David L, West Palm Beach Florida
Growing up in South Florida, it was not uncommon to see images of rafts filled with refugees being intercepted by the Coast Guard on the evening news or to even find an abandoned raft along the beach. They were predominantly Haitian or Cuban refugees who piloted these primitive crafts toward our Southern shores in search of freedom, and it was generally regarded with an ambivalent attitude as their populations grew.
However, with the 2006 outbreak in Haiti and subsequent flare-ups in Cuba and Miami, these innocent freedom-seekers could no longer be disregarded. Despite the vigilant efforts of the Coast Guard and local law enforcement agencies, there would always be reports of reanimators attacking the vulnerable elderly retirees which cover the Florida coasts like locusts every winter. As a rational individual who appreciates the Second Amendment, I generally always carry my S&W loaded w/ 17 rounds of 9mm hollowpoint, because you never know when a Z-head will come shambling along out of nowhere. I never would have thought I would encounter one where I did last month though!
My friend and I are avid spearfishermen and freedivers, and we try to get out and dive as often as possible. The waters off of West Palm Beach are always warm and clear and teaming with sea life, thanks to the Gulf Stream current which gently grazes along the South Florida coast as it wells up from the Caribbean towards its terminus in the North Atlantic. We loaded our gear and spearguns into my friends boat and headed out early, with calm seas and a slight breeze making for almost perfect conditions. We ran a few miles off shore to try and find some floating debris that hopefully held large fish like mahi-mahi and wahoo.
As we ran East towards the rising sun, I was scanning the blue for signs of life when I saw what appeared to be a half-sunk boat riding the current. We coasted towards the flotsam and I quickly put on my mask, fins, weight belt and knife, and as I rolled into the water I loaded my speargun. The water was clear blue like Bombay Sapphire, and as I began to inspect the boat I noticed that there appeared to be a body tangled in some rope near the stern.
I yelled to my friend that I thought there was a corpse and to radio the Coast Guard when it began to thrash at the sound of our voices. What a time to be without Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson!As we debated what to do next, the z-head kept struggling against the tangle of rope it was trapped in and began to slowly sink out of the web. Seeing this, I immediately did what I would normally do if I saw my quarry slip away: with a long deep breath I kicked down after the sinking rean and placed a solid shot to its torso.
Now, I didn’t do this out of some macho Rambo idea, but because I figured it couldn’t swim but could sure as hell wash up on a beach somewhere and terrorize some poor family. Plus, with a steel shaft sticking through its back attached to 50ft of rope, we definitely have had worse critters on the line!Confident my shot would hold, I got back into the boat and we discussed our method of disposal. Aside from the spearguns, we had a gaff hook and a short baseball bat used to club large fish (inhumane I know, but better than asphyxiation!). I slowly pulled the skewered zombie towards the boat and gaffed it under the chin, effectively incapacitating his only weapon.
As I pulled it alongside the boat and lifted the head slightly out of the water, my friend delivered a few skull-crushing blows to the waterlogged z-head, and after splitting its head like a melon, we pulled the spear and watched amazed as it sunk, finally dead, into the blue... Only then did we realize that in the excitement we never took pictures of the incident! We relayed our story to the Coast Guard and marine patrol, but despite our detailed account, I think it was received as just another fish tale!-David L, West Palm Beach Florida
Dear David.Interesting report. It's not at all unfeasible for a reanimate to be found near a hot spot such as the Florida & Cuba Coastlines.
However, we did contact the Undead Research and Monitoring station in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. They released the following statement: "Although we do receive several reports of reanimate encounters each and every month, only two have been confirmed since the outbreak of 2007. We have no reason to discount your readers claim and do advise all residents or visitors to the area to keep a watchful eye. Particularly in the vacinity of Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. or the waters off the coast of Miami."
Hello
As big fans of
zombie culture, we just wanted to say hello from the desert...we love your
site!
A Co 403rd CA BN
Team Zombie
FOB Justice, Iraq
Stay safe guys!!!!! - Editor
Dear Zombie World News,
I had already reported this to NYPD, however, had been continually given the runaround whenever I tried to follow up on it.
About a week ago, some friends and I decided to take some pictures of the City Hall station at the end of the #6 line (it's been closed for decades, however, the #6 still loops past it before turning around.) It was raining pretty badly that day, and so we weren't very surprised when the power went out just as our car got to the station.
Man, we thought we were too lucky, so we got out between the cars, and started taking pictures. Yeah, there weren't really lights, but hey, we had flashes!
"Hey, check that out" my friend whispered to me pointing at a moving mound of clothing a the back of the station.
"You think it's the mole people?" I whispered back semi-jokingly of the demi-urbane legends of people living the the subway system.
"Uh, oh... I don't think they're too happy with our flashes" he whispered back as the mound stood up resolving itself into a couple of human figures.
"Let's go back inside" I whispered nervously (although to think of it, if they *were* just the maniacal homeless people e thought they were, that probably wouldn't have helped.
"OK, not cool, let's get inside." I whispered to my friend nervously as they approached us without making a noise. At the time, I was just worried that they were some of those deranged homeless that occasionally makes their way into the subway system. Usually, they don't bother commuters, but there wasn't a cop around, so I was slightly nervous.
The power came back on just as we were about to go back inside... and the shriek of the train starting on it's way drowned out *our* shrieks as the light revealed that the 'person' in the lead was covered in scabs, and his nose was rotted off!
We jumped off at the first stop, and found an MTA cop, we gave out statements... and well, nothing. I'm hoping that you guys, with your fine reporting staff and such might be able to get NYPD moving on this.
As for me, I am now commuting by the express bus, and biking everywhere within the city when I have to get there at all.
Yours
Cassandra Lee
Dear Cassandra.
Thanks for the lead. We will assign a reporter to this story and see where it goes. - Editor
Hello, just got done reading a few of the articles on your site, in particular the one with the undercover reporter in Russia, and I just wanted to let you know that they are FANTASTIC!
Matthew H.
Hi Mathew,
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, we are here for everyone throughout this developing plague.
Keep reading for updates and the latest news.
