Beyond the Barrier: Zombie Town One-shots

Cadenza - Part 1

(I really wanted to get this done for Bonzo Day yesterday but oh well. Yet another one based on something I talked about on Tumblr ages ago, although this is something I keep talking about on Tumblr. I like the idea of Bonzo getting the cat. He calls her Cadenza. She's his daughter and he loves her. Ironically, my brother just got a new cat today. So it seems like a good time to post it)

"Bonzo?"

"Gozig?"

"Bonzo, put it down."

"Zon."

"Bonzo."

"Quag."

"Bonzo, it's not your cat."

"Mew!"

"Gar-garziga, gralzig..."

Zed let out a long sigh and turned to the coach, "Sorry about this."

The coach laughed and shrugged, "Hey, I don't blame him. It's hard to resist something that cute."

He had recently reached a few of his goals from the start of the school year, including moving out of his parents' basement and getting a cat. Zed had wanted to swing by and take a look at the coach's new place, seeing as he had been at least partially responsible for him making this much progress, and Bonzo offered to tag along with him. What Zed hadn't been planning on, however, was for the coach to see them walking past and invite them in only for Bonzo to fall head over heels in love with the kitten and refuse to let go of it.

"Y'know," the coach started, turning to Bonzo, "I think there's a couple other kittens in the litter that still need homes, if you really want one of your own. They did lift the pet ban on zombies, after all."

Bonzo's eyes lit up, his eyes being the only visible part of his face while the rest was buried in the kitten's fur. He nodded excitedly and the coach continued.

"'Course, you'll have to check with your parents first but actually getting a cat shouldn't be much of a problem. They're just a regular family looking for homes, no adoption fees or waiting period or anything."

Zed looked away as Bonzo grinned and finally handed the kitten back over to its rightful owner. He waited until they'd said goodbye and were out of the house to bring up his concern.

"You really want a cat, Bonz...?

"Za."

"And you think your parents would let you?" Zed asked with a slight cringe. He didn't want to ruin his friend's fun, but he knew what his mom and dad were like. Uncaring, ignorant and judgemental. And definitely not the types to want a live animal roaming around the house, especially if it belonged to their son. Bonzo was quiet for a few seconds, then shrugged and smiled.

"Zon zrag garzedd-zig." They don't need to know.

"Of course they'll know, it's a cat! You can't hide a whole animal from them."

Bonzo gave him a very serious, very determined look.

"Zreene garzay." I'll find a way.

- BEYOND THE BARRIER -

And he did.

Actually getting the cat wasn't all that hard, he just had to convince the owners of its mother, who were friends of the football coach, that he was in fact allowed to get a pet. And that was easy enough since the coach, who saw no reason not to trust Bonzo, had assured them he was. So soon, Bonzo had his little Cadenza.

She was a tiny puffball of jet black fur, with white markings on her face and chest like splatters of paint. When Bonzo picked her up and held her to his face, she gave a tiny squeak and stretched out a paw until it touched his nose. He couldn't believe something could be so cute – even cuter than Zoey, or Bree. And she was his.

Now came the tricky part: keeping her hidden. Luckily, his bedroom was a permanent mess and even if his parents did come in at any point, they didn't usually pay much attention to what was there. But some things might stand out. He kept food and water under the bed, a litterbox behind a shelf of CDs and records under his desk, and any toys could easily be passed off as art supplies. But he couldn't take his eyes off Cadenza for a minute just in case. And the easiest way to do that would be to take her with him everywhere he went.