PETERBOROUGH, ENGLAND

[Located in a hamlet* several miles south of Peterborough, Taylor Navarro survived alongside a group of up to twenty-five** for the entirety of the war with a 0% zombie-caused casualty rate. Now we work in a field surrounding the main house, cutting away burnt plants and smashing the skulls of odd zombies that have survived the most recent in a string of "flame attacks". Annabelle, the nine-month old daughter of Taylor and her partner, gurgles contently and even flashes me a toothless grin from her position strapped to her mother's chest.]

I read your book you know, the compilation of interviews from around the world. Brilliant piece of work it was.

I wasn't aware it had been made available in this country.

I'm honestly not sure if it is. A friend of mine from the States gave it to me because she knew how interested I was in the War and how much I love reading.

[She pauses to smile at me before uprooting another crisp black plant.]

Still, I had two problems with it.

And they were?

First off, you only had one account from England. We've ben ally countries for a very very long time now and as what is essentially your father country – no offence – I thought we'd feature in it slightly more.

Secondly, your population sample was very narrow. You have presidents, spies and all ranks of armed forced but next to no civilians. And even then there was always something significant about those supposedly normal people that meant they weren't actually normal at all. The British guy was a castle expert, the Japanese boy was a computer whizz who missed the start of the war and the American woman invented the tree houses and so on. You did a brilliant job representing the minorities but not victims of LaMOEs2 or refugees in the camps. That was a shame really.

Is that why you summoned me here?

[I am referring to a letter I received a month prior to our meeting with only her name and location on it.]

I thought you might like to hear praise and I what I think could be viewed as constructive criticism of your efforts. You didn't have to come and to be perfectly honest I didn't think you were going to. [She shrugs.]

Do you want me to tell your story too? Is that it?

My story isn't all that interesting. I'm no one special and if I really wanted my story telling I'd do it myself.

Can I ask you about it anyway? Few groups of survivors claim to have a 0% fatality rate.

Well… If you want I guess. I really only wanted to ask things about your book but fire away sir. Where shall I start?

The beginning would be good.

You sure?

[I nod.]

Well, I was a psychology student at the University of Nottingham when it started, second year. I was living in a flat with my boyfriend, two other guys we'd know since what you'd call high school, plus my cat Ripper. You ought to know that my father suffered from slight paranoia, mild OCD and total LaMOE Syndrome*** even back then. He was ready for any and all disasters but not this one completely. He had essential survival stuff by default but he wasn't ready for the dead to rise so he had no weapons, just food, water and things for shelter. What we needed more than that though was knowledge of how zombies worked, how they could be destroyed. We ended up learning that as we went along like everyone else.

You have to understand, there were never any false alarms with my father so when I got the phone call and an email with enough evidence I accepted the situation without questions and resorted to Emergency Plan: Vacating Home.

My flat mates had figured out what was going on around the same time I did. They called their families right away like any good child would and tried to bring them in on my father's ad plan. Matthew, my boyfriend, and his family accepted straight away and went to my father's place with all their helpful camping gear. Ashley couldn't convince his parents though and he was picked up straight away. His father worked for the armed forces so he was placed in the protective service of the military. I've not heard from him since. Nick, the other flatmate, couldn't get hold of any of his family. We tried and tried until the Blackout but nothing. He didn't let us see but he was devastated. At least he had us. A lot of people didn't have anybody.

I don't know what it was like for the rest of the world but Nottingham had turned into a War Zone before the first of the zombies had even reached us. Some people were fleeing, others killing themselves before they could be infected and then there were those – like us – getting ready to survive. Apparently in the stores you could tell who was running without thinking and who was planning on survival. The survivalists didn't run or grab random things off the shelves that would expire within the week. They were quick and grabbed specific items.

Why do you say apparently?

The boys told me all of this which was confirmed by others later. Mat insisted I stay in the apartment as I was the most efficient organiser and "whatnot". I knew the truth, he just wanted me to be safe, so I didn't fight for once. I just wrote out the shopping list and told them to be back by nightfall at the latest.

What was on the list?

Things that would last, you know? Rice, pasta, tinned food, vegetable seeds and gardening supplies. I even had them pick up matches, lighters, aerosol cans, hammers and all the batteries they could find as I knew the kids would have brought some kind of electronic entertainment despite Father saying no. Crank up flashlights were essential too and whatever medicine they could lay their hands on. We knew this wouldn't be over in a week. It never is so I was trying to think rationally about what would get us through potentially years.

But didn't you say you lived in an apartment. What good would the seeds have done you there?

They wouldn't which was why we had to get out fast. The moment the initial panic died down we hijacked three shopping trollies and were out of there before you could even blink. We must have spent a good five days walking here.

You walked?

[She nods and chuckles at the astonishment in my voice.]

You heard many people mention the walkers in your book. How else were we going to get here? The actual roads were chock-a-block with abandoned vehicles and there was no such thing as public transportation anymore. We were some of the last so it wasn't too bad. The parents said we were lucky too. We didn't have any of the younger kids so we could cover more ground quickly and had to be… not less alert but less paranoid. No little kids to talk or cry or get left behind accidentally because they couldn't run or anything. Three healthy, young adults were the perfect walking group. Not too many, not too few, deadly silent and ready to run like hell. Too be fair larger numbers would have made the night-watch less traumatic. The families had the dog too which was a big bonus to them. We only had the cat and she wasn't as sensitive to the presence of zombies like the dogs-

[She breaks off as a moan is heard close by. Silence falls around the field as she raises her right fist into the air. For a moment I think she's reaching for the gun slung over her back rather than signalling to the others. Quickly she locates the source and cautiously moves some taller plants aside to reveal a well-charred zombie. With an irritated sigh, Taylor drops a sledgehammer onto its head, shattering the skull. Immediately two men come and clear the mess away. Taylor turns back to me.]

Could you call it ironic to say that's how I learnt how to kill zombies? [Upon seeing my questioning look she elaborates.] We had gone the first two days of travelling without having any close encounters with zombies wandering down the side of the road or breaking loose from their cars. It was getting dark and we hadn't stopped for the night yet because we had just passed a fleet of zombie infested cars and wanted to get the hell away from them as quickly as possible in case they escaped. It was a little too dark and we were passing yet another wreckage of exploded cars. It was trapped under a car and grabbed my ankle as I walked past so like a sissy little girl I screamed. Its head was stuck side-ways under the tire and it couldn't quite drag my foot to its mouth. We didn't know how to kill them then. We'd used the TV as ammunition when a gang of the infected tried to climb up the side of our building and we didn't have a radio. Mat tried to stab it but he couldn't reach any vital organs and it didn't cry out in pain or let go when we slashed its arm. Nick and the zombie were playing this twisted tug of war but it was unbelievably strong. I suggested we break its arm off and run. Nick pulled out a sledgehammer from his trolley but it slipped from his grasp as his hands were so sweaty and fell onto the zombie's head. Its skull smashed open and my ankle was released. We were idiots for not having thought of it sooner to be honest but we learnt from our mistakes and now know better.

[We lapse into silence as Taylor carries on uprooting dead plants.]

Why did you come here in particular?

Why do you think? [She smiles weakly.] It's the ideal place. Look around you. You can see for literally miles. It's isolated enough that we didn't have to worry about hordes but could still raid town whenever the necessity arose. The original residents of the other three houses that once stood here went North during the Panic. We got up to two whole days warning of attacks which was how we kept the death rate at zero. Once we knocked down the other houses we had a 360 view between us. Advanced warning and isolation saved our skins on multiple occasions. The field started to too after the Great Attack.

The Great Attack?

[Taylor pauses before calling out to her mother.] Ma! Take Jane for me will Ma! Take Jane for me will you?

[She waits until the elder woman had taken baby Jane back off to the hamlet before talking. As she does so her hands start shaking slightly.]

We didn't have guns here, not like the Americans or the military. No lobos either. The only defence we had were household items like sledgehammers, bats and crowbars. Only the men were strong enough in the beginning to use the sledgehammers efficiently. Bats didn't make that much of an impact but the single crowbar we had did. If our weapons broke, well then tough shit. You were undefended until the next raid on the town if a weapon could be found. No one knew we were here and father loved it that way, even if it meant no outside help. He was King and of course he led the defence in the Great Attack with pride.

Whenever we encountered zombies before they were in groups of, what, ten max? Two of us could dispatch them with little trouble. Seven of us did it with ease. This time was… [She stops as her hand begins to shake uncontrollably. Within moments she regains her composure and carries on.] There were at least two hundred all coming from that direction. [She points North with an unsteady hand.] We think they came because of Hannah. She was giving birth to Rosie and her screams were so loud. They must have drawn the zombies to us because about three days later they were on the border moaning like there was no tomorrow.

Needless to say we panicked at first. Several years in and there were a few young children around. Hannah and Scott had just had their second, Gemma and Nick had one too. Gem's my little sister by two years so I bet you can guess how that went down. I was the only fertile one not to get pregnant but that's not really important. The point is, after the children were in bed the adults panicked. Father didn't though. He'd already thought up a plan. We had to cut the swarm off, he said. Make a sort of funnel so that we only worried about one or two at a time. Have you ever seen Les Mis? Well I'm a little surprised. It was big just before the war began. It's not too important really but basically they build a giant barricade out of furniture at the end. Having accumulated the furniture of the admittedly few though big houses that were originally here we borrowed the idea only we left a gap in it just big enough for a couple of zombies to squeeze through. This way a group of three could deal with the ones coming in the main entrance while the rest of us dealt with the ones trying to get over the barricade.

We had a day to build the barrier with whatever we could find – I'm talking cars, bathtubs, fridges, sofas, everything – and then a day to rest before the battle began. Some of us, myself included, were certain that we'd all die. It wasn't too bad though. We had built our new lives here. It was home and we were almost proud to die to defend it.

The fight was due to start after dark which was not in our favour at all. We were able to generate a very small amount of electricity for ourselves using the exercise machines but it wasn't enough for the floodlights we did not have but sorely needed. Gemma, having been a pyromaniac all of her life, took Nick out whilst we were all preparing and set the field on fire using home-made flamethrowers out of aerosol cans and matches. It was… so incredibly dangerous as the fire could have killed us all but it lit up our battlefield and thank God or we would have all died that first night. The fire also killed off most of the slower ones at the back too, the original turners who were decomposing a lot quicker. It meant I had to move the children from upstairs though into the basement, taking away the advantage of no stairs. At least they couldn't see or hear what was happening outside. The boys diverted the power to an old TV during the battle and the kids watched a series of old Disney movies while their parents' fought for their lives. They weren't alone though. Their grandmothers' kept them fed and away from the door which was a relief to everyone for various reasons.

Everything went relatively smoothly at first. We got through the night okay. No injuries and the rota allowed each of us to get the required amount of rest. Then the barrier went up in flames at around midday. Those of us who had never believed or turned from God certainly looked to him then. Death was so close that I could hear him laughing while I bashed skull after skull with my crowbar. I stopped resting unlike the others because fear drove me forward and the heat would not let me sleep. It was like I turned into one of them, just killing without thought or feeling like a machine.

[She stops and focuses on her work for a while. Her hands still shake and it takes longer this time for her to collect herself but when she does Taylor looks at me, waiting for a question.]

How did you all survive?

Our neighbours came for a visit. [She laughs darkly.] No one knew about the military base five miles north from here. We found out afterwards it'd been swamped for weeks with refugees and zombies alike looking for food or sanctuary. By the time Hannah was giving birth there were no more refugees left and her cries drew the remaining undead to us, providing the military the gap they needed to collect supplies. They went on their business for five days – the amount of time it took the zombies to reach us – before that gnawing feeling at the back of their minds finally drove them insane enough to come and take a look at what drew their visitors away. They sent out a small part of volunteers to go see what happened. The men didn't have to go very far before they saw the all the smoke. Idiots watched from afar using a pair of old-fashioned binoculars to see us fighting for our lives. It was only because we had unknowingly helped them out that they decided to radio in for some back-up and take out the swarm from behind. At first I was surprised they didn't burn alongside the corpses but when we looked out it was clear they'd been putting out the fire as they advanced.

When it was finally over, Father almost had a heart-attack when the Squad Captain or whatever wanted to shake his hand. When you haven't seen another truly alive human being for years on end, let alone official military ones I guess, you forget they exist. LaMOE. He was very good about it though. Father didn't attack and after much convincing grudgingly agreed to allow our neighbours to restock our supplies and provide us with real weapons. I know he loved going into town with the younger men and scavenging for food. It stopped him feeling old. He died of a heart-attack the day after Britain declared its war over. That's why he hasn't muscled in on our interview yet. Now he's gone though the army pay us to use this place as a recurring battlefield among oth-

[Behind us there is screaming which cuts Taylor off. A little girl runs only on the cleared path before launching herself into my arms as a zombie staggers abnormally quickly behind her. With lightning reflexes Taylor takes the gun slung over her back and shoots the zombie through the brain in sync with five others working in the field. ]

[To me] Thanks to their generosity the army help us keep the zombie-caused fatality rate at zero and, as you can see, we like to keep it that way. Now, do you prefer tea or coffee?

* Hamlet - a small settlement, generally one smaller than a village. **By the end of the war, the Navarro-Horton-Munn-Spearink Clan contained twenty-five people due to the birth of children during that period of time. The original settlers only consisted of thirteen people. *** LaMOE – Stands for Last Man On Earth. Refers to people who had been isolated from living people for so long that they often fired on soldiers by mistake, having come to expect only zombies for so many years. These were the more friendly ones, nicknamed "Robinson Crusoes", and they usually stopped shooting once they realized that these soldiers were alive. The hostile ones however, the ones the military actually called LaMOE's, had gotten so used to being the kings of their little forts or skyscrapers that they refused to come down. At worst, these were organized and armed gangs, such as those that controlled the Sears Tower in Chicago and had to be cleared with lethal force.