“
When the black thing was at its worst, when the illicit cocktails and the ten-mile runs stopped working, I would feel numb as if dead to the world. I moved unconsciously, with heavy limbs, like a zombie from a horror film. I felt a pain so fierce and persistent deep inside me, I was tempted to take the chopping knife in the kitchen and cut the black thing out I would lie on my bed staring at the ceiling thinking about that knife and using all my limited powers of self-control to stop myself from going downstairs to get it.
”
”
Alice Jamieson (Today I'm Alice: Nine Personalities, One Tortured Mind)
“
I wasn't crying, my eyes were running. My eyes were running because there were pieces of zombies all over my toys. Jesus.
”
”
Laurell K. Hamilton (The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #2))
“
How do I appear unthreatening when her lover's blood is running down my chin?
”
”
Isaac Marion (Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies, #1))
“
Run, sweetheart, run.
”
”
Rae Hachton (Frankie's Monster)
“
A zombie film is not fun without a bunch of stupid people running around and observing how they fail to handle the situation.
”
”
George A. Romero
“
She pictured herself running from a hoard of ravenous zombies on a hot day eventually collapsing from heatstroke and getting devoured. Then she imagined Hal giving a rousing eulogy at her funeral explaining how Kendra's death was a beautiful sacrifice allowing the noble zombies to live on delighting future generations by mindlessly trying to eat them. With her luck it could totally happen.
”
”
Brandon Mull (Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven, #3))
“
It’s a lot easier to blow up trains than to make them run on time.
”
”
Max Brooks (World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War)
“
So, it’s the zombie apocalypse, right? Zombies are coming out of the ass, running amuck through buildings and streets. You’ve already almost died three times by this point and have been mutated by the T virus twice, which appears to be painful. Would you take time in your obviously hectic daily routine to do your hair and put makeup on?
”
”
J. Lynn (Wait for You (Wait for You, #1))
“
Justin took off in a run.
Frosty and Bronx, too. It wasn’t long before Frosty was carrying Kat, Bronx was carrying Reeve and Justin was carrying Jaclyn. I think every one of them was crying. I forced myself to stand, to inch forward, toward the slayers.
”
”
Gena Showalter (Through the Zombie Glass (White Rabbit Chronicles, #2))
“
That's okay. If we are attacked by zombies I don't have to run fast. I just have to run faster than you.
”
”
Julie Kagawa (Rogue (Talon, #2))
“
There aren't any rules to running away from your problems. No checklist of things to cross off. No instructions. Eeny, meeny, pick a path and go. That's how my dad does it anyway because apparently there's no age limit to running away, either. He wakes up one day, packs the car with everything we own, and we hit the road. Watch all the pretty colors go by until he finds a town harmless enough to hide in. But his problems always find us. Sometimes quicker than others. Sometimes one month and sometimes six. There's no rule when it comes to that, either. Not about how long it takes for the problems to catch up with us. Just that they will—that much is a given. And then it's time to run again to a new town, a new home, and a new school for me.
But if there aren't any rules, I wonder why it feels the same every time. Feels like I leave behind a little bit of who I was in each house we've left empty. Scattering pieces of me in towns all over the place. A trail of crumbs dotting the map from everywhere we've left to everywhere we go. And they don't make any pictures when I connect dots. They are random like the stars littering the sky at night.
”
”
Brian James (Zombie Blondes)
“
Our virus is a lot smarter than the ones you see in zombie movies. It doesn't make its victims stagger around slobbering and moaning so anyone in their right minds would run the other way. It gets you cozying up to people so you cough and sneeze it right into their faces.
We just need the vaccine. Then we'll be okay.
”
”
Megan Crewe (The Way We Fall (Fallen World, #1))
“
Zombies cannot run. I say this definitively as the godfather of zombies. Zombies cannot run.
So anyone who has a zombie running...don't listen to that person. Their ankles would snap. I mean what did they do, go and join a spa the moment they rose from the dead? Gimme a break. They're dead.
”
”
George A. Romero
“
She delivered a vicious blow, penetrating his rib cage, and withdrew her hand — with the ninja's still-beating heart in it. As all but Lady Catherine turned away in disgust, Elizabeth took a bite, letting the blood run down her chin and onto her sparring gown. "Curious," said Elizabeth, still chewing. "I have tasted many a heart, but I dare say, I find the Japanese ones a bit tender."
Her ladyship left the dojo without giving compliment to Elizabeth's skills.
”
”
Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, #1))
“
A typical race morning usually starts out looking like a scene from a zombie movie: individuals or pairs of people walking down a deserted street, all headed in the same direction.... Inevitably, regardless of the weather, U2's "Beautiful Day" streams out of loudspeakers.
”
”
Sarah Bowen Shea (Train Like a Mother: How to Get Across Any Finish Line - and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity)
“
I know what I’m doing,” he growled.
“If you knew what you were doing, we wouldn’t have two million zombie bunnies chasing us!” she shouted.
“Guys,” Daphne said, trying to get their attention, but her sister was too angry to listen.
“How was I supposed to know that kid was mentally unhinged?” Puck said.
“I don’t know,” Sabrina snapped. “Maybe when we found him running from a dead body?”
“Guys!” Daphne shouted.
“What!” Puck and Sabrina snapped.
“LOOK OUT!
”
”
Michael Buckley
“
I'd wander for days in the fog, scared I'd never see another thing, then there'd be that door, opening to show me the mattress padding on the other side to stop out the sounds, the men standing in a line like zombies among shiny copper wires and tubes pulsing light, and the bright scrape of arcing electricity. I'd take my place in the line and wait my turn at the table. The table shaped like a cross, with shadows of a thousand murdered men printed on it, silhouette wrists and ankles running under leather straps sweated green with use, a silhouette neck and head running up to a silver band goes across the forehead. And a technician at the controls beside the table looking up from his dial and down the line and pointing at me with a rubber glove.
”
”
Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
“
When you’re being chased by zombies, hills are either your best friends or your burial ground. The slope slows them down, which is great, unless you hit the peak and find out that you’re surrounded, with nowhere left to run to.
”
”
Mira Grant (Feed (Newsflesh, #1))
“
You see? I have the run of this place." "Run? More like the zombie shuffle."-Yianna & Motti
”
”
Stephen Cole (Thieves Like Us (Thieves Like Us, #1))
“
It’s a lot easier to blow up trains than to make them run on time. What is it that Mister Churchill used to say? “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.
”
”
Max Brooks (World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War)
“
I wish I could break this window. Step through it. But I can't break this window. I can't even find some less dramatic way to die inside of this school, like hanging myself or slitting my wrists, because what would they do with my body? It might put everyone at risk. I won't let myself do that.
I'm not selfish like Lily.
I hate her. I hate her so much my heart tries to crawl out of my throat but it gets stuck there and beats crazily in the too narrow space. I bring my hands to my neck and try to massage it back down. I pres so heard against the skin, my eyes sting, and then I'm hurrying back down the stairs, back to the first floor. I think of Trace running laps, something he can control.
”
”
Courtney Summers (This is Not a Test (This is Not a Test, #1))
“
Mimicque—zombies—can only be killed with an iron or obsidian blade, so don't think you can just act like the wrestler El Santo in the 1970s film El Santo Versus the Mummies of Guanajuato. If a walking undead is after you, run. Let the experts take care of the zombies.
”
”
David Bowles (Mexican Bestiary)
“
Beth sort of hugs me,
which I am not a fan of,
so I kick and run.
”
”
Ryan Mecum (Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your...Brains)
“
Each time a girl approached the table, Mortimer would smile. Like this: And each time the girl would shriek and run away.
”
”
Kelly DiPucchio (Zombie in Love)
“
little brother started bothering me again. He’s such a little ankle biter! No, really. He likes to bite my ankles and run away… Really fast!
”
”
Zack Zombie (A Scare of a Dare (Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, #1))
“
Maybe Talon was secretly operating a chocolate factory," I joked, "because they discovered that making chocolate is much more rewarding than trying to take over everything"
Riley snorted. "If they put something in the bars that turned all humans into mindless drones, I wouldn't put it past them," he replied. "But I doubt that's what happened here, Firebrand."
"Okay, but if we run into chocolate-fueled zombies, you owe me dinner."
"Always the zombies with you.
”
”
Julie Kagawa (Soldier (Talon, #3))
“
stone and concrete rain down. The rubble pounds the grass like a meteor shower. It’s like the tomb was detonated from the inside out. Like something suddenly ripped through it . . . Woozy, gripping the damp dirt, I get to my knees.And what I see—it makes my blood run ice cold. . . .
”
”
Max Brallier (The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade)
“
we like to think of it as parallel to what we know
only bigger. one man against the authorities.
or one man against a city of zombies. one man
who is not, in fact, a man, sent to understand
the caravan of men now chasing him like red ants
let loose down the pants of america. man on the run.
”
”
Tracy K. Smith (Life on Mars: Poems)
“
This is the moment I have dreaded, the very reason why we kept running, even when it seemed hopeless. We all seemed to believe if we kept running, we would never die. But what exactly had we been hoping to find in the end? A magical place where the infection hadn't spread? A castle surrounded by gumdrops and cotton candy?
”
”
Jen Naumann (The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life)
“
Get the hell away from us before i go find my hammer and pound some sense into that gaping hole between your ears
”
”
Kristen Middleton (Running Wild (Zombie Games, #2))
“
Girls who can run in high heels should be feared.
”
”
Faith McKay (Lipstick & Zombies (Deadly Divas, #1))
“
You could die tomorrow, Alexis, why not enjoy today?
”
”
Gillian Zane (Run (NOLA Zombie Book 1))
“
Pretty lady. Why are you crying? My mom says crying makes your asscarrots run,” Angel said.
”
”
Mark Tufo (The End Has Come and Gone (Zombie Fallout, #4))
“
Zombies were probably munching on my friends and family as we speak and I was contemplating orgasms in the apocalypse. But it couldn’t be helped.
”
”
Gillian Zane (Run (NOLA Zombie Book 1))
“
I never used to run before this, never wanted to and never had the time to. Now, I run nearly every day.
”
”
Patricia Hamill (Fearless)
“
All that ran through my mind at her suggesstion was running through the park with a ton of turned Disney Princesses and the three little pigs hot on our trail.
”
”
Patricia Hamill (Fearless)
“
Presents? Cake? I could use a new bat, maybe some good work boots or running shoes.
”
”
Patricia Hamill (Fearless)
“
...I can't make exceptions for myself. If I can run, I will run. I don't have to feel good to do it.
”
”
Patricia Hamill (Fearless)
“
Wouldn't it be ironic if everyone who got a radio up and running just sat around waiting for everyone else to transmit a message?
”
”
Patricia Hamill (Fearless)
“
On one notable occasion there was a group that went semicultish whose rallying cry was “Rationality! Reason! Objective reality!” (More on this later.) Labeling the Great Idea “rationality” won’t protect you any more than putting up a sign over your house that says “Cold!” You still have to run the air conditioner—expend the required energy per unit time to reverse the natural slide into cultishness. Worshipping rationality won’t make you sane any more than worshipping gravity enables you to fly. You can’t talk to thermodynamics and you can’t pray to probability theory. You can use it, but not join it as an in-group.
”
”
Eliezer Yudkowsky (Rationality: From AI to Zombies)
“
Liam... You’re the best. You’re handsome, funny, patient with my fits, a fantastic cook. You taught me how to swim.” Ryan bit his lip, eyes focused on the shadowed face in front of him. “Like, if there was a zombie apocalypse, you’d save me and feed me.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t need some loser with a guitar that wouldn’t even work without electricity. I’d need a real man. The kind that runs into a burning building to save me.
”
”
K.A. Merikan (Special Needs: The Complete Story)
“
Then I heard him shout “They’re running! Holy fuckin’ shit, they’re fast!” Fast zombies, that turned my gut. If they could run, they could climb, if they could climb, maybe they could think, and if they could think…now I was scared.
”
”
Max Brooks (World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War)
“
I can’t imagine you ever going to a dump,” BT said to her. “I’ve had reason,” she replied flatly. “I don’t even want to know,” BT said. “I wouldn’t tell you anyway. All I know is that if I run out of cigarettes I plan on making your life a living hell,
”
”
Mark Tufo ('Till Death Do Us Part (Zombie Fallout, #6))
“
It’s that zombie virus thing that was on the news!” shouted a man in a Starfleet uniform. It was Next Generation command red, but he was running away from the danger, not toward it. Maybe that was how the command crew stayed alive. “They’ll eat you if you stay here!” “They
”
”
Mira Grant (Rise: The Complete Newsflesh Collection)
“
Shawshank’s good,” he says. “But you can’t beat the way Woody Harrelson kills zombies. He takes such joy in it.”
“Uh-huh,” I say, making a face. “I’ve always found zombies to be the least threatening of the scary monsters. I mean, come on. They’re slow. They’re brain-dead. They don’t plot evil or try to take over the world. They just—” I put my arms out in front of me and give him my best zombie groan. I shake my head. “So not scary.”
“But they just. Keep. Coming,” Christian says. “You can run, you can kill them, but more of them always pop up, and they never stop.” He shudders. “And they try to eat you, and if you get bitten, that’s it—you’re infected. You’re doomed to become a zombie yourself. End of story.”
“Okay,” I concede, “they’re kind of scary,” and now I’m vaguely disappointed that we’re not here to watch a zombie movie.
”
”
Cynthia Hand (Boundless (Unearthly, #3))
“
I had never been out of the country before. And maybe this trip didn’t technically count because, well, America had officially imploded and I hadn’t needed a passport to cross the border, but I was more than a little disappointed we hadn’t run into a mariachi band yet. “Donde esta el Zombies?
”
”
Rachel Higginson (Love and Decay 3, Episode Two (Love and Decay 3, #2))
“
she was very fast and she was able to elude the zombies by running around the block and then back to the court house where another zombie in the shredded-up uniform of a county sheriff had been on its hands and knees, eating the white-heads off the clovers. It hadn’t seen her before and she didn’t see it, now.
”
”
Peter Meredith (The Apocalypse Outcasts (The Undead World #3))
“
Botnets are supremely powerful, since they can comprise thousands, even hundreds of thousands of computers, scattered all over the Internet, connected to juicy high-speed connections and running on fast home PCs. Those PCs normally function on behalf of their owners, but when the botmaster calls them, they rise like zombies to do his bidding.
”
”
Cory Doctorow (Little Brother (Little Brother, #1))
“
There were too many infected running around. Some looked as if they were dead already, but still they stumbled around like heroine addicts. Those ones did not move as fast as the newly infected, who were actually capable of running like a perfectly healthy person. They were the scary ones to worry about. All it took was one bite to ruin your day.
”
”
Jason Medina (The Manhattanville Incident: An Undead Novel)
“
The gunnery sergeant didn’t crack a smile at the radio intercept of Faith’s concept of a backup plan, an intercept that had caused Commander Bradburn, skipper of the Dallas, to literally fall out of his command chair laughing. Sands managed to watch the video stone-faced as she boarded the Voyage and began her “fifteen minutes of mayhem,” set in the video to the tune of Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping. He managed to keep a straight face the third time she popped back up like a jack-in-the-box after being dogpiled by zombies. He held it in during her overheard running commentary as the rest of the Marines, even the NCOs, started rolling on the deck.
It was when she got the Halligan tool stuck in a zombie’s head and overbalanced that he snorted. When she unstuck her bent machete and it caught a male zombie in the groin he started laughing out loud. When the, admittedly not petite, girl stuck a boot knife in a zombie’s eye then threw him over the side, tears started running down his face and he completely lost his composure as a senior NCO of the United States Marine Corps.
”
”
John Ringo (To Sail a Darkling Sea (Black Tide Rising, #2))
“
Once upon a time, a noob named Lenny never liked doors. Doors got in Lenny's way. Doors slowed Lenny down. Lenny had to open them and close them. Without a door for his dirt house, Lenny was free to run inside and outside again without any delay. Then one night, Lenny couldn't understand why so many zombies were approaching his house with their arms outstretched.
”
”
Cube Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Villager #6 (An Unofficial Minecraft book))
“
When the zombies win, their quest to eat and infect human flesh will continue unabated. They will have known only gorging, only feasting; they will not understand the world as anything other than a screaming buffet on the run. Yet there will be only silence and vacant rooms where once there was food, and the zombies, in their slow and stumbling way, will be surprised.
”
”
Ellen Datlow (The Best Horror of the Year Volume 3)
“
Mr. Beetroot, the history teacher, continued: "After several months of existing in the Overworld, a zombie will turn into a skeleton. The skeleton will grow smarter. The skeleton will run away if injured." Meanwhile, I thought: After thirty minutes of Mob History II, Runt will turn into a zombie. Runt will make moaning sounds. Runt will head toward the nearest door and break it down.
”
”
Cube Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Villager #9 (An Unofficial Minecraft book))
“
We passed more people, unsure of who was running and who was chasing. I saw parents carrying their young children, and pulling along older ones by the hand. A couple of times people sreamed at me to stop, begged me to hlep them, but stopping always meant dying in the movies, and I was barely eighteen. I wasn't sure how long we could survive, but I knew I wasn't dying on day one of the fucking zombie apocalypse.
”
”
Jamie McGuire
“
Kids are nearly insane. Doubt me? Think of all the asinine things they do. What won’t they put in their mouths? What won’t they dive off of? What situations won’t they put themselves in? Why do you think parents go prematurely gray or bald? Because it takes a lot of effort to keep crazy Cathy and insane Isaac from running into traffic with nothing more on than a pair of wet diapers and sand pails on their heads.
”
”
Mark Tufo (Tattered Remnants (Zombie Fallout, #9))
“
We inherently know that, when controlled by others, life loses its flair and we are cast into melancholy and mediocrity. Without such striving for individual freedom, what becomes of us? We relinquish our free will to a society of strangers that speaks not of liberty and courage but of conformity and caution. Our true self is subjugated and a pseudo self emerges, a mere reflection of a society that has lost its way. “They” start running our lives and soon we are not “us” anymore, just walking zombies filled with the commands of others’ preferences and expectations. We become those masked souls who spend their time wandering in a wildernesses of sameness and sadness. We become tired and weak. We lose our nature. And then we see the worst of human behavior—a mass of people who do not speak up for themselves or others but rather do only what they are told.
”
”
Brendon Burchard (The Motivation Manifesto: 9 Declarations to Claim Your Personal Power)
“
Her twitching muscles felt near enough like wracking sobs. Struggling on that table felt near enough like times she’d clutched her knees and sobbed quietly in the tub. Life and love. When the bad parts crept in, sometimes she wished it would end. Wished there was some quick way out for cowards. She loved her husband, wasn’t sure how not to, but sometimes she sat in the tub with the water running dangerously hot and wanted out. Like now, just wanting to die.
”
”
Hugh Howey (I, Zombie)
“
Nicky turned and bolted. He’d only had about a thirty foot head start and a few were closing ground on him quickly. He cursed his hundred-dollar shoes and his vanity. The shoes looked great, but were definitely not made for running, nor was the suit he was wearing. He vowed that if he made it out of there alive, he’d only wear sneakers and track suits for the rest of his days. "Of course, I’ll probably be laughed out of the mob, but I don’t care at this point.
”
”
Ian McClellan (One Undead Step)
“
Now, we’d had goldfish before. We won them at a church fair by throwing ping-pong balls into the little bowls they were swimming in. They didn’t live very long though. Mom said it was because the fish all had concussions from being hit on the head with the ping-pong balls. I had a concussion once when I was four, after I accidentally ran into the front door that Mark accidentally slammed shut just as he accidentally yelled, “Run, Tom, run.” That was back when he was just mostly evil.
”
”
Mo O'Hara (My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish)
“
Hey Pete. So why the leave from social media? You are an activist, right? It seems like this decision is counterproductive to your message and work."
A: The short answer is I’m tired of the endless narcissism inherent to the medium. In the commercial society we have, coupled with the consequential sense of insecurity people feel, as they impulsively “package themselves” for public consumption, the expression most dominant in all of this - is vanity. And I find that disheartening, annoying and dangerous. It is a form of cultural violence in many respects. However, please note the difference - that I work to promote just that – a message/idea – not myself… and I honestly loath people who today just promote themselves for the sake of themselves. A sea of humans who have been conditioned into viewing who they are – as how they are seen online. Think about that for a moment. Social identity theory run amok.
People have been conditioned to think “they are” how “others see them”. We live in an increasing fictional reality where people are now not only people – they are digital symbols. And those symbols become more important as a matter of “marketing” than people’s true personality. Now, one could argue that social perception has always had a communicative symbolism, even before the computer age. But nooooooothing like today. Social media has become a social prison and a strong means of social control, in fact.
Beyond that, as most know, social media is literally designed like a drug. And it acts like it as people get more and more addicted to being seen and addicted to molding the way they want the world to view them – no matter how false the image (If there is any word that defines peoples’ behavior here – it is pretention). Dopamine fires upon recognition and, coupled with cell phone culture, we now have a sea of people in zombie like trances looking at their phones (literally) thousands of times a day, merging their direct, true interpersonal social reality with a virtual “social media” one. No one can read anymore... they just swipe a stream of 200 character headlines/posts/tweets. understanding the world as an aggregate of those fragmented sentences. Massive loss of comprehension happening, replaced by usually agreeable, "in-bubble" views - hence an actual loss of variety.
So again, this isn’t to say non-commercial focused social media doesn’t have positive purposes, such as with activism at times. But, on the whole, it merely amplifies a general value system disorder of a “LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT HOW GREAT I AM!” – rooted in systemic insecurity. People lying to themselves, drawing meaningless satisfaction from superficial responses from a sea of avatars.
And it’s no surprise. Market economics demands people self promote shamelessly, coupled with the arbitrary constructs of beauty and success that have also resulted. People see status in certain things and, directly or pathologically, use those things for their own narcissistic advantage. Think of those endless status pics of people rock climbing, or hanging out on a stunning beach or showing off their new trophy girl-friend, etc. It goes on and on and worse the general public generally likes it, seeking to imitate those images/symbols to amplify their own false status. Hence the endless feedback loop of superficiality.
And people wonder why youth suicides have risen… a young woman looking at a model of perfection set by her peers, without proper knowledge of the medium, can be made to feel inferior far more dramatically than the typical body image problems associated to traditional advertising. That is just one example of the cultural violence inherent.
The entire industry of social media is BASED on narcissistic status promotion and narrow self-interest. That is the emotion/intent that creates the billions and billions in revenue these platforms experience, as they in turn sell off people’s personal data to advertisers and governments. You are the product, of course.
”
”
Peter Joseph
“
Eighty years, whether it feels that way to us right now? It’s a long time. We’ve had a good run. And we—not you and I, but the Big We—we’re getting into the habit of destroying everything good about ourselves before taking our belated leave. Remember those horror films we grew up watching? About zombies, and mummies, and Frankenstein’s monster, staggering around with gaping mouths and vacant eyes? Those creatures played on a primal fear: of living death. And despite the fact that it’s one of our mythic terrors, that’s what we're trying to arrange for everyone now: a living death.
”
”
Lionel Shriver (Should We Stay or Should We Go)
“
I POINT OUT the embankment leading down to the water’s edge. “All the way down to that walking trail,” I say to Ringer. “And don’t wait for me.” She shakes her head, frowning. I lean in, keeping my expression as serious as I can. “I thought I had you with the zombie remark. One of these days, I’m going to get a smile out of you, Private.” Very much not smiling. “I don’t think so, sir.” “You have something against smiling?” “It was the first thing to go.” Then the snow and the dark swallow her. The rest of the squad follows. I can hear Teacup whimpering beneath her breath as Dumbo leads her off, going, “Run hard when it goes, Cup, okay?
”
”
Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1))
“
I can’t believe you’re in the gym again,” Tink went on, stepping aside. “Why are you in here running so much? Are you preparing for the impending zombie apocalypse that I know nothing about? Because if you are, we need to find the nearest redneck to become best friends with, one that is hot in a dirty, rugged way. You know, the kind that probably smells like sweat and man, one with a complex background that makes you hate him at first, but slowly, over time, you grow to love him.”
I stared at him. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
“I have. I like to be prepared. Since we’re in the south, it shouldn’t be hard to find one. So, why are you in the gym so much?
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (Brave (Wicked Trilogy, #3))
“
I'm living in a horror movie, all right. Only the horror doesn't have anything to do with necrophilia or black masses or crosses hung upside down, or with vampires who can't swim or zombies who work in sugar cane fields and can't stop shambling off cliffs when some guy with a jawbreaker accent says so, No, this is real life. It was running out all around him. the footprints of assassins and neo-fascists and government officials with secret closets full of tutus, private armies training in ships named after the wives of oilmen, of drunken presidents in bed with the mob and the cartels that slice up the world and stick FOR SALE signs on the pieces; while the real kings of earth lie moldering in their graves, their brains stolen away in the night and their bullet wounds altered to match storybook plots that would be laughed out of any preschool classroom. And all this while the billions sweat and grow old like the living dead, their lifeblood sucked dry by the takers of souls who need our labor to feed a hunger for power without end. The undead? What a cheapjack explanation for so much misery. There is more than enough to account for it all without falling back on the unnameable. It's already here. The trick is to see it and not flinch- there's no future in denial. It's as simple, and as enormous, as that. The truth, however bleak, was almost comforting.
”
”
Dennis Etchison (California Gothic)
“
Niagara Falls! Hordes of us! Husbands! Wives! Flowers! Chocolates!
All streaming into cozy hotels
All going to do the same thing tonight
The indifferent clerk he knowing what was going to happen
The lobby zombies they knowing what
The whistling elevator man he knowing
The winking bellboy knowing
Everybody knowing! I'd be almost inclined not to do anything!
Stay up all night! Stare that hotel clerk in the eye!
Screaming: I deny honeymoon! I deny honeymoon!
running rampant into those almost climatic suites
yelling Radio belly! Cat shovel!
O I'd live in Niagara forever! in a dark cave beneath the Falls
I'd sit there the Mad Honeymooner devising ways to break marriages, a scourge of
bigamy a saint of divorce--
”
”
Gregory Corso
“
Just outside of Greater Los Angeles, in a town called Claremont, are five colleges—Pomona, Pitzer, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, and Claremont Mckenna. At the start of the Great Panic, when everyone else was running, literally, for the hills, three hundred students chose to make a stand. They turned the Women’s College at Scripps into something resembling a medieval city. They got their supplies from the other campuses; their weapons were a mix of landscaping tools and ROTC practice rifles. They planted gardens, dug wells, fortified an already existing wall. While the mountains burned behind them, and the surrounding suburbs descended into violence, those three hundred kids held off ten thousand zombies! Ten thousand, over the course of four months, until the Inland Empire could finally be pacified.
”
”
Max Brooks (World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War)
“
I see a human form coming toward me, arms outstretched. Assuming that form to be naked, I duck and back up so as not to get groped by one of my zombie friends,only to back my bare heinie into someone else.
"Ahh!" Mackenzie screams.
"Ahh!" I scream right back.
Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh. My eyes are adjusting, and I see that all five of us are jumping up and down and screaming. We would usually hug or fall into some kind of laughing pileup in this kind of situation,but in our current state, we insteadt sort of cover our chests with one forearm and slap at the air in front of us with the other. Then we all start shushing one another, terribly afraid of waking up anyone else in the house.
Kimi opens the door to the family room and we peek out. No sign of human life in the kitchen. I spooked myself in there only a few minutes ago, and now I'm about to run headlong into this very same nightmare naked. What is wrong with me?
”
”
Alecia Whitaker (The Queen of Kentucky)
“
I started blasting my gun. Letting loose a stream of words like I'd never used before. True to form, Misty didn't stay put and stood at my side. Tears stained her cheeks. Her gun firing wildly. It was a blur. The next thing I knew, no zombies were left standing and we knelt at Kali's side. I took out a rag and wiped the feathers from his face. We could tell he was still alive. His chest rising and falling in jerks. "Kali, how bad are you hurt?" I asked with an unsteady voice. "I'm okay, guys. Did we get all of them?" he whispered. "Nate, he's been bit all over!" I looked down at his body, covered in white feathers, speckled with splotches of deep red. "Yep. You got 'em, even those freak chickens." "Nate, I'm thirsty," his voice shaky and cracking. "Okay, buddy. We've got water in the truck." "No, not water. How about a glass of lemonade?" "Kali, what are you saying?" Misty's voice was tense as a piano string. "Hurry, Nate. I'm getting weak—the lemonade." I think running into the crowd of zombies would have been easier than this. Maybe that's why Kali chucked a rock at my head—he knew he could count on me for this. I ripped off a small water gun I had taped on my suit and tore off the cap. "Oh, Nate, don't. Maybe there's something we can do. Maybe—" she stopped. I put my hand behind Kali's neck and felt a slight burn, probably zombie snot. Misty took one of his hands and held it to her chest. "You were so brave, Kali, so brave." My hands didn't shake anymore; they were numb, as if they didn't belong to me. I manipulated them the best I could—like using chopsticks. Lifting Kali's head, I poured the juice into his mouth until it was gone. He was burning up; his skin felt like it was on fire. "I never thought I'd have friends, real friends—thank you, guys." He closed his eyes and I felt the muscles in his neck go limp. Gently, I put his head down and cleaned my blistering hand with the rag. Misty wiped her tears as I put the rag over Kali's face. "No, thank you, kid." We sat there still, silent except for the small cries that we both let slip out. Misty, still holding his hand. Me, staring down at my hands, soaked in tears. I don't know how much time passed. It could have been five minutes; it might have been an hour. Suddenly, the feathers moved, flying in every direction. Looking up, I saw a helicopter coming down in front of us—one of those big black military ones. It landed and three men stepped out. They wore protective gear like you see in those alien movies. I worried a little about what they might have planned for us. I've seen enough movies to know those government types can't be trusted—especially when they're in those protective suits. "What happened here? How did you manage to negate the virus?" one of the hooded figures asked. "Zombie juice," I replied. "Zombie juice?" "Actually it was the Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb," Misty added as she stood and took my hand.
”
”
M.J.A. Ware (Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb (A Zombie Apocalypse Novel Book 1))
“
The crowd bit and scratched anyone they came into contact with, but mostly they grabbed and ate people. It was like a scene from a horror movie. People were running for their lives in every direction. It was every man and woman for himself or herself. No one helped anyone. About a minute later, there was no safe direction to go because those monsters were everywhere.
”
”
Jason Medina (The Manhattanville Incident: An Undead Novel)
“
The way the zombies run behind blood and flesh in the movies is same way hygienic zombies (materialistic human beings) are running behind greed and insanity, with no heart, mind, or consciousness.
”
”
Vishal Chipkar (Enter Heaven)
“
I, um, had had it in mind to take Azeel and Rodrigo with me to South Carolina. But they may be helpful to the present venture, if…er…if Rodrigo is sufficiently recovered.” “Has he been ill?” Worry creased the general’s already-furrowed brow. “I hear the yellow jack comes to the West Indies at this season, but I hadn’t thought Jamaica was badly affected.” “No, not ill, exactly. He had the misfortune to run afoul of a houngan—a sort of, um, African wizard, I believe—and was turned into a zombie.
”
”
Diana Gabaldon (Seven Stones to Stand or Fall: A Collection of Outlander Fiction)
“
Some of the slow zombies nearby noticed the door open and began rushing toward them, as fast as they could. They did not run, but they were moving fast enough to be a threat.
”
”
Jason Medina (The Manhattanville Incident: An Undead Novel)
“
I made it to Ms. Bones’ Scare class when she said, “Kids, remember, this exam will count toward 50% of your grade. So make sure you give it your all when you go out and scare those villagers today.” “Not me,” I thought, “I’m going to get those villagers laughing so hard, they won’t be scared at all.” When we got to the village, all the other kids picked a villager to scare. And the other kids did really well. But then it was my turn. I picked a villager that I saw picking crops. Steve also gave me some music to go with the routine, so I turned on the boom box and jumped out of the bushes. “Everybody Dance Now!” I started doing my routine, and it was good! I was all up into my routine, when more and more villagers gathered around me. I was really getting into it. Soon, the entire village was gathered around me, and they were into it too. “Hey guys, check out what Zombie is doing!” one of the mob kids yelled. Then all of the mob kids jumped out of the bushes at once. All of a sudden, the entire village went crazy and the villagers started running and screaming. “It’s the Zombie Apocalypse!” a villager yelled. “AAAAHHHH!!!” was all I heard, as all of the villagers scattered to their homes. Ms. Bones was shocked. “You scared the entire village all at once!” she said. “That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!” Then she said, “You get an A plus for your scare test, and for the class. Congratulations, Zombie!” Man, I really hate my life.
”
”
Herobrine Books (School Daze (Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, #5))
“
Knock, knock mother fuckers,” I yell, unintentionally using a cool line that sounds like it's something off of the movie Die Hard. The zombies turn as one with an awful snap of their jaws, and I spin and jump off the porch, stumbling a little on a rock, but I manage to right myself, and then I’m running for my life.
”
”
Megan Berry (Zomb-Pocalypse 3)
“
Like any smart person in my predicament, I made sure the light was pointing right in my eyes when I turned it on. Nothing like a case of temporary blindness to get your adrenaline running.
”
”
Mark Tufo (A Plague Upon Your Family (Zombie Fallout, #2))
“
I wanted to tell him that wasn’t normal for ninety-eight percent of the American population. Most of us would have been happy with a four-day weekend at Six Flags, a Wednesday night run to Wendy’s, and hopefully making enough money so that we wouldn’t have to hand out stickers at Walmart when we retired. No offense, Tommy. If nothing else, the zombies had leveled the playing field. We all were equally mired in the shit of existence now. I just nodded. I saw no sense or purpose in kicking the man while he was down. “It
”
”
Mark Tufo (The End (Zombie Fallout, #3))
“
The tears were back, stinging just behind my eyes. There was blood all over my penguins. I didn’t give a damn about the walls and carpet. They could be replaced, but I’d collected those damned stuffed toys over years. I let the paramedic lead me away. Tears trickling down my cheeks. I wasn’t crying, my eyes were running. My eyes were running because there were pieces of zombie all over my toys. Jesus.
”
”
Laurell K. Hamilton (The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #2))
“
His body was just running around waving his hands in the air, not knowing which direction to go.
”
”
Zack Zombie (Bullies and Buddies (Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, #2))
“
Full Disclosure: when Dan DiDio approached me about doing one, I was wary to say the least. Nowadays events often mean character deaths or reboots or company-wide publishing initiatives and so on. But the run Greg Capullo and I had on BATMAN was, for better or for worse, idiosyncratic - about our own hopes, our fears, our interests. It was just... very much ours.
Even so, I told Dan that I *did* have a story, one I'd been working on for a few years, a big one, in the back of my brain. It was about a detective case that stretched back to the beginnings of humanity, a mystery about the nature of the DC Universe that Batman would try to uncover, and which would lead him and the Justice League to discover that their own cosmology was much larger, scarier and more wondrous than they'd known. But I wasn't sure it would make a good "event".
Dan, to his credit, said, "Work it up and let's see."
So I did. But in the course of working it up, I reread all the events I could think of. Just for reference. Not only recent ones, but events from years ago, from when I was a kid. And what I discovered, or rediscovered, was that at their core, events are joyous things. They're these great big stories, ridiculous tales about alien invasions or cosmic gems or zombie-space-cop attacks that have the highest stakes possible - stories where the whole universe hangs in the balance and nothing will ever be the same again! They were *about* things, and - what I also realized while doing my homework - when I was a kid, they were THE stories that brought me and my friends together. We'd split our money and buy different parts of an event, just to be able to argue about it. We'd meet after school and go on for hours about who should win, who should lose...
Because even the grimmest events are celebratory. They're about pushing the limits of an already ludicrous form to a breaking point. So that's what I came back with. I remember standing in my kitchen and getting ready to pitch DARK NIGHTS: METAL to Greg, having prepared a whole presentation, a whole argument as to why, crazy as it was, it was us, it was *our* event. I said "It's called METAL," and Greg said, "I'm in," before I could even tell him the story. And even though Dan thought it was crazy, he went with it, and for that I'm very grateful.
In the end, METAL is a lot of things - it's about those moments when you find yourself face to face with the worst versions of yourself, moments when all looks like doom - but at it's heart it's a love letter to comic storytelling at its most lunatic, and a tribute to the kinds of stories, events that got me thought hard times as a kid and as an adult. It's about using friendship as a foundation to go further than you thought you could go, and that means it's about me and Greg, and you as well. Because we tried something different with it, something ours, hoping you'd show up, and you did.
So thank you, sincerely, from all of us on the team. Because when they work, events are about coming together and rocking out over our love of this crazy art form.
And you're all in the band, now and always.
”
”
Scott Snyder (Dark Nights: Metal)
“
As long as the zombie subroutines are running smoothly, the CEO can sleep. It is only when something goes wrong (say, all the departments suddenly find that their business models have catastrophically failed) that the CEO is rung up. Think about when your conscious awareness comes online: in those situations where events in the world violate your expectations. When everything is going according to the needs and skills of your zombie systems, you are not consciously aware of most of what’s in front of you; when suddenly they cannot handle the task, you become consciously aware of the problem. The CEO scrambles around, looking for fast solutions, dialing up everyone to find who can address the problem best.
”
”
David Eagleman (Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain)
“
Golden Rule #1 Always build a door for your house. Once upon a time, a noob named Lenny never liked doors. They got in his way. They slowed him down. He had to open them and close them. Without a door for his dirt house, Lenny was free to run inside and outside without any delay. Then one night, Lenny couldn’t understand why so many zombies were approaching his house with their arms outstretched. THE ZOMBIES AREN’T COMING IN FOR TEA, LENNY. OMG, THE ZOMBIES AREN’T COMING IN FOR
”
”
Cube Kid (Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: From Seeds to Swords (8-Bit Warrior, #2))
“
Addiction gradually turns you into a zombie. Zombies don’t have free will. Once again, this result isn’t total but statistical. You become more like a zombie, more of the time, than you otherwise would be. There’s no need to believe in some myth of perfect people who are completely free of addictions. They don’t exist. You’re not going to become perfect or perfectly free, no matter how many self-help books you read or how many addictive services you quit. There’s no such thing as perfectly free will. Our brains are constantly changing their ways to adapt to a changing environment. It’s hard work, and brains get tired! Sometimes they take a break, zone out, and run on autopilot. But that’s different from being driven by hidden manipulators
”
”
Jaron Lanier (Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now)
“
Where’s the fire?” I slow my pace, falling into step beside her.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “This is my normal walk. Maybe you should try to walk a little faster.”
“Well, your normal walk is like jogging for me and I don’t jog,” she says.
“Actually, I only run if someone is chasing me or there’s a zombie apocalypse.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You’re something else, Little McCallister.
”
”
Kendall Hale (Knot Really Engaged (Happily Ever Mishaps, #2))
“
Nova felt faint. Ask me to walk on broken glass, my darling. Ask me to tear my heart out and give it to you. Ask me to swim around the world, to out-run a Titanide, to wrestle a zombie. Ask any of these things and I will do them gladly, or die in the attempt, for you.
”
”
John Varley (Demon (Gaea, #3))
“
After Scare School, me, Creepy, Skelee and Slimey like to go out to have some fun. Sometimes we go to the village to cause some trouble. Our favorite game is to bang on some doors and run away. I almost got caught once. But I just said, “Uuurrrrgghhh” to talk my way out of it.
”
”
Herobrine Books (A Scare of a Dare (Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, #1))
“
Our favorite game is to bang on some doors and run away. I almost got caught once. But I just said, “Uuurrrrgghhh” to talk my way out of it.
”
”
Herobrine Books (A Scare of a Dare (Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, #1))
“
To need help is to imply weakness. When weakness is perceived, it is believed you are soft. When people think of you as soft, they will run roughshod over you.
”
”
Mark Tufo (Tattered Remnants (Zombie Fallout, #9))
“
Zombies run to family when they’re in trouble.
”
”
S.W. Fairbrother (The Secret Dead)
“
Don't wait for children's toys to fall into your garden Part of eliminating compassion is stopping other people from trying to pull it out of you. A guaranteed way to do this is to follow this exercise. Many children will undoubtedly be playing games near your home, and perhaps a Frisbee or a ball will land in your garden. The typical grumpy old man won't give it back. You must go one step further. On these same strolls where you locate charity workers, locate children playing. Playgrounds are a good place to start, but you want to be careful you don't look like a pedophile. Remember, you love nothing, children included. When you see children playing a game quickly run up and pop their ball or hurl their Frisbee into a nearby tree. Word will spread and no one will try to drag you down to their pathetically weak levels with feelings and caring. Caring is for the dead. If they had cared less they wouldn't be zombies now. So remember to pop balls, tear kites, hide Frisbees, kick sandcastles, and decapitate teddy bears. Spitting into open lunch boxes will take you over the top but isn't necessary.
”
”
Laurence Sutton (Ultimate Survival Guide : Zombie Apocalypse)
“
Today, in school, the teachers handed out an official textbook. It's a new book, apparently, called the 'Golden Rules Handbook'. The inside cover has this: This collection of masterful secret tips and hints was brought to you by Urf, the masterful talented swordsman and combat guru. Two diamond swords strapped across his back? A bit much. Yes, that's the guy who almost killed a zombie once. With a stick. His handbook contains, without a doubt, some of the noobest information imaginable. Still, it's required reading for all students. The elders figured it might have some stuff we missed. Here are a few of the handbook's more groan-inducing pearls of wisdom. (Each 'Golden Rule' comes with a mini fairy tale to teach us students a 'valuable lesson'.) Golden Rule #1: Always build a door for your house. Once upon a time, a noob named Lenny never liked doors. Doors got in Lenny's way. Doors slowed Lenny down. Lenny had to open them and close them. Without a door for his dirt house, Lenny was free to run inside and outside again without any delay. Then one night, Lenny couldn't understand why so many zombies were approaching his house with their arms outstretched.
”
”
Cube Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Villager #6 (An Unofficial Minecraft book))
“
Despite logic, my body is convinced it needs to have him. I’m running on almost pure instinct now, a zombie to the hunger for him.
”
”
K.I. Lynn (The Need Boxset)
“
I picked a villager that I saw picking crops. Steve also gave me some music to go with the routine, so I turned on the boom box and jumped out of the bushes. “Everybody Dance Now!” I started doing my routine, and it was good! I was all up into my routine, when more and more villagers gathered around me. I was really getting into it. Soon, the entire village was gathered around me, and they were into it too. “Hey guys, check out what Zombie is doing!” one of the mob kids yelled. Then all of the mob kids jumped out of the bushes at once. All of a sudden, the entire village went crazy and the villagers started running and screaming. “It’s the Zombie Apocalypse!” a villager yelled. “AAAAHHHH!!!” was all I heard, as all of the villagers scattered to their homes. Ms. Bones was shocked. “You scared the entire village all at once!” she said. “That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!
”
”
Zack Zombie (School Daze (Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, #5))
“
Ok Kevin," he said to himself, "We were born for this! If we are ever going to find Laura then we can't be scared of the dark, can we?" He knew he had to press on, for both their sakes. He felt so awful thinking of her alone and scared, and probably always in danger. He knew the best help he could give her right now was to never give up. He knew he would find her, but he also knew he needed more supplies. He was going to hurry to his base to stock up, and then resume his journey. Taking a deep breath he said aloud, "On the count of three we'll run... ONE...TWO ... GO!!!" Kevin sprang from the tunnel entrance and launched towards the direction of his home. As he zoomed through the valley, he was pretty sure he passed a dozen spiders, some skeletons (arrows whizzed past his head a few times), and definitely a few zombies (he could hear their deep moans all around him). But it didn't matter; he just kept on running, passing through low-hanging tree branches and leaves as he went. He was so intent on reaching his home that he didn't see the drop off just a few blocks ahead of him, and went flying over the edge before his mind even registered what was happening. Falling
”
”
Calvin Crowther (Minecraft Comics: Flash and Bones and the Empty Tomb of Hero-brine: The Ultimate Minecraft Comics Adventure Series (Real Comics in Minecraft - Flash and Bones, #1))
“
* * * * Chapter 1 – Blizzards, Bites, and Zombies Ever have a really bad day? I'm not talking miss the bus, caught cheating on a test, bike gets stolen bad. I mean people dying and coming back from the dead to eat your brains bad. This whole mess started one night when my best friend Misty messaged me, "DQ run now!
”
”
M.J.A. Ware (Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb (A Zombie Apocalypse Novel Book 1))
“
I love you, precious, but you may need to run your ass off,” Dad said as we headed out of the classroom area of the church. My pelvic bone smacked against the Kevlar in the soldier’s suit as he ran, we burst out the entrance double doors with my bridal lingerie in view for the whole world to see. He threw me on the back of the truck. How rude. It’s a good thing there are no customer service surveys for emergency evacuations or this guy would have failed. I could see a group of slowly moving people head towards us. They looked like they needed to go to the tanning bed. The worst part was that they smelled like they had eaten a batch of dead kittens. I still want to puke when I think about
”
”
Katie Cord (He Left Her at the Altar, She Left Him to the Zombies)
“
The woman wore a grey knee-length skirt, what once must have been a nicely pressed white blouse. She carried heels in one hand as she ran in the grass, toward Hoover Drive. A fast zombie in a dark business suit, complete with a thin black tie, was right behind her. He reached for her, swiping passes with bloated blue hands. She serpentined. Left. Right. Doubling back. Good moves. She was like an over-dressed running back. Her shoes the ball.
”
”
Phillip Tomasso III (Vaccination (Vaccination Trilogy, #1))
“
Todd’s wife was one of those women with a forced smile perpetually cemented on her face. Even after being chased by a mob of homicidal maniacs and attempting to barricade doors with barstools she kept up appearances, practicing for the days when her husband would be running for public office. When she saw her son poking at their former mail carrier’s dead body a look of utter horror came across her face for the slightest instant. She caught herself and put that smile back on so quickly Will wondered if she might have pulled a few cheek muscles.
“Trevor!” she hissed through clenched teeth. “Trevor, you get away from that this instant! You don’t know what kind of diseases that man had. Children shouldn’t play with dead things.”
Will looked at Todd and smirked. “Cute kid. How many of those things do you think are out there?
”
”
Ian McClellan (One Undead Step)
“
When hope is busy dying, you should run and you should hide. But whatever you do, don’t pray for hope.
”
”
Larry Finhouse (Virus The Unknown (Season 1 of Dying Hope, Zombie Apocalypse:))
“
Apparently, even zombies will run over each other to get their prize.
”
”
S. Johnathan Davis (900 Miles (900 Miles #1))