Index - Of Zombie
Aris’s finger traced the screen. The Walkers were the baseline, the rotting hordes that filled the highways and suburban lawns. They were the index against which all other horrors were measured. But the Index had grown fat with new entries.
He paused. The groaning grew louder. It sounded almost like speech. A word, repeated, muffled by rotting flesh: “Index.”
He looked up at the wall of the bunker. Stained there, in a survivor’s shaky handwriting, was a quote from the old world: “That which can be measured can be managed.” Aris wasn’t sure anymore. He was beginning to suspect that the Zombie Index’s final entry would be a single, damning line: Category: Extinction. Subclass: Human. Cause: Successful cataloging of one’s own destruction. index of zombie
Category: Delta. Subclass: Reactive. Symptoms: Partial laryngeal regeneration. Emits a 110dB subsonic pulse when agitated. The pulse attracts all Alphas within a 400m radius. Threat Level: Extreme. Disposal: High-caliber, distance engagement only. Do not engage within 50m.
Aris Thorne smiled a cold, hollow smile. The zombies had started reading. Aris’s finger traced the screen
He remembered the day they added the Screamer. A scout team had cornered one in a pharmacy in Macon. They’d tried to take it down quietly with a knife. The resulting howl had brought three hundred Walkers down on them in twelve minutes. The Index had cost them two good people, but it had saved a thousand since. Every entry was a gravestone and a lesson.
Category: Alpha. Subclass: Feral. Symptoms: Full necrosis, locomotor capacity 0.7 m/s, no higher brain function. Primary vector: saliva-borne pathogen (see Neuro-Lyssavirus Σ). Threat Level: Minimal (solo), High (swarm). Disposal: Standard cranial breach. But the Index had grown fat with new entries
Category: Omega. Subclass: Cognizant. Symptoms: Minimal necrosis. Retains 60-80% of pre-mortem cognitive function. Capable of tool use, ambush tactics, and avoidance of common deterrents. Displays emotional mimicry. Threat Level: Unpredictable. Note: Does not respond to standard cranial breach. Target must be incinerated.