Read Online Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie by Bill Doyle - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bill Doyle
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top of the hill. It looked like a haunted house in a horror movie.
Keats took a step back. “Are you kidding?” he said.
“Come on,” Henry said. “Do you want to make money for new bikes or not?”
Tugging Keats along, Henry led the way to the house. They climbed the rickety old steps of the front porch and pressed the doorbell. Instead of a
ding-dong
, there was a buzzing noise. It sounded like
runawayrunaway.
The boys waited. But no one came.
Keats spotted a note taped next to the door. He plucked the note free and read it out loud:
Dear Keats and Henry,
Welcome to Hallway House. Thank you for taking the job. Here are your tasks for today:
Weed the garden.
Bring the box of lightbulbs down from the attic.
Battle and defeat the shark-headed zombie.
Sweep the garage.
When you’re done with everything, I’ll return to pay you and take you home.
Sincerely,
Archibald Cigam
P.S. If you need an extra wand, I think there’s an old one in the kitchen sink.
“Shark-headed zombie?” Henry said.
“Extra wand?” Keats said.
Henry laughed, and then Keats did, too.
“Well,” Henry said, “at least Mr. Cigam knows how to joke around. Come on. Let’s start at the top of the list.
Weed the garden.
”
“I didn’t see a garden,” Keats said, putting Mr. Cigam’s note in his pocket. “Did you?”
They looked around. After a couple of minutes they found the “garden.” It was a big patch of weeds next to the house.
“Let’s get to work,” Henry said.
Under the blazing summer sun, the boys started yanking out weeds. They were the really prickly kind with deep roots. They took two hands—or even four—to tug out of the dirt.
With each weed they pulled out, Keats felt the ground shake a little. The first few times he stopped to look around. But after a while he decided the shaking must be his imagination.
Finally the cousins uprooted the last weed. Henry wiped the sweat off his face. “That’s done,” he said. “What’s the next job?”
Keats took out the to-do list to check. Then he froze. A black line was running through the words
weed the garden.
It was as if an invisible pen was crossing it off the list.
“Whoa,” Keats said. “Henry, look at this.”
But Henry was staring past Keats’s shoulder. Keats turned to look, too. About fifty yards away, he spotted a dark triangle sticking up from the ground. It was as high as his knees and moving through the grass.
“What is that?” Keats asked.
“If I didn’t know better,” Henry said, “I’d say it’s a fin.”
It
did
look like a fin gliding through the ground.
For a second the fin was all Keats could see. Then a huge mouth popped up out of the grass. Long, sharp teeth crunched down on twigs and rocks.
Some sort of strange creature was swimming through the ground.
It was gobbling up everything in its path. And it was heading straight for the boys!
Henry grabbed Keats’s arm and shouted, “Run!”
KEATS DIDN’T MOVE. His eyes wide, he stared at the toothy jaws slicing through the grass and weeds. Keats had never seen anything like this.
It can’t be real
, Keats thought. Meanwhile, the thing was getting closer.
“Come on!” Henry yanked Keats’s arm again. Keats finally snapped out of it. The boys darted across the lawn. They sprinted up the steps of the front porch. Keats almost trippedon the last step. But Henry grabbed him and held him up.
Their hands reached for the front door at the same time. It was locked! The boys pounded on the door and rang the doorbell. But there was no answer.
“I don’t get it!” Keats said. “Mr. Cigam gave us jobs to do inside. Why is the door locked?”
“He must have forgotten to leave it open,” Henry said. “I think we have bigger problems to deal with than Mr. Cigam’s bad memory.”
The cousins turned back toward the yard. The creature had followed them! It was half-way between the garden and porch, chewing up all the dirt and stones in its way.
Suddenly the creature
Keats took a step back. “Are you kidding?” he said.
“Come on,” Henry said. “Do you want to make money for new bikes or not?”
Tugging Keats along, Henry led the way to the house. They climbed the rickety old steps of the front porch and pressed the doorbell. Instead of a
ding-dong
, there was a buzzing noise. It sounded like
runawayrunaway.
The boys waited. But no one came.
Keats spotted a note taped next to the door. He plucked the note free and read it out loud:
Dear Keats and Henry,
Welcome to Hallway House. Thank you for taking the job. Here are your tasks for today:
Weed the garden.
Bring the box of lightbulbs down from the attic.
Battle and defeat the shark-headed zombie.
Sweep the garage.
When you’re done with everything, I’ll return to pay you and take you home.
Sincerely,
Archibald Cigam
P.S. If you need an extra wand, I think there’s an old one in the kitchen sink.
“Shark-headed zombie?” Henry said.
“Extra wand?” Keats said.
Henry laughed, and then Keats did, too.
“Well,” Henry said, “at least Mr. Cigam knows how to joke around. Come on. Let’s start at the top of the list.
Weed the garden.
”
“I didn’t see a garden,” Keats said, putting Mr. Cigam’s note in his pocket. “Did you?”
They looked around. After a couple of minutes they found the “garden.” It was a big patch of weeds next to the house.
“Let’s get to work,” Henry said.
Under the blazing summer sun, the boys started yanking out weeds. They were the really prickly kind with deep roots. They took two hands—or even four—to tug out of the dirt.
With each weed they pulled out, Keats felt the ground shake a little. The first few times he stopped to look around. But after a while he decided the shaking must be his imagination.
Finally the cousins uprooted the last weed. Henry wiped the sweat off his face. “That’s done,” he said. “What’s the next job?”
Keats took out the to-do list to check. Then he froze. A black line was running through the words
weed the garden.
It was as if an invisible pen was crossing it off the list.
“Whoa,” Keats said. “Henry, look at this.”
But Henry was staring past Keats’s shoulder. Keats turned to look, too. About fifty yards away, he spotted a dark triangle sticking up from the ground. It was as high as his knees and moving through the grass.
“What is that?” Keats asked.
“If I didn’t know better,” Henry said, “I’d say it’s a fin.”
It
did
look like a fin gliding through the ground.
For a second the fin was all Keats could see. Then a huge mouth popped up out of the grass. Long, sharp teeth crunched down on twigs and rocks.
Some sort of strange creature was swimming through the ground.
It was gobbling up everything in its path. And it was heading straight for the boys!
Henry grabbed Keats’s arm and shouted, “Run!”
KEATS DIDN’T MOVE. His eyes wide, he stared at the toothy jaws slicing through the grass and weeds. Keats had never seen anything like this.
It can’t be real
, Keats thought. Meanwhile, the thing was getting closer.
“Come on!” Henry yanked Keats’s arm again. Keats finally snapped out of it. The boys darted across the lawn. They sprinted up the steps of the front porch. Keats almost trippedon the last step. But Henry grabbed him and held him up.
Their hands reached for the front door at the same time. It was locked! The boys pounded on the door and rang the doorbell. But there was no answer.
“I don’t get it!” Keats said. “Mr. Cigam gave us jobs to do inside. Why is the door locked?”
“He must have forgotten to leave it open,” Henry said. “I think we have bigger problems to deal with than Mr. Cigam’s bad memory.”
The cousins turned back toward the yard. The creature had followed them! It was half-way between the garden and porch, chewing up all the dirt and stones in its way.
Suddenly the creature
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