Another Girl, Another Zombie: Another Way

Chapter 9

(I'm really sorry this has taken so long to update...! The Zephzo angst AU (Tattooed Mistakes) based off Limelight should be starting on Halloween~ I've been focused on getting the Limelight one-shots out that provide the build-up to that but I want Another Way to be finished before then, so expect the final chapter very soon! And maybe I'll be able to return to the series fic in a short while...

Kind of a short chapter today, but some Good Bonzo stuff nonetheless. Friday is Bonzo Day. At least on Tumblr it is

There's some references to the Beyond the Barrier one-shot Closed Doors in here. Bonzo's full "conversation" with his parents is in that~)

Three days.

Three days in zombie containment. And Bonzo barely spoke a word the whole time. This was possibly the worst shutdown he had ever experienced, and being separated from his friends only made it worse. He had no comfort, no distraction, no music to listen to, no paints or paper or fabric, nothing to stim with and ground him. And no Bree.

Breeska...

He could barely remember the incident. The only thing he had been thinking about at the time was... brains. He didn't know what it meant that he decided Bree was the perfect victim, but he wasn't going to let himself consider that she was his first thought in that situation could be a good thing. That wasn't a moment where he should be thinking of her. Once he had been shocked into sentience by the zombie patrol's taser, he immediately regretted everything. It hadn't even been his fault, but that didn't matter when he had come so very close to hurting Bree. He dreaded to imagine what might have happened if the patrol didn't show up when they did. Even so, he knew he didn't deserve to be there, locked in a cell in Seabrook's zombie containment facility. He couldn't blame Zed, either. He may not have listened to Bonzo's warnings against adjusting his Z-band, but it was the cheerleaders who pushed them off the deep end, manipulating and stealing from Eliza to do it. And there was nothing they could do about it now.

Bonzo sat there alone for three days. He didn't even look at the patrol officers who would come in for their regular inspections or to bring him food, which he couldn't even eat half the time. It wasn't right.

Nothing was right.

- ANOTHER WAY –

"Cheerleaders steal my computer, sabotage everything, yet zombies get the blame," Eliza ranted, Zed staring at her and Bonzo looking down. He still hadn't spoken, but at least he was with them again and he could follow their conversation well enough, "It was stupid of us to think humans were gonna change."

No, it wasn't. Some of them did change.

"You know what? We tried doing it the nice way, now it's time to do it my way, alright? We'll have a zombie uprising!"

That could make things worse.

"Force them to make us equal or we tear it all down."

And make them even more afraid of us.

"I've been waiting my whole life. I'm sick of waiting."

She stormed off, into her mother's welcoming arms. Bonzo swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded to Zed, patting his back as he turned away. He didn't even want to be hugged right now, it would only overwhelm his still-fragile senses. He watched as Zed's dad hurried outside to berate his son, quickly holding him close. That anger came out of love and concern.

Why couldn't Bonzo's home have that same warmth?

There was no-one waiting to greet him outside when he arrived. Their son had been gone for three days and they didn't even come to the front door. And he hadn't expected them to. Inside, there was no welcome home hugs, no relief in their voices, just demanding details and judging his every flaw.