Disclaimer: Ace Attorney and all characters are copyright by CAPCOM; World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, all incidences and characters were created by Max Brooks. I'm just a fan, imitating. The stories presented are influenced by the multiple games as well as the comic (Manga written by Kenji Kuroda), and the book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

This story is set several months following Bridge to the Turnabout (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations) and in the early years of the Zombie War.

Prologue

The Human Element

"…[T]here are simply not enough resources to care for all the physical and psychological casualties. It is because of this enemy, the enemy of time, that I have forsaken the luxury of hindsight and published these survivors' accounts. Perhaps decades from now, someone will take up the task of recording the recollections of the much older, much wiser survivors. Perhaps I might even be one of them.

Although this is primarily a book of memories, it includes many of the details, technological, social, economic and so on, found in the original Commission Report, as they are related to the stories of those voices featured in these pages. This is their book, and mine, and I have tried to maintain as invisible a presence as possible. Those questions included in the text are only there to illustrate those that might have been posed by readers. I have attempted to reserve judgment or commentary of any kind, and if there is a human factor that should be removed, let it be my own."

—Max Brooks

from the preface of the 1st Edition:

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

The publication and subsequent popularity of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, is a testament to just how deeply our collective psyche has been scarred by this tragic "war". No life left on this earth hasn't been affected.

Even those of us who were considered "lucky" enough to survive the Great Panic and more than a decade of war without having to lose our families or struggle through the worst of the hardships—we are traumatized. We are changed.

We, the children of survivors, the ones who've never known a world where this never happened—we are forever different because of it. For me, working as a junior intern for the United Nation's Postwar Commission, and hearing these stories firsthand, was like learning something secret, but true and unknowable about the fires from whence we came. By 'we', I mean the denizens this hardened and grateful new world that we live in.

Even as I write this, the news still reports every day on the number of G's burned in some forgotten corner of the world. The cause of this hasn't been eradicated—not yet. We just learned how to live with it. To this day, whole areas of our country are still off limits and military personnel in armor still seek out and destroy the residual threat.

Because it is still a threat. This war isn't over. Not yet. Maybe never.

How many stories have you heard of Zack coming with the melting snow? Zack crawling out of the sea? Zack under the house at the end of the street?

We still fight. We still hope. And we still survive.

In my travels for the UNPC, I was fortunate enough to witness survivors who'd seen and experienced a lot of the same things that Mister Brooks covered in World War Z. It goes without saying that to cover so extensive and exhaustive a population of the world requires a much broader and detailed book—maybe several. So I've put up my own to add to the thousands of survivor stories, histories, and personal accounts of the Zombie War.

My journey began with a team from the UNPC, charged with the daunting task of recording mostly facts, statistics—the tangible things that can be used to check progress in reconstruction efforts and to build nice charts and graphs to present to world leaders. I found myself often stopping a person I was interviewing to turn focus back to these tangibles.

Then I met him—a man with a story I couldn't ignore. That interview was my first and after that I took down stories wherever I went. If it weren't for that interview, I might've stuck to the facts, and the amazing survivors—the amazing humans I'd had the pleasure of meeting on that journey might not have been heard.

His name was Phoenix Wright, a criminal defense attorney in another life, and co-founder of Stand Up!, which helps West Coast survivors re-integrate into communities. This one is for him.

Sally A. Rider

Atlanta, GA

April 5, 2054

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! If you're a first time reader, I hope you like the first part of this story-it's been bouncing around in my head for years! For returning readers, thanks so much for your support! Crossover stories never get enough attention, and World War Z is not very popular. So it means so much that you've read and returned.

Now that part 1 is complete, I've re-edited the whole thing to fix dates and errors-because I owe it to you! There is a part two and three (it lines up with the book World War Z) so yes there's more. But part one was difficult to get through and I'm so grateful for your attention.

I'd love to hear your feedback and I love reviews (but PMs are fine, if you'd rather not have something read by anyone besides me)! Thanks again!

23 May 2016