Packing Up

The next morning Zed woke up early and made pancakes.

Zoey was the first one downstairs. She squealed excitedly when she saw the pancakes. She turned and shouted up the stairs, "Dad! Zed made pancakes!"

Zevon was down a few minutes later. He looked at his children who were sitting at the table, pouring syrup on their pancakes.

"Good morning, Pops," Zed said cheerily.

Zevon was not easily convinced. "What do you want?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Zed's smile dropped a fraction. "Okay, I need to go to Berkley. But I need to drive. I'll be gone a few days," Zed explained quickly.

Zevon shook his head. "No. You have class! And practice! You are supposed to drive back to campus tomorrow afternoon," Zevon told him.

"Okay, yes, I know, but it is a bit of an emergency!" Zed retorted.

Zevon pinched the bridge of his nose. "What kind of emergency?" he asked.

Zed glanced at Zoey out of the corner of his eye. Zevon sighed. "Zed, come outside with me," he said.

Zed followed his dad out the back door.

"What's going on?" Zevon asked tiredly.

"Eric raped Addie… several times. And he has threatened to hurt her and the baby," Zed said, his fists clenched- angrily.

"He what? Is she okay?" Zevon asked worriedly.

"She is okay. But I offered to help her move back here. She is going to finish the semester online and she has to take next semester off anyway for the baby. It helps that Thanksgiving break is next week," Zed answered.

Zevon took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Wow… Okay, you can go help her. But after this school is a priority. You have to explain all of this to your coach too," Zevon agreed.

"Thank you, Pops. I'm going to go pack," he said.

Before Zed could run inside, Zevon grabbed his arm.

"Zed, if you see Eric, please try not to kill him. It isn't worth it and if you get in a fight in California... I don't know what the police do to zombies in California," Zevon reminded him.

"I'll be careful, Pops," Zed promised before running back into the house. He quickly packed his things and was ready to leave in about an hour. Zed waved to Zoey and Pops as he pulled out of the driveway. "Okay… the next twelve hours should be great," he mumbled to himself. Before he got on the road he quickly dialed his coach on his phone, put it on speaker, and dropped it in the passenger seat.

"Zed? What's going on?" Coach Clark asked.

"Okay, so I'm not going to be at practice this week. I'm really sorry," Zed explained quickly.

"Zed, what are you doing boy? You have missed enough practice I could kick you off the team," the Coach reminded him.

"I know. And I think I owe you an explanation. Oh, also, I'm currently in the car driving to the University of California in Berkeley," Zed replied.

"What the hell, Zed?" Coach sighed.

"So, I dated this girl, Addison, all four years of high school. I was, hell I still am so in love with this girl. But she broke up with me right after we graduated. Anyway, that family emergency that came up during that game? Yeah, she had just called me and told me she is pregnant," Zed explained.

"Damn, Necrodopolis…" Coach muttered, "I'm assuming there is more? Like a reason you are driving to California?"

Zed nodded then realized Coach couldn't see him anyway. "Yes, there is more. She had a new boyfriend a little bit after she moved to go to school. Turns out he has been treating her really poorly. He has been hurting her and threatening her… No woman should be treated like that, and she is five months pregnant so it isn't good for the baby either. I am going to help her move out and get home. The boyfriend is out of town right now so this is the only time we have to safely get her out without confrontation," he finished.

There were a few moments of silence before Coach Clark spoke again.

"I get it. You need to take care of your family. Take care of them. Then when you come back after Thanksgiving break, you need to put your focus on football and school. At least until the kid is here. Yes?"

"Yes, sir. Football and school will be priority numbers two and three right after my family. I appreciate your understanding," Zed agreed in relief.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" the coach asked.

Zed smiled. "Yes, it's a little boy," Zed said happily.

"Well, congratulations Necrodopolis. I'm happy for you. Go take care of your family and I will see you when you get back," Coach said.

Zed thanked him again and said bye before he hung up the call. A deep breath filled his lungs and then he released it slowly. He turned the music volume up and hummed along. Hopefully, the drive wouldn't feel too long.

Addie started boxing everything up the morning after their phone call. He had said he would be there that evening. She asked Sienna if she could stay with one of their friends so that Zed could stay in the dorm. That way they wouldn't have to pay for a hotel. Sienna, of course, had teased her about how she just wanted to get in Zed's pants. Addie couldn't even think about having sex right now, but she hadn't told Sienna why she was leaving. Addie didn't take offense at Sienna's teasing, her roommate didn't know what was going on, and just continued with her packing. She had kept all the boxes from when she moved in so it was quick work.

By that night when there was a soft knock on the door all she had left to pack up were her sheets from her bed and a few bathroom things. Addie yawned and stood from where she was packing books to open the door. Getting up from the floor with a five-month pregnancy belly was difficult, but not impossible… yet.

"One second!" Addie called as she walked to the door. "Sorry, it takes a while to get to the door nowadays…" Addie stopped when the door revealed a tall zombie.

"Hey, Addie," Zed said softly.

Addie just held her arms out to him and he soon had his around her. She didn't know why, but she started crying. Maybe it was the feeling of safety in his arms. He easily lifted her up onto her stilted bed and held her.

"It's okay…. Shhhh… it's okay," he whispered as he rubbed her back, tightening his arms around her. He breathed in the familiar scent of her shampoo and kissed the top of her head over and over.

Addie sniffed and pulled away. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I am crying," she said with a slight laugh.

"Maybe because you went through something traumatic?" Zed offered.

"Oh yeah, there is that," Addie agreed, looking up at him with a sad smile.

Zed returned the smile and squeezed her shoulders one more time.

"Do you want to go ahead and load some stuff into the car?" he asked.

Addie glanced out the window. It was already dark and it had started getting cold at night.

"Let's just do it in the morning. Pretty much everything is ready to go, it just needs to be loaded up. I'm really tired. I was packing all day as well as carrying a baby," she said with a yawn.

Zed grinned when she mentioned the baby. "I can't wait until he is here," Zed said almost giddily.

Addie giggled. "I'm excited too," she said, rubbing her hand over her baby bump. She was about five months along now.

"Am I staying at the hotel again?" he asked.

"No. I asked Sienna to stay with one of our friends. You can stay here," she replied.

Zed nodded. He picked up his bag and opened it to pull out some pajama pants and his toothbrush and toothpaste.

"The bathroom is on the other side of my closet," Addison said, pointing to the door.

Zed thanked her and went into the bathroom and shut the door. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. The last few times he had spent the night with Addison they had ended up sleeping together. Granted, that was months ago now. He knew that wasn't going to happen tonight, but he still felt a little nervous for some reason. They also hadn't spent so much time together in a very long time. Not since the beginning of summer, it was mid-November now. Thanksgiving was a week away.

He put on his sweatpants and brushed his teeth. He usually slept shirtless, but he decided that would probably be a bit inappropriate for tonight so he left his t-shirt on. After splashing some water on his face he left the bathroom. When he walked back out Addison had already changed and was in bed, snuggled up under several blankets.

"Addie? Where am I sleeping?" he whispered.

Addie thought for a minute. She knew what she wanted, but she wasn't sure if it was too much to ask.

"Can you sleep here? With me?" she asked shyly.

Zed paused for a second. "Uh, yeah. Sure," he replied. He walked over to the bed and Addison lifted the blankets up for him. He slid in next to her. The bed was small and the only way they both fit was if Zed slid one arm under Addie and she cuddled against him.

Addie sighed and closed her eyes. His arms had always made her feel safe.

Addie giggled and held her hand to her belly.

"What is it?" Zed asked. Addie just reached for his hand and placed it on her belly.

Zed felt something push against his hand. "Oh my god… Is that?"

Addie beamed up at him. "Yeah! He is always more active at night," she said.

Zed smiled and just held her closer. He loved feeling the little baby push and kick his hand.

"Goodnight Addison," Zed whispered.

"Goodnight Zed."