$ perl -we '($a,$b)= unpack "Z*a*", "nine\0eight"; warn ">>$a<< >>$b<<";'
>>nine<< >>eight<< at -e line 1.
$ perl -we '($a,$b)= unpack "Z8a*", "nine\0eight"; warn ">>$a<< >>$b<<";'
>>nine<< >>ht<< at -e line 1.