Another Note to the Reader
This is an experiment. Part fiction, part speculative essay, this piece started with one simple question: If the zombie apocalypse came today, how would I handle it? Would I stay put or would I make a break for it? And what of my family? I’m a husband, and a father, and a cop who took an oath to protect the community who has paid me so well over the last two decades. What do I do with all that obligation, all that responsibility? What would I really do, given conditions exactly as they are now? Right now. Would I bug out, or hunker down?
My goal is to answer this scenario as truthfully as I can, allowing myself only those options I really possess, and given only the resources currently at my disposal. No wishful thinking, no cheating. I can’t tell you that I would turn my Nissan Altima into an armored zombie killdozer because, well, I don’t have anything to armor plate my Nissan with, and, truthfully, wouldn’t know how to go about installing that armor even if I did. As I said, no cheating. This is basically a reality check. What would I do - what could I do - if Z-Day came today? Let’s find out.
But first, a few ground rules.
What Kind of Outbreak Are We Dealing With?
Everybody’s idea of what the zombie apocalypse will look like is different. For this scenario, here’s what’s happening:
1. The outbreak is viral in nature, and the virus is transmitted by a bite or some contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
2. Only the living and the very recently dead are affected by this virus. The buried dead play no part in this scenario.
3. The virus has a 100% mortality rate, meaning all persons infected with the virus die from it, and in turn become zombies. No miracle cures, like I proposed in my Dead World Series. We are going bleak here. There is no saving us…unless it is by the muzzle of a gun.
4. The virus begins in some part of the U.S. other than my home city of San Antonio. However, due to the fluid nature of our society, the outbreak spreads rapidly. Cities with major airports can expect to see incidents of infection within 36 hours. Cities that serve as major air travel hubs and international ports of call will be in complete confusion for a period of perhaps four days, after which the outbreak will spread to the rest of the country, and then the rest of the world, at an exponential rate.
5. Martial law will be instituted within the first week of the outbreak, but will break down almost completely within the first three weeks of the outbreak.
6. Within a month of the first reported zombie incident, it will be every man for himself.
Given those conditions just listed, I think this is how the outbreak would go for my family and me.