"Zed!"
Addison gasped, jolting upright in her bed as she was jarred awake by yet another nightmare. The bright morning sun was streaming into her window, bathing her room and her bed sheets in golden beams of light.
She had been in the back of the ambulance again, staring at Zed's vacant eyes as the heart monitor ceased its beeping.
"Zed!" She had screamed, shaking his limp form on the cot. He didn't react, staring towards her but seeing nothing. The silence in the tiny space was deafening. She screamed until her voice was raw, only to be ripped back to consciousness with a sharp intake of breath.
The sunlight was startling to her, especially after the dimly lit horror of the little square room in her dream.
Addison huffed out a breath of relief, pushing her disheveled hair out of her face.
"Just a dream," she assured herself aloud in a low, soothing voice. "It was just a stupid dream."
Turning away from the sunlight, Addison tilted her head down to peer at her alarm clock.
Oops!
She'd overslept! Addison deftly shuffled out of her crumpled mighty shrimp sheets, and her feet padded quietly onto the rug. There was a slight chill in the still air of the morning, telling her that today would not be the warmer-weather day that they had been hoping for. Darn.
She stretched her arms up towards the ceiling, yawning as she tried to shake the last uneasy remnants of the dream from her mind.
The nightmare had been plaguing her for the past two nights, and Addison was uncharacteristically tired this morning. She supposed a few nights of bad dreams would do that to anyone, though. Reaching down to her nightstand, she quickly checked her messages. There were three new message alerts. One from Bucky, one from Bree, and one from Zed.
She sighed, tapping on the screen to open her first message, the one from her cousin.
Buckster: Baby cuz! Where are you? Don't forget the squad meeting by the pier at 9:30, and bring your megaphone! I'm at the beach with Qamar and Mayar now, picking out a good camping spot for later. See you soon! – B
Addison arched her eyebrow, both pleased and slightly surprised to hear that her cousin was hanging out with the Lunites by his own choice. She glanced over at her bag by the door, ensuring that the ridiculous blue megaphone was sticking out of the zipper. Then, she moved to her next text message.
Bree: Hey Addy! Are you sleeping in this morning? I just got to the beach, and Bucky already picked out an awesome spot for the tent. Today is going to be amazing!See you soon!3
Addison smiled, walking over to the closet to quickly pull out her cold-weather uniform as she read the last text.
Zed: Good morning, beautiful! Can't wait to spend the day with you! Headed to the beach with Eliza and Bonzo now. See you soon! Gar garga za!
Normally, Addison would have responded to all of the messages, but she didn't want to be even later than she was. She plopped the phone on top of her duffel bag, and pulled her uniform out of the closet. She put the ensemble on with haste, and then quickly set about brushing out her unruly white locks of hair.
She moved so fast that her hair crackled with static as the brush ran through it. Thankfully, her flat iron heated up pretty fast, and within a couple of minutes, her hair was shining and smooth and in a low ponytail. A vibrant green ribbon held her snowy hair at the nape of her neck. Then, she moved on to her face. Addison took a moment to be grateful that she didn't wear much makeup. She applied a little bit of blush and some carnation pink lip gloss, and then stood back to admire her reflection.
She looked a little tired, but not overly so.
Then, after another quick glance at her little alarm clock, she grabbed up her stuff and headed out the door.
Stomping down the stairs, she grabbed up the keys to her mom's little car.
"I'll see you guys later!" Addison called out to her parents, who were both eating fruit and drinking steaming cups of coffee in the little breakfast nook. "I'm headed to Shore Day!"
"Okay, honey!" Her mom called back, offering her a distracted wave as she looked up from the morning newspaper.
"See you soon, sweetheart." Her dad added, tipping his head towards her before returning his attention to his phone call.
Keys and duffel bag in hand, Addison practically sprinted out of the house and into the car.
Starting the engine, she carefully backed out of the driveway, exited the neighborhood and drove in the direction of the beach. One of her favorite pop songs was on, and she turned up the volume, singing along at an obscenely loud volume.
But as she drove, despite the deafeningly loud and cheery music, Addison couldn't help but think back on her recurring nightmares of the past few nights.
It didn't take a psychologist to sort out the meaning of the dreams. Clearly, Addison and been more traumatized by the other night's events than she had initially realized. And obviously, the dreams reflected a deep inner fear of hers.
Now that she had seen Zed 'die,' she was terrified that it would happen again. Even more terrifying was the fact that she had felt so helpless when it was happening. There had been nothing that she could do to save him. She'd been forced to sit back and watch, over and over, as Zed's z-band had brought him back from the brink.
Realistically, she knew that the odds of Zed dying before her were statistically improbable. Zombies, on average, outlived humans by twenty to thirty years. Plus, being part Lunite, there was even a chance that her life span might be even shorter than that of an average human. (She would have to think more on that particular possibility later).
But as true as all of that was, Addison couldn't entirely shake the fear that something bad would happen to her future husband, somehow, sometime.
Stop that. She scolded herself internally. She thought back to the previous night, when she and Zed had cuddled together on Eliza's couch.
"Addy," Zed whispered. "nothing is going to happen, I promise."
"What if you're wrong?" Addison whispered back. "What if something happens, and I can't save you?"
"We'll save each other." Zed replied, and the confidence in his quiet voice was unwavering. "Always."
"Always." Addison echoed aloud, as she turned into the large parking lot area for the beach. Resolutely, she straightened her spine, telling herself to stop being so worried for no reason. Zed was right. There was nothing that could keep them apart, when they worked together.
Though it was only around nine in the morning, the Shore Day crowd was already ramping up. All across the beach, there were people, zombies, wolves, and Lunites, all pitching tents, playing in the chilly water, or walking along the pier. There were a multitude of booths set up along the pier and around the cove, selling food and souvenirs. Even more little booths touted games, featuring prizes which could be one by hitting a target or guessing a number.
Set up in the center of the activity around the cove was a large wooden stage, where a zombie band was currently playing. As Addison turned off her car and music, she could hear the low hum of the music and activity all around her, and she smiled. She loved Shore Day!
Looking out towards the water, Addison could see her group of friends in the distance. Bree and Bonzo seemed to be unrolling a large blue tarp, which must be part of the tent they had purchased at the sporting goods store the previous day. Bucky was standing on one corner, trying to keep the ocean breeze from blowing the tent away.
Willa, Wynter, and Wyatt were all walking along the low, rolling dunes, gathering driftwood. Mayar and Qamar were taking the wood from the wolves, and stacking them into a large teepee shape, apparently to build a bonfire for later on. Off to the side, Zed and Eliza were unraveling a large section of what looked like an old fishing net.
Fishing net.
This thought snagged in her mind for a moment, though Addison couldn't imagine why. The pattern of the netting looked oddly familiar to her for some reason. She knew she had seen the netting pattern recently, but couldn't remember what from. Ugh. She definitely needed to start getting more sleep.
Gathering up her overly-stuffed duffel bag, Addison jumped out of the car, and happily strode down the sandy pathway and towards the others, determined to enjoy one of her favorite holidays.
ZzZzZzZ
Zed and Eliza stood side by side on the sand, looking with pride at their homemade beach volleyball net. Though it was early, there was already activity all around them, as others pitched tents and or set up grills and other camping equipment. Several yards away from the volleyball area, Addison, Bree, Bucky and Bonzo were working together to set up the large blue canopy tent that they would all be spending the night under. Next to the tent, Mayar and Qamar were creating a circle around an oversized pile of driftwood, using several large stones. The wolves were walking along the sandy dunes closer to the parking area, gathering more wood.
The circle would be used as a campfire area after dark, where they could share stories and conversations, and roast a ridiculous amount of marshmallows. Zed was particularly looking forward to cuddling with Addison around the fire. Maybe she'd wear that peach sweater and the denim leggings again. It was definitely his new favorite outfit of hers.
"Do you think the volleyball net is too tall?" Eliza pondered aloud. "It seems tall."
Zed glanced at her, and then the net.
"Seems fine to me," He said with a shrug. "Maybe you're just really, really short, Liza."
She reached up, swatting the back of his head.
"Ow!" He wined, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him.
"Not too short to do that." Eliza replied, grinning sweetly up at him. She pulled her grey and maroon hoodie up over her windblown hair, and stuck out her tongue.
"I'm definitely spiking the ball at you when we play, later." He replied, but he was smiling when he said it.
Eliza feigned hurt. "You wouldn't! I thought I was like a sister to you!"
"Yeah," Zed said, "My annoying, know-it-all, vertically challenged sister."
"Play nice, you too." Addison said, kicking up a small amount of sand as she jogged up to them. Like Bree, Bucky and Bonzo, she was currently wearing the new cool-weather cheer uniforms. She was a sparkling mixture of emerald, pink, and silver, right down to her glittering silver shoes. She also had on her cheer captain varsity jacket, which Bucky had gifted her the night of Prawn.
"We got the tent set up!" Addison declared proudly, gesturing over to the large canopy tent. The bright emerald bow in her ponytail flapped in the heavy wind. Bucky and Bonzo were currently setting up a large folding table, to hold all of their snacks and drinks. The tent stood steadfast, despite the breeze coming in from nearby sea. Bree was happily hanging up a long string of twinkling lights, which would give them some extra light once the sun set. To make sure that it stood out from the surrounding tents, Bonzo had mounted a monster pride flag. It flapped cheerfully in the wind.
"It looks great!" Zed affirmed, kissing the top of his girlfriend's head.
Addison had slept in a little bit later than the rest of them, and had been the last one to arrive at the beach. Zed didn't mind. Honestly, he wished Addy would sleep in more often. Between her social life and cheer, she stayed pretty busy, and was always an early riser. Zed, on the other hand, could easily sleep in until noon if left undisturbed. However, since he had a little sister who usually liked to wake him up by jumping up and down on his bed as soon as the sun rose, sleeping in rarely actually happened.
Zed shivered a bit as a particularly strong gust of wind blew past them, though zombies didn't get particularly cold. Besides, he'd dressed for the weather. He was wearing distressed maroon denim slacks with matching maroon high-tops, and had on a long-sleeved green shirt beneath his dark grey jacket. The jacket, which Eliza had altered for him after finding it in a dumpster, had one long sleeve, and another that cut off at the elbow. 'Dead Awesome' was stitched along the longer sleeve in zombie tongue in vibrant maroon lettering.
"Hey, zangrome!" Addison said, tugging at his arm to gather his attention. "Me and Bree, Bonzo and Bucky have to go meet up with the rest of the squad by the pier. Our performance is in about an hour." She beamed up at him.
Zed knew she had initially been annoyed with Bucky for setting up a performance without telling her. But now, she seemed sincerely excited. After all, cheering was one of her favorite things, and she was getting to perform for one of her favorite city celebrations. He smiled back at her.
"You guys are gonna watch us, right?" She asked.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Zed replied confidently, offering her another quick kiss on the forehead. "We'll finish getting everything set up here. And after you guys perform, we're gonna start eating carnival food, and I'm gonna win you the biggest stuffed animal these carnival games have to offer!"
"Who knows," Addison said teasingly. "Maybe I'll be the one winning you the stuffed animal. I'm pretty good at that bottle ring toss game."
"You're on." He laughed. "Though I'd rather cuddle with you than with a giant stuffed animal."
He winked and waggled his eyebrows up and down at her.
She laughed, and took a few steps back before turning to run towards the Bree and the others.
"See you later, super zombie!" She giggled, and took off to meet with the other cheerleaders.
Eliza nudged him again, playfully.
"You guys are adorable." She said, shaking her head. "It's disgusting."
"Like you and Willa are any better." He laughed.
She blushed, but she was grinning as she did. "Shut up." Was her only reply. "Let's go see if they need help setting up the rest of the stuff around the tent."
"Yes, ma'am." He replied with a mock salute, and they trudged through the sand over to the oversized blue canopy tent. Willa and Wyatt were setting up two side walls, which blocked the worst of the wind from blowing through the tent, while still letting in plenty of sunlight and an unobstructed view of the waves. The twinkle lights that Bree had set up swung merrily back and forth in the ocean breeze.
"Sup, zombies." Wynter said, grabbing up a handful of pretzels and stuffing them into her mouth as she spoke.
"This is a great set up!" Zed said, examining the interior of the tent and feeling sincerely impressed. This was a far cry from the little pop-up tent his family had used, mainly for he and Zoey to camp in the living room with when they were little kids. Camping wasn't really something zombies had ever done until recently, once the barrier had been opened and they'd been allowed to use the many campsites and nature areas in Seabrook. Zombietown was more of a concrete jungle than an actual one, and there wasn't anywhere within the barrier to really experience the outdoors.
At that moment, Mayar and Qamar rushed up to join them, moonstone necklaces bouncing up and down as they ran into the tent.
"This is so amazing!" Mayar said, and even the straight-faced Qamar was grinning. "I cannot wait to watch Starlight and the others cheer. I've never gotten to see them in person before!"
"Not to mention," Qamar said, "All of the human food we get to try today. I'm particularly looking forward to eating marshmallows. I've heard they're quite delicious."
"You guys are gonna love it!" Wyatt said. "The cheer squad is great, and so is the food in this town. Personally, I'm looking forward to riding the roller coaster until I puke."
They all laughed, and Zed abruptly realized that this day was a first for everyone present under the vibrant blue tent.
This was the first year that zombies, wolves and Lunites had all been welcome to Shore Day; up until this year, there had still be legal limitations which had made it a strictly human event. But today, everyone was invited, and he couldn't have been happier about it.
Between spending time with his future wife and his group of best friends, today was shaping up to be one of the best days of his life!