Chapter Forty-Five

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"Aunt Katrina?!" Hansel and I both exclaimed.

She looked at me and my twin brother and squinted. "That is my name," she said.

"Is it really you?" Hansel questioned.

She nodded. "The one and only."

"H-how are you here?" I questioned her.

"Duh. I am still alive. Did you think that I was dead?"

Hansel and I shook our heads.

"Your doctor never told us that you were dead or dying in the process," I explained.

"We were, however, worried that you would end up dying," Hansel added. "Well...Gretel was worried." I frowned at him. "I mean...you collapsed and would not wake up. Gretel even mentioned that you were not breathing."

Her eyes widened, and she removed her hand from my shoulder. "Is that what happened? Is that why I was at the hospital?" I grabbed her hand and was about to say the word 'yes' and ask her why she was out of the hospital and if she was feeling alright, when she said, "We should not be discussing this at a time like this." She looked at the group of zombies and pointed. "Those are coming for us."

"What are those things?!" Hansel wondered, as if he knew that our aunt knew the answer to that question. "Zombies?!"

Katrina ignored him and strolled past us. She halted and positioned herself in a fighting stance. She had her hands in gripping positions, the fingers away from the palms, and her knees were bent.

"Stay behind me, kids," she ordered. "As a matter of fact, go and get help. Tell them what is going on and bring help here."

My twin took a step forward. "No way! We will not leave you with these zombies!" He got next to Aunt Katrina and put his fists up. "We will stay and fight by your side."

I heard a low growl escape from our aunt's throat. She shoved him.

"Ah!" It was a shove that was enough to send him stumbling back and falling in a puddle of mud. He groaned.

I ran over to him and helped him up. Both his back and bottom were caked with mud.

Aunt Katrina was looking at us. Her face saddened.

"The crub?!" Hansel exclaimed angrily. "Why did you push me into the mud?!"

A tear streamed down her cheek. "Oh my gosh. I am sorry. I did not mean to push you with such force or even let you fall in mud. I am just trying to keep you kids safe. You two mean the world to me."

A zombie staggered over to her and reached for her. There was no time for me to scream or gasp. I was going to warn her...

...but she apparently already knew.

She got ahold of the zombie's neck and threw the zombie across the yard.

My twin brother and I looked at each other, and then back at our aunt.

"Woah," I said quietly.

Katrina punched two zombies in the faces. The zombies screeched and fell to the ground. She glanced back at us. Her eyebrows were narrowed.

"Go! Now!" she demanded as she kicked a zombie in its gut.

"But...we want to help," Hansel replied softly.

I put an arm on his back and led him down the sidewalk. "We are helping," I reminded him. "She said to get help. So we are going to do just that."

We were soon a mile from the house. I wiped some mud off of my brother's shirt and pants.

"We should get to the hospital," I insisted. "You need to be washed and put on clean clothes."

"What about us getting help?" he remembered. "Aunt Katrina needs help."

"And she will have help. Once we are at the hospital, we will inform someone who works there - a doctor or a nurse - that she needs help. We will tell him or her where she is and why she needs the help."

"Do...do you think that they will believe us? That our aunt is actually fighting zombies?"

"We will convince them. I will even take them to the location if convincing does not work."

He let out a cough and glanced down at the sidewalk. "I just hope that Aunt Katrina will be alive and fine after all this. After all that she has been through."

"Me too."

The hospital building soon came into view. Hansel and I made a left turn off the sidewalk and onto the hospital grounds. I helped Hansel up three steps. We went up to the double doors. They were clear and made out of glass. I gripped the handle of one of the doors and pulled open the door. I let my twin go in first, seeing that he was the one who was covered in mud and that I wanted to be polite.

"Thanks," he muttered as he headed inside. He was pretty mad that he had mud on him. And it was not at least the mud that they use at spas.

I followed him and let go of the door. The door slowly closed by itself.

I spotted the front desk and went over to it. There was an old lady who was sitting at the desk. She was typing something on the computer.

"Hello," I greeted.

You will never believe what happened next. Really. You will never guess right.

"I am Gre—"

I was cut off by a man's voice.

"Looks like that we found you," he said. His voice was deep. "Put your hands behind your back, Gretel Mason."

My mouth dropped open. My whole body shook.

How did he know my name?

I spun around and saw that there was a tall man who was standing behind me. It seemed that he was wearing a police uniform, but his uniform was brown. He had a badge on his shirt.

"Gretel, you and Hansel are under arrest for being mentally insane. I will be taking you two to the mental asylum."

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