The Zombie Zone-a to z 26 by Ron Roy, John Steven Gurney Page B

said.
    Jack led the kids past Myrna’s garden. They left the sunlit clearing and entered the woods on the shady path.
    A few minutes later, they came to a small cemetery. It was enclosed by an old iron fence. Moss from a tree branch covered part of the fence. Inside the cemetery, about thirty people were clustered in a bunch. Some of the people were shouting. A few were crying.
    “What’re they doing?” Ruth Rose asked.
    “I’ll find out,” Jack said. He walked over to the group, with the kids following. Jack knelt on a pile of red dirt next to an old man. In front of them both were two deep holes in the ground.

    “Two graves have been robbed this week,” the old man said to Jack. “My wife and I are afraid. She wants us to leave here now. She says we can’t stay near zombies.”

Jack stood up, brushing red clay from his knees.
    “This isn’t a good time for us to be here,” he said quietly to the kids. “Let’s walk down to the water.”
    He led them down a narrow trail. It ended in a sandy clearing at the edge of a bay.
    “I heard that man say zombies robbed those graves,” Josh said. “But I thought zombies weren’t real!”
    “I don’t believe in them,” Jack said. “There must be another explanation.”
    “But who could have dug up the graves?” asked Ruth Rose.
    “I don’t know,” Jack said.
    “Maybe the grave robber is the same person who put up that sign we saw,” Dink said.
    Jack nodded. “Maybe,” he said. He waved an arm toward the water. “Nice view, huh?”
    The water was blue and still. Across the bay, they could see tall buildings on what looked like islands.
    “Who owns those boats?” Josh asked Jack. A few yards away, several wooden boats had been left on the beach.
    “The villagers,” Jack said. “They fish and catch crabs out here.”
    “Is this the Atlantic Ocean?” Dink asked.
    “No, it’s part of the Gulf of Mexico,” Jack said. He pointed out toward some of the islands. “The Gulf joins the Atlantic way past there, at the tip of Florida.”
    Jack took the kids on a hike along the water’s edge. They saw long-legged blue herons wading in the shallow water. Small fish darted away from the herons’ shadows. Jack pointed to a deer lying in the shade.
    “It’s so beautiful here,” Ruth Rose said. “And so quiet!”
    “I agree,” Jack said. “I’d love to buy a piece of this land and build a house here.”
    He opened his pack and pulled out four small bottles of water. They all sat on a log and sipped, watching the herons search for fish.
    Across the water, the sun flashed gold against the distant buildings.
    “How’d you like to camp out here tonight?” Jack asked. “We can cook our supper over a campfire.”

    “Excellent!” Josh said.
    “I’ll ask my grandmother at lunch,” Ruth Rose said. “But I know she’ll say-yes!”
    “Great! After I drop you off, I’ll do some grocery shopping,” Jack said.
    After their water break, Jack showed the kids how to identify different birds’ nests. He taught them how to spot poison ivy. He explained how to make tea and medicines from some plants.
    Jack looked at his watch. “You guys must be getting hungry,” he said. “It’s time to go back to town.”
    “I’m starving!” Josh said. “I don’t know if I can last till we get back to the hotel!”
    Dink laughed. “Well, you could always grab a raw fish like that heron,” he said.
    A half hour later, the kids met up with Ruth Rose’s grandmother in the hotel’s outside restaurant. She was sitting under an umbrella on the balcony that overlooked the street.
    “Gram, can we go camping with Jack tonight?” Ruth Rose asked her.
    “Of course,” her grandmother said just as the waiter appeared at their table.
    Everyone ordered cheeseburgers and lemonade. While they waited for their food, the kids told Ruth Rose’s grandmother about the zombie sign and the grave robber.
    “Who would steal dead bodies?” Ruth Rose asked.
    “People have been