Tattooed Mistakes (Are Gonna Fade Over Time)

Chapter 4

(Well, things are going downhill... Not much more to say

Don't forget, krut09 has a trailer for this fic on her YouTube, Kreatable23, if you want to see what else is coming in this story and there's a playlist of theme songs I can give you a link for, new songs are added the day before an update so you can get an idea of what will happen~)

By the time Zephyr reached Alonzo's street, a crowd had gathered. He froze at the sight of so many zombies huddled together, a few members of the zombie patrol trying to keep them under control. Rizzo had followed him out of the house and was only a few steps behind him. She came to a stop beside him and they both watched in dismay as Alonzo was escorted out of his home by two more patrol officers. Even from a distance, Zephyr could see the tear stains on Al's cheeks. He was in handcuffs and wasn't resisting at all. Everything about the scene before him left Zephyr feeling overwhelmed with fear. He was standing there for merely seconds but it felt like hours before he could urge himself forward. He made his way towards the mass of zombies with Rizzo close behind. Meanwhile, Roz and Zach were blocking the officers' path.

"Wait, no, he couldn't have done it," Roz was saying, "I know Al, he wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Move aside, please."

Zach frowned, gesturing at Alonzo, "You can't seriously think he really killed a guy?"

"His DNA was found on the body."

"He had to have been framed, then."

"We tested saliva and teeth marks," the officer holding him explained and Alonzo flinched at the words, unable to even look at his friends, "The results were irrefutable."

Neither of them could accept this. Roz shook their head, "This doesn't make any sense! Al, come on, say something!" they grabbed his arm and he bit his lip, "You can't just take the bla-"

"Roz..." Al started, finally looking back at them, then at Zach. He tried to speak but couldn't find the words. Roz's hand slowly dropped and their face fell, as did Zach's. Zephyr, watching from just a short distance away now, could only silently mouth 'No...'.

"A-Al...?" Roz stammered, "Tell me you didn't do it..."

The officer tried to move past them again but this time, Alonzo planted his feet firmly on the ground, looked from Roz to Zach, and took a breath, "I took off my band."

Everyone went quiet, the whispers and chatter coming to a stop instantly, and every zombie present was staring at him. Zephyr took a step closer, ready to run to him, but Rizzo held him back. Roz and Zach shared a look of confusion and shock, then turned back to Alonzo.

"You what?"

As far as he knew, that was the sound of betrayal in Zach's voice and Alonzo felt tears pricking his eyes again, "He attacked Zephyr. He said he wanted to eradicate the zombies, a-and he tried to kill Zephyr first," he turned to the officer holding him in defeat, the first time he had admitted exactly what he had done out loud to them, "He tried to kill my boyfriend and I panicked. I took off my Z-band."

The officers glanced at one another. With Roz and Zach too shocked to protest anymore, they carried on leading him away. Somewhere in the crowd, Alonzo's dad had his hands clamped around Lindzey's shoulders, keeping her from running to her brother. His mom gently pushed Roz and Zach aside to confront the officers.

"You can't do this. He wasn't wearing his Z-band, he wasn't in his right mind, he didn't know wh-"

She was interrupted, "He just confessed to making the conscious decision to remove his Z-band, and that alone is an offence."