Michael Ford: Z

Again most of the class laughed. Josh, however, drew on the page of his NoteTaker, using the stylus to make a series of spirals. Biology was one of his least favorite classes. As far as he was concerned, it was interesting only when they were dissecting holofrogs or doing cloning experiments. Plus, Mrs. Hotchkiss’s voice always made him sleepy.

“I bring this up because I understand you’re studying the zombie war in Mr. Sumpana’s history class,” said his teacher. “Do any of you know the science behind zombiism?”

Josh was suddenly interested. No one raised a hand, but he could see that the whole class was paying attention. Even Firecracker, in the row ahead of Josh, was sitting up and listening.

“Most of you probably know that the zombie epidemic began with a new strain of the common flu virus,” Mrs. Hotchkiss said. Her fingers moved over her keypad, and a small red image appeared beside the brain. It was circular, with hundreds of tiny bumps on it. It spun slowly.

“We’ve all had the flu at one time or another,” the teacher said. “You know the symptoms: sneezing, fever, feeling tired. The zombie flu was the same. That’s why at first nobody knew how dangerous it was. With the first cases, it took several weeks for the more severe symptoms to appear, and by then it was too late.”

Suddenly the holographic virus penetrated the smallest area of the brain, which began to glow red. As Josh watched, the reptilian portion of the brain grew in size while the other two sections shrank.

“The zombie virus attacked the reptilian brain,” explained Mrs. Hotchkiss, “making it grow larger. At the same time, it caused the other two brain areas to shrink. As the reptilian brain took over control of the body, the infected person lost the ability to think rationally and to make judgments based on right and wrong. Instead infected people began to act more and more impulsively, until eventually the only things that were important to them were eating and survival.”

A girl in the front row raised her hand. “I thought zombies were the living dead,” she said.

“Yes and no,” Mrs. Hotchkiss answered. “As the zombie flu virus attacked the neocortex of the brain, infected people lost the ability to speak coherently. In addition, they developed a great tolerance for pain. They seemed not to be affected by injuries that would be devastating to you and me.”

“You mean they couldn’t be killed?” someone asked.

“Not easily,” said Mrs. Hotchkiss. “In addition to affecting the brain, the virus had a peculiar effect on the blood. It became thicker and coagulated more easily. Wounds didn’t bleed as much, so a zombie could be stabbed or shot and survive. Some even lost limbs but didn’t bleed to death as we would, because their blood clotted so quickly. Because of this, it was first assumed that the virus killed the infected person and then somehow reanimated the corpse. In reality, those infected with the zombie flu did not die first. They simply became zombies because their brains were attacked by the virus, and it destroyed the most human parts and let the primitive part take over.”

“But you just said ‘yes and no,'” Josh reminded her.

“They were alive in the sense that they breathed and moved and had heartbeats,” the teacher said. “But their memories and emotions were gone. Their ability to feel was destroyed. They didn’t think in any way we would consider human. But technically, yes, they were alive.”

“Why didn’t they just give them a shot or something?” Josh was surprised to hear Firecracker ask the question. He almost never spoke in class.

“That’s a good question,” Mrs. Hotchkiss answered. “Doctors didn’t give them a vaccine because they didn’t have one. The flu virus is a very simple one, but that’s also what makes it difficult to fight. It mutates very rapidly when it’s attacked, which means that what works for one form of the virus might not work for another. In the case of zombie flu, none of the vaccines they tried worked, at least not quickly enough to save those who were already infected.”

“But we get zombie flu shots now,” said Josh. “When we’re born. So they came up with something, right?”

Mrs. Hotchkiss nodded. “There’s a preventative vaccine now,” she said. “It’s based on the most common strain of the zombie flu virus.”

“But there could be other kinds, couldn’t there?” asked Firecracker.

“Theoretically, yes,” said the teacher. “However, there hasn’t been a documented case of zombie flu infection in over fifteen years. The possibility of a new strain finding its way into the general population is almost nonexistent. In other words, Mr. McPherson, you don’t have to worry about turning into a zombie anytime soon.”

Firecracker grinned. “Too bad,” he said. “It sounds like fun.”

The class laughed, but Mrs. Hotchkiss shook her head. “It was not fun, Mr. McPherson,” she said, her voice serious. “None of you have seen a real zombie. But I have. Most people my age have. Your parents probably have. Those who were infected with the virus suffered horribly. The only consolation for those of us who saw them suffer was that by the time they turned, they had stopped being human. They didn’t know what they were.”

“Why did they torch them?”

Josh’s attention was brought back to the class by the question. It had come from Elizabeth Stalin, who sat right behind him.

Mrs. Hotchkiss hesitated a moment. “The zombie flu virus was initially passed on through saliva,” she said. “A zombie would bite someone, and the virus would enter the person’s bloodstream. Once it was in the blood, the virus could then be passed on through that. If someone had an open cut—or any kind of wound that exposed the body to potential infection—coming into contact with zombie blood was dangerous. It was feared that the virus might become airborne next, which would have been disastrous. So it was decided that the least risky and most efficient way to destroy the virus was to burn the zombies.”

“But wouldn’t that really hurt?” someone asked.

Again Mrs. Hotchkiss took some time before answering. “By that point the infected people were functioning solely on primitive reactions,” she said. “Almost like puppets being controlled by strings that were being pulled by their reptilian brains. They most likely didn’t know what was happening.”

“Still, it must have hurt,” Elizabeth insisted. “They still had nerves and stuff.”

Firecracker turned around and looked at her. “Who cares?” he said. “They were meatbags, not people.”

“Yeah,” said another girl. “Besides, if people hadn’t burned the zombies, they would have turned a lot of other people into zombies.”

“The important thing is that we don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Mrs. Hotchkiss said. “As I said earlier, there hasn’t been a documented case since before you were born.”

Josh raised his hand. “Where did it come from?” he asked. “The virus, I mean.”

“Nobody really knows,” his teacher told him. “Most likely it was simply a very strong mutation. As you’ve seen, there was nothing supernatural about zombies. They were just people who got sick and essentially devolved into primitive life forms.”

“My uncle says the Russians did it,” Firecracker announced. “He says they wanted to wipe us out.”

“Then they didn’t do a very good job,” said Mrs. Hotchkiss. “Just as many people turned in Russia as did here. I think your uncle has been watching a little too much television.”

“He was a Torcher,” Firecracker said defensively. “He should know.”

“Yes,” said Mrs. Hotchkiss. “Well, I’m sure we’re all very thankful to him for his service. Now if you’ll access sequence 1872-A, this will show you how the zombie flu virus interrupted the messages sent from one part of the brain to the others. This is going to be on your test on Friday, so let’s go over it and see if there’s anything you don’t understand.”