Latest reports state that the pathogen seems to spread through the drinking water. Authorities recommend using bottled water for everything and to avoid doing things that use large quantities of it, like washing laundry. At the moment it is not entirely clear how the pathogen was able to contaminate our water supply, but a Professor from the local University informed us that it might be the same pathogen responsible for the death of a whole class of students. If that is the case, it is activated by increased adrenaline, so please, try to remain calm.
Professor Roy Smith shook his head and turned the TV off. Sure, tell a whole city of panicking people to remain calm, because panicking will kill them. Should work perfectly.
A look out of the window confirmed his sarcastic thoughts. On the outside, people were running around. Some were looking for a safe shelter; some were looting the abandoned stores.
It had been only a month since the incident in his class. There had been questions, of course. He had answered the truth to most of them. The only lie he told was, that the students got accidentally infected by his zombie pathogen. That it must have clung to him and gone unnoticed because he was vaccinated.
The police officers who interviewed him didn’t know enough about safety regulations and the general way a given pathogen spreads to question his statement, so they let him leave. He had thought that it was over.
Carefully, he locked the door. Twice. And then, he pushed a cabinet in front of it, to secure the entrance further. His pantry was stocked with non-perishable food and water bottles. Roy just hoped that this would all be over soon.
But in the city, things looked a lot worse than they did outside Professor Smith’s window. As panic was spreading, the disease did too.
A lot of people had been infected during the previous month because they had had contact with the contaminated tap water. And now, the panic enabled the pathogen to overpower the immune system of its hosts. And thanks to the addition of the norovirus, the zombie pathogen was able to spread a lot easier. A bite was no longer required, the pathogen could be spread via touch and was able to survive on surfaces for several hours.
The armed forces that were brought in tried to get the zombies under control, but what they encountered was something completely different from what the movies had shown them – and what they had expected.
A typical zombie portrayed in the media was slow, stupid and, most importantly, dead. A dead human body isn’t very robust and will relatively fast turn into a soupy mess. But Professor Smith hadn’t wanted a fragile and dumb corpse. The zombies in this outbreak weren’t stupid, nor were they slow. And they were incredibly alive, driven by aggression.
They were able to communicate. They were able to organize. They were able to think.
Soon, the soldiers got split up into smaller groups by the attacking zombies. While they were shooting at the monsters and actually hit their targets, only a deadly shot was able to actually stop the attacks. But when a soldier concentrated on one zombie, another one was able to break through and … kill.
It was a bloody fight, on both sides. But in the end, the zombies won. Block by block, they took over the city. Driven by an insatiable hunger, they spread fast. After some time, they were everywhere in the country.
At this point, Professor Smith realized that it was over. The news broadcasts had become more and more alarming and finally stopped. The electricity was the next thing to go. Roy wondered how many actual humans were left. There had to be some, some people were vaccinated against rabies. But was this vaccination even still a reliable protection? The pathogen seemed to have mutated beyond its original abilities.
In the early hours of a new day, Professor Smith decided that it was over now for him too.
He unblocked his door and left the building.
When he reached the street, several zombies turned their heads towards him. Some started to growl. He decided to try one last time.
”Please, listen to me!” He called out. ”I know how to help you! Not only how to heal you, but also how to stop your hunger. I am your only chance to ever…”
His last words ended in a gargling, as a zombie who had sneaked up from behind attacked him and bit his throat.
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