Survival

So I thought of something today: Something I'm sure several people have pondered before.

"Why does zombie media fail to recognize that a cure to the 'disease' won't cure all the conflicts that are bound to have happened in between?"

For those of you who have wanted to fill those gaps, this is the story for you!

LA Quickwrite Amendment

“Don’t you see?!” Josh snarled at Reggie. His face contorted into a calmer expression, realizing that Reggie was rather taken aback. He inhaled slowly, a weathered palm covering the upper half of his face.

“It isn’t about preserving humans. This is about preserving humanity. Or better put, morality.” Reggie wore a baffled but bristling look on his face, as though he couldn’t believe what Josh had just spieled.

“What are we supposed to do if there are none of us left, huh Josh?” Reggie countered, with a frown on his face and a knit brow. His fists clenched at the same moment his jaw did.  Josh groaned into a sigh. Reggie simply turned an octave louder and a tad more aggressive at the reaction from Josh.

“What then?! If we all die, there’s nothing to save! If we all die, there’s no one to save! If we all die, what will we accomplish?! Tell me that!” Reggie bellowed. His face was a dark shade of scarlet. Josh eased him with a gesture.

Josh peered up at him from his seat, eyes filled with much melancholy. “Look, we both know that if we make this about survival, we cannot truly live. Our souls will wilt and die before our bodies do. We will wither. We will perish. And, if we are too busy watching our backs; we’ll miss the problems that are right in front of us. “ Josh shifted in his chair, still maintaining his stoic expression.

“This is not merely about the infection, Reg. You know that. More people, up to date, have died from our own ilk than…those things. We have waited, what, twenty years? No vaccine. And even if we do find one, the world will never be as it was before.”

Reggie looked like a fire that had been stepped out, the few glowing ambers ceasing to burn. He opened his mouth, but then it snapped closed. He made a soft sound in the back of his throat, a pitiful, wistful sound.

“B-but there is still a chance, man. There has to be something to live for! Heck, even something to die for would be fine! Just something to remind us that our existence isn’t in vain.” Josh gave a small smile.

“There is something to live for. Preserving our morality. Instead of worrying about individual things, we should focus on saving the next generation. We should focus on finding better lives. Think about it. Even if tomorrow the infection ended, do you think the rioting would just end?” Reggie pondered it, and then shook his head, reluctant to admit the unsettling truth.

Josh nodded. “Exactly. After what the armed forces did to us, murdering us just because their commanding officer promised them a gold star if they finished up the job, or the more loving ones that did it to save their loved ones; people won’t just forget that. Leave it to the stains of time and the pains of hunger to change an entire civilization.”

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes, perhaps digesting what had been said, or perhaps planning the next step in what they were to do. Whatever the case, a much more level-headed Reggie piped up after a lifetime of quiet.

“So, are we heading to Checkpoint B in Key West and taking the next boat out?” Josh gave a tired grin. He scratched at his beard and sighed.

“Key West, here we come.”