I stood in the shadows and watched as the police cars rolled up to the hospital.  I didn't know why there wasn't a guard outside my room when I left.  Maybe they knew Nurse Thorazine was going to try and prick me or maybe they knew my dead wife was going to try to get me to prick her.  Whatever the case, I was out and they were running in. 

The mob on the street looked like a wild west cattle drive meets Dawn of the Dead.  There was no mooing or moaning, but they were herding their way with some sort of demented looking purpose.  I kept to the shadows and followed.  Three blocks later, I came to the well-lit intersection of Tucker and Fifth.  A patrol car was in the middle of Fifth with its blue and whites flashing.  The officer was in the backseat with two half-naked blonde zombies.  He was doing most of the feeding. 

I found the nearest stoop and sat down to rub my forehead.  My whole body ached from the accident, but my head pounded the worst.  What the hell is going on?   When the preacher said, "You can be with them," I didn't know he meant it in the purest basest sense.  It reminded me of high school.  "Have you ever been with her?" a friend would ask. "Yeah, she was okay."

The preacher seemed to be turning halloween into a reunion orgy.  "Trick or Treat?  Hey, how long have you been dead now?  Has it been seven years already?  You look great!  Wanna ****?"

Jesus!  I stood up and stretched my back and neck.  I was tightening up so much, the Thorazine was sounding good.  Demerol sounded better.

"Peter!"  I scanned the crowd and had the second worst shock of my life.  I would have fallen over if it hadn't been for my stiff back.  My mom zombied over and gave me a hug.

"Oh, son, I've missed you so much!" she gushed.  "Come here, I want you to meet someone."

I felt like a zombie as I walked arm in arm with my mom into the throng heading east.  She called to a tall, balding man in a suit.

"Terrence!  Here, dear!" she yelled.

She turned to me and whispered, "Isn't he the cat's meow?"

Terrence meandered over like he had just gotten off of the short bus.  He smiled at me and stuck out his hand.

"You must be Peter." he droned.  "I didn't think we'd ever have a chance to meet."

"Yeah, how about that," I said quickly and pulled my mom aside."

"What the hell is this?  Your boyfriend?  Where's dad?"

"Oh, he didn't make it dear." she said condescendingly.  "The old **** went straight to hell, you know.  Didn't pass go or collect two hundred dollars as far as I know."

Terrence shook his head in agreement and smiled like a man who was getting what another man could no longer have.  My mom.  I wanted to puke.  I decided to run instead and headed east as fast as I could.  It felt good.  Even though my body was in pain, the air cleared my head.  The preacher had to be stopped and every one of these sex-starved, coffin climbing, dead freaks had to be put back into the ground.