The Zombie Chasers #4 Read Free Page B

better sleep with one eye open.”
    â€œYeah, yeah, Zoe,” Ozzie said under his breath as Zoe turned away. “We’re real scared.”
    â€œOkay, everyone!” Ms. Merriweather raised her voice above all their conversations. “Please throw away your plates and form a single-file line over there.” She pointed to the black entry gate leading in and out of the park, where two bright red double-decker tour buses had just pulled up to the curb.
    â€œI call front seat on the top level!” yelled Zack as he dumped his trash and took off running.
    â€œLast one there is a rotten zombie!” Rice’s voice trailed off as they hustled for the buses.

Z ack, Rice, and Ozzie peered off the observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building as the sun lowered on the horizon. The sky blazed bright red-orange with streaks of pink clouds. The boys gazed out across the panoramic view of the big city. From the hundred and second floor of the skyscraper, the New Yorkers below looked tinier than ants, more like the size of ticks, hustling and bustling by the thousands upon thousands all over the concrete island of Manhattan.
    â€œCheck it out,” Ozzie said, pointing south toward Liberty Island. “That’s where we just were.”

    From that height they could see all the places they had gone throughout the day. First they had visited Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, then up through SoHo and over to Greenwich Village. While the girls had gone shopping, the boys stopped at a street food cart and had a contest to see who could eat the most falafel balls. Rice won that contest hands down, with Zack coming in a close second.
    It was a pretty fun trip, but Zack was dying to get back to the hotel. His feet were killing him.
    Ms. Merriweather looked at her watch and raised her hand, getting everyone’s attention. “Everybody line up!”
    Zack jumped in line behind Madison, and the students began to shuffle back inside single-file.
    â€œPsst!” Rice grabbed Zack by the shirt collar and yanked him around the corner of the observation deck. They waited there until the coast was clear.
    â€œWhat the heck, man?” Zack said, massaging his neck. “That’s gonna leave a mark.” Rice ignored him, dropping to one knee and opening up his trusty backpack. “Dude, what are you doing?” asked Zack.
    â€œI’m going to reenact the finale scene from King Kong real quick. . . .” Rice rummaged around in his pack and produced a gorilla mask, a Barbie doll, and a model airplane strung to a wooden stick.
    â€œFine. Just hurry up.” Zack chuckled to himself. “I don’t want to get in trouble with Mrs. G.” Zack took Rice’s smartphone and clicked the camera icon.
    â€œOkay,” Rice said, pulling the mask over his head. “Let’s do this.” He stood in front of the New York skyline and began to make some startlingly realistic monkey noises. In one hand he held the Barbie; in the other, he dangled the model airplane strung to the stick so that it dive-bombed in front of his face.
    Zack clicked a few different pictures and then scrolled through them. “I think we got it,” he said. “Can we go now?”
    Rice took off the King Kong mask. He was sweating bullets. “Whew! This thing is hot as heck!” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
    â€œYou okay, man?” Zack pocketed the smartphone and raised an eyebrow at his friend. “You don’t look so great.”

    â€œYeah, yeah, yeah, I’m good. I’m good. . . .” Then, all of a sudden, Rice fell to his knees and flopped to one side on the ground. He clutched his stomach and let out a painful groan, coughing and squawking as a wave of spasms rippled through his spine.
    â€œDude, give it a rest!” Zack said. “I told you, like, three months ago I’m not falling for any more of