(I told you I'd get the next chapter out quick~! (For once) Ahem *Principal Lee voice* Alright, Mighty Shrimps, today's the day we've all been waiting for, it's the homecoming game! ... You know what's gonna go down here ;) I'm planning on there being two more chapters after this, that should cover up until the end of the movie. I've been considering going back to the original Another Girl, Another Zombie one-shot collection and doing some more little Bronzo ficlets if I can think of them. Would you guys be interested in that...? Let me know~
I know the series fic has been dead lately, I've got the basic plot of episode 4 figured out but I haven't been able to stretch it out into a long enough story to fill an episode. I'm working on it, I swear! There's plenty of Limelights in the works, a very angsty Limelight AU centred around Alonzo and Zephyr (I'm literally only making it an AU cuz it's so dark I don't want it to be on the actual "canon" BG zombies timeline), I've finally come up with a few more BtB ideas and I really want to write that Bucky one-shot/character study-type-thing as well. There's a lot of stuff coming! Anyway, let's get back to Bronzo...)
Zed successfully made it out of Zombie Town without arousing suspicion but Bonzo was still worried. His friend was flinching and hissing in pain every few minutes from the shocks of his Z-band, but he refused to give up. Bonzo, for once, couldn't be the optimistic one in the situation. He hugged Zed goodbye before he set off for Addison's house and wished him luck – he sure as hell was going to need it. Bonzo headed for school alone, where Eliza was already waiting by the football field.
"Hey," she greeted as he walked over, "Where's Zed?"
"Addiska."
She rolled her eyes but smiled. She really was warming up to Addison.
"Right. Stupid question. So, are you gonna spend the whole game drooling over Bree again?"
Bonzo scowled and stuck out his tongue, making her laugh.
"Gry." Shut up.
- ANOTHER WAY –
"Take your pom-poms out there today, Bree!"
Bree frowned in confused and glanced back at Addison, who was fixing her hair for her. The cheer lounge was filled with chatter as the squad went about preparing for the big game.
"But I'm not a starter."
"Who says?" Addison gave her an encouraging smile, "It's time things changed around here."
She grinned back. Judging from Addison's positive attitude, her date with Zed had gone exceptionally well. Bree was still slightly confused what she had meant when she said Zed had temporarily turned himself human. Bonzo had seemed so stressed out over the Z-band hack but if it could do that, and it helped them make that little bit more progress, what was there to be scared of?
She'd find out soon enough.
- ANOTHER WAY –
The game was almost over and the Mighty Shrimp were still down by five when the coach called for a time out. What happened to their winning streak? Maybe Bonzo had been onto something after all. But it couldn't be that bad, could it? The cheerleaders snapped to attention and turned towards the crowd.
"Be aggressive, let's be aggressive!"
Bree took this chance to scan the faces before her for Bonzo and it didn't take long to spot him. He was sitting beside Eliza, watching her and clapping along with the squad's chanting, and she smiled back at him. Then she noticed Addison was no longer by her side. She frowned, turning to her left to see Addison talking to an exhausted-looking Zed on a nearby bench. Bucky had caught sight of her as well, though.
"Addison!" he called, but she didn't budge. Instead she placed a hand on Zed's shoulder and said something that made him smile. Bucky gritted his teeth and Bree decided it was best to just keep cheering, "Addison!"
She finally returned and stood in front of the squad, looking up to the mass of expectant faces.
"Give me a 'Zom'!"
"Zom!" Bree giggled and clapped her pom-poms together. She looked back at Bonzo, excitedly cheering along with everyone else, but Bucky wasn't having it.
"Addison..." he said in a warning tone.
"Give me a 'Bie'!"
"Bie!"
Bucky was in front of her now, waving a hand in indication for her to stop.
"You are way too good of a cheerleader to throw your life away, Addison."
He thought this was throwing her life away? When was he going to understand there was something more important than cheer going on here?
"I'm cheering for a change," Addison shoved him backwards, "Bucky."
Gasps, whispers and chuckles rippled across the squad and Bree nodded, feeling proud.
"Don't do it."
Bucky glared at her but Addison just took up her position once more.
"Give me a 'Zom'!"
"Zom!" Bree joined in, earning some looks of disgust and betrayal from her fellow cheerleaders, but she didn't care anymore. Not even when Bucky turned to her as well. She held her head high and shrugged at him.
"Addison."
"Give me a 'Bie'!"
"Bie!"
"I'm warning you."
"What does that spell?"
"Zombie!" Bree's voice was heard above anyone else's.
"Last chance!"
"What does that spell?"
"You're off the team, you freak!"
Then so am I. Bree rushed forward.
"Go, zombies! Go, Zed!"
Up in the stands, Bonzo felt that rare thud in his heart and let out an enthusiastic yell. Even Eliza joined in and punched the air. Bucky, however, looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"You're off the squad, too!"
Bonzo frowned and stopped for a moment but then Bree shook her head, completely indifferent, and hugged Addison.
She just gave up her dream to support the zombies. There was another thud and Bonzo bit his tongue, unable to stop the grin stretching across his face. Maybe Zed was right, and things really were getting better.
- ANOTHER WAY –
Bonzo quickly came to doubt that this was going to work out. Watching from the stands, he saw Zed swipe a finger across the screen of his Z-band then pause and mutter something to himself. He lifted his head to lock eyes with Eliza and she took the hint. Her own Z-band's screen was frozen, showing nothing but an odd icon neither of them had seen before; a green monster face. Bonzo tapped his band's screen but got the same result.
"The software's been corrupted. How..?"
Bonzo's head snapped up. He knew exactly how.
"Agru, za?" It's him, isn't it?
Eliza stood, eyes on the field, "Zed, what did you do?" she turned back to Bonzo with frightened eyes, "Do you know something about this?"
"... Magra..." Maybe.
"Bonzo...!"
For the next few seconds, Bonzo couldn't take his eyes off Zed. Something was going to happen. Something bad. Something horrible. The other team's players dived on top of Zed but they were too late, he'd already made it over the line.
"Touchdown! And Seabrook wins the game!"
He couldn't be happy. Eliza couldn't, either. This was the calm before the storm.
Suddenly, the humans pressing Zed to the ground were thrown off of him and took off running, as did the referee, and Zed clambered to his feet. He prized off his helmet, panting and... growling?
Bonzo could see the dark veins bulging along his arms from where he was sitting. He almost stopped breathing. His Z-band had gone offline and his zombie instincts would be kicking in, set on finding the nearest human to sink his teeth into. The Z-alert started blaring.
Everything seemed to happen in an instant. The loud siren, the screaming that surrounded him, the noise was already far too much for Bonzo to process and he had to rely on Eliza to lead him down the steps to something that might resemble safety, and perhaps to Zed, if they could find a way to help him. But then the steady, familiar buzz of his Z-band went quiet, the metal went cold and with no electromagnetic current flowing into his body, Bonzo's mind went blank, and all he could do was observe the chaos with no control over his actions.
- ANOTHER WAY –
This couldn't be happening. It had been going so well. The humans and the zombies were finally getting along. How could it end up like this?
Bree had lost sight of Addison and was left disoriented by the blind panic. When she managed to calm her breathing and focus, she looked around only for the Aceys to come racing past her in a blur and what they were running from made Bree stop in her tracks. Arms that she had felt safe and secure in before were now shaking, muscles flexed, with dark veins pulsating beneath the skin. Once warm and friendly eyes were now cold and soulless, sunken into deep dark circles. Lips that had blown her kisses and smiled at her and told her she was perfect were pulled back in a fierce snarl. And with Bree stricken with fear, practically stuck to the ground, Bonzo had found a much better victim than any of the Aceys. As had Eliza, stalking towards her right in front of him.
"Please..." she whimpered, "Come on, guys, you know me... W-we're friends, aren't we...?"
She slowly backed away, praying that she might be able to get through to them. Bonzo reached forward and pushed Eliza aside, making her stumble but not quite stopping her. He surged past her.
"Bonzo...!" Bree's voice cracked painfully.
He growled, edging closer and closer, but then his right hand moved to grab his left wrist, seemingly of its own accord. His nails clawed and groped at the band there but nothing worked, the rest of his body was much stronger than one hand. To Bree, though, it was a glimmer of hope.
"Bonzo, please."
Eliza reached for her and she screamed, prompting Bonzo to forcefully ram Eliza aside. They didn't notice the team from the zombie patrol approaching from behind, two of them with large tasers in hand, until the devices were pressed against their backs and the electric shock left them crumpled on the ground. Bree stood in a daze as the officers bent down to pull their arms behind them. Bonzo raised his head, breathing heavily and not quite meeting Bree's eyes. His face showed no emotion whatsoever, while Eliza had her eyes squeezed shut and was biting her lip, trying not to cry. They both looked so vulnerable now, a stark contrast to what they had been mere seconds ago.
"Bonzo!"
She started towards him but an officer blocked her path.
"I'm sorry, it's not safe for a civilian to approach them right now. They'll be taken into containment."
"What?"
They were already handcuffing them, bringing them to their feet and marching them away. Bree had to just stand there and watch.
"Wait, stop! Please, just let me talk to him...!"
She began to chase after them but then Eliza dug her feet into the ground and refused to budge. She tried to glare at Bree but there were tears stinging her eyes.
"He's not going to talk to you! He can't! He's autistic, OK? He's hurting too much, he's shutdown," her voice shook and Bree blinked, looking from Eliza to Bonzo and back again, "You think you know him at all and you don't even understand probably the most important thing about him!"
Bonzo's face remained still and he kept his eyes on the ground. Everything fell into place and it all made sense now. Bree wanted nothing more than to hug him close and tell him it would be OK, tell him she cared about him and that she was there for him. But he was as far from OK as he could possibly be. He was being arrested.
Zed appeared then, held by an officer Bree guessed must be Gus and quickly followed by a desperate-looking Addison.
"Hey, these are my friends!"
"We don't have human friends!" Eliza's voice was weak and choked up.
"We told you, Addy, zombies are not safe!" the chief said and Bonzo's gaze dropped to the ground then, "Give them an inch..."
"And they'll bite your face off!" Mayor Missy finished and his eyes came back up to Bree.
He stared blankly at her, unable to express how much pain he was in. Then just like that, he was being taken away from her.
Bree could only watch helplessly as he and Eliza were escorted to the patrol jeep waiting for them. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she had to remind herself to breath. No matter what had just happened to her, no matter what Bonzo could have done in that moment, she couldn't be scared of him, not ever. But for him...
That boy had only ever been a beacon of light in her life ever since they met. He was one of the few people who hadn't judged her for being imperfect. He had shown her the truth about the zombies. He trusted her – Eliza could say whatever she wanted, but Bonzo had tried to tell her about his autism. He just couldn't find the words. And despite the coldness of his skin, Bree always felt warm when he touched her. He was warm. He was her warmth. True, she was terrified when they were stalking towards her almost like animals, but it was his lack of control and consciousness that scared her the most. The fact that he was in such a state that he was barely aware of what he was doing.
Yet he stopped Eliza, and tried so hard to stop himself.
She could have been dead.
She should have been dead. She should have been ripped to pieces, her brains devoured in the most horrific and gruesome way. That was the outcome that everything she had raised to believe about zombies pointed to, but here she was. Bree stood frozen to the spot, her eyes fixated on the back of Bonzo's head as he was shoved forward, handcuffed as if he was some kind of criminal. As if it was his fault. He stumbled slightly and Bree fought back the urge to run to him. Then he turned his head and looked at her.
Her heart shattered.
He was broken. Completely. And utterly. Broken. His eyes desperate and pleading and sorry.
The officer jerked him back around, forcing him to tear his eyes away, and Bree had to at least be grateful he wasn't going to see her cry for him. Addison had come to stand beside Bree and the two friends held tightly to one another, both seeking and providing the comfort they needed. It couldn't end like this. Addison eventually broke away, glaring at the crowds of humans who found it so easy to suddenly turn on the zombies once more, who were now booing and taunting away the remaining zombies among them. Then she was shouting at them.
"He was your monster! You made him feel like he had to risk his life to belong!"
It tipped Bree over the edge and she couldn't hold in her own anger any longer, "You just wanted them around for your own satisfaction! Just so you could win. They were nothing but a fad to you, weren't they? Did any of you even try to get to know them?"
Meanwhile, Addison had turned away. Bree left the crowd with a disapproving glare and walked over to her. Addison seemed to be lost in thought, holding back tears for as long as she could. Eventually, though, she lifted her head and, surprisingly, smiled at Bree.
"I'm gonna do something reckless."
She took a few steps back towards the bleachers and Bree watched, curious as Addison took a breath and ripped off her wig. The hair underneath it was white as fresh snow, as much a genetic disgrace to Seabrook's standards as the zombies' green hair, and she accepted the cruel looks and boos and rude gestures she received with pride. Bree beamed, feeling nothing but joy for her friend. Until, that is, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She craned her neck to look round the corner and found the Aceys speaking with a man on the zombie patrol. Lacey handed over a familiar object to him and Bree gasped.
Eliza's computer.
Eliza had hacked both Bonzo's and Zed's Z-bands before, and most likely her own, too. And it was obvious she'd have to use her computer to do it. That explained everything; the Aceys stole the computer to access the Z-bands and somehow disable them. All in the name of cheer. She had to be just a little glad she wasn't on the squad anymore, if it meant she was free of hanging around those three. A small part of her did regret her decision, but she had to think of the bigger picture here. Maybe there were more important things than cheer, even in Seabrook. She returned to Addison's side.
"You know what this means, right?" she raised an eyebrow, "You can't ever go back to being perfect again. They all know your secret now."
Addison shrugged, "Perfect's overrated, anyway."
"Welcome to the club," Bree said with a smile, "And just so we're clear, I stand by what I said before. Your real hair is beautiful."