There, spinning a few feet off the ground, was the unmistakable mushroom head of Principal V. He was lying facedown over a swing, slowly twirling and untwirling the swing’s chains.
That clinched it. Leo and Chad were the only humans at school today. Good, Leo thought, with a small wave of relief. For their plan to work, they needed to be the only living flesh around.
CHAPTER 8
ZOMBIE FIELD DAY
All clear for step three,” Leo said. He and Chad were standing on the cement edge of the outdoor swimming pool. They had made it out of the P.E. shed and past the basketball hoops without any battles. In the distance, Leo could see Shelly in position. “On your mark, get set—”
“YOOO-HOOOOOOO,” Chad yelled. “Here, zombies-zombies-zombies! Come on, you undead freaks! Fresh meat, oh yeah.” He squeezed a roll of belly fat between his hands. “HHHHHAAAA-HAAAAA!”
“Yeah, you heard him, zombies,” Leo shouted. “Fresh meat!” He jumped up and down and waved his arms.
“Who wants a bite of delicious Chad sushi?” Chad yelled. “Today’s special? Butt roll!” he roared, wiggling his backside.
Chad slammed a couple of trash can lids together like cymbals and started marching around the pool. Leo stomped loudly behind him.
The plan was working. Zombies were coming toward them from every direction. They streamed out of the school doors and from the baseball field, the playground, and the basketball court.
“Oh yeah, come to papa,” Chad said.
The zombies made a wide circle around the pool. As Chad banged and Leo stomped, the circle became crowded. The hungry zombies moaned louder and rocked harder. They closed in on Chad and Leo.
“Step four!” Leo yelled.
“Whoooooo-hooooo!” Chad shouted.
The two friends jumped into the pool with a giant splash. Quickly, Leo released the bright green slug from the sandwich bag inside his pocket. He turned the bag inside out and swished it under the water to get out all the slime. A light green circle rippled out around the slug. Leo and Chad gently waved their arms to spread the slime across the surface of the water.
For a second the zombies just stood on the edge of the pool. Then, Splash! Plop! Splash! Ker-plunk! One by one, the zombies fell into the pool. They came from all sides, pushing each other in like dominoes.
Leo squeezed his eyes shut. This was it, the moment of truth. When he opened his eyes again, the first thing Leo saw was Chad’s grinning face. And behind that, the confused faces of his fellow Rotfield Middle School students.
“What’s going on?”
“How did I get here?”
“I’m freeeeeezing.”
“Hey, no splashing!”
Then came Shelly, right on time for step five. She rumbled toward them in a bright yellow bulldozer. She was carefully rolling a group of zombies along the ground with the front shovel. She stopped and turned off the engine at the pool’s edge.
“Got all the stragglers,” she called out. “But what do you want to do with him?” She pointed at Principal V. He was trying to crawl out from under her pile of dazed zombies.
Hmmm. Which was better? An evil genius principal or a deadly zombie principal? Deadly zombie, no doubt. But Principal V still had important information they needed. Plus, saving his life was probably the right thing to do.
“Throw him in,” Leo called out.
“Okay, boss,” Shelly said. And with the pull of a lever, she dumped the final five zombies into the giant pool of antidote.