I woke up in a cold sweat at three in the morning, fighting with my blankets. I was hyperventilating and shivering, and the shadows in my bedroom, cast by the streetlight shining in through the blinds on my window, looked sinister and threatening. Apparently my subconscious was not a fan of being shot at, and had decided to let me know by giving me bad dreams about shadowy attackers.

I reached to my nightstand and turned on the light. I was alone, of course. The room looked a lot less scary with the lights on. I took a deep breath, and tried to relax.

It took a minute, but I got my breathing under control. I do not usually have bad dreams, but I had also never been attacked before. I had spent a few years in martial arts classes, training to be prepared just in case I did get attacked, but I had never actually had someone try to kill me. I guess I could be forgiven for being a little freaked out.

Of course, I had been so tired and hurt when I went to sleep that I had not really thought about the idea that Zombie-face might come back. I had locked the door, right?

I walked to my front door, turning on the lights as I went, and made sure it was locked. It was.

I went back to bed, but just sat down on the edge. It was cold, out from under the covers. I shivered again, and this time I was not sure if it was from fear or from the cold. I suppose that is an improvement.

Well, I did need sleep, and if Zombie-face did come back, I would deal with it. There was not much I could do beyond making sure the front door was locked. Well, that and my window.

I check my bedroom window, a little dinky thing, high-up, which looked out onto the alley. It was locked too.

My heart rate had calmed down again, and there was not much else to do besides go back to bed. I really did have a busy day coming up, and I was tired.

I sighed, and stood up. I was still feeling nervous.

Then I smiled, went to my sock drawer, and pulled out the gun. I slid it into the drawer of my nightstand and smiled. That’s better. Let’s see Zombie-face try to mess with me now.

I climbed back under the covers, and went back to sleep.