Zombiefied!: Apocalypse

By C.M. Gray

The fourth and final book in this hilariously spooky and spookily hilarious middle-grade series!

Trick or treat?!

It's Benjamin Roy's first Halloween as a zombie and he's keen to see if being a real ghoul gets him more candy. But it doesn't take long before the tricks become dangerous and the treats turn deadly.

Then when the only bridge out of town is destroyed, and corpses start creeping from their caskets, he realises there's something rotten in his town, and it's not just the zombies...

But how will Ben save anyone else, when he's barely alive himself?

Ages 8+

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Jun 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781460704950

C.M. Gray

Carmen Gray graduated from Edith Cowan University (WAAPA) in 1996 and has worked in the design and visual art industry ever since. For the last ten years, she has been teaching art at CQ TAFE & CQ University. She is the author of the Zombiefied! series.

Book preview

DEDICATION

Because they have been dropping

heavy hints for years,

And because I want Christmas to be peaceful,

I dedicate this book to my siblings:

Angela Mary, Marcia Ann and Marcus St John

CONTENTS

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Acknowledgements

Books by C.M. Gray

Copyright

1

‘Trick or treat?’ My voice bounced off the heavy wooden door.

I was pretty sure no one was home. The house was dark and quiet. The only light came from streetlamps behind me. I stood on the old, faded porch listening for the sound of footsteps or a lock turning. Nothing.

Thump! I knocked on one of the glass panels that flanked the door.

The sound rang through the rooms inside. Maybe I should give up?

I was about to leave when I heard a faint noise from inside the house — drag . . . tap . . . drag . . . tap. . . If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a zombie, lurching very slowly along the hallway toward me.

The footsteps drew closer and stopped on the other side of the door. There was the sound of bolts being drawn back and finally the door creaked open. An old man leaning on a walking frame appeared in the open doorway.

‘Trick or treat?’ I said politely.

The man blinked at me through thick glasses that made his eyes huge. ‘Wha-at?’

‘Trick or treat?’ I asked again hopefully.

‘NO THANKS!’ he shouted. ‘I don’t want whatever it is you’re selling.’

‘I’m not selling anything!’ I said, raising my voice because it was obvious the old guy was a bit deaf. ‘It’s Halloween.’

‘What? Stop mumbling.’

‘IT’S HALLOWEEN!’ I bellowed.

‘There’s no need to shout,’ he said crossly. ‘I know it’s Halloween. And I’ve got candy here for the kids that dress up. But you’re not in costume.’

‘YES, I AM.’ I was wearing some dirty old clothes that I usually wore when I helped Dad with the yard work. And I’d painted a scar on my face with some of Mum’s makeup. But I had to admit, the costume hadn’t been a big success.

‘What are you supposed to be?’ he asked, peering at my outfit with his huge, magnified eyes.

‘A zombie,’ I told him.

‘A what?’ He cupped his hand around his ear.

‘I’M A ZOMBIE!’ I shouted.

He eyeballed me in disbelief. ‘Nobody would ever believe you’re a zombie. But I’ll give you something anyway since you’re here.’ He slid his hand into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a handful of brown lumps that looked like dead cockroaches. ‘Dates!’ he announced. ‘They’re as sweet as candy and they’ll keep you regular.’

I gulped, but it was too late to escape now. I held out my hand. The dates were warm and covered in dust from his pocket. ‘Aaaahhh . . . thanks?’ I said.

‘Next year, you want to put in a bit more effort,’ he added. ‘Zombies look meaner. They’re covered in lots of scars and they’ve usually only got one eyeball.’

‘OK, thanks for the tip!’ What a waste of time. Maybe I should have lurched away before he’d opened the door. ‘See you.’

The old guy shook his head. ‘A zombie!’ he scoffed and shut the door. He dragged and tapped slowly back down the hall.

I stared down at the fuzzy dates in my hand. What was I going to do with them? I shoved them into my pocket.

Of course, the funny thing is that even though I mightn’t look like a zombie, I actually am undead. Not that I’m a typical ‘I want braaiinns!’ zombie. Technically, I’m only a half zombie, which is what happens when you get infected but you don’t kill anybody. And I’m planning on keeping it that way, even though my older brother, Michael, annoys the heck out of me sometimes, which makes him a very tempting target.

I turned and trotted down the front stairs that led from the old guy’s porch to the paved garden path.

Being a zombie isn’t all bad. I’ve got infrared vision and I’m really fast and strong. The tough part is that I have to keep my powers a secret, because if anyone finds out, I can just imagine what will happen.

Nope, it’s way too dangerous to let regular folks know there’s a zombie around, half zombie or not.

If everyone knew my secret . . .

‘Come on, Ben!’ called out a voice.

My best friend, Sophie Knight, was standing at the end of the garden path, stuffing lollies into her mouth. She’d just been to the house opposite and it looked like her visit had been more successful than mine.

I closed my eyes for a second. I felt a now-familiar sensation as something slid across my eyeballs, and when I opened my eyes again, the world had been transformed into dull grey shapes broken up by patches of bright colour.

I jogged toward Sophie. Using my infrared vision made my eyes glow red, but I didn’t care if Sophie noticed. She already knew my secret, and since she had a few secrets of her own, I guessed mine was safe. And hopefully anyone else who saw my eyes would think they were part of my costume.

‘How did you go?’ I asked.

‘Good,’ she replied, her cheeks bulging. She was dressed as a skeleton and carried a long, thin stick attached to a toy dog. She’d painted the dog to look like a skeleton too, and she held it out in front of her so it looked like it was pulling on the lead. Her costume was way better than mine and it had worked like a charm: she had at least twice as much candy as I did.

We headed back toward my house. The streets were packed with kids and most of them were so hyped up on sugar they barely looked where they were going. We dodged a group of life-size Lego figurines and almost ran straight into a boy who’d somehow managed to make it look like he was carrying his own head in his hands.

‘Gaaaaaggghhhhh!’ he groaned at us.

‘This way.’ I grabbed Sophie’s arm so I could drag her off