Zombie Field Day Read Free Page A

added after a pause, “I took a bite of it.”
    “You what?” Chad said.
    “Many great scientists have been forced to use themselves as subjects,” Leo said. “Right, Roger?”
    But Roger was looking even more zombie-like than usual as he stared at the plant. “Such an odd color,” he said slowly. “And notice the fine green powder at the base of the leaf.”
    “What?” Leo held the plant up to the light. “I don’t see any powder.”
    “Here.” Roger took the plant and turned it upside down to show him a small leaf near the stem. “It’s just a few grains on the underside of the leaf. Easy to miss under normal circumstances, and this specimen has been tampered with. As you can see, someone has carefully wiped off most of the powder.”
    Leo jumped up and grabbed the plant from Roger.
    “Don’t even think about eating that powder, Leo!” Chad shouted.
    “I’m not going to eat it,” Leo said. He was so excited his voice squeaked a little. “I’m going to examine it.”
    He dipped a long Q-tip into the powder and wiped a green smear on a small rectangle of glass. Then he carefully placed another piece of glass on top of that one. “Microscope sandwich!” he declared, sliding the glass under a microscope. “Yeeeessssssssss!” Leo hissed as he squinted into the eyepiece. He stepped aside to let Roger take a look.
    “My word!” Roger exclaimed.
    “What? What is it?” Chad asked, taking a turn. “All I see are a bunch of lumpy green blobs.”
    “Exactly, m’boy,” Roger said. “The bacteria known as Z. coli.”
    Leo added, “One of the most powerful zombifiers in the world.”

    Prioritize . That was the word Mrs. Chandler, Leo’s English teacher, was always using. “What are your most important tasks?” he could hear her ask. “Identify those and perform them first.” For once, Leo was glad he’d listened in class. He made a list of what he needed to do, most important tasks first:
Stop Principal V from making more zombies.
Find antidote to cure zombies already made.
    Then he made more notes under his first task:
Where is Principal V’s Z. coli supply? (Find and destroy.)
How is Principal V spreading Z. coli to students?
    It didn’t take a genius zombie scientist to figure out the answer to the last question. School lunch the next day was pizza, Rotfield Middle School’s most popular entrée. That afternoon, the number of zombies at school went way up. Principal V’s office was now crowded with moaning green zombies, dusting rags in hand. Chad and Leo had to push the undead away as they frantically searched for the Z. coli powder. But all they found was row after row of miniature unicorns.
    “It’s time to move on to step two,” Leo told Roger and Chad that afternoon back at the lab. “There are too many of them. Our best hope now is an antidote.”
    “I’ve already been working on it,” Roger said. “I’ve examined our plant from every possible angle. But I’m afraid I’ve reached an impasse.” Roger sighed heavily and plopped down on his favorite hazardous materials box.
    “That means he’s stuck,” Leo explained to Chad.
    “My dear fellows, I need a specimen to test,” Roger said.
    “He needs a zombie to experiment on,” Leo continued. After a pause, he added, “And I’m going to be it. Roger, pass me the Z. coli.”
    “No way!” Chad yelled. “We need your brain alive to help us out of this mess. If anyone’s going to become a zombie around here, it’s me. ” Chad poked himself in the chest, pushing in the B on his T-shirt that said, “My Other Body Is a Zombie.”
    “Well, my noble friends,” Roger said, “I would volunteer, but I’m afraid that would complicate the results. Shall we flip a coin?”
    “Wait. Maybe we could take a zombie from school?” Chad said hopefully.
    “You mean kidnap a kid from school?” Leo said. “And have parents come looking? No way! Look, I live here already. It makes the most