Zombie Mode at Midnight

The chlorine still clung to my skin as I dragged myself through the back door at 11:47 PM, brain officially operating on zombie mode. Swim practice had run late—again—and I had exactly thirteen minutes to transform into the undead for Jordan's horror movie shoot. My phone buzzed in my pocket: "U coming?? we need our zombie NOW"

I'd said yes before realizing what a terrible idea it was. Being the only sophomore on varsity swim team already made me feel like I was constantly treading water, trying to prove I belonged. Now I was moonlighting as background material for a film that would probably get fifty views on YouTube, max. But Jordan had this way of looking at you, all hopeful intensity, and suddenly you're agreeing to things you swore you'd never do.

The makeup job was a disaster. Green foundation caked my skin, fake blood dribbled down my chin like messy pasta sauce. "You look dead on the inside," Jordan's older sister Tessa announced approvingly, which honestly felt more like a personality assessment than a makeup critique.

We filmed in the woods behind their subdivision. The script called for me to stumble out from behind an old oak tree, arms outstretched, groaning "braaains" with what Jordan insisted was "genuine zombie pathos." I'd done seven takes when I heard it—a low, rumbling sound that definitely wasn't in the script.

Tessa's phone flashlight caught it first: massive, dark, shambling through the underbrush maybe thirty feet away. A bear. An actual black bear, looking confused and way too real for 12:30 AM on a Tuesday.

Nobody moved. I forgot I was supposed to be undead. My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to escape. The bear huffed, sniffed the air once, and lumbered off in the opposite direction, probably more disappointed in us than we were terrified of it.

"DUDE," Jordan breathed, eyes wide. "That was VIBES."

Tessa was already packing up. "Yeah, we're done. That's nature saying go home, children."

Walking back, something shifted. The four of us—me still half-covered in green makeup, Jordan clutching their camera like a lifeline, Tessa muttering about "irresponsible filmmakers" and Caleb who'd been holding the boom mic the whole time without saying a single word—we moved together. Connected by the sheer absurdity of what we'd just experienced.

"So," Caleb said quietly, "same time tomorrow?"

I laughed, really laughed, for the first time since school started. "You're on, zombie."

Maybe I was still just a sophomore trying to find my place in the deep end. Maybe I was exhausted and stressed and constantly wondering whether I was good enough at anything. But for tonight, stumbling home through the dark with green makeup still smeared across my face, I figured I could bear it all a little better with people who got it. People who'd stand in the woods with you at midnight, dressed like zombies, watching bears wander by like it was totally normal.

My phone buzzed again. Great practice today. Coach noticed your improvement. - Mom

I stood in my driveway under the streetlights, somewhere between the swimmer I was becoming and the weird, wonderful mess of a person I already was, and smiled. Being a zombie wasn't so bad if you had the right crew.