting snips here, then there, trying to give the rough, awkward cut some semblance of intent.She didn’t want to look like she’d been attacked by a lawnmower, even if it was the end of the world.After laboring for an hour trying to get it short enough to ensure that it wouldn’t be yanked off her head again, yet long enough to still look like she cared about it, Mallory sat the shears down and evaluated her work.It was cute.Not sexy.Very metropolitan.It would do for the end of the world.She needed weapons.There had to be more of the zombies like Mrs.Dawkins outside, and unless she had a way to kill them, she might as well just stay put and wait for the cavalry to come rescue her.Mallory looked in every drawer, in every closet, and in every nook and cranny in the salon, and gathered anything and everything that might pass for a usable weapon.Oddly enough, there was very little of use in the salon.She found a hammer, several brooms, a roll of duct tape, and a half dozen large trimming shears, including the pair she had to yank back out of the eye socket of Mrs.Dawkins.Weaponry was not part of the salon planning process.Mallory applied her inner MacGyver, and got creative with what she had.The two brooms became homemade spears.She snapped the bristles off the end and used the sharp edge of a shear and the hammer to split the end of the wood so she could lodge one of the other pairs of shears in the end and fasten it with the duct tape.The resulting weapon was for all intents and purposes, a very dangerous short spear.She made two of these.The hammer itself stood alone as a suitable weapon, and the larger pairs of shears would serve as fine daggers."That'll do," she said to her reflection, putting on the meanest face she could muster.She thought of Schwarzenegger in that movie with the alien in the jungle.In the back room she found a pair of her co-worker Clara’s pants, which she changed into.The thin fabric would offer only slight protection to her legs if she was bitten, but even the thin cotton was better than exposed bare skin.Out of the lost and found bin she grabbed a baseball cap and stuck it on her head.She grabbed a small sweater as well, and slid that on.A discarded red bandana was tied around her face just over her nose to help protect against the spray of blood.She still didn't know if this was spread through saliva or blood yet, and she thought the bandana might be helpful.It wasn’t much, but it was the best armor she could manage on short notice.At least everything sort of matched.Mallory gathered her weapons as best she could, and walked to the door.She looked long and hard at the small metal knob that once turned, would unlock and open the door, either setting her free, or sending her to her death.She took a deep breath, resolved that she would make the three block walk to her apartment building as fast as she could, and twisted that knob.With a hollow metallic click the door came loose of the frame, and she exited the salon, walking out into the cooling June night air.She locked the door behind her.*****Mallory made it a block before things spiraled out of control on her.She was never one for any kind of athletic endeavor, and with a small smoking habit to boot, Mallory wasn’t in anywhere near the shape needed to run all the way to her place.As a result, she had to trot for 30 or 40 feet, then slow to a creeping walk to catch her breath, and then repeat the process again.It was exhausting for her, but it was the best she could do.She tried not to cough.Mallory had just slowed herself down to a walk for the second time as she passed the small mom and pop ice cream shop that no one went to anymore.Handmade ice cream was just too expensive in this economy.She kept herself vigilant, looking through all the plate glass storefront windows on both sides of the street, as well as approaching doorways wide.Mallory’s dad was ex-Army, and he had taught her how to be the cop in cops and robbers well as a kid.She wasn’t going to be ambushed easily.She hoped.She was scared out of her mind when the heavy gunfire erupted down a side street just as she was about to cross it.She was not an expert on guns by any means, but when they sound like they’re firing a lot of bullets one right after each other, it was probably a pretty big deal, and couldn’t possibly mean good things for her.Her stomach dropped as the reality hit her.Mallory let out a shrill shriek that was overwhelmed by the roar of multiple guns rattling off in the dark.She could see the flashes from the guns around the corner against the brick walls of the downtown structures.Silhouetted against the orange flashes she could see several figures moving slowly away from her and towards the gun battle.Mallory’s heart pounded in her chest and she took off running down the street, adrenaline and fear overpowering her weak muscles.She could hear shouting, but couldn't make out the words.She’d spent too long looking down the side street in the direction of the gun play.When she turned and ran at full tilt, she took perhaps ten steps before she bowled directly into the chest of another person.Mallory had lowered her head to build up steam, and her forehead impacted on the slick chest of the taller man, stopping her cold, and sending him backpedaling away, arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance unsuccessfully.Mallory felt her head swim as she steadied herself.Her jaw had snapped shut on her tongue and she felt the hot, coppery blood invade her mouth.She reached up and wiped her wet forehead, revealing a dark bloody smear on her fingers.Her neck was stiff.It hurt.Mallory looked up immediately at the man she’d just ran into, and realized he was dead on his feet.The zombie had been walking across the street in her general direction when they’d collided.Now that Mallory fully saw him, she took a step back when she realized his face had been eaten away, exposing his yellowing teeth, and wet, pink tongue.Parts of his jaw shone through as well.His white tee shirt was covered with slimy red blood and ropes of saliva from his facial wounds.As Mallory stifled a sudden recurrence of spasms in her stomach, he leaned towards her and started to charge.Mallory blinked once and hefted the short spear she’d made earlier.The news had said the best way to kill the things was the hit them in the brain.She took a single step forward, meeting the zombie halfway, and driving the silver point of the shears attached to the end of the broom stick directly into his eye socket."Two for two!" she exclaimed loudly, happy she'd hit him in the eye the same as Mrs.Dawkins [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]