by Murray, Lee
Andrew bounced his basketball hard on the asphalt, and caught it again. “Yeah? Well, our washing smelled like cat pee. Only nobody told me you had to sort it before you stick it in the machine, did they? All my gear came out like it’d been dipped in blood.”
“You think that’s bad,” I said. “I had to change my sister’s stinky nappy.”
Andrew cuffed me on the arm. “Whoa, Seb. That’s gross.” He grinned, wrinkling his nose.
Someone clapped their hands and we all turned.
It was Talia. She’d climbed on top of the concrete wall. “Listen up, everyone,” she called using her class councillor voice.
Oh no, not another one of Talia’s speeches.
A couple of kids must have felt the same as me because there was some quiet groaning, but everyone shuffled closer.
“I know things have been difficult,” Talia said. “This apocalypse has been hard on all of us, but I want to tell you all to hang tight because we’re going to fix this.” She waved a hand in my direction. “Seb here has found a way to reverse the zombification—”
There was a roar. The kids cheered. Andrew clapped me on the back. “Why didn’t you say something? That’s awesome, man!”
“But,” said Talia, solemnly holding up a hand for silence, “unfortunately, Seb’s idea still needs some refining. His method snaps the zombies out of their trance, but only for few minutes...”
The crowd groaned.
“A few minutes! That’s not much use,” someone grumbled.
“It proves Seb’s on the right track though, doesn’t it?” said Darren. “All he needs is a bit more time.”
Penny wasn’t convinced. “I can’t see how more time will help. No offence Seb, but you’re pretty hopeless. You can’t even get your maths homework in on time.”
Talia grinned, the sun lighting up her face. “Penny, I agree that Seb’s approach is a little…unconventional, but then Albert Einstein was a terrible student too.”
Hang on a sec. Was Talia comparing me to Albert Einstein?
Penny’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yep,” said Darren. “The worst. Einstein was so bad at school, his teachers thought he was intellectually disabled.”
Darren, too? I felt a warm glow.
“In fact,” Darren went on, “Einstein had such a poor attitude to learning that he was expelled from school—and he was one of the most amazing scientists ever.”
Penny was chewing on her thumbnail. “You know,” she said, taking her thumb out of her mouth. “Mrs Pike probably would’ve expelled Seb yesterday, if this apocalypse thing hadn’t happened.”
Hey!
But Talia beamed. “There, see? That’s the spirit.” She clasped her hands together. “All we have to do is stay positive and stay off the Internet. We’re going to get through this. Trust me, we’re going to knock this Zombie Apocalypse out of the park.”
CHAPTER 19
Andrew peeled off at Crosby Street. “Catch you later,” he called.
We waved and carried on down Snodgrass Avenue. I waited until I couldn’t hear the thud of his basketball on the footpath before saying anything. “Hey, thanks for all the things you said back there. It means a lot to me, you guys believing I can fix this.”
Talia sighed heavily, glowered, and strode off.
He might have been clueless, but even Einstein would get that she was annoyed.
“What? What did I say now?”
Darren took me by the arm, letting Talia get ahead. “Back there…” He grimaced and I wondered if he had a stomachache. “Seb, Talia didn’t really mean it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It was spin.”
“Spin?”
“Like a placebo.”
I threw up my hands. “Darren, could you please speak English.”
Darren looked at the ground. He shifted his feet. Plucking a branch off a bush, he started shredding the tiny leaves from the stem.
“Darren.”
Breathing deep, Darren farted air though his lips, only he didn’t laugh. “A placebo is when the doctor doesn’t really think you’re ill, so he gives you a sugar pill—a placebo—instead of a real one. You think you’re being treated, so you feel better.”
I thought for a bit. “So, what you’re saying is, Talia sugar-coated the situation. She doesn’t really believe I can solve this, she just said I was on to it, so everyone would feel better.”
Everyone else.
Darren flicked the leaves off his hands. “Seb, you have to understand, times like these, it’s really important to keep everyone’s morale up.”
I turned on him, poking him in the chest with my finger. “What about you, Darren? Do you think I can do it?”
Darren pursed his lips, considering the question. “Seb, if anyone can fix this, you can.”
Just as I thought. Sugar coating. And from my best friend. Well, I wasn’t going to swallow it. I’d show them. Jamming my hands in my pockets, I stalked after Talia.
CHAPTER 20
Grandma was wiping her hands on a black-and-white checkered tea towel when we trooped back inside. “Home already?”
“They’ve closed the school for today, Mrs Mackay.” Talia gave Grandma the sweetest smile. “Too many people have the virus. Mrs Pike said they hope to re-open tomorrow.” She was getting good at lying. We hadn’t seen Mrs Pike since Tuesday.
“Perhaps you could take Cody for a proper walk?”
“Sorry Grandma,” I interrupted. “Mrs Pike gave us some homework to carry on with.”
Talia threw me a puzzled look.
“You remember, the science homework?” I said, tilting my head so Talia got the message.
“Oh yeah,” said Darren. “The science homework.”
He didn’t have a clue either.
“What are you on about?” Talia hissed when Grandma had wandered back into the kitchen, Ava skipping after her.
“I have a pythagorus,” I said.
“A hypothesis,” Darren corrected.
“Yeah, I knew that, I was just—”
“Just tell us,” Talia said, folding her arms and tapping her foot again.
I coughed, clearing a tickle from my throat. “I was thinking about what that girl from Room 12 said this morning.”
“Which girl? Amelia?”
“I don’t know. She has a twin sister.”
“Was she blonde or brunette?”
“Blonde.”
“Yes, that’s Amelia,” Talia said. “Karen’s hair is brown. They’re fraternal twins, which is why they don’t look the same. They like a lot of the same things though—they both play hockey and do jazz ballet.”
“Amelia said Karen was up late last night using her e-reader,” I said.
“We already know about the Internet,” Darren cut in.
“Except Seb was on the Internet and he’s not a zombie,” Talia reminded him.
“Karen was at school today and she isn’t zombie either,” I said. “What if being a zombie, or not being a zombie, has something to do with how much time you spend in the sunshine?”
“That’s vampires,” Darren said.
“Wait, let him talk,” said Talia.
Inhaling deeply, I watched as Grandma gave Ava a cookie in the kitchen. “The last couple of days, it’s true, I was on the net,” I explained, “but I spent a lot of time outside too. I biked to school, played basketball in the quad with Andrew and the others, and after school Darren and I walked to Sunnynook. I’m not a zombie and neither is Karen.”
“Our parents stayed inside,” said Darren.
“My caregiver, Julia, stays inside, too,” Talia said. “She watches a lot of Netflix.”
“And Jason was in the garage, mixing a song.”
�
�You know, I think Seb’s on to something,” Talia said, squeezing my hand. “What if he’s right and exposure to sunshine counters the zombification?”
I gazed at Talia’s hand on mine. “I reckon if we can keep people away from their devices and in the sunshine long enough, the subliminal quotient might wear off.”
“It’s a good theory.”
“We’ll need to test it, set up an experiment,” Darren answered.
Grandma and Ava tottered through from the kitchen. “An experiment? My, it sounds like that science homework’s coming on well,” Grandma said, handing around a plate of chocolate chip cookies.
CHAPTER 21
Swallowing his cookie, Darren picked up the CD player, examining it. “We’ll never get the music loud enough to reach the whole town.”
“We could make an amplifier,” I suggested, finishing my cookie.
Talia’s forehead creased. “Is this another of your bright ideas, Seb? Do we need to go to Greenland for the parts?”
I ignored her. “No, nothing like that. It’s actually really simple. I saw it on the Internet. If you put your cell phone in a paper cup, it increases the volume, and the sound quality is still good. Maybe we can do the same thing with the CD player, but on a bigger scale. All we’d have to do is find is a good box.”
“A cereal box?” Talia said, making for the kitchen.
“Too small,” I called after her.
Talia came back. “What about this box right here, with all the swimming stuff in it?”
“I think it needs to be round.”
“So you’re saying we need an oversized cup, something cardboard and cylindrical,” Darren said.
“You’ll be wanting a hatbox, then,” said Grandma, taking the plate back to the kitchen.
“A hatbox! Great idea, Grandma.” I dashed upstairs to Mum and Dad’s room and slipped Mum’s hatbox off the shelf with my fingertips.
Got it!
I carried the box downstairs.
“Pwetty,” Ava said, when I took the hat out.
“Yes, yes, very pretty.” I put the CD player into the empty box.
Ava grasped the hat, plopping it on her head, and ran to look in the sliding doors. She swayed back and forth. “Ava pwetty,” she said, holding the hat on her head and smushing cookie into the brim.
I sighed. Even if I managed to save the world, Mum was going to murder me. And Dad too. He always said that hat cost a fortune.
Darren handed me the CD player and I turned it on, pressing REPEAT. Martha’s voice crooned into the living room, but when I lowered the CD player into the hatbox, Martha boomed into the living room.
I grinned. This just might work. Jason slipped off his headphones to see what was up. The zombies were dragging themselves away from their devices, drawn by the music!
I carried the box to the door, peeking back to check that they were all still coming. They were! One-by-one, like a line of ducklings, our zombies were following us, Grandma and Ava behind them.
I put the box down on the white line in the middle of the street. I wasn’t worried.
All around us, the zombies were dancing. It was the weirdest street party ever. Dad was in full groove, doing that silly robot move that only he thinks is cool. Mum and Mrs Howard were trying to walk like Egyptians or maybe it was ostriches, and Jason had broken into a Gangnam-style trot. Even Grandma and Ava were getting down, doing the hokey-cokey on the grass in front of the house, Cody darting like a mad thing around their legs.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw Ava. She was still wearing Mum’s hat. Wider than she was high, it bounced happily as she wiggled, the pearly sequins on its brim catching the sun.
Talia waved at me then, shouting something from the footpath.
“What?!” The music was too loud, I couldn’t hear a thing. She pointed along the street.
I glanced up.
Oh wow.
My hands on my head, I rocked on my heels. Everywhere zombies were spewing from their homes, shuffling towards us doing their awkward moves, attracted by Martha’s booming voice. Soon there was a crowd dancing in the street outside our house.
It was working!
Beaming, Darren signalled to Talia and me. We met him further up the road, away from the amplifier, and turned to watch the crowd.
“Was that your dad I saw moonwalking?” Darren teased.
I grimaced—I couldn’t bear to watch it. Talia didn’t know how lucky she was that her parents were out of town.
“How long for the sunlight to work?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not like we’re trying to dry washing on the line.”
Darren sniggered. “If only it was. Your dad will dry in a jiffy, all the flapping he’s doing.”
Talia grinned.
I followed their eyes, searching the crowd for Dad. He was doing the chicken dance, vigorously flapping his arms, the sleeves of his brown dressing gown like a scruffy pair of wings. “Very funny!” I snorted, pretending to take a swipe at Darren and missing him by a mile. But I had to admit, it was hard not to laugh. Dad did look pretty ridiculous.
By the time the three of us had got our giggles under control, more zombies had arrived. Jumping and jiving, they made it difficult to count them, but I reckoned there were at least forty people—mostly zombies, but some kids too—swinging and swaying outside our house.
“I wish I lived closer to you,” Talia said wistfully. My heart leapt like the cow that jumped over the moon. “That way my caregiver Julia would hear the music, too.”
I felt like I’d landed in a cowpat. But she had a good point. Most of Bridgetown were zombies. We couldn’t just look after our friends and family. We needed a way to amplify the sound and give everyone in town a fighting chance.
CHAPTER 22
“I can’t think. The music is too loud. Let’s go inside.” I headed for the house.
I patted my thigh and Cody came to me, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He wasn’t the only one. Darren’s mouth had dropped open, too. “You’re going in? What about them?” He waved a hand at the zombies.
I glanced at the crowd. “They’re not going anywhere.”
Grandma peered under the brim of the hat. “Shall we go in, too? Have a cup of tea?” Mum’s frilly hat bobbed a yes.
Inside, I flopped onto the sofa. Darren collapsed beside me. Grandma popped off to the kitchen, and Ava went to the toy box, leaning over the edge. Cody poked his head in the toy box too. Maybe he hoped she’d dropped some toast.
Talia was the last to come in. She stood beside the window, her breath fogging the glass. “Look at them, jiggling away out there. I wonder if we should take them some water. Activity uses up your water reserves. All that dancing could be making them dangerously dehydrated.”
Sensing one of her science lectures coming on, I hauled myself to my feet. “There are some paper cups in Mum’s office. Leftovers from a BBQ. I’ll get them.” I slogged upstairs. How did Bastion Axestone do it? Being a hero. Saving the world. It was exhausting!
I couldn’t find the paper cups. Mum must’ve had one of her tidy-frenzies. I looked everywhere:
In the cupboard at the top of the stairs, next to the wrapping paper box.
In the bathroom drawer where we keep the spare toilet rolls.
In Mum and Dad’s wardrobe—right at the back in the corner where Mum usually hides our birthday presents.
It took me ages to find them, and when I did, I wanted to scream. They were in the office, but one shelf down, not where they were supposed to be.
When I got back downstairs, Darren was grinning. “We don’t need the paper cups now. Take a look.” He turned to the window.” See? I ran your dad’s hosepipe out there and hooked it between the branches of that tree—”
What? He could’ve told me they�
�d had an idea, instead of leaving me upstairs, hunting all over the place for paper cups. I was about to tell him that, when something else caught my eye.
Faster than a speeding bullet, I sprinted across the living room, jumping over the swimming box in a single bound. I raced to Ava and snatched Mrs Howard’s cell phone out of her hands.
Ava squealed.
I didn’t have time to comfort her. Averting my eyes from the screen, I switched the phone off.
“Nooo!” Ava’s face went red. “No, Seb. My turn, my turn.” I held the phone in the air, out of her grasp. “Miiinne!” Her whine made me wince. She was acting just like Jason when I touched his computer.
Please, not Ava too!
Talia and Darren turned from the window, and paled.
“Is she…is she…?” Darren whispered.
“Well, if she is, it’s no thanks to you two!” I shouted. Why couldn’t you have watched her? I wasn’t gone that long.”
Grandma stormed into the living room. “Seb. Ava. What’s all that shouting?”
“They let Ava touch Mrs Howard’s phone, that’s what!”
I glowered at my friends.
I leave the room for 5 minutes and they can’t even keep an eye on Ava for me. I couldn’t believe they could be so irresponsible. Leaving a two-year-old alone like that. Anything could have happened to her and almost did. And they could have told me they’d found a way to give the zombies a drink, rather than let me look all over for the paper cups. I was up there for ages searching and in the end Darren and Talia didn’t even need them. It was a total waste of my time.
Grandma looked puzzled. “Aren’t you overreacting a bit, sweetheart? Ava’s played with phones before, and she’s always very careful. Your dad lets her play games on his all the time.”
My face went hot. Overreacting? She thought I was overreacting. I gripped the cell phone, my knuckles turning white. I loved Grandma, but in a crisis she was useless. Totally useless. We were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and she couldn’t even see it.