World War Z_ An Oral History of the Zombie War ( PDFDrive )

BURLINGTON, VERMONT
[Snow has begun falling. Reluctantly, “the Whacko” turns back for the house.]
You ever heard of Clement Attlee? Of course not, why should you? Man was a loser, a third-rate
mediocrity who only slipped into the history books because he unseated Winston Churchill before
World War II officially ended. The war in Europe was over, and to the British people, there was this
feeling that they’d suffered enough, but Churchill kept pushing to help the United States against
Japan, saying the fight wasn’t finished until it was finished everywhere. And look what happened to
the Old Lion. That’s what we didn’t want to happen to our administration. That’s exactly why we
decided to declare victory once the continental U.S. had been secured.
Everyone knew the war wasn’t really over. We still had to help out our allies and clear whole
parts of the world that were entirely ruled by the dead. There was still so much work to do, but
since our own house was in order, we had to give people the option to go home. That’s when the
UN multinational force was created, and we were pleasantly surprised how many volunteers
signed up in the first week. We actually had to turn some of them away, put them on the reserve
list or assign them to train all the young bucks who missed the drive across America. I know I
caught a lot of flak for going UN instead of making it an all-American crusade, and to be totally
honest, I really couldn’t give a damn. America’s a fair country, her people expect a fair deal, and
when that deal ends with the last boots on Atlantic beaches, you shake their hands, pay them off,
and let anyone who wants to reclaim their private lives do so.
Maybe it’s made the overseas campaigns a little slower. Our allies are on their feet again, but we
still have a few White Zones to clear: mountain ranges, snowline islands, the ocean floor, and then
there’s Iceland…Iceland’s gonna be tough. I wish Ivan would let us help out in Siberia, but, hey,
Ivan’s Ivan. And we still have attacks right here at home as well, every spring, or every so often
near a lake or beach. The numbers are declining, thank heavens, but it doesn’t mean people should
let down their guard. We’re still at war, and until every trace is sponged, and purged, and, if need
be, blasted from the surface of the Earth, everybody’s still gotta pitch in and do their job. Be nice if
that was the lesson people took from all this misery. We’re all in this together, so pitch in and do
your job.
[We stop by an old oak tree. My companion looks it up and down, taps it lightly