The front door to the library was unlocked, so we pushed it open and tiptoed inside.

“You think Mrs. Dorsey is here?” Marcus whispered.

I nodded. “She played the game, so she must have the sickness. She tends to come in early, even before opening hours, because different groups meet in the event room.”

I pointed to the bulletin board on the wall, which showed all the groups that held their meetings in the event room downstairs—from sewing circles to book clubs, Scrabble tournaments to the Teen Advisory Board. From the looks of the note on the wall, the Teen Advisory Board was supposed to meet yesterday before school to vote on next month’s movie night selection.

Marcus said, “She probably came in even though she wasn’t feeling well, to unlock to the doors. And then . . .” his voice trailed off.

My favorite librarian was somewhere in this building, and she was a zombie.

The library was quiet—even more so than usual—which was good. We didn’t need to deal with zombie Mrs. Dorsey and a whole bunch of zombie patrons.

We moved past the eerily empty checkout desk. The bank of computer terminals sometimes had a waiting line but now they were all empty, their screensavers swirling.

A shuffling sound from the stacks caught my attention. Marcus and I looked at each other.

“The Mystery aisle?” he suggested.

“I think it’s closer.” I pointed. “Sci-Fi.”

We edged toward that aisle, peeking around stacks of books. The grunting noises got louder as we neared Sci-Fi. We stopped right before the aisle’s opening. My heart sped up. I pulled out my phone. My finger trembled as I held it above the screen, waiting to swipe.

Marcus readied his phone as well. He looked at me and I mouthed, “Now!”

We jumped into the row, startling Mrs. Dorsey, who was indeed a zombie. Her head was flopped to the side, and that face I’d always found so warm and welcoming was now slack and terrifying. Her gray eyes flared as she lurched toward us.

Marcus and I stood shoulder to shoulder—well, not quite because he was so tall—but we took up the whole row. We swiped, quickly and efficiently, tossing cures at Mrs. Dorsey as she got closer and angrier. One arc of red light hit her arm and she lashed out, knocking a pile of books from the shelf to the ground. A zombie horror novel fell on my feet.

Fitting.

We launched again and again until finally one of our shots was a direct hit.

Mrs. Dorsey stopped moving, a stunned expression on her face. She gazed at us, recognition dawning. “Bex? What just happened? I feel like I have a hole in my memory.”

“You were a zombie,” Marcus said, matter-of-factly.

She swayed on her feet, from shock, the illness, or a combination of both. I knew that the extreme fatigue was hitting her hard, and we only had a few minutes before she’d be asleep.

“The new game, Zombie Town, turned all the players into actual zombies,” I explained. “And when they bite others, they turn as well.”

She gasped, her hand fluttering to her mouth.

I continued, “You’re going to get very tired and sleep, possibly for a long time. But when you wake up, you have to help us fight. The game caused this, but the game can fix it. You toss the cures, same as always. Try to cure people you know who are good at the game, so they can help us, too. Aim for the head.”

“We’re building a gamer army,” Marcus said.

Mrs. Dorsey nodded quickly. “My whole book club played. I’ll cure them as soon as I can.” Her eyes rolled back and then refocused. “But first . . . I need a nap.”

We helped her to the floor. I found a sweatshirt in the lost and found and put that under her head as a pillow.

“She’ll be safe here,” I said. “But I’d like her to have her phone nearby when she wakes up.”

“Is it downstairs in her office? In a purse or something?” Marcus asked.

I nodded. “Most likely. Let’s go look.”

We trotted downstairs and checked the office. Sure enough, a big, black leather handbag sat on the floor behind a desk. I opened the zipper and pulled out her phone. “Got it.”

We left the office and closed the door behind us. “After we bring this upstairs, where do you want to go next?” I asked.

A loud bang came from the door to the event room. Almost like it was in response to my voice.

Marcus reached out and tried to turn the knob. “It’s not locked.”

“That means a human could open it.”

The bang came again, louder, like someone slammed themselves against the door.

“Sounds like your typical confused zombie,” Marcus said. “Should we cure it?”

I shrugged. “Why not? We’re on a roll.”

I readied my phone and nodded to Marcus, who was gripping the door knob. He turned it and pulled opened the door. But we were wrong.

Someone wasn’t at the door. It was a zombie horde.

I recognized my friend Isaac and a few other kids from school. Some had been players, some had been bitten. But two things were clear: yesterday morning’s Teen Advisory Board meeting had been an actual nightmare, and Marcus and I were in over our heads.

Marcus tried to shut the door, but the zombies rushed at the opening, pushing him. I moved backward until the heel of my shoe hit the wall. Isaac lunged at Marcus, and he reeled back, falling to the floor. I swiped as fast as I could, trying to cure the zombies in front of me so I could get to him. I couldn’t watch Marcus be bitten again!

Four zombies leaned over him, teeth chomping.

Marcus rolled between their feet. Confused, two bent-over zombies bonked heads. While they growled at each other, Marcus ran back into the event room and quickly climbed on top of a table.

“Join me!” he shouted.

Marcus threw some cures as cover while I ran to him. The zombies tried their best to dodge and fight the arcs of red light. I scrambled up the table and faced the dwindling horde. Two girls and one boy had already been cured and were swaying on their feet, confused by the scene in front of them.

Three more zombies heaved toward us, arms raised in front of them. Even though the table gave us some height, they’d still be able to reach our legs. Marcus and I swiped repeatedly, but the zombies were staggering left and right. It would be helpful for aiming purposes if they didn’t walk like, well, zombies.

My heart pumped wildly in my chest the closer they got. I went to swipe up again and the phone slipped out of my sweaty hand.

“No!” I screamed, while I watched it fall to the floor below as if it were happening in slow motion.

Marcus stayed focused, taking out two more zombies. Only one remained—my friend Isaac. He reached the edge of the table and clasped his hand hard around my ankle. He pulled and I pulled back—it was like the worst game of tug of war I’d ever played. Up on the table, I had nothing to hold on to. I was going to lose my balance.

Just in time, Marcus lodged a direct hit, and Isaac froze in place.

He looked down at his hand, still gripping my ankle, then pulled it back. “What? Why?”

The other kids behind him were also in various states of shock, rubbing their foreheads and muttering to themselves.

“Time to recruit our army,” I said to Marcus. “You want to give the speech?”