Zombiefied! Read Free

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    â€˜What . . .? Why . . .?’ I stammered.
    â€˜Sorry,’ he said awkwardly. ‘I thought you were someone else. What happened to the other hat you sometimes wear?’
    â€˜The other hat?’ I said.
    â€˜You know, the blue hat. The one that says “Have a nice day” on the back.’
    â€˜â€œHave a purrfect day”,’ I said, whichwas pretty dumb because it really didn’t matter what the hat said.
    â€˜That’s it!’ cried Mr Knight, squeezing my shoulder and staring into my eyes as though he was worried I might be concussed. Which, judging from what I’d said, was probably exactly how I sounded.
    â€˜Who did you think I was?’ I asked, trying to sound normal although I was still breathing like Darth Vader.
    â€˜Um . . . just a bad guy. Someone I don’t want around here, that’s all.’
    â€˜He must be really bad if you wanted to strangle him,’ I said. I wasn’t scared anymore — just annoyed.
    Mr Knight dropped his hand from my shoulder. He looked awkward. ‘Yeah, sorry about that.’
    â€˜Sorry about what, Dad?’ Sophie had appeared at the front door, Michael’s Fuzzilstuck on top of her shoulder. She stared at us. ‘What happened?’
    Mr Knight didn’t answer her. He just kept looking at me in a strange sort of way. I kept rubbing my throat, even though it was pretty much fine. As far as headlocks went, Michael’s were way worse.
    â€˜Nothing,’ I said to Sophie. ‘I just tripped trying to jump up the steps.’
    â€˜I knew that would happen one day!’ said Sophie. ‘Just a tic, I’ll go grab my bag.’
    She reappeared a few seconds later. ‘See you, Dad!’ she yelled, jumping onher bike, which was leaning against the side of the house. She never locked it up because she always said that anyone desperate enough to steal it could keep it. So far, nobody ever had. She sailed past us onto the street.

    â€˜Guess I’m a bit overprotective, sorry about that,’ said Mr Knight again, leaning down and grabbing my beanie out of the dirt. He dusted it off and handed it to me. ‘I’m glad you didn’t mention it to Sophie.’
    â€˜No problem,’ I said, taking the beanie and putting it on. I headed for my bike, keen to get out of there as quickly as possible. The guy sure was being weird!
    By the time I’d reached the end of the street, Sophie was way ahead of me and pedalling hard. We always race to school. The trouble is that she usually wins, especially if she gets a head-start. I decidedto take a short-cut through Henderson Park. I could see her flying along the road just beside me. At the park entrance, I swerved between the posts and zoomed up the footpath to avoid the speed bumps on the road at the school gate. It was against school rules to ride on the footpath, especially just before the bell went when heaps of kids were arriving, but I was pretty awesome at riding my bike and I knew I wouldn’t hit anyone.
    Then —
    â€˜AAAAGGGHHH!’
    I swerved as fast as I could, but it wasn’t fast enough. The front wheel of my bike connected with someone’s legs before bumping down into the gutter, while the back wheel skidded out. I fell sideways off my bike, landing on one hand and one knee. Luckily, I’d managed to slow downenough that the fall didn’t hurt too much. Sophie glided past me, looking smug.
    The legs I’d hit stopped in front of me. ‘What’d you do that for?’
    I was about to tell him it was his fault for stepping out in front of me. But when I looked up from my position on the ground, I clamped my lips shut.

    The kid I’d run into was called Tank. I’m not sure if that was the name he was given by his mum and dad, or if that was just the best way to describe him. Tank was big and square and hard. He was big enough to still be standing while I was sprawled on the