Chapter 1

On a beautiful summer evening, a shadowy figure could be seen running through the perfectly manicured yards of Seabrook. The figure was not afraid of being seen as he was running clumsily along. It was a desperate run. When he got to one house on a street, he stopped only long enough to catch his breath to be able to talk. He marched straight up to the door and knocked loudly.

"I'll get it," Addison yelled from behind the door.

The door opened and Addison smiled. It didn't last long though, as she saw the desperation written on the face of Zevon, her boyfriend's dad. Addison stepped aside to let him in and immediately Zevon began to call out.

"Chief Donnelly!" Zevon panted out. "Chief Donnelly!"

Addison's father came around the corner from the kitchen. "Mr. Necrodopolis?" he said, wiping his hands with a dish towel. "Can I help you…. with something?" Addison knew her father didn't know how to act with a zombie in his house. The normal confident Chief shifted back and forth on his feet; something he only did when he didn't know how to handle a situation for the first time. And there had never once been a zombie in his house- although Zed had come pretty close for Homecoming, even if her father hadn't known at the time that Zed was a zombie.

"What have they done with my son?!" Zevon asked between gasps of breath, anguish filled his voice.

Addison's father's face went from one of curiosity to one filled with confusion. "What has happened to your son?" he asked simply at the same time that Addison asked, "Where is Zed?" Her head swiveling from one face to the other.

Zevon ran his hands over his face. "I don't know! That's why I came to you. The Z-patrol came busting through my front door. We were having supper and they grabbed Zed. They were horrible. Zed didn't fight, but they were very forceful and treated Zed like a criminal." He shuddered at the thought. "I asked the patrol what was going on and no one would answer me. They just took him away. I told Zed I would find out what was going on as they put him in the back of the patrol van!" he said desperately. "Please Chief Donnelly, tell me what happened to my son or what the agents think Zed has done."

Addison's dad stood there with a frown. "I have no knowledge of this Mr. Necrodopolis. We didn't have any zombie written down that would need to be picked up. Let me call the office and find out what is going on," he stated, pulling out his cell phone. He looked around the living room and then motioned to the couch a little hesitantly, "Please, sit down." He walked back around the corner, his phone to his ear.

Zevon practically fell into the couch. Addison went over to where he was sitting. "Mr Necrodopolis, I am so sorry. I…. I can't believe Zed would be taken away." She felt nervous, like a big rock had settled in her stomach.

Zevon put his face in his hands for a moment and then looked up at her. "This is not how I imagined your parents and I spending time getting to know each other for the first time. I know we've seen each other in passing. I was going to ask Zed to invite your family over for dinner one night this summer….."

Addison put her hand on his arm. "We will," she stated firmly.

They sat in silence. With each growing minute the two became more nervous. Addison knew if it took her father longer than a few minutes on the phone for work, that something was not right. He ran the Z-patrol like a well-oiled machine. Nothing went on that he didn't know about. Nothing happened out of the ordinary at his station. However, Addison was not going to relay this information to Zed's dad. Zevon sat on the edge of the couch wringing his hands over and over.

"You know, when you and Zed met, he talked about you a lot," Zevon finally stated, looking at her kindly. The silence must have proved too much for him.

Addison looked at him and blushed.

Zevon continued, "He had never talked about a girl before. Imagine my astonishment when he told me it was a human girl." He smiled, almost laughing, but the scenario they were in didn't call for that.

"I hope that didn't bother you Mr. Necrodopolis."

"I was more surprised than anything. It didn't bother me though, Addison. It gave me a little hope for the future of zombie and human relationships actually. When we finally met, I felt like I knew a little about you with all the talking Zed did. You seemed like a fine young lady, Addison. And you must have liked my boy, what with how you stood up for him a few times," he added. "I was even more surprised to find out he was dating the daughter of the Chief of Zombie Patrol," he added looking towards the hallway, a little nervous sounding with the last statement.

Addison looked down at this. She didn't know what to say to that. Sorry? That didn't seem right.

"How do your parents feel about it?"

Addison nodded. "They're not exactly happy about my choice, but I am surprised my dad hasn't forbid it. I hope that says something about the changes happening in Seabrook when dealing with zombies.

They heard Addison's dad coming back toward the living room about 15 minutes after the phone call started and their moods became somber again. Zed's dad and Addison jumped up and looked up as Chief Donnelly came around the corner. He stopped at the sight of them. He looked between them and then said, "Addison, I need to speak with Mr. Necrodopolis alone." Her father's face was strained. She knew that something was not right. Her mom came up behind him.

"Dad, please. Is Zed ok?" she pleaded, her eyes stinging.

"Please, Chief Donnelly. I am ok if she hears. I just need to know," Zevon said.

Addison's dad hesitated and looked between the two. He motioned to the couch again, "Please."

Zevon sat down again with Addison by his side and Addison's dad sitting opposite of them on the edge of a chair with her mom standing off to the side of the room. He leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. "It's not good. I have to go to work. It's not my patrol guards doing this. This is state agents. I don't know how or even what they know, but someone sent word to them about the z-bands malfunctioning or being hacked four different times. They count the football games as one big incident, the school debate as another, the night before the old power plant was blown up something happened, and now they say that Zed somehow went completely off-line last month longer than minutes. That only happens if the band somehow comes off. They gave the date of Prawn…"

"But I explained that, dad!" Addison cried out. "I told you that we were trapped and we needed Zed's zombie strength to lift the giant boulder out of our way!"

"What?" Zevon asked, looking confused. "He took his z-band off? He could have killed someone or he could have been killed!"

"Addison, I understand," her father continued, ignoring Zevron's comment. "And that is why I never had my guys look into the incident. In fact, I tried to cover that up entirely…. Someone has leaked it out though," he said tiredly. "Do you know about the day before the power plant, Addison?"

Addison knew it was when she was in the wolf den and Zed had come to "save" her. However, she hadn't told her father about that one. He would have been furious she went with wolves and Zed had to "save" her..

"You covered it up?" Zevon asked, interrupting and staring at the Chief with wide eyes.

"I did. I was grateful to your son for saving so many students. I won't make it a habit, though, Mr. Necrodopolis."

"I understand. That was a very dangerous thing Zed did- dangerous for others and himself," Zevon said, shaking his head. "What are they going to do to him?"

"The state agent would not answer my questions. He told me to get down to the station as soon as I could so he could fill me in. I mentioned Mr. Necrodopolis here and he seemed unfazed that Zed's father was worried. He said that the safety of the citizens was the highest priority at this point." He shrugged his shoulders. "I will go down and get some answers." He stood up and grabbed his jacket. Zevon stood up also.

"Please Chief…. Call me when you know more. No matter what time."

"Be careful Dale," said Addison's mother.

Chief Donnelly nodded and left.

Zevon looked at Addison, tears in his eyes. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

Addison squeezed his arm. She didn't have any words of comfort for him. She had a bad feeling about this too.

"I have to get back home to Zoey. I had one of her friends take her. The Z-patrol caused quite a scene. Many Zombies came out of their homes and then hurried back inside when they saw Zed getting taken away. I am sure they do not want to be next," Zevon stated sadly.

Addison's mom had stayed in the background. She came forward now. "I will have my office look into this as well, Mr. Necrodopolis."

Zevon gave a quick nod and then left.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Addison couldn't sleep. She paced her room, sending out a few texts to her friends. She let Bree know something was going on, but she wasn't sure what. She asked Eliza if she or Bonzo had heard anything, but they had no news either. Her father had been gone for four hours. It was getting close to midnight. Right as Addison was giving up hope for any kind of answer that night, she saw car lights pull into the driveway. She rushed down the steps and was at the front door when her father walked in. Her mother came out of her bedroom also.

Dale set his things down and was startled to see them still up.

"Dad, what happened to Zed?" Addison rushed out.

Her dad shook his head. "Addison, things have become complicated."

She frowned. "Complicated how?"

Dale looked at his wife and motioned for everyone to sit down. He went and got everyone a drink and handed them out before sitting himself.

"The state is going to run the station and confinement areas for…. Well, for an unknown amount of time. My hands are tied, believe me. I tried to get them out of there. I was on the phone half the time with the higher ups in this state.

"And the other half," Addison asked, feeling that rock in her stomach grow bigger.

"And the other half I was learning a little about their plans," he said flatly.

"Are they letting the zombie boy go?" Missy asked.

Addison knew the answer before her dad even shook his head no. They wanted Zed for some reason.

"What does Zed have to do with their plans?" she questioned her father.

"I- I don't know them all," he started to say.

"Dad! Please!" Addison said quietly, tears filling her eyes. "What do they want with him?"

Her dad sighed. He knew she wasn't going to give up. In fact, he knew her so well that he had already called his wife and talked about what to do with Addison. He knew once she found out even just some of the details that she was going to be very upset. So he had his own plan for his daughter…to keep her safe.

"Addison, you have to promise me you won't make any trouble. This is not something we can protest or get everyone to go against. These are state agents," Dale said slowly, looking at her sternly and then at her mother.

Addison looked between them. She would not promise anything. Her stomach was tied in knots. She stared at her father, waiting for him to talk. He, in turn, kept staring at her- waiting for a response. She took a drink, trying to buy some time and then just nodded curtly, telling herself it wasn't a promise.

"The agents want to… study Zed. They are keeping him there for observation. They say they want to see what "triggers" these malfunctions since they seem to be happening so often all of the sudden," Dale said, holding up his hand to stop Addison as she started to interrupt. "I explained each situation to them, honey. I told them the first time was some cheerleaders hacking into his z-band. They knew that Zed had hacked it for the games though. They also knew that he had turned himself "human" once," Dale stated, his eyes growing dark with this statement. "They didn't say much about it, but the mere mention of it seemed to peak a lot of interest with the people around us when I was talking to their director. I explained that it malfunctioned at the debate, but no one was hurt and that Zed even stopped himself from hurting anyone. And of course, I explained the third incident they mentioned- when you all were stuck underground."

"And none of that mattered?" Addison asked.

Her father shook his head. Addison closed her eyes. Her father didn't know why Zed's z-band had malfunctioned at the debate. No one except Addison, Zed and Eliza knew it was because of the necklace the wolves had given her. Maybe she should tell these state agents… or maybe she had a plan of her own forming. She needed to call her friends. She was going to get Zed out and she needed a little help. She could maybe start tonight…. She took another drink, deep in thought when her father interrupted her.

"Addison, I know that look," her father noted. "I told you that you can't cause trouble. You don't want to make things worse for zombies or Zed."

Addison's head snapped up at the mention of Zed. "You said they are going to "study" him. What are they going to do to him?"

Her father didn't answer. He looked at her mother and then back at her. "Dad, what are they going to do to him?" she asked again, her voice shaking a little this time.

Her father shook his head "I don't know everything, Addison. They won't tell me all the details. I'm expected to keep doing my job, but not ask too many questions or I lose my job."

"What details do you know?" she pushed.

"Honey, don't-," her mother started.

"No! They can't treat him like some kind of lab rat! He is a person just like us! He has feeling, hopes, wishes, and dreams. He is not some kind of toy to poke and test!" she said through gritted teeth.

Her mother's eyes widened. "I will see what I can find out tomorrow at work. Will this help you calm down?"

Addison didn't know how she could stay calm knowing Zed was a lab rat for a bunch of people that didn't know the real him. How was she supposed to calm down? She looked towards the front door. Her dad noticed and grabbed her wrist.

"Addison, not right now. Let's all sleep on this. We can't do anything right now and we are no good when we are tired."

Addison looked down at his hand. Her head felt funny. It felt hazy all of the sudden. Why couldn't she seem to move her arm out from her dad's hand? She tried again to make it move and nothing. She slowly looked up at him. He was looking at her mom and then back at her.

"What did you do?" she asked, before slumping forward.