Zombie Containment

Chapter 4

Addison fidgeted on the bench, half out of discomfort and half out of nervousness. It'd been a while even since her run in with Eliza and Bonzo. Not even a word from in the room with Zed. Was everything ok? Should she knock and ask?

She heard the harsh slam of a door open and a set of quick footsteps heading towards her again. One sounded heavier then the other. Zed's Dad and Zoey suddenly came around the corner and looked back and forth down the hallways until Zoey's eyes caught sight of Addison, pointing at her with excitement.

"Daddy! There's Addison!" Zoey yelled. His head snapped in her direction and he hurried towards her. Zoey let go of his hand and ran in front of him, Addison bent down to her level like she always did and Zoey jumped into Addison's arms to hug her. Once Zed's Dad caught up he looked a little frazzled.

"Is he in here?" He asked pointed at the door.

"Yeah." Addison nodded, sitting Zoey on her feet and holding her hand as she stood. He gestured for them to follow him. Addison wasn't going to say no to checking on Zed, even if the assistant had said she needed to wait outside. He knocked on the door and it was quick to open, the male assistant standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Necrodoplis, please come in." He entered and Addison went to follow with Zoey in tow but the man put a hand up to stop her. "I'm sorry Miss, you still need to wait out here. Family only right now." Zed's Dad spoke up.

"She can come in. She is family now." He said firmly, the man looked hesitant but allowed Addison to enter. Addison's heart swelled. She smiled wide at Zed's Dad and he returned a warm one before they continued into the room.

Zed heard all of it and as soon as his eyes met Addison's his face lit up. Addison barely held back her tears as she saw Zed with all the stickies and wires over his bare chest. Her worry evaporating instantly at seeing his smile. His dad had rushed over and hugged him, equally as happy that he was ok, then stepped back to give him some space.

Zed lifted a hand to beckon her to him. She led Zoey to her father and quickly sat beside Zed, resting against his side as he put his arm around her, pulling her tight to his chest, kissing her hair. He wondered if she could feel the big surprise the doctor found, the reason for calling his dad in so urgently.

The doctor cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Thank you Mr. Necrodoplis for getting here so quickly on such short notice!" The doctor regarded him with a smile. "We have done a physical and ran a couple of tests on your son and found some very interesting results!"

Addison tightened her hold on Zed as if he would disappear if she let go. The results couldn't be bad right? The doctor was smiling. He couldn't just be being nice about the situation right? Zed is ok, right?! Anxiety clenching her chest uncomfortably.

The doctor pressed a button on one of the many devices beside him and the sound of a heartbeat sounded in the room. It wasn't the strongest, but it was definitely a heartbeat. Both Zed's father and Addison's brows furrowed in confusion. Zed returned the tighter hug to Addison at hearing the heartbeat. Would she feel it now? He smiled.

"Zed has a heartbeat." The doctor said. His dad froze, wide eyed and mouth agape. Addison was wide eyed too. She quickly moved her head more to the center of his chest, pressing her ear against his skin. Sure enough she could hear the faint beating. She lifted her head and saw his wide smile.

"Oh Zed!" She cried and pulled him into a hug again.

"How is that possible? He didn't have a heartbeat when he was born." His Dad asked, baffled. The doctor nods.

"We aren't 100% sure ourselves. But I have a couple theories." The man proposed. "We have the first theory that his meeting Addison and falling in love with her started up his heart. Then the second theory I have is that the newest generation of zombies may be evolving and using the Z-bands from birth to train their systems and ultimately mimicking the effects."