1c8c0f371c0d914159db2df0bf94b5c6

“Maybe I could attend cat choir while you guys stake out the zombie,” said Harriet now. “I mean, you don’t really need me here, do you?”

“Maybe I’ll attend cat choir too,” said Dooley.

“Dooley!” I said, aghast. “You can’t desert us. Odelia needs you. Uncle Alec needs you.”

“I know, but I don’t like zombies, Max,” he said.

I sighed.“Fine. You and Harriet go to cat choir. Brutus and I will hold down the fort.”

“You got that right, buddy,” said Brutus.

We watched as Harriet and Dooley snuck off to cat choir.

“So how exactly are you going to bash that zombie’s head in, Brutus?” I asked.

“Like I said, you don’t have to worry about that,” he grumbled. “I have my methods.”

Brutus is butch, I have to admit. He’s also a very strong cat. But he’s no match for a zombie I didn’t think.

Meanwhile, Alec and Chase were lurking in bush number one, so to speak, and Brutus and I were lurking in bush number two, while poor Odelia was resigned to stalking up and down the stretch of street lining the park. She was still uncomfortable in her outfit, but like a real trooper didn’t let it stop her. And as she passed our bush for the third time in fifteen minutes, she whispered, “Still no sign of the zombie!”

“Are you sure it was here that Pamela met him?” asked Chase.

“Yeah, absolutely sure,” said Uncle Alec. “He came up to her right here, and then she ran off, and bumped into me just around that corner over there.”

“Maybe zombies aren’t territorial,” I suggested.

“Meaning?” asked Brutus.

“Meaning they don’t stick to a well-defined area. Maybe our zombie is wandering Main Street right now, terrorizing people back there.”

“We would have heard about that by now,” said Brutus.

“Yes, Max,” Odelia agreed. “If the zombie was showing his ugly face in some other part of town, we would have heard about it.”

She decided to take another turn down the street, and teetered off on her high heels.

And just when I thought this stakeout was a bust, a car came careening down the street, and stopped right in front of us. Libby Elk came hopping out, followed by Jonah Zappa. They both joined us, totally giving away our position.

“Did we miss it?” Libby asked eagerly. “Did we miss the zombie?”

Chase emerged from his bush, looking annoyed.“Didn’t I tell you to stay away, you two? This is a police operation, and you are potentially scaring off a suspect right now.”

“I’m so sorry!” said Libby. “We’ll hide in the bushes, just like you.”

Chase returned to his bush, and Libby and Jonah occupied bush number three.

“So what’s happening?” asked Libby, sounding excited about the prospect of witnessing a live zombie arrest.

“Nothing so far,” said Uncle Alec. “And shouldn’t you be filming my mom right now?”

“We have been filming your mom, but frankly it’s getting a little tedious. I mean, she’s already told us the story of her life. Twice. And we just thought we could combine two documentaries, one for Doctor Clam’s clinic, and one about your zombies.”

“So you guys work for this Doctor Clam?” asked Chase.

“No, we’re both freelancers.”

“We set up our own shop last year,” said Jonah. “Before that, we worked for WLBC-9, but we got tired of waiting for better opportunities and better pay to come our way, so we decided to go into business for ourselves.”

“So Doctor Clam is a client of yours,” said Chase.

“Yeah, and a well-paying one, too.”

“It’s just that the subject matter is a little icky,” Libby confessed. “He’s made pushing back against the limits of nature his life’s work. Only… I’m not entirely sure it’s such a good idea for a woman of sixty or seventy to have a baby. By the time that baby is a teenager, his mom will be a very old lady.”

“You shouldn’t mess with nature is what I think,” said Jonah. “Just look at these zombies. That’s what you get when you start monkeying around with mother nature.”

“You guys!” suddenly Odelia loud-whispered. “He’s here! The zombie is here!”

We all glanced over, and I saw that she was right: the zombie had arrived, and was lumbering in her direction! And not only that, he had brought a friend!

Chapter 13

Even though the whole plan had been her idea, Odelia wasn’t feeling entirely sure about its execution. It’s one thing to devise a plan, but another to actually put yourself in harm’s way. Besides, she was distinctly uncomfortable in her skimpy outfit. Even though Chase thought it was fantastic, and had already told her he hoped she’d wear it moreoften, she was feeling more than a little exposed. Especially when men were leaning out of their car windows to gawk at her. Lucky for her traffic was low this time of night.

And then there was the addition of Libby and Jonah, who no doubt were filming the whole thing. She had no idea what they hoped to accomplish but she did know she would hate to see herself on YouTube wearing these clothes.

And she’d just passed the bushes where her back-up team was ensconced, when suddenly she became aware of someone watching her. And when she abruptly turned, she discovered she was face to face with not one but two zombies!