Haru zombie dog hero, p.11
Haru, Zombie Dog Hero, page 11
“Can we see your license, sir?” the soldier asked.
Peter handed his license to the soldier, who looked it over keenly before giving it back.
“And where are you going?”
“Going to my brother-in-law’s place in Rahway, New Jersey,” Peter said. “We took off as soon as we heard about the incident at the Sinclair factory.”
The soldier pointed his flashlight into their car. Luke could see the brightness behind his eyelids, but he kept his eyes closed.
“Could you both please step out of the car,” the soldier ordered.
Peter and Lydia slowly unbuckled their belts and exited their vehicle.
“Your son too,” the soldier said.
“He’s sleeping. It’s been a frightening ordeal for him; please let him sleep,” Peter said.
There was a long silence before the soldier asked, “What is he holding?”
“It’s our cat, Penny,” Peter said.
The soldier peered closely at Luke for a long moment before handing Peter a clipboard and asking him to write his name and his destination address. After several more minutes, Peter was finally able to return to the car and drive away.
It wasn’t until they were safely on the beltway that they all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s keep Haru hidden until we’re in Maryland,” Peter said.
Luke lifted the blanket slightly and whispered, “Good boy.”
As soon as they were on I-95 northbound in Maryland, Luke took off the heavy blanket and Haru jumped back onto the seat.
“Sorry, Haru,” Luke said as he hugged Haru tight.
On the radio, a breaking news report interruped the music.
“A mass evacuation is happening in the Commonwealth of Virginia due to a rapidly spreading disease causing sickness and death. It appears to be spread by rabid dogs. Virginia is in a military lockdown with no one allowed in.”
“Mom, Dad, what’s going to happen?” Luke asked.
“I don’t know,” Peter sighed. “But no matter what happens, we’re going to get as far away as possible and stay safe. We’ll make a new home for all of us.”
Luke nodded and patted Haru’s back. “Haru will keep us safe.”
Penelope blinked and then climbed on top of Haru and fell asleep.
Home, Haru thought. Home is where Luke is.
Frightful Acknowledgments
HARU: ZOMBIE DOG HERO
Presented by HarperCollins’ House of Horrible Children
Supreme Zombie Wrangler Writer—Ellen Oh
All the thanks in the world for the following brilliant, talented, amazing, awesome people:
Queen of Editing Darkness—Alyson Day
Agent of Monstrosities—Marietta B. Zacker
Grim Editorial Assistants—Karina Williams, Eva Lynch-Comer
Bloodsucking Copyeditors—Susan VanHecke, Susan Bishansky, Kathryn Silsand, and Betsy Kennedy
Ghoulish Art Director—Joel Tippie
Knight of Nightmares Cover Artist—Teo Skaffa
Harper Team Coven—Vaishali Nayak, Jacqueline Burke, Delaney Heisterkamp, and Katie Boni
The Kraken Boss Lady—Suzanne Murphy
The Oh House of Terrors:
Grimly Graysin
Shrieking Skye
Savage Summer
Count Tokki-la
Frankenpup Kiko
Evil Emperor Darth Sonny
About the Author
Photo credit Susie James Photography
ELLEN OH is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award Honor for Children’s Literature for Finding Junie Kim. She is the editor of You Are Here: Connecting Flights and the author of the Spirit Hunters series, the middle grade fantasy novel The Dragon Egg Princess, and the Prophecy trilogy (Prophecy, Warrior, and King) for young adults. Ellen is a former adjunct college instructor and lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. She also loves martial arts films, K-pop, K-dramas, and cooking shows, but her favorite thing to do is to try new places to eat good food. Originally from New York City, Ellen lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband, three human children, and two dog children and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel. You can visit her online at ellenoh.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by Ellen Oh
Finding Junie Kim
You Are Here: Connecting Flights
The Dragon Egg Princess
Spirit Hunters
Spirit Hunters: The Island of Monsters
Spirit Hunters: Something Wicked
Prophecy
Warrior
King
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings
Copyright
HARU, ZOMBIE DOG HERO. Copyright © 2023 by Ellen Oh. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2023 Teo Skaffa
Cover design by Joel Tippie
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023930919
Digital Edition JULY 2023 ISBN: 978-0-06-327231-6
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-327229-3
FIRST EDITION
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Ellen Oh, Haru, Zombie Dog Hero
