30 Days of Undead Summer

June 3

#SciFiSaturday

You all know the zombie stereotype right? Hideous, undead former humans with only a unquenchable thirst for the flesh of survivors? Yeah we've all seen the movies. But what if I told you that in my world it's nothing like they made it out to be? Sure there was the massive viral outbreak thanks to some dodgy flu vaccinations but the world didn't end. I'm not hiding at a conveniently abandoned farm after escaping the mass panic and horrific slaughter in the city with a couple of fellow survivors. No I'm still sitting in English class listening to Ms Pine babble on about why the poet chose blue curtains. I actually would like to be able to kick zombie ass right now unfortunately that's not happening.

What happened then I hear you asking. Well people did die. Lots of people died. And they did come back (gave the guys at the morgue a good fright too) but they were just the same as they were before they got sick. They say it was like they had just woken up from a deep sleep and didn't feel any different. The conspiracy theorists had a field day with this. They were convinced it was part of a plan to lull us all into a false sense of security and then when everyone had forgotten about it the more primal part of the brain would take over and the more traditional version of a zombie will appear. Scientists and doctors still have no explanation for how or why the infected came back. I honestly feel sorry for the people who had to endure and those who are still going through numerous tests a day to find out why they came back and why they're not trying to eat our brains.

But this has got me thinking. What if this is what zombies actually are? We've all heard the argument about Jesus and how do we actually know if he really was white? Was he black? Or Chinese maybe? Is he even real? We've always been shown zombies as flesh hungry monsters that have no other goal in their undead life than to take down all the healthy people and there's never been anything to contradict that vision until now.

You don't even know who is a zombie and who isn't. You can't tell from looking. The only way you know is if the person actually tells you or if you try to find their non existent pulse. Another thing about the zombies is that they don't need to breathe since they're dead and let me tell you it's very unsettling sitting in a room of eighteen people and you're the only one breathing.