The Zombie Zone-a to z 26 Read Free Page A

kids tiptoed past Jack, then knelt to crawl into the tent.
    “See anything interesting?” Jack asked.
    All three kids jumped and whipped around. “You’re awake?” Dink said.
    Jack sat up in his hammock. “I’m a light sleeper,” he said. “Where have you been?”
    “We need to talk to you,” Ruth Rose said. “We saw someone at the cemetery!”
    “You did?” Jack jumped out of his hammock. He had put on dark sweat clothes. He pushed up his sleeve and looked at his watch. “What were you doing at the cemetery at midnight?”
    “Something woke me up,” Dink said. “I noticed a light in the woods, and we decided to follow it.”
    Dink stared at Jack. He couldn’t help comparing him with the man they’d just seen at the graveyard. Both were tall, wearing dark clothing. Both had light hair and wore wristwatches.
    “We saw a guy crawl out of a grave!” Josh said. “We know he wasn’t a zombie ’cause he was wearing a watch. Right, guys?”
    Dink focused on Jack’s face. Could it have been him they’d just spied on? What would Jack be doing in an empty grave?
    “Do you think it could have been the grave robber?” asked Ruth Rose.
    “Was he digging?” Jack asked.
    “We don’t know,” Josh said. “We didn’t see a shovel or anything.”
    Josh pointed at Dink. “He wanted to go down in it, but I said no way!”
    “You were smart,” Jack told Josh. “But you were all pretty foolish to go out in these woods without telling me. Don’t do it again, okay?”
    The kids nodded. “Okay, but who do you think that was?” Ruth Rose asked.
    Jack stretched and leaned against one of his hammock trees. “My guess? One of the men from the village just checking out the cemetery. For all we know, they may have posted guards to make sure the grave robber doesn’t steal anymore,” he said.
    “But what was he doing down in one of the graves?” Josh asked.
    Jack shrugged. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “Now how about we get some sleep?”
    Jack hoisted himself back into his hammock. The kids crawled into the tent, and Dink zipped it shut. After they were settled, Dink lay on his back staring at the tent ceiling.
    He tried to remember if he’d taken a good look at Jack’s hammock before they’d followed the flashlight. Dink didn’t know for sure if Jack had been there when they’d left.
    Dink tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone dry. Could the grave robber have been sleeping in a hammock just outside their tent?
    Dink didn’t sleep well that night.

Dink woke up when he heard someone singing outside the tent. He peeked out and saw Jack opening the coolers.
    Sunlight slanted across the water, turning the Gulf to gold. A sweet-smelling breeze came with the sun. It was a perfect morning, and Dink was hungry.
    As Dink pulled on his sneakers, he thought of last night. He laughed. No way could that have been Jack in the grave. No way.
    Dink nudged Josh and Ruth Rose awake, then unzipped the flap and left the tent.
    Jack was wearing shorts and a T-shirt again. “Hey,” he said, smiling at Dink. “I brought fruit and bagels and juice. You hungry?”
    “Yeah, my stomach is rumbling,” Dink said.
    “Mine is, too!” Josh said, joining them. Ruth Rose came next, fixing her headband.
    Jack carried the food down to one of the flat-bottomed boats to use it as a tabletop. They looked out over the water as they ate.
    “Look,” Jack said, pointing along the shore. A mother squirrel and two young ones were sitting at the water’s edge. They washed their hands and faces, then waddled back into the trees.
    “When are we going to go see the alligator nest?” Josh asked.
    Jack checked his watch. “Pretty soon. But I want to check in on Myrna first. Do you mind?” he asked. “She seemed worried yesterday.”
    “Sure,” Dink said. “But what will we do with the tent and stuff?”
    “I’ll get it later,” Jack said.
    “Are you going to tell Myrna what we saw last night?” asked Ruth Rose.
    Jack