Pizza Steve, Mr. Gus, and Uncle Grandpa were all waiting anxiously in the kitchen for Billy Baggins to come back and give them an answer about the strange events that had happened. After what seemed like an eternity, the pale-pink haired walked into the kitchen holding the book in his hands. Everyone scooted to the edge of their seats to hear what he had to say.

"Did you find anything, Billy?" Uncle Grandpa asked him.

Billy nodded. "I have a lead..."

"Who is it then?" Pizza Steve asked impatiently.

"The question isn't exactly who." Billy corrected him. "However, if I am to verify that I am correct, I need you to turn the television on to the news station."

Everyone tilted their heads at Billy.

"Why would you need the news station on?" Pizza Steve asked.

"Just do it." Billy ignored his question, demanding they fulfill his request.

Mr. Gus nodded before going over to the TV and turning it on. Uncle Grandpa picked up the remote and turned it to the news channel.

The news channel had a person with blood all over their mouth and shirt talking. It looked like he was going over the weather, as there was a weather map behind him. However, what he was talking about was not weather related. "Ah yes, and tomorrow's special wil good Red Slop dish. V healthy and V good! Fun for all fam! Delicious flave! Trust!"

Billy let out a sigh. "Yep, just as I suspected."

"Why are they talking like that?" Mr. Gus asked.

"Hell, is this guy aware of all the blood on his shirt?" Pizza Steve had his sunglasses lowered as he stared on with wide eyes at the TV. He suddenly let out a gasp and quickly pointed at the TV, letting his sunglasses fall off his face and onto the floor.

On the TV, the guy who was talking about the weather started to cough. He was coughing up more blood. He continued to cough for a moment before going into a gagging fit. He paused briefly before going back into it again. On his eighth heave, a large and pink organic looking sac started to come out of his mouth.

Steve let out a loud scream as this happened. Uncle Grandpa was covering his eyes and Mr. Gus stood there with his mouth agape. Billy stood there and nodded.

"Yep... it really is just what I suspected..."

Steve immediately grabbed Billy's shirt and started to shake him. "What is it?! What's going on?!" he rattled off the questions frantically.

Uncle Grandpa let out a loud yelp and everyone turned their attention to the TV. The weatherman was now beating his head against the weather screen as he kept on repeating "I'm okay". He hit his head a bunch of times before turning around. His forehead was bleeding as he stared on with googly, glazed over eyes. He brought his face as close to the camera as possible. "EAT!"

He then finally dropped to the ground and the TV let out a loud ring as the "No Signal" sign showed up.

Steve dropped to the floor and curled up into the fetal position as he began to tug on his hair. "This is not happening!"

"Calm down, Steve! We're going to get to the bottom of this" Mr. Gus reassured him.
"Are you kidding me? How can I be calm? Some guy just vomited a giant sac and beat himself to the point of bleeding on live television! That is insane, man!" Steve was really distressed from all the events.

"Well, Billy seems to know what's going on..." Uncle Grandpa turned to him.
"Eh, I don't exactly know for sure but I have a good idea..." Billy began. "It's a bit strange, though, so be prepared..."

"It's grabbing a hold of everyone!" I said mortified after the scene I just witnessed on the news channel.

"I have to make sure Austin is okay!" she quickly dialed on her cellphone and put it on speaker. After a ring, Austin picked up.

"H-Hello?" Austin seemed frightened.

"Austin! It's me, Nac!" Nac tried to reassure him.

"Oh thank goodness! I was getting worried after what I saw on TV!" he replied in relief.
"So you know about it too?" she asked.

"The people acting strange? Yeah! What's going on?" he asked.

"It's in the food people are eating! That nasty slop! They're serving it in the schools!" Nac told him.

"Oh no! I hope my parents are okay! I haven't heard from them since this morning. I stayed home sick because I had a terrible headache when I woke up this morning. I'm fine now, though." he told us.

"Is there any way you can make it to Kev's house?" she asked.

"Kev? Why Kev?" he asked.

"Because we're all here. Me, Kev, Dennis, Ned, and Remo are the only ones who didn't eat the food. We're trying to hide from the people who did eat the food! They're trying to get us to eat that nasty slop." Nac explained.

"Oh boy! I never went out when my parents weren't home before! I can try." he admitted. "I'll text you my progress on the way to Kev's house!"

"Alright. See you soon, Austin! Stay safe!" Nac told him.

"Alright! Bye Nac!" he said before hanging up.

I paced back and forth around the room, trying to think of what to do. Everyone else was silent. Finally, Kev spoke up.

"Do you guys remember who was absent today?" he asked, brushing back his black hair behind his ear.

"Adam was absent today" Remo told us.

"So was Akria!" Ned added.

"I remember Melvin was absent today too" I recalled.

Kev cringed. "I don't want to call Melvin. I hate that kid."

"We need all the help we can get, though" I said. "Even if he is a spoiled brat, we'll do better in numbers."

"Nah, I'm with Kev. He'll only slow us down with his lame attitude!" Remo replied.

"How about that Izzie chick, was she absent today?" Nac asked.

"I don't know! She's practically invisible and rarely ever talks!" Ned responded with a shrug.

"Let's call Adam first! Who has his number?" I asked.

"I do!" Nac said as she immediately dialed him on her cellphone.

She put it on speaker and waited for him to respond. After it rung a few times, it went right to his voicemail. As I was about to suggest calling Akira, Nac dialed his number again.

"He'll pick up, he's probably absorbed in a video game. If we keep calling he'll pick up" she told us.

"What if they got him?" Ned suggested with a worried voice.

Nac shook her head as she put her cellphone on speaker again. The phone rung a few times before Adam answered.

"What?" he asked, a bit annoyed.

"Adam! This is important!" Nac said into the phone urgently. "Everyone is eating nasty slop food and turning into zombies! We need you to get over to Kev's house as soon as you possibly can!"

"What? Since when was this happening?" he asked.

"Since now! The school was serving the slop and now everyone is crazy!" Nac explained.
"Woah! I missed alot! I faked being sick today so I could beat this new game I got yesterday!" he said. "I'm almost done beating it, but this sounds pretty urgent. I'll save my progress and be there ASAP" he told us.

"Before you go, call your girlfriend and make sure she's okay!" Nac said with a teasing tone.

"Huh? What girlfriend?" he asked her.

"You know, the skinny crazy girl who's obsessed with being a surgeon" she laughed.
"Ugh! She's not my girlfriend! I don't even have a crush on her we're just friends!" he insisted angrily.

"Yeah, that's why you always wanna be her lab partner!" she giggled.

"Because working with her is a 100% guaranteed A+! Anyways, I'll call her and invite her to Kev's house if that's what you want." he sighed.

"Yeah, we need her science brain!" she told him. "Bye!"

"Bye" he hung up.

Before Nac put down her cell phone. It gave a loud "ding". She pressed a few buttons before giggling.

"Austin fell into a pile of bushes because he heard a noise that scared him. The noise turned out to be a squirrel! That boy is too silly!" she laughed.

"Alright, so Austin, Adam, and potentially Izzie will be arriving soon. How about Akira?" I asked. "Does anyone have Akira's number?"

"I don't..." Nac responded.

Everyone else shook their heads too.

"How about Melvin?" I asked.

"Nobody likes Melvin!" Kev gave a frustrated sigh.

Nac moved her thumbs quickly as she typed on her cell phone.

"I'm asking Austin if he has Akira's number. I'm pretty sure he does." she told us.
We anxiously waited for an answer from Austin. Finally Nac's cell phone made a loud ding. She took a look at it before dialing something onto the phone and touching the speaker button. The phone rang a few times before we heard a Japanese accented voice answer the phone.

"Hello?" Akira answered.

"Yo Akira, this is Nac! I'm Austin's friend." Nac introduced herself.

"Oh hello! Uh... how did you get my number?" he asked.

"Austin gave it to me. I apologize for the strange call, but this is important." she told him.

"Is it about the crazy people on the TV?" he asked.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"I just had a feeling, it's all over the news! Literally!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah! Do you know who Kev is and where he lives?" she asked.

"I know who Kev is but I do not know where he lives." Akira told us.

"We need you to get down to Kev's house as soon as possible! I'll give the phone to Kev so he can tell you his address." Nac said before handing the phone over to Kev.

"Hello Kev!" Akira greeted, sounding a bit nervous. Perhaps Kev intimidated him? Kev did look pretty intimidating. He acted intimidating too, but Kev isn't a bad guy. He's actually pretty cool once you get to know him.

Kev didn't bother returning the greeting. He just gave him his address and told him to get there soon. Akira agreed and hung up. Kev handed the phone back to Nac.

"Now all we have to do is wait." I said.

"Should we watch the news in the mean time?" Ned asked.

"I don't wanna see those crazy people!" Remo cringed.

Suddenly, we heard loud banging on Kev's back door. We all jumped. The banging was frantic.

Did they find us?