Coronazis

[Avoided Z] ?

What if…

Plot

It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device for the novel follows Max Brooks, author of the Zombie Survival Guide (referred to simply as "the civilian survival guide" in this book) and agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission, as he travels the world interviewing survivors of this zombie plague.

Although the exact origin and cause of the plague is unknown, a young boy from a village called Dachang in Chongqing, China is identified as the outbreak's official patient zero. The zombies of this setting are slow-moving, with no intelligence or senses, but with almost superhuman strength and a primal drive to consume living flesh (for reasons unknown, they possess the ability to tell the difference between the living and the dead). Infected corpses have a greatly reduced rate of decomposition, are immune to damage by most chemical means such as from freezing or sea water, and can only be killed permanently by destroying the brain.

China initiates a military crisis with Taiwan to distract from their attempts to contain the initial outbreaks. However, the plague continues to spread to neighbouring nations by human trafficking, refugees and the black market organ trade. Initially these nations are able to cover up their smaller outbreaks, until a much larger outbreak in South Africa brings the plague to public attention. At this point, the public and governments around the world begin to refer to the plague as "African Rabies", as most believe the zombies to merely be humans infected with a new strain of rabies rather than the living dead.

As the infection spreads, Israel abandons the Palestinian territories and initiates a nationwide reverse cordon sanitaire, closing its borders to everyone except uninfected Jews and Palestinians, leading to a civil war. The United States does little to prepare because of its overconfidence in its ability to suppress any threat, and the desire to not cause a panic during an election year. Although special forces teams contain initial small-scale domestic outbreaks, a widespread effort never starts: the US is deprived of political will by "brushfire wars", and a widely distributed and marketed placebo vaccine, Phalanx, creates a false sense of security.

After a journalist reveals that Phalanx does nothing to prevent zombification, and that the infected are not victims of rabies but rather walking corpses, an event known as the "Great Panic" begins. Order breaks down around the globe as countries discover the true severity of the catastrophe, and it is estimated that more people died due to the Great Panic than due to the infection. With entire lands overrun by the undead, panicked refugees by the millions move all over the world searching for safety. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, war erupts as Iran attempts to stem the flow of refugees from Pakistan, resulting in a nuclear exchange which obliterates both countries. Russia forces a decimation of its own military to prevent mutinies. Ukraine uses its stockpile of chemical weapons against large numbers of refugees and soldiers alike to root out the infected from the uninfected population as zombies, unlike humans, are unaffected by nerve gas.

After zombies overrun New York City, the US military sets up a high-profile defense in the nearby city of Yonkers with the hope that a great display of military power may help restore public order. The "Battle of Yonkers" is a disaster, however; modern weapons and tactics prove ineffective against zombies, which have no self-preservation instincts, feel no pain, and can only be stopped if shot through the head. The unprepared and demoralised soldiers are routed on live television. Other countries suffer similarly disastrous defeats, and human civilization teeters on the brink of collapse.

…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Z

———————————————-

Insider: China Censors Rejected Brad Pitt’s ‘World War Z’ (Exclusive)

https://www.thewrap.com/brad-pitt-world-war-z-china-rejecting-zombie-apocalypse-95051/