Reanimators Read Online Free Page A

backwards into the wall. Through the window I could see the events transpiring outside. The first ambulance crew was loading Virgil Potter and his severed leg into the back of their vehicle, while a second crew was busy excavating poor Sally Moore’s lost companions from the salt that was still slowly spreading down the street. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched the rescuers drag body after small body out of the debris. Even from a distance I could see that only a handful of the other children had survived the accident, and once more I collapsed back into my chair.
    It was then that I noticed that changes had taken place in the formerly cold dead body of Sally Moore. As I watched, her eyelids snapped open and her eyes darted back and forth. I watched her pupils dilate, and then her back arched and her mouth opened, and from it issued forth a soul-shattering scream that rivaled that of Virgil Potter. She convulsed wildly, thrashing her arms and legs about and knocking me to the floor, shattering cabinets and raining glass down upon both of us. As she sat up her mouth opened wide, wider than I thought possible, and then the air was filled with acidic fluid and partially digested food as she vomited forth the contents of her stomach. The stench of bile and other bodily fluids permeated the room and I retreated backwards across the floor.
    She spun herself sideways, finding the edge of the table which she grasped firmly with both hands. Her eyes continued their frantic motions, but I somehow felt that they were no longer uncontrolled, but rather purposeful, for the look that had taken over her face was not one of madness but rather of fear and confusion. Before I could act, young Sally Moore bolted from the room and out the front door, leaving me stunned in silence. It was nearly twenty minutes before I rose up from the floor and methodically began cleaning up the shattered glass and other evidence of Sally Moore’s violent reanimation. In the middle of sweeping up, the events of the last hour suddenly caught up with me and I let loose a resounding exclamation of joyful accomplishment.
    Over the course of the next week I kept tabs on the girl, making sure I caught sight of her at least once each day. Her mother and father doted on the child as well as her two siblings, an older brother and a younger sister, and all seemed unaware of any change in their Sally. The only family member that seemed disturbed by the risen child was the family cat, which hissed incessantly at the girl. Besides this one problem I quickly came to believe that my first attempt at human reanimation had been a resounding success.
    Eight days later my joy turned to dread as a representative of the city’s police department disturbed my evening repast. Earlier that evening, the officer related, a child had gone missing; now normally the police would not involve themselves so early, but given that temperatures were expected to drop well below freezing the local constable was convinced that immediate action was required. I had not been out of the house all day, and consequently had seen no children, which I readily told the officer. He thanked me for my time and bade me a good evening. I retired shortly after that, but my sleep was restless, for endless worrying possibilities nagged at my mind. I woke with the dawn and dressed quickly, determined to check on young Sally’s welfare.
    I had not even left my own yard before all doubts were removed. The missing child sat on the sidewalk in front of my house. She must have arrived sometime after the police officer had left. She was frozen there; crystals had formed in her hair and a small icicle hung from her nose. She was obviously frozen to the ground and there was no doubt in my mind that she was dead. I had made a critical error; I had let an experiment begin and end in uncontrolled conditions, and as a consequence had leapt to a tragically incorrect conclusion. It was true that I had successfully