by Murray, Lee
“Ouuut!” Ava wailed.
I undid the buckle and lifted Ava out. It was a mistake. As soon as her feet touched the grass, she wriggled free and ran into the crowd, the brim of Mum’s hat flopping wildly.
“Ava!” I dashed after her, almost losing sight of her as she was swept up by—
“Dad?”
“Seb! What on earth is going on? I had the weirdest dream… Oh heck, I’m in my dressing gown! Have I been sleep-walking? Sleep-dancing?”
Dad was himself again. It was a miracle. Sunshine and fresh air had reversed the subliminal effect.
Ava plopped the hat on Dad’s head, her chubby arms stretching upwards.
Wrinkling his nose, Dad held Ava away from him. “And how could I have let this little lady go so long without a nappy change?”
Grandma patted Dad on the shoulder. “You’ve been under the weather with a virus the last couple of days, sweetheart. In fact, you’ve been a bit of a zombie.”
I giggled. Talia covered her face with her hands, and it wasn’t because she’d got Grandma’s joke. “Seb, look. They’re waking up.”
I scanned the crowd. Dad wasn’t the only survivor. Several of the zombies had come out of their trances and were back to their normal selves. In the middle of the lawn, Jason’s band-mate, Bruce looked bewildered. His hand at his chest, he billowed his shirt, trying to cool himself down, unaware he’d just moonwalked all over Bridgetown.
Not everyone had been cured, though. Mrs Pike was still dancing, and Darren’s mum, and so was Mrs Wentworth, the receptionist from the Sunnynook. We weren’t out of this yet.
That’s when the music died.
Martha gave it one last effort, grinding out a final line, but it was no use. The CD sputtered and gave up the ghost. The dancing stopped, the zombies pausing only an instant before they began to shuffle off.
“They’re going home,” Talia’s voice trembled. “Back to their computers.”
My mouth went dry. I knew exactly how she felt. This couldn’t be happening. Not now when we we’d come so close. It was like glimpsing an island paradise off across the water and moments later having your canoe spring a leak.
Andrew came running over with the hatbox, his face grim. “It’s no good, Seb,” he huffed, when he arrived. “We must have bumped it too much. I tried to get it started again, but I reckon it’s totally stuffed.”
“Mum!” Grabbing Mrs Howard by the hand, Darren twirled her in a rock ‘n’ roll move, obviously desperate to keep her outside for as long as he could. Well, that was okay for Mrs Howard, but we couldn’t rock and roll with everyone. How were we going to keep the others from turning back?
“We need more music!” Andrew said.
“And quickly!” Darren urged. He’d linked arms with his mum and was dancing her this-way and that-way in a circle.
Frustrated, I patted my thighs. “Yes, but how?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you could use that guitar?” Talia pointed at my shoulder.
The guitar!
I’d completely forgotten it. I swung it over my hip. I didn’t have a clue how to play, but any music had to be better than none. Putting my fingers on the strings, I strummed the guitar a few times. A sound came out—strangled and whiny, like a creaky door in a haunted house. It was loud enough, but it definitely wasn’t music, and it wasn’t having an effect on the zombies either.
Cody howled. I think I might have hurt his ears.
“Seb!” Talia and Andrew shrieked.
Changing the position of my fingers, I strummed again, only faster this time, trying to mimic a boppy dance number.
It was an epic fail. What came out wasn’t even a tune. It sounded more like a constipated elephant. Who was I kidding? It was worse. But I kept strumming, because I didn’t know what else to do. It was as if all my good ideas were candyfloss, shrivelling into nothing the second they were licked.
Suddenly, someone snatched the guitar out of my hands. “Give me that. You’re going to break our eardrums, you git.”
It was Jason! And he was insulting me. It could only mean one thing—that he was back to his usual self!
“Jase! You’re okay,” I squeaked.
Sitting down on a park bench, Jason looked at me weirdly. “Of course, I’m okay. What are you doing with a guitar?”
“Um…it’s the Founders Day Parade. There’s been a problem with the music. Could you play?”
He shook his head. “Seb, you know musicians can’t just give their work away for free.”
I groaned. I got it. I did. People were always taking advantage of artists and musicians—it was one of Jason’s pet peeves—but we were trying to save the world here!
“Please. We could really do with your help. It’s a community event,” Talia said. “For charity,” she added.
“That’s right,” I blurted. “And it’d be a great way to raise awareness of Jason and the Argonauts. The whole town’s here. You never know, Jase, it could lead to something.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t have our equipment.”
“You know, there’s nothing like pure sound to highlight a person’s talent,” Talia said. “All the great acts do it.” I couldn’t help grinning. Talia wasn’t just the Prettiest, she was Pretty Smart, too.
“Forget it, Talia,” I said, flashing her a smile. “I don’t mind playing it.” I held my hand out for the guitar.
“And I’ll sing,” Talia suggested. “Maybe you and I could start our own band, Seb.”
In the end, though, I don’t think it was anything Talia or I said that convinced him. Jason was a musician—just having a guitar in his hands made his fingers itch. He couldn’t help but play it.
I recognised the first few chords of the song he’d been working on in the garage. Bruce did too because he whipped over to join us. Removing the dead CD player, I handed the empty hatbox to Bruce, who flipped it over and started drumming out the beat. Next thing I knew, Dave had turned up and Jason’s whole band was there, singing their new song for the very first time. It was pretty catchy, actually. Mrs Howard started dancing again.
Talia beamed. “That was close,” she breathed, her face close to mine. “Look, the other zombies are coming back, too.”
But I was looking at my brother. Wearing a ripped t-shirt and greasy jeans, with Band-Aids on his palms and his hair hanging in lank tendrils, he looked like a rock star, and he was playing the biggest gig of his career.
Talia nudged me.
“Yep, I heard you. The zombies are coming back,” I said.
She nudged me again and I looked up to see Kirkham striding across the park, his face set like concrete.
CHAPTER 31
“Hey, you three,” Kirkham shouted.
Instinctively, we bunched together.
“Oh no,” Darren said, as the captain and his men approached. “We’re in big trouble now. We’ll be blacklisted by the government for the rest of our lives. They’ll probably put us in jail. Or on house arrest. Or, at the very least, make us play extra taxes.” His lip quivered. “I’ve got a summer concession card for the swimming pool.”
What could I say? He was a drama queen.
Talia gave Darren a slap on the back as if he were choking. “Seb, say something!” she whispered.
“Yes, Captain?” It was an effort to keep my voice even.
This time, Kirkham and his men stopped only metres away. They raised their weapons. This close up, they were scary. My knees trembled.
“You lied!” the captain yelled. “You told me everyone was quarantined in the gym.”
“No, sir. I said I could get them there.”
“And I suppose you just forgot to mention that they’d be walking straight out again. Letting me believe they were still inside.”
Talia took a step forward, her chin raised. “Actually, th
at was all your doing, Captain. That, and the power of suggestion. You wanted to believe that everyone was locked up in the gym, so you did.”
Kirkham pushed his goggles up on his head. His eyes narrowed. Making a circle with the barrel of his rifle, he traced us out as his targets. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll still quarantine this town, just a little later than we planned.”
“But there’s no reason to quarantine us,” I protested. “We’ve already worked out how to cure the virus!”
Kirkham shook his head. “You three kids? That’s ridiculous. The army’s best doctors haven’t been able to crack it.”
“That’s because it’s a computer virus,” I retorted.
“What?!” Kirkham looked as if someone had asked him to calculate the square root of 291.
“The same treatment principles apply,” Talia said. “Extended periods of ultraviolet light and fresh air to boost people’s immune systems, which then allows them to combat the virus’ subliminal quotient.”
“Its what-me-what?” Kirkham said.
Darren sighed deeply. “Her parents are doctors,” he explained.
Suddenly, there was a commotion behind us. We all swung around to look.
It was my mum, and she was making her way to the front of the crowd. Her hair was a mess, sticking up at all angles and her clothes were skew-whiff, but she wasn’t a zombie any more. And from the look on her face, she was super-duper angry. I hoped it wasn’t because her hat was ruined. Although, that was nothing compared to how Dad was going to react when he saw his ute…
Storming over, Mum pushed between the three of us to face Kirkham. She folded her arms across her chest. “If it’s all the same to you,” she said in her don’t-even-think-about-answering-back voice, “here in Bridgetown, we don’t appreciate soldiers aiming guns at children in the middle of our Founders Day celebrations.”
There was a murmur of agreement from behind us.
Bobbing his head, Kirkham lowered his gun, signalling to his men to do the same. “I beg your pardon, ma’am. Captain James Kirkham, at your service. I’m sorry to upset the festivities, but I have orders to quarantine this town. There’s a dangerous virus circulating…”
Mum swept her arm in an arc, taking in the park and, all of a sudden, I realised I couldn’t hear Bruce drumming on the hatbox. Jason and his mates were no longer playing. And there was something else—in spite of the lack of music, no one was moving off. No one was clamouring for their phone. They weren’t rushing home to their computers. Everyone was watching us: Darren’s mum, Mrs Pike, even Mrs Wentworth. The entire town.
I almost sank to my knees in relief. We’d done it! With just a little bit of sun and fresh air, we’d rid the town of zombies. Grinning, Darren pumped his fist in the air. Talia leaned over and gave my hand a squeeze. I felt like I’d been given a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
Putting her hands on her hips, Mum snorted. “A virus! Captain, all of these people, children and the elderly included, have just danced their way around Bridgetown—not once, but twice. Does that sound to you like the kind of thing people do when they’re sick?”
I glanced back. The townsfolk crowded around us, while staring menacingly at Kirkham and his men. We weren’t fighting this on our own any more. The whole town was behind us.
Flustered, Kirkham took a step back. “No ma’am, I agree, they don’t look sick,” he blathered, “but my orders—”
“Captain, I said we’re fine.”
“Uh-oh,” said Ava, who was fiddling with Dad’s chin. Even Ava knew that when Mum said fine, you were in big trouble.
Kirkham knew it too because he and his men practically ran to their transports.
A cheer went up. The apocalypse was over.
CHAPTER 32
A zombie hand emerged from the screen. Blackened fingernails grasped at the air, seeking me out. Finding nothing, the digits slipped beneath the fog.
Bastion Axestone stepped out of the murk, badass scarring zig-zagging across his face. The camera zoomed in and he looked me in the eye. “Zombies have taken over the world,” he said.
“Actually, I’d heard about that,” I said aloud.
Axestone continued his speech anyway. “We must take up the challenge, avoiding the plague that has infested our loved ones, and forge a new world…”
Suddenly, a new graphic surged across the screen:
Zombie Apocalypse II
Free today. Join Bastion in his latest quest. Click here.
My reflexes kicked in and my arm went out, ready to press the icon and download the game. I was just millimetres away from touching it when I stopped myself, my heart pounding as my fingers hovered over the button. I remembered what had happened the last time I’d downloaded something from Chaos.
On screen, Bastion Axestone sauntered down a city street, fending off a horde of shambling zombies.
Laughing, I wiped my hand on my shorts. I was being a wimp. It wasn’t as if it could happen again. Even if it did, we already knew that a good dose of sunshine and fresh air reversed the zombie effect, and anyway the army would have had its military computer hacker experts on to Chaos by now. Most likely the culprits who’d introduced the virus were in jail and every loophole and backdoor in the game locked up. What were the chances of two apocalypses happening in one week? They had to be miniscule. Microscopic.
Still chuckling, I scrolled through the game options. They were the same as they’d been in the first version: the heavy metal soundtrack, 3D options, and explosive effects. I noted there was no small town option or subliminal quotient on offer this time. So, I was right. Those features must have been disabled. I scrolled down a bit more. Hang on, there was a new category. Clandestine operations. I knew what that meant. It meant secret, undercover operations, the sort of things spies did. Bastion’s new mission must be a spy adventure! I definitely wanted to play that. I selected clandestine operations, and then clicked to download the game.
While I was watching the little bar inch across, there was a ping and a chat message from Darren appeared.
I tapped out an excuse.
He pinged again.
Talia. My heart skipped a beat. I guess I could always do those maths equations before school. And by the time I got back from playing basketball, the new Bastion Axestone game would be fully downloaded.
I typed,
Then, leaving my computer running, I headed outside.
SEB'S NOTEBOOK
apocalypse: the end of the world.
Congreve (William): possibly the most misquoted writer ever. Things he is famous for saying, but didn’t, include ‘music soothes the savage beast’ and ‘hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn’.
dystopia: a world you wouldn’t want to live in.
Einstein (Albert): a genius who flunked out of school but turned out to be one of the greatest minds of all time. He discovered the theory of relativity, which is represented by the equation E=Mc2 and has something to do with trains hurtling towards you at the speed of light.
emporium: an old-fashioned word for supermarket.
Greenland: just in case, I looked up Greenland—the biggest island in the sea between Canada and Norway—and although it’s the country with the lowest population density in the world, it’s actually got good mobile phone coverage and Internet access, so it’s probably not going to work as a place to hole up and wait out a zombie apocalypse.
Horatio: a Roman soldier who lived 2500 years ago and who defended Rome against an entire army by holding the bridge into the city over the river Tiber.
immunity: Talia says immunity is a body’s natural response against germs. When the body detects intruders like viruses and bacteria, microsc
opic warrior cells in the blood crowd around and swallow the intruders. They sacrifice themselves to take the bad guys out of action. It’s pretty badass.
logistics: detailed planning of a complex project. Really? That’s it? They couldn’t have said planning?
Malcolm X: in 1964 an American civil rights activist named Malcolm X made a speech which included the sentence: “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today.” Grown-ups have been using this quote to make kids do their homework ever since.
Methuselah: turns out this isn’t a friend of Grandma’s, but someone from history who supposedly lived for 969 years. Note: I find this hard to believe.
Pavlov (Ivan): not Pavlova, the fluffy dessert—I got that wrong. Darren was talking about a Russian scientist called Pavlov who discovered that his dogs drooled when he fed them, so he started ringing a little bell when he fed them and eventually just the sound of the bell (without the food) made the dogs drool. I could have told him that. Cody drools every time I open the fridge.
Pythagorus: a Greek guy who was an expert on triangles. More famous than Stephen Hawking.
somnambulist: a fancy word for sleep-walking.
subliminal: ideas which influence your mind without you knowing. It’s like a Jedi mind trick. Advertisers do this all the time, getting you to buy stuff without you even knowing.
virus: a computer virus is a bit of computer code which takes over your tablet and instructs it do weird stuff it’s not supposed to do. A biological virus does the same thing after entering your body via a mosquito bite or by someone coughing on you: it takes over your healthy cells, overriding the normal functions with its own DNA which instructs your cells to create more virus cells. If you don’t have immunity, you’re doomed.
voilà: a French word which means something like ‘ta-dah!’