by P. J. Night
“Be right back,” Emily said to her friends as she stood up. She’d forgotten to put a napkin in her lunch that morning, and she did not want to spend the rest of the school day with chocolate smudges on her face.
Thwak!
Emily was halfway across the cafeteria when another student slammed right into her. It was Veronica Murphy, an eighth-grader Emily recognized from chorus.
“Oh! Whoa! Sorry!” Emily cried as she stumbled. She grabbed on to Veronica to steady herself as Veronica’s phone clattered to the ground. “Here—let me get that for you—”
To Emily’s surprise, Veronica didn’t respond. With a twitching motion, she jerked away from Emily and walked, stiff-legged, away from the table.
Weirdness, Emily thought. Veronica wasn’t, like, her enemy or anything. Was she mad at Emily because they’d accidentally bumped into each other? That didn’t seem fair.
“Veronica! Hold up!” Emily called. “You forgot your phone!”
Not even that was enough to get Veronica’s attention. She stumbled onward as if she couldn’t even hear Emily.
What am I going to do with this? Emily wondered as she stared down at the phone in her hand. Suddenly, all the color drained from her face. She reached out and grabbed the edge of the table for extra support.
Two words were blinking on the screen, over and over and over again:
YOU LOSE!
YOU LOSE!
YOU LOSE!
And there was the gray zombie head, wobbling back and forth, laughing.
Veronica was playing Z Curse! Emily realized as a wave of horror washed over her. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what had happened. Veronica was playing the app—she lost—and then she started shambling away from the cafeteria, glazed-eyed and unresponsive. Emily started shaking her head on instinct. It was all too awful to imagine.
It can’t be real. It can’t be real, she told herself. It’s just a coincidence. I mean, it’s just an app! There’s no way that it turned Veronica into—into—
Emily couldn’t even bear to think it.
She glanced around the cafeteria again. It seemed like even more kids were staring at their phones, their lunches uneaten, completely oblivious to everything that was happening around them. Or was she just imagining it?
“Leah,” Emily whispered. She remembered how intrigued Leah had been by the Z Curse app on Friday night. How Leah’s finger had hovered over the download button, poised to tap it.
And how reluctant Leah had been to promise that she would never do that.
A terrible feeling started to creep over Emily. The napkin forgotten, she returned to her table. “Abby,” she said, trying—and failing—to mask the urgency in her voice. “Did you see what just happened?”
“No,” Abby replied, glancing around. “What’s wrong?”
Emily placed Veronica’s phone on the table. “Veronica just, like, walked right into me—and she didn’t even notice,” she said in a rush. “She dropped her phone and just left it on the floor.”
Abby’s forehead furrowed. “That’s weird,” she said.
“I know!” Emily said. “And look at this! She was playing that app and lost—See?”
The other girls leaned forward to look at Veronica’s phone.
“Are you suggesting that Veronica played the game and it turned her into a zombie?” Nora asked, her voice filled with doubt.
“I—I—” Emily stammered. “I know it sounds ridiculous. But who would just abandon their phone on the cafeteria floor?”
“Where is Veronica now?” Abby asked, glancing around the room. “I don’t see her anywhere.”
“I have no idea,” Emily replied. “She was just, like, staggering toward the doors.”
“Maybe someone texted her with bad news,” Nora suggested. “Something really upsetting. That would explain why she just dropped her phone and walked away.”
“Maybe,” Emily said. “I guess we could check her phone for texts.” She started pressing the buttons, but the phone was frozen. It didn’t respond to any commands as the zombie head laughed and laughed.
Abby reached over and pulled Emily’s hands away from the phone. “I don’t think that would be okay,” she said. “Going through Veronica’s phone would be a major violation of her privacy.”
“Of course,” Emily said quickly. “You’re totally right. I don’t know what I was thinking. Doesn’t matter, anyway—the phone is totally frozen. But here’s the thing, Abby. I’m getting kind of worried about Leah.”
“What does Leah have to do with Veronica acting all weird?” Abby asked.
“I—I don’t know, exactly,” Emily admitted. “I’m just worried, I guess.”
Abby reached into her pocket for her phone. “I’ll text her right now,” she promised. “You know Leah, she lives on her phone. I’m sure she’ll text me right back, like always.”
“Thanks, Abby,” Emily said, feeling a little relieved. All it would take, she knew, was one text from Leah and she’d be able to put these worries out of her mind.
After Abby sent her text, the three friends waited expectantly for her phone to buzz with a response from Leah. And waited. And waited.
“Where is she?” Abby finally said. “It’s never taken Leah this long to text me back.”
“Maybe she’s asleep,” Nora suggested. “I mean, if she really is sick, she could be taking a nap.”
“Maybe,” Abby said—but Emily could tell from her voice that she doubted it. “You know what? I think I’ll stop by Leah’s house after school to see how she’s doing. I could bring her homework so she doesn’t fall behind.”
“Great idea,” Emily said, with more than a little relief.
“You guys want to come?” Abby asked.
“Sure,” Emily replied. The sooner she knew what was really going on with Leah, the better.
But Nora shook her head. “I have my piano lesson right after school,” she replied. “But text me after you see her. And tell her I said hi.”
“You got it,” Abby promised as the bell rang.
Emily glanced over at the clock. It was twelve thirty. There were still two and a half more hours until the school day ended.
How would she ever make it?
After school, Emily and Abby walked straight to Leah’s house. They stood on the sidewalk while Abby sent Leah yet another text.
“Still no response?” Emily asked, for the tenth time.
Abby glanced at her phone again, even though she already knew the answer. “No,” she said. “And I texted her again after sixth period. She hasn’t replied to a single one.”
Those words made Emily even more worried—and even more determined to find out what was going on with Leah. “We have to check on her,” she said. “Look—the Rosens’ cars aren’t here. Leah’s parents aren’t even home. What if something’s really wrong?”
“You’re right,” Abby said. “Let’s go.”
The girls didn’t speak as they walked down the path that led to Leah’s house. The door was painted red, with six faceted cut-glass panels in the front. Emily could see through the windows a little, but the carved glass was like a prism, distorting her view even as it cast small rainbows across the entryway floor.
There was a strange, eerie stillness about the house; it had an abandoned feeling, like no one was home. But even if Leah and her parents weren’t home, what about their two dogs? Every other time Emily had hung out at Leah’s house, the dogs were barking like crazy before she was even halfway to the door.
Not this time, though. This time, there was only silence.
“We should ring the doorbell,” Abby said.
“You want to?” asked Emily.
“Not really,” Abby admitted. “You?”
Emily shook her head. “Let’s do it together, then,” she replied. “One—two—three.”
At the same time, Abby and Emily reached for the doorbell.
Ding-dong!
Silence. Silence. More silence.
“I guess nobody’s home,” Abby finally said.
“But what about the dogs?” Emily asked.
“Maybe the whole family went away?” Abby said. “And they took the dogs with them?”
But that didn’t make sense, either. Leah told everybody everything. She wouldn’t have been able to keep something like that a secret.
Emily stood on her tiptoes and leaned closer to one of the windows on the door. She pressed her face against the glass and tried to see into Leah’s house. Everything appeared neat and tidy . . . and empty . . .
SLAM!
Without warning, the door shook like someone had thrown herself against it. Leah’s face—her gray, scabbed face—pressed against the window. Her teeth gnashed, drool slid down her chin, and eyes were unfocused and—were they red?
Emily was frozen with fear. Too frozen to flinch; too frozen even to move—
She heard, as if from very far away, Abby screaming her name—
“Emily! Run!”
Abby grabbed Emily’s arm and pulled her backward. Together, the two girls stumbled down the path toward the sidewalk. Emily couldn’t take her eyes off Leah’s face, so empty, so zombified, as she slammed herself against the door again and again. What had happened to her friend?
But Emily didn’t need to ask that question—not really. In her heart, she already knew the answer. Somehow, despite all Emily’s warnings, despite her very best efforts, Leah had played the game—and lost.
Leah had become a zombie.
About a block away, the girls finally stopped running. Emily leaned against a tree as she tried to catch her breath. “Thank you,” she panted. “For helping me escape. I froze up—I don’t know why I couldn’t move—”
“Forget that. What happened to Leah?” Abby cried. “Did you see her face—her eyes?”
“I know,” Emily said, still shaking. “It was horrible.”
“So she’s just, like, a zombie now?” Abby continued. “She played that game and it really did transform her?”
“I—I guess so,” Emily said. “I can’t think of any other explana—look out!”
In the nick of time, Emily pulled Abby out of the way of another zombie who had crept up behind them so stealthily that neither girl had noticed. His arms were outstretched—his hands grasping at the air—
Emily and Abby both screamed, a high-pitched cry of pure terror. Then they ran three blocks to Abby’s empty house (her parents were both still at work) and didn’t stop until the door was firmly locked behind them.
“That was Wyatt!” Abby shrieked. “What—how—”
“It’s the Z Curse,” Emily said. “It’s spreading—people download it, and tell their friends, and then they download it, and then they all lose. Every single one of them.”
“And become zombies,” Abby said. That’s when Emily realized, at last, that Abby believed her. Abby was on her side.
“If we could stop them from playing—stop them from downloading it—” Emily said, wracking her brain for a solution. “Maybe we should post about it or send a mass text or—”
Just then Abby gasped so loudly that Emily was startled into silence. Without another word, Abby whipped out her phone and started tapping the screen.
“What?” Emily asked urgently. “Abby, tell me. What is it?”
“Jake,” Abby said with genuine fear in her eyes. “Last night, he texted me about this new app he’d downloaded—I didn’t realize, Em, I didn’t put it together, but he must have been talking about Z Curse!”
“You have to stop him from playing it,” Emily cried. “Hurry, Abby!”
“I’m calling him now,” Abby said, the phone to her ear. “Jake! Are you okay?”
Emily tugged on Abby’s sleeve. “Put it on speaker,” she said in a loud whisper.
Abby tapped the screen and held the phone out so she and Emily could both hear Jake.
“That app you mentioned last night,” Abby began. “Was it called Z Curse?”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, though. Max is obsessed. Leah told him about how awesome it is, and he’s been hooked since he first tried it out.”
Abby and Emily exchanged a look. Now we know for sure what happened to Leah, Emily thought—not that it made her feel any better.
“Was Max at school today?” Abby asked urgently.
“Only for the first couple periods,” Jake’s voice echoed from the phone. “He went home sick after study hall.”
Emily shut her eyes. She could just picture Max Menendez playing Z Curse under his desk during study hall . . . and losing. . . .
“He was acting pretty weird,” Jake continued. “I think he must’ve felt really sick. He couldn’t even say much . . . he was just kind of grunting.”
Emily didn’t want to hear any more. She wandered across the living room and glanced out the window at Jake’s house, which was right across the street. She could see him in the upstairs window, talking on the phone like it was no big deal. Like there wasn’t a terrible danger surrounding them, growing closer every minute. . . .
“Jake, listen to me,” Abby said. “Don’t ever play that app. In fact, I want you to delete it right now.”
Emily noticed someone shambling down the street. She recognized that swaying, unsteady walk right away; it was the same way Veronica had walked away from her in the cafeteria. But this wasn’t Veronica.
It was Max—and he was heading for Jake’s house! Emily was too far away.
“Abby,” Emily said urgently as Max lumbered toward Jake’s door.
“Don’t even open the app—just delete it and then call me right back to tell me that it’s gone,” Abby was saying.
“Is it a virus?” Jake asked.
“Abby!” Emily cried, louder this time.
“What?” Abby asked.
“Look at Max!” she replied. “Tell Jake—warn him—tell him not to open the door!”
Abby nodded to show she understood. “Max is outside, but you cannot let him in,” she said.
“What are you talking about?” Jake said. Emily could hear how confused he was over the phone. “He’s my best friend; why wouldn’t I let him in?”
“I’ll explain later, but first you have to promise—”
Ding-dong.
Emily and Abby could hear Jake’s doorbell ringing over the phone.
“I’ve gotta get the door. I’ll call you right back,” Jake said.
“No!”
“Wait!”
But it was too late.
The phone was dead. Jake had ended the call.
Abby ran across the room to join Emily at the window. “We have to stop him!” she shrieked.
“We can’t,” Emily replied. There was nothing the girls could do but watch in horror as Jake opened the door and ushered Max inside.
“We can’t just stand here and let this happen!” Abby cried.
“What do you want to do, Abby?” Emily shot back. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it!”
“Let’s go over there,” Abby urged her. “I didn’t even get a chance to warn Jake—not really—he has no idea—”
“Just hold on,” Emily said, trying to think. “Maybe he’s not at risk. Maybe we’re freaking out over nothing.”
“Freaking out over nothing? Have you lost your mind?” Abby shot back. “You saw Leah trying to literally throw herself through a pane of glass to attack us. What do you think Max is going to do to Jake?”
“Maybe Leah was just trying to get out and she didn’t remember how to open the door,” Emily said. “But I was, like, right in Veronica’s face in the cafeteria and she didn’t do anything to me. If it really is the app that’s caused all this, then I bet Max can’t do anything to Jake. In fact, Jake will probably call you any second now to tell you how weird Max is acting. Then you can finish telling Jake everything.”
A flicker of hope flashed through Abby’s eyes. “You really think Jake is safe?” she asked.
“I
don’t know,” Emily said honestly. “But I really hope he is.”
An uneasy silence fell over the girls as they stood there, watching Jake’s house, waiting for any sign of what might be happening inside.
“You want to call him?” Emily finally suggested. “Maybe Max isn’t a zombie. Maybe they’re just hanging out or whatever.”
“I guess it can’t hurt,” Abby replied, reaching for her phone.
Just as she started to dial, though, Jake’s front door opened a crack.
“Abby!” Emily cried. “Look—they’re coming out—”
But the two boys who appeared on the doorstep were nothing like the fun-loving Jake and Max that Emily had gotten to know. From their vacant, red-rimmed eyes to their gray, sunken cheeks, the transformation in them was terrible—and immediately noticeable. Emily could tell right away that Max had turned Jake into a zombie!
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I had no idea that the zombies have the power to turn others. Abby, please—say something—anything—”
Abby didn’t seem capable of looking away from the window—or even responding. At last, she spoke.
“They’re coming this way,” Abby said. “Quick—make sure the doors and windows are locked. All of them!”
Emily rushed from window to window, checking each latch to make sure it was secure. Luckily, Abby’s house was just one story . . . except for that basement. . . .
Emily couldn’t bear the thought of going down there all by herself. Not now, when zombies were roaming the streets of Riverdale, and there was no telling what would happen next. She approached the door to the basement warily and noticed, for the first time, a chain lock near the top. Emily pumped her fist in triumph. She could secure the basement without even having to open the door!
“Everything’s locked, Abby,” she started to say as she returned to the living room. But Abby was totally engrossed in her phone. She didn’t even seem to notice Emily’s approach. The light from Abby’s phone flickered unevenly over her face, giving it a grayish cast. And there was something . . . off about her eyes. . . .
