Alex was drawing in his sketchpad in his room when he got a knock at the door.

“Come in!” he called out. A second later, the door opened, revealing Josie in the doorway.

“Oh, hey,” he told her and then looked back at the drawing.

“Hey,” she responded and then shut the door. “Whatcha drawing?” she asked.

“Nothing, really,” Alex replied. “Just some of the Plants.”

“Can I see?” Josie replied with interest. Alex stared at her for a second before giving her the paper. She looked and saw a very accurate drawing of Peashooter, Sunflower, Wall-Nut, and Snow Pea. To the left, she saw a half-finished sketch of Potato Mine.

“Not bad!” she said with a nod. “Looks just like a photograph!” Alex just chuckled.

“Thanks,” he responded and then took the sketchbook back. He then proceeded to continue drawing Potato Mine.

“So, Alex,” she continued in a serious tone, “As I said earlier, it’s getting quite easy to take the zombies out...which means we’re somewhat safer now...” Alex suddenly froze. He knew exactly where she was going with this. He looked up at her and she had a serious look on her face.

Before she could say anything else, he quickly asked, “Josie, why are you so quick to want a kid?” She just stood there stunned.

After a while, she replied, “I don’t know...I’ve always had a way with kids, especially babies...and I guess since you’re my last chance of having my own and being a mother...I just don’t want to miss the chance, you know?” She looked like she was about to cry again. Alex then got up, walked over to her, and hugged her.

“You don’t have to be upset about this,” he told her. “I understand you exactly. I’ve felt the same way.”

“Then why do you seem so nervous about this?!” she demanded. Alex slowly shrugged in response.

“Maybe it has something to do with the fact I’ve mostly really thought of you as a friend...I mean, it would be kind of like having a kid with my sister!” Josie just chuckled.

“I’m serious!” he continued. “Look, I know you’re serious about this, and I am too! But...I don’t know...I guess I’m just not ready yet. After all, I’ve only known about your crush on me for a few hours! It’s kinda rushing it, don’t you think?” Josie just shrugged.

“I suppose so...” she admitted. She then placed her head into his chest again. “When will it NOT be rushing it?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Alex admitted. “I guess we’ll have to see.” She then looked up at him with her sparkling eyes. After a second, a smile came across her face.

“I can feel your heart beating,” she told him. “It’s pumping pretty fast.”

“Well, I ain’t exactly all calmed and relaxed right now,” he told her. She continued smiling at him with her gorgeous smile. She then suddenly grabbed his hand and moved it towards her chest.

“Josie!” Alex gasped. “What are you...?” Before he could finish, she placed his hand right on top of her heart. He felt it beating really fast, just like his own.

“I’m not calm, either,” she admitted. They just stood staring at each other for a few seconds.

Suddenly, she quickly moved her face towards Alex’s. Before he could react, her lips touched his left cheek for a split second before she pulled away. Her smile seemed bigger than before. Alex just stood there dumbfounded.

“Consider us even now,” she said with a wink, and then placed her head back into his chest.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he admitted.

ERT! ERT! ERT! She looked back at him with a smile.

“I hope we can do this more often,” she said. “Maybe someday I can get you to change your mind.”

“Don’t count on it,” Alex replied with a wink. The two then left his room and headed downstairs.

Once in the basement, he saw Dave and Freddy staring at the TV. Once again, they seemed confused.

“NOW where are they?” Dave demanded. Sure enough, they didn’t see any zombies on the screen!

“Maybe THIS time they’re Invisi-Ghouls!” Freddy told them all. Everyone, including the Plants, rolled their eyes.

“Hang on a sec,” Josie suddenly said with her eyes focused on the television. “Look closely in the backyard!” They all turned to the screen and saw nothing at first, but after a second, they saw what appeared to be a small dot moving rather quickly towards the house!

“What on earth...?” Alex asked to himself. He then ran to the back window and peeked through there. What he saw made his jaw drop; the small dot was very, very, VERY tiny zombie!

“It’s a zombie!” he suddenly exclaimed to everyone. “It’s super small!”

“How does THAT happen?!” Freddy exclaimed.

“Well, that’s a funny thing about the zombie process,” Dave explained. “Sometimes it makes ‘em come out real little. Real little and REAL MEAN!!”

“I’d hate to be out there right now,” Alex said with a chuckle. “We’d have to be defending our shins!”

“Well for now, let’s defend the HOUSE!” Josie exclaimed.

“Good idea,” Freddy told her. He then sat in the seat and planted. As fast as the tiny zombies were going, it was actually easier to kill them; the smaller sizes seemed to have weakened them a lot! The guys actually considered themselves lucky that only regulars, Cone Heads, Footballs, and Snorkels were attacking.

“It’s actually kinda sad that at this point, all we need are Peashooters, Wall-Nuts, Cherry Bombs, and Lily Pads,” Alex told them.

“No kidding,” Josie replied. “Though it’s kinda amusing seeing all these little zombies getting obliterated by the explosions!”

“Oh, totally!” Freddy agreed. Then planted another Cherry Bomb right in front of a group of tiny zombies.

POWIE! They zombies practically turned into dust as they flew into the air. After a few short minutes, all the little zombies were gone.

“That was by far one of the easiest rounds we’ve had in a while!” Alex told them all. “But that doesn’t mean it’s always gunna be this simple.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Crazy Dave told him. “I have a new plant idea that you might be interested in!”

“What is it?” Freddy asked.

“Let me make it first, THEN I’ll tell ya!” the lunatic replied. The teens then just groaned with frustration and headed upstairs.

“How about we play some more Xbox?” Josie asked. Alex just groaned.

“I’m actually kind of sick of that thing,” he told her. “How about we do something more...old school?”

“What, like PS2?” Freddy asked.

“No...”

“N64?”

“NO! No videogames!” Freddy and Josie stared wide-eyed at him. Finally, Josie just smiled.

“Okay,” she told him. “Who are you, and what have you done with Alex Johnsen?” Alex just smiled back.

“I’m serious, guys!” he told them. “Let’s actually do something else besides videogames for once!”

“Like what?” Freddy asked.

“I don’t know...maybe a board game?”

“We HAVE those?”

“Yeah; they’re in the garage.” Josie just shrugged.

“I’m cool with that,” she told him.

“Yeah, I guess I am, too...” Freddy murmured.

“C’mon!” Alex told his brother. “It’ll be fun!”

“It better,” Freddy replied. Alex and Josie just chuckled as the teens headed to the garage.

*           *           *

“Hey, hey, hey!” Alex exclaimed at his brother. “You can’t use abbreviations, remember?”

“I thought we made it a house rule that you could!” Freddy replied.

“No, the house rule was that we could use proper nouns, like names and stuff!”

“Fine, whatever.” Freddy then picked his tiles back up and thought up a new word. He then placed the tiles vertically in front of another word.

“There! Does ‘matrix’ work?” he asked.

“I suppose so!” Josie replied. “It’s a math term, so it could actually work if we didn’t have that rule.” Alex faked a cough while quickly murmuring, “Nerd”.

“Hey, if it wasn’t for nerds, technology wouldn’t be as advanced as it is today!” Josie told him. “We’d still be using buggies and abacuses!”

“Well, unfortunately, technology hasn’t really advanced at all in the last year,” Alex pointed out in a joking manner.

“Oh? I’d say the Plants are technological!” Josie remarked. Alex just shrugged.

“I suppose so, but still,” he replied. “Can you imagine what scientists could’ve made by now if it wasn’t for the zombies?”

“Maybe we would’ve been one step sooner to flying cars and hoverboards,” Freddy pointed out.

“Or teleportation,” Josie said in thought.

“Or mind control!” Alex said with a chuckle.

“Well, we have Hypno-Shroom!” Josie pointed out.

“Yeah, but he only works on zombies!”

“You don’t know that.”

“Well, could you imagine a human deciding to attack other humans by eating a mushroom?”

“Okay, you got me there.”

“Exactly.”

ERT! ERT! ERT!

“Well, let’s finish up this game after the attack,” Freddy told them. “I’m tired of waiting to kick your butts!” Alex and Josie rolled their eyes and they all went down to the basement. When down there, they looked at the work bench and saw what appeared to be a red pepper sitting on it! Its face looked like it was having some sort of cramp.

“This is Jalapeño,” Dave told them. “Just plant him and he’ll create a wave of flames that burn and kill any zombie in the same row as him!”

“Nice!” Alex told him. “That’ll definitely come in handy!” He then sat in the chair and started planting Sunflowers and Peashooters. Again, at first it was just Cone Heads and regulars for a while. Soon, though, a new zombie approached the lawn in an unusual way!

This zombie appeared to be on a Zamboni ice machine!! It wore a red stocking cap and had long brown hair. The most important thing, though, was the fact that the Zamboni was icing the lawn as it slowly approached the house!!

“Squash it!” Freddy suddenly exclaimed. Alex then clicked on Squash’s picture and planted him in front of the machine. When he did, the Plant jumped into the air and landed right on top of the machine, blowing it up!

“I guess that’s good,” Josie said, “but what do we do about that ice?” They all looked and saw the lawn was still paved with ice from the Zamboni.

“Hopefully it won’t be a problem,” Alex responded and kept on planting. He may have spoken too soon, however, for a few seconds later a red bobsled with four zombies in it started sliding on the ice trail! When the ice trail stopped, so did the bobsled. However, the four zombies then got out of the sled and walked towards the Peashooter right in front of it!

“Now what?!” Freddy asked in panic.

“Hang on!” Alex told him. “I got an idea!” He then clicked on Jalapeño’s picture and planted him in the same row as the Zombie Bobsled Team. At first nothing happened, but Alex saw the pepper on the TV suddenly grow bigger and bigger until...

WHOOSH! The pepper exploded, creating a giant lane of flames that wiped out all the zombies in the row! Not only that, it quickly melted all the ice! After that, it was just a simple measure of killing the remaining zombies.

“That was amazing!” Josie gasped. “Though it’s kinda scary that they’re smart enough to drive...”

“I know!” Alex agreed. “That Zomboni would’ve been tough to handle if not for Squash!”

“I’m sorry...that WHAT?” Freddy asked. Alex just shrugged.

“Zomboni,” he replied. “It’s a Zamboni driven by a zombie...Zomboni.”

“Clever word play!” Dave told him. “And you know, I have an idea on an easier way to stop these Zombonis, as well as a way hurt other zombies!”

“Well, get to work on that!” Freddy told the lunatic. “The rest of us, let’s finish the game upstairs!” Alex just chuckled before replying, “You mean so I can kick your butt?” Freddy just rolled his eyes.

“Whatever!” he told his brother. With that, they all went upstairs. Crazy Dave then turned to the work table to begin working on the new plant.

“So what do you think of those guys?” Sunflower suddenly asked him. Dave just shrugged.

“They’re pretty cool kids,” he replied. “They definitely need our help.”

“Oh, totally,” she responded. “And it’s nice that you’re willing to help them out.”

“Well, I gotta protect my own butt too, ya know.”

“Yeah, but I don’t just mean protecting them from zombies. I mean giving them company! After all, your presence and the presence of all the Plants you’re making seem to be giving them comfort.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“So speaking of the Plants you’re making, what’s this idea you have for killing the Zombonis?” Dave just smiled at her.

“Well, you see...”

*           *           *

ERT! ERT! ERT!

“Perfect timing!” Alex told the others as he put the game back into the garage.

“Still can’t believe you beat us both using the word ‘axe’!” Josie told Freddy.

“I told ya I’d win!” Freddy replied proudly.

“Well let’s deal with the zombies!” Alex told them both. They all then rushed into the basement, where they saw some peculiar plant on the table. This plant was almost flat save for white spikes all over it! Its body was a light brown, and its eyes were small and beady.

“This is Spikeweed!” Dave explained. “His spikes allow tires to be popped! I figure placing him under a Zomboni can stop it!”

“Cool!” Josie responded.

“He also can hurt zombies that walk over him!” Dave continued. “If a zombie’s on top of him, he’ll just keep stabbing it over and over until it either dies, or it gets off him.”

“Smart thinking!” Freddy complimented.

“Thanks!” Dave replied. “Now, go and stab some ice-resurfacing machines!” Without replying, Freddy jumped into the chair and started planting. At this point in time, all the rounds seemed to be starting off with regular zombies and Cone Heads. This round had some Bucket Heads, as well. Once or twice, a Snorkel Zombie approached. All these zombies were quite easy to take out.

However, near the end of the round, another Zomboni approached the yard! Without being told to, Freddy clicked on Spikeweed’s picture and planted him in front of the Zomboni. Sure enough, when the machine ran it over, its tires popped. A second later, the whole contraption exploded! After that, it was a simple matter of killing the remaining zombies.

“That’s a pretty helpful Plant,” Alex told Dave. “It’s even more helpful that it can’t be eaten!”

“Exactly,” Dave responded.

“Hey, Dave!” Freddy told the madman. “Do you think you could make a pea-shooting plant that shoots fireballs?” Dave stared at him confused.

“It was just a suggestion,” Freddy responded. “I mean, we have a Peashooter that shoots ice, so why not one that shoots fire?”

“Well, that could be rather complicated and dangerous,” Dave replied. “I’ll see what I can do, though.”

“Thanks,” Freddy responded.

“Well, I’m gunna go take a quick nap,” Alex said with a yawn. “Still need to catch up on sleep from last night.”

“Alright, you do that,” Dave told him. Alex then nodded sleepily and walked upstairs. Freddy then turned to Josie

“So, what do you wanna do?” Freddy asked. Josie just shrugged.

“Anything in particular YOU wanna do?” she replied.

“Well, I’m in the mood for some Rock Band.”

“Sound good! Just make sure we don’t use drums; those things will wake up Alex for sure!”

“Got it. But I call mic!”

“God help us all...”

The two then went upstairs as well, leaving Dave alone in the basement with the Plants.

“I like those kids,” Spikeweed said. “They seem rather energetic.”

“So are we!” Lily Pad replied. “I mean, not me in particular, but the others like Peashooter and Cherry Bomb and Repeater need all the energy they can!”

“Can you blame us?” Repeater told her. “You won’t know the meaning of ‘work’ until you do nothing but spit peas TWICE IN A ROW for a long period of time!”

“Maybe you need to have a better workout plan,” Peashooter suggested. “Nothing hard work, commitment, and a healthy, well-balanced breakfast of sunlight and high-fiber carbon dioxide can’t fix!”

“He’s right, you know,” Snow Pea told Repeater. “How do you think I can manage to freeze so many zombies at a time without being worn out?” Repeater just grumbled.

“Whatever,” he finally murmured and then hopped away.

“Sometimes, you just gotta feel bad for people AND plants like him,” Cherry #1 commented.

“You know, I’m wondering if that ‘tough guy’ attitude is just a cover-up,” Cherry #2 replied.

“For what?”

“Maybe he’s looking for love?”

“Well, who isn’t?” Dave told them all. He then continued on the new plant. After a while, though, he just sighed with frustration.

“This is harder than I thought...” he told the other plants. “I can’t seem to figure out how to incorporate fire into a pea without killing the plant itself!”

“Well, how hard can it be?” Snow Pea asked. “After all, you put ice into ME!”

“Well, ice and fire are two VERY different things, Snow,” Dave replied. “Ice is a physical object; fire is not. You can’t really do anything to it.”

“I have an idea!” Peashooter told Dave. “Maybe instead of an actual plant that SPITS fireballs, maybe you can make a plant that turns regular peas INTO fireballs!”

Dave pondered in thought before a huge grin grew on his face.

“That just may work!” Dave replied. “It would definitely be easier to make, and you could use it for ALL you pea-shooting plants! Good thinking!”

“No problem!” Peashooter replied with a grin. “Anything to remain the favorite Plant!”

“What makes you think you already are?” Sunflower asked with curiosity.

“Well, who else can kill zombies better when you need something quick?” Peashooter replied.

“Well, there’s Repeater!”

“He needs twice as many sunawatts as me!”

“Cherry Bomb?”

“Still needs more sunawatts!”

“Potato Mine?”

“He takes forever to get ready!”

“Tangle Kelp?”

“You kidding? He only gets one zombie and takes forever to reload!”

“Alright, fine, you win. But just remember that if it wasn’t for me, none of you could do anything out there!” She then just winked and hopped away.

“Well, Puff-Shroom could!” Peashooter called out after her.

“He’s nocturnal, remember?” Sunflower called back.

Peashooter just froze for a second before groaning. Dave just laughed.

“Maybe I made you guys a little TOO much like humans,” he murmured before continuing the new plant.