Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

Chapter 6

Over the next few weeks, Zed continued to win football games, and the Acey's stopped following me to my locker. Bucky didn't question why I wasn't always with the cheerleaders, because I was always a step ahead. If I saw Zed and talked to him for a few minutes then I'd make sure I did something for the squad right after. That meant, I started setting up for pep rallies on my own or went to buy cupcakes real quick. This way, it seemed like I was doing it the whole time. It didn't seem like anyone caught on to me. The only people who knew were Addison and Bree, but they were covering for me just in case.

It was the third to last football game of the season when I got the note. The game had just finished, and Bonzo handed me a folded sheet of paper, hugged me, and ran off. Meet me at the gates of Zombietown at 8. I smiled and shoved the paper into my backpack.

When I got home, I had an early dinner with my family and went up to my room. Sneaking out was going to be easy, since they never checked on me. I combed my hair and touched up my makeup, before taking the screen off my window. I stepped onto the lowest section of roof and put the screen back; screws left on the windowsill. I tiptoed to the edge of the roof and reached over to the tree in the front yard. I hopped onto a larger branch and climbed the rest of the way down. Luckily, I landed on the grass quietly and ran to Zombietown. My steps were light, so I didn't make enough noise to attract attention.

When I got to the gates, Zed was leaning against them. "You seem just a little out of breath," he under exaggerated. He slung his arm across my shoulders and led the way.

"Totally not tired at all." I took a deep breath. "Only ran a few miles without breaks."

"At least I know you were excited to see me." We walked under a few lit street lights. Most of them weren't working. The bulbs probably burnt out quite a while ago. We passed by the old zombie high school and part of their neighborhood before reaching what looked like a large warehouse. The outside was covered in colorful graffiti art. The murals didn't allow any brick to show through at all.

Zed opened one of the double doors and walked across the hall to an elevator. It looked like one of those old ones from black and white movies when people went down to the mines. We stepped on the platform and he pushed the down button. It moved rather slowly, but I could hear faint music from below.

He took a sharp breath, drawing my attention. I looked over at him and noticed that he was noticeably paler than usual, which was saying a lot. "Are you okay? You don't look so hot."

"Ouch," he pretended to be offended.

"You know what I mean." I playfully punched his shoulder. "Seriously though, are you alright?"

He held his left wrist and said, "I have to mess with my Z-band to win games."

"You shouldn't do that if it's hurting you."

"I know, but zombies need this. This is our shot at being treated normally. There's only a few games left and then I'll stop." He gave me a smile as the elevator came to a stop. I stepped out, and one of the walls immediately caught my attention. Symbols were spray painted all over it, surrounding the image of a brain. "That's zombie tongue. We have a rich language. There's twenty-seven different words for brains."

"Wow" I nodded my head. "That's pretty cool." Someone exaggerated a cough from behind us, and we turned around.

"You brought a human here? A cheerleader here?" Annoyance and some anger was written on Eliza's face. "This is a zombie-only zone, Zed. You know that."

"Loosen up, Eliza." Zed narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought you were cool with her. She's not as bad as you think she is, so don't scare her off." The music changed to a simple hard beat. "The party's about to start. Come on." Zed grabbed my hand, and we ran past Bonzo who was standing at a DJ set. Everything blurred together, but I'm pretty sure he gave me a thumbs up. We came to a stop at the front of a group of zombies who were facing a veil of mist. "I'll see you in a bit. Just enjoy yourself." He disappeared into the crowd, and the beat sped up. Shadowed figures appeared in the mist, and Zed jumped through it. He danced to the beat with some other zombies following his lead and then began to sing.