Terror at the Talent Show

by Marcus Emerson

  ‘He’s at the forty! The thirty! The twenty! The ten!’

  And then Brayden’s voice cut through. ‘You’re going the wrong way!’

  I looked over my shoulder to see Brayden and his team staring at me. Jake and his team were on the other side of the field, laughing. I tried to stop, but it was impossible because of how fast I was going.

  ‘Touchdown!’ Jake shouted.

  I slowed to a stop, letting the football drop into the grass.

  At that moment, Coach Cooper’s air horn went off, signalling for all the students to return to the locker rooms to get changed.

  ‘Nice,’ Brayden said.

  I didn’t say anything, too embarrassed to defend myself.

  Our classmates all ran past us, desperate to change out of their gym clothes. Jake and his wolf pack laughed at me when they walked by. If they knew who it was under the mask, I’m sure their taunting would’ve been harsher. Brayden and I were the last ones on the field, So I took off the moose mask.

  ‘Dude, I’m sorry about that.’

  Brayden squinted, looking at the sky.

  I wasn’t sure if he was angry or sad. ‘Dude?’

  Suddenly, he burst out laughing. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he spoke through quick gasps. ‘You totally scored for the wrong team! I thought that sort of thing only happened in movies!’

  I smiled, relieved. ‘I guess not,’ I said, chuckling.

  ‘No,’ Brayden said. ‘You really stuffed up out there! Like, it was going awesome and cool up until you spun around in a million circles!’

  I scratched the back of my neck. ‘Yeah, not sure what I was thinking with that one.’

  Brayden continued to laugh. ‘And then you started running straight back to where you came from! And like, running harder than you were before! You were determined to score!’

  I started feeling embarrassed again. ‘Yeah, funny,’ I said, biting my lip.

  ‘Sorry, man,’ Brayden said, smearing his hand across his tear-soaked cheek. ‘It’s just that was the funniest thing I’ve seen all year. My cheeks hurt! Thanks for the laugh.’

  I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed. ‘No problem, man.’

  Brayden stretched his arms out and sighed, catching his breath. ‘So what’s up?’ he asked as he headed back toward the locker rooms.

  ‘Gavin said he needs your help. Well, we need your help.’

  ‘Anything for my ninja leader,’ Brayden said jokingly.

  ‘We have a lead on a suspect,’ I said. ‘Someone named Eli that might know something about the broken stage yesterday.’

  ‘Okay,’ Brayden said, nodding.

  ‘Gavin said he’s a straight-A student, so he’ll in the library during lunch, studying or something. You’ll need to meet us outside the cafeteria before lunch starts.’

  Brayden stopped in his tracks. ‘Free period in the library during lunch?’ he whispered.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Zoe does sometimes.’

  ‘Zombies,’ Brayden whispered.

  I paused, surprised. ‘Gavin said the same thing!’

  Brayden nodded, his eyes wide open, staring at me. ‘He’s right,’ he said, jogging away from me. ‘You guys are gonna need my help!’

  I threw my arms in the air. ‘Really? You’re just gonna say, ‘zombies’, and run off with no explanation whatsoever?’

  Brayden pulled open the gymnasium door and went inside.

  I stuffed the moose gloves into the mask and trudged back to school. Lunch was coming up, so whatever Gavin and Brayden were talking about would be cleared up soon.

  There was no way Buchanan School had zombies walking around, right? Zombies only existed in movies and video games, didn’t they?

  I realised that in that moment, I wasn’t sure.

  Before finding Gavin and Brayden, I thought I’d pay my ninja clan another visit. All the talk of zombies in the library had me on edge, so I wanted to refocus my thoughts on something more realistic. But of course, Buchanan School had something else in mind.

  As I turned the corner in the hallway, I saw my ninja clan standing outside the training room, grumbling about something.

  ‘Hey, guys,’ I said. ‘What gives? How come you’re out here and still in your street clothes?’

  Naomi pointed at the door. ‘Because of him.’

  A lump formed in my throat as I looked through the window in the door. On the other side was Wyatt and a girl.

  Suddenly the door whipped open and Wyatt flinched, acting surprised that we were in the hallway. ‘Oh, excuse me,’ he said unpleasantly. ‘Had no idea anyone was out here.’

  ‘What’re you doing with this room?’ I snipped.

  ‘This?’ Wyatt asked, turning in a circle. ‘Oh, I saw that the school had an empty room, so I decided it’d be a great place to train my … hall monitors.’

  ‘That’s baloney, and you know it,’ I shouted, angry.

  The girl stepped into view and stood at Wyatt’s side, holding his hand. It was Olivia Jones, the girl who tried to destroy the science fair two weeks ago. She smiled smugly as she chewed on a bright green piece of gum. The air was filled with spearmint-scented evil.

  ‘Trouble, babe?’ Olive asked Wyatt.

  I coughed. ‘Babe?’

  ‘You haven’t heard?’ Wyatt asked. ‘Olive and I are going out now.’

  ‘I’m in like with him,’ Olive said.

  ‘Gross,’ I whispered, noticing the red band on her wrist.

  Olive lifted her hand to show off her new bracelet. ‘Like it? I earned it two weeks ago when Wyatt found out that it was me who tried to sabotage the science fair.’

  Wyatt grinned. ‘Looks like she’s the first lady and a red ninja.’

  ‘The first lady?’ Naomi asked. ‘But how? Don’t you need to be the president’s wife to have that position?’

  Wyatt explained.‘The rules say if the president isn’t married, which Sebastian obviously isn’t, then the position of first lady goes to his niece.’ Wyatt gave us the best angry eyes he could. ‘Now get lost before I send you all to the principal’s office. In case you forgot, I’m the captain of the hall monitors.’

  Naomi snapped. She balled her fists and held them out to Wyatt. ‘That does it! This ends here and now!’

  Wyatt stepped in front of Olive and held his open palm out as if he were inviting someone to fight him. His face was cool and collected, which made him more eerie.

  I had to push against the rest of my ninja clan as they tried moving forward. Grabbing Naomi’s elbow, I did my best to remain calm. ‘No! Not like this! This is exactly what he wants!’

  ‘Then I say let’s give it to him!’ Naomi said, pulling her arm free from my grasp. ‘It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it!’

  ‘It’s not our place to decide what he deserves and what he doesn’t!’ I said, surprised at my own insight. ‘The first rule of our ninja clan is that we don’t fight! Have you all forgotten this?’

  ‘Then what’s the point of being in a ninja clan?’ Wyatt laughed.

  ‘Honour,’ I said immediately. ‘Doing the right thing. And right now, the right thing to do is walk away…even if I don’t want to.’

  Wyatt pointed down the hall. ‘So go already! Get lost ’cause you’re a bunch of losers on the losing side.’

  I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything else. I stared at Wyatt for a few more seconds, angry as heck, but I finally made myself take a breath. I felt the same way as the rest of my ninja clan. But I was their leader, and I had to act as one even if it meant feeling defeated in doing the right thing, which is actually the opposite of the truth. My victory came from doing the right thing, so why did I feel so bad about it?

  I swallowed my pride and walked away. My ninja clan stood in front of Wyatt for a few seconds, but eventually followed me down the hall. Wyatt and Olive stayed in the hallway in front of the open door. I’m sure that as soon as the hall was clear, the red ninjas would come out to train in that room.

 
; ‘We’re without a home,’ Naomi grunted with her arms folded.

  Glancing at Naomi, I said, ‘We are, but it’s not the first time this has happened, and we’ll bounce back just like we did last time.’ I turned the corner and saw Gavin and Brayden waiting for me in the lobby. ‘I’ve got some other business to attend to. Take a break today, alright? Get some lunch, drink some orange juice, eat a biscuit and laugh a little. It’s not the end of the world.’

  Naomi smiled and nodded. The rest of my ninja clan chuckled a little too. Things were bad, but we’ve been through worse, and I was positive that this little speed bump wasn’t going to stop us from finding a place to train.

  Gavin and Brayden were in the middle of a conversion about the best way to deal with the library situation. Brayden had the idea of taking it slow so nobody would notice us. Gavin thought running at full speed was a better idea.

  ‘Okay,’ I said, leaning against the tinted glass walls of the cafeteria. ‘Zombies. Explain it. Now.’

  Gavin paused, darting his eyes at Brayden. ‘You want to explain this, mister monster expert?’

  Brayden didn’t hesitate. ‘Gladly,’ he said, gesturing toward the library with his hands. ‘The kids in there are Buchanan’s best of the best. They’re the straight-A students, and as most people know, straight-A students are allowed to use their lunch to study in the library if they want to.’

  ‘Right,’ I said, nodding. ‘So?’

  ‘Let me finish,’ Brayden said, holding his hand up. ‘The school assumes the smart kids will use their free period in the library to further their education by doing extra study or research. In theory, it’s great because it would allow those kids to finish their homework early, and use the library’s tools to help them.’

  I nodded, trying to keep up. Brayden was speaking so fast and he sounded like some kind of university professor. ‘So what about the zombies?’

  Brayden smiled. ‘The school has given these kids unlimited access to the wi-fi during this free period. They’re allowed to use the internet for any kind of research they need, and if they have smart phones, they’re allowed to use their phone’s web browser too.’

  ‘So what?’ I asked, still confused.

  ‘So,’ Gavin said, ‘those kids ain’t usin’ the internet for research! They’re usin’ it to update their statuses and send texts!’

  Brayden put his hand on the library door. ‘They’re brainless zombies, staring at their phones. All of them.’

  ‘That’s not a zombie,’ I said, relieved that there weren’t actually undead monsters in the library.

  Brayden pulled the door open. ‘We’ll see,’ he said, stepping in. ‘Stay close and keep your mouth shut.’

  I let Gavin go in front of me so I was the last in line. The cold air from the library hit me like a wall. The rest of the school was heated during the colder months of the year, but for some reason, the library had its air conditioning going at full blast. The other thing that surprised me was how abnormally silent it was.

  On the wall to the side of us were the typical motivational posters with kittens hanging onto clotheslines, and shadows of people reading books. I saw more posters of Hotcakes.

  Gavin took the lead and whispered. ‘Eli will probably be somewhere in the back.’

  ‘How do you know?’ I asked.

  ‘Zoe said she’s seen him in here a few times,’ Gavin replied. ‘She noticed because she’s the only kid whose eyes aren’t glued to her phone.’

  ‘I’m not surprised,’ I said.

  The three of us walked farther into the library. It was two stories, with an exposed staircase in the centre of the room. Surrounding the staircase were several rectangular tables, with a student seated at each one of its four sides.

  The lighting in the massive room was different from anywhere else in the school. Instead of harsh fluorescent lights, there were soft yellow lights, casting the room in a warm glow.

  And then I finally understood what Brayden meant when he said that kids were zombies. Every kid in the room was breathing through their mouth and staring into a phone they held with both hands about five centimetres from their face.

  You know when you walk outside at night and all you hear are the sound of crickets? Well, it was a lot like that, but instead of cricket chirps, there were short vibration alerts and random ting! sounds.

  Brayden inched his way forward. ‘Don’t make any sudden movements,’ he whispered. ‘If you do, they’ll see you.’

  ‘What happens if they see us?’ I asked.

  ‘You don’t want to know,’ he replied.

  As we walked down the aisle, I could see the faces of the zombies seated at their desks. Their mouths were open and their faces glowed with the light from their phone screens. I had to smile because it looked a lot like the area in a video game shop where kids were allowed to play demo games. Next time you’re in one of those shops, check it out and you’ll see what I mean. Every single person playing has their neck craned backward and their mouth open as they stare at the screen.

  Just as we were at the staircase, my foot nudged one of the desk legs. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough to cause the four zombies seated at the table to drop their phones.

  ‘Dude, are you nuts?’ Brayden whispered harshly, but it was too late. The zombies had already seen us.

  ‘Whuuuuuuuut…’ one of the zombies groaned. She flopped her hand on the table until she found her phone again. She held it in the air and pointed the screen at me. She had been watching a video of a kitten that was trying to jump out of a box. ‘Waaaaaaatch this cuuuuuute videeeeeeoooooo.’

  ‘Run!’ Brayden shouted.

  At that instant, every zombie in the room looked up from the phones, squinting so their eyes could adjust. With open mouths, they all started groaning about how we needed to watch whatever cute animal video was on the phone.

  Gavin took off, sliding over one of the tables. ‘C’mon, Chase!’

  I didn’t waste any time, rolling across the surface of the same table. The zombies at the desk pointed their phones at me, grumbling about their status updates. I kept my eyes focused on the lights in the ceiling, trying not to catch of glimpse of one of those kitten videos. I’m a ninja at heart, but who wouldn’t want to watch a cute video like that?

  The zombies stood up and hobbled towards us. Their legs must’ve fallen asleep because they were clumsy, trying to keep their balance and stumbling into each other.

  ‘Eli’s back here!’ Gavin said, jogging between the tall bookshelves. He paused, looking past me. ‘Where’s Brayden?’

  I stopped running and spun in place. The zombies weren’t following us, and I could see why. They were all gathering around Brayden as he covered his eyes.

  ‘Go on without me!’ Brayden cried. ‘I’m done for! The videos! They’re too cute to pass up! Go! I’ll find you after lunch! Gooooooo…!’ his voice trailed off. The last thing I heard him say was, ‘That kitty’s never gonna fit in that tube! Cute little kitty!’

  Brayden had become a zombie. I mean, y’know … at least until after lunch.

  Gavin finally made it to one of the rooms in the back. Along the wall was a series of doors about two metres apart. Each led to a small study room with a desk and a power outlet. There was a student inside each room. Eli was in the last one.

  I peered through the glass door and saw his phone’s screen. It looked like he was shopping for one of those oversized magician’s hats – the kind where a bunny goes in but doesn’t come out.

  Gavin swung the door open and stepped inside. Eli looked up from his phone and flinched, scooting his chair back until it bumped his desk, but with Gavin and I blocking his exit, he was completely trapped.

  Eli was dressed in all-black clothing and wearing eyeliner. His black jeans were baggy enough that three people could’ve easily fit inside them. Drops of orange paint were splattered at the bottom of his jeans. He stared at us from behind his long greasy fringe.

  ‘You seem a tad jumpy,’ G
avin said with his cowboy accent.

  ‘Maybe because you two barged into my study room,’ Eli said, pushing his hair behind his ears.

  ‘What do you know about yesterday’s accident in the cafeteria?’

  ‘I wasn’t in lunch yesterday,’ Eli said, angry. ‘I’m always in here during lunch.’

  ‘Not at lunch,’ Gavin said. ‘Yesterday morning when Sophia’s penguin was set free.’

  ‘Oh that,’ Eli whispered. After a second, he said, ‘It was awesome, and frankly, I’m glad the penguin escaped his caged life! No animal should have to live like a prisoner.’

  ‘Interesting perspective,’ Gavin said. ‘So you think it’s a good thing that Hotcakes got loose?’

  Eli snickered. ‘Who names a penguin Hotcakes?’

  Gavin ignored the question. ‘Rumour has it you were around the cage,’ Gavin said.

  ‘Everyone was around that cage,’ Eli said. ‘There was a penguin.’

  Gavin stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth and scratched more notes onto his notepad.

  Finally, Eli broke the silence. ‘Oh I get it. You think I did it? Well, you’re completely wrong about that, good sirs. I didn’t have anything to do with the penguin or anything else for that matter!’

  I folded my arms. ‘Is there any information you could tell us that might help us find the kid who did it? What did you see yesterday?’

  Eli mocked me, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. ‘I already told you I didn’t do it, so we’re done here.’

  Gavin sighed. ‘What about the kid in the hockey mask? Play any hockey lately, Eli? Hmm?’

  ‘If by hockey, you mean hacky sack, then yeah, I’ve been playing a ton recently,’ Eli said.

  ‘No,’ Gavin said, rubbing his eyebrows. ‘That’s not what I meant.’

  ‘Are you guys, like, the school detectives now? You can’t just burst into my study period and demand answers from me, y’know. I have my rights and I want to speak to the principal.’

  Gavin held his open palms out. ‘Easy now, cupcake. I just wanted—’