The corpse stays in the picture - Dan McCoy

The corpse stays in the picture. - By Dan McCoy - Slate Magazine
An undead actor shares a lifetime of delicious show business anecdotes.
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Zombies were people once

1

The world is not what it used to be, but it is much better than it had once threatened to become. As if the three world wars before it had not been enough the outbreak seemed intent on changing life as we knew it the most. It was also the one that succeeded the most, the state the third war left the world in was a perfect one for it to wreak havoc.

It succeeded because it wore no uniform, it knew nothing of the boundaries men drew, it held nothing sacred, not the air, the water, not the life that grew. It reached into our homes and destroyed the minds of our young, destroying the very future we had so vainly fought for.

That it was yet another catastrophe which some of us managed to escape and eventually, partially control has proved to be a tragic loss in victory. We must live with what we did to survive, all that which went against everything we stood for as a evolved society, all principles consigned to the fires we set.

Having paid such a price, we still have not been able to defeat the foe, we are not even close to understanding it completely. Collectively, we try not to think of what will happen when the threat overcomes the temporary barriers we have set up, more as an assurance for ourselves than anything else. But the fear remains in our hearts. Even now, when one of us is careless, or is plainly unfortunate to have circumstances conspire against them so that they take ill, we have no solution but to let go. And make sure.

It is therefore, an indication of how much we deserve such a fate when men use it to gain an advantage or vengeance. The over-simplistic, fear induced, short term policies in place and the prevailing paranoia only helped. You could accuse the decision makers of being opportunistic themselves but for a little part of you that envied them and the position they were in. When you don't know which day will be your last, you do want to live each as your last, deny yourself nothing even when all you want is everything.

Despite having seen the relentless evil of the disease, some still thought of how they could use it for their own benefits. You just needed to point a finger and make noise, the mob did the lynching.
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This is the first part of what could be a longer story. Could. Inspired a bit by District 9. More soon.
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