Emily remembered that when she played hide and seek with her brother Marcus, he showed her the best hiding place of them all. He said he used to hide there forever without getting caught. This was the kind of place she wanted to go right now. Someplace where nobody could find her for hours. She spun quickly and ran around to the side where the lattice panel could be removed. She crouched down, moved the lattice and crawled underneath the wooden porch deck.
Emily stayed hidden underneath the porch peering out of the latticework. The peepers and the crickets were still making noise. Her hand settled on a rough piece of metal left underneath the porch. She gripped the short shank in her hand. In the dark night those noises seemed to get louder and louder. Emily was able to see out into the yard but did not see any movement. Suddenly, the sounds from the crickets and the frogs stopped. She panicked. Her breathing increased and her heart began to feel like it was going to burst out of her chest. Emily heard a shuffling noise through the grass and the bushes around the side of the house. Then she heard a groan come from the other side. Then more silence. Emily thought of the time that she was hiding in this space with her brother Marcus. Her and Marcus had stayed there undetected while her cousins walked up and down the yard and then the entire house looking for them. She could remember the excitement and the thrill of going undetected, but this time it was different. This time she just wanted to be over. She wanted the monsters to go away and not bother her anymore. She didn't want to have to hide in this spot in the dirt. A tear ran down her face. She was careful not to sob or make any sound. A slight breeze began to blow outside and she could hear the trees rustle. She wondered if it was just the wind that she had heard earlier. A strange smell wafted underneath the porch. She looked to her left and she could see two legs shuffling through the garden bed. She watched as the legs shuffled sporadically back and forth, up and down in the flower beds. It was trampling her momma's hostas. Marcus wrecked some of her momma's hostas last summer and caught hell for it.
The thing didn't seem to know that Emily was hiding there. It just kept walking around and bumping in to the house. She heard another noise coming from the other side of the porch. She looked. Two more stumbling legs. This set only had one shoe. She recognized those shoes, and instinctively whispered "Momma!"
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Zombie Policy
HorreurWhat if Zombie encounters were just another problem, like hurricanes, wildfires or floods? What if you could buy insurance for that kind of thing? Edwin is an insurance adjuster who handles Zombie claims. It can be a challenging job sometimes...
