1. My
Best
Friend
is
a
Zombie
A
Short
Story
by
Scott
Crawford
&
Grade
4
Sajid
looked
up
from
his
zombie
comic
book
and
saw
his
best
friend
rummaging
through
a
cabinet.
“What
are
you
doing,
Benedict?”
asked
Sajid.
“Reading
this
comic
book
gave
me
an
idea,’
answered
Benedict
as
he
picked
up
a
beaker
of
glowing
green
liquid.
He
started
tipping
it
to
his
lips.
“Are
you
sure
you
should
do
that?”
asked
Sajid.
But
Benedict
was
already
drinking
from
the
beaker….Riiiiiiiiiing!
The
school
bell
rang
–
Sajid
was
going
to
be
late
for
class!
“See
you
later,
Benedict!’
said
Sajid
as
he
ran
out
of
the
science
lab.
But
Benedict
only
groaned
in
response
and
clutched
his
stomach.
After
his
Chinese
lesson,
Sajid
walked
out
of
the
classroom
and
heard
a
scream
from
down
the
hallway.
Sajid
looked
to
the
right
and
saw
Benedict
lurching
out
of
Mr
Jarman’s
room.
“Look,
something’s
wrong
with
Benedict,’
Sajid
said
to
Na
Youn.
But
Na
Youn
just
ran
off
to
her
next
class.
‘I’m
sure
he’ll
be
fine,’
said
Annie.
‘I
guess
so,’
said
Sajid.
He
watched
as
Benedict
shuffled
closer
down
the
hallway.
He
scrunched
his
nose
as
Benedict
came
closer.
‘What
a
terrible
smell!
Like
fish
and
rotten
tomatoes!’
said
Sarthak,
who
was
now
standing
beside
Sajid.
Most
of
the
other
students
had
slipped
into
their
classrooms.
As
they
cleared
away,
Sajid
saw
that
Benedict
was
not
looking
well.
His
mouth
gaped
open,
and
his
bloodshot
eyes
held
a
glassy,
empty
stare.
Benedict’s
skin
was
a
pale
shade
of
green.
“Benedict,
what’s
wrong?’
asked
Sajid.
Instead
of
answering,
Benedict
growled
and
suddenly
lunged
at
Sajid’s
throat.
Sajid
ducked
–
but
Sarthak
wasn’t
fast
enough!
Benedict
bit
Sarthak
as
Sajid
ran
into
a
classroom
and
slammed
the
door
shut.
“My
best
friend
is
a
zombie,”
muttered
Sajid
to
himself.
Benedict
began
pounding
on
the
door.
Benedict’s
wailing
chilled
Sajid’s
blood.
As
he
hid
under
a
desk,
Sajid
remembered
his
zombie
comic
book.
He
flipped
through,
hoping
to
find
an
idea
of
what
to
do,
but
he
was
so
scared
he
could
barely
concentrate.
“I’d
better
go
get
help,”
he
decided.
Sajid
shot
up
from
under
the
desk,
but
Benedict
still
stood
pounding
at
the
door.
Sajid
studied
the
room,
looking
for
other
ways
out.
There
were
three
windows,
but
there
was
no
way
Sajid
could
jump
down
to
the
ground.
There
was
another
door,
but
it
was
locked
and
he
couldn’t
find
the
key.
At
last,
Sajid
took
a
deep
breath
and
slowly
approached
the
door.
He
could
see
Benedict
through
the
glass.
‘Now
or
never,’
thought
Sajid,
and
he
opened
the
door.

2.
Benedict
immediately
grasped
for
Sajid,
but
Sajid
scurried
back
into
the
room.
Dragging
his
leg
after
him,
Benedict
followed
Sajid
but
could
not
keep
up.
Throwing
a
chair
in
Benedict’s
way,
Sajid
circled
around
Benedict
and
raced
out
of
the
classroom,
slamming
the
door
behind
him.
As
Sajid
dashed
down
the
hallway,
he
wondered
why
the
police
hadn’t
arrived
yet
and
why
there
weren’t
any
teachers
around
to
help
him.
Seeing
the
door
to
Ms.
O’Dwyer’s
room
open,
Sajid
ran
in
and
quickly
shared
his
story.
Ms.
O’Dwyer
frowned.
“That’s
nonsense,
Sajid.
Zombies
are
just
made-­‐up
creatures.”
No
matter
how
he
tried,
Sajid
could
not
convince
her.
So
even
as
Ms
O’Dwyer
tried
to
get
him
to
sit
down
and
start
his
work,
Sajid
darted
out
of
the
room,
heading
for
Mrs.
Gailis’
office.
“Don’t
be
silly.
We
don’t
have
zombies
at
BISS,”
said
Mrs.
Gailis.
“Wait,
where
are
you
going,
Sajid?”
she
called
after
him,
as
he
ran
away,
climbing
the
stairs.
Sajid
didn’t
know
what
to
do.
Why
wouldn’t
anyone
believe
him?
As
he
passed
by
the
science
lab,
Sajid
thought
about
the
last
time
he
had
seen
Benedict,
when
his
best
friend
was
not
a
zombie.
Thinking
that
maybe
he
could
find
some
answers
in
the
lab,
Sajid
entered.
The
lab
was
quiet.
So
quiet
that
Sajid
could
hear
Benedict’s
faint
wailing
from
the
second
floor.
Sajid
studied
the
room.
The
beaker
Benedict
had
drunk
from
lay
on
the
table,
with
just
a
little
bit
of
the
green
fluid
remaining.
“What
did
Benedict
say
just
before
he
drank
that?”
thought
Sajid,
wracking
his
brain.
Suddenly
it
came
back
to
him
–
Sajid
quickly
flipped
through
his
comic
book,
looking
for
clues.
There
were
all
kinds
of
scenes
of
zombies
in
the
book,
but
nothing
that
gave
Sajid
any
ideas.
He
threw
down
the
comic
in
desperation.
As
Sajid
stood
up
and
prepared
to
leave
the
room,
something
caught
his
eye.
The
comic
book
had
fallen
open,
exposing
the
last
page.
Sajid
read
the
page:
How
to
Make
and
Unmake
Zombies
–
A
Recipe
in
Two
Easy
Steps.
Sajid
skimmed
the
recipe
and
saw
that
he
could
reverse
the
“zombie
making”
potion,
just
by
adding
alcohol.
Sajid
rummaged
through
the
cabinet,
and
at
last
found
a
beaker
labeled
“pure
alcohol.”
He
poured
this
into
the
beaker
holding
the
green
liquid.
Steam
rose
out
of
the
beaker
and
Sajid
heard
a
funny
sizzling
sound.
‘How
can
I
get
Benedict
to
drink
this?’
thought
Sajid.
Sajid
was
sure
that
if
he
even
tried
getting
close
to
Benedict,
he
would
be
bitten.
But
Sajid
was
sure
that
Benedict
would
break
out
of
the
classroom
soon
and
put
all
the
other
BISS
student
and
teachers
in
danger.
Sajid
looked
over
the
recipe
from
the
comic
book
again,
but
it
didn’t
tell
him
how
to
give
the
‘unmaking’
solution
to
a
zombie.
Sajid
thought
he
might
use
a
water
gun
to
spray
it
on
Benedict,
but
realized
that
it
was
very
unlikely
there
would
be
a
water
gun
at
school,
and
he
didn’t
have
time
to
search.
Sajid
would
just
have
to
figure
it
out
as
he
went
along.

3. Holding
the
sizzling
beaker,
Sajid
ran
out
of
the
lab
and
descended
the
stairs.
As
he
neared
the
classroom,
he
saw
Benedict
still
trying
to
break
down
the
door.
‘It’s
now
or
never,’
Sajid
thought
for
the
second
time
that
day,
and
yanked
open
the
door.
Benedict
threw
himself
out,
clawing
and
flailing
at
Sajid.
Sajid
took
six
steps
back,
took
aim,
and
hurled
the
beaker.
Crash!
The
beaker
exploded
against
Benedict’s
face,
sending
shattered
glass
and
spattering
liquid
all
over
the
place.
Benedict
grunted
as
the
liquid
dribbled
down
his
face.
But
Benedict
kept
coming
for
Sajid….
Sajid
backed
away,
until
he
felt
the
wall
against
him.
Sajid
was
trapped!
Benedict
kept
shuffling
forward,
his
hands
seizing
at
Sajid.
‘It
was
all
for
nothing!’
thought
Sajid.
He
crouched,
shut
his
eyes
and
waited
for
Benedict
to
bite
him.
“Shouldn’t
we
be
in
class?”
Sajid
heard
someone
say.
Sajid
opened
his
eyes
and
slowly
looked
up.
‘BEN–E
-­‐DICT?!”
“Yeah.
What
are
you
doing
down
there?”
“You
wouldn’t
even
believe
it
if
I
told
you….”
said
Sajid.
“What
am
I
doing
here?
Why
are
you
down
there
on
the
ground?”
asked
Benedict.
He
looked
completely
normal
now,
just
like
Sajid
remembered.
“I’m
going
to
answer
all
your
questions.
But
first,
we
need
to
find
Sarthak.
If
you
ever
wanted
to
throw
something
at
a
classmate,
now’s
the
time.”
By
Scott
Crawford
&
Grade
4
BISS
Students