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I thought I'd post a wee tale of the living dead I wrote a while back. It's called "The Last Day of the Rest of Your Life"
Following transcript forms final transmission of the nanotransmitter belonging to Private Adam Miller, Royal Fusiliers, Company C, KIA Newcastle October 15th 2007.
Oh Jesus, oh no please no dear God no don’t let it have bitten me oh God NO I don’t want to die no please say it hasn’t happened maybe John’s gun went off before they dragged him down I mean a stray bullet could have grazed me and that’s all it might be dear lord am I really hoping I’ve been shot has it really come to this but oh God no I think it bit me and I don’t want to look and I
Approx. 4 ½ minutes static (indicative of unbalanced mental state. Research being carried out as to failure of nanotransmitter to record thoughts of chaotic and possibly psychotic behaviour. Possible use as marker/indicator in populace following suppression of Virus S-T 49873, colloquially known as Zombie virus?)
Okay…okay, lets have a look at this here. Calm down…take a few deep breaths. Okay, it’s okay. They can’t get me in here. Christ oh Christ I can hear them downstairs… Stop. Get a grip. You’re in the attic, they don’t have enough brains to figure out how to open the hatch and pull the ladder down. You’re safe. Torch…where’s the
45 seconds static
Right. Floorboards. So the floor can take my weight. Okay, there’s a plus point. We’re due back at the barracks tonight. When we don’t report in they’ll send a heavy fire team on our patrol route. I just need to sit tight.
Jesus, don’t they ever stop that ****ing noise! All that moaning, it sounds like a thousand widows at a funeral.
What’s that…? That smacking noise…it’s
The name,’John’ overwhelms signal for 30 seconds. 2 minutes static
Oh God no. Why did this have to happen? Why this patrol route? Why…okay. Let’s calm down. Aw, GOD I can hardly breathe in here! Feels like a bad head cold, full of snot and misery. I mustn’t have noticed it coming on; adrenaline probably kept it at bay. Heh. Well if that’s the last of my worries then I can live with that. Let’s hope it is the last of
OW S**T!
Sh!t, sh!t, my ****ing leg! Dear God that hurt! Okay, I’m going to have to have a look at this…doesn’t look too bad…not much damage there…just a flesh wound on the calf and that never killed anyone did it? Okay, so let’s have a look…OW…just make sure the bullet hasn’t lodged or…
20 minutes static
Teethmarks.
1 hour 20 minutes static
Get a GRIP soldier! Come on now! This isn’t over yet. The eggheads reckon they’ve almost developed a vaccine against the virus. That’s the same as a cure, isn’t it? And this stuff takes a while to kill you. The lieutenant took 2 days to die (oh GOD no please) so I may have a chance. I just need the fireteam to get here. Damn, DAMN this is not going to be pleasant.
No pain yet; well, if I touch the wound there is, so I think I see a good ****ing way out of the pain from the wound, don’t you? Ugh, I feel so S**TTY! Can hardly breath through my nose, feels like someone’s welded my sinuses shut. Need to breathe through my mouth. Water…S**T…canteen’s empty, ahhh ****!
Heh. You big soft pillock. Here you are with some ****ing corpse…
(nanotransmitter picks up strong background thought as follows;
“Lisa, it was Lisa. She was one of them. She’s dead. She killed me. I loved her and she killed me.”
As you will be aware, the nanotransmitter technology is designed to filter out neurological interference to provide a coherent transcript. However, in situations of extreme stress, background thoughts that are usually suppressed by the subconscious do begin to intrude upon the transcript. These can provide valuable insights and will be noted in bold where considered relevant)
…chewing on a piece of your leg and you’re upset because your mouth is a bit dry. Silly sod…Just have to wait now I suppose. Time…what’s the…hm, 2 hours until we’re due back. I reckon another hour whilst they pull their heads out of their backside in Ops…Heh, longer if Wilkes…
note: Capt. Simon Wilkes. Numerous nanotransmitter transcripts contain derogatory comments concerning this officer. Cause to investigate further?
…is still acting CO by tonight. Christ’s sake, what was that man thinking? He joined, what, 4 months before the drafting started? Man, he’s been dithering and farting around for over a year now! That looter, Spence he called himself, that scum should have been against the wall and ventilated as soon as he was dragged in. What was it Wilkes said? “He says he has information about survivors in the Dead zone and we intend to debrief him thoroughly. We must do our best to rescue anyone still alive.” Silly sod; as if anyone will be alive when half the country is walking round taking bites out of anything warm, anything breathing. How the hell has he lasted this long? Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. We’re not exactly spoilt with an over abundance of officers any more, not since London fell.
****ing wasteful if you come to think about it. We were never going to hold on in there. They reckon that there were over 4 million of those things walking round before the General had those sackless b@st@rds in the government shot and pulled everyone left alive out. We could maybe have regrouped and held onto Birmingham if we’d focused there, now we’re…well, we’re on the run. I never liked Newcastle. Jesus, the only good thing about the draft was getting out of here, now I’m…
“going to die here”
…fighting to protect it. Why here, why couldn’t they have posted me in Edinburgh? Anywhere but…
“home”
here, anywhere. Did they think that I’d fight better if I were defending the place I lived before the draft or something? To hell with THAT, it’s gone way past worrying about home. It’s…
“My home. This is my home, those worm eaten things are in my HOUSE! Oh Lisa…oh God, no why you? They said this zone was secured! They said so!! I…we only came this way because we…I thought it would be safe but I wanted to SEE you oh God no, I’ve gotten John killed, I’ve gotten me killed you killed me, you killed US! It wasn’t ME it wasn’t my fault, I wasn’t to know!”
…about everyone now. Jesus, anyone who’s dumb enough to fight over their little bit of turf in times like these deserves to die! I mean you’d like to think that people are basically decent, deep down. And then something sh!tty like this happens, and it turns out that they’re a bunch of selfish little cocktards. Dumb scum have barely got a thought in their heads…christ, the only difference between them and the zombies is…well, one lot are dead and one aren’t I suppose.
Note: It emerged that the subject’s former marital home was less than 4 miles from the barracks where he was stationed. It would appear that the subject and Private O’Connor deviated from their patrol route in order to go here. This would explain why both bodies were found off their patrol route and why the fireteam took 8 hours to locate them. As a further note, it is pleasing to note that the re-education program instituted by Major Peters is clearly showing results. Records show that the subject was of liberal tendencies prior to V-0, colloquially known as the Day of the Dead. I would recommend that the program continue as a soldier “caste” will provide an excellent and utterly loyal tool of control following suppression of the virus.
Well, no point in worrying about that right now I suppose. Worry about the fireteam, that’s what I should do. That ****ing NOISE! Jesus…I know what that bloke John and I found in that housing estate meant now…what was his name? Andrew or something like that. He said he’d heard nothing but the groans of the dead for the two days before we found him. He said it sounded like a hymn to the devil. Heh, ironic really; he’d had to kill his entire family to survive, now here I am…
AHHHHGGGGGGGGFFFFFUCK!! CHRIST THAT HUUUURRRRRRRRRTS!! AHH…
Note: at this point the transcript continues in similar vein for approx. 2 minutes. The source of the pain is unclear, however we have noted in dissections of the recently re-animated that the stomach acid has eaten through the stomach lining. We suspect that virus S-T 49873 causes the acid resistant enzymes in the stomach to deteriorate. Depending upon the victim’s physical condition we estimate that this will occur within 30 minutes to 2 hours from infection. The acid will take approximately 1 hour to completely eat through the lining of the stomach and from thence into the rest of the body. Naturally, death will occur shortly afterwards. Although the vaccine created by Dr Bosher does indeed prevent reanimation, it has thus far been unsuccessful in prevented these other symptoms of S-T 49873.
…oh God…. God it hurts. Oh…okay it doesn’t hurt as much if I lie down…Jesus, did the lieutenant go through 2 days of that? Poor…
“Poor me, hell with him, POOR ME!”
…I don’t think I can take this. I wish I had some water. My nose…I can’t breathe through it any more. Almost laughable really; here I am dying and I’m p!ssed off ‘cos I’ve got a bad cold! I think I blacked out for a few seconds back there though…couldn’t get enough air to scream…still can hardly breath. Heh, maybe that’ll be my salvation. Maybe the only difference between a quick death and 2 days of screaming agony is a stupid little head cold. I…
note: transcript consists mainly of static and indications of extreme pain for 10 minutes. It is interesting that the subject refers to having a head cold. There was no indication of this prior to his patrol that evening. Another symptom of S-T 49873? Note that we believe that the subject was in constant and extreme pain from this point until his death, some 30 minutes later.
F**KS**TOWWWW!! This is too much. I…I’m going to die.
I’m going to die here.
I…I wish I could…oh Lisa! I wish I could see you again, touch you again, love you again. I…
“…we came into the house, John leading and me covering. Done it a thousand times, a million. This was no different. Secure the ground floor first. Then check upstairs. I call your name, John turns and looks at me. Puzzled. What the hell are you doing, he says? He doesn’t see her behind him. Some corpse in my house. I shoot, it falls, John looks around and looks back. He starts shouting, starts berating me…I could’ve been killed, he says. He falls silent…we hear them outside…I look out of the window…I see them…see you. John says we can still get out if we move fast. I can’t move. He drags me. We get downstairs. They pour through the doors…I see you coming towards me…Lisa…I reach out with trembling hands to touch you…the smell…I touch your cheek…I hear John scream…your face falls from your skull liked warped rubber…the spell breaks and I run upstairs…hands grasp my legs as I climb the ladder to the attic…a gunshot…pain…safe.”
…Can’t breath, can’t get any air. Throat…my throat feels like it’s closing up…not like this. Please don’t let me die like this. I want to live, please let me LIVE! I’ll do what I’m told. I’ll fight better, I’ll obey any orders I don’t care I just want to live I…
25 minutes static. Note that the subjects desire to live in the face of death seems to create a mindset whereby the subject is willing to hand over control of himself in exchange for continued existence. It is my belief that this mindset should be exploited wherever possible.
…Better…that’s better. Feel…warm. Away…need to get away from them…away from the noise…Lisa?
Is that…
Oh Lisa.
[I]Neurotransmitter signal fades out at this point, with cessation of signal occurring 4 minutes and 18 seconds later. Remainder of signal continues in much the same manner as above (numerous references to the subject’s wife, fragmented reminiscences etc.) and I would not presume to waste your time with such inanities. The transcript does provide some useful information. I have already noted my comments concerning these throughout, and it is with that in mind that I would draw the following conclusions:
The subject’s failure to follow orders stemmed in the main from his desire to see his family. This should be avoided in future. I would recommend relocating any soldiers currently posted within 25 miles of their former homes.
The subject’s views concerning non-military personal must be encouraged throughout the populace. A populace that believes that the military is protecting it on sufferance will be easy to control. There will be no connection made between the brutality of the rank and file, and the protection from those infected with S-T 49873 afforded to them by the Leadership.
Thought should given as to how to portray the leadership in a manner acceptable to both military (who will require strong rulers who rule by strength) and the populace (who should be encouraged to view the Leadership as their benevolent protectors). Perhaps we should consider destroying certain texts (the works of George Orwell, certain historic records of the Second World and Balkan wars, etc) in all areas subject to Leadership control?
The data concerning the varying stages of the onset of S-T 49873 has proved most valuable to our scientists. However, it does not explain all of the physiological abnormalities found in reanimated corpses. Clearly we cannot afford to waste soldiers to gather further data. I would therefore propose that certain subversive elements of the populace be fitted with neurotransmitter implants. Once they are infected with the virus, the transcripts that they provide could give us valuable clues as to how to successfully combat and eradicate S-T 49874. It goes without saying that the remaining populace will be unquestioning in their support, and the advantage we would have over other nations still subject to S-T 49873 is incalculable.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration, December 25th 2007.
Captain Steven Metcalf
England Prevails.
Following transcript forms final transmission of the nanotransmitter belonging to Private Adam Miller, Royal Fusiliers, Company C, KIA Newcastle October 15th 2007.
Oh Jesus, oh no please no dear God no don’t let it have bitten me oh God NO I don’t want to die no please say it hasn’t happened maybe John’s gun went off before they dragged him down I mean a stray bullet could have grazed me and that’s all it might be dear lord am I really hoping I’ve been shot has it really come to this but oh God no I think it bit me and I don’t want to look and I
Approx. 4 ½ minutes static (indicative of unbalanced mental state. Research being carried out as to failure of nanotransmitter to record thoughts of chaotic and possibly psychotic behaviour. Possible use as marker/indicator in populace following suppression of Virus S-T 49873, colloquially known as Zombie virus?)
Okay…okay, lets have a look at this here. Calm down…take a few deep breaths. Okay, it’s okay. They can’t get me in here. Christ oh Christ I can hear them downstairs… Stop. Get a grip. You’re in the attic, they don’t have enough brains to figure out how to open the hatch and pull the ladder down. You’re safe. Torch…where’s the
45 seconds static
Right. Floorboards. So the floor can take my weight. Okay, there’s a plus point. We’re due back at the barracks tonight. When we don’t report in they’ll send a heavy fire team on our patrol route. I just need to sit tight.
Jesus, don’t they ever stop that ****ing noise! All that moaning, it sounds like a thousand widows at a funeral.
What’s that…? That smacking noise…it’s
The name,’John’ overwhelms signal for 30 seconds. 2 minutes static
Oh God no. Why did this have to happen? Why this patrol route? Why…okay. Let’s calm down. Aw, GOD I can hardly breathe in here! Feels like a bad head cold, full of snot and misery. I mustn’t have noticed it coming on; adrenaline probably kept it at bay. Heh. Well if that’s the last of my worries then I can live with that. Let’s hope it is the last of
OW S**T!
Sh!t, sh!t, my ****ing leg! Dear God that hurt! Okay, I’m going to have to have a look at this…doesn’t look too bad…not much damage there…just a flesh wound on the calf and that never killed anyone did it? Okay, so let’s have a look…OW…just make sure the bullet hasn’t lodged or…
20 minutes static
Teethmarks.
1 hour 20 minutes static
Get a GRIP soldier! Come on now! This isn’t over yet. The eggheads reckon they’ve almost developed a vaccine against the virus. That’s the same as a cure, isn’t it? And this stuff takes a while to kill you. The lieutenant took 2 days to die (oh GOD no please) so I may have a chance. I just need the fireteam to get here. Damn, DAMN this is not going to be pleasant.
No pain yet; well, if I touch the wound there is, so I think I see a good ****ing way out of the pain from the wound, don’t you? Ugh, I feel so S**TTY! Can hardly breath through my nose, feels like someone’s welded my sinuses shut. Need to breathe through my mouth. Water…S**T…canteen’s empty, ahhh ****!
Heh. You big soft pillock. Here you are with some ****ing corpse…
(nanotransmitter picks up strong background thought as follows;
“Lisa, it was Lisa. She was one of them. She’s dead. She killed me. I loved her and she killed me.”
As you will be aware, the nanotransmitter technology is designed to filter out neurological interference to provide a coherent transcript. However, in situations of extreme stress, background thoughts that are usually suppressed by the subconscious do begin to intrude upon the transcript. These can provide valuable insights and will be noted in bold where considered relevant)
…chewing on a piece of your leg and you’re upset because your mouth is a bit dry. Silly sod…Just have to wait now I suppose. Time…what’s the…hm, 2 hours until we’re due back. I reckon another hour whilst they pull their heads out of their backside in Ops…Heh, longer if Wilkes…
note: Capt. Simon Wilkes. Numerous nanotransmitter transcripts contain derogatory comments concerning this officer. Cause to investigate further?
…is still acting CO by tonight. Christ’s sake, what was that man thinking? He joined, what, 4 months before the drafting started? Man, he’s been dithering and farting around for over a year now! That looter, Spence he called himself, that scum should have been against the wall and ventilated as soon as he was dragged in. What was it Wilkes said? “He says he has information about survivors in the Dead zone and we intend to debrief him thoroughly. We must do our best to rescue anyone still alive.” Silly sod; as if anyone will be alive when half the country is walking round taking bites out of anything warm, anything breathing. How the hell has he lasted this long? Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. We’re not exactly spoilt with an over abundance of officers any more, not since London fell.
****ing wasteful if you come to think about it. We were never going to hold on in there. They reckon that there were over 4 million of those things walking round before the General had those sackless b@st@rds in the government shot and pulled everyone left alive out. We could maybe have regrouped and held onto Birmingham if we’d focused there, now we’re…well, we’re on the run. I never liked Newcastle. Jesus, the only good thing about the draft was getting out of here, now I’m…
“going to die here”
…fighting to protect it. Why here, why couldn’t they have posted me in Edinburgh? Anywhere but…
“home”
here, anywhere. Did they think that I’d fight better if I were defending the place I lived before the draft or something? To hell with THAT, it’s gone way past worrying about home. It’s…
“My home. This is my home, those worm eaten things are in my HOUSE! Oh Lisa…oh God, no why you? They said this zone was secured! They said so!! I…we only came this way because we…I thought it would be safe but I wanted to SEE you oh God no, I’ve gotten John killed, I’ve gotten me killed you killed me, you killed US! It wasn’t ME it wasn’t my fault, I wasn’t to know!”
…about everyone now. Jesus, anyone who’s dumb enough to fight over their little bit of turf in times like these deserves to die! I mean you’d like to think that people are basically decent, deep down. And then something sh!tty like this happens, and it turns out that they’re a bunch of selfish little cocktards. Dumb scum have barely got a thought in their heads…christ, the only difference between them and the zombies is…well, one lot are dead and one aren’t I suppose.
Note: It emerged that the subject’s former marital home was less than 4 miles from the barracks where he was stationed. It would appear that the subject and Private O’Connor deviated from their patrol route in order to go here. This would explain why both bodies were found off their patrol route and why the fireteam took 8 hours to locate them. As a further note, it is pleasing to note that the re-education program instituted by Major Peters is clearly showing results. Records show that the subject was of liberal tendencies prior to V-0, colloquially known as the Day of the Dead. I would recommend that the program continue as a soldier “caste” will provide an excellent and utterly loyal tool of control following suppression of the virus.
Well, no point in worrying about that right now I suppose. Worry about the fireteam, that’s what I should do. That ****ing NOISE! Jesus…I know what that bloke John and I found in that housing estate meant now…what was his name? Andrew or something like that. He said he’d heard nothing but the groans of the dead for the two days before we found him. He said it sounded like a hymn to the devil. Heh, ironic really; he’d had to kill his entire family to survive, now here I am…
AHHHHGGGGGGGGFFFFFUCK!! CHRIST THAT HUUUURRRRRRRRRTS!! AHH…
Note: at this point the transcript continues in similar vein for approx. 2 minutes. The source of the pain is unclear, however we have noted in dissections of the recently re-animated that the stomach acid has eaten through the stomach lining. We suspect that virus S-T 49873 causes the acid resistant enzymes in the stomach to deteriorate. Depending upon the victim’s physical condition we estimate that this will occur within 30 minutes to 2 hours from infection. The acid will take approximately 1 hour to completely eat through the lining of the stomach and from thence into the rest of the body. Naturally, death will occur shortly afterwards. Although the vaccine created by Dr Bosher does indeed prevent reanimation, it has thus far been unsuccessful in prevented these other symptoms of S-T 49873.
…oh God…. God it hurts. Oh…okay it doesn’t hurt as much if I lie down…Jesus, did the lieutenant go through 2 days of that? Poor…
“Poor me, hell with him, POOR ME!”
…I don’t think I can take this. I wish I had some water. My nose…I can’t breathe through it any more. Almost laughable really; here I am dying and I’m p!ssed off ‘cos I’ve got a bad cold! I think I blacked out for a few seconds back there though…couldn’t get enough air to scream…still can hardly breath. Heh, maybe that’ll be my salvation. Maybe the only difference between a quick death and 2 days of screaming agony is a stupid little head cold. I…
note: transcript consists mainly of static and indications of extreme pain for 10 minutes. It is interesting that the subject refers to having a head cold. There was no indication of this prior to his patrol that evening. Another symptom of S-T 49873? Note that we believe that the subject was in constant and extreme pain from this point until his death, some 30 minutes later.
F**KS**TOWWWW!! This is too much. I…I’m going to die.
I’m going to die here.
I…I wish I could…oh Lisa! I wish I could see you again, touch you again, love you again. I…
“…we came into the house, John leading and me covering. Done it a thousand times, a million. This was no different. Secure the ground floor first. Then check upstairs. I call your name, John turns and looks at me. Puzzled. What the hell are you doing, he says? He doesn’t see her behind him. Some corpse in my house. I shoot, it falls, John looks around and looks back. He starts shouting, starts berating me…I could’ve been killed, he says. He falls silent…we hear them outside…I look out of the window…I see them…see you. John says we can still get out if we move fast. I can’t move. He drags me. We get downstairs. They pour through the doors…I see you coming towards me…Lisa…I reach out with trembling hands to touch you…the smell…I touch your cheek…I hear John scream…your face falls from your skull liked warped rubber…the spell breaks and I run upstairs…hands grasp my legs as I climb the ladder to the attic…a gunshot…pain…safe.”
…Can’t breath, can’t get any air. Throat…my throat feels like it’s closing up…not like this. Please don’t let me die like this. I want to live, please let me LIVE! I’ll do what I’m told. I’ll fight better, I’ll obey any orders I don’t care I just want to live I…
25 minutes static. Note that the subjects desire to live in the face of death seems to create a mindset whereby the subject is willing to hand over control of himself in exchange for continued existence. It is my belief that this mindset should be exploited wherever possible.
…Better…that’s better. Feel…warm. Away…need to get away from them…away from the noise…Lisa?
Is that…
Oh Lisa.
[I]Neurotransmitter signal fades out at this point, with cessation of signal occurring 4 minutes and 18 seconds later. Remainder of signal continues in much the same manner as above (numerous references to the subject’s wife, fragmented reminiscences etc.) and I would not presume to waste your time with such inanities. The transcript does provide some useful information. I have already noted my comments concerning these throughout, and it is with that in mind that I would draw the following conclusions:
The subject’s failure to follow orders stemmed in the main from his desire to see his family. This should be avoided in future. I would recommend relocating any soldiers currently posted within 25 miles of their former homes.
The subject’s views concerning non-military personal must be encouraged throughout the populace. A populace that believes that the military is protecting it on sufferance will be easy to control. There will be no connection made between the brutality of the rank and file, and the protection from those infected with S-T 49873 afforded to them by the Leadership.
Thought should given as to how to portray the leadership in a manner acceptable to both military (who will require strong rulers who rule by strength) and the populace (who should be encouraged to view the Leadership as their benevolent protectors). Perhaps we should consider destroying certain texts (the works of George Orwell, certain historic records of the Second World and Balkan wars, etc) in all areas subject to Leadership control?
The data concerning the varying stages of the onset of S-T 49873 has proved most valuable to our scientists. However, it does not explain all of the physiological abnormalities found in reanimated corpses. Clearly we cannot afford to waste soldiers to gather further data. I would therefore propose that certain subversive elements of the populace be fitted with neurotransmitter implants. Once they are infected with the virus, the transcripts that they provide could give us valuable clues as to how to successfully combat and eradicate S-T 49874. It goes without saying that the remaining populace will be unquestioning in their support, and the advantage we would have over other nations still subject to S-T 49873 is incalculable.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration, December 25th 2007.
Captain Steven Metcalf
England Prevails.
Good stuff. Enjoyed that, and thought the format of it - the transcript including the thoughts and comments helped build a bigger picture than the event alone.
Seen land of the dead by means of download.
Don't bother shedding out £5 for it. Really, just dont.
Don't bother shedding out £5 for it. Really, just dont.
unknown kernel wrote:
> Bonus points
> for echoes of 'V for Vendetta' too.
Heh. Yeah, I wrote this pretty much the day after I first read that.
> Bonus points
> for echoes of 'V for Vendetta' too.
Heh. Yeah, I wrote this pretty much the day after I first read that.
Very good. I love anything zombie related but I especially liked the way the story was framed inside a scientific report. Bonus points for echoes of 'V for Vendetta' too.
I thought I'd post a wee tale of the living dead I wrote a while back. It's called "The Last Day of the Rest of Your Life"
Following transcript forms final transmission of the nanotransmitter belonging to Private Adam Miller, Royal Fusiliers, Company C, KIA Newcastle October 15th 2007.
Oh Jesus, oh no please no dear God no don’t let it have bitten me oh God NO I don’t want to die no please say it hasn’t happened maybe John’s gun went off before they dragged him down I mean a stray bullet could have grazed me and that’s all it might be dear lord am I really hoping I’ve been shot has it really come to this but oh God no I think it bit me and I don’t want to look and I
Approx. 4 ½ minutes static (indicative of unbalanced mental state. Research being carried out as to failure of nanotransmitter to record thoughts of chaotic and possibly psychotic behaviour. Possible use as marker/indicator in populace following suppression of Virus S-T 49873, colloquially known as Zombie virus?)
Okay…okay, lets have a look at this here. Calm down…take a few deep breaths. Okay, it’s okay. They can’t get me in here. Christ oh Christ I can hear them downstairs… Stop. Get a grip. You’re in the attic, they don’t have enough brains to figure out how to open the hatch and pull the ladder down. You’re safe. Torch…where’s the
45 seconds static
Right. Floorboards. So the floor can take my weight. Okay, there’s a plus point. We’re due back at the barracks tonight. When we don’t report in they’ll send a heavy fire team on our patrol route. I just need to sit tight.
Jesus, don’t they ever stop that ****ing noise! All that moaning, it sounds like a thousand widows at a funeral.
What’s that…? That smacking noise…it’s
The name,’John’ overwhelms signal for 30 seconds. 2 minutes static
Oh God no. Why did this have to happen? Why this patrol route? Why…okay. Let’s calm down. Aw, GOD I can hardly breathe in here! Feels like a bad head cold, full of snot and misery. I mustn’t have noticed it coming on; adrenaline probably kept it at bay. Heh. Well if that’s the last of my worries then I can live with that. Let’s hope it is the last of
OW S**T!
Sh!t, sh!t, my ****ing leg! Dear God that hurt! Okay, I’m going to have to have a look at this…doesn’t look too bad…not much damage there…just a flesh wound on the calf and that never killed anyone did it? Okay, so let’s have a look…OW…just make sure the bullet hasn’t lodged or…
20 minutes static
Teethmarks.
1 hour 20 minutes static
Get a GRIP soldier! Come on now! This isn’t over yet. The eggheads reckon they’ve almost developed a vaccine against the virus. That’s the same as a cure, isn’t it? And this stuff takes a while to kill you. The lieutenant took 2 days to die (oh GOD no please) so I may have a chance. I just need the fireteam to get here. Damn, DAMN this is not going to be pleasant.
No pain yet; well, if I touch the wound there is, so I think I see a good ****ing way out of the pain from the wound, don’t you? Ugh, I feel so S**TTY! Can hardly breath through my nose, feels like someone’s welded my sinuses shut. Need to breathe through my mouth. Water…S**T…canteen’s empty, ahhh ****!
Heh. You big soft pillock. Here you are with some ****ing corpse…
(nanotransmitter picks up strong background thought as follows;
“Lisa, it was Lisa. She was one of them. She’s dead. She killed me. I loved her and she killed me.”
As you will be aware, the nanotransmitter technology is designed to filter out neurological interference to provide a coherent transcript. However, in situations of extreme stress, background thoughts that are usually suppressed by the subconscious do begin to intrude upon the transcript. These can provide valuable insights and will be noted in bold where considered relevant)
…chewing on a piece of your leg and you’re upset because your mouth is a bit dry. Silly sod…Just have to wait now I suppose. Time…what’s the…hm, 2 hours until we’re due back. I reckon another hour whilst they pull their heads out of their backside in Ops…Heh, longer if Wilkes…
note: Capt. Simon Wilkes. Numerous nanotransmitter transcripts contain derogatory comments concerning this officer. Cause to investigate further?
…is still acting CO by tonight. Christ’s sake, what was that man thinking? He joined, what, 4 months before the drafting started? Man, he’s been dithering and farting around for over a year now! That looter, Spence he called himself, that scum should have been against the wall and ventilated as soon as he was dragged in. What was it Wilkes said? “He says he has information about survivors in the Dead zone and we intend to debrief him thoroughly. We must do our best to rescue anyone still alive.” Silly sod; as if anyone will be alive when half the country is walking round taking bites out of anything warm, anything breathing. How the hell has he lasted this long? Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. We’re not exactly spoilt with an over abundance of officers any more, not since London fell.
****ing wasteful if you come to think about it. We were never going to hold on in there. They reckon that there were over 4 million of those things walking round before the General had those sackless b@st@rds in the government shot and pulled everyone left alive out. We could maybe have regrouped and held onto Birmingham if we’d focused there, now we’re…well, we’re on the run. I never liked Newcastle. Jesus, the only good thing about the draft was getting out of here, now I’m…
“going to die here”
…fighting to protect it. Why here, why couldn’t they have posted me in Edinburgh? Anywhere but…
“home”
here, anywhere. Did they think that I’d fight better if I were defending the place I lived before the draft or something? To hell with THAT, it’s gone way past worrying about home. It’s…
“My home. This is my home, those worm eaten things are in my HOUSE! Oh Lisa…oh God, no why you? They said this zone was secured! They said so!! I…we only came this way because we…I thought it would be safe but I wanted to SEE you oh God no, I’ve gotten John killed, I’ve gotten me killed you killed me, you killed US! It wasn’t ME it wasn’t my fault, I wasn’t to know!”
…about everyone now. Jesus, anyone who’s dumb enough to fight over their little bit of turf in times like these deserves to die! I mean you’d like to think that people are basically decent, deep down. And then something sh!tty like this happens, and it turns out that they’re a bunch of selfish little cocktards. Dumb scum have barely got a thought in their heads…christ, the only difference between them and the zombies is…well, one lot are dead and one aren’t I suppose.
Note: It emerged that the subject’s former marital home was less than 4 miles from the barracks where he was stationed. It would appear that the subject and Private O’Connor deviated from their patrol route in order to go here. This would explain why both bodies were found off their patrol route and why the fireteam took 8 hours to locate them. As a further note, it is pleasing to note that the re-education program instituted by Major Peters is clearly showing results. Records show that the subject was of liberal tendencies prior to V-0, colloquially known as the Day of the Dead. I would recommend that the program continue as a soldier “caste” will provide an excellent and utterly loyal tool of control following suppression of the virus.
Well, no point in worrying about that right now I suppose. Worry about the fireteam, that’s what I should do. That ****ing NOISE! Jesus…I know what that bloke John and I found in that housing estate meant now…what was his name? Andrew or something like that. He said he’d heard nothing but the groans of the dead for the two days before we found him. He said it sounded like a hymn to the devil. Heh, ironic really; he’d had to kill his entire family to survive, now here I am…
AHHHHGGGGGGGGFFFFFUCK!! CHRIST THAT HUUUURRRRRRRRRTS!! AHH…
Note: at this point the transcript continues in similar vein for approx. 2 minutes. The source of the pain is unclear, however we have noted in dissections of the recently re-animated that the stomach acid has eaten through the stomach lining. We suspect that virus S-T 49873 causes the acid resistant enzymes in the stomach to deteriorate. Depending upon the victim’s physical condition we estimate that this will occur within 30 minutes to 2 hours from infection. The acid will take approximately 1 hour to completely eat through the lining of the stomach and from thence into the rest of the body. Naturally, death will occur shortly afterwards. Although the vaccine created by Dr Bosher does indeed prevent reanimation, it has thus far been unsuccessful in prevented these other symptoms of S-T 49873.
…oh God…. God it hurts. Oh…okay it doesn’t hurt as much if I lie down…Jesus, did the lieutenant go through 2 days of that? Poor…
“Poor me, hell with him, POOR ME!”
…I don’t think I can take this. I wish I had some water. My nose…I can’t breathe through it any more. Almost laughable really; here I am dying and I’m p!ssed off ‘cos I’ve got a bad cold! I think I blacked out for a few seconds back there though…couldn’t get enough air to scream…still can hardly breath. Heh, maybe that’ll be my salvation. Maybe the only difference between a quick death and 2 days of screaming agony is a stupid little head cold. I…
note: transcript consists mainly of static and indications of extreme pain for 10 minutes. It is interesting that the subject refers to having a head cold. There was no indication of this prior to his patrol that evening. Another symptom of S-T 49873? Note that we believe that the subject was in constant and extreme pain from this point until his death, some 30 minutes later.
F**KS**TOWWWW!! This is too much. I…I’m going to die.
I’m going to die here.
I…I wish I could…oh Lisa! I wish I could see you again, touch you again, love you again. I…
“…we came into the house, John leading and me covering. Done it a thousand times, a million. This was no different. Secure the ground floor first. Then check upstairs. I call your name, John turns and looks at me. Puzzled. What the hell are you doing, he says? He doesn’t see her behind him. Some corpse in my house. I shoot, it falls, John looks around and looks back. He starts shouting, starts berating me…I could’ve been killed, he says. He falls silent…we hear them outside…I look out of the window…I see them…see you. John says we can still get out if we move fast. I can’t move. He drags me. We get downstairs. They pour through the doors…I see you coming towards me…Lisa…I reach out with trembling hands to touch you…the smell…I touch your cheek…I hear John scream…your face falls from your skull liked warped rubber…the spell breaks and I run upstairs…hands grasp my legs as I climb the ladder to the attic…a gunshot…pain…safe.”
…Can’t breath, can’t get any air. Throat…my throat feels like it’s closing up…not like this. Please don’t let me die like this. I want to live, please let me LIVE! I’ll do what I’m told. I’ll fight better, I’ll obey any orders I don’t care I just want to live I…
25 minutes static. Note that the subjects desire to live in the face of death seems to create a mindset whereby the subject is willing to hand over control of himself in exchange for continued existence. It is my belief that this mindset should be exploited wherever possible.
…Better…that’s better. Feel…warm. Away…need to get away from them…away from the noise…Lisa?
Is that…
Oh Lisa.
[I]Neurotransmitter signal fades out at this point, with cessation of signal occurring 4 minutes and 18 seconds later. Remainder of signal continues in much the same manner as above (numerous references to the subject’s wife, fragmented reminiscences etc.) and I would not presume to waste your time with such inanities. The transcript does provide some useful information. I have already noted my comments concerning these throughout, and it is with that in mind that I would draw the following conclusions:
The subject’s failure to follow orders stemmed in the main from his desire to see his family. This should be avoided in future. I would recommend relocating any soldiers currently posted within 25 miles of their former homes.
The subject’s views concerning non-military personal must be encouraged throughout the populace. A populace that believes that the military is protecting it on sufferance will be easy to control. There will be no connection made between the brutality of the rank and file, and the protection from those infected with S-T 49873 afforded to them by the Leadership.
Thought should given as to how to portray the leadership in a manner acceptable to both military (who will require strong rulers who rule by strength) and the populace (who should be encouraged to view the Leadership as their benevolent protectors). Perhaps we should consider destroying certain texts (the works of George Orwell, certain historic records of the Second World and Balkan wars, etc) in all areas subject to Leadership control?
The data concerning the varying stages of the onset of S-T 49873 has proved most valuable to our scientists. However, it does not explain all of the physiological abnormalities found in reanimated corpses. Clearly we cannot afford to waste soldiers to gather further data. I would therefore propose that certain subversive elements of the populace be fitted with neurotransmitter implants. Once they are infected with the virus, the transcripts that they provide could give us valuable clues as to how to successfully combat and eradicate S-T 49874. It goes without saying that the remaining populace will be unquestioning in their support, and the advantage we would have over other nations still subject to S-T 49873 is incalculable.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration, December 25th 2007.
Captain Steven Metcalf
England Prevails.
Following transcript forms final transmission of the nanotransmitter belonging to Private Adam Miller, Royal Fusiliers, Company C, KIA Newcastle October 15th 2007.
Oh Jesus, oh no please no dear God no don’t let it have bitten me oh God NO I don’t want to die no please say it hasn’t happened maybe John’s gun went off before they dragged him down I mean a stray bullet could have grazed me and that’s all it might be dear lord am I really hoping I’ve been shot has it really come to this but oh God no I think it bit me and I don’t want to look and I
Approx. 4 ½ minutes static (indicative of unbalanced mental state. Research being carried out as to failure of nanotransmitter to record thoughts of chaotic and possibly psychotic behaviour. Possible use as marker/indicator in populace following suppression of Virus S-T 49873, colloquially known as Zombie virus?)
Okay…okay, lets have a look at this here. Calm down…take a few deep breaths. Okay, it’s okay. They can’t get me in here. Christ oh Christ I can hear them downstairs… Stop. Get a grip. You’re in the attic, they don’t have enough brains to figure out how to open the hatch and pull the ladder down. You’re safe. Torch…where’s the
45 seconds static
Right. Floorboards. So the floor can take my weight. Okay, there’s a plus point. We’re due back at the barracks tonight. When we don’t report in they’ll send a heavy fire team on our patrol route. I just need to sit tight.
Jesus, don’t they ever stop that ****ing noise! All that moaning, it sounds like a thousand widows at a funeral.
What’s that…? That smacking noise…it’s
The name,’John’ overwhelms signal for 30 seconds. 2 minutes static
Oh God no. Why did this have to happen? Why this patrol route? Why…okay. Let’s calm down. Aw, GOD I can hardly breathe in here! Feels like a bad head cold, full of snot and misery. I mustn’t have noticed it coming on; adrenaline probably kept it at bay. Heh. Well if that’s the last of my worries then I can live with that. Let’s hope it is the last of
OW S**T!
Sh!t, sh!t, my ****ing leg! Dear God that hurt! Okay, I’m going to have to have a look at this…doesn’t look too bad…not much damage there…just a flesh wound on the calf and that never killed anyone did it? Okay, so let’s have a look…OW…just make sure the bullet hasn’t lodged or…
20 minutes static
Teethmarks.
1 hour 20 minutes static
Get a GRIP soldier! Come on now! This isn’t over yet. The eggheads reckon they’ve almost developed a vaccine against the virus. That’s the same as a cure, isn’t it? And this stuff takes a while to kill you. The lieutenant took 2 days to die (oh GOD no please) so I may have a chance. I just need the fireteam to get here. Damn, DAMN this is not going to be pleasant.
No pain yet; well, if I touch the wound there is, so I think I see a good ****ing way out of the pain from the wound, don’t you? Ugh, I feel so S**TTY! Can hardly breath through my nose, feels like someone’s welded my sinuses shut. Need to breathe through my mouth. Water…S**T…canteen’s empty, ahhh ****!
Heh. You big soft pillock. Here you are with some ****ing corpse…
(nanotransmitter picks up strong background thought as follows;
“Lisa, it was Lisa. She was one of them. She’s dead. She killed me. I loved her and she killed me.”
As you will be aware, the nanotransmitter technology is designed to filter out neurological interference to provide a coherent transcript. However, in situations of extreme stress, background thoughts that are usually suppressed by the subconscious do begin to intrude upon the transcript. These can provide valuable insights and will be noted in bold where considered relevant)
…chewing on a piece of your leg and you’re upset because your mouth is a bit dry. Silly sod…Just have to wait now I suppose. Time…what’s the…hm, 2 hours until we’re due back. I reckon another hour whilst they pull their heads out of their backside in Ops…Heh, longer if Wilkes…
note: Capt. Simon Wilkes. Numerous nanotransmitter transcripts contain derogatory comments concerning this officer. Cause to investigate further?
…is still acting CO by tonight. Christ’s sake, what was that man thinking? He joined, what, 4 months before the drafting started? Man, he’s been dithering and farting around for over a year now! That looter, Spence he called himself, that scum should have been against the wall and ventilated as soon as he was dragged in. What was it Wilkes said? “He says he has information about survivors in the Dead zone and we intend to debrief him thoroughly. We must do our best to rescue anyone still alive.” Silly sod; as if anyone will be alive when half the country is walking round taking bites out of anything warm, anything breathing. How the hell has he lasted this long? Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. We’re not exactly spoilt with an over abundance of officers any more, not since London fell.
****ing wasteful if you come to think about it. We were never going to hold on in there. They reckon that there were over 4 million of those things walking round before the General had those sackless b@st@rds in the government shot and pulled everyone left alive out. We could maybe have regrouped and held onto Birmingham if we’d focused there, now we’re…well, we’re on the run. I never liked Newcastle. Jesus, the only good thing about the draft was getting out of here, now I’m…
“going to die here”
…fighting to protect it. Why here, why couldn’t they have posted me in Edinburgh? Anywhere but…
“home”
here, anywhere. Did they think that I’d fight better if I were defending the place I lived before the draft or something? To hell with THAT, it’s gone way past worrying about home. It’s…
“My home. This is my home, those worm eaten things are in my HOUSE! Oh Lisa…oh God, no why you? They said this zone was secured! They said so!! I…we only came this way because we…I thought it would be safe but I wanted to SEE you oh God no, I’ve gotten John killed, I’ve gotten me killed you killed me, you killed US! It wasn’t ME it wasn’t my fault, I wasn’t to know!”
…about everyone now. Jesus, anyone who’s dumb enough to fight over their little bit of turf in times like these deserves to die! I mean you’d like to think that people are basically decent, deep down. And then something sh!tty like this happens, and it turns out that they’re a bunch of selfish little cocktards. Dumb scum have barely got a thought in their heads…christ, the only difference between them and the zombies is…well, one lot are dead and one aren’t I suppose.
Note: It emerged that the subject’s former marital home was less than 4 miles from the barracks where he was stationed. It would appear that the subject and Private O’Connor deviated from their patrol route in order to go here. This would explain why both bodies were found off their patrol route and why the fireteam took 8 hours to locate them. As a further note, it is pleasing to note that the re-education program instituted by Major Peters is clearly showing results. Records show that the subject was of liberal tendencies prior to V-0, colloquially known as the Day of the Dead. I would recommend that the program continue as a soldier “caste” will provide an excellent and utterly loyal tool of control following suppression of the virus.
Well, no point in worrying about that right now I suppose. Worry about the fireteam, that’s what I should do. That ****ing NOISE! Jesus…I know what that bloke John and I found in that housing estate meant now…what was his name? Andrew or something like that. He said he’d heard nothing but the groans of the dead for the two days before we found him. He said it sounded like a hymn to the devil. Heh, ironic really; he’d had to kill his entire family to survive, now here I am…
AHHHHGGGGGGGGFFFFFUCK!! CHRIST THAT HUUUURRRRRRRRRTS!! AHH…
Note: at this point the transcript continues in similar vein for approx. 2 minutes. The source of the pain is unclear, however we have noted in dissections of the recently re-animated that the stomach acid has eaten through the stomach lining. We suspect that virus S-T 49873 causes the acid resistant enzymes in the stomach to deteriorate. Depending upon the victim’s physical condition we estimate that this will occur within 30 minutes to 2 hours from infection. The acid will take approximately 1 hour to completely eat through the lining of the stomach and from thence into the rest of the body. Naturally, death will occur shortly afterwards. Although the vaccine created by Dr Bosher does indeed prevent reanimation, it has thus far been unsuccessful in prevented these other symptoms of S-T 49873.
…oh God…. God it hurts. Oh…okay it doesn’t hurt as much if I lie down…Jesus, did the lieutenant go through 2 days of that? Poor…
“Poor me, hell with him, POOR ME!”
…I don’t think I can take this. I wish I had some water. My nose…I can’t breathe through it any more. Almost laughable really; here I am dying and I’m p!ssed off ‘cos I’ve got a bad cold! I think I blacked out for a few seconds back there though…couldn’t get enough air to scream…still can hardly breath. Heh, maybe that’ll be my salvation. Maybe the only difference between a quick death and 2 days of screaming agony is a stupid little head cold. I…
note: transcript consists mainly of static and indications of extreme pain for 10 minutes. It is interesting that the subject refers to having a head cold. There was no indication of this prior to his patrol that evening. Another symptom of S-T 49873? Note that we believe that the subject was in constant and extreme pain from this point until his death, some 30 minutes later.
F**KS**TOWWWW!! This is too much. I…I’m going to die.
I’m going to die here.
I…I wish I could…oh Lisa! I wish I could see you again, touch you again, love you again. I…
“…we came into the house, John leading and me covering. Done it a thousand times, a million. This was no different. Secure the ground floor first. Then check upstairs. I call your name, John turns and looks at me. Puzzled. What the hell are you doing, he says? He doesn’t see her behind him. Some corpse in my house. I shoot, it falls, John looks around and looks back. He starts shouting, starts berating me…I could’ve been killed, he says. He falls silent…we hear them outside…I look out of the window…I see them…see you. John says we can still get out if we move fast. I can’t move. He drags me. We get downstairs. They pour through the doors…I see you coming towards me…Lisa…I reach out with trembling hands to touch you…the smell…I touch your cheek…I hear John scream…your face falls from your skull liked warped rubber…the spell breaks and I run upstairs…hands grasp my legs as I climb the ladder to the attic…a gunshot…pain…safe.”
…Can’t breath, can’t get any air. Throat…my throat feels like it’s closing up…not like this. Please don’t let me die like this. I want to live, please let me LIVE! I’ll do what I’m told. I’ll fight better, I’ll obey any orders I don’t care I just want to live I…
25 minutes static. Note that the subjects desire to live in the face of death seems to create a mindset whereby the subject is willing to hand over control of himself in exchange for continued existence. It is my belief that this mindset should be exploited wherever possible.
…Better…that’s better. Feel…warm. Away…need to get away from them…away from the noise…Lisa?
Is that…
Oh Lisa.
[I]Neurotransmitter signal fades out at this point, with cessation of signal occurring 4 minutes and 18 seconds later. Remainder of signal continues in much the same manner as above (numerous references to the subject’s wife, fragmented reminiscences etc.) and I would not presume to waste your time with such inanities. The transcript does provide some useful information. I have already noted my comments concerning these throughout, and it is with that in mind that I would draw the following conclusions:
The subject’s failure to follow orders stemmed in the main from his desire to see his family. This should be avoided in future. I would recommend relocating any soldiers currently posted within 25 miles of their former homes.
The subject’s views concerning non-military personal must be encouraged throughout the populace. A populace that believes that the military is protecting it on sufferance will be easy to control. There will be no connection made between the brutality of the rank and file, and the protection from those infected with S-T 49873 afforded to them by the Leadership.
Thought should given as to how to portray the leadership in a manner acceptable to both military (who will require strong rulers who rule by strength) and the populace (who should be encouraged to view the Leadership as their benevolent protectors). Perhaps we should consider destroying certain texts (the works of George Orwell, certain historic records of the Second World and Balkan wars, etc) in all areas subject to Leadership control?
The data concerning the varying stages of the onset of S-T 49873 has proved most valuable to our scientists. However, it does not explain all of the physiological abnormalities found in reanimated corpses. Clearly we cannot afford to waste soldiers to gather further data. I would therefore propose that certain subversive elements of the populace be fitted with neurotransmitter implants. Once they are infected with the virus, the transcripts that they provide could give us valuable clues as to how to successfully combat and eradicate S-T 49874. It goes without saying that the remaining populace will be unquestioning in their support, and the advantage we would have over other nations still subject to S-T 49873 is incalculable.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration, December 25th 2007.
Captain Steven Metcalf
England Prevails.