Living With the Dead: This New Disease (Book 5) by Joshua Guess Page B
Authors: Joshua Guess
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thing's wrist. Smack in the middle of the
joint. The amount was tiny, about the size of a grain of rice. Took
me a few tries to get it lit, especially because the zombie was
trying his damnedest to pull his hand away. When I finally got the
magnesium striker to catch the thermite, the burn lasted for about
three seconds.
The zombie's hand and arm up to the elbow
stopped working. Completely.
That blew me away. I expected it
to do some damage to the thing's skin, sure, and to burn through and
cause some structural chaos...but at no time did I expect the results
I got. I was so stunned that I had to show Evans and Gabby right
away. Had to understand what had happened. Because we've done a lot
of bad things to zombies before. Even setting them on fire usually
takes a while to kill them. This was really fast.
After
removing the zombie's arm, I took it to the people with the fancy
medical degrees, who dissected and studied it. When you flay open a
zombie's body, you can see the tendrils of material that make up the
plague organism. The color varies, but usually the fibers of the
parasite are a pale purple or a dark red. The test subject's arm
contained blackened ash up to the elbow.
Evans thinks the
initial burn heated up the portion of the organism under the flesh,
which through some mechanism we don't understand tried to shed the
heat, causing the temperature of the surrounding tissues to rise.
Which caused the newly heated portions to shed the heat...you get the
idea.
What it boils down to is that a very tiny amount of this
stuff on the skin is incredibly damaging to the undead. The huge
temperature change over such a short period of time basically cooks
the plague out of that area. And if the reaction of the zombie I was
testing direct heat on is any indication, this is one of those things
that causes great fear
in the undead. Maybe not because of pain, since they don't seem to
feel it, but maybe by the unnerving experience of suddenly losing a
big portion of itself.
After a few more tests, I killed the
subject with a shot to the head. Took a few tries, as the thickened
skin and underlying fibrous armor (not to mention the skull itself)
can take a lot more punishment. In the end, I used a blob of thermite
gel (I love you, Becky) about the size a big cherry to manage it.
Right on the thing's crown.
Five seconds of burn, no more
zombie. That is
what we're taking into battle today. If we're insanely lucky, it'll
work.
Thursday,
March 22, 2012
Triangles
Posted
by Josh
Guess As
far as epic showdowns with mortal threats go, yesterday was pretty
good.
Our scouts were the first in the field. They ran quite a
way ahead to get the attention of the New Breed. The New Breed, as it
turns out, has scouts of their own. Apparently they've taken to
copying some of our tactics. Our scouts made it back to us without
taking any losses. Theirs saw our assembled force and turned back the
way they came.
What the New Breed scouts saw was a hundred and
sixty people out in the middle of a field. No defensive structures,
no large weapons. Only a few vehicles since we left them safely back.
The fight was going to be all-or-nothing. No escape routes.
When
the main force of Shelbyville New Breed came for us, we still looked
like a relatively defenseless group. They were cautious, spreading
around us in a very wide circle before getting close. We let the
circle tighten, the zombies surrounding us get within about thirty
yards before our front ranks dropped to the earth. Every man and
woman that dropped hauled on heavy ropes and straps, pulling up
custom pieces of metal, each with very carefully designed edges. Most
of them were triangular, old pieces of car hoods welded together and
unfolding. Our people locked theses devices together, built-in
supports swinging out and locking into place.
Diamond shapes
all around us. My brother has been working on portable defensive
structures for a long time, precisely for this situation. The
joint. The amount was tiny, about the size of a grain of rice. Took
me a few tries to get it lit, especially because the zombie was
trying his damnedest to pull his hand away. When I finally got the
magnesium striker to catch the thermite, the burn lasted for about
three seconds.
The zombie's hand and arm up to the elbow
stopped working. Completely.
That blew me away. I expected it
to do some damage to the thing's skin, sure, and to burn through and
cause some structural chaos...but at no time did I expect the results
I got. I was so stunned that I had to show Evans and Gabby right
away. Had to understand what had happened. Because we've done a lot
of bad things to zombies before. Even setting them on fire usually
takes a while to kill them. This was really fast.
After
removing the zombie's arm, I took it to the people with the fancy
medical degrees, who dissected and studied it. When you flay open a
zombie's body, you can see the tendrils of material that make up the
plague organism. The color varies, but usually the fibers of the
parasite are a pale purple or a dark red. The test subject's arm
contained blackened ash up to the elbow.
Evans thinks the
initial burn heated up the portion of the organism under the flesh,
which through some mechanism we don't understand tried to shed the
heat, causing the temperature of the surrounding tissues to rise.
Which caused the newly heated portions to shed the heat...you get the
idea.
What it boils down to is that a very tiny amount of this
stuff on the skin is incredibly damaging to the undead. The huge
temperature change over such a short period of time basically cooks
the plague out of that area. And if the reaction of the zombie I was
testing direct heat on is any indication, this is one of those things
that causes great fear
in the undead. Maybe not because of pain, since they don't seem to
feel it, but maybe by the unnerving experience of suddenly losing a
big portion of itself.
After a few more tests, I killed the
subject with a shot to the head. Took a few tries, as the thickened
skin and underlying fibrous armor (not to mention the skull itself)
can take a lot more punishment. In the end, I used a blob of thermite
gel (I love you, Becky) about the size a big cherry to manage it.
Right on the thing's crown.
Five seconds of burn, no more
zombie. That is
what we're taking into battle today. If we're insanely lucky, it'll
work.
Thursday,
March 22, 2012
Triangles
Posted
by Josh
Guess As
far as epic showdowns with mortal threats go, yesterday was pretty
good.
Our scouts were the first in the field. They ran quite a
way ahead to get the attention of the New Breed. The New Breed, as it
turns out, has scouts of their own. Apparently they've taken to
copying some of our tactics. Our scouts made it back to us without
taking any losses. Theirs saw our assembled force and turned back the
way they came.
What the New Breed scouts saw was a hundred and
sixty people out in the middle of a field. No defensive structures,
no large weapons. Only a few vehicles since we left them safely back.
The fight was going to be all-or-nothing. No escape routes.
When
the main force of Shelbyville New Breed came for us, we still looked
like a relatively defenseless group. They were cautious, spreading
around us in a very wide circle before getting close. We let the
circle tighten, the zombies surrounding us get within about thirty
yards before our front ranks dropped to the earth. Every man and
woman that dropped hauled on heavy ropes and straps, pulling up
custom pieces of metal, each with very carefully designed edges. Most
of them were triangular, old pieces of car hoods welded together and
unfolding. Our people locked theses devices together, built-in
supports swinging out and locking into place.
Diamond shapes
all around us. My brother has been working on portable defensive
structures for a long time, precisely for this situation. The
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