Being on the football team, Zed expected some injuries. He'd always heard about the concussions and broken bones players received. What he didn't expect was the reaction humans would have the first time he got hurt.

It wasn't until his fifth game that he got his first injury.

He had been blocking an especially aggressive player who ended up accidentally shoving him to the side. As he'd hit the ground, another player tripped over him. The other player's helmet cut his arm on their way down.

He released his breath through his teeth. It didn't hurt a lot, but it still did, especially since he hadn't been expecting it.

The player got up, helping him to his feet. They were holding the hand with the injured arm.

Zed thanked the player for helping him up, but the human never answered, instead staring at the small scratch.

Zed blinked. "What?"

"You're bleeding," the other teen mumbled.

The other players started noticing and were now also looking at the red blood in fascination.

Zed shrugged. "…And?"

"And, well," said another player, "it's… normal."

"It's just blood."

"I didn't think Zombies bled," said the guy who had pushed him to the ground.

"I always heard their blood was green," chimed in another.

"What's going on?!" the coach demanded, running over to where the two teams were now surrounding Zed.

"He's bleeding," said one boy, pointing at Zed.

The coach looked at Zed with great interest and Zed rolled his eyes.

"Zombies are basically humans," he told them, the annoyance leaking through into his voice. "Of course we bleed!" He stormed away to the sidelines.

Addison had seen him get hurt and grabbed the first aid kid from its place on the bleachers.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Fine."

"Something wrong?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side, her white hair shifting with it.

"Just humans," Zed told her as she took his arm, wiped away the blood and dirt with a tissue, and covered the cut with Neosporin. "They're so ignorant about us. They think we don't bleed, or that if we do, it is green."

"Don't listen to them," she said. "Soon enough, they'll learn more about Zombies and stop being so ignorant."

Zed nodded. "I know. But I'd just really like to play football like anyone else."

"Then do that," Addison said, stretching a band-aid over the now-clean injury. "Just make sure you have fun doing it."

Zed gave her a quick hug. With a "Thank you" and a big grin, he ran back out onto the football field to help his team win the game.


A/N: So, I'm really not sure how likely it would be for someone to get hurt that way, but I guess it doesn't hurt to exaggerate? Especially since I couldn't think of a way for Zed to only be lightly hurt in this scenario. Thanks for reading!