Before Z-bands

Chapter 14

Eliza had been hacked. Who would do that? Who would purposely put people in danger? It can't have been the Z-patrol. They wouldn't hack a Z-band. They want humans to be safe from zombies.
Could it have been the Aceys? They had done this before! Did they do it again? Surely not. Surely Bucky had learnt his lesson.
Could Eliza have done it? But why would she hack her own Z-band? ... Well she'd done it before but not like this. Why would she set herself up? She'd just get sent back to containment! It couldn't have been her!

These were the thoughts running through Addison's head. She snapped out of it when she heard a rather impatient "So? What's wrong with it Addie?"
"It... It's been hacked!" She said.
"By who?" Eliza asked.
"I... I don't know." She replied. She sounded a little scared. This could be serious.
"Bucky?"
"Maybe..."
"Could it have been Zack?"
Zack was one of Zed's friends. He sometimes helped at the colli-brains stand. He didn't like Eliza. She was too smart and sassy. And she spent too much of Zed's time. The time he could be hanging out with him.
"I don't know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eliza confronted Zack a few hours later. He seemed scared. He denied it at first but the uncertainty in his voice was clear to Eliza.

Eventually, he admitted it.
"I did it... I hacked it..." He said after arguing for about 10 minutes.
Zed came up behind him.
"What are guys talking about? You hacked what?" Zed said, "Has Eliza been showing you how to hack your Z-band to play video games or something?"
"No...I hacked her Z-band. I'm sorry Zed. I stole her laptop and hacked her Z-band... Because I wanted you back. I wanted it to be like before you met Eliza and Bonzo. When she was too young for our games. When she had no purpose in your life other than to be a random little kid you occasionally passed."
Zed was taken aback.
"You could have just asked to hang out with me. Eliza and Bonzo would mind. Neither would Addison. You didn't need to get my best friend into trouble. Or hack her band."
Zack looked down at the floor. He was disappointed in himself.
"I'm sorry..." He said. It was half to Zed and half to Eliza.
"It's fine really. Pass me the laptop."
Zack gave Eliza her laptop. She sat down and typed for a while and then, suddenly, the icon disappeared and she felt herself go back to normal.

"Now that I know what was wrong with it, I can easily fix it." She said, "Look, Back to normal!"

She held out her arm. It was, indeed, normal again. Zack looked relieved.
"Does this mean we're friends?" He asked.
"Slow down! I forgive you but we are not friends. I'll let you hang out with us though." She replied, a smirk across her face.
Zack looked slightly disappointed.
"Fine then. We can be slightly above enemies. Not exactly friends but not exactly enemies. Frenemies?"
She smiled. The thought of having someone who you like but also hate was funny.
"Sounds good to me." He laughed.