AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm working on possible replacements for the existing Prologue. Please vote for the version you think is better, and provide any comments you may have. This third version returns to the dialogue only model, but cleans up the original language.
"What the hell is this?"
"What are you talking about, and why are you shouting at me?"
"This article that just came out, 'Zombie Apocalypse: CDC Denies Existence Of Zombies Despite Cannibal Incidents....' We have to prepare the public for the eventuality."
"And what eventuality is that, exactly?"
"Zombification."
"What?"
"The public needs to prepare for zombies. My model predicts that Ebola or Marburg could mutate so the people they infect don't die. Instead, they only go to a near death state, where the brain and nervous system function just enough to sustain motor control."
"I don't see how this gets us to zombies."
"A virus that kills its host quickly reduces the chance it can spread and further propagate its genetic material, right?"
"Right..."
"But if a virus mutates the way my model predicts, it would have a greater chance of spreading its genes around."
"I'm listening..."
"With a mutated virus controlling motor functions, people would be walking around like... well, like zombies. Spreading the virus...."
"Uh huh..."
"We have to warn the public."
"We did warn them. The CDC launched a public awareness campaign on preparing for a zombie apocalypse. All the material is staying on the site. That won't be taken down."
"But the article that just came out says we're denying it all. What about that statement, 'CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead?'"
"We had to deny the existence of a zombie apocalypse, what with all these bizarre attacks, and people eating people. The public was getting panicky."
"But now they won't take this seriously. They'll stop preparing."
"Stop being silly."
"But..."
"Look, do we know of any virus that would reanimate the dead?"
"Well, no... but my model...."
"That's your model. Does any virus exist today that would reanimate the dead?"
"Not yet...."
YOU ARE READING
The Z Contingency
Science FictionThe zombie apocalypse is coming. A scientist at the CDC has that terrifying realization when infected victims start displaying the symptoms predicted by his model. A virus responsible for hemorrhagic fevers is mutating into something that zombifie...
