"Come on Zed, one more set, you got this!" Wyatt cheered him on.
Zed was staring up at Wyatt's grinning, fanged face above him. He was currently laying down on the bench about to do his final set for the day. He reached up and grasped the cool, metal bar above him. Taking one more deep breath in, he lifted the bar off the rack and held it free over his head.
Nice and steady the entire time, he moved it up and down from his chest and back to the sky. His muscles straining a little bit but he never faltered in his movements.
"One, two, three, four, five!" Wyatt counted off, and done! Wyatt howled softly as he helped Zed rerack the weight. "Great job Zed!"
"Thanks, Wyatt." Zed sat up on the bench and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his face. It was the first day of summer workouts, and Zed could already tell, that the weight room would probably be sweltering all summer if today was any indication for the rest of summer break. He shook out his arms to relieve the soreness that was quickly fading away as he glanced around the room.
With the start of the summer, all of Seabrook's sports were in their offseason since baseball and softball were also during the spring, so for all the student athletes' summers were the time to build their strength and conditioning that will lead to success next year, and the weight room was packed full of human, zombie, and werewolf athletes, even though the largest team wasn't in yet. The cheer squad was out practicing in the gym to try to lessen the overcrowding, plus according to Addison and Bree, they planned to get their cardio and flexibility training done before hitting the weight room themselves.
So Bonzo, Bree, and Addison were currently outside, holding their own practice in the gym, but Wynter and Willa were already pulling some of the weights off so they could take their turn on the bench. Zed had been showing all three wolves the ropes today since they hadn't lifted during track season but now that it was offseason they all wanted to be prepared for next year as well. Plus it was a bit out of necessity, with their powers, they could already lift more than most of the humans and other zombies students, even though Zed's records couldn't be beaten.
Willa and Wyatt had both decided to join the cross country team next fall. After they lifted they would be headed out on the first team run of the summer, while Zed and Wynter would move to the football field to work on linemen drills. While Zed was super pumped for summer break, he also couldn't wait to see what football and everything else will be like with werewolves, zombies, and humans all working together to bring home victory for Seabrook.
"OK Wynter, you only have one set left, how much do you want?" Willa asked her.
"Hmm, actually I want to try this."
"Are you sure Wynter? This is pretty close to my max and this is your first time, you don't want to overdo it."
"I am a mean, fierce werewolf Zed, I am rough and tough, and nothing can stop me. Plus I have to prove werewolves are just as strong as zombies." She smirked.
"You don't need to prove anything, but sure. Just be careful."
Wynter took Zed's place on the bench while Wyatt hovered over her. "Tell me if it's too much Wynter."
"Don't worry about a thing." Wynter smiled up at him confidently.
She grasped the bar tightly and lifted it up with a slight grunt.
"Not so tight Wynter," Zed advised her, both he and Willa were standing to the sides, ready to help just in case.
"I own the night!" Wynter howled out, then she brought the bar down to her chest and back up again.
"One, two, three." Wyatt counted off.
But then Wynter stopped when she came down the fourth time. Zed could see her muscles straining with tension for a few moments.
"You ok Wynter?" Wyatt asked, ready to help pull up.
In response, Wynter's moonstone started glowing blue and her eyes shone yellow. With a snarl, she quickly moved the bar and back down two more times before racking it with CLANG!
"Awwooooo!" Wynter jumped up and howled out in delight.
"Awwoo!" Willa and Wyatt both howled back in response.
"See, I told you I could do it!"
"Sorry I doubted you, I should know by now not to bet against a werewolf, even though you used your moonstone."
"All's fair in love and war."
"That it is, we'll just have to wait and see what the football season is like." Zed laughed. "Maybe not today, but when we do max outs next week, we'll see what a zombie can do with a moonstone. I can't let you take my record without a fight."
"Bring it on. I promise I won't bite, much." Wynter smirked back.
Now that their group was all finished with their first workout of the day, they racked all the weights and headed out to the gym to stretch out and wait for the rest of their teams to finish so they could move on to their next activity. But in the meantime, they had plenty of entertainment.
Addison blew her whistle bringing the cheer team together again. "Great job on our first summer workout of the year everyone!" For their first day, Bree and Addison had decided to just go with relatively simple, they spent some time running to build up their cardio endurance plus lots of core and stretching work, which was followed by about half the team taking turns picking a song to just dance freestyle too. Everyone had had a blast and by the end, she could see smiles on everyone's faces. Even the Aceys were dancing along when Bamm played for Bonzo's choice.
She checked her watch and could see that the first shift in the weight room should be over. "Now that we've had our fun and gotten way fired up, everyone take five but then let's hit the weight room now that it's our turn. Remember everything we do now will make us better than ever next year!"
"So let's go team!" The whole squad cheered.
"It's all yours." Coach smiled at the cheer squad as they jogged towards the weight room while the last few stragglers made it out.
"Thanks, Coach." Addison beamed at him. She broke off from the rest of the squad to grab a quick drink from her water bottle, and when she turned around, she was surprised to see a sweaty, but totally at ease Zed standing over her.
"Since I haven't told you yet today, good morning beautiful."
"Good morning to you too handsome." Addison couldn't stop her eyes from tracing the outline of Zed's torso that his now dark gray stained shirt was clinging too.
"Addie, my eyes are up here." Zed teased her, making her blush.
"Sorry."
"You think you need to apologize? You know, there is a safe room right over there."
"Don't you have drills to go to? Plus I still have to head to the weight room, if I skipped out the first day, Bree and Bucky will both kill me."
"What can I say, watching you dance during Bamm, you're lucky I didn't join you then."
"Well, Bonzo certainly has good taste in music."
"That he does. I'll see you after?"
"I don't know, I have to go home right away to eat and then start my first day of work."
"Same, Coach gave me plenty of time, but he still wants me to come early today to learn everything."
"Same thing at Cheery on Top, thankfully the Aceys are giving me a ride to work, but I don't think we have time for you to walk me home."
"But tomorrow right?"
"Of course, as much as we can. Plus tomorrow we'll probably all run together at speed & agilities right?"
"Yep, I think that's the plan."
"Zed! Addison!" Their heads turned in two different directions, Bree tapping her foot with a sly grin by the door to the weight room, while on the opposite side of the gym, Wynter was smiling at them with an identical expression.
"OK, I think we really have to go now."
"Seems we do. Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza Zed."
Zed ran off towards Wynter while Addison jogged her way over to Bree.
"Do I need to put a leash on my best friend to make sure she doesn't get lost?"
"Not necessary. I know you would be too if it was Bonzo after he just had a workout."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"What's that over there?" Addison pointed directly behind Bree.
Bree turned around. "What is-" Bree trailed off into silence while Addison smirked behind her as Bonzo lifted a barbell easily in a hang clean that was probably more than Addison and Bree put together.
"You were saying Bree?" Addison nudged her to break her out of her trance.
"I um, let's get started." Bree turned around to grab some dumbbells, intentionally not looking in Addison or Bonzo's direction. While Addison just followed behind her still laughing to herself, even though she knew she and Bree were definitely in the same boat when it came to their zombie boyfriends' athletic prowess.
Zevon walked through the cold gray doors of Zombie Containment with some mild trepidation that was instinctual by this point, after twenty years of only coming to this place for the living nightmares that were Z-band checks, it was no wonder he was nervous. But beneath that nervousness burned a spark of excitement.
Dale greeted him right away and led him to get checked out by Dr. Ross. Everything went fine there, and after quickly receiving a clean bill of health he moved on to the next room, but thankfully it was in a direction he had never been in before, instead of the normal rooms that were basically cold gray prison cells, the room he was led to was more like the medical room he had just left, and already sitting in the room, were Eliza and Wyatt.
"Good Morning Zevon, Mr. Wells." Eliza greeted them with a surprisingly large smile, for Eliza at least.
"Good morning to you too."
"So are you ready to let yourself free?" Wyatt asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Don't worry, you've seen all of us with our moonstones, I know everything is going to be fine," Eliza reassured him.
"I know, I said I trust you guys and I mean it. I won't lie and say I'm not a little nervous though, let's just get started."
"Remember Gus and I will be right outside watching everything. But we know it is hopefully just a precaution, and we aren't planning on needing to intervene."
"I know you won't have to Mr. Wells. But remember we will need a human test subject eventually." Eliza grinned.
"Oh yes, trust me Gus is just thrilled about that part. Good luck Zevon." Dale gave him a pat on the back.
"Thank you, Dale. See you in a few hours, hopefully without this thing on." Zevon tapped his Z-band on his wrist.
Dale left the room and closed the door behind him with a locking click.
"Um, are we all locked in here now?"
"Unfortunately yes." Eliza rolled her eyes. "Just in case you do go rogue, they're watching everything through that camera up there." Eliza pointed at the ceiling. "Plus both of us have panic buttons just in case to call Gus in here, but nothing bad is going to happen. Besides, even if you did go rogue, you should only attack Wyatt out of the two of us, and I think he can take care of himself just fine."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Wyatt nudged her shoulder.
"If you're faster than Zed running all out, full-zom, I think you'll do fine avoiding Zevon in here Fido. No offense."
"None taken, let's just get started. What's first?" Zevon asked, pulling the wooden box that held his moonstone necklace out of his pocket.
"You can sit in that chair right there and just try to relax and listen to what we have to tell you, even though you've heard it all plenty of times already. We'll try not to bore you too much."
Zevon sat down in the chair, thankfully it was just a normal office chair, no straps to hold him down or anything. He sighed in relief.
"You can put your necklace on now." Wyatt opened the box and handed the necklace over so Zevon could fasten it around his neck. "Your Z-band will block its powers for now, but your body can start getting a feel for it."
"Gotcha." Zevon fastened the necklace and he could just barely see the green flash under his chin once the stone touched his skin.
Eliza went on to explain everything they planned to do today and especially what he should do to keep calm the first time. Mainly just try to think happy thoughts and remind himself why he was here and that he was safe.
Zevon nodded along attentively as Eliza and Wyatt continued to explain, nearly a half hour later. Eliza quieted for a moment and then grinned. "Are you ready?"
"Let's do this."
Eliza reached into her pocket, and with a wicked grin, held up a key to unlock his Z-band.
"Wow, I can't believe Dale gave you one of those." Zevon laughed.
"You and me both. Or course, I have to turn this in before I leave the building today." Eliza grinned back, "Mr. Wells says I give him enough headaches already without making my own full zombies unsupervised."
Wyatt walked slowly back into the far corner to make sure Zevon had plenty of room, while Eliza walked up to his side, he held out his wrist to her, she inserted the key, and with a click, the Z-band unlatched itself and she removed it from his wrist.
"Just breathe and listen to your inner zombie," Eliza advised softly as she backed away. "Remember that you're safe, there is no danger here."
Zevon did as he was told and closed his eyes while taking deep breaths. So he couldn't see the black veins marching up his arms, or the glow from his necklace that made them disappear. He could hear his zombie side rising to the surface, all the hunger, anger, and rage that he remembered from every horrible Z-band check, but it quickly disappeared. He just thought to himself that he was safe.
He opened his eyes and looked around the room. He realized he could now hear Eliza's slow heartbeat standing a few feet away, and the faster, warmer heartbeat of Wyatt. He stood up from the chair slowly, and as he did, he could feel new energy coursing through his very bones and muscles. He felt years younger than just minutes ago. He couldn't help but smile about how he was feeling.
"Zevon? You OK?"
"Gra I'z grood." Zevon said in zombietongue, his voice slightly deeper before he shook his head. Thinking carefully to himself he tried again. "Yeah, I think I'm good."
"Any strong emotions? Hunger, or anything?"
"Don't worry, I had a great breakfast of caulibrains this morning. And I feel fine you guys, in fact more than fine. I feel better than I've felt in years."
"Wow, I'm impressed Zevon, you're picking this up even faster than Zed and Zoey did."
"Yeah, I wait a minute." Zevon had been perfectly fine up until now, but something changed in his head. He extended his senses, but he couldn't hear anything beyond the walls of the room, he could only hear two heartbeats, but not the two he was searching for. He could feel a wave of anger and fear rising in his brain, he tried to fight it for a moment, but he couldn't hold on.
His necklace glowed a brilliant emerald as his eyes and veins darkened.
"Zevon? What's wrong?"
"Where are they?" He growled.
"Where's who?" Eliza asked, still keeping her voice and facial expression neutral. Wyatt behind her was trying to do the same, but he could feel his own wolf instincts start to rise to the surface as well, he was ready for anything.
"Where's Zedski arg Zoezka?" Zevon growled in zombietongue. His eyes kept darting between Eliza and Wyatt suspiciously. "Where arg they?"
"They're both safe Zevon. Remember, Zed starts his first day on the job at Coach's remember? And Zoey's probably playing with all her friends in Zombietown just like she always does. They're perfectly fine. Remember why you're here, it's so that you can be safe for yourself and everyone around you. But you have to be able to keep your head on. Take a few deep breaths and think." Eliza reminded him, still keeping up a calm, but firm façade.
Zevon did as Eliza said, he took a few ragged breaths in and out, in and out. He felt himself calming down as he kept repeating Eliza's words like a mantra in his head. Zed's safe, Zoey's safe, I'm safe. There's no need to be scared. He glanced down and could see the black veins once again fading into his skin.
"Better Zevon?"
"Yeah, I'm better," Zevon nodded his head. "Sorry I lost my cool there for a second."
"No problem. We've all done that." Eliza reassured him.
"Even us wolves take time to adjust, you're really doing great Mr. Necrodopolis."
"You know, I wonder if it would be better if we do this in family groups instead of one on one. Both Zed and Bonzo were better starting out with Bree and Addison with them."
"And don't forget you always had me with you."
"Yeah, yeah, what would I do without you Fido?" Eliza rolled her eyes. "The biggest thing that set all of us off is missing the people closest to us. Zoey had no trouble because both Zed and her dad were with her when she did it. It probably wouldn't have hurt to have Zed and Zoey here with us." Eliza opened her laptop and quickly typed up her notes on their new discovery.
"Just based on how I'm feeling, I agree. Once you mentioned them is what set me off. I'm still feeling a little anxious, but I just keep reminding myself that I know they're both safe and sound."
"Good, as long as you keep doing that, you should be fine. Now, are you ready for the big moment of truth?"
"You mean?" Zevon asked a little nervously, "what if I go off again? I don't feel any hunger or anything over you two I swear, but-"
"We all know we aren't monsters Zevon. And you aren't either. Zed and Zoey both get their best qualities from you."
"No, that's not true at all, they got everything from their mother." Zevon's eyes started to get a little misty. "Oh Izabelle, if only you could be here with me." A stray tear started rolling down his cheek.
"Hey," Eliza slowly walked over to Zevon and gently placed her hand on his wrist, right where his Z-band used to sit. "We're doing this for her. She would be so proud of you Zevon. You're the leader Zombietown needs, and we are going to save and improve so many lives. We are finally going to be changing everything."
"I know you're right." Zevon wiped his tears away. "I'm doing this for Izzy, Zed, Zoey, and everyone else I love. So we never have to go through what she went through, and what we all went through." He cracked a small, sad, smile. "Don't worry, I'm good. And you're right that none of us are monsters. Send Gus in, I know everything will be fine."
"You got it, Zevon," Eliza called out to the camera. "Gus, you're up!"
Moments later, Gus pushed open the door slowly, without any sudden movements. "Hey there Zevon, how's it going?"
"It's going better than I ever expected, I'm sure you've seen some of the bumps already but everything's great."
"That's good to hear." Gus smiled. His heartbeat did indeed pull towards Zevon the strongest of the three people in the room with him, but he didn't feel hungry at all. It was just the most noticeable like his heartbeat was amplified by a loudspeaker. More noticeable, but not more tempting.
Gus stayed in the room for a while, just talking with Zevon, Wyatt, and Eliza until they all decided that Zevon was indeed acting perfectly normal around Gus. So after a while, Gus exited the room again.
"Now that we know you can stay in control doing nothing, we have a bunch of tests and activities to make sure you can still think and move around at a normal level, plus teach you how you can use your powers just like we do," Wyatt told him.
"Alright. Whatever you say." Zevon nodded his head. He had seen the teens doing pretty much all the same things as they had worked to prove the moonstones really worked. Being on the other side he was a bit nervous, but thankfully everything he did he could still do just fine without making a fool of himself. Seems his brain was still working at full capacity and in some of the physical activities he still felt like had more energy in him than he had in years.
One of the last tests was a trial of using his zombie powers, and for that, Wyatt and Eliza led him outside Containment, they led him through one of the office areas as a test of being around multiple humans, and still, he felt perfectly fine the whole time. When they finally arrived outside, Zevon was surprised to see one of the tackling dummies from the football team sitting in the grass.
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Focus on your emotions when you try to call up your zombie powers. Positive emotions will work better, they may not be as strong when it comes to brute strength, but they will last longer than using fear or anger, plus fewer chances of you accidently running wild. Just run at the dummy and try to push it as far as possible." Wyatt told him.
"Alright sounds doable." Zevon nodded and rubbed his hands together. He closed his eyes and thought about how proud he was at Zed's first football game when he brought the Mighty Shrimp back from behind to win the game. If Zed could do that, Zevon could certainly do this. Focusing on his pride and happiness in Zed, he made the conscious effort to reach out to his zombie side and call upon the vast reserves of strength and speed he knew he possessed inside himself.
His necklace shone with an emerald light once more as veins spread across his arms and face. His breathing became slightly harsher, but he was still so fired up on happiness he had no need to be afraid. Seeing his target he ran forward with all his might and let out a terrifying "ROAR!"
Moments later he hit the dummy head-on and didn't slow down for a moment, he just kept pushing and pushing with a wild grin on his face. He didn't want to stop until something finally did force him to come to a jarring stop. He let go of the extra strength and he quickly returned to his new normal. He glanced around the dummy to see he had pushed the sled right into a tree.
"Great job Mr. Necrodopolis!" Wyatt grinned at him.
"Thank you, Wyatt. And please, after everything you've done today, much less what all you wolves have done in the past, you can call me Zevon."
"Thank you, Zevon. I'm impressed, I hope Mr. Wells doesn't make us replace all the trees if everyone does that."
"He can try if he really wants to. Zevon, I can see you're back to normal already, and I know we've asked you this a million times today, but are you still good?"
"You bet I am Eliza."
"Then I declare that you're done for today. You passed all our tests with flying colors. Now we just have to get this thing off the tree." Eliza slapped the dummy.
"Sorry about that again."
"You did everything perfectly. You don't need to apologize for being you." Wyatt said.
The two spokes of the sled were wedged almost perfectly around the trunk so it took all three of them pushing and pulling with their zombie and wolf strength, but they eventually got it loose and back over to where they started.
"Have any more questions?" Eliza asked him as they headed back inside to fill out some final paperwork.
"Oh yeah, so do these moonstones run out of juice eventually? Do we still need to come in every year?"
"No, they shouldn't. For us wolves, we found out the hard way they can last up to a hundred years, even though we always had a tradition of recharging them every month on the full moon. But who really knows with zombies? That's why we're bringing the Moonstone into Zombietown so everyone can have access to it that needs it."
"Right, your mother discussed that a lot at our meeting last week. We just have to decide where exactly we're putting it. I don't think I've told her this yet, so you can pass along that I'm honored your pack is trusting Zombietown with the Moonstone."
"Of course, we want to show that we're all part of Seabrook, and especially now that the zombies will rely on the Moonstone just as much as we do, it would be selfish of us to keep it hidden. Plus don't worry, we have a way to make sure it's always protected."
"Sounds like a plan then." Zevon nodded.
Dale met them inside and congratulated all three of them on a job well done. They just had to fill out some final paperwork and then Zevon was out the door to head back to the construction site while Eliza and Wyatt debriefed with Dale and prepared for their next excited patient.
"Do you think all the zombies will go that well?" Wyatt asked Eliza while they were each typing away and waiting for their next patient.
"Probably not. None of us went that smoothly, but this summer is going to be fun, and we'll be making so much change in Zombietown. So how was your first workout and run this morning?"
"Fun, the team only went four miles since everyone has to start nice and easy, but Ryan, Riley, Willa and I did a few extra. Although lifting with Zed for the first time was a real challenge. Unlike Wynter, I tried to not rely on my moonstone and I'm still a little sore."
"Poor puppy, do you need a belly rub?" Eliza teased him.
"If you're offering, but I think a back massage would be better."
"I sure hope Willa or Wynter is feeling helpful tonight then."
Wyatt smirked, "Yeah, Willa would probably howl with laughter if I asked her for that, and Wynter would probably just pounce on me and take me to the ground. So not the most helpful. But I did find out today, that if I run and log at least 150 miles this summer I'll get a free T-shirt."
"Ah yes the perfect reward, a free T-shirt. And a hundred fifty miles. That may be easy for you, but definitely not for me. I've got that draggy foot thing going on."
"That's cool, as long as you cheer me on at meets this fall."
"I don't cheer, I support my friends. But sure, I'll come to all your meets unless I'm busy overthrowing the system."
"Please, look at us, we're inside the system now."
"Exactly, now I can overthrow it from the inside."
It was now just after lunchtime and Zed pushed his cart along the boardwalk near the beach. He had spent most of the morning after practice was over with Coach training him even more on everything he had to know. The job itself seemed like it would be pretty simple, it was more of all the food safety things and all the different scenarios Zed might face but he was still confident he would do well and have lots of fun this summer.
And Coach hadn't been kidding when he told him how busy he was. He had already made two stops around downtown Seabrook, and at both places, a line practically stretched down the entire block. Coach had instructed him to try to spend an hour and a half at each location but never leave any customers hanging. Thankfully it seemed like everyone knew the schedule already and they had petered out when it was time for him to move on.
When Zed finally parked, he immediately had a line forming behind him, so he turned to his customers with a smile. "Hi, welcome to Coach's Froyo, oh hi Principal Lee." Zed greeted her.
"Hello to you too Zed." Principal Lee smiled at him, "Enjoying your summer so far?"
"Yeah, totally, today's workout was great and the weight room is packed, you're not even going to recognize all the teams next year, we'll be so much better than ever before."
"Good to hear Zed."
"And how's your summer been?"
"Oh, well, I still have another two weeks of schoolwork to do." She laughed, "I just popped out here to grab something sweet for my lunch break, I was expecting to see Coach, but this is a welcome surprise."
"Yeah, he gave me his established route while he's starting the new one, I almost think he wants to give me a trial by fire today. As you can tell I can barely take two steps without someone following behind me."
"I'm sure." Principal Lee glanced behind her, "well, I shouldn't hold up the line anymore then. I'll take a squirmy wormy."
"Coming right up Principal Lee." Zed smiled, scooped her froyo, and handed it over. "Enjoy, and I hope you enjoy your summer once it starts."
"Oh I'm sure I'll enjoy both, in fact, you and I might be seeing each other a lot this summer Zed. Good luck."
"Bye!" Zed waved and put her money in his register then turned to his next customer. "Hi, welcome to Coach's Froyo, what would you like?"
Across town, Addison was walking through the tables inside Cheery on Top, headed to her next customers when she smiled even brighter. "Hey, guys what are you doing here?"
Bree, Wynter, and Willa were all seated at the same table, and they all smiled back when she arrived.
"Oh, I was coming over to check on you on my lunch break, and these two were right outside the flower shop waiting for me, so we all came together."
"We're in a hurry today so we didn't want to track down Zed or Coach, so we decided to pay you a visit," Willa said.
"Bree, how is the flower shop? And you two, how's working for the Parks department?"
"This morning has been so much fun, I'm already learning so much. I'm going to be tested on knowing the names of all the different flowers at the end of this week, but I'm not too worried about that, plus I need to know what all the different colors mean too. And everything in the flower shop smells so good and looks so pretty. I love it. Vanessa even says I have a natural eye for arrangements and after this, I'll start putting bouquets together. And then tomorrow we're going to be potting some plants to decorate the city." Bree babbled on for a bit.
"Wow, I'm glad to see you're having so much fun already."
"That's nothing compared to what we're doing." Wynter declared.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Well, I've been working in the office, over this summer I'm going to be helping them make new maps of all the forest areas around Seabrook, and that may possibly lead to making hiking trails so humans and zombies can visit us more easily," Willa explained.
"Oh that would be so helpful, I don't care how many times you bring us to the den, I know I would never find it without you guys leading us," Addison said.
"Yeah, I know to us wolves every corner of the woods is unique and we always know exactly where we are, but I don't want to mess up the forest or anything. So the hiking trails are still a work in progress, but Mother gave me permission to negotiate on the pack's behalf, so that's cool."
"And Wynter what are you doing?" Bree asked.
"I was scouting Zombietown for a place we can bring the Moonstone to, and I think we found it where human, zombie and wolf can all agree."
"Where?"
"Right in the middle by the movie theater and grocery store along the main street. There's an empty lot that I think will be perfect, again once all the permissions and paperwork is filled out, but I think it will be perfect. You know, one thing I learned today is you humans have lots of paperwork."
"Yeah, I'm sure some places do more than others." Addison nodded.
"So how is working at Cheery on Top?" Bree asked.
"Pretty fun so far. Even with Coach's competition we still have lots of people coming in, although you guys are definitely the first werewolves I've seen today, and we've only had a handful of zombies, but it's been a good steady stream throughout the morning, but nothing too stressful. But I can see since it's lunchtime things are starting to pick up a bit. So can I take your order?"
"I'll have a…Vanilla." Bree smiled.
"Vanilla."
"Vanilla."
"Thanks for making it easy for me. Coming right up." Addison smiled and headed back to the counter to place their order.
"You better make it snappy or you won't get a good tip!" Bree called out while laughing.
Addison just chuckled to herself. She punched in the order and glanced up at the rest of the restaurant. Lacey and Jacey were both out taking orders, while Tracey was packing a box of to-go orders and Stacey was cleaning off a few recently vacated tables.
Working with the four of them had been fun so far. They all worked together to show Addison the ropes, and other than a few spills as she got the hang of the froyo machines, she was confident that she had nothing to worry about. Plus of course, whenever they did have a slow moment, they just talked about cheer stuff. Addison was greatly enjoying her first day.
She filled three cups with her friends' orders and walked back over to them holding them all on a tray. "Alright let's see if I got this right. Vanilla, vanilla, and vanilla." She passed the bowls out to her friends.
"Thanks, Addison, I'm surprised you didn't mess this up." Willa teased her.
"Well, you did make it pretty complicated for my first day." Addison quipped back.
"Well, here you go Addison, you can keep the change," Bree said, sliding her money across the table.
"Oh yeah. Thanks so much it's delicious." Willa and Wynter also passed their money over to her.
"Thanks so much, guys. I hope your jobs keep going well. See you tomorrow if I don't see you again."
"Oh Addison, what time do you get off?" Bree asked before she turned around.
"About six."
"OK, I get off at five thirty so I might pop back in here and we can walk home together."
"Sounds like a plan Bree. See you guys later, I'd love to keep talking but I think I have some more tables waiting."
"Good luck Addison!" They all waved while they eagerly finished their froyo.
Zed walked up to his porch. It had been a long day, but a good one. "Pops! I'm home!" He called out.
"In the kitchen son, dinner's almost ready."
"Great, I'm starving."
"You mean Coach didn't let you bring home any samples? How was your first day son?" Zevon asked. He brought out one more dish full of food and then called up the stairs. "Zoey! Dinner!"
"Oh he did, I took a cup home. He said I earned it, he almost couldn't believe his eyes when we were counting up the money. If I had worked another hour, I would have sold out of everything, and his cart wasn't much better.
"So you were busy today?"
"Yep, one after another just about all day. There was a little slump around four but then once everyone else started getting done with work I had another surge right before I had to close up and head back to Coach's storage shed."
"So you had a good day at your first job?"
"Definitely, today was great, with how busy I was, the time just flew by. Plus the workout this morning was also great, even though Wynter has her eye on smashing my records."
"I bet she's stronger than you. She's a mean, fierce, werewolf, that's ruff, and tough." Zoey giggled.
"Thanks for your vote of confidence Zoey." Zed smiled at her. "And Pops, how did it go at Containment today?"
"Well," Zevon held up his bare, left wrist and with his right pulled up the new moonstone that gave a wink of emerald light sitting around his neck. "Everything went perfectly. I no longer need a Z-band."
"Yeah!"
"Pops that is so great! So how does it feel?"
"Honestly, like I'm ten years younger."
"You didn't have any problems did you?"
"No, not anything more than what Wyatt and Eliza told me is normal. There was one moment at the beginning but Eliza got me through it."
"I'm so happy for you. We're the first zombie family without Z-bands."
"Yes, we are, I can never thank you enough Zed."
"So did you try using your powers, Daddy?'
"Yeah, I did a little bit. Oh, I just thought of another positive this gives me."
"What's that Pops?"
"Based on how much strength I had, neither of you will ever be too big for me to pick you up and give you a hug."
"Yeah!" Zoey cheered again. She jumped out of her chair to give Zevon a hug, squeezing him tightly. "Gar Gar Gaza Daddy."
"Gar Gar Gaza Zoey." Zevon smiled down at her. "And thank you too Zed, Gar Gar Gaza."
"There's really no need to thank me. I'm just doing what you would do."
"I know that. And I couldn't be more proud of both of you. It's up to us to really prove to everyone how great the moonstones are now that we have them. But I know neither of you will ever let me down."