then into the house.
Mom was furious, madder than he’d seen her since last Halloween. Junie sat at the kitchen table, bearing the brunt of it again. “All they wanted to talk about was if Chelsea was on drugs!” Mom said. She banged down a mixing bowl and started clearing the sink. “They said they wouldn’t even arrest her if they
found
her—or him!”
Stony waited as long as he could before interrupting. “Mom—Mom. Have you ever seen this book?”
She spun on him. “Did neither one of you even
think
of doing the dishes while I was gone?”
“It’s about zom—”
She knocked the paperback out of his hands. “Don’t you use that word!”
He stood very still. Junie didn’t move.
Mom turned back to the sink and twisted the hot-water faucet. Stony picked up the book and went back outside.
Kwang met him in the backyard. “Did you ask her about trick-or-treating?”
“Not a good time,” Stony said. He showed him the book. “Are there more of these? The library has to have more of these.”
* * *
Jack Gore
, the words on each back cover proclaimed.
A hard-bitten cop bitten hard
. Gore had been turned into one of the walking dead, but instead of being shot and burned after the outbreak, he’d been taken to a walled city located somewhere in the Midwest. Jack was like Stony: dead, but not one of the mindless monsters the newspapers and magazines had described. And he
solved crimes
. In
The Head Case
, a human woman tries to smuggle in a human brain in a jar, to sell at Deadtown’s black market. “But it’s not just any guy’s brain,” Stony said.
“Whose is it, Abby Normal?” Kwang asked.
“You have to read it.”
“Just tell me, jerkwad.”
“Okay, this woman, Delia? She stole
Einstein’s brain
. Except they don’t know if it’s really his, or a fake. And there are all these people who want it, and Jack Gore is caught in the middle between the cops, these undead gangsters, and these guys called the Stitch Brothers—”
“So which is it? Real or fake?”
“I’m not telling you
that.
”
There were four other Deadtown books listed inside the front cover, all by C.V. Ferris. Stony made Kwang promise to go back to the library and ask for them. “We have to find him,” Stony said. “He
knows.
”
“Who what?”
“Ferris. The author. I think he’s living dead.”
“Uh … no.”
“But he can’t just be making it up—it’s too much like me! See, the outbreak made all the dead crazy for a while, and then they, like, recovered.”
“There’s no such place as Deadtown, Stony. There’s no prison city out in Indiana or wherever they took all of you after the outbreak.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Stony, you know what they did to them. You’re the one who showed me the pictures.”
Stony was annoyed. When did Kwang become the sensible one?
Kwang said, “You didn’t ask your mom yet, did you?” Halloween was tomorrow night. Last year, Stony had dressed up in a rubber Nixon mask and sneaked out to meet Kwang. He made it as far as the Cho house before his mother’s clairvoyance kicked in. She came squealing into the Cho driveway, and hauled him home before he could collect a single treat.
“I better not,” Stony said. “You remember how she freaked out last time. And she’s having a hard time right now.” Two weeks had passed and they still hadn’t heard from Chelsea. Every day Mom went a little crazier with worry. “I think she’s having kind of a nervous breakdown,” Stony said. “Last night she went to bed right after supper and never got up.”
“That’s perfect,” Kwang said. “She’ll never know you’re gone.”
“Not tomorrow. She’s going to be on high alert.”
“Well fine, if you’re too much of a wuss …”
Stony burned to go. If he didn’t, Kwang would just meet up in town with his football friends. That’s it, end of friendship. And next year, Kwang probably wouldn’t want to go out at all. He’d already made
Mom was furious, madder than he’d seen her since last Halloween. Junie sat at the kitchen table, bearing the brunt of it again. “All they wanted to talk about was if Chelsea was on drugs!” Mom said. She banged down a mixing bowl and started clearing the sink. “They said they wouldn’t even arrest her if they
found
her—or him!”
Stony waited as long as he could before interrupting. “Mom—Mom. Have you ever seen this book?”
She spun on him. “Did neither one of you even
think
of doing the dishes while I was gone?”
“It’s about zom—”
She knocked the paperback out of his hands. “Don’t you use that word!”
He stood very still. Junie didn’t move.
Mom turned back to the sink and twisted the hot-water faucet. Stony picked up the book and went back outside.
Kwang met him in the backyard. “Did you ask her about trick-or-treating?”
“Not a good time,” Stony said. He showed him the book. “Are there more of these? The library has to have more of these.”
* * *
Jack Gore
, the words on each back cover proclaimed.
A hard-bitten cop bitten hard
. Gore had been turned into one of the walking dead, but instead of being shot and burned after the outbreak, he’d been taken to a walled city located somewhere in the Midwest. Jack was like Stony: dead, but not one of the mindless monsters the newspapers and magazines had described. And he
solved crimes
. In
The Head Case
, a human woman tries to smuggle in a human brain in a jar, to sell at Deadtown’s black market. “But it’s not just any guy’s brain,” Stony said.
“Whose is it, Abby Normal?” Kwang asked.
“You have to read it.”
“Just tell me, jerkwad.”
“Okay, this woman, Delia? She stole
Einstein’s brain
. Except they don’t know if it’s really his, or a fake. And there are all these people who want it, and Jack Gore is caught in the middle between the cops, these undead gangsters, and these guys called the Stitch Brothers—”
“So which is it? Real or fake?”
“I’m not telling you
that.
”
There were four other Deadtown books listed inside the front cover, all by C.V. Ferris. Stony made Kwang promise to go back to the library and ask for them. “We have to find him,” Stony said. “He
knows.
”
“Who what?”
“Ferris. The author. I think he’s living dead.”
“Uh … no.”
“But he can’t just be making it up—it’s too much like me! See, the outbreak made all the dead crazy for a while, and then they, like, recovered.”
“There’s no such place as Deadtown, Stony. There’s no prison city out in Indiana or wherever they took all of you after the outbreak.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Stony, you know what they did to them. You’re the one who showed me the pictures.”
Stony was annoyed. When did Kwang become the sensible one?
Kwang said, “You didn’t ask your mom yet, did you?” Halloween was tomorrow night. Last year, Stony had dressed up in a rubber Nixon mask and sneaked out to meet Kwang. He made it as far as the Cho house before his mother’s clairvoyance kicked in. She came squealing into the Cho driveway, and hauled him home before he could collect a single treat.
“I better not,” Stony said. “You remember how she freaked out last time. And she’s having a hard time right now.” Two weeks had passed and they still hadn’t heard from Chelsea. Every day Mom went a little crazier with worry. “I think she’s having kind of a nervous breakdown,” Stony said. “Last night she went to bed right after supper and never got up.”
“That’s perfect,” Kwang said. “She’ll never know you’re gone.”
“Not tomorrow. She’s going to be on high alert.”
“Well fine, if you’re too much of a wuss …”
Stony burned to go. If he didn’t, Kwang would just meet up in town with his football friends. That’s it, end of friendship. And next year, Kwang probably wouldn’t want to go out at all. He’d already made
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