by Adrienne Lecter

Let’s not debate how realistic the central premise of a zombie apocalypse is—options vary greatly from contaminated food to a randomly mutated virus outbreak—but instead revel in the glory that is raw, gory truth. Because let’s face it—if the undead rise and you manage to survive the first, say, week or so, chances are that it won’t be the shamblers that get you, but the guy who wants your ammo, weapons, gear, and food.

I don’t think I’m the only one who loves reading (and writing!) books in the genre because it’s a playground of all the things that can—and will—go wrong with society when decent human beings are confronted with impossible choices. Do I shoot my indoor cats when I have to bug out, seeing as they will be eaten the moment they get outside and won’t be able to hunt food to survive? Locking them in with some kibble so they will eventually starve to death doesn’t really sound like the more humane choice. When someone gets bitten, do you shoot him before he can turn and chew off your face? Maybe just amputating her arm might save her, but chances are, that means she won’t be able to survive on her own and become a liability—and that you should get rid of before it can get you killed in turn! How far will you go when food gets scarce and you can’t hunt or find any large-enough prey—will you eat bugs? Your dog? That guy over there whose whining has been annoying you for the past hundred miles? And that’s not even considering weeks or months ahead when settlements and towns will be rebuilt, and how they deal with newcomers.

Suffice it to say, getting down to the nitty gritty isn’t for everyone, but a lot of people love exploring the morbidly curious depth of the human psyche—and ask themselves, what would I do? What, in fact, am I able to do? And, who knows? Today, it might make you paranoid about why your neighbor just bought a new spade that would work perfectly as a blunt weapon; tomorrow, you might help him dig a hole for his new pool, and make a few casual plans for disaster preparedness together. Zombies might not get you, but between flooding, draughts, fires, hurricanes, and winter snowstorms, there are a lot of situations where knowing what to do—and what can go wrong—might give you a leg up over those that wait for others to tell them what to do. Like, buy more kibble, and stock up on preserves. You never know what you might need them for.

Check out the latest in the Green Fields series, Affliction, or begin now with book one.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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