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Ash-laden clouds of smoke surround him. Every breath fills his lungs with hot smoky air, forcing him to stagger as another cough wracks his tall frame. In the distance, he can hear the wail of a fire engine approaching but it was still too far off, still behind the wall in Seabrook proper.
As he stumbles out of the burning power plant, he is quickly ambushed by Bonzo and Eliza. Only Bonzo and Eliza.
“Where’s Addison?” They ask simultaneously. “Gozrea Addiska?”
“I thought she was with you!” Zed looks from his friends back to the fiery plant. “She’s still in there?”
Eliza catches his arm as he whips around. “Zed, no, it’s too dangerous.”
“I have to find Addison. It’s my fault she was here.”
“Ag garzen zet. Bak zrayn.”
“She’s my girlfriend, Bonzo. I can’t wait around for somebody to maybe show up. Things might be changing, but this is still Zombietown.” Zed stares at the fiery blaze as he speaks. Red and orange flames raged through the entire plant, thick black plumes of smoke billowing up towards an otherwise clear sky.
Zed stops in his tracks. “I can’t go in until you guys go.” Eliza protests. “No, you have to go. As long as you’re here, I - just, please go.”
“Five minutes, Zed. We’re coming back in five minutes, and if you’re not here,” Eliza choked, pretending to clear her throat.
“Deal. Now get out of here.” Zed watches as his friends leave, then looks back to the burning building. He’s not scared. The fear is consuming, he’s not scared but he’s terrified that he won’t find her.
He takes a deep breath and heads into the blazing fire. Vaguely, he half-remembers some scrap of something that clean air is denser than smoke and to stay low. He crouches to the ground and is relieved to find the air to be slightly cleaner. He takes in a gulp of burning air, his lungs already feeling a different burn from oxygen deprivation. “Addison!” He calls, as loud as he can, as he coughs from the smoke. “Addison!”
The plant was always lit up with coloured lights and pulsing with the beat of loud music and in a way, the fire mimics it. Flickering orange and yellows, and sharp cracks with a steady crackle underneath, but this is no zombie mash. Something cracks and falls crashing to the floor. As his eyes follow, he sees movement. He calls her name again. Faintly, he hears her.
“Addison!” He finds her, collapsed against a wall that’s smouldering. Every cell in his body is desperate to get out, to get away from the orange embers, but he strains against every instinct. “Addison, can you get up?”
They’re both coughing, and he coaxes her onto her knees. He can feel the terror inching closer, can feel himself nearing his breaking point, and he needs to get them both out before that happens. Something else cracks and the wall beside them fully bursts into flames. Zed freezes for a moment, then forces himself to look at Addison. She’s barely conscious and he’s starting to feel the effects of smoke inhalation. They need to get out. He needs adrenaline, he needs to move. Fast.
Zed makes a split-second decision and took off his Z-band, securing it in Addison’s limp hand. Already, he can feel the effect of the electromagnetics leaving his nervous system. His brain is shifting into fight or flight mode and his body is coursing with energy.
Zed stops and falls to his knees. He lands hard, doing everything he can to push through against his instincts and not leave her. He picks up the unconscious human in front of him, drawing her close to his chest. He inhales deeply, the familiar smell of her brain anchoring him. Out. Get out. Fire. Zon zegra. Fire. Addeska zegra. Addison safe. Grik regur. Get back quickly.
Fire surrounds them, consuming everything. The way he came in is now blocked, another support beam having slammed into the ground, sparks flying. Zed hisses as they land on his coveralls, instinctively pulling his arms in closer. He forces himself to look out across the flames, searching for a way out. He crawls towards where the door should be, used to be, pulling Addison along. Her arms are draped over his neck, most of her body protected underneath his own.
Grik. But how?
The wall has almost caved in. Any support is used to have has long since been compromised and with the lightest force it would collapse. Not giving himself time to think, even in his zombie state, Zed shrugged out of his jacket, placing over Addison to protect her from the sparks and burning ash, and charged at the wall. He burst through it easily, charred wood splintering and embedding itself into his skin. Zed barely felt it. He was vaguely aware of people shouting, but he couldn’t focus on them. He went back into the fire.
Addison was right where he’d left her. He made it back just as his jacket burst into flames and he wasted no time in scooping her up off the ground and back into his arms. He discarded the ruined jacket and held her close as he forced his way back through the makeshift exit.
Someone came running up to meet them as Zed stumbled from the ruins. Whoever it was tried to take Addison from him and he snapped, growling lowly as he protected his mate. “Ag.”
Whoever it was started speaking lowly in Zombietongue, slowly convincing Zed that it was safe. To let Addison go.
“Agru grep.” Zed didn’t leave her side as the Zombie Patrol came in. He heard but didn’t understand what they said as they examined Addison and loaded her onto a stretcher. It was only when they lifted it up that he understood they were taking her. “Ag,” he growled.
Eliza held him back. “Where’s your Z-band? Zer-garzand,” she said urgently.
“Adska,” Zed looked to the departing vehicle.
“Addison has your Z-band? That’s not good, Zed.”
“Adska.” Zed’s eyes were wide and he pulled free of Eliza, sprinting after the patrol car. His zombie-fied strength ensured that he caught up long before his friends could stop him and he followed it, bursting after the paramedics into the human hospital. She was gone. He tried to calm himself and walked as normally as he could to the receptionist.
“Addiskan Well. Zer-garzand - zongro.”
The receptionist looked at him and screamed. Zed tried to make his expression calmed and focused as much as he could.
“Addiskan Wellzz ag za zer-gand.” He tried again, holding up his bare wrist. The next thing Zed knew, he was being forced to floor, patrol officers forcing electromagnetic waves into his brain from a taser. Crude, but it snapped his brain back into its higher functions.
“Addison Wells was in an ambulance to here from the fires and she has my Z-band,” he blurted out, needing to have the officer understand before he was shocked again. “Is she okay?”
The officer said nothing, forcing Zed forward with the taser until they reached the ambulance where his z-band was laying on the ground. Zed moved as smoothly as he could to reach it and quickly snapped it back onto his wrist, breathing deeply as the electromagnetic pulses soothed his instincts.
He looked at the officer. “I just need to know if she’s okay. Please. She’s my girlfriend.”
“The family is on their way. I’m sorry, but we don’t disclose patient information to non-relatives.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” Zed repeated.
“There’s nothing I can do about that. However, we do have somebody available to take a look at those burns.”
The moment she said that, Zed became acutely aware of the sensation burning over his entire body. He gritted his teeth, unwilling to make any noise of pain that could be misinterpreted as a Zombie going rogue. He nodded his head jerkily, exhaling sharply through his mouth. The burns were painful, as was the salve and bandage application. Zed said nothing throughout the procedure, staring blankly ahead until it was over.
He returned to reception. “Have the Mayor and Chief Wells arrived yet? When can I see Addison?”
The receptionist ignored him. “Can I have your name and information please?”
Zed rattled it off listlessly, trying to think of any way to find Addison, when the door opened and the two people he’d just been asking about ran through.
“Our daughter, where is she?” Missy Wells stormed to reception, the perfect image of a distraught mother. She and Dale were quickly escorted away and Zed ran after them, ignoring the receptionist and interns and orderlies and whoever else was in the hall trying to stop him. He followed them into the ICU and stopped in his tracks.
Addison was asleep, light gauze covering most of her body. Missy and Dale were at her bedside, Missy holding her hand. Zed drew back, not wanting to intrude on a private family moment, but hit his hand lightly on the door. He hissed in pain involuntarily and the Wells looked up.
Clutching his hand, covered in burns and splinters with his blackened coveralls, Zed realized what a sight he must be as he took in their faces.
“Addison,” he choked out, voice raspy. He moved forward, wincing as he bent his tall frame over the bed. One hand gripping the bedrails for support, Zed reached out and brushed back an unruly white curl. He withdrew, almost collapsing onto the floor. Dale approached him. “I’m not leaving her,” he said thickly.
Dale said nothing, merely helping the boy off the floor and into a chair. “You need medical attention, Zed.”
“I’m not going back to Zombietown. I’m not leaving Addison.”