Free The Zombie Chasers #4 by John Kloepfer

dangling above his head. He still looked like a person with an ape’s head, although now the gorilla had a human mouth and teeth. Rice spun and spun, making himself dizzy.
    â€œGuys!” Zack said, and turned to show Ozzie and Zoe. “We got—”
    â€œRice!” Madison shouted, losing her grip on the umbrella. “Get back here!”
    â€œBlarghle-snargle!”
    Wham!
    Zombie Rice bumped into Zack, gnawing blindly at the air. Completely caught off guard, Zack put up his hands to block his best friend’s zombie assault. Rice’s two front teeth nipped the Band-Aid from Zack’s fingertips, and time slowed to a standstill.
    â€œ Nooooooooo! ” Zack screamed, his eyes widening. He grabbed for the King Kong mask, but zombie Rice thrashed him to the ground before he could. Zack’s rear end hit the damp grass as he watched his monkey-headed friend gobble up the Band-Aid.
    Zack crawled over quickly and grabbed Rice by the face. “No!” he yelled. “Spit it out!”
    But it was too late.
    Rice had just swallowed their only hope. “Guggh!” Zombie Rice belched once and keeled over as his whole body fell slack in the grass.

W earing his night-vision goggles, Ozzie Briggs karate-chopped the last zombie in their area—an undead skater punk rocking ripped jeans and a tank top showing off his mangled, tattooed arm. The zombie’s innards sloshed from the kung fu blow, and twin streams of yolky mucus shot out from both his nostrils. Ozzie dodged the slimy shrapnel and jogged over to where Zack was sitting next to Rice’s now unconscious body lying in the grass. “What the— What did you do?” Ozzie asked pulling off his goggles.
    Zoe came over, filling in the blanks. She pointed to her brother. “He found the Band-Aid, which was really, really awesome, but also pretty gross. Then Rice ate the Band-Aid, which was even grosser, but not nearly as awesome.”
    â€œWhat the heck, man?” Ozzie yelled. “You let him eat the Band-Aid?”
    â€œI didn’t let him do anything,” Zack said, rising to his feet. “Maybe if you weren’t such a showboat, you would have been over here helping us out.”
    â€œShowboat?” Ozzie shouted, and jumped over Rice, who lay prone on the grass at their feet. “I’m the one who’s been doing all the work and saving your puny butt all over town!”

    â€œHey,” Zoe joined in the yelling. “Nobody talks to my brother like that except for moi . Plus, I save his butt, like, every two seconds! So don’t go taking all the credit.”
    Twinkles walked over to Rice and lapped a globule of slime off his King Kong mask. Just then Rice’s eyes snapped open, but everyone was too busy yelling to notice.
    â€œCan we please stop bickering?” Madison said. “We’re on the same team. What are we supposed to do now? That stupid Band-Aid was our only hope!”

    â€œGuys?” Rice’s voice sounded from behind the mask. “What’s going on? Why am I all tied up?”
    â€œRice!” Zack shouted happily. “You’re not a zombie anymore!” He ran over
    and helped his
    buddy to his feet.
    Zoe, however, went up to Rice and whacked him upside the head. “Thanks a lot, monkey brains. Now we’re all dead meat.”
    â€œOw!” Rice yelled, grabbing his head and pulling off the mask. “What was our only hope?”
    â€œThe Band-Aid!” everyone shouted.
    â€œWhat Band-Aid?”
    â€œThe one Madison had on before she ate the pizza!” Zoe shouted.
    â€œYo,” said Rice. “How good was that pizza?”
    â€œYeah,” said Zack. “So good it unveganized her blood.”
    Rice turned to look at Madison. “No way!”
    â€œAfraid so, Ricey-poo,” Madison said.
    â€œListen, dude,” Zack said. “The popcorn antidote just all of a sudden wore off and everyone who ate