Since Addison had finished her art project for the week, she was free to do 'other assignments', which translated to free time until Monday. Her and Bonzo had spent the last few days making posters for the Block Party. It was nice, considering she hardly ever knew what Bonzo was saying. Sitting with him in Art class was like their own way of communication.

Like he usually did, Bonzo announced his presence by coming up behind her and wrapping her in a hug. Addison grinned, pressing her head against his. "Morning Bonzo," she greeted.

"Addska," he greeted, which, after a few times of hearing it, she learned was her name in Zombie.

He slid onto his stool beside her, drumming on the table instantly with his fingers. Addison grinned, watching him in anticipation. "Ta da!" he finally exclaimed, producing a folded origami rose.

She clapped her hands, grinning widely. "It's beautiful, Bonzo."

"Zebala," which she knew meant he was referring to Zed.

"It's from Zed?"

"Za."

"I gotta unfold it, huh?"

Bonzo nodded, saying again, "Za."

Addison grinned again, carefully unfolding the piece of artwork. It hurt her heart a little to see the masterpiece go away, but the knowledge of Zed writing a note important enough to be hand delivered kept her going.

Ready to break every rule in the book? Meet me at the barrier, tomorrow 7

Zed

'He's such a dork,' she thought to herself. She thanked Bonzo, grinning as she pulled out a new sheet of colored paper and scribbled out a reply.

You're such a dork. I'm in.

xoxo Addison

-P.S. Meet me in the Safe Room during lunch

"I'll be right back," she told Bonzo. He vaguely acknowledged her, already working on a new flier. Addison folded the paper, sliding off of her stool and heading out of the class.


"Where're you going, Addy?" Bree asked.

"I have a lunch date with Zed," Addison explained.

"Aw!" Bree gushed. "You guys are literally the cutest couple, it's like you were made for each other!"

Addison smiled at that. "There are way cuter couplers than us. Have you seen Anthony and Giselle, those two seniors?"

Bree nodded enthusiastically. "They're so cute too, but I'm a personal fan of Zeddison."

"I'm a personal fan of Bronzo."

Bree scoffed softly. "I wish, I barely even see him. Except when he's with his friends."

Addison's understood how she felt, it was one of the reasons she had set up this lunch date. They had both been busy that week, Addison planning out the Block Party and Zed setting up the Zombie Mash. They hadn't had any time to themselves since the weekend. And with the District Championship game that afternoon, she wouldn't see Zed again until the Block Party the next day.

Addison leaned in as if she were telling her friend a secret. "A little birdie told me that he's planning on asking you out, sometime soon." While Bonzo couldn't speak English, he could understand and write in it (his handwriting was better than Zed's, someone who spoke, read, and wrote in English, which was a little disappointing). Over the course of the week, Bonzo would write her notes in Art, most of which pertained to Bree and ended in the two of them formulating the perfect date.

"Really?"

Addison nodded, grinning at her friend. "And if it takes long, you gotta remember that he doesn't even speak English."

Bree sighed; Addison wasn't sure if it were a sad sigh or a kinda-happy-but-still-a-little-sad sigh. They rounded a corner, nearly walking into Zed and Bonzo. Bree perked up at the sight of her zombie-crush, while Zed just gave his girlfriend a curious look. Addison noticed him limping slightly, like he was in pain all over.

"You're going the wrong way," he pointed out.

Addison smiled, turning to walk alongside Zed. Bonzo turned to walk with Bree to the cafeteria. The group said their goodbyes, heading to their respective locations.

Once they were a good distance away from the cafeteria, Addison asked, "Are you okay? You don't look so hot."

"Deja vu," Zed muttered.

Addison grinned slightly. "You're walking weird is all, like you're in pain."

Zed shrugged simply. "Football," he said as an answer.

After a quiet minute, he asked, "Is something wrong? I wasn't sure if this was a serious meeting or, like, something fun or anything."

Addison shook her head. "Just haven't see you in a while."

"What're you talking about? I see you all the time."

"I mean, I haven't seen you. Like, just you and no one else. I haven't seen just you all week."

Zed opened the door to the Safe Room, going in first and holding it open for her. "I brought lunch too," she added, leading them further into the room. In the middle of the room was a picnic blanket and lunch, already laid out, along with flowers and lanterns—she had originally planned on using candles, before remembering the history Zombies had with fire.

"Woah," Zed breathed out.

Addison glanced at him, wringing her fingers nervously. It had taken her a few days to plan it all out and a lot of lying to get it all together.

Zed looked at her, his expression completely amazed. "This is so...it's so beautiful, Addy," he gushed. "You did this for me?"

As an answer, Addison's stood on her toes, kissing him gently. She pulled back, giving him a slight smile. "I'd only do this for you, Zed."

Zeds eyes searched her face. He tended to do that whenever he was about to say something romantic (or cheesy) and kiss her. "Guz non znak jak gużo gar garziga." Addison had spent enough time around Bonzo and learning little words and phrases with Zed and Eliza to figure out what he'd said: You don't know how much I love you.


"Bonzo and I made custom posters for the game, we even used your design, just for you."

Zoey grinned up at her. Addison had been tasked of babysitting Zoey, walking her from her house and to the football game while Mr. Necrodopolus was working longer hours than usual.

"Eliza said that you aren't sitting in the bleachers," Zoey pointed out. "So will I sit with you? Or will I have to sit all the way up top, all by myself?"

"Are you kidding? You get front row seats, Z. You just gotta stay on the bench, away from the clashing bodies that aren't looking for adorable little girls by the sidelines."

"Duh! I'm six, not one. I know what's dangerous and what to avoid." Zoey said. "Between you and me, I think I'm more of the smart one in the family than Zed."

Addison laughed at that. "I'm serious," Zoey went on. "You should've heard him on the first day. He's so positive all the time, so dumbly optimistic."

Addison raised a curious eyebrow. She rarely heard anyone in her grade articulate words so clearly, and even less a six year old.

"It's okay though," Zoey went on. "I love Zed just the way he is. He's really happy and he's super protective. Did you know that, last night, he came home super-duper late because he got jumped? He had waited outside, till it was past my bedtime so I wouldn't see him like that."

"He…wait, come again?"

"Sometimes when he walks home alone and it's really dark, he'll get jumped—you know, beat up and stuff—by big mean humans," Zoey shrugged. "It happens to a lot of Zombies. It's part of the reason why we have a curfew. At least that's what they said in social studies."

Addison doesn't say anything for a while. The thought of Zed being targeting and attacked on his way home made her stomach churn. She had seen him limping and in pain earlier and had believed him when he said it was from football.

"You can't tell him I told you," Zoey added. "To Zed, I'm just his little sister who he needs to protect and hide from the world. So him knowing that I know that the world is cruel then—"

Addison's nodded. "I get it."

Zoey grinned up at her, jumping over a crack in the sidewalk. She was too adorable to have to go through everything she did. She deserved better than this, where she talked about hate crimes as casually she did.

Zoey looks up at her again, smiling widely at her most recent activity. Addison doesn't know what she just did; she hadn't been watching. The little Zombie noticed her expression, her grin faltering. "I didn't mean to make you sad. I…" Zoey's gaze falls to the ground as she shuffles her feet on the pavement. "I was just talking, and I didn't think about how I'd make you feel. I'm sorry."

"No!" Addison rushed out. She bent down to be on the younger girl's level, holding her shoulder firmly. She hadn't meant to make Zoey feel bad at all. "I'm not sad or anything, Zoey. I promise you, nothing you said just now made me sad or angry or anything."

"Well you looked all gloomy," she rationalized.

"It's not your fault I looked gloomy," Addison explained. She thought for a second, realizing that it was kind of Zoey's words that made her look gloomy. But telling her that would just make her gloomy, which wasn't something she wanted to do. "I was just a little sad because…because you're such an amazing little sister—you're such an amazing person—and, and this world doesn't deserve people like you."

Zoey nodded in understanding, though her expression spelled out she didn't really understand what Addison had said.

Addison forced a small smile, standing up and taking Zoey's hand. "If we wait any longer, we'll be late for the game."


"The Mighty Shrimp call a timeout with barely twenty seconds left. The game is tied. The Mighty Shrimp have the ball. It's third and ten, with seventy-three yards to victory. If the Mighty Shrimp make this, it's on to Regionals for the Shrimp. If the Razorbacks intercept and score, it's game over Shrimp."

"And of course there's the chance of overtime," Zoey added helpfully.

Addison's nodded thoughtfully. "Seems to me like the coach is putting in Kaye at quarterback."

"Isn't it true that this is Kaye's first game back since September? Where he suffered a bad leg break?"

"Nice observation, Miss Necrodopolus."

"Why thank you, Miss…What's your last name?"

"It's—"

From where the team was huddled, Tomas Kaye complained loudly, "Why are they even down here? It's distracting!"

"They're so loud," someone else pointed out.

"Who let a Zombie on the sidelines?"

Addison lifted her gaze at the team, frowning. She caught Zed's eyes over most of their heads, seeing his look of irritation. He muttered something to the team that make his few friends there chuckle to themselves.

Addison looked back at Zoey, wondering how the little girl had taken the hurtful words. Zoey sat in thought for a minute, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Hey Addison," Zoey called from her seat. Addison turned around, tilting her head at the little girl. "If I were to get on your back, could I watch the game from the sidelines?"

"You could get hurt," Addison pointed out.

"But come on," Zoey whined. "How many chances am I ever gonna get to see Zed win a District Championship?"

Addison smiled at her logic. Zoey was proving to be very wise six year old.

The timeout ended and the team rushed back out to the field. Taylor passed by Addison on his way to the down marker. "They're doing 'Motion-Option-Toss-Reverse'," he whispered to her in passing.

The referee blew his whistle, alerting everyone of the resuming game.

"What's that?" Zoey whispered.

Addison grinned, waiting for the second whistle (the okay for the snap) to blow. She went ahead to narrate as the play went into work. "See 6? He's gonna run backwards to the left when Erik Bronkouw says 'Down'. When he passes number 14, Erik will call the hike. Then Matthew will go off to the right, number 12 goes and blocks, and Zed fakes a block before taking off down field. Erik tosses it to 6 when he passes him, the defense will take the bait and go for him. Then 6 throws it back to Erik, who throws it to Zed."

Even though Addison knows the play through-and-through, no else does. Everyone burst in excitement, screaming and cheering, watching as "Zed clears the ball the seventy-three yards to the end zone in 15.5 seconds*, putting us up—"

"Twenty-six to twenty!" Zoey shouted in her ear excitedly. Addison laughed at the younger girl's excitement. "We win! Addison we won!"

No one was really watching the extra point—which they got—too busy celebrating the football team's District title. The excitement is enough to make Addison forget about Zed's lies, rather she was overjoyed in his victory.

Later, Addison buys dinner for the three of them, a meal of burgers and fries which they take back to the Necrodopolus household.


After a spectacular Block Party filled with music and food and games and general happiness and tolerance. It ended later than planned, which pushed into their party-setting up time. An hour before the Zombie Mash was supposed to start, Addison went with Zed to the barrier to meet the three cheerleaders coming with food and drinks and anything else they deemed necessary.

"You can't be serious," he'd said once they arrived.

"I don't see a problem," Tracey said.

Zed gestured wildly at the bright pink car. It wasn't Bucky's cheer van, but it was still loud and attracted more attention than needed.

"We're trying to be discreet," Addison explained. "Even though it's very cute, it'll attract too much attention."

"The whole point is to not alert the Z-Patrol," Zed exclaimed furiously. "This screams 'We're having a party in a structurally unstable building with almost a hundred Zombies out past curfew! Come lock us all up for the weekend!'"

The Aceys just stared at him like he were crazy. They looked from Zed to Addison, who just shrugged. "Once the Z-Patrol shuts it down, there won't be a Zombie Mash for a long time," she added.

"We have thirty boxes of pizza in the back, along with twelve tubs of wings and a lot more food," Lacey explained. "How are we gonna get it there without the car?"

"Drive down the barrier, there's an old Free Parking Lot blocks away. We'll meet you there."

Zed turned and walked away before they could argue. Addison had to bite her lip to keep from grinning at the Aceys's annoyed expression. She walked away before she had to converse with them, jogging to catch up with Zed. She watches him curiously as he walks over to one of the houses—one she knows isn't his, Eliza's, nor Bonzo's—going toward the back fence.

Zed turned back to her, asking, "Can you jump a fence?"

"I am not breaking into someone's backyard," she told him sternly.

Zed cracked a smile, letting out a short laugh. "Relax, it's Paizley's yard. She collects junk and garbage and all the broken things thrown out and restores them or gives them a new purpose. She won't mind if we borrow a few things."

Addison blinked at him. "It's stealing."

"We're gonna return it."

"Zed!" Addison exclaimed.

Zed huffed in frustration, lifting his wrist to view his Z-band. "What're you doing?" Addison asked him.

"Calling Paiz," he said offhandedly.

"You can call people on your Z-band?"

Zed nodded. "And text. They added it after the whole football fiasco. It was part of the next upgrade, which they gave everyone early 'cause...well you know."

"So let me get this straight," Addison said. "You get in trouble for hacking your Z-band, so they fix it to prevent any more hacks, giving you text messaging and calls and WiFi?"

Zed grinned at her. "I know, right? They've recently gotten an influx of young minds who actually care about Zombies, not just keeping them from hurting people. Ah! Paiz says it's totally fine if we take—I mean borrow—her stuff."

"I feel like you're lying," she pointed out.

Zed shrugged, moving toward the fence. Addison begrudgingly followed. "So can you jump a fence or do I have to carry you over?"

Addison sighed. "I know how to climb a fence," she grumbled. Between them and the pending yard was a seven-foot PVC fence, worn down but still sturdy enough to provide a challenge. "Gimme a boost," she told him.

"Why do you get to go first?"

"Because I'm smaller and, based on your backyard, I'm guessing there's chain fence on the other side, which means I can pull you over if needed."

Zed tilted his head at her, most likely thinking it over in his head again. "Put your hands like you're going to throw me," she told him.

"Throw you?"

Addison nodded. "Not like a football. Like...like a person."

"Like a cheer thing?"

"Exactly a cheer thing."


"9-1-1 what's your emergency?"

"There's a Zombie—"

"Ma'am all zombie-related violations must be taken to the Zombie-Patrol. Would you like me to connect you?"

"No, there's a girl and a zombie. They're jumping a fence and breaking into a backyard in Zombietown."