Everyday Normal Zombies - Prologue

Here is the Prologue from Everyday Normal Zombies - Cookin Up' a Storm. Enjoy.

The dead walk.

It’s no big deal.

It’s been happening for a few years now.

They all came back at the same time. The hospitals had it the worst. And the morgues. At least the buried ones took some time to dig their way out of their graves.

The first outbreak was the worst. It was mostly the sick and wounded who were the first victims… as well as some doctors and nurses. Like I said, hospitals and morgues.

They say no one saw it coming; no one could have been prepared for an event like that one. I disagree. My argument consists of two names: George Romero and Max Brooks. Thanks to their imaginations, many of us are alive today. Thanks to their popularity, there was always someone who knew what to do when it happened.

Shoot them in the head! Destroy the brain! Don’t get bit! It’s simple really. These ghouls are slow and stupid. It’s when they reach vast numbers that they can become a problem, using siege tactics without even realizing they’re using them.

The government knew what to do, too… surprisingly. They didn’t try to cover it up. After all, it was happening everywhere… but it’s almost like they saw it coming.

The police were properly briefed and they took care of it. When they couldn’t, the army came and helped out.

Citizens armed themselves however they could and joined together with a common goal. People that normally wouldn’t pause to shoot each other became brothers in arms. It’s really a beautiful thing that we can cast aside our differences in the face of a common enemy.

In just 36 hours, the state of emergency was over, save for a few stragglers. It took a little while longer in the less developed, overseas countries, but they did it, too... eventually.

All in all, we did a good job. The first outbreak was over and the world was saved… mostly.

***

The second outbreak was much easier to handle. It was the graveyards. Like I said, all the dead in the world reanimated at the same time. However, a lot — and by that I mean almost all of them — were buried. That means they had to get through the coffin lid and then dig their way up out of the earth — no easy task. But, if there’s one thing about zombies, they are damn persistent.

The first ones reached the surface about a week after the initial outbreak. The authorities had men stationed at the graveyards expecting this very thing to happen… damned good planning if you ask me. However, after about three or four days of round-the-clock surveillance with nothing happening, security got a little lax. Men were taken off graveyard duty and put back into their normal routine.

Then they started coming out. There were only a few at first: the stronger ones and the ones with cheap families and cheaper coffins. They caught most of the security men by surprise. A lot of them were eaten or at least bitten. A bite, anywhere, is deadly. But, when some of them didn’t check in, backup was sent.

It was easy in the beginning. There were usually only two to five that came out at a time. At the climax, the z-squads (that’s what they were calling themselves) were having to deal with the bulk of the graveyard resurfacing simultaneously. Sometimes 20 or 30 ghouls at a time would pop their heads out of the ground, only to quickly have a bullet smash and tear its way through their skulls and brains.

Then there were the stragglers. They were easily handled in the same manner, only they required less manpower to execute.

Nowadays, there’s a sentry at every graveyard, hospital and morgue. Sometimes one of the less… energetic ghouls rears its ugly face out of the ground. And, when people die, they get their heads cut off.

Because, when we die, we don’t stay dead anymore.

That’s the world we live in. That’s what we have to deal with. An occasional small outbreak when someone dies unexpectedly. An occasional zombie digging its way out of the ground.

It’s no big deal.

You just got to learn to live with it.

And don’t get eaten.