Chapter 10

Chapter ten, As I hung up the phone, the door to the kitchen swung open, and Frankie stuck his head in. "We really have to go, Zip. Do you need help with your costume?" "Actually, I do. I can tie on my anti-zombie gear, but I could use some help with the tinfoil." "Okaaaay," Frankie said, raising his eyebrows. "I'm your tinfoil man." I took out the terry-cloth robe belt that had all the stuff hanging off it and tied it around my waist. Then I went to the second drawer under the sink where my mom keeps the sandwich bags and stuff like that. I pulled out the roll of tinfoil and handed it to Frankie.

"Wrap me up," I said. "You pull the tinfoil off the roll and I'll turn. Don't stop until I'm completely wrapped up like a hot dog at a Mets game." My idea was that if no zombie could pick up my body heat, they would pass me right by. I wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a try. Anything to get safely to Papa Pete's. Frankie and I worked quickly. In a few minutes, I was wrapped in tinfoil from head to toe, except for my nose and mouth and eyes. "Actually, you look pretty cool," Frankie said, standing back to admire his work. "Let's go ring some doorbells." "Okay," I said. "But we have to hurry so we can get to Papa Pete's soon." "What's the rush?" Frankie asked. "Afraid they'll run out of candy in his building?" "You never know," I answered. I hurried into the living room. You could hear the tinfoil crinkle as I took each step. Emily let out a huge laugh when she saw me. "What are you supposed to be? A tuna

sandwich in a lunch bag?" "Can we just go?" I snapped. "Okay, I've decided to go with you," Emily said. "Even my broken dragon costume doesn't look as bad as yours." "I'll come with you kids," my dad said. "Mom will stay here to hand out candy." "Oh, I don't believe in unhealthy snacks," my mom said. "I'm handing out little boxes of raisins." Normally, I would have told my mom that raisins are for putting in cereal and not for

Halloween treats. But I was in a rush to get going, so I just said, "Great idea, Mom. And please check to make sure everyone you open the door for is actually alive!" We left the apartment and went across the hall. The first doorbell we rang was apartment 10B where Dr. James Watson and his family live. The Watsons had just moved in a couple weeks before, so we didn't know him very well. "Trick or treat," Emily growled, trying to sound like what a Komodo dragon would sound like if it spoke English. "Trick or treat," Frankie and Ashley chimed in. "Oh my," Dr. Watson said as he opened the door. "What have we here? A zombie, a sparkly giraffe, a roll of tinfoil, and a dragon with a missing tail." Emily looked down on the floor, and saw that her tail had completely fallen off once again. She burst into tears, picked up her tail, and stomped back toward our apartment. "I'll go with her and do an emergency

repair," my dad said. "You kids stay on this floor until I'm back." Dr. Watson held out a bowl of candy. It was filled with whole candy bars, not the fun-size ones. Ashley and Frankie started to sort through all the different candy bars to pick their favorite one. "Hurry up, guys," I whispered. "We have to move faster than this." A little boy in a Superman cape and red rain boots came running to the door. "Look, Daddy," he said, pointing at me. "He looks like a sandwich in my lunch box." "That he does, Luke," Dr. Watson agreed. "Have you kids met my son, Luke?" "I'm not Luke, I'm Super Luke," he said. "Well, Super Luke," I said to him. "Just so you know, I am not something you eat. I am a zombie-detecting robot." Luke's eyes grew wide.

"Zombies!" Luke screamed. "I hate zombies!" And he ran as fast as he could back into his apartment. "I better go now," Dr. Watson said, closing the door on us. "Thanks for coming by, kids." Boy, did I know how little Super Luke felt. I hated zombies, too. All of a sudden, I heard the elevator ding as it arrived on our floor. I stepped out in front of Frankie and Ashley. "Hide behind me," I whispered. "It might be THEM." "Who?" Ashley whispered back. "Shhhhhhhhhhh. Say nothing."