The next morning after the track meet Addison was getting ready for school just like she always did. Once she was all dressed and had her hair done, ate her breakfast, and everything else, she sat in the living room and waited for Zed to show up so they could walk to school together. But he was much later than usual. She checked her phone, but he hadn't sent her any messages or anything. So, she sent him a text asking where he was. She waited another five minutes, but he still never answered back. She sent him another text saying she was walking to school herself so she wouldn't be late.
She started walking down the street and quickly grew more and more worried, they had said goodnight to each other over the phone last night, and Zed had indeed reported that he had taken a long shower and was feeling much better. But the cold last night and now he wasn't with her this morning, Addison just knew something must be wrong.
When she finally made it to school she found Bree, Bonzo, and Eliza all walking in together and asked them if they knew where Zed was.
"Nope, sorry Addison, he always leaves Zombietown before us to walk here with you, we didn't know he was missing or anything." Eliza reported.
"Can anyone think of any projects or anything that he might be here already for?"
"Not that I know of." Bree said.
"I no conozco." Bonzo shrugged his shoulders.
"What's up guys?" Willa asked as the wolves all arrived from the woods. "What's wrong Addison?" She asked seeing Addison's worried expression.
"Zed isn't answering my texts. And he isn't here." Addison said, still glancing around all over for any sign of him.
"Don't worry Addison. I'm sure wherever he is Zed can take care of himself, maybe he's hiding in the saferoom planning another surprise for you." Wyatt suggested.
"He would have told at least one of you if he was doing something like that. You know what, I'm gonna call him." Addison dialed his number and listened as his voicemail picked up instead of him. "Zed, its Addison, call me when you get this message, I just want to know where you are and if you're OK, Gar Gar Gaza bye." She then hung up her phone and looked even more worried.
"Alright, Addison, I can track his phone's location. If that will help you calm down." Eliza said, pulling out her own phone. "Let's see…he's still in Zombietown, or at least his phone is."
"Thanks Eliza." Addison turned around and was obviously about to head towards Zombietown but Bree and Bonzo stepped in front of her.
"Addison, you can't just leave. School starts in like five minutes." Bree reminded her.
"But Bree, I need to go see what's wrong with Zed."
"I don't think your parents or Principal Lee will see it that way. How about you just send him a few more messages or try to call him between classes? Then maybe see if you can sign out during lunch and go check on him then if he doesn't answer. We all know you care about him more than anything else in the world, but whatever's going on I'm sure he's fine. Eliza or Bonzo or you most of all would have heard something by now right?"
"OK Bree, but if I don't hear anything I will be leaving at lunch and none of you will stop me." She warned all her friends.
"Understood Addison." Willa nodded with respect. "If you or Zed do need our help, you can let us know too."
"Thanks Willa." Addison smiled, but it quickly returned to a worried frown as Bree and Eliza walked to their first class together.
Addison tried to focus, she really did, but she was checking her phone every other minute waiting for a message from Zed. Thankfully Mrs. Nelson never called on her for anything because she had no idea what she was talking about for most of the class. The last five minutes of class, her phone started ringing, so of course, everyone's attention immediately turned to her.
Addison glanced down to see it was Zed calling her, and her heart sped up in both relief and fear that she would finally find out what was going on. "Oh, I'm sorry Mrs. Nelson, but I really need to take this. Can I go out in the hall?"
Mrs. Nelson could probably see how worried she was so she simply nodded her head. "Of course Addison, go do whatever you need to."
"Thank you Mrs. Nelson." Addison hopped out of her seat and practically sprinted outside the room. Seeing as Mrs. Nelson's room was right outside the saferoom and knowing the halls would be filled with other students in a few minutes she snuck inside and closed the door behind her.
She finally answered her phone. "Hello? Zed?"
"Hi Addison, it's Zevon."
"Oh," she tried not to let her disappointment show. "Do you know where Zed is?"
"Yes, I do. He's home sick today."
"Is he alright? Can I talk to him?"
"Um…" Zevon paused for a bit too long. "He's pretty exhausted, he's been sleeping most of the day and he honestly looks pretty terrible. Don't worry we're doing everything we can for him. I know he would tell you to focus on school and hopefully take good notes or get them from everyone else."
"Zevon, I know I still don't know as much about zombie biology as I should, but Zed told me once that zombies don't get sick easily, and I know the cold weather yesterday caused this. Is there something else?"
"Well, yes it's true, zombies don't get sick easily but when we do it really knocks us out for a few days. I'm sure Zed will be perfectly fine. Am I a little worried about him? Yes, but that's the same worry every parent feels when their kid is sick. Trust me Addison."
"OK Zevon thank you. Is it OK if I come over after practice?"
"Um, it might be best for you to just stay away for a few days, just cause we know zombies don't get human diseases, but we don't know much about how or if humans can catch zombie illnesses. But I promise Addison, when he starts to feel better you'll be the first person I call."
"Thank you Zevon. I'm glad Zed has you there, I know he's in good hands."
"Thank you Addison. I hope I didn't take you out of class or anything."
"Oh you did, but trust me, I was so worried about hearing nothing from Zed all morning I wasn't paying any attention."
"Yeah, I got that impression from the ten texts and voicemails you've left already. Alright, well you better focus now. Goodbye Addison."
"Goodbye Zevon." Addison answered back and hung up her phone.
She glanced around the saferoom, without Zed in here, it felt completely empty. Something in Zevon's voice, she felt like he was hiding something from her, and she was terrified to know what it was. She glanced at the time and knew she had to get class now or be late. So as much as she would rather be anywhere else, or more specifically in Zombietown with Zed, she walked to her next class. She sat down next to Wyatt and Eliza who were looking at something together on Eliza's computer and whispering under their breath. They both turned to Addison when she walked in, leaving the other seat next to her empty, they both knew who was supposed to be there.
"What's wrong Addison? I'm sure Zed is fine." Eliza tried to reassure her.
"Zevon called me, he said Zed is sick. Eliza, please, tell me everything you know about what can happen when zombies get sick, Zevon sounded like he was hiding something, but I can't even imagine what."
Eliza opened her mouth to answer but Mr. Squier started talking at the front of the room. "I'll tell you everything I know at lunch. I promise Addison." Addison's blood ran even colder seeing that Eliza now looked legitimately worried too.
Wyatt also noticed Eliza's change of mood and rubbed his hand up and down her arm in comfort.
This class period from then on became the longest class Addison ever sat through, she was so worried, her brain wouldn't stop imagining just what could be happening to Zed at the moment, the not knowing was what scared her most.
When class was finally over Addison latched on to Eliza's hand and dragged her to the saferoom so she could explain everything in as much detail as possible. Wyatt followed them inside and Addison and Eliza both sat together on one of the beds.
"Come on Eliza, tell me everything."
"OK, here Fido, you should text Bree and Bonzo to find Willa and Wynter and bring them here, since I'm sure they're all curious too, and probably waiting for us in the cafeteria." Eliza tossed her phone over to him.
"Sure thing Eliza." Wyatt grinned and started typing away.
"So, yes Zombies don't get sick easily and as far as we know we can't catch most normal human diseases. There are some things that can still affect us, for example almost every zombie kid gets something sort of like the chicken pox when they're little, and there have been like three or four years since we've gotten the Z-bands that a zombie flu spread around, but that ran its course and after two or three months it was gone again."
By this time all their friends had also entered the saferoom and sat around on the beds, listening to Eliza's explanation.
"But, Zed probably isn't just sick right? It has something to do with the cold last night." Addison asked.
"Yes, so zombies hate being cold, of course, our body temperature is lower than humans so we can't stay warm as easily as humans or werewolves when we are in cold settings. And probably especially in cold and wet weather like last night. The only time I saw him yesterday he was always in his uniform."
"Yes, he didn't put on anything warmer until the meet was over." Addison confirmed.
"Of course he did. So basically zombies are much more vulnerable to things like hypothermia and frostbite in theory at least since we all live in California. I read some records that Seabrook may have designed warming shelters during winters in Zombietown while all the zombies were still feral. But anyway, now I doubt Zed actually got hypothermia or anything and even if he did, you said he took a hot shower when he got home right?"
"That's what he told me."
"I'm sure Zevon made sure he did. But…when zombies get sick, it isn't the sickness that's most dangerous. Its actually our Z-bands." Eliza unconsciously shifted her band around her wrist.
"How?" Bree asked, she instinctively squeezed Bonzo's hand tighter.
"Well when zombies get sick our temperatures can fluctuate wildly, either becoming even colder than normal, or they can even increase to normal human levels. Now the main things the Z-bands monitor are our heart rate and body temperature to calculate how much electromagnetic pulses we need. So when those things get out of wack when we're sick…" Eliza lost her voice for a moment, she looked so choked up. "Bonzo, should we?"
Bonzo looked down at the floor, and he already had tears in his eyes too. "Zo Elizka, Zedksi zory."
"Come on Eliza, Bonzo, what is it?" Addison asked, none of this was helping her anxieties at all.
"Look Addison, let's just say we both know what can happen when a zombie gets sick and their Z-band malfunctions. But don't worry Addison, the chances of Zed being that sick from a cold or whatever he has are super slim. I'm sure he's just at home conked out in his bed, and he'll be totally fine in a few days."
"Eliza, you really aren't helping calm me down. You're scaring me. Why won't you tell me whatever it is?"
"Because, there is a story that we know, but trust me that it isn't our place to tell without permission, and you most of all. Addison, Zed's a super fit teenage zombie athlete, he's in his prime and is honestly probably in the best physical shape of any zombie in Zombietown, I'm sure he'll be perfectly fine in a day or two." Eliza leaned forward and wrapped Addison in a hug to try to comfort her.
Addison squeezed her back just as tightly, and let a few tears fall.
"Hey, don't cry Addison. Tell you what, just finish school today and got to track practice. I'll go straight to Zombietown and check on Zed and Zevon, and then I'll tell you that he's perfectly fine, and then you can go check on him."
"I should go be with him now, I literally have no idea what we did in English or Econ this morning."
"Addison, you know Principal Lee and your parents aren't going to let you go just because Zed is sick at home. Just stay here, I'll be with you the entire rest of the day." Bree promised.
"Thanks Bree."
"And after practice, we'll all head to Zombietown with you. When one packmate needs help, the whole pack is there. We'll be there for both of you." Willa reminded her.
"Thanks Willa."
"Come on, let's go get lunch. That will distract you." Wyatt said as everyone stood up and started walking out of the saferoom.
"I'm not hungry." Addison sighed as everyone else led the way out. Her stomach was too tied up in knots for her to have an appetite or to feel like she could keep anything down.
Wyatt and Eliza hung back a bit behind the others. "So is this sick thing one of the reasons we've been working on our secret project?" He asked.
"Yes, just one of many, but don't say anything until I do. We don't want to be locked in containment before we have real proof." Eliza whispered.
"Last week went pretty well."
"So I didn't bite you when we were all alone, we still need to go a lot further. Honestly, Zed would be the better test subject so I can observe but he'll take some convincing, and for that, we need more evidence."
"Well, baby steps are still progress."
"How original." Eliza rolled her eyes in mocking exasperation.
"Be honest with me, do you think Zed's in trouble?" Wyatt asked, turning serious again.
"With the info I have from Addison, I'm hoping we're all overreacting, but there's always a chance, and if Zevon insisted Addison stay away…"
Wyatt grabbed her hand. "Don't worry, nothing can take that crazy zombie down."
"You're probably right." Eliza nodded.
Addison spent the rest of the day miserable and constantly staring at the clock. Her friends tried to distract her as much as they could but nothing could pull her focus away from thinking about Zed. Finally, after what felt like days, Addison and the others were finished with track practice and started jogging to Zombietown together. When they passed through the gate Addison couldn't help herself any longer and started sprinting the final few blocks to Zed's house. She almost barged in herself but restrained herself to knocking on the door like always.
To her surprise, Eliza opened the door, and she looked worried. "Addison, listen."
"No Eliza." Addison barged past her and threw her backpack down on the floor and then sprinted upstairs. She pushed open Zed's door, her heart pounding in her chest so it was all she could hear, she was deaf to Eliza's explanation to the others as they entered the house below.
She threw open the door to Zed's room that was open just a crack, but then stopped dead in her tracks as her heart skipped a beat.
Zed was lying in his bed, propped up on several pillows. Zevon was sitting beside him and turned to her with a worried and surprised expression when she entered, but her focus was entirely on Zed. He was wearing a light gray t-shirt, but it was soaked in sweat. Most horrifying of all, his skin wasn't his usual gray, instead, his skin was flushed pink as a human, and his hair had turned black as coal.
"ZED!" Addison shouted, she ran to his bedside, then fell to her knees and grabbed his hand, his much too warm hand. And when she did, she could see his wrist beneath his Z-band was scorched and worn red and raw, even worse than it was during football season.
"Addison." Zed croaked out and slowly opened his eyes, even though they were glazed with sickness and exhaustion she could still see his love for her just like she always did.
"Zed, what's wrong? Zevon, what's really wrong with Zed? Please tell me everything." Addison begged, tears already gathering in her eyes.
"It…it's his Z-band, he woke up sick this morning, runny nose, sore throat, cough, so I just had him stay home." Zevon began to explain, placing his hand on Addison's shoulder in comfort and support. "He had a slight fever, instead of being 80-85 degrees like normal he was up to 90, which isn't unusual for us when we do get sick, but…th-that was enough to mess up his Z-band's sensors and for the past hour or two his temperature kept rising and he started…" Zevon was getting just as choked up as Addison felt. "He started looking like that, I've been trying to lower his temperature but nothing's working."
Addison glanced up again and just noticed the numerous bags of ice, icepacks, towels, and even bags of frozen veggies surrounding Zed's body.
"I've just been doing everything I could then Eliza showed up and she called the Z-Patrol, they should hopefully be here soon to take him to Containment."
"What can I do? "
"I don't know Addison. Hopefully, the doctors can help him."
"It's his Z-band right? Ow!" Addison reached out to touch it and a spark flew off when she made contact, shocking her. "Zed, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I can." Zed said softly. Then he flinched too when his Z-Band let out more sparks, making his whole body twitch.
"Has it been shocking you like that all day?" Addison asked.
"The, the last few hours yeah." Zed said, grimacing as another tremor shook his body. "It sucks but I can take it."
"Are you sure? You don't look so hot."
"Ouch, I'll have you know I am the hottest I have ever been, literally." Zed chuckled, but then scowled through the next shock. "So, Pops says I look human, how do I look?"
"Terrible, I want you back. From your green hair to your gray toes, I only want you to be healthy again. I want my zombie back."
"I promise Addison, I'll be fine. Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza Zed". Addison continued holding Zed's hand, feeling him shudder with every shock his Z-band let out, they kept on coming, nearly every 30 seconds. Every time Zed grimaced in pain Addison was tempted to tear off his Z-band herself.
Finally, heavy footsteps were pounding up the stairs and Dale ran in, followed by Gus and three paramedics. "Zevon, how is-?" He froze when he noticed Addison." Of course, you're here Addison, I shouldn't be surprised since everyone else is downstairs."
Two of the paramedics started checking Zed's vitals while the third asked Zevon questions about Zed's condition. Addison stayed kneeling by his side and holding his hand, only moving slightly to give them room to work.
"He needs to go to the Containment Chief, we have more equipment that we need there." one of the paramedics reported while the other two ran back downstairs to get something.
"Containment? Why he hasn't done anything!" Addison shouted, her hand squeezing Zed's tighter.
"Addison, the Containment Center is also where we have the best doctors and medicine designed for zombies. Remember how when Zed got his Z-Band check he also got an annual physical?" Dale reminded her.
"Oh, speaking of it's his Z-band Dad, look at his wrist. It's hurting him. Can't you take it off? I know I can keep him calm. I promise."
"No Addison, even if I wanted to, I don't have the key on me that can do that. Don't worry, these guys are the best of the best, they've trained for zombie emergencies."
"You mean Zombie attacks?" Zevon scowled.
"Well yes, but trust me, as part of their training they have plenty of medical knowledge for both humans and zombies."
The paramedics came back with a gurney. The three of them working together lifted Zed from his bed onto the gurney and tied him down. Addison had to let go of his hand for a moment, but she was worried by the fact that the straps looked exactly like the ones in Zombie Containment.
"Gar Gar Gaza Addie." Zed croaked out as they strapped him down.
"Gar Gar Gaza Zed." Addison said.
He smiled just for a moment, but then his Z-band let out a whole burst of sparks and Zed started jerking as much as he could, his muscles straining against the straps, only his head could move freely and he was throwing it all over, while his back and torso were convulsing up and down. "Ahhh!" He groaned for a few moments but then fell still.
"ZED!" Addison screamed. She tried to run closer to him, but Dale grabbed her from behind and circled his arms around her, holding her tight.
"Addison, calm down, let the paramedics work." He whispered into her ear, trying to calm her down.
"No, Zed! Dad Let me go please!" Addison screamed over and over, but Dale continued to hold her tight so she couldn't move,
The paramedics got straight to work and started CPR, rapidly pumping his chest up and down and giving him breaths. Zed's Z-band was still sparking every so often making his whole body jerk again but then fall still.
"Dad! It's his Z-band take it off! Please take it off! You have to save him!" Addison begged .
"We can't Addison, not here, you have to trust them. Zed will be alright, just calm down." Dale whispered in her ear.
The longest five minutes of Addison's life passed in what felt like hours, she could hear every beat of her heart pounding in her ears, while she strained to hear any sign of life from Zed.
Finally, Zed took in a large gulp of air and started coughing for a few moments. The paramedics checked his pulse and told everyone else to move. They quickly carried Zed out the door and downstairs.
"No Zed, I have to go with him!" Dale finally let her go, but she was so shaky she fell back down to the floor on her knees again. Dale and Gus helped pull her up and then she ran down the stairs following the paramedics.
She paused for a moment when she reached the first floor, all her friends were looking absolutely terrified. Zoey was also there, and she was bawling into Eliza's shoulder.
Zevon was following two steps behind her and Zoey looked up as he came down the stairs and ran out of Eliza's arms and into Zevon's. "Daddy! Zed's going to be OK. Right? It won't be like when Mommy got sick?"
"No, no my little zombie angel. Zed, Zed will be fine." Zevon looked like he was just barely holding it together, and he had tears running down his cheeks just like everyone else. "He just needs to go t-to the doctor and they'll make him all better. I promise."
"Zevon, we're going to Containment." Dale said, "do you want to ride in the ambulance?"
"Of course Dale, um, I promise Zoey, I'll be back later tonight and you'll be able to go see Zed tomorrow I promise. Um…"
"Don't worry Zevon, Bonzo and I will watch her, you go with Zed." Eliza walked over to pick her up again, but Zoey quickly ran back upstairs, and then back down again.
"Take Zander, he'll keep Zed safe, I know he will." Zoey shoved Zander into Zevon's arms.
"Don't worry Zoey, everything will be OK. Gar Gar Gaza." Zevon promised. He quickly ran out the door, and Addison followed right behind him, but her dad caught her again.
"Dad, please let me ride with Zed, I can't, I can't if he…"
"Addison, they only have room in the ambulance for one extra passenger, let's go, we'll be right behind them all the way there I promise."
"But, what if…"
"Don't think about that I know that was scary, I was terrified too, I believe that Zed will make it through this, and I know you can do that too."
"Addison, what happened?" Eliza asked softly, covering Zoey's ears in her lap.
"He, he, his Z-band was shocking him and he needed CPR and it took so long…"Addison whispered, "I thought…"
"So it is his Z-band doing this to them, why didn't you take it off?" Eliza demanded.
"We can't just take off the Z-bands you know that Eliza." Dale reminded her.
"Grr. You're lucky I promised to take care of Zoey tonight. Addison, look forget about all the horror story, worst-case scenario stuff I said, I know Zed will be alright, just like you do because he is way too stubborn to leave you or any of us. You know he'll be fighting every second like it's a football game. He's got this. Now go."
"Thanks Eliza." Addison smiled, the tears still falling. She ran out the door and into the nearby Z-Patrol jeep just in time to see the ambulance close its doors.
Dale and Gus both ran out and into the front seats. The ambulance turned on its siren and started speeding off towards Containment. Dale turned his siren on too and followed right behind them.
"Dad, do you know anything about zombie biology and Z-bands and stuff like this? Please tell me some good news."
"Honestly I don't I've always been more on the patrol side, but Addison the best thing we can do is have faith that Zed will get better, and I know you want to be with him, but give the doctors space when we get there and do whatever they tell you. They already know Zed's coming. He's in the best hands he can possibly be in. I promise."
Addison stared ahead at the ambulance speeding along in front of them. She could feel herself shaking and felt like she could barely breathe, all her worst nightmares since Zed never showed up this morning were coming true. Seeing him lying on the gurney, possibly really dead and not undead. She knew she couldn't ever live her life without him. She needed him like she needed oxygen. They hadn't gotten their someday yet. Addison never had any doubts before, but now she would never forget this day, or get the image of Zed lying there while she couldn't do anything to help would haunt her forever.
And Zoey was terrified, and said something about her mom, had this happened before? That was why Eliza refused to tell her. She had to know, were the Z-bands more dangerous than she thought? It had hurt Zed before but that was when he and Eliza hacked it on purpose. Z-bands were supposed to keep both humans and zombies safe, not hurt them. Addison would do whatever she could to help keep Zed safe, even if she had to smash his Z-band herself.