Looking at this logically:

In the short time between Zell attacking George and MacKensie interacting with Zell, quite a lot has happened.  The cultists attacked, Adam killed 4 men, James spoke a blessing, shouted orders, Barracker rushed forward, took 2 men out, attempted to knock George out, MacKensie started shooting.  It would be reasonable of Zool to assume that Zell has started moving and is no longer holding George.

Just my take on things. Like Zapdos said, no big deal either way.