Rattles stood rigidly in a hallway, his arm pointed to the side. Toward him walked Marina, her cane tapping on the floor. Molly watched breathlessly from behind a row of lockers. Marina continued to approach, thoroughly unaware that Rattles' arm was hanging in the path of her face. Molly struggled to keep from giggling.
Just as the space between Marina's eyes and the sleeve of Rattles' coat could be measured in millimeters, Rattles quickly yanked his arm away. The rabbit girl walked on, none the wiser.
Molly burst into laughter. "That was hilarious," she commended him. "But I dare you to do it in full view of the principal."
Rattles' eyes widened suddenly. "Cool it, Molly. Mrs. Frensky's coming this way."
The first-grade teacher staggered in their direction, her gaze intent but vacant. "He didn't do anything!" said Molly defensively. "I saw him not do anything!"
"Uuunnggghhhh," moaned Mrs. Frensky, her arms outstretched and groping.
"Dude, I think something's wrong with her," remarked Molly with concern.
The woman's hands landed on their shoulders simultaneously. They didn't know what was happening, or indeed, that anything was happening at all; within an instant their conscious thoughts ceased, and they started to trudge aimlessly and groan in the same manner as Mrs. Frensky.
Marina whirled, her long, sensitive ears picking up the sounds of their groans. "What's wrong?" she asked helpfully. "Is someone hurt?"
Seconds later, Arthur and Buster came into the school through a side entrance, and were startled to see Marina lumbering past them, her hands forward, her cane nowhere to be seen. "Uuuggghhhh," the blind girl mumbled.
"Hey, you're gonna run into something," Buster warned her.
Marina disregarded him, and promptly ran into something—the exit door. Undeterred, she grasped the handle, shoved it open, and walked through the doorway with the same constant gait as before.
"Omigosh," said Arthur, turning about. "She'll fall down the stairs!"
He and Buster made it out just in time to see Marina on the verge of the stairway, her right foot stepping into empty air. Arthur, leaping forward, succeeded in grasping the girl's arm at the moment she began to tumble. By bracing his feet against the first and second of the stone steps, he managed to slow Marina's descent and lessen her impact with the staircase. Sprawled but unharmed, she fumbled and twisted to right herself.
"That was some fancy footwork, Arthur," said Buster. "Arthur…?"
The next person to notice Arthur and Buster was a young man on a bicycle, who halted abruptly when they blocked his route. "Hey, I'm riding my bike here," he scolded them.
"Uuunngghhh," moaned the two boys as they pounced on him.
D.W.'s amusement at the zombie antics turned into irritation as one fellow student after another charged her, touching her in places where she didn't want to be touched. No matter where in the school building she wandered, the situation was similar—every child and grownup she encountered was earnestly striving to make more zombies. Okay, this is getting weirder and weirder, she thought. Are they all making fun of me? Or is this…real?
Lowering her hand into her pocket, she lifted the glowing orb in front of her face. Maybe this rock really is from outer space, she imagined. I remember watching a movie about a meteor that turned people into zombies. Then why doesn't it affect me? Is it because I'm holding it?
She heard normal voices in the distance, and looked over her shoulder. Francine, Sue, and Beat were emerging from their home room, with Mrs. Krantz close behind. The sight of the mindlessly marching hordes made them stop cold.
"What the heck's going on?" said Francine.
"If I didn't know better…" said Beat.
"I do know better," said Sue, "and I still say…they're zombies!"
The very word seemed to attract the gaze of the mesmerized masses, and they turned as one to stagger towards the three girls. They were over three dozen strong, a fearsome sight to behold.
"I don't get it," said Francine, her anxiety growing. "Halloween was a month ago."
"And they don't observe the Dia de los Muertos here," added Beat, "as far as I know."
As the groaning crowd surrounded them, Sue fixed her eye on D.W., who appeared to be the only unaffected human in the center court. The aardvark girl was warding off would-be attackers by waving a pale green sphere at them and shouting, "Stay back!" Strangely enough, her strategy was working.
That rock protects her from the zombies, Sue realized. If I can get it away from her…
Francine, expressing both mock terror and genuine terror, backed away from the moaning mob until she collided with the lockers. "What happens if they bite us?" she said half-jestingly.
"That's easy," replied Beat as she cowered at her friend's side. "They bite you again, and then they keep biting you until they've eaten you."
A greedy hand lashed out at Sue, but she leaned backwards, dodging the attack with catlike agility. Seeing an opening between two of the zombies, she curled up, pushed forward with her feet, and rolled as if her back was the surface of a tire. As she stood up she thought, I'm glad I practiced that maneuver so many times in Tae Kwon Do class.
She took a quick backwards glance before hurrying away. Beat and Francine were no longer distinguishable from the rest; with waving arms and glassy eyes, they pushed their way into the classroom where Mrs. Krantz had taken refuge. There was no doubt left in Sue's mind that she was facing a bona fide zombie plague. That weird stone is my only hope of saving them…and me, she assured herself.
"Back, foul zombies!" cried the little girl with the sphere. "The power of D.W. compels you!" James, Vicita, and every other child in her vicinity fled as if driven by whips.
Sue, fearing nothing, rushed at D.W. with leaps and bounds, snatching the round object from her fingers with a swift motion. "Yoink!" she said exultantly.
"Hey, that's mine!" D.W. protested. "Get your own meteor!" She was barely able to finish her sentence before a second-grade boy jabbed her from behind. Her free will vaporizing, she put out her arms and staggered away in search of fresh victims to infect.
To be continued