Zed was excited as they rode the bus to Eastview, it was the first track meet of the year and he was pumped to be competing again. Plus he was really interested in seeing just what the wolves would be doing, and for the first time, all his friends were on the team. Minus Eliza, but she would be in the stands with Pops and Zoey, either cheering everyone else on or laughing at him, who knows.
Just like all their bus rides, Addison was sitting by his side, and she was just as excited. This was the first time she would ever be competing in something that wasn't cheer or dance related and she wanted to just see what she could do. But she was also super pumped up to cheer her friends on as well.
"Have you checked the weather?" Addison asked.
"Um, it looks sunny right now." Zed glanced out the window.
"Right now sure, but in an hour or two it's going to get pretty chilly and there's a good chance of rain."
"Well, Coach Clevenger says we'll be outside no matter what unless there's lightning."
"You'll be careful about the cold, won't you? And will all the zombies be OK?"
"Don't worry Addie, I'm sure I'll be running around so much I'll stay warm, and none of us like the cold, but I can't imagine anything bad will happen."
"OK." Addison sighed in relief. "What's your first race?"
"It's the second race, the 4x8, me, Wyatt, Ryan, and Riley are going to start us off strong for sure."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, Clev has the whole meet already planned out, and he has big expectations for us. What's your first race?"
"The D-Med, Bree, Willa, Wynter, and I are all running together."
"What leg are you?"
"Bree and I are both doing the 200's Willa has the 400, and Wynter has the 800."
"I thought Bree said she was just a jumper?"
"Yeah, she'll be doing high and long jump, but the spot was open so Mrs. S put her in there. She's practiced the sprints with me at practice, I'm hoping Willa and Wynter will keep us from sucking to badly."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because Bree and I have never run any kind of actual races in our lives, give us pom poms and a beat and we can do anything, I just don't want to mess this up."
"Relax Addie, it's the first meet of the year, people are going to mess up, don't you think I felt the same way that first football game?"
"Well other than the rest of the team being jerks you still played as good as you could."
"Exactly just do the best you can like you always do."
"Thanks, Zed." Addison smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
When they arrived at the school, everyone dropped their gear off at their camp before splitting off to begin their warmups.
Zed found Wyatt about to head onto the track. "Hey Wyatt, have you seen Ryan and Riley?"
"Yeah, they're both already on their second lap". Wyatt pointed to the opposite end of the track, Zed could just make out the pink and green uniforms they were wearing.
"Those guys are crazy, did you hear that they're also doing the 2 mile right after our race?"
"Yeah, but I know they can do it. They've been trying to get me and some of the other wolves to join the cross country team next year. From what I've seen in practice so far, I think Clevenger has good reasons to put them in both."
"This 800 will be enough for me though." Zed laughed.
"What else are you doing?"
"I have the 4x8, 400, and 4x4."
"Nice, I've got 4x8, 800, and 200, Clevenger said he wants to see what I look like sprinting too."
"And all you wolves will really be OK without your moonstones for your races?"
"Yep, it will be totally fine, come on better join them." Wyatt said. And they both ran to catch up with their teammates.
A little while later the track meet finally began in earnest, Bree, Addison, Willa, and Wynter would be running first, and Bree and Addison were both bundles of nerves.
"You two can relax. We're here to compete yes, but we're also here to have fun." Willa patted them both on the back, as they were both pacing around the infield.
"Besides we got this. You have two werewolves on your team, and even though Wyatt has our necklaces I know we can so totally do this." Wynter also tried to reassure them.
"How are you guys not nervous?" Bree asked.
"Compared to the last few months, nothing will ever stress me out ever again." Willa shook her head. "Besides isn't Cheerleading the only thing Seabrook used to be good at? The only direction we have to go is up."
"Runners to their mark!" The race official announced.
Addison followed all the other second runners to the opposite corner of the track. "200 meters," she whispered under her breath. "You've got this." When she got to her spot in lane 6, she could see Zed and Wyatt standing in the grass on the field waving at her.
"Wooo! Go Addison!" Zed cheered.
She smiled at him and just like always her nerves were calmed just being near him again.
"Get Set!" Pop! The gun went off beginning the race. Addison glanced behind her, watching for Bree.
Over the countless cheers, she could clearly hear Bonzo cheering the loudest. "GOOO BREEZKA!"
A few seconds later all the runners came up at the 200-meter mark, Addison kept her eye on Bree who was right in the middle of the pack, she passed the marking and Addison started to jog as Bree caught up to her. "Reach!" Bree shouted and Addison stuck her arm straight out and grabbed the green baton from Bree and then she let loose, running as fast as possible.
"Go Addison!" She heard Zed shout, and that gave her a boost of energy to make some headway on the other girls around her. She rounded the turn and now all she had was 100 more meters straight ahead, she could see Willa excitedly hopping back and forth on the starting line, while Wynter cheered her on from the infield, and she could also still hear Zed behind her. But with all the noise, she was entirely focused.
In the last 20 meters she passed a girl and then she shouted "Reach!" And Willa grabbed the baton and took off faster than Addison wouldn't have thought possible.
She held her hands behind her head and watched as Willa passed one more girl. She didn't have her superhuman werewolf speed, but she was still fast, and she wasn't slowing down. She quickly caught up to the leader and kept pace with her for about half of the lap before pulling away down the final straight. Willa easily passed the baton on to Wynter and after that, it was no contest, by the time Wynter was done with her 800, the rest of the teams were nearly 15 meters behind.
"Yes! We did it Bree!" Addison hugged Bree in excitement and then they both ran over to celebrate with Wynter and Willa.
"See you two, I told you guys you didn't have anything to worry about." Willa said, both she and Wynter were still panting slightly.
"Are you guys ok?" Addison asked.
"Oh yeah, that was definitely a challenge without our powers, but we'll be fine. I'm guessing this is what humans normally feel like when they run." Willa sighed happily.
"Yeah, totally, if I had to do the 400 or even worse the 800 I'd be on the ground right now." Addison agreed.
"Great job you guys!" Wyatt ran over to greet them, and handed over their necklaces as well as his own. "Now it's our turn."
"Great job Addie. I told you, you had nothing to worry about." Zed gave her a quick hug around her shoulders.
"I know, you were right, now that we've seen what the wolves can do, you should go show everyone what a zombie can do."
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the weak link in this race. See you in a few minutes."
"Bye Zed, good luck!" Addison waved.
"You ready Wyatt?"
"You bet Zed." Wyatt shuddered slightly.
"You OK?" Zed looked at Wyatt in concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine it just takes a moment to adjust after taking off my necklace." Wyatt grinned at him.
"There you two are!" Ryan smiled at them as they got lined up in their groups at the starting line. "Riley and I were worried Zed was too distracted by Addison."
"While I am always distracted by Addison, there is no way I could ever be too distracted. I'm ready to win this thing."
"Go on Swags get us a good lead!" Riley called out.
"You all make sure you can keep it!" Ryan shot back. As he walked up to the starting line, they were beginning in lane 5.
"Runners to your mark, get set." The official called out. POP!
Ryan took off running as fast as possible from the waterfall start. He quickly made around the first turn and cut inside so that he was just leading the rest of the pack. Zed, and the rest of Seabrook's athletes cheered him on as he ran around the track. When he finished his first lap, he was about two meters ahead of the Eels' runner behind him.
After the rest of the runners completed their first lap Zed and the other second runners lined up at the starting line. Zed glanced behind him as Ryan rounded the final turn, still maintaining his lead, even if he was lagging just a bit, but still determination was the only thing on his face as he passed the baton to Zed's hand. "Reach!" He called out.
Zed grabbed the baton and ran hard, but still trying to pace himself since he did have 800 meters to run after all. When Zed's blood was pumping like this, he could feel slight vibrations from his Z-band as it fought against his zombie abilities. He didn't feel any extra energy than normal, but he could tell when his senses sharpened, he could hear the pounding heartbeats of the runners behind him, and he knew without turning around the exact distances they were away. He wasn't hungry or anything, but it was like he had eyes in the back of his head to keep track of them. He was maintaining the lead Ryan had created so far, just slightly increasing it as he began his second lap. And of course, he could also hear the cheering crowd around him and it did give him a boost, but it was background noise, the only thing that broke through clearly was Addison's cheers as he ran past where she was still standing with the other girls.
In the final 100 meters, Zed started to feel his energy shrinking but he still pushed every last ounce of energy he had until he passed the baton to Wyatt. "Reach!" He shouted out, and then walked off the track to the grass and tried to catch his breath. He bent over to breathe for a few seconds and then when he looked up again, he almost couldn't find Wyatt he was already so far ahead.
Wyatt had managed to about double the lead, but it looked like he was already almost out of energy. Maybe he should have practiced more without the Moonstone. Zed thought to himself, Wyatt was still doing great but it was pretty clear this was a challenge for him now.
Finally, Wyatt finished his second lap and passed the baton onto Riley who amazingly added even more space between first and second as he shot off. Zed cheered him on as he passed and then turned his attention to Wyatt.
"You OK Wyatt?"
"Yeah, I should be fine, just. That was a real workout. I definitely went out too fast without wearing a moonstone." Wyatt panted.
"Wyatt!" Willa ran up to him and quickly knelt down and reattached his moonstone around his neck. It glowed blue for a moment, and then Wyatt was instantly all better.
He stood up with a smile. "OK I'm good."
"You sure dude?" Ryan asked him.
"Yep totally. GO Riley!" Wyatt cheered as Riley came in for the finish, running through the finish line with a grin. He stopped and then walked over to the rest of his team and they all shared a sweaty group hug.
"That was awesome guys!" Riley panted out. "This season is going to be awesome if every race is like that!"
"Seriously you guys have to join XC in the fall." Ryan once again tried to convince them.
"Sorry Swagner, Football." Zed replied.
"I'd consider it, but I need to do some training without my moonstone." Wyatt smiled. "I don't know how you guys are going to do the two mile next."
"The girls' race will go first so we have plenty of time to recover and get rewarmed up." Riley reassured him.
"Hey Willa that's you next right?" Wyatt asked.
"Yep I'm ready for the 2 mile." Willa smiled.
"Hey, Willa, you do know that for the girls it's only 3000 meters right?" Ryan asked her.
"What why? That is so stupid." Willa growled under her breath.
Ryan held up his hands in surrender. "I totally agree, I just thought I'd let you know."
"Well, you know what, I'm going to run an extra 200 anyway." Willa declared.
"You have fun with that then." Wyatt laughed at her.
"Where are you going?" Zed asked Addison as Willa continued to grumble with Wyatt, Wynter, Riley and Ryan.
"I'm going to go watch Bree do high jump. Want to join me?"
"Sorry, I was going to go see Bonzo do the discus."
"OK then, I'll see you later. Oh man." As they were walking away the clouds that had been gathering for the past hour or so finally opened up in a light shower.
"There's your rain Addison, you had to jinx it." Zed laughed.
"I didn't jinx it, I watched the weather this morning. I hope they don't have to stop, this has been tiring, but fun."
"I couldn't agree more."
"And you'll be fine with the cold?"
"Don't worry Addison. There's a slight breeze yes, but I'm sure I'll be moving around so much, I'll be fine."
"OK see you later Zed."
"See yah Addison."
About five hours later, Zed was ready for his last race of the night; the 4x4, and right now he was ready for the meet to be over. Mostly because even though he had been moving around a lot, he was pretty cold and wet in just his uniform, he could have grabbed some sweats but he hadn't since he had been too busy cheering on all his friends and running his other races. So now he was shivering slightly, both from the cold and anticipation for his final race, which was the very last one of the night. By now it had finally stopped raining, but he was so wet and cold it didn't really matter at this point.
For this race, Zed was the first runner which he was glad to be, just so he could be done sooner. He stepped into the blocks on the starting line and shot off down the track, unlike his previous races, he could feel the cold slowing him down, no matter how much he tried to speed up, it was all he could do to stay on pace with rest of the runners in the middle of the pack.
By the time he handed off the baton, Zed felt completely dead and drained of energy. He walked off the track and cheered on his team the best he could, and in the end, they ended up in second place. Everyone congratulated each other on a good job, but they were all ready to go home by this point.
They walked back to their camp and Zed finally had a chance to pull on some sweats, he quickly peeled off his soaked uniform and replaced it with dry clothes underneath. As he was doing so the final team standings were announced and both Seabrook boys' and girls' teams had won the meet for the first time in recent memory.
Addison found him right after he finished changing. "There you are! Your race went great!"
"Thanks Addison. Sorry, I couldn't find you after your last one, you did great too."
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yep." Zed grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder, then grabbed Addison's hand as everyone else gathered their stuff and walked over towards the bus. Zed could feel his teeth chattering from the cold, but was hopeful Addison wouldn't hear it. Tonight had been great, and he didn't want to worry her.
Fortunately or unfortunately Addison did indeed notice. "Are you OK?" She looked up at him, carefully studying his features. Zed couldn't help thinking how cute she looked all bundled up in her sweatpants and jacket that looked equally soaked as he felt.
"Yeah to-totally, I'm fine, t-tired, but fine."
"I can hear your teeth chattering, and maybe it's just me but I swear your hand feels colder than normal."
"Alright, I'm a little cold, but I will be perfectly fine tomorrow. You don't need to worry." Zed finally admitted.
"I'm always going to worry about you dummy." Addison gave him a tender smile and squeezed his hand tighter. "Why do you always do stuff like this?"
"I just didn't have time to grab anything warmer because I was too busy running and cheering everyone else on. It wasn't that bad at first but I never got a chance to grab my stuff."
"I suppose that's a good excuse but next time this happens…I don't know I'll watch you put on your warm clothes and not let you go check-in for your races before you do." Addison warned him.
"I get it, I promise I'll be more careful next time." Zed agreed. They got on the bus and sat down in their seat with Bree and Bonzo sitting across the aisle from them.
"Hey Bonzo are you OK?" Addison asked.
"Gra. Greuno!" Bonzo grinned back.
"Why do you ask Addison?" Bree now looked concerned for Bonzo's safety too.
"Because this zombie wasn't wearing anything warm all night and now he's freezing." Addison pointed her thumb at Zed beside her, who was still shivering.
"I'm not freezing-"
"I thought I'd see how you're doing." Addison interrupted, still talking to Bonzo.
"I'm warrm." Bonzo smiled. "Azter gra finized thrrrow grr uza ezte." Bonzo said, patting the sleeve of his track jacket.
"So Bonzo, what can happen if a zombie gets too cold? All I know is you guys don't like it."
"Zombies get zik orr Z-band gret mezzed up grah. Zedski OKZ?" Bonzo asked, looking concerned.
"Don't worry buddy, I'm fine, I just need to wait till I get home and take a hot shower. I'm sure I'll be good as new tomorrow." Zed insisted.
"Will Zed be OK if he warms up?"
"Gra. Zhould ber fienz." Bonzo nodded.
"Thanks Bonzo."
Addison turned to Zed and grabbed his hand again and felt his forehead. "You're still cold."
"I can wait till I get home and shower." Zed insisted.
"That's too long for me to accept." Addison shrugged off her own jacket and unzipped Zed's revealing a gray t-shirt underneath. She then stood up and sat back down again in Zed's lap.
"Um, not that I'm complaining but what are you doing?"
"Sharing body heat. I know I'm always warmer than you so this should help more. Now hug me." Addison ordered.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Zed happily pulled Addison closer to him. Smiling as he felt her back press tight against his chest. "But I still think your overreacting a bit."
"I don't think so, I know what you feel like and you are much colder than normal. I'm not taking any chances until I know you're healthy." Addison said as she rolled up his sleeves to run her hands up and down Zed's arms.
"Zed why do act so surprised. This is like literally a role reversal of that day Addison was sick and insisted she was fine and you were freaking out." Bree reminded him.
"Were you really freaking out that day?"
"Well, um…"
"He totally was. Don't you deny it Zed."
"Fine, maybe I was."
"So do you understand why I'm worried about you? It's because I love you, and don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"OK, fine. Do whatever you want Dr. Addie." Zed smiled. "But for the record, you were just stubborn that day as me."
"Thanks for talking some sense into him Bree." Addison chose to ignore his last comment.
"No problem. If he still argues I bet you can call Eliza to remind him to stop being stubborn."
"You know, I just might, since you obviously aren't going to tell me just what can happen to a cold or sick zombie."
Zed's smile dampened for just a moment, so fast that Addison almost thought she imagined it. "I…I do know what can happen. I wouldn't do anything that I thought was actually dangerous. I promise Addison."
"I know you won't Zed." They sat in mostly silence for the rest of the bus ride, still cuddling to raise Zed's temperature, not that Addison wasn't enjoying it a little bit, but she was still worried. Addison knew something had suddenly bothered Zed, but she would wait until he was ready, plus a crowded school bus probably wasn't the best place to have a conversation that looked as sad as Zed had just looked. She wondered what it was.
They finally made it back to school and after emptying their lockers of their school supplies Addison insisted that Zed get a ride home from her parents. Missy and Dale congratulated both of them and didn't bat an eye at giving Zed a ride, even if they had just dropped off Zoey, Zevon, and Eliza in Zombietown.
"Hey, did you guys get cold tonight at the meet?" Addison asked.
"Oh yeah, a little bit. Zoey was even shivering a little but Zevon got her warmed up again right away." Missy said. "I hope you guys were fine when you were running."
"Yeah, most of us were fine.' Addison answered sending a knowing look Zed's way.
"And all of us will be fine." Zed added. Smirking at Addison's slightly annoyed, but still concerned glare.
They soon arrived at Zed's house and Addison walked him up to the porch. "Now, you are going to take a hot shower for at least twenty minutes and you better not call me to say goodnight for at least thirty minutes or I won't pick up." She ordered.
"Consider me warned. I'll be fine, I'll be at your door tomorrow to walk you to school like always." Zed pressed a quick kiss to Addison's cheek.
"I love you Zed. Gar Gar Gaza."
"I love you too Addie. Gar Gar Gaza. See you tomorrow. Goodbye.
"Goodbye Zed. 30 minutes.'
"Yes Addie." Zed smiled as he walked through the door.
Addison turned around. She was still a little worried but trusted Zed to take care of himself when he didn't have any other distractions around him. She would probably be worried until she saw him again tomorrow, but for now, she was equally tired and in need of a warm shower too. So she jumped back in the car and she and her parents drove home for the night.