Free Project Lazarus by Michelle Packard Page B

another.
     
    “Where am I?  Who am I?” Asked another older man, who appeared to be suffering from Alzheimer’s.
     
    They horror show began when they saw their friend Alice Calton being surround by the group.  She glanced at the women before disappearing, “Go back inside,” she screamed to them.
     
    Both women crept slowly from the door and shut it behind it.  Then the locks began.  First the regular lock.  Then the deadbolt.  This is was a routine they would have to complete from now on.  Now that the dead were awake.
     
    Emma proceeded through the entire house with Audra helping her.  Together, they shut and locked every window and door.
     
    When they finished, they whispered, deciding not to speak loudly, for fear the strangers outside might hear them.
     
    “There must be a hundred of them out there,” Emma said.
     
    “I think we better call Sherriff Traves,” Audra told her.
     
    After a long wait on the phone, they reached Sherriff Traves.
     
    Sherriff Traves had seen a lot of things that disturbed him over the years.  Execution style killings, violent murders, missing persons, drug dealers, the usual trouble makers and the list went on, his occupation dictated dealing with news that made headlines.  Usually, the dispatcher handled all the calls.  But with the phone ringing constantly for 36 hours straight, the dispatcher was now fast asleep on the couch across from his office and the Sherriff felt it was time he heard the terror in the voices he had heard  so much about.  The voices on the other end of the line.
     
    “This is Sherriff Traves,” he announced.
     
    Emma Winters rambled on hurriedly, scared, not making much sense, “There’s a bunch of people out here.  I don’t know where they came from or what they want.  What’s going on here?”
     
    Sherriff Traves didn’t have to hear the panic.  He could feel it.  They had a real problem on their hands in Cotter.
     
    “Where are you located and how many have you seen?” He asked, this wasn’t the first call about the strange things going on in Cotter.
     
    “I’m in the Spalding Subdivision and we’ve got over a hundred people out here,” Emma told him.
     
    “We’ll get some men out there.  For now just stay inside.  We’ve got our hands full.  It might be a while.”
     
    “Sherriff Traves….” Emma paused, wanting to ask, but not really wanting to ask, “What is this?  Who are these people?  They talk about heaven,” she lowered her whisper to barley a breath, “they scream about going back to hell.”
     
    The last statement disturbed him.
     
    He collected himself.  It was just another call.  Sherriff Traves sighed, more annoyed, than disturbed at the events and then answered matter of factly,  “They’re dead people.”
     
    “What?” Emma asked, bewildered.
     
    “Somehow the dead in Cotter woke up.  It sounds as strange to you as it does to me.  But it’s happened.  Now we’re asking the public not to interact with these folks.  We’re asking the public to sit tight and remain calm.  Don’t leave the house.  We’ve got this under control.  When things settle down, they’ll be a town meeting.  In the meantime, keep tuned into the local radio station and don’t leave the house.”
     
    “I can’t believe it,” Emma said.
     
    “Let us handle this.  I’ve got to take the next call now.”
     
    He hung up, leaving a bewildered Emma Winters to tell her friend the truth she could hardly accept herself.
     
    “Says the dead woke up.  All these people are dead people and now they’re alive again somehow.  Not to go outside…..” she collapsed.
     
    “Oh Emma, hold on, let me get a wet towel.”
     
    Audra ran to the kitchen, her head processing the news, her hands shaking at the realization that the explanation Sherriff Traves gave made sense.  That’s why they were looking for people, probably loved ones.  That’s why they were asking about heaven and