Disclaimer - I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Aaaahh, it's good to be back~

I've had a really rough time with writing these last couple of months. I was feeling really discouraged and unmotivated from a lack of response to my stories, especially to BG zombies stuff. I could barely even get myself to open a Word doc :/ I managed to ease myself back into it with this one-shot, though, because I actually had most of it finished ages ago and just needed a little help with the last detail, which I have krut09 to thank for...! I also have a new Zebelle Limelight ready to go as a thank you for her, it was originally going to be much longer but I cut it down to make it easier to write, and all of that is really helping me get back into it but I do still want to say, I would really appreciate more reviews...! It makes writing feel worthwhile! Even the smallest comment gives me the boost I need~

I'm ready to get back to writing now, I have other Limelights in the works, the backstory for Alonzo and his family is finding its feet, the third and final installment of Tattooed Mistakes will be coming in a little while aaaannnndd... I may be returning to the TV series fic...! I have some mixed feelings about how ZOMBIES 2 is looking, but at least it's driving me to write how I would want to see ZOMBIES continued!

But anyway, let's get back to Limelight!

Oh, also, the nickname "Necro" for Zed is fist-it-out's idea~ ;p

Izabelle, Riza and Zadie

Origin

At eleven years old, Riza Undergang was quite possibly the most unassuming child in all of Zombie Town. She was quiet and distant, and didn't really care to get involved with any of the other kids. Least of all Izabelle Graves and Zadie Reaping, the town's resident troublemakers. She came across a little bit creepy; she rarely spoke to anyone else but she had a tendency to stare at people. She was always lost in thought. No-one knew what exactly was going on in her head. She was so sensible, but so... unnerving...

Izabelle and Zadie tried to avoid Riza most of the time, but it was hard to hide from her. She just always seemed to pop up when they least expected it. And this time they really weren't expecting it.

– LIMELIGHT –

The 'No Entry' and 'Danger' signs on the main entrance of the old Seabrook Energy Plant had gone ignored for decades; the chains on the door had been loosened enough to let a grown zombie squeeze through, but they were still there, and still seemed to fool the patrol officers when they came to inspect the area.

Normally, when Zadie stole or broke something, it was her sister's, and the worst that could happen as a result was being grounded. So when Izabelle heard a crash followed by a clattering of something hitting the ground and turned around to see her friend staring at her with wide eyes and a large sign in her hand, she was more than a little worried.

And very, very angry.

Especially because the chains had come off with it.

Zadie offered her a weak smile, "... Oops?"

There was silence for a moment, then Iza practically screamed.

"Zadie!"

"I just wanted to see if it would move!" she tried to defend herself.

"Well, great job, it did!" Izabelle snarked as she stormed over and yanked it out of her hand. She gestured with it to the chains on the floor, "You know how to put those back?" Zadie just shook her head, "This'll land you in containment for sure."

It definitely wasn't enough to send anyone to zombie containment, and it wasn't really that big of sa deal anyway, but they were too young to realise that, and getting locked up was the only punishment zombies ever faced for anything. The two of them argued back and forth for maybe a minute or so, thankful that it didn't look like anybody else had seen.

"You have to drag me into it every time, don't you?" Izabelle groaned a little too dramatically, "We cannot get caught with this!"

Zadie slumped her shoulders and rolled her eyes, "So, what are we supposed to do with it?"

Iza paused, not sure what to say. When she opened her mouth, though, she was interrupted by a voice coming from behind them.

"You could always burn it."

Both Izabelle and Zadie spun round to stare in shock at Riza, who was standing a few feet away and had overheard their conversation. And literally just suggested burning the evidence like it was nothing.

"... What did you just say?" Izabelle asked.

Riza shrugged, "Burn it?"

"... Burn it?" Iza's jaw dropped, "You know you're a zombie, right?"

"So?" when neither of them answered, she took a few steps closer, "Fire can't be that bad."

"Have you ever even seen a fire?" Zadie asked.

"From a distance, yeah."

"If you're talking about the fire that killed Necro's mom, you're not helping your case."

Riza tilted her head, smiling in a way that made both Izabelle and Zadie nervous. And it took a lot to make Izabelle nervous.

"That's what happens if a fire gets out of control. But if you can keep it in a confined space, it's safe."

"Would the chains burn, too...?" Zadie wondered out loud.

"I don't want to know," Izabelle snapped and turned back to Riza, "We're not starting a fire."

"Why not? Fires are nice. You know humans sometimes have mini fires in their house. Like, on purpose."

Zadie squinted, "I don't believe that."

"Oh, come on," Riza folded her arms, "It's not always a bad thing! It's warm, it's pretty..." then she grinned and nodded at the sign, "And it gets rid of evidence."

"Oh, my Z, who even are you?" Iza almost shouted, "I thought you were this sweet, innocent little goody-goody and now you're saying you wanna set things on fire?"

"So, you're not interested? I've got a lighter right here."

The second Riza took it out of her pocket, Izabelle and Zadie jumped back.

This time, Izabelle did shout, "Why do you have a lighter, for Z's sake?! Where'd you get that?"

"I dunno. Found it?"

Zadie was staring at the item in her hand like it was going to attack her, "Where?"

Riza shrugged again, "Don't remember. I've had it for ages."

"And... you haven't used it, right?" Izabelle checked, remaining cautious.

"No. Waiting for a chance to, though. Like right now."

"There's a lot of stupid things I would do," Zadie started, still not taking her eyes off the lighter, "But that is not one of them. I don't even wanna touch that thing."

With an almost condescending laugh, Riza waved the lighter around, "You don't have to be the one to do it," she said and Zadie flinched away. Izabelle, scowling at Riza, pulled Zadie back. She wasn't about to let either of them look weak in front of her, "It's my lighter. I'll burn it."

"You're not burning it."

"If it gets rid of it, then what's the pro-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Izabelle had snatched the lighter from her hand and threw it over the barrier. Riza stared in the direction she'd thrown it for a second, then at her hand, still raised like she was holding it, then at Izabelle.

"... Do you know how hard it is to find those things?"

"Hopefully way too hard for you to ever find another one. More importantly, you know too much. You've seen us what happened, you're involved now. So you better come up with a way for us to cover our tracks, without using fire."

Riza smiled again and it still made them nervous, "That sounds like a challenge."

In the end, her solution was quite simple: bury the sign and chains, separately. Zombie Town didn't exactly have a lot of greenery (or any greenery) so the few patches of dirt left were easy to dig up, and the sign made a decent makeshift shovel. Once they were done, Riza stomped a foot down on the ground to flatten it again.

"I don't know if that's enough," Izabelle mused, her arms folded across her chest, "They could still find it."

None of them knew who 'they' were supposed to be but regardless, Riza was already calculating a plan.

"OK, I think I have an idea. Zadie, you got anything... hard on you?"

Zadie dug through her pockets, which always seemed to be laden with stolen items, and it didn't take long for her to find something – an old, rusty wrench. It had fallen off the back of Paizley's wagon as she passed by earlier that morning and why wouldn't she take it? The second Riza saw it, she grinned and held out her hand. Zadie, curious, gave it to her without question and she took off back round the corner, leaving Zadie and Izabelle to chase after her towards the plant.

Once she was sure the coast was clear, Riza launched the wrench right through the window, a few feet from where the sign had been. As the glass shattered, Izabelle and Zadie both gasped, then shrieked with laughter. It didn't take long for them to understand what Riza was doing; framing someone else. The older zombies would assume this was the work of some teenaged humans vandals, and the zombie patrol wouldn't care about the damage done, so nothing would be done about it. They'd seen it happen before.

And out of that, the three girls got their first real taste of all-out chaos. Izabelle had always been easily angered and got a little rough at times. Zadie had always been impulsive and reckless. And it was becoming clear that Riza had always wanted an excuse to act on the crazy ideas she apparently had. They just needed an outlet.

Riza was already craving more and Izabelle and Zadie watched in awe as she continued her destruction.

"Zadie?"

"Yeah?"

"We've created a monster."

Neither of them moved a muscle. Riza was clearly enjoying herself. Zadie nodded once, her eyes wide with shock.

"Yup. Sure did," she muttered, then she suddenly seemed to light up and grabbed Izabelle by the shoulders, "Can we keep her?"

"Are you insane? Look at her!" Izabelle threw Zadie off and gestured towards Riza, "Of course we're keeping her!"

It never occurred to any of them that nobody would really care, they were having too much fun. And it wouldn't take long for the three of them to develop a taste for causing damage like this, just for the hell of it.