“I’m fine. Really,” I insisted.
I turned and ran through the front office and out the door.
Into the long, empty hallway.
My heart flip-flopping in my chest, I turned the corner—and bumped into Wart and his three friends.
“Ohh!” I let out a startled cry. “What are you doing here?”
“Glad you joined us, Commander,” Wart said in a whisper. His eyes glanced up and down the hall. “Let’s go.”
“Go? Go where?” I demanded.
“To the lunchroom,” he replied.
23
I turned and looked for Ms. Crawford. But she had stayed in her office. The long hall stood empty.
Wart and David moved to my sides. Brenda led the way to the stairs that went down to the lunchroom and the kitchen. Jared walked close behind me.
They had me surrounded. I had no choice. I had to go with them.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I could see the open doors to the kitchen. Bright white light poured out to the hall.
I took a deep breath.
What was that smell? Tuna casserole?
I could hear women’s voices, the cooks working away at the stoves.
With Brenda leading the way, the five of us moved silently to the kitchen doorway. Now I could hear the clatter of pots and the hiss of something cooking on the stove. A woman coughed. Another one laughed.
Brenda turned suddenly, and I nearly walked into her. She shoved something into my hand.
The plastic bag of seeds.
“You may have the honor, Commander,” she whispered solemnly. “You may hide the seeds in the food.”
“Uh… well…” I pressed my back against the tile wall. I didn’t want to go in there. I didn’t want the honor of planting the seeds.
“Maybe we should come back later,” I suggested. “Remember I suggested that we wait? I told you to wait until—”
“We have no choice,” Jared whispered. “We know you want the mission to succeed.”
“Good luck,” Brenda said softly.
David and Jared gave me a hard push into the kitchen.
Squeezing the bag of seeds between my hands, I blinked in the bright light. I could see three women in white uniforms and white aprons. They stood across the big room at the stoves against the wall.
They had their backs to me. Tall soup pots bubbled and steamed on the stoves.
I swallowed hard. If one of them turned around, she’d see me instantly.
I slid beside a cabinet near the doorway. Ahead of me stood a long, shiny aluminum counter. Enormous trays of food stood cooling on the counter. I saw a big tray of macaroni and cheese, a tray of steamed broccoli, a huge tray of tuna casserole.
I guessed it would take about ten steps to reach the counter. So close!
I could probably dive to the counter, pour the seeds out into one of the big food trays, and run out the door in less than ten seconds.
Even if one of the cooks turned around, I could accomplish the mission and be out of there before she could even cry out.
What am I thinking? I asked myself, pressing against the side of the cabinet.
I don’t WANT to accomplish the mission!
I glanced back to the kitchen doorway. All four Creeps huddled there, watching me. They waved their hands frantically, motioning me to get on with it.
I had no choice. No way to escape.
I had to go ahead and plant the seeds.
I sucked in a deep breath and held it. Then, my eyes on the white-uniformed backs of the three cooks, I crept up quickly to the long food counter.
I stopped a few feet away. In front of me on the counter stood an enormous square metal pan of macaroni and cheese. It was steaming hot, fresh from the oven. The tangy cheese smell floated up to me.
I can’t do this! I decided. I can’t!
I turned back. The four Creeps leaned into the doorway, blocking my escape. All four of them were signaling wildly for me to pour the seeds.
I turned back to the macaroni tray.
I raised the seed bag.
I pulled open the top.
They’re watching me, I knew. They’re all watching. I have to do this. Or else they will know that I’m not their Commander.
I have to go ahead with it.
But then—in a flash—I had an idea.
24
I held the seed bag in one hand from the bottom. I raised it in front of me.
I turned and flashed the four Creeps a thumbs-up sign. Then I took a step toward the food counter.
Another step.
And I pretended to trip over something.
I stumbled forward. My hands shot up. And the seed bag flew into the air.
I faked a frantic attempt to catch it as I went down.
But the bag hit the side of the aluminum counter. Turned upside down. And dropped to the floor, spilling the seeds all over the floor. I watched them roll in all directions.
The bag lay on its side in front of me. Empty.
Yessss! I thought happily. I’ve done it! I’ve destroyed their plan!
I forced an unhappy expression on my face.
And scrambled on my hands and knees out the kitchen door.
Wart pulled me up and dragged me away from the open doorway.
I shook my head sadly. “Sorry,” I murmured. “I’m so sorry. I have failed you all.” I pretended to be near tears. “Really. I’m so sorry.”
“No problem,” Jared replied.
He pulled another bag of seeds from his coat pocket and slapped it into my hand.
“We always carry a spare,” Brenda whispered. “You never know when you’ll need more Identity Seeds.”
“Uh… that’s lucky,” I replied.
“Now go do it!” Wart cried softly, slapping me on the back. “This time you will not fail, Commander.”
The four of them pushed me back through the doorway.
I blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the bright kitchen lights. The three cooks were still working at the stoves. They still had their backs to me.
I crept up to the food counter and peered down at the huge tray of simmering macaroni. I had the seed bag gripped tightly in my right hand. The little bag felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds!
I raised the seed bag over the steaming macaroni.
Glanced back to the doorway. All four of the Creeps leaned into the opening, their eyes locked on me.
I turned back to the food counter. Raised the bag higher over the macaroni tray.
I have no choice, I told myself. I have to do this now.
I poured the whole bag of seeds over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Then I turned quickly to the door. And tiptoeing silently, started to sneak out of the kitchen.
“Stir them!” Brenda whispered. She made a stirring motion with her hand.
“Huh?” I stopped a few feet from the door.
“Stir the seeds in!” she whispered urgently. “You’ve got to hide them!”
“Oh. Right.”
I turned and crept back up to the big tray of macaroni and cheese. I picked up a long wooden spoon and stirred the seeds into the macaroni. Then I turned to sneak back out.
I took three steps—when two strong hands grabbed my shoulders roughly from behind. “What are you doing in here, young man?” a woman barked.
25
The hands spun me around. I stared up into the angry face of Mrs. Marshall. “What are you doing in here?” she repeated.
Mrs. Marshall is the nice cook. She’s our favorite. She always kids around with everyone at lunchtime when she dishes out the food.
But she wasn’t kidding around now. She knew I didn’t belong in the kitchen.
Her black curls pressed against her hair net. She tilted her head, hands in her white apron pocket, waiting for me to answer her question.
I glanced to the door. Saw the four Creeps peeking in.
“Mrs. Marshall,” I whispered. “Don’t serve the macaroni.??
?
She squinted at me. “Huh? Speak up, young man.”
“Don’t serve the macaroni,” I whispered, a little louder. I couldn’t say it much louder. Wart and his three friends would hear me. “Please—don’t let anyone eat the macaroni,” I begged.
“What are you saying?” she demanded loudly. “Why are you whispering?”
“Don’t serve the macaroni,” I repeated, still in a whisper. “It’s poisoned!”
She uttered an angry groan. “Young man, our macaroni is delicious,” she declared. “I’m so sick and tired of jokes about our food.”
“She’s right!” Another cook, Mrs. Davis, chimed in from across the room. She waved a long mixing spoon at me. “We make good, wholesome food here. It’s like home-cooked. And we’re tired of all the horrible jokes.”
“We have feelings, you know,” Mrs. Marshall added.
“We use real cheese in the macaroni,” Mrs. Davis called, still waving her spoon. “None of that artificial stuff. And real macaroni noodles.”
“That’s right!” the third cook called. She was new. I didn’t know her name. “Give him a taste, Alice. Give him a taste of the macaroni. He’ll see how good it is.”
Mrs. Marshall leaned over me. “Good idea. Would you like a little bowl of macaroni?” She stepped over to the food counter.
“Try it. You won’t make any more jokes,” Mrs. Davis said.
Mrs. Marshall started to spoon out a little bowl of macaroni for me.
I backed up toward the door. “No. Please. No thank you,” I sputtered.
I reached the doorway. “I… I had a big breakfast,” I told them.
I turned and ran out. And bumped into the four Creeps. They all cheered.
“Commander… you have done it!” Wart cried happily. “You have planted the seeds!”
They cheered again, and clapped and slapped me on the back. All four of them were grinning their heads off.
“Now we just have to wait till this afternoon,” Brenda declared. “This school will be crawling with Creeps!”
26
I didn’t go near the lunchroom at lunchtime. I hid in a stairwell instead. My stomach was growling, but I didn’t care.
I couldn’t bear to see all the kids gobbling down the macaroni. Swallowing the little seeds that would turn them into squirrel-eating Creeps.
A school full of purple lizard monsters, I thought miserably. And all my fault… my fault.
All afternoon, I didn’t hear a word my teacher said. Iris tried to talk to me, but I pretended to be listening really hard to the teacher.
I sat at my desk, studying the other kids. Watching for signs that they were changing. Waiting for the seeds I had planted to do their evil.
But I didn’t see anything odd. No bumpy purple skin. No long, flicking tongues.
The kids all appeared normal.
After school, the four Creeps were waiting for me in the playground. They surrounded me and led me to our hiding place in the woods across the street.
Wart angrily kicked a stone out of his way. David and Jared were muttering unhappily and shaking their heads.
“It didn’t work,” Brenda said softly. “The seeds didn’t work. No one changed.”
“What went wrong?” Wart asked. “What could have gone wrong?”
They all stared at me.
Suddenly, I knew the answer. I knew exactly why none of the kids had turned into Creeps. “No one ate the macaroni,” I blurted out.
I could have kicked myself. Why did I tell them? Why did I tip them off?
They narrowed their eyes at me. “Huh?”
“No one ever eats the macaroni,” I said. I’d already started. I had to explain. “It’s sort of a school rule. The macaroni hasn’t been touched by anyone in years and years!”
All four of them groaned.
Wart stepped up to me and stared at me suspiciously. “How do you know that, Commander?” he demanded. “You arrived here only a few days before we did. So how do you know that the macaroni hasn’t been eaten in years?”
I had to think fast. If they discovered that I wasn’t a Creep, they’d probably disintegrate me—or eat me—or something!
“Uh… one of the kids in my class told me,” I replied. I lowered my head. “I should have remembered sooner. I have failed you. Our mission is a failure.”
“No, it isn’t,” Brenda chimed in. “I have more seeds—and a new plan. A better plan.”
The other Creeps turned to her. “Tell us your plan,” Jared demanded. “We don’t have much time before the seeds lose their power.”
“It’s simple,” Brenda replied with a shrug. “We bake the seeds into cookies. Then we hand out the cookies for free at the school bake sale on Saturday.”
“Excellent idea!” David cried.
“Yaaaay!” Wart and Jared cheered.
“Everyone gets a free cookie,” Brenda said, grinning an evil grin. “And everyone becomes a Creep.”
Brenda’s grin made me feel cold all over. I swallowed hard. My mouth suddenly felt so dry.
I knew that her plan would work. I knew that no one in my school could pass up a free cookie.
What can I do? I asked myself. How can I stop them?
They all turned to me. “Shall we bake the cookies, Commander?” Wart demanded. “Shall we put Brenda’s plan into action?”
I stared back at them. They were eagerly waiting for my answer. I wondered if they could see my knees shaking.
“Well…” I took a deep breath. I had to try something. I had to think of something to stop them.
“I don’t like Brenda’s plan,” I said, trying to keep my voice low and steady. “I think we must prepare the seeds for a later time. I think we should bury the seeds in the ground and see if they sprout. That way, we’ll have lots and lots of seeds!”
I know. I know. It was a really lame idea.
But it was the only thing that popped into my mind.
Would they buy it? I wondered.
Would they forget about Brenda’s plan and go along with it?
Would they agree to bury the seeds?
No way.
It took me only a few seconds to realize I had made the worst mistake of my life.
27
“Bury the seeds?” Brenda cried. “Bury them?”
The four of them moved in closer. They formed a tight circle around me.
I glanced nervously around, searching the woods for the best path to escape. But they had me trapped.
“Are you sure you are our Commander?” Wart demanded.
David and Jared sneered at me. “A Creep Commander would never tell us to bury the Identity Seeds,” Jared said menacingly.
Wart stuck his face up close to mine. “Prove you are our Commander,” he ordered.
“Yes. Prove you are a Creep!” David cried.
“Prove it! Prove it!” All four of them began to chant.
I gasped and tried to back away. But they had me surrounded.
“Prove it! Prove it!”
And as they chanted, they began to change once again. Their skin grew bumpy and turned bright purple. Their hair slid into their heads, and their jaws stretched into long, toothy snouts.
“Prove it! Prove it!” they chanted. “Prove that you’re a Creep!”
I stared at them, unable to move, unable to run. What could I do?
“Prove you’re a Creep!” they demanded. “Prove it—now!”
Eyes flashing wildly, purple bumps quivering all over their bodies, they slithered toward me.
And I knew I was doomed.
28
“Prove it! Prove it!”
Their long, bumpy tongues flicked at me as they chanted.
“Prove that you’re one of us! Change now! Let us see you change like us!”
I swallowed hard. They were chanting for me to change, staring, waiting.
They’d have to wait a long, long time!
“Change! Change! Change!”
They we
re about to learn the truth about me.
I decided I had to confess. And beg them for mercy. “Uh… guys…?” I started.
But then a girl’s shout rose over the chanting of the Creeps. “Stop at once!” she cried.
We all turned to see Iris come running out from behind a tall evergreen. The four Creeps uttered grunts of surprise. Their eyes rolled wildly in their purple lizard heads.
“I am the Commander’s second-in-command!”
Iris declared, her long earrings jangling wildly. “I am his sergeant!”
The Creeps pulled their long, bumpy tongues into their snouts. They stared at Iris, suddenly silent.
“The Commander and I do not choose to transform now,” Iris told them sternly. “We do not have time. We must bake the cookies now. We must prepare the seeds for the bake sale.”
“Yaaaay!” The Creeps cheered Iris.
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Brenda said. “I am glad you like my plan.”
“Your plan will work,” Iris replied. “We will turn the whole school into Creeps like us. Quickly. Let us hurry to my house and bake the cookies.”
The four lizard creatures offered up another cheer. They slapped tongues. Then they quickly began to change back into kids.
The purple on their skin faded. The quivering bumps slid into their skin. Their snouts shrunk and their faces twisted back into the faces of the kids I knew.
As they changed back, I leaned close to Iris and whispered in her ear. “Iris—you’re really one of them?”
“Yes, Commander,” she replied, keeping her eyes on the four Creeps. “Do not worry. This new plan will not fail.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but no sound came out. I couldn’t believe it. Iris—a Creep!
We began making our way through the woods. Iris led the way to her house.
The afternoon sun was sinking behind the bare trees. The air suddenly felt cold and heavy. I couldn’t stop the chills that rolled down my back.
I’d had a close call in the woods. Iris had saved me. But I knew my troubles weren’t over.