Zombie Surf Commandos from Mars! Read Free Page B

feet and climbed up a lifeguard chair looming above him.
    But the ugly squad attacked the chair!
    Flaky gray hands clutched at Jeff’s feet. He kicked back, stomping his heels wildly. Kkkk! A flaky head snapped back and dropped to the sand!
    â€œSorry, man!” winced Jeff.
    Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a call.
    â€œHey, zombies! Nyah-nyah!”
    The zombies turned.
    It was Liz, holding up her bangs and showing her forehead. Holly was behind her, making a face at Liz.
    â€œYum!” yelled knob-face. “Let’s go!”
    The squad deserted Jeff on the chair and shuffled across the sand after Liz.
    â€œHey!” shouted Jeff. “What’s wrong with my brain?”
    THONKA-THONKA-THONKA!
    A huge roaring, grinding, thundering sound filled the air. The sky darkened above the beach. The water in Lake Lake swirled.
    Liz gasped as a black shadow spread low across the sand.
    Holly fell instantly to the sand.
    Liz dived. “Watch out!” she screamed.

6
    Under Party Lights
    RRRRRRR! It was horrible! The beach turned into a swirling tornado of wind.
    Liz and Holly lay motionless on the sand.
    Jeff didn’t. He started walking into the tornado. “Mother?” he cried.
    â€œJeff, no!” Liz screamed. But the dark, thundering noise came so low she couldn’t move.
    Out of the noise and wind a jet-powered helicopter appeared. It roared low over the beach. Sand swirled up in funnels everywhere.
    Then, a woman’s face smiled from the front bubble window of the helicopter. She waved.
    Jeff waved back. “Hi, Mom!”
    An instant later, the helicopter roared away.
    Liz peered around. “Hey! The zombies are gone!” It was true. Not a gray skin flake in sight!
    Holly jumped up. “Your mom? That was your mom? Does she always scare people to death?”
    Jeff looked hurt. “Well, yeah. People always drop down and play dead when she goes over. Just like you did. Anyway, she scared the zombies away.”
    Liz glared at Jeff. With a mother like that, she wondered if it was already too late to help him.
    Jeff frowned. “What’s the big deal? It’s just my mom.”
    â€œOkay, Jeff,” Liz said. “I thought you told us your mother worked in a shoe store. What does she really do?”
    Jeff shrugged. “She works in a shoe store.”
    â€œWrong!” said Liz, like a game show host.
    â€œShe sells seashells by the sea —” Jeff started to say.
    â€œJeff!” Liz snapped.
    â€œOh, man! What can I say?” he said. “She won’t tell me what she does. It’s a secret. She and my dad are really quiet about it all.”
    â€œHelicopters aren’t quiet,” said Holly, scanning the beach for anything that moved.
    â€œYeah,” Jeff admitted, looking at the black dot disappearing over the hills. “That’s a little strange. A chopper flies to my house every morning, drops a rope ladder, and my mom climbs up and goes to work. Every night at eight it flies back and she parachutes down.”
    Liz turned Jeff around by his shoulders and pointed to the far hills. “Your mom works just over that giant pancake pan, in those hills, in a secret government test base, doesn’t she?”
    Jeff bit his lower lip and looked down at the sand. “Well, one night, I heard her say something to my dad, but it doesn’t make sense.”
    â€œWhat did she say?” asked Liz.
    â€œYeah,” said Holly. “You can tell us.”
    â€œFly sauce,” Jeff said. “She works with fly sauce.”
    Holly wrinkled her face up. “Fly sauce? Why would she work with fly sauce? I mean, what is fly sauce?”
    Liz jumped up. “No!” she exclaimed. “Not fly sauce. Flying saucers! I knew it!”
    Jeff’s mouth nearly dropped to his chest. “Flying saucers? Really?
    â€œListen, you guys,” Liz went on. “I always knew Grover’s Mill was weird, and this