Read Online The Saga Of Tom Stinson (Book 1): Summer School Zombocalypse by Eric Johnson - Free Book Online Page A

Tom rubbed his arms and poked at the cuts on his hands, “but we have to be ready to take care of ourselves. Our best chance is to get the things we need to stay safe and wait here. That’s our plan.”
    “ It’s not going to work,” Emmett wiped the crust from his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. “We had a deal.”
    “ Home,” the twins said in unison.
    Tom handed them bottles of water from his pack. “Do you know how creepy it is when you both speak at the same time?” The twins drank, staring at him. He could feel their eyes on his back as he unpacked the camping gear. He did a double take over his shoulder and stared back at them. “You have to help.”
    “ It’s really simple,” Emmett said. “You said you would get us home. So do it.”
    “ We made it through the night safely. That’s got to be a good sign,” Tom told them.
    “ No, it’s not. It just means that we were lucky,” Emmett argued.
    “ I’m hungry. Where’s my breakfast?” Winston asked plaintively. “My mom always has breakfast ready for us.”
    “ Do I look like your mom?” Tom rolled his eyes and tossed a food bar across. “Here. Breakfast.”
    Winston frowned.
    “ Something else wrong, Winston?”
    “ It’s not organic. I can’t eat it.”
    Tom growled, “The candy you ate at the U-Mart wasn’t organic.”
    “ I thought I was going to die.”
    “ You might just be about to,” Tom said coldly.
    “ Do I need to tell you how to get us home?” Emmett said.
    “ I don’t want to risk it,” Tom said. “You guys can’t follow direction. You couldn’t even watch my back.”
    “ You don’t want to fail again like you did with your class. Are we the last chance to make you feel better? Is that it?”
    “ I couldn’t leave you, that’s all,” Tom said.
    “ You want to keep us here, don’t you!”
    “ Emmett, you’re doing it again.” Winston chewed.
    “ You feel guilty,” Emmett said. “Here we are and what are you doing? Nothing. You’re afraid of failing. And it's stopping you from keeping your promise.”
    “ Don’t be stupid, we are safe here at the moment,” Tom insisted. “All you wanted to do yesterday was stay wherever you thought we were safe.
    “ You said your dad was going to be here, but he isn’t,” Emmett said. “We made it to your house, where you promised to take us home from. It’s our turn now.”
    Tom knelt down, faced the twins and tapped his finger on the floor of the tree house. “Do you guys need a reminder? Those things out there, they move fast. What happens if we get cornered and mutilated? Do I have your attention? Don’t answer. If that happens, we are dead, and that doesn’t get you home. Does it?”
    “ Home.” They said again with their arms crossed and heads turned away, more determined than ever.
    “ No,” Tom said firmly. “We can’t risk it until we know what we are dealing with better.”
    “ No?” Winston’s voice listed like a sinking ship, his chin twisted and trembled, his face turned beet red. He cried and put his head on Emmett’s shoulder.
    “ He’s the youngest,” Emmett said, and also began to cry.
    Winston lifted his head from Emmett’s shoulder. His eyes were puffy, and his cheeks were wet with tears. “We’ll never hug her again,” he pressed his face back into Emmett’s shoulder. “Aren’t you worried about your mom?”
    Tom’s shoulders slumped forward, a pain burned in the hollow of his stomach, and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes too. “I don’t even know where she is. She disappeared when I was eight. I can hardly remember what she looks like some days. So don’t think I don’t know what you’re feeling. Tell me where you live, and I’ll take you. But I need your help first.”
    Winston’s head popped up from Emmett’s shoulder. He smiled, “Really?”
    Emmett turned to Tom, “We live on Morton in the middle of the block.”
    Backing away a step, Tom squinted in the morning sun and gazed down on