Forget The Zombies (Book 3): Forget America by R.J. Spears Page B

that.”
    “Please don’t take it the wrong way, but it’s awfully hard to trust you after you drugged us once already.”
    “I can see that,” Jeb said. “I guess we’ll have to prove it to you.” He turned his head toward one of the ladies. “Betty, bring me a random helping of food please.”
    A matronly woman nodded her head and headed off into the kitchen. Jeb stood smiling at me, ear-to-ear, as we waited. Betty came out with a plate heaping with scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns. Jeb took the plate and motioned for me to sit down.
    I was reluctant to do so, but knew they could force me to sit at any time, so I complied. Jeb sat next me and placed the plate heaping with food down between us.
    “Now, if this food had anything in it, I certainly wouldn’t take a bite of it, now would I?” he asked while picking up a piece of bacon and taking a healthy bite. Using bacon to tempt us was a clear sign that they worshipped the devil. No doubt about it.
    He grabbed a fork, filled it luscious scrambled eggs and filled his mouth, smiling and chewing away at the same time. He swallowed and said, “You’re going to have to eat sometime.”
    He was right and the bacon was causing my stomach to churn and my mouth to water.
    I looked around at our group and they showed the same hesitancy that I had, but they were equally tempted by the food. Dave was practically slobbering at the mouth. I think he might have sold his soul for couple pieces of bacon and some hash browns right then.
    Jeb pushed the plate in front of me and said, “Trust me, there are no drugs in that food. If there were, I’d be out cold, right?”
    While I knew I could hold out, I knew the rest of our group couldn’t. Especially the kids. I decided to take a chance and picked up a piece of bacon. It was thick cut and dripped with grease. I caught a whiff of maple coming from it. My resolve crumbled and I took a bite, chewing quickly, trying to detect any hint of it being dosed, but all I did was revel in bacon goodness, knowing that souls had been lost this very way.
    All of my group watched me as I chewed. Dave hung over his plate so dramatically that I wasn’t sure he wasn’t going to dive in face first and go at the food trough-style.
    The bacon practically melted in my mouth and I decided to follow it up with a forkful of scrambled eggs. They were light and fluffy with just the right amount of salt and pepper. I tasted nothing foreign and felt no ill side effects, so I gave the rest of our group the thumbs up and Jeb clapped me on the back and laughed.
    They dug in, and all that could be heard in the room was lip smacking and chewing interspersed with a few moans of pleasure. Dave asked for a plate of seconds and Jeb’s people were more than happy to provide it. Jay had a second helping of bacon while Robbie abstained from any of the meat products, but still put away a lot of the hash browns and even had a helping of grits.
    Jeb let us eat like that for several minutes before he finally stood and walked to the head of our table. He watched us, beaming from ear-to-ear, for several minutes. After I felt as if my stomach might explode from so much food, I decided to slow down.
    Jeb cleared his throat loudly to get our attention. “I’m so glad that you are enjoying our hospitality, but this is only the beginning of our bounty. We have so much to offer. So, so much, for our bounty comes from the Lord.”
    He didn’t say which lord. Jeb’s people let out a polite round of applause and I knew the sales pitch was about to start. He had already showed us the hard sell, now came the soft sell.
    It’s my opinion that his hard sell pretty much spoiled the deal and he had a devil of a chance of making a sale (no pun intended), but he was going to give it his best shot.
    Jeb continued, “We are an open and inviting group and welcome any of you to join us as we express our devotion. For any of you that wants to join us, you will have the safety and