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“E-Eliza Dear?” Aspen asked cautiously, taking a hesitant step forward, “Are you alright? Do you feel physically hurt anywhere? It’s-“
They were harshly cut off by a loud growl, and what sounded like a mix of zombie tongue and English.
Aspen could feel sweat start to form on their brow, “Eliza? Are you ok?”
There was a beeping noise, and their gaze was drawn towards her wrist. The barely Intact Z-Band was now flashing red. It seemed that the technology had decided on a function. Bright letters flashed ‘OFFLINE’.
That was all the warning Aspen got before Eliza lunged at them.
Eliza bolted upright in a cold sweat, panting heavily and quickly bringing her wrist up to check her Z-Band. ‘ONLINE’. Good. She was good. And she looked around again and realized that of course it was a dream, Aspen wasn’t even there. She was in Willa’s den, and her girlfriend was slowly waking up now, probably thanks to Eliza’s nightmare.
“Hey babe, you okay?” She asked, wrapping her arms around Eliza and nestling her head in the crook of her neck. “Seems like you had a bad dream…”
“Yeah,” Eliza looked over her shoulder and down at her girlfriend, leaning into the skin to skin contact. “I just…I dreamt that I lost total control…like the homecoming game…and Aspen…”
“You dreamt you hurt them?”
“I couldn’t control my full zombie around them like I can around you…”
Willa pressed her face into Eliza’s shoulder, pressing a soft kiss there. “I seem to recall it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for us either. It took you a while to get your zombie self under control around me. Practice.”
“Yeah but I’ve seen full wolf power go against full zombie power. I knew you could handle me if you needed to. Aspen though? I haven’t seen Aliens go against us.”
“I have. They can handle it. And by they, I mean both Aspen and their entire species,” Willa said. “That Luma lens of theirs is pretty impressive.”
“Will it be enough to go against a Z-Band malfunction? Or…” she trailed off, looking down.
“Or…when we all sleep together for the first time?” Willa asked.
“Maybe…if they’re interested, of course…” she said, blushing. “I’m just…I don’t want to hurt anyone…I especially don't want to hurt them. Not after everything…”
“My dearest, darlingest Elizabeth Zahina Charlize Zambie,” Willa pulled away from her back to look her in the eyes. “Are you falling for Aspen?”
“...You’re looking into things…”
“You act like I don’t know you Z!” she said with a light laugh. “You are falling for Aspen, and you’re starting to fall hard, like you did for me.”
Eliza was quiet for a moment and then blurted out, “They removed the seeds from the lemon slices Wills! The LEMON SEEDS!!!”
“They’re caring, compassionate, and attentive,” Willa laughed. “I tend to like those things in people, which is why I introduced you to them.”
“Maybe you made a good choice with them,” she said. “I mean, obviously you did. We did kind of, sort of, make it official with them, like, making them our partner for real…”
“Are you thinking of the next stage with them?”
“Before we can even think about that…I need to know they can handle my full zombie. Willa…I need to have them remove my Z-Band.”
“I haven’t seen you with this much fear in your eyes since before your Zombashera,” Zed said, sitting down next to her at the small cafe table. “What’s going on?”
Eliza looked up at him from the corner of her eyes and glared at him, but her fingers didn’t stop moving rapidly over her keyboard, creating a new code for a potential Z-Band update. “It’s annoying how well you know me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he put her coffee down in front of her, an iced white chocolate mocha with a few pumps of peppermint and coconut milk. “I repeat my earlier question, what's going on?”
Eliza sighed and picked up the coffee taking a sip from it. “It’s personal…relationship wise.”
“Eliza, we literally never held anything back from each other ever. You’ve even told me in way too many details what happened the first time you went down on a girl. Why are you holding out now?”
“Mainly the public setting,” she admitted. “But..things are getting...I think it’s getting more serious with Aspen.”
“Oh, that sounds like a good thing, right? I mean you, Willa, and Aspen are in a polyamorous relationship, right?”
“Yes…but…” Eliza sighed and looked down. “I’m officially apologizing to you for freaking about your first time with Addison.”
“Why do you say-ooooohhhhh,” he smirked and took a sip of his vanilla latte.
“Shut up.”
“You’re afraid of losing control…like I was…and hurting your partner…like I was…and you told me it was silly to worry back then…”
“I didn’t realize how much I took for granted after I had Willa take off my Z-Band and how much I relied on the fact that Willa could take me out if necessary,” she admitted. “With Aspen…do you think the Aliens can handle us, like really?”
“Yes..but…differently,” he said. “When we were facing off against them, they don’t really handle attacks like zombies and werewolves do. They are a lot more defensive, deflective… manipulating the laws of gravity and also using electric shocks…But…when I’m with Addison, and this is before she figured out her alien powers, the practice sessions worked out because associating good, calm, things with her while full zombie means that the most I had to deal with when we’re having sex is my strength, which was a whole other thing. But given what you’ve told me in too many details that you and Willa partake in, I think you can find ways around that part.”
“I am not above throwing my drink in your face,” she warned him.
“I’m just saying that you guys will find your way around this,” he said. “Plus, I’m sure it’ll be you three for a while, not just you two, so you know that Willa will be there to take you out if she really needed to.”
“No that’s true…but still. I don’t want to always worry about hurting Aspen…and most likely, it won’t always be the three of us together. Sometimes one of us will be busy, sometimes I’ll still want to do a one on one with Willa, and sometimes Willa will want to be with Aspen, and probably, I’ll want to be with Aspen too....”
“And so you do the Z-Band thing. And Willa will be there, and you’ll help Aspen realize how to stop you if absolutely necessary, but also teach your inner zombie not to see them as a threat and take care of them like you do.”
“That cheesy idea worked for you and Addison?”
“Very well, if I do say so myself…”
“I can read you to filth right now in four seconds…”
“No thank you, because Addison and I have a great sex life and we’re gonna be fine for the rest of our lives,” he said with a slight warning in his voice, and she put her hands up in defeat. “Besides, our sex life isn’t even what I’m most worried about now. It’s college. I have one semester to prove monsters deserve to get higher education, and this time, no football games to win. Just grades.”
“Because I can see you’re stressed, I won’t say that we’re all doomed.”
He glared at her and took a long sip of his latte. “Seriously E.”
“Sorry, I am,” she closed her laptop. “Really. But I promise you, that you don’t have to worry. You’re gonna be great, and you know I’ll only be a phone call away.”
“You’re right..you’re right! You’re right!” He sighed, taking a deep breath and shaking off his anxiety. “Thanks E.”
“Anytime Z.”
“E-Eliza what are you doing?!” Aspen shouted. “Y-You don’t have to do this. I-I am from a peaceful people, I don’t like violence!”
But Eliza was gone. It seemed like that small amount of time spent hunched over the desk was her using all her willpower to give Aspen some time to do something, either run away or fix the Z-Band, they didn’t know. What they did know was that they obviously failed to read the signs, and now Eliza’s Zombashera fail safe had officially worn off.
This was no longer the Eliza they loved passionately, it was a ragged, hungry Zombie.
“J-Just take a deep breath. You can fight this!” Except, she couldn’t… “ELIZA!!!”
“Eliza!”
Eliza somewhat jumped awake at Aspen’s voice. She had fallen asleep between them and Willa while watching a movie.
“Eliza dear, are you alright?” They asked her. “I don’t have mind reading capabilities with you like I do with the others of my species, but I do have a heightened empathetic sense, and you seemed to be fearful. Was the movie too frightening?”
“No…no it’s not that. I’ve seen A Quiet Place a million times,” she said. “It’s not from the movie.”
“Though I’m surprised you were able to fall asleep through this movie, babe,” Willa said, putting an arm around her. “You had another nightmare?”
“Eliza, you’re having nightmares?” Aspen looked at her with concern.
“I’m fine, really,” Eliza looked between the two to reassure them. I promise…” her gaze lingered over Aspen a little longer, studying their expression. They had genuine concern and care in their eyes, checking her over to make sure she wasn’t lying to them. “Hey, Asp….do you remember what you said…when we met for the first time, what you said to me? About how you felt about me?”
“Yes Dear Eliza. Of course I remember. Aliens have very photographic memories. I said you were as Passionate as Willa. And so I loved you too.” Aspen frowned slightly, curiously. “Why spurred this question on dear one?”
“I’ll get to it. But…do you remember what I said? When you said you loved me?”
“Yes dear… I remember that as well? You said that I couldn’t love you. That I didn’t even know you. I’m starting to get concerned, are you experiencing trouble forgetting things or fogginess. You might be experiencing early onset dementia,” They said, worriedly.
“No, no, just…recapping. Making sure we’re on the same page,” Eliza assured them, and shared a quick glance with Willa. “But…I want to ask now, right now, what do you feel about me?“
Aspen paused for a moment to collect their words. “I love you Eliza. I loved you then, and I love you now. Except that love has changed and grown and turned to something even more powerful than any stardust spark! Just like how I feel about Willa dear.”
“What do you mean by grown? I just…I need to know, now that you know me, like you actually know me,” Eliza tried meeting their eyes, but she was also afraid of what would come next, and struggled, managing to focus on their cheekbone instead.
“Well. Before. I loved you. I heard about you from Willa. And I loved you. I met you, and I loved you immediately. But if this makes sense to you at all, these past few months have been so eye opening. Because before I just loved you, but now? Over time? I’ve gotten the chance to fall IN love with you. It’s never happened to me before. Except worn Dear Willa of course. You two are my favorite things in the universe. When I say that my love has grown, it has increased. It has become supercharged. Now I love you, and who you are. And what you do. And what you think. And what you breathe. I love you Eliza Zambi. If that makes any sense.”
Eliza almost lost her breath there, and she had to close her eyes for a minute. Damn, that hit her harder than she thought. “It does, because…I’ve started to fall in love with you too…and that’s…falling in love is scary for me, especially with someone so new and different from what I’ve grown up with, you know, non-zombies….even with Willa at first,” she looked back at her girlfriend with a small smile, looking for some reassurance of what she was about to discuss. “But…I’ve been thinking about taking the next steps…about all of us taking the next steps in this relationship, and to do that, it’s…there’s quite a bit you’ll need to learn about zombies…and it can be scary…”
Aspen smiled and took her hand, squeezing it lightly. “Your terms of affectionately structured words touch me. Metaphorically of course. You can’t physically touch others with words. And I’m open to whatever you think I need to learn Dear. You should know that by now. But, if I’m understanding emotions correctly, you seem… sad about this? No, not sad. Well maybe a mix of sadness. You're anxious! But sad, and maybe a little excited? How do you earthlings understand this?!”
“No sadness, I promise,” She squeezed Aspen’s hand back, finally meeting their eyes. “Fear and anxiety, and joy and excitement too…it’s a lot, admittedly. Which is why it’s hard to express all of these emotions. Basically, oh god this is terrifying.” She looked at Willa, and the Alpha nodded, taking her cue to go to the kitchen and refill their snacks and drinks. Eliza took a deep breath and met Aspen’s gaze again. “Remember what happens if I don’t have my Z-Band on?”
“Yes. The electricity stops sending signals to your brain and you lose about 70% brain usage. You then revert to your natural survival zombie state. And with enough coaxing, can be urged to … eat a brain.”
“It takes a lot for us to go for a brain, I promise,” Eliza reassured them. “….But because of how a Z-Band can be overwhelmed and glitch in certain physical and emotional situations and activities….Not right now, right this second of course…but…I need you to practice taking my Z-Band off.”
“What?!” Aspen dropped her hand in shock, recoiling as if she’d shocked them. “Eliza. Why would you ever ask that of me? That not only could be possibly dangerous, but it hurts you! If your descriptions are anything to go by. I’d never willingly do that to you.”
“I did this with Willa, and Zed with Addison, and Bonzo and Bree have also discussed doing this. Controlling the zombie is…it’s difficult, but it’s possible.” Eliza struggled with her next words, deciding to try and explain being a zombie in the best terms possible. “She does have logic, though it’s not as complex as mine. More….instinct based. And practicing this…it’s necessary if we want to do the next steps and especially in regards to…intimacy.”
“You mean sexual intercourse?”
If Eliza could blush, she’d be bright red right that minute. “That is…among those activities, yes…”
“Ok! Just checking,” They said, sitting back down and taking her hand again. “I just. I don’t want to hurt you… and on a natural instinct of self being, I don’t want to interact with danger as well. But I suppose trial and error eventually works for a reason.” Aspen paused, looking down before meeting Eliza’s eyes again. “Do you really think we could do this?”
Eliza nodded. “I mean….of course there are risks, but Willa was able to do it, and Addison before her alien powers kicked in. And we won’t be alone the first several times. Willa for sure will be there, and she’s strong enough to take me down. And….I need to know that you can incapacitate me in some way in an emergency. To keep people safe, including yourself. Willa’s got her wolf strength and I’ve heard that you guys used your alien powers to hold off both werewolves and zombies at almost full power….”
Aspen paused to think for a moment. “I mean. Yes. Hypothetically I could easily submerge you with my Luma Lense and levitate your body to a safe distance away from any interactional harm. As well as render you unconscious with a few touches.”
“Good…that’s good. And the rest of the time, you just have to talk to me calmly…it’s not that I disappear, it’s that I get overshadowed when I go full zombie. So I need help with connecting the two, bringing this Eliza here closer to the front while I’m all…monster-y.”
“I suppose that wouldn’t be too hard. Although it would be a bit complicated. As you're an entirely different person while Zombied out. You could even say your not the same at all. Tapping into things like the amygdala would require a strong connection. What do you suggest that be?”
Eliza shook her head slightly, releasing Aspen’s hand for a moment and gesturing vaguely in the air for a moment to try and come up with how she should approach this. “Well, zombies aren’t so much Jekyll and Hyde…we’re more…like the Hulk, I guess. Right now, I’m Bruce Banner. Without the Z-Band, I’m the Hulk. But, to a much more limited degree, it’s possible to bring both sides to an agreement, like Smart Hulk. Does that make sense?”
Aspen frowned, completely confused. “Sorry Dear Eliza. I have zero conclusions from what you just said. Who is the Hulk? What do they have to do with you? Who's Jekyll? And Mr. Hyde? I feel like I am getting off track here.”
“Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde is a classic novel about a scientist who drinks a potion and creates another personality who is his polar opposite. Hulk…remember the Avengers movie we watched three weeks ago? He’s the big green guy,” she said. “And it’s not off topic. They’re analogies. Comparisons to media as a way to better explain what being a zombie is like.”
“I… do not follow as much as I know you were hoping I did. Those movies, although very fun to watch with you two, were definitely confusing. However, I think I understand on a somewhat basic level what you're trying to convey. You can work with your zombie side, in some ways. Is that correct?”
She nodded. “Yes, and the more I practice at it in safe environments, the easier it becomes. Because she and I…we are very different, but we’re also the same, in a very conflicting manner. Basically, it’s harder to teach her than me, but once she learns about my goals, they become her goals, and we work together on them. So that’s why Zed can zombie out around Addison and not feel the need to attack her, rather he wants to protect her. And once he was able to communicate to his zombie that Addison was precious and should be kept safe and protected, then he had to teach him how to control his strength, because she’s not as strong as another zombie or a werewolf.”
“I think I understand the balance between you two. And it’s… romantic in a way. If I am to process accurately.” They took both of Eliza’s hands in their own, holding it closely. “… But Eliza, are you sure that doing experiments like this is safe? You know I am not good with confrontation or violence. What if you got hurt because of me?”
“Zombies have super accelerated healing, like wolves, and it is safe in controlled environments. Plus…. full zombies actually don’t have fully functioning pain receptors. So I promise you, even if seventeen entire football teams attacked me, I wouldn’t get hurt.”
“Oh. Well that’s very reassuring. … I won’t lie and say I'm not nervous. But I'm willing to partake in this hypothetical experiment if you are Eliza, Dear.”
Eliza smiled and hugged them, kissing their cheek. “Thanks Aspen. And really, this will help us a lot more than you think. Especially since, well, she needs to meet you, like really meet you, before we can even think about being intimate.” Willa walked right back in at that moment, putting the snacks back down on the coffee table.
“Once again you mean the sexual touching of one’s reproductive organs?”
“There are various stages and types of intimacy, but yes, sex is one of them.”
Aspen smiled so wide Eliza wondered if their cheeks hurt. “How joyful!”
“Alright… everything is secured here,” Willa said. She and Aspen were standing in her den, and she had put everything that could easily be tossed, thrown, or broken away. “Ready for this?”
“Personally? No I am not,” Aspen admitted. “But this will help Eliza?”
“It will help all of us,” Willa assured them before going out and grabbing her from the living room.
“Alright, so…” Eliza went to aspen and held their face in her hand for a second. “Are you clear on what we’re doing?”
“Yes,” Aspen took a deep breath. “Willa will be watching from the corner and I will remove your Z-Band once you give me the signal. Then, once you go full zombie, it will be my objective to keep you calm and focused on maintaining yourself. Should I fear for myself, Willa will tackle you and pin you down with her werewolf strength until I can reattach your Z-Band.”
“Perfect,” She leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to their lips. “I’m going to start meditating for a minute here, get my heart rate down now so the spike isn’t as drastic once you take off my Z-Band.”
“What should I do in the meantime then?”
“Be here…quietly, but make your presence known to me, so that I feel you near me while I’m calming myself down and then while I’m shifting.” She sat down and closed her eyes, gesturing for Aspen to sit next to her. They did so cautiously, watching her carefully. Willa went to the bed she had pushed to the corner, watching them carefully, remembering when she did this with her girlfriend what feels like a lifetime ago. But now, this was between her girlfriend and her partner. They needed to do this together, as if she wasn’t here so that if Eliza was ever caught with just Aspen, they could know how to help her and get her back.
After what felt like an eternity, Eliza, with her eyes still closed, gave Aspen a small nod. They understood and reached forward, pressing on the clasp of the Z-Band and releasing it, holding it safely in their hands.
The change was almost instantaneous. There was the deafening sound of bones cracking, the veins on Eliza’s arms turned black and went up her body and down her neck, and the slight red under her eyes deepened, darkened, and she looked terrifying, and yet Aspen oddly felt like they weren’t afraid, not for their life or their brain anyways.
“Eliza dear? Can you hear me?” They gave her space as she stumbled up from a seated position to a somewhat kneeling one. “Eliza, my love…I’m here.”
“Az..Azpekgen…” she growled.
Aspen frowned and looked at Willa. “It’s a good sign,” she assured them. “It’s your name in Zombie Tongue. She’s recognizing you.”
Aspen nodded and looked back at her. “Yes…it’s me…Aspen…”
“Azpekgen…” she growled and stumbled towards them, stopping for a moment. “Gregdebask….”
“Willa?”
“I think that’s one of the words for safe…I think she doesn’t see you as a threat…which is good,” Willa said. “She’s doing a lot better with you than she did the first time with me.”
“Pzektargesktar…” Eliza stumbled forward and grabbed Aspen, hugging them. A very good sign. It wasn’t an attack. It was a real hug. Except this zombie was used to hugging a werewolf with super strength, and Aspen was struggling to breath. Willa noticed it immediately and dug her claws into a pressure point on Eliza’s neck. It wouldn’t mark her in this state, and she wouldn’t feel the effects of it after she was back to normal, but the pressure was jarring enough that she released Aspen and roared, whirling to try and face her attacker, but Aspen caught her first and put the Z-Band on her.
Willa let out a sigh of relief as Eliza collapsed into her arms, her black veins and dark red eyes receding back to their normal colors, and Eliza slowly blinked into consciousness. “I…I didn’t do anything…did I?”
“Actually,” Aspen said. “It seemed like you cared for me too hard. In the physical sense, at least.”
“What?” Eliza weakly got to her feet, holding onto both of her partners to find her balance.
“You recognized Aspen,” Willa said. “Called them by their name…their zombie tongue name, and recognized them as safe.”
“I did?”
“And you said another word…Presket-something…I didn’t quite catch it,” Aspen said.
“Pzektargesktar,” Willa completed, and Eliza smiled.
“What does it mean?”
“Well, my adorable Asteroid…it…it translates to ‘Protect Them,’” she said happily, “My zombie…she recognized you and wanted to protect you…”
Aspen lit up at that revelation, accidentally activating their Luma Lens in the process. Happily hovering a few inches off the ground.
Eliza and Willa laughed and carefully pulled them down into their arms.
“Except you tried to protect them a little too hard,” Willa joked, “Your zombie is used to zombie strength and wolf strength. Alien strength, however? That's something she seems to need to get used too.”
“Well, I really feel a lot better about all of this then,” Eliza said, looking at both of them before her gaze went to her partner. “And…are you willing to keep trying to get my strength in check?”
“As often as you feel comfortable, Eliza dear.” Aspen replied, leaning forward and kissing her again, this time, a little more passionately than before.
It was pride and joy, love and elation. All things Eliza was so sure wouldn’t come out of this experiment.
She had been so worried, so worried that something would go wrong. That her nightmares would become a reality and Aspen would be leaving here with at least a sprained ankle and a lifetime of trauma.
But Willa, her adorable silly wolf, had been right all along. Aspen had agreed. They hadn’t run away. Eliza hadn’t attacked anyone. Things might actually be ok!
And while of course, Eliza would always need to ere on the side of caution, as she could never be careless when it came to her zombie side, it was least a comforting that she had the support of both her partners to continue. To continue trying, to go forth and practice control of all parts of her.
There would be more practice runs in the future, and she didn’t know how they’d go, although she had an inkling it wouldn’t be bad. It was interesting to think about, fun in a way. Something she’d never thought she could put hand in hand with her zombie side.
It was safe. That was the real impactful thing here. For the first time she felt utterly and completely safe with Both Aspen and Willa. Before she’d felt ok around the werewolf, but with Aspen, there was a sense of unease that something could go wrong.
But now, she wasn’t as scared, she wasn’t as worried. She could just let go and trust the fact her partners would be there for her. And Eliza could smile wide realizing that very next morning, she finally was able to sleep without having a nightmare.