Zombie Horde

Her breath comes sharp and quick
Labored from all the running
She can hear them still
Following her scent, they come

Poisoned and undead souls
Walking corpses, falling apart
An undying thirst for blood and brains
Drives their rotting bodies forward

It was all an accident, they say
Them becoming this way
It was a new medicine, a miracle drug
That started the current apocalypse

It all started with that little boy
Small, frail Lucas from Chicago
Lying there in the hospital bed
Wracked with disease and pain

The doctors had no idea how to help him
His leukemia seemed untreatable
Until a new drug was found
That might be the answer they needed

But an unknown side effect emerged
Killing him in his sleep
Moved to the morgue to await burial
His body came back from death

He stumbled down the hall
An orderly caught unaware
Lucas bites into his leg
The mutated retrovirus is spread

Quickly it spread everywhere
Until it seems the whole world is dead and risen
Now the few remaining survivors run and hide
Like our poor hapless Susan

Now here she is running
And cowering in fear
Wondering how long she can stay hidden
From the approaching zombie horde

Here they come now
Around the corner there
Seeing her, they howl
Bringing the rest of the pack

Slavering like the hounds of hell
Crying out in their dire need
The chase for her starts again
And terrified, Susan runs

Up ahead she sees lights
Motors purring on the tarmac
Regular human voices sound over loudspeakers
It’s a military convoy come to help

The soldiers see her coming
And rush to aid her in her distress
Seeing the pursuing zombie mass
They scramble for their weapons

Grenades are readied for battle
Rifles are locked and loaded
They anxiously await the word
To open fire

The lieutenant surveys the scene
And gives the order to fire
A firestorm of bullets
Shreds thru the approaching horde

Grenades explode like suns
Raining shrapnel thru the zombies
Bullets tear at the rotting corpses
But still they keep coming

The lieutenant cries into his bullhorn
“Aim for the head
That’s the only way to stop them”
And the soldiers follow thru

Now the zombies start to drop, and stay down
The wall of munitions stops them cold
And they lay still and quiet
One by one they die again, forever

Now the soldiers break out the flamethrowers
Wading thru the lifeless wasted mess
Lighting the zombie bodies on fire
The stench of it fills the air

This battle is over now
But the war has just begun
They take Susan to a shelter
Where she will be safe for now

Lying alone in a military cot
Covered by a blanket of coarse wool
Shivering against the memory of last night
She cries tears of bitter joy

Life as she remembers it is over now
Lost in the past and nevermore
A new scary future awaits her
Uncertainty her only companion

The settlement that she now resides in
Is moving to the North soon
There are places there that are safe
At least for now

The war against the zombies rages on
Pitched battles every day
But man is slowly winning
Retaking what was lost

Maybe someday she can go home
Maybe someday she will be free again
Maybe someday she can sleep without fear
Maybe someday