Walk-Off Apocalypse

The baseball field smelled like cut grass and anxiety. TJ adjusted his cap, sweat stinging his eyes. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, two outs. The biggest game of his sixteen-year life.

"Don't choke, TJ," someone yelled from the bench. Probably Kyle, who'd been messaging TJ's ex all week.

The pitcher wound up. TJ swung—

A groan erupted from the dugout. Not the crowd. The dugout.

Coach Miller shuffled toward home plate, dragging his left leg. His skin had that grayish-green tinge you only saw in low-budget zombie movies. Which TJ and his friends had binge-watched last weekend, before everything went sideways.

"Coach?" TJ whispered, backing away.

Coach Miller lunged. TJ scrambled backward, tripping over home plate. His bat clattered onto the dirt.

"Run!" screamed Maya, the freshman who'd been crushing on TJ all season. She was already climbing the backstop.

But Coach wasn't the only one. Kyle emerged from the dugout, half his face chewed raw, still clutching his phone like the world's worst addict. The whole team followed, a zombie parade in polyester uniforms.

TJ bolted toward the parking lot, feet pounding the asphalt. The concession stand—his after-school job, his ticket to concert tickets—was already overrun. Mrs. Gable, who always gave him extra nachos, was now eating the cash register.

"TJ! This way!" His little sister Leo waved from the maintenance shed, holding their mom's bear spray. She'd bought it online after "watching too many true crime documentaries," Mom had said.

"What are you DOING here?" TJ hissed, shoving her inside.

"Saving your butt?" Leo rolled her eyes. "Also, I saw what happened to the umpire. Not pretty."

They locked the door as something slammed against it. Repeatedly.

"We have to go back for Maya," TJ said.

"Maya climbed the fence, genius. She's probably at your house by now."

TJ's phone buzzed. Maya: *ur mom says stay put. also u left ur bat*

TJ slumped against the wall. "So that's it. I'm stuck in a shed with my thirteen-year-old sister while everyone we know becomes a zombie."

"Hey." Leo handed him a granola bar from her backpack. "Could be worse. You could've struck out.

TJ laughed. A real laugh. The world was ending, his coach was undead, and he'd probably never get his first kiss now, but his little sister was still roasting him.

"Touché."

Outside, the groans continued. The baseball game was over. But somehow, the strangest summer of their life was just getting started.