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.
Get ready for a lot of BG zombie cameos!
Sorry this took so long, I spent the end of 2020 re-reading my entire main ZOMBIES fic series to do some writer's commentary on Tumblr, but I made a New Year's resolution to post at least 2 one-shots on the timeline per month! I posted 2 new Limelights in January, and there's more to come, but those one-shots could also include BtB, and maybe even AGAZ or History Lessons, who knows~
Anyway, part 2 of Z Day ended up way longer than I expected, and I've been really excited about this...! I did a little bit of research into Jewish customs surrounding visiting graves to include in Zed's scene, I hope I did ok with it~
(Azim will get a proper introduction in Limelight ASAP...)
Z Day – Part 2
Zed woke up that morning to Zoey's wide eyes staring at him from barely two inches away from his face. He almost jumped.
"Come on, get up!" she said with that excited urgency little kids always seemed to talk with, "We're visiting Mommy today, remember?"
Zed grinned through his sleepy daze as she shook him, "Alright, alright, I'm going…!"
Zoey finally let go and ran back to the door, "We need to go right after breakfast, so hurry up!"
"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying," Zed yawned and stretched, kicking off the covers. He heard Zoey thundering down the stairs as he rushed to get ready. It was the same routine every year.
Z Day; one of the most important events on Zombie Town's calendar. Everyone would be busy, and the Necrodopolous family was no different. Since the year their mom, Zana, died, Zed, Zoey and their dad had spent the morning of every Z Day at the cemetery. The Reiligs would usually join them, as well. They would stay there for a short while, talking about Zana, and about Z, and each other, before they would close with Z's prayer and head back home. By the time they finished lunch, the march would usually have started, and they'd be right back out to walk to the barrier with the rest of the zombies.
But this year, Zed reminded himself, was going to be different. The main gate of the barrier was open now, and they'd continue marching through Seabrook. Addison had promised to meet them as they left Zombie Town, along with Bree. He knew of a few other humans planning to come – Bonzo's friend, Rachel, from music class, Roz's girlfriend, Keira, and her friend Teddy from the cheer squad. He was eager to get going. But of course, before all that, there was the cemetery.
Zoey skipped along ahead of Zed and Zevon, scouring the sidewalk as she went.
The Necrodopolous kids were half Jewish on their mother's side, and were raised practicing Jewish customs that they still observed now, including placing a stone or pebble on Zana's grave whenever they visited, rather than flowers. Stones were more permanent and resilient, after all. They lasted as long as their memories. Although, they wouldn't really have been able to bring flowers before now anyway; very little actually grew in Zombie Town after the outbreak. Zoey always enjoyed looking for stones she deemed good enough for her mom on the way there.
"Zed!" she came running back towards them and Zed held his hand out for her to give him the two round stones she had picked up, "Look how smooth they are! It's a special Z Day, so we should leave extra special stones, right? So we'll remember it."
"Yeah, these are perfect," he said, rubbing his thumb over one, "Great job! And just in time."
They had reached the cemetery, and on entering the rusted and dented gate, they spotted three familiar faces inside.
"Paizley!" Zoey ran up to greet the Reiligs and Paizley scooped her up into her arms, "Look at the stone I found."
Paizley touched it, "Oh, wow, that is really smooth…!" she said, genuinely impressed, and Zoey smiled.
"I got another one for Zed."
"Good, you're all set!"
The rest of the morning went just as expected, as on every other Z Day, until Zevon finally heaved a sigh.
"Well, it's almost noon, we better get going. Don't wanna be late for the march," the others all nodded but no-one moved just yet. They waited. Zevon turned back to look at his wife's grave, and the stacks of stones balanced carefully on it. He smiled sadly, "Jazarah."
"Jazarah," the rest of the group echoed him and with that, they all made their way back towards the gate.
Zed caught up to Paizley, "Hey, do you think you're gonna come to the march? Since we're going through Seabrook this year? There's some humans joining."
"I'll give it a shot," she shrugged, "I mean, I still kinda want to get a job in Seabrook, I need to get used to it."
"Yeah. It'll be a lot easier on you today with a whole crowd of zombies there. You're not gonna be alone."
Paizley took a deep breath and nodded, "Good to know."
– BEYOND THE BARRIER –
Bonzo had been at his aunt and uncle's house since early that morning. He left before breakfast with his mask and a few spray cans in his art case, along with some smaller percussion instruments, and Cadenza clinging to his shoulder underneath his coat. With how little attention his parents paid, he could sometimes leave her at home for a short amount of time and they wouldn't notice her, but he likely wouldn't be back home until curfew today. And besides, it was Cadenza's first Z Day.
Izabelle turned out to like Cadenza a lot, more than either of them had expected, and had spent most of the past couple of hours petting her. The presence of a cat that morning sparked a conversation about how far the zombies had come since Z's death; the lifting of the pet ban showed that the humans had finally learned to trust them. Or at least, the council trusted them enough. Which was a start. And all the 'imperfect' animals in Seabrook – the runts of the litter, those that were blind or deaf, or that were missing limbs or eyes, or otherwise just didn't measure up to the humans' standards – were being taken in by zombies. The progress being made was doing good for more than just them.
Soon enough, Cadenza was nestled back under Bonzo's coat as he and Izabelle made their way towards the power plant. The streets were fairly quiet right now, but in a couple of hours, everyone would be out. Even those who didn't join the march would be on their doorsteps or driveways to watch them pass by. A few houses had posters taped up in the windows, messy Zombie-tongue written by children's hands thanking Z and everyone who was carrying on his legacy. At one point, Izabelle froze for a split second, her eyes going wide, then waved, a little awkwardly, at someone. Bonzo looked over to see Jozlyn Blakeley, her boyfriend's sister, grinning at Izabelle as she put up her own poster, and he smiled to himself. He had to admit, her relationship with Zeke was having a good influence on her.
They were both quiet as they rode up in the elevator, Bonzo scratching a nervous Cadenza behind the ear, then when they arrived at the main floor, they could already here chatter and gentle acoustic guitar coming from the light garden. They turned to the painting of Z on the elevator door as it closed and muttered "Jazarah." then followed the music.
The room was, ironically, alive with zombies. Zephyr was the one responsible for the music – an old Zombie song – with Alonzo on his left and Rizzo on his right. The three of them sat on the floor in the centre of the garden, with Zane, Zach and Roz behind them on the platform. Roz was tapping out a rhythm on the floor with their drumsticks to accompany Zephyr. Jazz and Zadie sat together with their backs against the wall bearing Bonzo's mural, each with a large piece of cardboard on the ground in front of them and pens in hand, as well as scattered around them. Signs – for the march. On the other side of the room, Cortez and Chaz stood watching, laughing and clapping as Mitzi and Cruz danced around. Mackenzie sat close by, smiling slightly and swaying to the music, but otherwise uncharacteristically solemn. She had lost her father to human negligence a few years ago and Z Day always reminded her of him.
Zadie immediately jumped up to come hug Izabelle and Bonzo reached into his coat to carefully lift Cadenza down and place her on the floor, prompting the other zombies to gasp and coo at her. Mackenzie perked up instantly. She got onto her knees and beckoned Cadenza over, earning a chorus of 'aww's around the garden when she rolled onto the floor, purring, and Kenzie giggled.
Bonzo kept one eye on the kitten as he walked over to the platform to join BFZ and opened his art case. As the hours passed, a few other zombies appeared, easily finding their place in the singing and dancing, and eventually Bonzo handed over the instruments he'd brought to Zach and Alonzo and put on his mask.
When the group left the power plant, a new mural was drying on a wall in the light garden. Two figures stood side-by-side and hand-in-hand, one the same green as in every painting Bonzo had done here, and the other pink.
– BEYOND THE BARRIER –
Zinnia and Ziggy Scythes had known Z. They were only small children when he died, true, but they held tight to what memories of him they did have. And they had raised their daughters with the lessons they had learned from him. They loved their community, they were proud of their zombism and they knew that they deserved respect. Looking at Azalea and Eliza now left them both brimming with pride.
All four of them were walking through Zombie Town, the two girls a few steps ahead of their parents, eager to begin the march with a backpack each full of supplies slung over their shoulders, and signs and posters tucked under their arms as they ran through their plan for what seemed like the hundredth time. They stopped at the Grievanson and Kas'Ket families' homes to pick up Topaz and Lazlo. Topaz, as usual, was ready and waiting when Eliza knocked on her door, while Lazlo, also as usual, was being rushed by his dad, who waved to Zinnia and Zigmund and assured them that he'd be there a little later. Topaz's parents would also be joining them once the march started, along with her little brother.
As they approached the plaza, Topaz broke away briefly to greet Zora when she saw her and her parents just closing up their restaurant ready for the march. Up ahead, they could see the slowly growing crowd of zombies, and waiting near the centre was Azim Akhirah, Azalea's boyfriend. He grinned as they walked over and came to hug Azalea, then take the signs she was carrying and start to pass them out. Topaz, Zora and Lazlo took a few from Eliza as well and soon, everyone was ready to go. Azim took Azalea's hand and helped her up onto the wall where they could all see her better. The crowd went quiet.
"Alright, guys, this is the biggest Z Day we've ever had. This year, not only are we taking it into Seabrook, but we have human friends waiting for us on the other side of the barrier. This year, we will have humans marching with us. This is the kind of progress Z was fighting for. Now, we know we've still got so far to go, and not every human waiting for us is there to support us, but this is proof that we're getting somewhere. And we've got all the strength and the spirit that Z had. This is the day to remember him and all he did for us, and carry on his work. So let's go!" Eliza and Azim both whooped, then the whole crowd erupted in cheers, "Jazarah!"
They returned the call, "Jazarah!"
As they set off through Zombie Town, walking the same route Z and the original zombies walked, more and more zombies joined them. They passed the power plant and Bonzo, Izabelle and the others who had spent the morning there all filed out into the street and mixed into the group. Bonzo caught up with Eliza and hugged her, careful not to disturb Cadenza riding on his shoulder. Among those leaving their houses were Zed, Paizley and their families, and the moment he was close enough, Eliza shoved a sign into Zed's chest with a grin. They were nearing Seabrook.
The main gate of the barrier came into view up ahead and a group of humans could be seen. Some had their own signs, some were wearing the zombie jackets, jewellery and pins that they had gotten back at the start of the integration. Closest to the gate were Addison and Bree, surprisingly with Bucky and the Aceys beside them. Zed had to wonder whether they were there in genuine solidarity, or if they just couldn't stand to be left out. He decided it wasn't worth thinking too deeply into; they were there, they were showing support, and that was progress.
He recognised his friends from the football team next, and Bonzo, after running up to hug Bree, went to greet Rachel and his music classmates. Eliza and Zora were talking to a couple of members of the computer club. Keira wrapped her arms around Roz and swayed them back and forth, then she waved to Zeke a little further away. With the attention being drawn to Zeke, Bucky finally saw him, and he and the Aceys made their way over to say hi, and Zed immediately remembered that Zeke had recently joined the cheer squad. He must have made quite the impression on them…
He noticed Paizley hanging back near the gate, looking uneasy. Treaza and Dezmond stood on either side of her, and Zed knew they were telling her that she didn't have to keep going. But he saw her take a deep breath and although he couldn't quite hear her, he guessed her answer – "No, I want to stay."
It was amazing how many bonds had been formed between humans and zombies since they first arrived at Seabrook High School and though his heart barely beat, Zed felt it swell with pride. He knew that bringing this march into Seabrook would have its challenges – there was no doubt they'd come across humans protesting their cause. Humans who would tell them they should stay in Zombie Town, away from their schools and their jobs, that Zombie language and history had no place in their schools' curriculums, that they needed to be kept under control… But now there were less of those humans. The ones standing beside them would also stand up for them. Addison took his hand and gave him an encouraging smile. This year's Z Day was looking promising.
This was gonna be their year.
