Zombies take Kirkwood

Marylee Daniel Mitcham’s stare was blank.

A smile crept across her face behind the dry blood that was now beginning to form into a thin, crusty-like residue.

She didn’t yell for help. She didn’t run away. It didn’t matter.

She was already a zombie.

***

On Tuesday, as clouds crept across the moonlit sky, zombies stormed West Kirkwood Avenue. Some dressed in street clothes, others in costume, but they all were bludgeoned up and bloody nonetheless.

The patriarch of the zombies — that’s how Mitcham referred to herself among the group of the undead.

“I don’t know what zombies say,” Mitcham said. “I don’t know if they say anything. They move inexorably toward their victims.”

A group of about 19 others joined Mitcham. It was tradition, after all, the members of the zombie raid said. For the past five years, on Oct. 30, dozens of the undead walk among the living, Mitcham said.

This year, men, women, children and even a dog walked.

First meeting at the Sample Gates, the group congregated for a moment before they took to the streets.

Mitcham’s daughter, Anna Lynch, who brought her two daughters along for the night prowl, stood beside her mother. The two crept at the back of the group, approaching street-walkers, cars and people walking in and out of the businesses along Kirkwood Avenue.

“Oh, please let me have my self-esteem when we’re done with this,” a boy said from the crowd.

It didn’t matter. Arms up. Stiff pose. Eyes locked. Like a cheetah pursuing pray, the boy-zombie walked steadfast down the street next to the other children.
“No laughing,” Mitcham said.

The group of children formed a mob. They scratched on windows, groaned at spectators and limped along the streets.

In the middle of the pack was William Putt, Lynch’s husband. This year, he said, was a bit of a let-down.

In previous years, the number of zombies peaked at about 200. Last year, he said, there were about 100.

“I don’t know if it’s the weather or what,” Putt said. “Not only were there zombies last year, but anti-zombies. There were people in hazmat suits.”

We have to keep the flame alive, he said.

Putt said there is no brain behind the operation. Each year, the zombie-impostors assemble. In years to come, members of the group said they can only hope for a better turnout.

“A lot of towns have this,” Putt said. “Bloomington deserves this.”