Screw it! I don't care that I haven't updated this story in years! I'm gonna try to finish it anyway!

Chapter 15: Devastation

Zed breathed a huge sigh of relief after the members of the demolition crew stood down and the werewolves were all released. In all honesty, he had not expected things to go down this easy and he had been fully prepared to get physical with everyone who would still stand against him.

Well, against him and Addison.

Addison.

He turned towards her, and she stared back at him with that familiar spark in her eyes he loved so much. The feeling of satisfaction and victory that warmed his chest quickly ebbed away. He knew what he had to do, and he was not particularly looking forward to it.

"We did it!" Addison squealed, grabbing his hands and jumping up and down. She still had no idea. "We stopped the demolition! We did that, Zed! All of us! All of Seabrook, working together!"

Zed really tried to conjure up even the slightest of smiles, but failed miserably.

"What's wrong?" Addison asked, furrowing her brow.

"Addison…" Zad began. There was so much he wanted to say. So many regrets he wanted to convey. Where was he supposed to start? "I-I'm gonna lose the election… Which means I can't take you to Prawn…"

Addison kept smiling, but in a compassionate and understanding way. "Zed… That doesn't matter… Say, how about we don't go to Prawn together?"

"But you've wanted to go ever since you were little…" Zed groaned.

"Dreams change." Addison shrugged. "Honestly, after the last couple of days, Prawn doesn't even seem that important anymore… What's important is standing up for what's right and helping those in need… Humans, zombies, werewolves… We all need a helping hand sometimes… I want to be that hand."

Zed's heart thumped so loudly in his chest that it felt as though it was threatening to burst out. He had never loved Addison as much as he did in this moment, which made what he knew he had to do all the harder.

Slowly, and with a trembling hand, he reached into his pocket and took out Addison's moonstone necklace. It shimmered brightly in the lights that were still flooding into the Seabrook powerplant.

Addison stared at it for a full ten seconds without saying a word.

"Y-You found it…" She whispered, looking up at him with wide eyes. "You found it!" She went on, starting to jump up and down in excitement. "He found it!" She then called out to the wolves who were standing a little further back.

Willa appeared to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Wynter happily clapped her hands. Wyatt, surprisingly, looked more annoyed than happy.

"Thank you!" Addison chirped as she pulled Zed into a strong hug.

Zed lowered his head, leaning onto hers. She always smelled so nice. Even now, as they were standing in a filthy, half-demolished old powerplant. For a split second, he considered telling her he had simply found the necklace somewhere or that it had 'accidentally' fallen into his bag or something. More lies. No. Zed would never lie to Addison again. Not if he could help it.

Addison kept embracing him, and Zed was not eager to let go. He couldn't help himself. He allowed himself this brief moment of bliss before he would allow his relationship with Addison to get shattered into pieces. Possibly forever.

His inner conflict must have been apparent in his facial expression, because Addison once again furrowed her brow as she looked up at him. "What?"

"I took it…" Zed mumbled, clutching the necklace tightly in his fist.

"What?" Addison repeated.

"I took it." Zed replied, more clearly. He needed to come clean. No attempts to make the situation any better for himself. No trying to shift the blame onto others. "I stole it when you weren't looking."

Addison's jaw dropped. She took a step back. She looked at him in a way he had never seen her do before. Anger. Disappointment. Sadness. Her eyes drifted down to the necklace, and that back up to him. "I-I thought I lost it…"

Zed's hand started shaking. He hated seeing Addison sad.

"I questioned myself!" Addison spat, her beautiful face turning slightly red. "I-I thought I was a failure! I thought I let down people who needed me! Zed! How could you!?"

"Addison, I'm sorry!" Zed started pleading. Despite everything, he did not want Addison to completely see him as a heartless monster. "I was afraid! I was afraid that, if you turned into a wolf, I would lose you… I thought that you wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore… I-I just love you so much… I wasn't thinking! It was stupid and selfish! I-I just thought it would save our relationship…"

"You don't get to make that choice for me!" Addison fell out at him. Her look had softened ever so slightly as she heard his pleas, but now her eyes were fiery again. "I am my own person! I can decide what's good for me! I need to know who I am! I need to know if I'm a wolf!"

"Yes, of course…" Zed nodded. "But… But, a werewolf? Really? I-I just feel like you are not thinking this through enough… You're already so amazing! You don't need all of this…"

Now Addison's expression turned into a mix of disgust and pure indignance. "I finally think I find I where I belong, and you try to steal that from me… No, Zed… You don't love me at all… Why… Why would I ever go to the Prawn with you after what you did!?"

"Addie…" Zed began as she snatched the necklace out of his limp hand.

"No, Zed! I-I've heard enough…" Her eyes were filled with tears. "I-I think… I need some time away from you now…"

It felt as though a lead weight had been dropped straight into Zed's stomach. He wanted to say things – to beg Addison to stay with him, but he realized that he did not have the right to ask anything of her at the moment.

Addison turned away from him and approached the group of werewolves. Wyatt's expression had turned into an ecstatic grin. Eliza, Bree and Bonzo stood off to the side, all witnessing the spectacle with wide eyes.

Addison, her hands trembling, held up the necklace.

"Do it." Wyatt told her in an eager tone.

Willa, standing beside him, did not argue or intervene.

Bree let out a slight yelp, clutching Bonzo's arm, but they too just stood back and watched.

Addison took one more deep breath before fastening the moonstone around her neck. Everyone seemed to hold their breath. For a second, it seemed as though nothing at all had happened. Zed felt a pang of relief, hoping that, despite his expectations, Addison would turn out not to be a werewolf.

Then the moonstone necklace flickered to life and started a emitting a bright, blue light.

Everyone gasped.

Zed could see Addison's eyes widen in shock and delight.

Not a second later, the moonstone flashed brightly. So bright that it almost blinded Zed. He held a hand in front of his eyes as some sort of shockwave flashed by him, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight.

Multiple people screamed or ducked as all the lights in the powerplant momentarily flickered before turning off entirely, leaving everything in pitch black darkness. The workers in his father's construction crew all let out yells of surprise, and there was a lot of scurrying around. Zed barely had time to take a blind step forward when the lights came back to life.

What had happened?

"Addie!" He called out, half-expecting Addison to have crumpled to the ground in pain or shock.

She was still standing with her back to him, hunched over slightly. He gulped as he took a step in her direction.

"Addie?" He whispered.

Addison turned around. Her eyes were wide, like a new-born fawn. She looked exactly the same as she did a minute ago. Zed looked her over more carefully. The same sparkling blue eyes. The same white hair. The same bright fangless smile. The same soft hands, still without any notable claws.

Zed let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't help it. He wanted Addison to be happy, yes, but in the best-case scenario Addison would simply be a happy human alongside him.

"Well?" Addison spoke up, turning around to look all her friends in the eyes. It was as though she expected them to all gape at her in shock and surprise or run at her to catch her in one big group hug.

Bree slowly made her way to her best friend, seeming a bit hesitant.

"A-Am I… Am I?" Addison asked her, smiling hopefully.

Bree let out a long sigh. "You're beautiful, Addie, but the same beautiful you've always been…"

Addison's smile died away. She looked herself over, holding her hands up in front of her face. "N-No… No… T-This can't be right…" She muttered, her voice trembling.

"She's not a werewolf." Wyatt spoke up from further back. He seemed crestfallen.

"I guess it actually was all too good to be true…" Willa lowered her head.

Zed couldn't help but feel for them. Wyatt had seemed to believe in Addison from day one, so his disappointment was logical and palpable. Willa, on the other hand, had always doubted Addison, but she too had apparently convinced herself that she could be the real deal, only to have that hope squashed into tiny bits.

The rest of the wolves lowered their gaze as well, seemingly just as disappointed as their pack leaders.

No one was more distraught than Addison, however. Her breathing quickened and tears emerged in the corners of her eyes. She clutched the moonstone necklace around her neck and desperately shook it back and forth. "Come on… Come on…" She groaned.

"Addie…" Bree placed a delicate hand on her shoulder. "It's okay… It's okay…" She tutted before pulling her into a hug.

Addison started sobbing, pushing her face into the crook of Bree's neck.

Zed didn't know what to do. He wanted to comfort Addison, but he also knew that she probably did not want to be near him at the moment. He looked to his side, to Eliza and Bonzo, who looked just as lost as he did.

At that moment, the lights flickered again.

Zed looked up and around.

The many floodlights and rudimentary industry lamps were buzzing and wavering.

Panicked shouts sounded out from further back.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Boss! Boss! We got a big problem!" A zombie worker yelled out as he ran towards Zed's father, skidding to a halt right in front of him.

"What? What!?" Zed's father snapped as the worker held some sort of tablet in front of his eyes.

"I-I don't know what happened! The power shorted out all over the place! The lamps! The machinery! Even the remote! T-The detonation timer's running, boss! The place is gonna blow!"

Zed's father turned even more pale than usual.

"W-Well, shut it off, darn it!" He snapped, hastily pressing some buttons on the tablet.

"We can't! The connection has been cut off! We're not in control here, boss!"

Zed's father whipped around in a blind panic, seemingly trying to think of ways to set things right. He appeared to come up empty-handed. "Move! Everyone, move! Get out of here! The place is gonna blow! Move! Move! Move!"

A wave of panic spread throughout the mob of people huddled together within the confines of the powerplant. Zombies, werewolves, students, cheerleaders, workers and patrollers all started running for the exits. There was a lot of pushing, pulling, shoving and yelling as everyone crammed into the narrow doorways.

"Come on, guys!" Eliza took charge, slapping Zed on his shoulder to get him to move.

"No! Wait! The moonstone is here! We can't leave!" Willa shouted, stepping further away from the exit.

"There's no time! You can't look for the moonstone if you're buried under ten foot of rubble!" Eliza retorted.

Willa still seemed hesitant. She stared back at her pack, who all looked to her for guidance.

"You stay here, and you're dead!" Eliza went on, her eyes fiery as she held out a hand towards Willa.

Willa let out a mix between a groan and a snarl as she grabbed Eliza's outstretched hand. "Wolves! Follow!" She shouted, and the pack immediately followed.

"Briza!" Bonzo called out as he grabbed Bree and lifted her in his arms.

"Ooh, how gallant…" Bree squealed in both a frightened and excited tone as Bonzo carried her off.

"Addison!" Zed snapped as he stepped in front of Addison and held out his hand. "Come on, we have to go!"

Addison did not move. Her knees buckled slightly. Tears were still streaming down her beautiful face. She barely seemed aware of her surroundings.

"Addison, please!" Zed begged as he looked around.

Almost all the people had vacated the building. In the distance, Zed could hear the unmistakable and highly ominous beeping sound of a countdown clock. The werewolves, alongside Eliza, Bonzo and Bree had almost all poured out of one of the exits already. Only Wyatt remained close by, his eyes too were wide with panic and doubt.

"Wyatt!" Willa shouted, her yellow eyes glowing brightly and threateningly as she looked back at her second-in-command.

Wyatt just kept staring alternatingly between Addison and the exit, seemingly torn.

"Wyatt!" Willa repeated, right before disappearing from view, with Eliza still pulling her along.

A first rumble made the ground below Zed's feet tremor.

Feeling this, Wyatt immediately tore his eyes away from Addison and sprinted after his pack, quickly disappearing into a cloud of dust that rained down from the crumbling ceiling.

"Addison!" Zed impatiently grabbed a hold of Addison's hand and pulled her along. She resisted at first. It almost looked like she had given up completely. "Addison! Addie! Come on, please! I… I love you… I'm not leaving without you! If you're staying, then I'm staying!"

Zed was rambling, and he barely knew what he was saying. He wanted to get out. More than anything, however, he wanted Addison to get out with him!

Addison's tear-stricken eyes looked up at him like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Another loud crash thundered through the building, which finally seemed to shake Addison awake somewhat. She grabbed Zed's hand.

Together, they stormed out of the crumbling powerplant. Loud explosions and bright flashes filled Zed's senses as he escorted Addison away from danger.

Outside, everyone who had been standing around in the powerplant mere moments ago was now taking cover further back, out of harm's way.

"Addison!"

"Zed!"

The voices of both Zed's and Addison's fathers echoed through the night, and the two men broke away from the crowd to hurry over to their children.

"I feared the worst." Addison's father panted as he gently took Addison by the arm. "You." He then addressed Zed. "Thank you, for getting her out."

"No problem." Zed muttered, his voice a little softer than usual as he looked at Addison's pale and tear-covered face.

"That's my boy." His father patted him on the shoulder. "It'll all be alright, son. I believe we got everyone out. No one got hurt."

Zed wanted to reply, but at that moment a thunderous explosion nearly caused his eardrums to start bleeding. Behind him, the Seabrook powerplant collapsed in a sea of flames and rubble. The noise was deafening, and the smell of fire and dust filled the air.

The crowd was murmuring. The werewolves had huddled together right behind him. Some of them still sporting injuries, and they were whimpering in misery as they watched the plant crumble to dust. Zed spotted Eliza and Bonzo, both with sad and regretful expressions on their faces. The powerplant had been an important part of zombie culture after all. Zed vividly remembered all the long nights they had spent there with the whole gang, partying from dusk til dawn. His and Addison's first date had been here, during one of the famous zombie parties.

Just a few weeks ago, Zed had been so eager to see the plant get torn down, seeing it as some sort of progress for all of zombiekind. Now that it had actually happened, he was somehow overwhelmed with nostalgia.

"How did this happen?" Addison's father inquired of Zed's.

"Not a clue, sir." His father replied. "The whole operation was in the bag. We were about to start clearing out the explosives when there was a short power outage. Did you see? Everything went dark for a second. It must have short-circuited our equipment somehow and started off the countdown."

Zed looked back at Addison, whose eyes had gotten even wider in pure regret.

"Addison…" It was Eliza. She was speaking softly enough that only he and the werewolves could hear her. "Your necklace. When you put it on, it emitted some sort of burst of energy. The necklaces of the werewolves have the power to disrupt electronics. I think that it was your necklace that caused everything to short-circuit."

Addison kept looking between Eliza and the ruined powerplant. "I did this?"

"No!" Zed jumped in. "Come on, Addie, you had no idea anything like this would happen… It's not your fault…" He then turned to the werewolves. "Has anything like this happened before?"

Willa shook her head. "When a wolf first dons their necklace, they can transform. Nothing more. No freaking energy bursts or whatever. It's probably because she's not a wolf. The necklace rejected her."

Addison looked even more downcast.

"Willa. Enough. Addison didn't know. We didn't know." Wyatt argued. "The more important question is – what do we do know? The plant is gone. How are we gonna get to the tunnels? How are we gonna find the moonstone?"

Zed pondered that as well. The powerplant was a pile of rubble. Surely there was no way to access the tunnels now.

"We have to dig…" Willa threw up her hands in desperation. "Anything! We have to try anything! I can feel the power of my necklace lessening second by second…"

"How fast until we can get to the tunnels?" Wyatt asked Zed's father head-on.

He looked unsure. "Son, that could take weeks. Months even. The rubble is piled on high. We have no clue how solid the structure is, especially underground. Heck, for all we know, the demolition has caused all the tunnels to collapse…"

"No!" Wyatt spat. "Not an option!"

"We have to get down there!" Willa joined up with him. "You just need to not get in our way!"

"I wouldn't want to." Zed's father argued. "But look, kids, this is more than a one-pack job. You'll need equipment. Tools. Time."

"He's right." Eliza jumped in, grabbing Willa by the wrist before she could retort. "We know barely anything about these tunnels. Even if you start digging blindly right now, it would take forever!"

"We don't have forever!" Willa practically screamed. "Half of us could be dead in a week! I can't let that happen! I have to do something!" She gestured at her pack.

Most of the wolves were keeping their distance, awkwardly shuffling from side to side. Most of them looked pale and underfed. Some, including Wynter, were taking raspy, wheezing breaths, interrupted by the occasional coughing fit. They indeed did not look very good.

Eliza's brow furrowed compassionately. "I get that, Willa… Really, I do… But… But I know for damn certain that you can't do this alone. You have to let us help."

Willa bit her lip, seemingly contemplating a lot of things as she stared straight into Eliza's eyes. "You've all done enough. You zombies… If not for your explosives, then we could still get to the moonstone… Not to mention how you look down on us…" She shot Zed a murderous glare. "And humans… Don't even get me started on humans… They stole the moonstone… They banished us… It's all their fault…"

Zed could only stare at his feet. He knew that Willa's arguments were more than a little flawed, and that she could hardly blame all of her hardships on the people and zombies present, but he kept his mouth shut because he could not think of any way to aid in her predicament.

Eliza did react. "Are you really saying you'd refuse our help if we offered it right now?" Her tone was indignant and very confrontational.

"Yes!" Willa spat.

The two girls practically stood nose-to-nose, both with seething expressions on their faces.

"Willa, come on…" Wyatt sighed as he grabbed her by the wrist. "Let's get out of here…Get back to the den… We can think of something else… We always do…"

Willa shot both Eliza and Zed another furious glare before she suddenly turned to Addison. "Hand over the necklace, whitehair. It doesn't belong to you."

"Now, wait just a minute-" Zed wanted to intervene, but Eliza blocked his path.

Addison did not even dare to look Willa in the eyes as she shakily took off the necklace and meekly handed it to her.

A hint of compassion flashed across Willa's face, but then she abruptly turned around. "Wolves! Follow!" She shouted, though it lacked conviction. Her long, dark curls bounced as she strutted away with the wolves in tow.

Wyatt quickly glanced at Addison, and she looked back at him semi-hopefully. "Don't come looking for us." He stated in a monotone voice. He shook his head as he followed after Willa.

Addison burst into tears and ran off in the opposite direction.

Zed, feeling more miserable than he had in a long time, debated what to do now. Addison probably did not want him to go after her. The wolves would similarly reject his advances. He wanted to help. But how? How could he help those he cared about? And how could he help those in need?

Eliza stared at the group of werewolves who slowly disappeared from view as they slunk back into the forest. She was biting her lip.

"Do you have a plan?" Zed asked, though he sort of knew the answer already.

"No." Eliza muttered.

Zed raked his fingers through his hair. If even Eliza did not know what to do, then all hope really was lost.

The fiery pile of rubble that used to be the Seabrook powerplant still illuminated the scene. Could the moonstone really be there? Somewhere, deep under the ground?

As if on cue, the ground suddenly started shaking.

"An earthquake?" Zed squeaked.

"I'd say that's the tunnels collapsing." Eliza replied in a sad tone. "Who knows? That might genuinely have been the last chance for the wolves…"

The ground shook again.

Panick threatened to consume Zed. How could they fix this? How could he fix this?