I was walking out to start my car this morning as usual to defrost it when I noticed him. Standing about 10 feet in front of my car (which was parked at the curb across the street and not in a driveway) was a guy in a fairly nice winter coat and pants and some new sneakers. I normally wouldn't find this to be too unusual since a lot of people are taking public transportation or just out for walks in this area in the wee hours of the morning, however this guy was doing nothing. Just standing there. He was facing away from me and towards a fence... not moving or anything...
My first thought? ZOMBIE. Yeah... completely irrational but that is one of my only un-shakeable and completely unfounded fears. Don't know where it came from; I don't really watch horror movies (except vampire ones) and I haven't read any horror/sci-fi books but I just can't shake the paranoia I have of a zombie apocalypse in my lifetime. The mere mention of zombies can give me a mini panic attack.
Anyhow, so my second thought was... "ok, he hasn't heard you yet... what weapons do you have on you?"... the answer being none because I don't walk around heavily armed. I figured that I could get to my car without him hearing me because he didn't seem the least bit startled when the neighbor's dog started barking maniacally. So I slowly made my way to my car and unlocked it manually- as quietly as I could manage. I kept my eyes on this strange man the WHOLE time I was walking and unlocking to try and see a reason for him to stand there so still and silent. I could see no good reason for it. Once I got in my car, I immediately locked the doors and started it, thinking I could run him over if he came at me now.
He didn't even flinch at the sound of my engine or the sight of my bright headlights in the early darkness. I was completely perplexed. So I got my phone out just in case and turned the defrost on and just sat... my eyes still fixed on what was now clearly an undead person.
And then he moved. He reached up to his head and removed the white earbud headphones from his ears, made a sound similar to a click with his mouth and then said,"Come on, Buddy" as he looked past the closest fence to a grassy area where a tiny little poodle mix dog came gently prancing up to the sidewalk.
And I almost laughed out loud at my ridiculousness. My blood pressure is still sky-high this morning from my near apocalypse experience.
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