9 DON'T WALK

CHAPTER 9 DON'T WALK The all-afternoon recess seemed to fly by on shiny new swings, slides, and monkey bars. Alexander, Rip, and Nikki walked away from the playground happy and tired. "Look," said Nikki. She pointed to the school. "Now the whole building is dark!" Rip grinned. "Maybe no power means ALL- DAY recess tomorrow!"

"I don't get it," said Alexander as he unlocked his bike. "Our school has a wind fan and solar panels! It should be powering itself!" They walked a few blocks, and stopped at a busy intersection. Honking cars were backed up in all directions. "Whoa!" said Nikki. "Major traffic jam!" "All these cars are waiting for a green light," Rip said, looking up at the stoplight.

Alexander followed Rip's gaze. The stoplight was dark. Alexander shook his head. "Let's cross the street and get out of here." They looked at the crossing signal. It showed a red stop hand for a few seconds, and then it switched to a green walk finger. But then— BZZZT!

The walk figure became a skeleton! "A skeleton?!" said Rip. "How'd that get up there?!" The signal flashed again. The skeleton was replaced by a zigzag arrow. "Look!" said Alexander, "The same shape from my clock and the menu!" "Another warning?" said Nikki. "Is everything in town going wonky?" "Well, everything that uses electricity," said Alexander. "You were right, Salamander This must be the work of a monster!" said Rip. "Is there a machines-act-weird monster in the notebook?" "Hmm," said Alexander. He leaned his bike against a mailbox and pulled out the notebook. "Maybe a rust-buster?"

RUST-BUSTER Metal-eating monster. HABITAT shipyards, iron miners, used-car lots.

WEE-OOH! Rust-busters love to chase fire engines. DIET Dishwashers, bulladzers, lawn mowers... Any kind of metal machine. BEHAVIOR These monsters breathe a cloud of mist that causes metal to instantly rust. WARNING! Rust-busters are allergic to wood. Hide in a tree house to be safe.