Before Z-bands

Chapter 5

Addison was waiting inside for her father. Addison was 14 years old. Eliza wriggled and squirmed, trying to get out of Dale's grasp but it was no use. Addison - like Dale and the rest of the Z-patrol - was wearing a suit.
"She's Zed's friend!" Addison said.
"What?"
"That zombie I used to play with... Before he got... Aggressive... She used to sit with him and babble to us."
"Oh..."
Dale put Eliza on the table that Addison was standing behind.
Addison reached out to stroke her head. She lay still and allowed it.

"That's strange." Dale said, "Zombies her age are usually aggressive. I've never seen a zombie just lay like that and allow a human to touch them."

Addison looked up and smiled.

"She likes me. She recognises me somehow."

Dale walked over to a draw and took out the new Z-band model from it.

"If this works, " He said slipping it onto Eliza's wrist, "It will go into production right away."

The Z-band made some noises as it began to work. Eliza did seem calmer(ish) with the new Z-band but it was nowhere near strong enough to contain her.
She easily broke free of the z-band and it fell off of her wrist - broken.
"We are gonna need it a lot stronger!"He concluded.

Eliza jumped off the table and began looking for food (she wanted brains probably). She found a door and knocked it open and continued her way through the HQ. Dale didn't notice her leave as he was deep in thought. Addison did however and she quickly hurried after her.

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Addison finally found Eliza almost an hour later. But the damage had already been done. The room was trashed and in the middle of it was Eliza - chewing on a brain.
"Where... Where did you get it... That... From?" Addison asked. She was getting scared. She reminded herself that she was wearing a suit and that Eliza couldn't hurt her.
She edged closer to the zombie cub, trying not to throw up at the sight of the brain.
Eliza quickly swallowed the brain, scared Addison was trying to take it. Addison edged closer but just as she was close enough to grab her, Eliza ran away again. This time Addison followed closely, but not so close she was able to grab her and return her to the room.

Eliza led Addison to a room where three members of the Z-patrol were lying - dead. The scene was gruesome and there was blood everywhere. Addison felt like she was going to be sick as Eliza tore into one of the dead bodies.  She left the room and ran to find her father.

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Dale had been in the room where Addison left him. He was panicking and as soon as he saw his daughter was unharmed he began to relax slightly. Then he remembered something which made him panic again.

"Oh, My God! Where is she!? Where is that zombie!? Oh God... God where is she!?" He practically screamed. She sounded so scared and anxious.

"About her..." Addison said, "You might wanna see for yourself..."

"W... W... What do you mean!? What happened!? Did... Did... Did... She kill someone!? Is anyone hurt!? Did she escape!?" His tone was harsh as if he couldn't forgive himself for letting her escape. He sounded frightened.

"I'll show you... It's easier..." Addison said, her voice filling with fear.

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Addison led Dale to the room where Eliza was. She was standing eating one of the corpses. Addison nearly fainted. Dale called back up. The men who had brought her in the van soon appeared at the door.
They pinned Eliza down so that she could be safely transported to a safe space.
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The next thing Eliza knew she was in Addison's room.
Addison was sitting on the bed. She was wearing the suit. Eliza suddenly felt much calmer and looked down to see a Z-band on her wrist. It was different to the one she was given in the lab. It made her calmer. It didn't quite make her able to think or speak or act anything close to humans but it did calm her down and it did stop her from feeling compelled to attack Addison. Addison stroked her hair and Eliza lay down on the bed and fell asleep.