Beyond the Barrier: Zombie Town One-shots

I Take It Back

(It took me way less time to write this one than it did the first one. Mostly because I love Bonzo with everything I've got and this is the first time I've written a fic mentioning one of my autistic headcanons so I was excited. There's some foreshadowing of another one-shot I've got planned about Bonzo's autism here

TWO QUICK NOTES: 1. I'm going to start posting the Bronzo one-shot collection ASAP and will be aiming to update either one of the collections every other day and 2. I'll also be posting a stand-alone one-shot soon about my mutants/Z-bands theory which I'd recommend reading because some of these one-shots will be referring to that theory in some way

Anyway, I was rewatching ZOMBIES a while ago (ok, I rewatch it every couple days pretty much but this was a particular rewatch from a few weeks ago) and I realised we never find out what happened with Bonzo after he runs away at the pep rally. I was worried about him, so I sent Eliza to comfort him~)

"Bonzo...!"

Zed's voice didn't even register in his brain. All he could think of was that he needed to get out. Away from the fire. Away from the bright sparks that stung his eyes and the crackling sound that made his skin crawl. That terrified and overwhelmed and hurt him without even touching him. His vision was starting to blur and he wasn't entirely sure which way he was going, just that he was going somewhere, anywhere, that wasn't there. He barrelled through the cheer squad's pyramid, completely unaware of what damage he might have caused in doing so. He saw an opening - a door - and blindly ran for it.

It was only his second day at Seabrook High and the school was still unfamiliar to him, especially considering the zombie students were confined to the basement for the most part. The hallway was empty, what with the pep rally attracting all the attention it did, and Bonzo was left to deal with his meltdown alone. His breathing was ragged and shallow and he tried to force it to calm but to no avail. He felt tears in his eyes and swallowed. Things were already this bad, he couldn't start crying now, too. He turned a corner, leaned against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut. He could still see the jumping sparks, the fire. He dug the heels of his palms into his closed eyes and his breathe shook.

It wasn't fair. He was enjoying it until it all went wrong.

Where was Zed? Or Eliza? Normally, one of them would have stopped him or followed him. Zed had called out to him, hadn't he? So, where was he? Where were his friends?

A hand suddenly grabbed his arm and his head jerked up, but it wasn't who he had hoped it would be. A patrol officer, the one who he had offered a hug to the day before, who had come into the basement when the alarm sounded, was standing there now with a firm grip on his bicep. His first instinct was to pry her hand off but she wouldn't let go.

"Where do you think you're goin', zombie?"

Someone grabbing him only made it worse. He spluttered, a soft hiss the only sound he could make, just like back in the gym. Her hold on him tightened and she started to move.

"Alright, let's go."

She was going back the way he had come.

Back towards the gym.

"F-fire..." he muttered, getting louder as they walked further down the hallway, "Fire...!"

"No excuses, zombie."

Come on, say something...!

"A-agra..."

English, Bonzo! Just a few words!

"You're perfectly capable of speaking English, Bonzo."

He shook his head at the memory. Whatever his parents said, he knew they were wrong because, right now, he wasn't capable of speaking much of anything, English or Zombie. The tears were about to spill over. A door opened somewhere ahead of them and Bonzo recognised the voice of Eliza.