Art Hill Zombies

The sun set at 6:30p.m. The sky blazed pink, yellow, and orange. The lights came on outside the Saint Louis Art Museum illuminating the caryatids and statue of St. Louis IX.

The zombies began assembling.

Clutching blankets, small children, and dogs, they began stumbling down Art Hill. Even in the darkness the red gleamed. For the second night in a row, Cardinal Nation was assembling on Art Hill. Spread out on blankets or stretched out in lawn chairs, die-hard Cardinals fans braved the cool evening temperatures to watch Game Five of the World Series outdoors.

Frontyard Features had set up its 20' x 30' inflatable screen at the bottom of Art Hill. The satellite dish was aimed upward. Martin Casas reverse-projected the game as a public service to St. Louis. Two giant speakers broadcast the voices of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver onto the natural ampitheater. Six cauldrons spat fire with wood provided by the Parks Department.

A food truck, emblazoned with the Pi symbol, dispensed pizza from its side. Beers kept appearing from coolers. A few children with glow-in-the-dark necklaces or lightsabers ran up and down the hill. A security guard from the Art Museum wandered over to marvel at the crowd of 500 splayed across the hill.

Game Five played on the big screen with all the drama of Game One and the same outcome. Most of the crowd stayed until the bitter end. Then, zombie-like, they trudged back up the hill to their cars. They dragged their blankets, lawn chairs, and coolers. Tired toddlers and dogs followed behind.

The thirst for blood was already building for Game Six of the World Series.