Free My Zombie Hamster by Havelock McCreely Page B

forest and we all went out looking for him, the time we all snuck into the neighboring school and toilet-papered their basketball court. The time the four of us all went down Town Hill (that’s the really steep hill in the middle of Edenvale) on our bikes, forcing all the cars to pull over, and how a police officer eventually caught us. The main thing we all remembered about this was seeing our reflections in his mirrored sunglasses as he gave us a lecture.
    I wondered why she was bringing all this stuff up, but after a while it didn’t matter. We were both laughing and talking about all the stupid stuff we’d done, talking about who we liked at school, who we didn’t like. I even told her about Erin, and to my surprise she didn’t laugh or mock me.
    It was … nice. Despite the cold, despite how late it was, it was cool to just sit there and chat.
    After a couple of hours we trailed off into silence. I looked over and saw Charlie had fallenasleep. I let her sleep for a while, but after another half hour I decided to wake her up. Lying on the cold roof couldn’t be doing much for her illness.
    I nudged her, but she didn’t move. I had to really shake her before her eyes flickered open again. She stared at me as if she didn’t know who I was.
    “Charlie?” I said.
    Nothing.
    “Hey, Charlie. You okay?”
    She didn’t budge. And it was starting to freak me out, the way she was just looking at me.
    “Charlie, I think you should go inside now.”
    She stared at me for another few seconds, then finally blinked. She looked around, confused. At the garage roof we were sitting on, at the houses around her, then finally at me.
    “Matt?”
    “Yes. Matt. Why do you sound so surprised?”
    “I … I …” She closed her eyes. “I don’t feel so good. I think I’d better get to bed.”
    “Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow. But seriously, you need to go to a doctor. You’ve probably made yourself worse sitting out here.”
    She stood up and made her shaky way through the window that led directly into her room.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23
    8:00 p.m . Well … I don’t know how to even begin describing today. It’s been … hectic. I still feel sick. So much went on.
    I should probably start at the beginning.

    4:15 a.m . I was woken up when it was still dark by the wail of sirens outside. I leaped out of bed to see the black vans of the Zombie Squad come roaring down our street like we were in some big blockbuster movie.
    I wondered why they were here.
    But then I felt a sick ball of fear surge in my stomach, because the vans skidded to a stop outside my house.
    My first thought was they’d found out about Snuffles. That they were coming for Dad. I was about to warn him to run when I saw the Zombie Police pile out of their vans and run, not toward my house, but to Charlie’s.
    I glanced to the garage roof, where we had spent our time talking before we went to bed.
    And there, climbing out her bedroom window, was Charlie.
    She ducked down low so the lone Zombie Squad officer waiting on the street didn’t see her.
    What was going on?
    I hurried downstairs. My parents were up, staring out the front window, so they didn’t see me as I ran out the kitchen door and got over the back fence, onto the woodshed, and up onto the garage roof.
    “
Psst!
” I said. “Charlie!”
    She whirled around to face me.
    If I thought she looked ill earlier it was nothing compared to how she looked now. Her face was as white as the moon. Her eyes were wide and dark, filled with fear.
    “Charlie. What’s going on?”
    “Matt,” she said in a low voice. She slid alongthe roof toward me. I noticed that she was holding something in her hand. Not only that, but it looked like she had a really deep cut on her forearm.
    “Why is the Zombie Squad here?” I asked.
    “Um … I think I might be in a bit of trouble.”
    She took my hand and placed it against the middle of her chest. I tried to pull away, but her grip was like a vise. I