How Light Rock Saved the World

Zombies meet The Carpenters

Jimmy waited by the car. His proximity monitor was vibrating on his wrist and he knew they would be getting close, but he was frozen in place, watching them.

They approached slowly over the rise; row upon row of the shambling dead. Vacant eyes were staring out of decaying faces, lank hair and open wounds par for the course. They moved slowly down the embankment toward the highway where Jimmy stood.

In his ear, a voice. "Are you ready, Private?"

They were less than fifty feet from him now. Some started to sniff the air, to catch wind of the warm flesh beneath Jimmy's Kevlar bodysuit. Jimmy reached into his pocket and withdrew the small black box with the shiny red button.

"Ready," he subvocalized. "You have eyes on this?"

The voice in his ear responded, "Affirmative. Activate at will."

With his other hand, he removed a set of from earplugs from his vest pocket and fit them snugly into his ears.  He waited.

Forty feet.

Thirty.

When they reached twenty-five feet, Jimmy pressed the button and dove away from the car. The automatic windows rolled down and the high-powered speakers in the back seat clicked on with a thunderous pop and a loud hiss.

The zombies, still focused on the car, continued to move forward.

Then....music.  Horns. A slow intro, then a woman's voice, singing:

"Why do birds suddenly appear....every time....you are near...?"

The zombies stopped, then began to sway back and forth slowly to the tempo of the music. Their eyes turned toward the sky, their mouths opened...low groans rising in volume.

"Just like me....they long to be..."

Then, as the singer reached the chorus, the whole pack of undead sang as one,

"CLOSE TO YOOOOOUUUUU...."