Read Online Zombified by Adam Gallardo - Free Book Online

to tune out Cody, I was once again left alone with my thoughts. I tried to examine my reaction to Warren. I thought there was more to it than just the fact that he was good-looking. Very good-looking. I was shallow, but not that shallow. Just about then, I bumped into Phil’s shoulder as we walked along and I felt how stiff he was. That was it. Phil was always stiff. In the months we’d been hanging out, he’d barely given me any hints that he liked me. Liked me liked me, if you know what I mean. Here I just met a boy who had not only been looking for me since school started, but who’d made eye contact with me, smiled, and made me blush. All within seconds of meeting.
    I shook my head. It was wrong to compare the two of them. Wasn’t it? Phil was a stand-up guy, considerate, nice, and funny and, admittedly, operating under an impaired set of social skills. Warren, for all his good looks and charm, might be a tool, or a serial killer. I was comparing them again. Crap. Okay, I told myself, I was going to stop comparing them starting now.
    We got to the car and all piled in. Phil keyed the ignition and nothing happened. Silence filled the car. The kind of silence you only hear when you’re miles from home in a car that won’t start.
    â€œGive me a minute,” said Phil even though no one had said anything.
    He tried it again and the engine chugged, chugged again, and finally caught. It wheezed to life and we all relaxed.
    â€œKnow what was wrong?” I asked.
    Phil shrugged. “Maybe I flooded it.”
    He put it in gear and we started to bump along through the grass toward the road. As we went along, I started to blink, then sat forward to peer through the windshield.
    â€œAm I slowly going blind?” I asked.
    â€œNo,” Phil said, obviously frustrated. “The headlights are dimming.”
    â€œThe headlights are what-ing?” Cody asked as he leaned against the back of our seats. “Why are they doing that?”
    â€œSomething must be wrong with the alternator,” Phil said.
    I was about to ask how he knew that since I didn’t even know what an alternator did. Alternated between two or more things, I guess? But before I was able to ask, the lights faded out completely, then the engine died and the car coasted to a stop just as we reached the road.
    Cody started in with a steady stream of curses from the backseat. Phil just sat behind the wheel, staring off into the distance. I wasn’t sure why, but I thought his reaction was a lot scarier than Cody’s.
    A short horn blast came from right in front of us. A sleek black car sat out there. I knew who it was and I felt a mixture of relief and dread wash over me. Relief that I wouldn’t be walking home tonight and dread that more interaction with Warren might just push our little group right over the edge.
    â€œYou guys need a ride?” Warren called to us.
    Cody and I looked to Phil to see how he’d react.
    â€œI guess we’d better,” he said. I’d never heard him sound so defeated.
    Before I was able to say something to make the situation better, he got out of the car. Considering how often I actually made things better versus how often I made people cry, it was probably for the best. I climbed out of Phil’s car and approached Warren’s. I don’t know a lot about cars and don’t really care to know more, but looking at the sleek black thing that he drove, I knew it was either reverse-engineered from an alien spacecraft, or it came from the future. It was so much nicer than Phil’s that it seemed doubtful they were even the same species of technology.
    For some reason, Phil and Cody both climbed into the backseat. It was probably a better location from which to pout was my guess. Warren leaned over and opened the passenger door from the inside. This is probably the cool-kid version of getting out and opening the door for a girl. It might fly with the jet set,