50 - Calling All Creeps! by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) Read Free Book Online Page B

carefully,” Wart continued. “After the cooks
set out the food in the morning, they take a ten-minute break. That’s our
chance. If we sneak in during their break, we can plant the seeds in the
lunchroom food.”
    “Everyone eats in the lunchroom. It’s a school rule,” David chimed in. “So
every student will eat at least one seed.”
    “And by nighttime, they will no longer be humans. They will all be Creeps
like us,” Jared added.
    “What do you think of my plan? Will it work?” Wart asked.
    They all stared at me, waiting for my answer.
    “The plan sounds pretty good,” I said finally. I rubbed my chin, pretended I
was thinking hard about it. “I will talk to you all tomorrow and let you know my
decision.”
    Their lizardy faces drooped with disappointment. “Tomorrow?” Wart cried
unhappily. “But we could do it tomorrow morning, Commander. We could
plant the seeds, and by tomorrow night—”
    I raised a hand to cut him off. “Tomorrow,” I said firmly.
    They were still grumbling to each other as I turned and hurried away. I
expected one of them to grab me and pull me back. But this time, they let me go.
    I edged through an opening in the evergreen shrubs. Then I started to jog.
Between the bare, trembling trees. Across the street. And down the block toward
my house.
    What am I going to do? I asked myself as I ran.
    I can’t let them turn everyone in school into Creeps. I can’t let them drop
their Identity Seeds in the lunchroom food.
    But how can I stop them?
    If I tell them not to do it, they will figure out that I’m not their
Commander. They will figure out that they made a mistake.
    And then what? What will they do to me if they find out I’m not a Creep? Will they gobble me up the way Wart swallowed that
poor squirrel?
    My side started to ache, but I kept running. I pictured all the kids in my
school turning into bumpy, purple lizard creatures. I pictured them all in the
woods, grabbing squirrels and swallowing them whole.
    I pictured us all slouching around, slapping high fives with our tongues.
    Yuck!
    “What am I going to do?” I asked myself out loud.
    I was the only one who knew about the Creeps—and the only one who could
stop them.
    And I had to act fast.

 
 
20
     
     
    “Pass the mashed potatoes,” Dad said with a mouthful of chicken. “And the
biscuits, please.”
    I passed the food down the table. I took another drumstick from the bucket.
Mom and Dad both work hard, so they don’t have time to cook. They usually pick
up something on the way home. Tonight it was a fried chicken bucket, with a
bunch of side dishes.
    They are always starving when they get home. There’s no point in talking to
them until they’ve finished their first helping. They can’t even hear you over
the sound of their chewing!
    I really wasn’t hungry. My stomach felt as if it were tied in tight knots. I
kept staring at the chicken and picturing squirrel.
    I waited until most of the chicken had been gobbled up. Then I took a deep
breath and started my story.
    “There’s something I have to tell you,” I said softly.
    They both raised their eyes from their plates. Dad had a swirl of mashed
potatoes on his cheek. Mom reached over and brushed it off with her fingers.
    “Are you in trouble at school again, Ricky?” she asked sternly. “Have the
kids been picking on you?”
    “No. That’s not it,” I replied quickly. “I have to tell you something. I
mean, I need your help. You see—these four kids—”
    “Take a deep breath,” Dad said. “Start at the beginning.”
    “Calm down,” Mom added. “What’s gotten you so wired?”
    “Please—let me tell it!” I cried.
    They both settled back and lowered their forks to the table.
    “These four kids,” I started again. “They’re not really kids. I thought they
were seventh-graders. But they’re not. They’re Creeps. They’re not kids at all.
I mean, they’re new to the school. I never saw them before this year. But