The end wasn’t dark like the scriptures said. The Sun still shone, and the seasons continued. The zombification of almost half of the population of the United States and eventually other affected countries happened in a single event: The Zombiosis Event.

The World Health Organisation, however prepared for bioweapon attacks, found that preventing the spread was an interminable process. The virus itself was an accidental product of a mutated biochemical weapon being developed. It had a moderate incubation period and was known to induce profound psychosis, sham rage and an inability to suppress inappropriate responses and other impairments, and cannibalistic tendencies as it fully travelled up the nervous system. And any remaining emotional inhibitions against interpersonal violence would fail to override the behavioural imperative and need to feed.

It was still early in the apocalypse. The economy was working to drastically switch to renewable energy; the scent of fossil fuel consumption angered the zombies and their sensitive olfactory system. The zombies were hard to kill, but grew old very quickly and tended to lose function and die.

Dallon didn’t know how he was still alive. During the first spread, the airborne pathogen affected only the sentient creatures exposed and then it dissipated. Then the virus evolved into an infection through blood and tissue. The transfer through bodily fluids is a modest risk, but still a risk. And perhaps it could even evolve again into more infectious strains. Caution was greatly advised.

Dallon tried to produce music remotely. He wouldn’t be able to perform live, but people needed divertissement right now, and his heart went out to them. His area hasn’t been forced into too wide of government containment. But there was always the lingering anxiety that the virus would be inescapable.