Benjamin Franklinstein Meets Thomas Deadison

by Matthew McElligott

  “Those were Napoléon’s orders,” Victor explained. “He said they needed behavior correction. My guess is that they’ve installed supercharged Infinity Bulbs into the tanning beds.”

  Jaime shivered. “We’ve got to stop them!” She took a step out of the doorway, but Franklin pulled her back.

  “No,” he said. “There are too many.”

  Victor studied the legions of spellbound Philadelphians. “I have an idea. Take a good look at them: their sluggish movements, the empty expressions on their faces, their lack of speech.”

  “That’s what zombies do,” Scott said.

  “But look closer,” Victor continued. “They only grab people who act differently from them, like that lady. They leave one another alone.”

  “I get it!” Scott said. “We need to be zombies, too.”

  “It’s brilliant!” agreed Franklin. “Now all we have to do is figure out where to go.”

  “There’s only one place we can go,” Jaime said. “Infinity Unlimited. We have to break into the factory and destroy the supertransmitter.”

  Suddenly, Scott looked worried. “I just thought of something. If everyone has turned into zombies, then my mom is a zombie. Your mom, too, Victor. Everyone from school. All our friends…”

  Victor felt sick. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  The four of them silently plodded along North 5th Street, their faces empty. They passed a souvenir shop and Victor stopped. “Wait for me. I’ve got to get something.”

  He ducked into the store and reappeared half a minute later wearing a knapsack.

  “What did you get that for?” Jaime asked.

  “I filled it with sunglasses,” Victor said. “They might come in handy later.”

  They continued to trudge until Scott stopped in front of the open door of an empty barbershop. He stood there, transfixed. “Hey, guys?”

  Jaime, Victor, and Franklin slowly lumbered back to Scott. “Come on,” Victor urged in his best zombie voice. “Do you want to get caught?”

  Scott pointed at a television mounted on the wall. “Look.”

  Scott’s dad, Skip Weaver, was on the television screen, the image slightly off-kilter. He stood in front of the WURP Action News desk, waving his arms and screaming: “…and if anyone from the Promethean Underground is listening, I need help! I’m trapped up here. People of Philadelphia! Lock your doors and board up your windows! They’ve overrun the city! They’re after you…they’re after all of us!”

  Suddenly, there was a crunching noise from off camera. Skip snapped his head to the side in terror: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next!”

  Skip fled off screen. Seconds later, a slow-moving mob of zombies trudged from the right side of the room to the left. There was a crash and a scream. Then the screen went black.

  “They got my dad,” Scott whispered.

  Victor tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but Scott shrugged it off angrily. “THEY GOT MY DAD!”

  Jaime whipped around. Dozens of zombies turned and glared at them. “Scott, they heard you!”

  It was too late. A hundred zombies turned to face them. Slowly, they began to shuffle forward. Rage and menace filled their faces.

  “Scott,” Victor said urgently, “they’re coming.”

  “Master Weaver,” Franklin said, “your father may yet be safe. But we shall never know for certain unless we leave at once.”

  Scott blinked at the screen, and then turned around to see the horde closing in. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

  They took off, running down the street. Fortunately, the zombies moved slowly. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of them. And each time Victor glanced back, fifty more had joined the mob.

  Jaime led the way. They raced around the corner onto Chestnut Street and skidded to a halt. Hundreds of zombies were approaching from the other end of the street.

  “Uh-oh,” Scott said.

  The pack behind them continued to grow. Even more shambled in from the sides.

  “They’re closing in!” Jaime said. “We need to lose them.”

  “I know where we can hide,” Franklin said. He led them halfway down the block and around an old building.

  “Independence Hall!” Victor said.

  “Exactly. Of course in my day, we called it the Pennsylvania State House, but once we signed the—”

  Jaime pushed open the door. “Come on, before they see us!”

  The four dashed into the building and stopped to catch their breath.

  “What do we do now?” Victor whispered.

  “We wait,” Jaime said. “Sooner or later they’ll stop looking for us and move on. Then we’ll go back outside and pretend to be zombies again.”

  “How long do you think that will take?” Scott asked.

  Victor shrugged. For several long minutes, the four of them stood in perfect silence.

  Franklin cupped a hand to his ear. “Did you hear that?” he whispered.

  Victor heard a shuffling sound just outside the door.

  “Is that a squirrel?” Scott whispered. “I hope it’s a squirrel.”

  BAM!

  Suddenly, from all sides, doors flew open and zombies began streaming into the building.

  “Follow me!” Franklin led Victor, Scott, and Jaime up a staircase. The mob began climbing after them.

  THE HARMONIC HYPNOTIC TANNING BED

  “Where do we go now?” Scott asked.

  “The only place we can go,” Jaime said. “Up!”

  They kept climbing until they reached the top of the final staircase. “Now what?” Victor asked.

  “That ladder!” Franklin said, pointing. He led them up the rungs and pushed open a trapdoor in the ceiling. “This is the bell tower.”

  Once they were all inside, Jaime closed the trapdoor. Together, they pushed a tall, heavy crate over the top of it, blocking the entrance.

  “Good lord!” Franklin said, peering outside the tower. Victor, Scott, and Jaime joined him and looked down. Independence Hall was surrounded.

  Beneath them, hundreds of zombies were forming human pyramids, climbing over one another and up the sides of the building. The crate rattled as fists pounded on the trapdoor from below.

  “They’re here!” Scott said.

  A COMPARISON OF ZOMBIES AND SQUIRRELS

  SQUIRRELS ZOMBIES

  Scamper playfully Stumble creepily

  Soft and furry Rotting and scaly

  Alive Undead

  Eat nuts Eat brains

  Source: International Institute for Squirrel and Zombie Studies

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Trapped in the Tower

  Victor’s face went ashen. “They’ll never give up. We’re done for.”

  “Maybe not,” Scott said, pointing at the sky. “Look!”

  A small shape, silhouetted against the clouds, was growing larger. “A gyroplane!”

  “Help!” Jaime called, waving her arms frantically. “Over here!”

  The gyroplane banked to the left and began to fly away.

  “He can’t see us!” Victor said.

  “I have an idea,” Scott said. He climbed onto the crate, jumped, and grabbed the bell rope. With a deafening din, the Centennial Bell began to clang.

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  The gyroplane tipped back and began to head toward Independence Hall.

  “Look!” Jaime said. “He heard it!”

  But Victor was too distracted to notice. A hand appeared outside the window next to him, followed by another. The pyramid of zombies had reached the top!

  “It’s too late,” Scott cried.

  “Maybe not,” Franklin said. “I’m going to buy you some time.”

  “What do you mean?” Victor asked.

  Franklin gave Victor a grim look. “No matter what happens, promise that you will not try to follow me.”

  He reached for his battery belt and turned the knob all the way up to the farthest edge
of the red zone. Then he gave the knob an extra twitch. It snapped and twisted some more.

  Franklin’s eyes burned bright red, and he let out a bloodcurdling howl. He leapt through the window and dove onto the roof below. As he fell, he took the tower of zombies down with him. Franklin disappeared into the swarming mass.

  Jaime screamed. “Dr. Franklin…no!”

  Franklin emerged from the crowd and began pulling more climbers down, tossing them away from the bell tower.

  “He supercharged himself!” Scott said.

  “There are too many of them,” Jaime said. “He’ll be killed!”

  There was a rush of wind as the gyroplane descended from the clouds and hovered above Independence Hall. A rope ladder spilled from the side and dropped down just outside the window. Jaime climbed up into the cockpit, and Scott and Victor followed.

  “Thank goodness you’re all safe!” Orville Wright exclaimed. “I’ve been searching for you for hours.”

  “Dr. Franklin’s down there!” Jaime yelled. “We can’t just leave him!”

  “I’ll try to pull in closer,” Orville said. He maneuvered the gyroplane lower until the ladder dangled just above Franklin.

  Franklin looked up and roared. A zombie grabbed on to the rope ladder, but Franklin pulled him off and tossed him aside.

  “Climb on, Ben!” Victor called.

  Franklin waved the gyroplane away. Victor watched in horror as his friend was swallowed by the raging mob.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Mission: Destruction!

  Jaime sat in the front seat, explaining to Orville everything that had happened. Victor and Scott sat silently behind them.

  Once again, Ben had sacrificed himself to save others. But this time, Victor feared, there was no saving him.

  “Scott,” Orville shouted over the sound of the engine, “I have some good news for you. While on patrol, my brother flew over WURP and rescued your father from the rooftop.”

  “Really?” Scott said. “He’s okay?”

  “Right as rain. He and Wilbur are patrolling the city, picking up anyone who hasn’t fallen under the Emperor’s spell. They’ve managed to save quite a few already.”

  Victor smiled. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”

  Under Orville’s steady guidance, the plane cruised high over the city. Victor watched the terrifying scene below. Thousands of zombies formed long, perfect lines, loading cartons of lightbulbs into waiting trucks. Others marched in thick clusters down the streets like swarms of army ants.

  “Isn’t there anything we can do?” asked Scott.

  “We’re doing it,” said Jaime. “Our job is to get to Infinity Unlimited as fast as we can and destroy the supertransmitter. There’s the building up ahead.”

  As the gyroplane approached the factory, Victor could see thousands of zombies lined up at the back like trains at a freight yard. Half the lines were entering the building, and the other half were leaving, each zombie carrying a large box of lightbulbs. The lines were orderly and moved with steady precision.

  “There’s no one on the rooftop,” said Orville. “I’ll set down there.” He pulled up on a stick and the gyroplane rocked back and descended gently onto the factory. At the center of the roof, Victor recognized the top of the supertransmitter sticking up like a radio tower.

  “You sure you don’t want me to wait?” asked Orville.

  “There are people out there who need your help,” said Jaime.

  “I won’t be far,” said Orville. “Be careful, all of you.” He revved the throttle and lifted up into the air. The gyroplane banked to the left and disappeared around a building.

  “What now?” said Scott.

  “We need to get to my parents,” said Jaime. “If we can free them from Napoléon’s control, they’ll know how to stop the supertransmitter.”

  They ran over to a door. Jaime opened it a crack and peered inside. “The stairwell’s empty. Once we’re in, we’ll need to move fast.”

  They took the stairs two at a time. At the bottom, they paused outside the red metal door to catch their breath.

  “What’s that sound?” whispered Scott.

  “The power plant,” said Jaime.

  “But it’s louder,” said Victor. He gulped. “A lot louder.”

  Jaime turned to Victor. “Ready?”

  “No, but here goes.” He pushed open the door and stepped inside. It swung shut behind them. The room was just as it had been the last time. The supertransmitter’s antenna stood tall on an island in the center of the room. The giant electrical turbine beneath spun furiously, so fast that Victor couldn’t even see the whirring blades.

  Jaime pointed to the center of the island. Her parents sat at a console at the base of the giant antenna, a vacant, hypnotized look on their faces. “There they are. Any ideas?”

  “Try these,” said Victor. He reached into his knapsack and pulled out two pairs of sunglasses. “If your parents wear these, it might weaken the connection between them and Napoléon.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” said Jaime. Scott stood watch at the end of the footbridge as she and Victor inched across to her parents. The first time they had crossed the bridge, the electrical energy had felt like a breeze on their skin. Now, with the blades beneath them spinning at full speed, it felt like a hurricane.

  When they were right behind her parents, Jaime reached around and placed one pair of sunglasses over her mother’s eyes. Victor placed the other pair on her father’s.

  “Mom, Dad—it’s me, Jaime!” She shook them again. Slowly, they turned their heads to face her.

  “Jai-me?” Jaime’s mother’s voice was deep and slow, as if she were waking from a long sleep. “What…Where are we?”

  Jaime’s father surveyed the room, taking everything in. “How did we get here?”

  “There’s no time to explain right now,” said Jaime. “We need to shut down this supertransmitter. Can you do it?”

  “Supertransmitter?” said her mother. It was as if she were seeing the enormous machine for the first time.

  “Yes,” said Jaime. “The Emperor is using it to control the entire city. You need to stop it!”

  “How?” said her father.

  “Try to focus,” said Jaime. Victor could see she was struggling to remain calm. “You’re electrical engineers. This is what you do.”

  OFFICIAL SUPERTRANSMITTER SHUT-DOWN PROCEDURE

  “It is?” said her mother thoughtfully.

  “I do seem to remember something about that,” said her father. “Let me think for a moment…”

  “We don’t have a moment,” insisted Jaime.

  “You most certainly do not!”

  The voice was cold and forceful. Victor recognized it at once.

  He turned to see the Emperor Napoléon sitting in his robotic bathtub at the far end of the room. Edison stood at his side, holding a hand over Scott’s mouth. A long line of zombie scientists filed in from a door behind them. Trudging in unison, they circled the room. The island was surrounded.

  Scott struggled free from Edison and ran across the bridge to meet up with the others at the center.

  Napoléon and Edison strolled to the end of the bridge. “This will not do,” Napoléon hissed. “My patience has worn thin.”

  LIBERTY BELL SUNGLASSES

  “Mom, Dad!” pleaded Jaime. “You need to concentrate!”

  “Ignore her,” said Napoléon, speaking into his microphone. “Mr. and Mrs. Winters, you will continue to operate the supertransmitter as instructed.”

  Jaime’s parents looked at each other, confused.

  “Thomas, please remove those ridiculous glasses from the Winterses, then get rid of the children.”

  Edison took a step forward onto the bridge.

  “Wait!” Scott shouted. “Your shoelaces! They’re untied!”

  Edison stopped and looked down at his shoes. “They aren’t untied.”

  “Ignore him, Thomas,” said Napoléon. “He’s
just trying to confuse you.”

  “I mean, your fly is open!” said Scott.

  Victor knew Scott was stalling. But if they could hold off Napoléon for another minute, it might give Jaime’s parents time to recover.

  “Hold on,” said Victor. “Don’t you want to know why your hypnosis doesn’t work on us?”

  Napoléon smiled. “I do. And my plan was to study you later to discover the answer. But now I have a better plan.”

  Victor looked over at Jaime. Despite her efforts, Mr. and Mrs. Winters were still in a daze. “What plan?” he said.

  “Why, to examine your bodies after you’re dead!” said Napoléon with a laugh. “Thomas, kill them!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Clash of the Monsters

  CRASH!

  The red door smashed off its hinges, knocking half a dozen zombies to the floor. Franklin stood in the doorway, his eyes blazing and his fists clenched. The metal bolts on his neck crackled with blue and white sparks.

  “Rrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaggggrrrrr!”

  “No!” Napoléon shrieked.

  Franklin stormed into the room. Orville and Wilbur Wright rushed in after him. Skip followed behind.

  “Scott,” Skip yelled, “are you all right?”

  Scott pointed at Napoléon. “He was going to kill us!”

  Napoléon glared at the intruders. “Stop them!”

  The zombies closed in on Franklin. Dozens of hands clawed at him, reaching out to pull him down. Franklin flung them aside with ease.

  Like a general commanding his troops, Napoléon sprang into action and began to issue orders. “Edison! Stop Dr. Franklin.”

  Edison charged toward Franklin.

  Napoléon turned to his army of hypnotized scientists. “Prometheans—kill the children!”

  Zombies rushed toward the bridge.

  “We’re trapped!” Scott shouted. “What do we do?”

  “There’s only one thing we can do,” Jaime said, balling her hands into fists. “Fight or die!”

  The zombies stampeded toward the bridge. Suddenly, as if from thin air, the Wright brothers appeared. They blocked the bridge entrance, shoving the zombies, clouting them on the ears, and confusing them with their harmonically charged superhuman speed.