Demigods vs Zombies (Demigod Story) (Rot & Ruin)

Chapter 7

Both of my hands grasped my hair instinctively at the thought of it being cut. "What the Hades does my hair have to do with survival?"

"Didn't you see what had happened?" James stressed, acting as though it was obvious. "One of those zoms almost grabbed your hair!" I rolled my eyes at his dramatic scene, my hands relaxed and let go of my hair. My head turned away from him as he got off of the ground. I stared at the setting sun. James walked across the cement and sat next to me.

"I'm serious, if it had gotten a good grip, I'd probably only have myself to talk to right now," he told me, his voice was softer than before but just as commanding. He sat crisscrossed and leaned forward to look at my face to see if I was listening.

I didn't look back, I could see him staring at me in the corner of my eye. I sighed and tried to ignore his gaze and focus on the sunset. The pinks and oranges spread slowly to cover any hint of blue to prepare for the arrival of night.

James followed my gaze and looked up at the sky. "What's so special about this sunset?" he asked, obviously not impressed by it.

My eyes continued to observe the view when I answered him. "It's beautiful; the most beautiful thing that I've seen in weeks," I paused for a moment to see if James was going to say anything. He remained silent so I decided to continue talking. "Funny how everyone that I used to know are dead, yet nature is seemingly unaffected. Apollo still drives his car, my mom still rides her motorcycle and the days still go by." I blinked as a thought came to mind. The world is just fine without the people that I love the most, but I'm not.

I stopped talking, allowing there to be silence for a few seconds. "Are you dehydrated or something?" James asked. "Because there's still some water if you need some."

"Who died?" I blurted, tearing my gaze from the sunset to look at him. "You had to have lost somebody."

"Oh no you don't. You're not distracting me from what I was saying," he responded knowingly as if he had caught me red-handed. "If you're ever going to leave this roof, you're going to have your hair cut to" James then pointed about an inch below my ear "there."

"I can't believe you," I responded.

"Better start believing me because I'm telling the truth, Rapunzel," James smirked, proud of the nickname that he had come up with.

"I don't see the big deal! I can just put it up into a bun and it'd all be just fine," I explained.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair-so I can grab it and bite your face off because I'm a zombie," he joked, laughing quietly but I didn't find it funny. I just stared at him with a poker face.

"Fine, fine as long as you stop calling me 'Rapunzel'. Go ahead and cut it, it isn't like anyone but you would see me," I gave in. He smiled at his victory and took out his sword.

I forced myself to return my attention to the sky where the sunset had been, but it was already gone. My mother was starting to drive above us, bringing the night sky along with her. There would be only a few more minutes left of daylight before we would be stranded in darkness. It wasn't the darkness that made me uneasy, it was the affect that it had on the walking dead. They tended to be more active at night as if they thought of it as a time to hunt.

I felt a tug on my hair, I pulled back against it to keep from falling backwards. "It's done," he announced, shaking the lot of beautiful, dirty-blonde hair that he gripped in his hand that was in front of my face.

My hands went back to feel the ends of my hair, it was a straight cut right beneath my ear lobes.

"Nice haircut, Mulan," James whispered.