Never Slow Dance with a Zombie - By E. Van Lowe Page 0,37

to the floor.

"Is that enough?" I asked as I tossed Dirk the meat.

"More than enough," Baron said as Milton sucked up the spittle with an eyedropper.

Sybil looked on with disgust. "Gross!"

I turned to Baron. "Are you sure you guys know what you're doing?"

"Why do you ask, because we're just goofy high school students?" Milton snarled.

"Well..." I left the question hanging. I was certain the geeks could not create an antidote, which is why I was so willing to help. I'd get what I wanted, and they'd get... nothing. Perfect.

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"Biology, chemistry, and a heavy dose of comic books," said Baron with a knowing smile. "You'd be surprised what a guy armed with that arsenal can do."

"And let's not forget we've got a four-point-oh GPA on our side." Milton again, as if being smart was the answer to everything. The only thing being smart guaranteed you in high school was a seat at the geeks' table. But if they wanted to think they could help our zombie classmates, who was I to stop them?

As Dirk was wolfing down the meat scraps I stepped behind him and yanked a clump of hair from his head. It came out easily. He didn't even flinch. When I handed the hair clump to Milton I noticed it was still attached to a tiny piece of scalp.

"Ewww!" Sybil said, as she made gagging sounds.

Milton gazed at the hair and saliva samples as if he'd just struck gold. "Now all we need are the samples from before he was a zombie."

"Excuse me?" I gazed at Baron, wide-eyed.

"0h , right," said Baron. "I forgot to mention that to successfully create the antidote we'll need hair and saliva samples from Dirk while he was still among the living."

"Issue number two thirty-four of The Cosmic Avengers" Milton added.

"Where in the world are we supposed to find something like that?" I asked.

Baron was grinning at me. "You leave the rest to me. All you have to do from here on in is look beautiful. Like I said, the name's Chomsky... Baron Chomsky."

Geek city... although I have to admit that when he did the British accent this time, it was actually kind of cute.

That evening, after dinner, the four of us traipsed over to Dirk's house in the hopes of uncovering a hair and saliva

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sample from before he'd become a zombie. I had no idea what was in store. Would we discover Dirk's parents and sister were now among the living dead and waiting to ambush us? I tried not to think about it. If I wanted the geeks' help with the Holiday Pageant I needed them to believe I was on their side.

I'd never been to Dirk's home before, never met his parents, never been invited to his room. I tingled with anticipation. While the others had DNA samples on their minds, all I could think was that I was about to meet my boyfriend's parents for the first time. I had to make a good impression... which is why I brought flowers.

"What are those for?" asked Sybil.

"Dirk's mom."

"Suppose she's a zombie?"

"I have a two-piece value meal in my purse."

Sybil released a loud sigh. "When are you going to give up on the idea that a zombie could possibly be your boyfriend?"

"On our wedding day, I suppose."

She gave another loud sigh, this one filled with exasperation.

"You look really cute in that hooded parka," Baron said, sidling up next to me.

"Thanks." I caught myself smiling, but that was only because I appreciated the compliment.

Sybil looked from Baron to me and moved away.

"You nervous?" he asked.

"No." That wasn't entirely true. But I wasn't going to tell him I was nervous about meeting my boyfriend's parents.

"You're one heck of a girl, Margot." It sounded like a statement right out of the sixties, and yet coming from Baron it seemed just right. "I'm glad the zombies didn't get you." He was smiling at me again.

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"Let's just get this over with," I said quickly. I needed to keep my mind clear for the operation.

It had begun to snow, a light dusting. It was the first snow of the year. The streets were empty, and our feet made a soft crunching sound as we walked. Baron walked by my side. I'd always felt that the first, quiet moments of a snowfall were incredibly romantic. I'd often envisioned myself walking along, holding hands with the special boy in my life and feeling like we were the only people on the face of the Earth. Too bad I was walking