The Lost Ace

Chapter One

Welcome back to Seabrook, where belonging is everything. We're a strong, united, and tight-knit community. And that's a good thing 'cause it wasn't always this way. There was a time when we had to protect ourselves. Legend has it that when the first settlers came to Seabrook, they found wild beasts with sharp claws lurking in the forest, which sparked an epic battle. Seabrook settlers bravely fought off the monstrous attack, and discovered a powerful energy source. Realizing they discovered a precious resource, they safeguarded it from the beasts; they weren't going to let anyone steal their treasure, so they hid it. The town prospered and grew rich by harnessing the precious energy source. Seabrook benefited greatly as it grew strong, happy and unified. The beasts were a distant memory; Seabrook forgot monsters could be real.... Until clearly, they were. A little lime soda mixed with a dash of industrial strength Seabrook energy and... BOOM!! Zombies were created. In a lot of ways, Seabrook's moved on since then, but it's hard to bury your past.

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"Let's go, let's go, let's go!!" The children screamed as the teen boy came up from the beach's sand. They started running and the boy chased them. He had pale skin and green hair, which was a bit lighter than usual because of the sand. He paused for a moment and started speaking to no one in particular.

"Hey, I'm Zed, and yep, still a zombie," A young girl with green hair ran up to the boy known as Zed, and he hoisted her up off the ground. As he set her back down, they started walking together back to the main town, hand-in-hand. As they walked, Zed continued talking. "For zombies in Seabrook, things are changing. Every day is better than the last. Seabrook is getting rid of all of its old anti-monster laws, so now Zombietown is open to everyone," The girl ran ahead of Zed towards a fro-yo cart. "No, Zoey! Wait for me!" He yelled after her. As he caught up, he resumed his monologue. "And business is booming."

"Hey, hey!" The man at the cart greeted the two zombies.

"What's up, coach?" Zed replied.

"Oh, football off-season has been good to me, Zed. Invested in a Fro-yo cart; little side hustle, gonna go global. Gonna buy a car, get some dress shirts, go on vacation without my Great Aunt Edna... though she loves swimwear weather.... You know, I might just bring her along."

Zoey thought for a moment about what flavor of fro-yo she wanted. "Cauliflower brains mocha crunch, please!"

"You got it!" Coach said while scooping the fro-yo.

"Seabrook has way more flavors than just vanilla now," Zed explained. "I'll take a vanilla, coach. What? I like vanilla." After getting his fro-yo, the boy continued walking to an old power plant.

"In a couple days, we're even tearing down old Seabrook power to build a new cheer pavilion. Not to take credit for all of the positive changes, but yeah, I did good," As Zed entered, he reminisced. "It's hard to believe there was a time when people used to be afraid of zombies."

"Let's triple check that..."

"Hey, Dad." Zed greeted an older looking zombie, who turned to him and smiled.

"Hey, son. First day as foreman of the demo crew. Big day for zombie kind!"

Zed chuckled as he reassured his father. "Yeah, you'll do great. Just don't make any lame zombie dad jokes."

Zed's father looked incredulous as Zed walked away. "But the working stiffs love 'em!"