Why I Quit Zombie School Read Online Free PDF Page B

was breathing hard. She had her hands drawn into tight fists.
    I finally realized she was serious. The cold feeling at the back of my neck sent a chill down my whole body.
    She studied me in silence for a long moment, staring hard into my eyes. “You really are alive?”
    I nodded. “I — I guess my parents didn’t know what kind of school this is when they enrolled me,” I stammered. “I mean, they found the schoolon the Internet. We didn’t have time to visit here or anything.”
    Franny raised a finger to her lips. “
Ssshh
. It’s very dangerous, Matt,” she whispered. “We have to keep our secret.”
    “Huh? Dangerous?” My voice cracked on the words.
    “We have to keep it secret that we’re alive,” Franny whispered. “We can’t let anyone know.”
    “But that’s …
crazy
,” I whispered back. “If they’re dead — or I mean, undead, how can we keep them from seeing that we’re different?”
    Franny shoved my shoulders again. “Listen to me,” she said. “Listen carefully. Not too fast.”
    I squinted at her. “Huh?”
    “Don’t move too fast,” she repeated. “Walk like a zombie. Stumble sometimes. Stagger to class. Bump into the wall once in a while. Don’t show off by raising your hand in class. Don’t try to be the first one to answer Miss Whelan’s questions. You have to act like you’re undead, Matt.”
    I stared at her, shivering from the chills rolling down my back. “You mean — I have to act like a
zombie
?”
    She nodded.
    “No. I can’t,” I whispered. “I’m out of here. I’m leaving now. I’m not even going to pack.”
    She squinted at me. “Escape? Do you really think you can escape this place?”
    “It’s pitch-black out,” I said. “I can run. No one will see. I can run to the highway and then —”
    Franny shook her head. “Did you see the crows outside? They’re not normal crows, Matt. They’re trained to guard the school grounds. You won’t get ten feet before they start screeching in alarm. No one has ever escaped.”
    I stared hard at her, my whole body trembling. I could see she was telling the truth. There was no escape.
    “So … I have to convince everyone I’m a zombie?” I whispered.
    She nodded again. “If I can do it, you can,” she said. “If they find out we’re alive, they’ll
kill
us!”

14
    I hurtled up to my room. I grabbed my cell phone. My hand shook so hard, it took me three tries to call home.
    Dad picked up on the third ring. “Hi, Matt. How’s it going?”
    “You — you enrolled me in a zombie school!” I blurted out.
    Silence on the other end.
    “Dad? Can you hear me?” My voice came out tight and shrill. “The kids at this school are all zombies!”
    I heard Dad snicker. “It’s Matt,” he told my mom. “We put him in a school for zombies.”
    I heard them both laugh.
    “You’ve got to listen to me this time. Please!” I begged.
    “Talk to your mom,” Dad said. “She’s been really missing you.”
    He handed her the phone. “Hi, Matt. We were just talking about you. Really. We —”
    “Mom, I’m in danger,” I said. “I’m not kidding. I’m in danger.”
    “Well, Dad and I will be there next weekend,” she said.
    “Next weekend?”
    “It’s Parents Day,” she said. “We’ll be there Saturday morning. We’ll take care of what’s upsetting you.”
    “No, you won’t,” I said. “Saturday might be too late. This school is a zombie school, Mom. The kids are all zombies.”
    “Are you making any friends?” Mom asked.
    I opened my mouth to answer, but I started to choke. Didn’t she
hear
what I was saying? Didn’t my words mean
anything
to her?
    “I can’t make friends, Mom,” I said, sighing. “The kids are all dead. They are the living dead. Do you know what I mean?”
    “Yes, I do, Matt,” she replied. “You mean you are unhappy being away from home and in a new school. But you’ll get used to it.”
    “Huh?
Used
to going to school with dead people?” I