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The boys made it back to the bomb shelter in just under eight minutes, about par. Back in the cemetery the police robots went through their triple scans, motion sensors, heat signature, and pulse, detected by hyper-sensitive microphones. Anything moving without a heart beat, and cooler than 98.6F was completely eliminated by computer guided 20-millimeter grenade rounds. The corpse carrying its own head lasted three minutes after the boys ran.

In the shelter, the boys wound down.

“Hey Ed, that was a hell of a swing. Almost like you'd played real baseball.” Said Enoch.

“Well, I got some downloads of classic games. I spend a lotta time in my room just swinging a bat.” Ed replied.

“Hey,” Larry broke in; ”did you guys hear that the bans might be relaxed? They say they got just enough robots to make some outdoor activities safe, so they might make 'em legal again. Can you imagine? Baseball with a whole team, and an umpire…”

“Yeah, and a ball that won't try to eat you.” Said Roger.

They all laughed, not quite humorously. They were each swept away for a moment, thinking of what it be like to have a sun burn, not one of them having ever been outside that long at a stretch.

“Ya know, we'd probably do as badly in school as parents. We'd never be able to concentrate.” Said Enoch. Nobody disagreed.

After this, the boys parted company. The ones with heavy weapons escorted the more lightly armed friends home, then went home themselves. Enoch just climbed through the escape hatch, then back to bed.

He flipped on NPR to take him to sleep, and maybe to hear something about the rules relaxing. The report he heard was about group of corpses that had become organized, evaded detection, and was, from hiding, petitioning the federal government to protect the rights of the undead.

“We were your parents, grand-parents, wives, husbands. We are not different than you in any important way. So we don't breathe, big deal. We still have all the skills we held in life, and the same intelligence, and believe we can be of genuine benefit to society. In fact, in certain more hazardous professions, hiring a corpse may be preferable to hiring the living.

“Also, we do not need to eat. It is just an instinct like any other, and can be controlled. Since we require no food, our expenses would be less, therefore our wages as well. We…” the voice of the Corpse Activist trailed off to be replaced by the announcer.

“The President said he would take the matter under advisement. A group of lobbyists from the mining industry have petitioned the President for a meeting on the subject.

“As may be expected, religious organizations have expressed strong opinions on the matter, the most surprising being a sect of Seventh Day Adventists from Georgia who say that reanimation is the resurrection foretold in the Bible. This sect, also known for handling live rattlesnakes…”

“Jesus Christ” thought Enoch as he drifted off, “The world's getting weird.”