Mr. Elkins and the Zombies of Elbert County Read Online Free Page B

acting on instinct, which in his business served him well most of the time. But like they say, “Hell hath no fury…”
    When they had pulled out, her ranting still audible through the rolled-up cab windows, I turned to the other reporters. Each bore an unmistakable sliver of a grin. The man from Channel 4 went first.
    “Mr. Bell, is it true that you’ve seen zombies walking across your property at night?”
    “As far as I can tell.”
    “Can you describe them for us?”
    “Well, they’re a rather unfortunate sight. Faces are ashen, clothes are untidy, kind of a glazed look in their eyes.”
    The woman from Channel 7 was next. “What was your first reaction? Revulsion? Terror? And have you heavily armed yourselves?”
    “I would say more like pity. And, no, we have not armed ourselves.”
    Her eyebrows arched in question. “Pity? Weren’t you afraid for your family?”
    “No reason to be. They made no threat to us.”
    Back to the man from Channel 4. “You said ‘they.’ Exactly how many have you seen?”
    “Five.”
    The woman again. “Were they eating corpses, Mr. Bell?”
    “No, they just walked by.”
    “Where do they come from?” asked the man.
    “Well, we don’t know exactly. They move from the southwest corner of our property, across the vegetable garden, up the driveway and across the road.” Their heads quickly turned to look across the road like our golden retriever when you fake her out by pretending to throw a stick. The two shot glances at each other, questioning if the other would bolt for Jessup Canaday’s property. “Beyond that, I haven’t got a clue.”
    The woman fired another round. “Why do you think they’ve come to your property, Mr. Bell? Is there anything here that might attract them? Wiccan ceremonies? Occult practices?”
    I paused to consider the sensationalistic tact she was taking. It was more the line of questioning I expected from the Fox reporter. “What brought them up out of the earth, one can only speculate. Scientists and theologians are better equipped to address the cause of such phenomenon. Why here? Well, I suppose it’s merely coincidence. I can assure you there’s nothing about reading the Bible to your children that attracts the undead.”
    She looked as if I’d just cut off her approach to the cookie jar. Neither of them seemed to know what to say. Finally, the man asked, “Would you mind our camera crew coming back tonight to document the zombies? You know, in your back yard?”
    I smiled. “You’re welcome to stand across the street, off of our property. That’s the Canaday’s land, so you’ll have to inquire with them.” His shoulders sank a bit and he realized the interview was over.
    “You all have a nice day.” I nodded to Seth, who lowered is camera and we started back to the house. Then I stopped to face them once more. “You will honor our agreement, now won’t you.” The reporters nodded solemnly and began to pack up their gear.
    In the kitchen, Ruth was folding the laundry. She raised her eyes to give me a soft smile, then returned to the laundry.
    “Mom, you should’ve seen Dad! He was awesome out there, the way he outsmarted those TV reporters. Especially the guys from Fox! Man, I feel sorry for that dude.”
    Ruth nodded knowingly. “Your father’s no country bumpkin.” Then turning to me, “Principal Mortly called. He’s on his way out here with Francine Rakus and a few others.” I looked down at the legal pad on the table. On the right side was a list of the day’s chores, and on the left a list of names: news outlets, neighbors, and notable townsfolk and busybodies, several of which had been checked off.
    I turned to Seth. “The barn’s waiting for you.”
    * * *
    Within the half hour our living room looked like an ad hoc town hall. Mr. Mortly arrived first, shortly followed by Councilwoman Rakus, Felix Torte, the county attorney, and Bertrand Carey, the head of the Rotary Club. Felix hustled to keep up with