Beyond the Barrier: Zombie Town One-shots

Do I Look Green?

(Hey, guess what? This one is not about Bonzo! Shocking, I know.

Quick update - I'm probably gonna start updating the collections daily, Beyond the Barrier on even numbered days and Another Girl, Another Zombie on odd. I might take a break here and there if I need to, but hopefully I can stick to it. I've really got back into my writing with these stories~

Anyway, you know how Milo Manheim actually dyed his hair green to play Zed? In the scene when Zed's turned himself human, you can see a little bit of the black hair dye smudged on his forehead and it's a little patchy on the back - you can see some faint flecks of green if you look closely. So, deciding to help cover up this kinda sloppy dye job, I came up with this headcanon. This one refers to the mutants theory again, so if you haven't read it yet and you want some context, go read A Zombie History Lesson~!

Also, if you know the musical Zombie Prom, I slipped in a little reference~)

Zed had done a lot of dumb things in the past. Breaking a neighbour's window with a football when he was nine. Letting Zoey run wild at the old power plant three years ago. Betting Eliza $5 he could eat every can of cauli-brains they had in half an hour just that past summer. But nothing could compare to what he was about to do now.

Swiping right.

Eliza said it would corrupt the software but honestly, Zed wasn't entirely sure what that meant. He took a deep breath, his right hand hovering his Z-band.

"No risk, no reward."

He flicked his finger across the screen and watched it turn orange. An "unstable" warning flashed on the display. For a split second, it seemed like nothing else was happening, but then a sudden, powerful shock of electricity surged through him and a scream tore itself from his throat. He doubled over, clutching his left wrist.

"Zed?" came the concerned voice of his father from downstairs, "Was that you? You alright up there?"

"Y-yeah..." Zed forced himself to say, trying to catch his breath, "Just, uh... just hurt my arm..." It wasn't a lie, "I'm fine."

"OK..." His footsteps retreated down the hall.

He was struggling to breath. He tried to straighten up but his band shocked him again. He bit his tongue to keep from screaming this time. An unfamiliar feeling came to his chest and he gripped it in confusion.

His heart.

His heart was beating.

A zombie's heartbeat was dull, barely there at all, but Zed's was getting faster and faster. His legs buckled, muscles tightening in some places, relaxing in others, and completely throwing him off balance. He looked down as his Z-band again and gasped; his grey skin was starting to brighten to a humanly-healthy pink, blood rushing through his veins and bringing his body to life. The sensation was... unreal. He staggered towards the mirror and tripped, landing hard on the floor. He hissed in pain, desperate not to let his dad or sister hear him again. It shouldn't have hurt that much. Not with a zombie's strength.

Energy coursed through his entire being, but Zed's body wasn't prepared for it. It wasn't used to it. This wasn't natural for him – for a human, maybe, but he was all too aware of his climbing heartrate, his full veins, his fragile muscles.

For the first time in his life, he was alive. Totally and completely alive.

Another shock hit him. It had taken a little longer to come than the last one. Zed sat on his bedroom floor, waiting for his breathing to finally even out. Once he could stand, still uneasy on his newly-sensitive legs, Zed pushed himself up and slowly walked over to the mirror. His jaw dropped when he saw himself. There was colour in his cheeks, real, actual colour. He pressed his hands to his face, and, curiously, lightly smacked himself. He flinched then watched as his skin reddened for a moment and faded back to a pinkish-peach. He couldn't stop himself smiling. It worked.

Sort of.

There was one hitch to this plan – his hair. Stronger electromagnetic waves in his system weren't going to magically change his green hair into something more human-looking. Even if the shocks could do anything to those genes, it would probably mean new hair would start growing in a different colour. The hair already there was green, that's how it had grown and that's how it would stay. Zed groaned. What was he supposed to do now? Zombie hair didn't dye, and there wasn't anywhere he could even go to get dye anyway, not with human skin and zombie hair. Going out into Zombie Town like this would be bad and going into Seabrook would be even worse. And he couldn't let his dad or Zoey see him like this.

And he only had a limited amount of time to get ready before he had to go pick up Addy. And meet her parents.

He had not thought this through.

He'd have to find something else to colour his hair with. Actual hair dye may not stick, but there might be something that he could slather on that would be convincing enough and he could still shower off once he got to the locker room at the homecoming game. He opened his bedroom door as quietly as he could and looked around. All clear. He ran for the bathroom but found nothing. He tried his dad's room next. It didn't take him too long to find something that looked promising, though another shock from his band almost caused him to drop it.

Shoe polish. Less than ideal, but it was the best he could do.

Back in his room, now wearing a white shirt and pastel pink pants, Zed smeared the stuff on his hair in front of the mirror then took a comb and tried to thin out the thick goop as best he could. With another shock, it smudged on his forehead and he cursed under his breath, wiping it off. He hurried back to the bathroom again to clean the polish off his hands and what was left of it on his forehead.

All there was left to do was put on the tie and jacket. He rushed down the stairs towards the front door, just narrowly avoiding his dad seeing him as he stepped into the hallway.

"Zed?"

"Can't talk, Dad, I'm gonna be late," he shouted back, "See ya at the game!"

Outside, he ducked behind whatever he could whenever another zombie passed by. He got a few odd looks but managed to slip out through the gate.

Phase one: complete.

- BEYOND THE BARRIER -

He made it to Addison's house right on time and successfully won over her parents, but Addison wasn't so pleased to hear what he had done.

She was worried. And Zed hated making her worry. But this was necessary. For her sake. He wasn't going to let her give up her biggest passion for him, not if he could help it.

They arrived slightly early, giving Zed a few extra minutes to himself in the locker room to wash the shoe polish out of his hair. During the date, his Z-band had shocked him three more times, and it was a welcome relief to have it back online, with only the regular soothing pulses flowing through him. He took a moment to readjust.

The rest of the team started filing in, surprised to see him already there but greeting him nonetheless, a few clapping him on the back and wishing him luck. Zed smiled and nodded and returned their well-wishing, holding onto his left wrist.

The rash was getting worse.