Such silence

Chiu and I rented Left 4 Dead on the XBOX 360, and have been playing that non-stop. The amount of hours we have spent in that damned Mercy Hospital on expert is more than we would like to admit. And so far, we still haven’t escaped the zombie horde.

The concept of zombies fascinate me. They were never just movie monsters, but something more. And their stories always shed light on some aspect of the human condition.

Since starting work in the hospital, I have experienced all facets of life. The alpha and the omega, so to speak. I have since appreciated the fact that death is unsettling in more ways than that abstract notion I used to have, that binary state where one either is or is not. Perhaps it’s the way a corpse can stare directly at you, pupils dilated, impressing on you a look of fear of the unknown. Or the cognitive disconnect of feeling a body that is still warm. Or maybe it’s the way rigor mortis sets in, contracting the muscles in such a way that the jaw lies open, as if to allow one’s soul to exit its corporeal confines and enter the next plane of existence.

Then again, when I walk into a room with a patient who has just expired, I sense a quiet dignity. There lies a man who has fought his illness tooth and nail, hanging on well beyond statistical predictions. And when he is backed into the proverbial corner and can fight no more, as he sees death start to overwhelm him from all angles, he lies back and accepts the invetiable.

Zombies are such an elegant metaphor for death. Sooner or later they will take everyone you know. And then they will take you too. Simon Pegg is much more eloquent than I when it comes to the subject, so feel free to peruse his dissertation here.

And on the the less serious side of things, I was wondering why no one has ever done a zombie movie set in a snowy setting. The imagery of helpless humans running through plains of foot-deep snow, pursued by ravenous legions of the undead. A splash of blood on the snow being the new bloody handprint on the wall. The creepiness of seeing your own breath in the cold. Then, I started to wonder if zombies could even “survive” the cold. I must admit that my zombie physiology is one of my weaker topics, but I can only assume it depends on which type. If it’s the Romero-style zombies, then maybe. If it’s the 28 Days Later not-really-dead type, that can starve when they don’t get enough food, then maybe not.

Well, it looks like all my questions have been answered here. The Nazi business is just gravy.

Also, have you heard about how they are exterminating fire ants with fly parasites that core out the arthropod’s brain and cause them to walk around aimlessly? When the parasite learns to adapt to a human host, the zombie apocalypse will be upon us. I’m calling it now.

Time to buy a baseball bat.

Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken.
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?