Following a financial emergency back at home, Ash; A genderqueer 18 year old with an affinity for makeup, is sleeping in their car and starting work at some Zumiez in some mall in some middle-class middle of nowhere. Here they meet Ez; The assistant manager of the Zumiez and an aspiring rave musician, who also knows a thing or two about makeup. As they grow closer, and learn that their store is under threat of closing in a month, Ez and Ash hatch a scheme to throw a rave in the store overnight playing Ez’s music to secretly pay off their debt, and save both of their jobs. But, as the two grow closer and tensions rise, they must grapple with their dreams, living versus survival, and how much one is willing to give in order to see their dreams come true, even at the expense of themselves and the ones they love. Jaden Alvaro Gines's ‘THE Z.U.M’ explores queer identity in a world where it pays to assimilate, asking the question; How can we truly survive if we aren't really living?

The Z.U.M received a developmental reading through the Elif Collective’s Elif Bet reading series in July 2024. It then had a staged reading with Permafrost Theatre Collective in February 2025. The Z.U.M was a semifinalist for the 2025 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, before premiering in Philadelphia in December 2025 with The Lemonade Stand. It is set to be published with 1319 Press in early 2026.