Free Zombie! by Alan MacDonald Page B

for Sunday. I’ve a good mind not to let youhave any.”
    She put the cake back in the fridge and stormed out.
    Darren sniggered. “Ha ha! Good one, Bertie!”
    “It wasn’t
me!
It was Eugene,” cried Bertie.
    Eugene frowned. “I don’t know why you’re trying to blame me,” he said crossly. “I was asleep the whole time!”

    While Eugene was cleaning his teeth, Bertie grabbed Darren and shut the bedroom door. They needed to talk.
    “Listen, I’m not making it up,” said Bertie. “Last night Eugene turned into a zombie!”
    “Ha ha! Right!” chortled Darren.
    “I’m
serious!
” cried Bertie. “It must’ve been that blood orange.”
    “That was a joke,” said Darren. “You don’t become a zombie by eating an orange!”
    “Well, Eugene did,” said Bertie. “You didn’t see him in the middle of the night. He was acting weird!”
    Darren frowned. “He seems all right now.”
    “I know,” admitted Bertie. “But there’s only one way to find out.”
    “What’s that?” said Darren.
    Bertie lowered his voice. “We’ll have to stay awake tonight and see if he does it again.”

CHAPTER 4
    DONG! DONG! DONG!
    The clock in the hall struck midnight. Bertie had been lying awake for hours. Loud snores came from the next sleeping bag. Darren was useless, he’d barely stayed awake for five minutes.
    THUMP!
    Bertie sat up. It was starting – Eugenewas off on his travels once more! Bertie watched him open the door and slip out of the room. He leaned over and shook Darren by the shoulder.
    “Wake up!” he hissed. “He’s at it again.”
    This time Bertie was prepared. He’d hidden a torch under his pillow so they wouldn’t have to blunder around in the dark. They followed Eugene downstairs.
    Darren stopped. “Wait, what if he attacks us?” he whispered.
    “It’s only Eugene,” said Bertie.
    “Yes, but zombies have the strength of ten men,” said Darren.
    “Don’t worry, last night he didn’t even know I was there,” said Bertie.
    They pushed opened the door to the kitchen. Eugene was sitting at the tablein the dark. He had a knife and fork, and the chocolate cake in front of him.
    “Hi, Eugene, what’s up?” said Darren.
    “He can’t hear you,” whispered Bertie, waving a hand in front of Eugene’s face. “He’s in zombie world.”
    Eugene suddenly spoke, making them both jump.
    “I’ve laid the table,” he said.

    Bertie and Darren looked at each other. It seemed safest to play along and sit down. Eugene cut a fat slice of cake and crammed it into his mouth in one go.
    “Crumbs! He’s pretty greedy for a zombie!” said Darren.
    “At least Mum can’t blame me this time,” said Bertie.

    Upstairs Mum was awake, sitting up in bed. She shook Dad by the arm.
    “Listen! Someone’s downstairs!” she hissed.
    Dad rolled over. They both listened for a few moments. There were definitely voices.
    “Burglars?” said Dad.
    “You better go and see,” whispered Mum.
    “Me?”
    “Well, I’m not doing it!”
    Dad looked in the cupboard andfound one of his old golf clubs. He crept downstairs clutching it, while Mum followed at a safe distance. They could hear the intruders in the kitchen.
    “Go on!” hissed Mum.
    Dad gripped the golf club. He was sure you weren’t meant to tackle burglars – right now he’d rather be hiding under the bed.

    He kicked open the door and rushed in.
    “YAAARGHH!”
    “AAARGHH!”
    Two of the burglars jumped to their feet. It was dark but they seemed to be wearing pyjamas.
    “Don’t move! I’m calling the police!” yelled Dad. He wished he was holding his phone instead of a golf club.

    “DAD! IT’S ME!” cried Bertie, switching on the light.
    Mum and Dad stared.
    “Bertie! You scared us half to death!” groaned Mum.
    “What are you doing down here?” said Dad.
    “Following Eugene,” said Bertie. “I told you, he’s turned into a zombie!”
    They all looked at Eugene who hadn’t moved from his seat. He was on his second slice