Foreword

Dr. William Zerk is a leading scientist in the field of Zombology, the study of Zombies. He has studied the living dead over the past two decades in some questionable research, both in its results and ethics. However, It cannot be disputed that Dr. Zerk is a leading role in this career and brilliant for trying to bring the misconceptions about Zombies to life.

An Essay On Zombies

A recent outbreak of Zombie Paranoia has broken out and people fear that its a problem we cannot control. I can only insure the exact opposite by my intensive (and ethically questionable) research on these creatures of living dead. Understandably, that which we do not understand is frightening, but I am here to bring the topic of Zombies, or Homo Sapiens Mortuus, to light. This essay’s purpose is for multiple reasons as it will explain my methods in research, what exactly a Zombie is, how a Zombie comes to be, and a Zombie’s social structure.

Through 15 years of research, my team and I have made remarkable discoveries about our undead brethren. Our methods started out relatively simple but grew as we found out more. At first we tried to interview the Morientes, dead ones, but that proved to be a mistake, as they would become aggressive and attack. Also, Zombies don’t talk a lot (besides in a grunting language that we didn’t understand until recently), so we had to resort to different methods. Next we attempted dissection, which of course resulted in killing the subject. From the dissections we found a lot of evidence of deterioration of the body. We later strapped them down into an MRI machine and tried to read brain scans.  There wasn’t much activity, but that was promising. It pinpointed the still active areas of the brains of these creatures. Not until recently have we truly come to understand Zombies as we watch them from afar and learn their natural ways and customs. It is quite astounding to see these creatures interact.

A lot of my critics would question my ethics. They would point out my treatment of those who were once alive. How I brutally killed them and tore open their bodies. How I forced them into a machine and looked into their brains. But I can only tell them that from it we made great discoveries about these Zombies, not one of my subjects has died under my care besides if I killed them for further research. It has the repercussions of killing a lab rat.

A commonly misunderstood concept about Zombies are dead. Another common misconception is that a Zombie is hungry for brains. I will correct both of these mistakes in the following paragraph. So a Zombie isn’t truly dead. On the outside, a Zombie may look dead with the rotting flesh and falling out hair and decaying joints, however a Zombie is really just a genetic mutation in a human. Normally these mutations happen because of evolution through the process of Natural Selection, however the disease, which for now will be called Agent Z, mutates the human genome into a degenerate life form that has the “dying” features of Zombies. Further, Agent Z affects the mind. It strips away all conscious thought, something unique to humans, turning them into true beasts. Also, being a disease that spreads through contact, it rewires the Zombies mind to seek out human flesh so that it may pass on to others. However, this results in many more deaths. With the matter of what a Zombie is resolved, let us move on to how a Zombie comes to be.

As I said before, the disease spreads through contact. Usually it means contact of bodily fluids such as blood and saliva. A Zombie will usually bite a human as they think it is their only sustenance (though in later experiments not discussed here, I have found this to be false), which sometimes results in death. In cases where it does not result in death, which is rare because Zombies are hungry creatures, a human goes under an excruciating process, which I have witnessed and I will give my first hand account to.  This account pertains to my first in depth observation of Zombies and the beginning of my research, and I hope it also sheds light on what exactly a Zombie is. Written from my notebook:

“Entry 1: After being bitten by a zombie, Subject Z shrieks and moans in pain for hours, much like after receiving any type of deadly wound. The noises only died down as Subject Z falls into unconsciousness. When Subject Z is asleep they also start to develop a rash. It’s red in some places, gray in others, and the areas affected are completely covered in hives.
Entry 2: Subject Z wakes up from time to time, moaning in agony, speaking gibberish and nonsense. The rash is getting darker and its spreading. I also realized that the hives are more like blisters, but they pop much faster and they grow much bigger and they don’t release any liquid. When Subject Z is asleep she trembles, but doesn’t toss or turn.
Entry 3: The trend continues with Subject Z, except I think the rash is getting worse, it is now on her face. I fear she may be gone from us.
Entry 4: Subject Z’s hair is starting to fall out. She is also staying awake for longer periods of time, although her speech still makes no sense. Her moaning and shrieking have stopped, which means the pain is almost over. Or atleast I hope.

Entry 5: Subject Z is retching now. Sometimes bodily fluids come up; other times there is nothing. It’s sickening. The bumps  are cleared now, leaving gashes in their place. Subject Z’s hair is thin. Why is this happening?
Entry 6: Subject Z made her first attempt on food today, and her food source was me. She’s gone six weeks without eating, so it didn’t surprise me. When attacking, Subject Z tried to bite and claw at me. We’ll have to cage her from now on.
Entry 7: Subject Z has gone into a frenzy. She rips at the bars and screams as if trapped. Her joints seem to be cracking. We’ve left food in her cell but she won’t eat.
Entry 8: Subject Z escaped. I have no idea how it happened. I thought Zombies were supposed to be slow and weak! Any creature who hasn’t eaten in days should be weak! But the bars say otherwise. Bent and torn, the edges of her cage are utterly destroyed. Bewildered and alarmed, the entire lab went on a search for her. As this may be my last entry I will record all of my theories and conjectures so someone may perhaps continue my research.
I have decided that these living dead zombies are suffering from a disease. That disease decays the body and, likely, the mind too. But before the body decays, it becomes far stronger than any human body could be on its own. The disease must administer some sort of steroids or something.
Whichever being watches over me, guard my life, for I’m going out to subdue that creature.
Entry 9: Subject Z murdered many. I’ll spare the gruesome details of what happened, but upon finding Subject Z I also found a discovery. She was weak and slow moving: like the stereotypical Zombies. Either she had a mutation, or all Zombies follow this pattern of renewed strength and then complete decay. I will now do an Autopsy on Subject Z.”

My conclusions were all too correct sadly. Subject  Z was under a mutation that made her stronger. It was only the start of a mutation I’d find later. What happens when a creature goes under this mutation is it increases muscle size, adrenaline, endorphins, and endurance. Attacking the brain, the disease not only shuts down consciousness, but targets centers focused on anger, pleasure, sleep, and hunger. It makes them stronger, faster, more reactive, incapable to feel pain, less likely to sleep, and have a larger appetite. These Alpha Zombies, as we call them, are also smarter than a regular Zombie. In a regular Zombies the disease tries to destroy the body, attacking the same centers but doing almost the exact opposite except for to pain and anger areas. And as formidable as Subject Z is, Alpha’s are usually stronger. These days we see Alpha’s who have this effect last until their death.

A Zombies social structure is much like that of a Wolf. Zombies live in what we have called Tribes as they are still human like. The leader of each tribe is, of course, one of the Alpha’s which we have discussed earlier. After that are Zombie’s that are slightly more formidable, who have killed more living, or have proven themselves worthy of the Alpha’s protection. Under that are the rest. Sitting at the bottom, these Zombies make up the largest group in most tribes and they are often pushed around. Gender has no meaning in this hierarchy. It’s quite remarkable to see these creatures work together. Much like primitive humans, they hunt and eat and run or walk. They don’t have a higher functioning cognition though, which is what keeps them primitive. I theorize that if we do some how restore that cognition these Zombies could be restored to their former glory.

The question of killing Zombies is one that fascinates many and it is largely disputed. Can you kill the dead? Are they still really humans? Are we just manipulating them like we manipulate all animals? The answer to those are complicated and some will, I believe, change as society changes. However, a Zombie is truly killable. I will not go into detail as others have proven how to dispatch of these creatures multiple times. Zombies are not truly human, they are a shell of a human that has been controlled and infected. They are not our friends (or at least not at this point in time). They will want to kill you and eat you. Research indicates no way to truly restore Zombies back to a human state. Many are trying to fix this, but at the moment I cannot stress enough that Zombies are not human. It may seem archaic to kill them, but if you wish to survive, you must sacrifice.

Please keep in mind the truth about Zombies. They are not monsters but they are dangerous. Do not try to aggravate them and stay away if you can. Remember that you could be one of them. Remember the truth about the Alpha’s. And above all else, hope that one day we can cure this madness that plagues the race of man. Thank you for reading. Please stay alert.