The
Interview
A Zombie A.C.R.E.S. Story
Television
sets across America flicked on almost simultaneously. The country
collectively held its breath out of sheer anticipation. Few times in
America's history had one moment brought all her people together;
this was one of those times. This moment would go down as one of the
most important events in human history.
“Ladies
and Gentlemen, do not adjust your television sets.” The voice on
the television was firm, yet possessed a calming quality, the
hallmark of a veteran anchorman. “We are intentionally not showing
tonight’s guest yet. With the amazing shock to the country that Mr.
Lohman’s buzz has already served to spawn, we thought it best to
try and ease our viewers into what is about to come.”
Tom
Laudner finished speaking and the previously blank screens flashed to
life, showing his face, but not that of his guest. “This interview
is taking place at an undisclosed location for the safety and
security of all who are involved. I am speaking with William Lohman,
a former employee – of sorts – of Roslun Global. Within the
last five years, Roslun has seen major growth and has become the
leading pharmaceutical company in the United States of America. Mr.
Lohman’s recent announcement has helped to explain why.”
The
screen cut to black again and broadcast nothing but dead silence for
almost two minutes. A collective nation held its breath yet again;
imaginations ran wild in the heads of every man, woman, and child
watching. Finally, Tom's face returned, and the sounds of last-second
scuffling could be heard in the background. Tom glanced to one
side, his eyes throwing an "Are
we back on?"
look at his producer. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgment to
his unseen producer and turned his attention back to the camera, but
before Tom could welcome the nation back to the broadcast, a sound
came across the airwaves. It wasn’t quite a voice, though words
seemed to be carried by it.
“Hello.” Rusty.
That was the only way Bob Johns could describe what he heard in his
Duluth living room that night.
“My
name is William Lohman.” Hole.
A hole in your larynx, to be exact. That is how Phyllis Weidmar would
later describe what she heard during her Wednesday bridge game in
Miami.
Tom
took back control of his broadcast. "Welcome, Mr. Lohman."
Tom's butter-smooth voice set the viewers at ease, though not because
of its perfectly groomed diction and pitch; that night it made people
happy simply because it was not William Lohman’s rasp. “We are
going to pan over to Mr. Lohman in just a few seconds. I want to be
perfectly clear on this matter." The camera zoomed in on
Tom's eyes which expressed the gravity of the situation better than
the words he uttered next. "What you are about to see is not for
the squeamish. That cannot be emphasized enough. Please leave the
room or turn the channel if you are afraid of what you may see.”
The
camera stayed focused on Tom, giving everyone ample time to ponder
his warning. With a nod, Tom gave the cameraman the sign to start to
pan over to the hot seat - ever so slowly. Sources have since claimed
to have observed much vomiting for the remainder of the interview.
William
Lohmans’ skin was heavily blackened and blotchy, making it appear
as if he had been on the losing end of an extremely bad beating.
Around his eye sockets and orifices, it was sickly receded. Gashes
along his neckline were partially draining pus and had to be wiped
every few minutes, drawing even more attention to the deep cuts
around his throat. They looked to be made in haste, with many stops
and starts. William’s teeth seemed large in his mouth, next to the
receding, blackened gums. On his head he wore an expensive looking
hat, helping to draw some of the attention away from the
grotesqueness of his face.
“So
why don’t you begin to tell us what your announcement is, Mr.
Lohman.” Tom’s voice came across again, but this time people were
not happy as they were still forced to stare at William Lohman’s
face of death.
“As
you have said, Tom, I was formerly employed by the Roslun
Corporation. I was their salesman for special projects. I was a
shining specimen of their progress and was made to prove it in secret
meetings all over the globe.” The rasping voice coming out of that
gut-wrenching face was worse than any horror film, yet his clothes
seemed to match his 'salesman' title - an expensive, dark suit with a
bright red power tie. “As far back as the sixties, the powers that
be have been seriously experimenting on ways to beat death. Their
first breakthrough came in 1968, when they managed to partially
reanimate a corpse. By partially, I am referring to the fact that
Specimen Zero could only wave his arms and legs, but they were dead -
and moving -
nonetheless.”
Camera
2 cut to Tom Laudner’s beautiful face; he was a handsome man, but
compared to Lohman he was a Greek
God.
“What proof do you have that this 'Specimen Zero' even existed? I
find it hard to believe that, even back in the sixties, something
this big would not be leaked at some point.”
“Oh
it was leaked, Mr. Laudner." Lohman gave Tom a look like
an adult gives a child when they are about to impart a life lesson;
even through the oddly hanging skin and deathly pallor, that look was
unmistakable. "And it was just as quickly covered up. Writer and
director George Romero has become the Father of the Modern Zombie,
and that is truer than most realize. Mr. Romero actually worked at an
underground testing lab in Pennsylvania in 1968. That lab had managed
to somehow ‘misplace’ one of the confidential observation videos
from the night of Specimen Zero’s second birth.”
“George
being the quickest on his toes that night proposed they film a cheesy
horror movie to cover up these film reels of Specimen Zero. One month
later, Night
of the Living Dead was
finished. What nobody ever expected was the success of this new
genre, and the fascination of the American people with the idea of
bringing the dead back to life.
“Now
wait a second,” Tom sounded a little agitated this time. “You
expect me to swallow that… that… that Night
of the Living Dead was
a cover-up?” He spit out this last part like it was burning his
throat.
“You
may swallow whatever you wish, Mr. Laudner, I expect nothing. I am
telling you the truth, and that is all I am doing.” William was
doing his best to smirk, but succeeded only in making his features
more disgusting. “As I was saying, this rise, though unexpected,
was a godsend for the Second Birth project, as it had come to be
known. It enabled them to keep producing these low end horror films,
which helped a little financially, but mostly it cast doubt on every
single piece of evidence ever brought to light. With so many of these
films coming out, and the technology so dated, there was no way to
prove authenticity.”
“So
the Second Birth project just kept on going. The major players would
switch every so-often, but the goals and practices would remain the
same. With the boom of the pharmaceutical industry during the
seventies, drug companies became more and more interested in the
Second Birth technology. Roslun came into the game during the late
eighties under the generic title Danko Drug Co., due to the Civil
Liberties protests and controversy surrounding Second Birth rumors.
The early nineties brought an end to the rumors and provided the
first concrete proof as the technology finally reached the point to
see through Second Birth’s cover-ups once and for all.”
“Mr.
Lohman!” Tom almost screamed at his guest, his practiced air of
composure definitely shaken. “I have been in the news for thirty
years, and I have never heard of any of this!”
“Have
you never discovered new information years after the actions had
taken place? I’m dead and even I understand that is how cover-ups
work. It was decided in most of these cases that public safety was
more important than public knowledge. After a particularly nasty
incident, Danko Drug Co. was dissolved and Roslun emerged as
themselves; quickly becoming a powerhouse in the Second Birth
project. Roslun Global was the first one to bring Zombie A.C.R.E.S.
to the idea table.”
“Acres?”
“Animated
Corpses Reintegration Experimental Subdivision. The Second Birth
experiments have gotten to the point of actual moving and thinking
zombies. Roslun wanted to take the experiments out of the underground
labs and into a small gated-community. After much debate and great
monetary cost to Roslun, powerful benefactors were convinced of the
merits of the program and Zombie A.C.R.E.S. was built in 2005 in the
desert of Nevada."
“So
for the last six years, there has been a zombie housing program in
Nevada? And who are the major players involved in this Second Birth
project? The government?”
“The
government had knowledge and closely followed Second Birth, but no
government ever once got involved in any actions or projects.”
“IMPOSSIBLE!”
Tom screamed, his journalistic professionalism gone for the moment.
“That’s just outrageous! You’re saying that no government ever
had anything to
do with these zombie projects and cover-ups?”
“Other
than possessing knowledge of the program, that is exactly what I'm
telling you. It may be hard to believe, but again, I'm just telling
you the truth, that’s all.”
“So
why have you decided to come forward now, six years after this all
started? Did your conscience come back to life all of a sudden?”
“Yes.”
“Yes
what?”
“Yes,
that is exactly what happened. Before 2010, zombies could
not feel.” That word - zombies
- came
out even more heinous than most of William Lohman’s words. “Early
experiments only resulted in a lot of screaming from the zombies,
whose ability to speak was just beginning. By summer 2010, feelings
were brought back online, and things were smooth. The zombies said
they only felt minimal pain, but there only seemed small traces of
any indication to a conscience. This is when my second birth
occurred. I had only been dead a week when I was discovered. At
first, I felt nothing inside. Just empty. The more they toted me
around, the more I learned. That is when I started to feel something:
Anger. That was my first emotion. I wanted to get them for what they
have done to us. How dare they play God?!”
“But
these experiments are to ultimately help the living, aren’t they?”
“At
this point, who the hell knows? I have heard some talk of helping
people,
but much more it has been of war and weapons. Who knows where…”
Instant
darkness. All of the video feeds carrying the simulcast went dead.
After what felt like an eternity, two news anchors were smiling at
the viewers.
“It
seems there has been some technical difficulty with our live feed. We
thank Tom and his... guest... for
their time and work. We will keep you informed as this story unfolds.
Tonight was unfolding well for these women as the annual Laundry
Folding Competition was starting…”
***
Joshua Cook was born in
Kenosha, Wisconsin, late in 1977; and this is where he has spent most
of his life. There have been short bursts throughout his life where
he has spread his wild oats to other parts of the United States,
though.
Briefly Josh lived in
Arizona and a brief – dark – time in Indiana and Ohio. Finally he
landed in Washington state. He now calls Washington home where he
lives with his girlfriend and dog.
This is where he created the
growing fan favorite web site
ZombieACRES.com,
which spawned its first book in 2012. After many years of writing
non-fiction, news, and various other articles, Josh decided to poke
around in fiction – and loves it.
***
AiZ: Alice in
Zombieland (Complete Saga)
In a world where corporate
greed is allowed to run wild, Roslun Global has become the largest
pharmaceutical company in the world. As head of this juggernaut of a
company, Richard Roslun wields unheard of global power. To obtain and
hold onto this power, Roslun is willing to do anything, including
killing innocents.
When Richard Roslun realizes
what he must do to save everything, his sights become set on a young
girl named Alice. When Alice’s mother returns home from work with
an infection, all hell breaks lose in Alice’s fragile world. Alice
and her sister Georgia are hiding as death is literally banging on
the front door when the unthinkable happens.
A second outbreak tests the
love between Sam Ashe and and his fiancé Heather. Sam is a horror
geek who has always been obsessed with zombies. When his fantasies
become a reality, the man inside him will have to rise to the
adventure ahead.
Fate brings Sam and Georgia
together in the mission to save young Alice. Will love be enough to
fight off the undead and stop pure corporate greed?
