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

VAALAJARVI, FINLAND
[It is spring, “hunting season.” As the weather warms, and the bodies of frozen
zombies begin to reanimate, elements of the UN N-For (Northern Force) have
arrived for their annual “Sweep and Clear.” Every year the undead’s numbers
dwindle. At current trends, this area is expected to be completely “Secure”
within a decade. Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, is here
to personally oversee operations. There is a softness to the general’s voice, a
sadness. Throughout our interview, he struggles to maintain eye contact.]
I won’t deny mistakes were made. I won’t deny we could have been better prepared. I’ll be the
first one to admit that we let the American people down. I just want the American people to know
why.
“What if the Israelis are right?” Those were the first words out of the chairman’s mouth the
morning after Israel’s UN declaration. “I’m not saying they are,” he made sure to stress that point,
“I’m just saying, what if?” He wanted candid, not canned, opinions. He was that type of man, the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He kept the conversation “hypothetical,” indulging in the fantasy that
this was just some intellectual exercise. After all, if the rest of the world wasn’t ready to believe
something so outrageous, why should the men and women in this room?
We kept up with the charade as long as we could, speaking with a smile or punctuating with a
joke…I’m not sure when the transition happened. It was so subtle, I don’t think anyone even
noticed, but suddenly you had a room full of military professionals, each one with decades of
combat experience and more academic training than the average civilian brain surgeon, and all of
us speaking openly, and honestly, about the possible threat of walking corpses. It was like…a dam
breaking; the taboo was shattered, and the truth just started flooding out. It was…liberating.
So you had had your own private suspicions?
For months before the Israeli declaration; so had the chairman. Everyone in that room had heard
something, or suspected something.
Had any of you read the Warmbrunn-Knight report?
No, none of us. I had heard the name, but had no idea about its content. I actually got my hands on
a copy about two years after the Great Panic. Most of its military measures were almost line for
line in step with our own.
Your own what?