The trio ran around frantically, searching for their friend. "SOOS! WHERE ARE YOU, BUDDY?!" Wendy called.

"SOOS!" the twins called. Every time one of them shouted out, there was no answer. "Oh my god, maybe he's still in the store!" Wendy exclaimed. They all turned and ran into the liquor store. They ran straight up to the counter. Wendy leaned over and looked behind the counter.

Sitting there was a boy, about 25. He had well groomed blonde hair and a little goatee. He wore a white button up shirt with a black vest and a bow tie. He was crouched down and shaking with fear, his eyes bulging.

"P-please don't hurt me! I tried to save your friend, I tried!" he exclaimed, almost crying.

Wendy and the twins walked behind the counter and sat next to the boy. "Whoa, dude. We aren't gonna hurt you. And what do you mean you 'tried to save our friend'? Where's Soos?" Wendy asked the boy. He was still trembling, but a little less violently now.

"T-t-the creep! The pale, yellow eyed creep in the fez! He came in and just started choking your friend! Then he t-t-threw him to t-the ground! He s-s-s-started b-biting him! Your friend then went pale and his eyes t-turned yellow and they both tried to attack me, but I f-f-fended them off with a broken b-bottle!" the young man stuttered, still near tears.

"Wait_ fez?" Dipper asked. "But the only one in Gravity Falls who wears a fez is_" The trio gasped.

"Stan!" they cried.

Wendy leaned in toward the young man. "Hey, it's OK. It isnt't your fault what happened. Now tell us your name."

"J-Jonathan. I know who you are, of course."

"How do you know me?" Wendy was a little freaked out.

"I'm Jonathan Vanguard! Robbie's big brother! Remember?"

Wendy's face spread into a huge smile. "Johnny! I didn't even recognize you, you look so different!" she exclaimed, hugging the young man tightly.

"Haha, yeah. Nate and Lee didn't remember, either. I guess I've changed a lot." he laughed.

Mabel raised an eyebrow. "Wait_ Robbie has black hair, and so does your mom. How are you blonde?"

"Mr. Vanguard had blonde hair. Johnny just looks more like him than Robbie does." Wendy explained.

"Oh. Anyway, do you think you could help us, Johnny?" Mabel asked. "We could be a team! A zombie killing team! We could be called "The ZK team! It stands for zombie killer."

Johnny laughed. "OK, sure. The ZK team works. But if we're gonna do this, we have to stick together." He pulled a book out of his satchel and opened it to a page close to the middle. "Your friends are infected by a mysterious force called 'Izkon'. It causes the skin and eyes to color strangely, and forces the victim to behave as a zombie. Not undead zombies, infected zombies. There's an antidote somewhere in the town, but we'll have to find it if we want to fix this."

He closed the book and looked at the trio. "So who's in and who's out?" he asked, holding his hand out.

"I'm in!" Mabel exclaimed and put her hand on top of Johnny's.

"I'm in." Wendy put her hand on top of Mabel's.

"I'm in, too." Dipper put his hand on top of Wendy's.

"OK, we're a team now. Now let's get moving." Johnny said. They pulled their hands away and cautiously walked out of the liquor store, now known as The ZK Team.