Another Girl, Another Zombie: Another Way

Chapter 1

(And now, my first proper multichap ZOMBIES fic~! This is the Bronzo AU, inspired by a lovely Tumblr anon from a while ago who asked me how the Bronzo relationship might work out if they had met sooner - specifically, during the Z-alert, at the same time Zeddison first met. I wrote a pretty long answer and ended up deciding it needed its own fic, so here it is. And this first chapter is based on that answer

The basic idea here is that I'm essentially rewriting ZOMBIES, from Bree and Bonzo's POVs, with them having their own story alongside Addison and Zed. The Big Project should be coming soon enough, and another one-shot collection centred around the BG zombies called Limelight~)

This was it, this was the day. This was gonna be her year.

Bree, more than a little excited for the day ahead, had arrived at Seabrook High School slightly early. She decided to ignore the fence separating the new zombie students still to appear. Instead, she gazed up at the tall building in front of her, gripping tightly onto the straps of her backpack and unable to stop herself from letting out a shrill squeak. Most people would usually be nervous about their first day of high school but Bree wasn't thinking about the classes or the awkward attempts at making friends. Her mind was already on the end of the day, when she'd be trying out for the cheer squad. Ever since she was a little girl, Bree had been watching the Mighty Shrimp winning year after year at the regional championships and they had truly inspired her.

She wanted nothing more than to join them. Especially if it meant she could fly like she'd seen those girls on the squad fly.

Looking around at the few other students that were already congregating nearby, though, Bree felt her good feelings fizzle out. Not by much, but enough. She was used to the judgemental looks her glasses earned her around Seabrook but that didn't make it any less discouraging. Almost everyone who needed some kind of corrective lenses opted for contacts; after all, who would want the rest of the town to know they weren't as perfect as them? Bree had tried wearing contacts before but she just couldn't handle how uncomfortable, sometimes even painful, they were for her. And she had to go to the next town over to get her glasses, they weren't even available in Seabrook it was so rare.

Her smile dropped and Bree ducked her head self-consciously, her hair hiding her face from the stares.

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere as a crowd made its way towards the school. Bree was quickly forgotten and quite literally pushed aside as people desperately fought for a chance to see the Mighty Shrimp's Captain Bucky and his three assistant captains, the Aceys. Distracted, Bree's happy mood returned and she tried her best to get a look for herself.

On the other side of the fence, the zombies were coming into view. Bucky approached them, followed by his posse, facing down a boy who seemed like he could be the zombies' leader, or some kind of equivalent to Bucky, at least.

It wasn't long before things took a turn. As Bree was about to go inside, Bucky took a step forward, mocking the zombie next to the "leader" – one much taller than he was – only for him to lunge towards him and grab the fence. Bucky shrieked and jumped away, as did the other students surrounding him, but there was a patrol officer nearby ready to diffuse the situation.

Something inside Bree made her stop and watch. The zombie who had scared Bucky seemed confused, like he didn't realise what he'd done wrong. The leader, his friend, she assumed, was defending him. Bree heard the taller one ask something in Zombie-tongue, which was surprising in and of itself seeing as she had heard the zombies didn't need to use their old language anymore, and he reached out a hand to the officer. His friend interjected again.

"No...! She does not want a hug."

Bree frowned. Was that really what he was trying to do? He nodded, giving the officer a smile and Bree wasn't sure whether he had understood or not. But then he glanced over to the humans' side again, sweeping his gaze over the students filing in through the door. Right as he was about to catch her eye, Bree turned away and followed the others inside.