Zombie Town Read Online Free Page A

zoomed past, I saw a man and a woman jammed inside with piles of clothes, a rocking chair, and a television set.
    The car squealed around the corner and flew onto the highway leading out of town.
    Behind it came a pick-up truck with five kids in the back. The kids hung on tight as the truck skidded around the corner and sped toward the highway.
    “Those people are going to get speeding tickets,” Karen declared.
    “Yeah. But I don’t see any police cars around,” I told her. “Except for that one.”
    I pointed at the blue car parked at the curb. Actually, it wasn’t exactly parked. Its front wheels sat on the sidewalk. Its rear end stuck out into the street.
    Other cars had been parked at weird angles, too. The radio in one of them blared loudly through the open driver’s-side door.
    The cars looked as if they had been parked in a hurry—and then abandoned.
    That crawly feeling on the back of my neck grew stronger. “What is going on around here?” I asked. I waved my arm. “Look at all the houses.”
    We had entered the neighborhood where we live, and the front door of almost every house stood wide open. They swung back and forth in the wind, and slapped against the houses.
    No one came to close them.
    A leaf blower lay in a yard, buzzing noisily.
    No one came to turn it off.
    A dirt bike lay at the end of a driveway with its engine sputtering. Black smoke spewed into the air.
    No one came to check it out.
    “See what I mean?” I said. “Nobody is around.”
    “Yeah. And it’s like they all left in a hurry,” Karen agreed.
    I felt a chill roll down my back. I saw Karen’s chin tremble.
    That made me even more nervous. After all, I’m the one who gets scared and has nightmares. Not Karen. If she’s scared, then something is seriously wrong.
    I checked over my shoulder again. No zombies. But no people, either.
    We hurried across the street to the next block. The houses looked the same—deserted. As we turned the corner onto our block, we began to run.
    “Don’t worry!” Karen gasped. “There has to be some explanation!”
    Sure, I thought. But what?

We split up when we reached the middle of our block. Karen ran to her house, and I dashed across the street to mine.
    Our minivan stood in the driveway. The front door of the house was closed. Alright! I thought. Mom and Dad are home. Now I’ll find out what’s happening.
    I banged through the door and stumbled into the hall. “Mom! Dad!” I shouted. “I’m home! And something really spooky is going on outside!”
    I paused to catch my breath. Why is it so dark in here? I wondered. The hallway light was off. All the lights were off.
    “Hello! Mom?” I hollered. “Dad? Zach?”
    My voice echoed in the front hall.
    But no one answered.
    My heart skipped a beat. I froze, suddenly cold all over.
    They have to be home, I thought. The van is here.
    I jumped when I heard a voice. From the den at the back of the house.
    The television! That’s where they are, I thought. They’re all watching TV in the den.
    I hurried down the hall and peered around the door.
    The den lights were off, too. The only light came from the TV. It flickered on the wall, casting weird shadows around the room.
    My parents and Zach sat on the couch. Zipper, my dog, curled on the floor in front of them.
    A man on the TV held up a bottle of pills. “Folks, try the Extra-Energy Vitamin tablets and give your life a boost!” he boomed. “In ten days, I guarantee you’ll have more bounce in those bones than in the past ten years!”
    I frowned. An infomercial?
    Mom and Dad never watch those things. And Zach only likes cartoons.
    “Hey, I’m home,” I declared. “How come you’re all sitting around in the dark?”
    I reached around the door and flipped on the light.
    And opened my mouth in a scream of horror.

I gaped at my dad. At his sunken eyes, his slack jaw. The green skin sagging from his face.
    My mom’s eyes drooped from their sockets, hanging by veiny threads. Her