Z is for Zombies

   

     As a member of the Muir Survivors' Security Council, my first job post-zombie apocalypse would be to assess and fortify the camp's defenses. At first this job, while vital and potentially difficult, seems pretty straight-forward: settle the community in a defensible location (for instance, the treetops of California's Muir Woods). Set up barriers, traps, walls, some kind of warning system. Organize a rotating watch duty. With a little time, legwork, and resources, it would be pretty easy to ensure that your camp will be relatively safe from attack.
     Or would it? These defenses would only protect the community from one type of attack, the most expected: overland attacks by zombies or other survivors. But what if there were zombie insects? We've touched on this issue briefly in class, but it's one that gravely concerns me, especially with regard to the Muir Survivors. Bugs are everywhere. Right now, microscopic bugs are crawling all over your skin and clothes, all over your computer and the chair you're sitting on. They can fit through tiny holes, pass unseen and unnoticed, and they can reproduce incredibly quickly.

     As if they alone weren't enough of a threat (they would create a hugely increased risk of infection), zombie bugs would lead to zombie animals, which would pose a great risk to human survival. Not only would there be an increased chance of infection from animal bites, but it would eventually lead to a complete loss of safe, edible meat. Zombie insects and zombie animals would certainly also bring about total death of plant life: either the plants would themselves become zombified, and thus unusable   or they would simply be killed off over time through lack of pollination.
     The Muir Survivors is a wilderness community: we make our living completely from the land; we make almost everything we use, with only occasional supplements of scavenged supplies. We live up in the treetops and farm and scavenge the woods. Zombie insects, animals, and plants would spell certain death for our community, and there is really no way to protect against them. What's a Defense Council member to do?