ZombiePalooza - Anthology

04 | The Undead Challenge - Winners

Hey there, Z-folks!
This chapter is all about the undead love stories that won our hearts. We asked writers to give us their best 50-word continuations for Valentine's Week, set in a world full of flesh-eaters. These are the most spine-tingling tales of love amidst the zombie chaos, handpicked for your enjoyment.

🧟‍♀️ WINNERS 🧟‍♂️

@AJCrazyEyes  - Rose Day prompt

Prompt:
You receive 100 red roses, and like everyone else would be, you are on cloud nine. But your smile drops when you realize that they are covered with fresh dirt, and the hand giving them isn't alive anymore.
Winning entry:
When I look directly at the creature, I realize my first and only true love became undead. My reaction is to be sad, she is scared, I smile and I offer my fresh neck. First she kisses me, she bites me last. We become a glad couple of undead.

🌹

@shivakshitanwar- Rose Day prompt

Prompt:
You receive 100 red roses, and like everyone else would be, you are on cloud nine. But your smile drops when you realize that they are covered with fresh dirt, and the hand giving them isn't alive anymore.
Winning entry:
Your heart sinks as you realize the roses are a cruel reminder of fleeting affection. The dirt smudges serve as a metaphor for the tarnished sentiment. With a heavy sigh, you let go of the illusion and embrace the truth: love, like roses, can be beautiful yet fragile.

🧟‍♂️ RUNNER UPS 🧟‍♀️

@0liviaRose436 - Promise Day prompt

Prompt:
When you were working on the new virus, your supervisor promised you that it would be a ground-breaking discovery. And it was, but not in the way you'd hoped. Your experiment caused the whole world to struggle with a zombie outbreak. Now, standing in the middle of chaos, will you find the courage to offer a desperate promise that everything will somehow be okay?
Winning entry:
As the zombies descend on me, I ponder the implications of my boss's research, my research. Guilt gnaws at my undead heart. I vow to find a cure, to undo the devastation. With newfound determination, I pledge to use my zombie abilities to save humanity from the horrors I unleashed.

🌹

@MaryssaHaleigh - Teddy Day prompt

Prompt:
As you reach out to the teddy bear lying beside the abandoned playground, a faint giggle echoes through the desolate park. 'Is this yours?' you ask, but the child's twisted grin sends chills down your spine. With a sudden lurch, the girl's innocent look crumbles, revealing her true form—a zombie lurking in the darkness, accompanied by a horde hungry for flesh.
Winning entry:
Knowing it's too late to run, you hug the teddy bear tightly against your chest, closing your eyes. As hands pull at you and teeth tear into your skin, you bury your face into the teddy's soft fur, wishing you had never stepped foot in this park.

🌹

@AJCrazyEyes - Propose Day prompt

Prompt: 
You've been waiting for this day for a long time. The perfect proposal at the very top of the observation tower in your favourite city. 'Yes' whispered with emotions and fireworks, of which you didn't even expect. But your chosen one neither... because those weren't fireworks, but gunfire from the military, trying to suppress the zombie outbreak that had spiralled out of control. At least you're safe at the top, right?
Winning entry:
I get desperate, but my great love is very prepared and very adventurous, she carries two parachutes in her backpack. So, we managed to fly away from the mess. We stopped at a deserted beach where we got engaged and loved during all that day. 

🌹

@CrazyKatiexox - Rose Day prompt

Prompt:
You receive 100 red roses, and like everyone else would be, you are on cloud nine. But your smile drops when you realize that they are covered with fresh dirt, and the hand giving them isn't alive anymore.
Winning entry:
Four years had passed since Dad's death. Life with Grandma had become the new normal when his familiar knock interrupted my Mukbang video. Approaching the partially open window, I saw him in his burial suit, holding a bouquet of dirt-covered roses. He extended them, saying, 'Even in death, I think of you.'

🌹

@kimlune - Rose Day prompt

Prompt:
You receive 100 red roses, and like everyone else would be, you are on cloud nine. But your smile drops when you realize that they are covered with fresh dirt, and the hand giving them isn't alive anymore.
Winning entry:
[...] The crimson blooms, tainted by earth's embrace, arrived as a morbid gift from a phantom admirer, and love's sweet fragrance turned haunting, as the lifeless hand that once offered solace now echoes an eerie tale of affection entwined with the macabre.