Z is for Zombies
It was nearly impossible to tell the color of the little skid steer, it was too streaked in oil and caked in dried mud. It moved across the landscape in an unsettling series of stuttering starts and lurching stops. When the vehicle finally rolled out of the forest and into the open sprawl of the meadow it slowly allowed its eyes to drift across the landscape. Then, the vehicle opened its mouth.
"I vant to suck your brains!"
"Drip." The sigh in Dynamites voice as she made her way back up the trail was so thick with annoyance one could practically cut it with Blackout's blade.
"Vwat?" The skid steer did at least have enough common sense to look a little bit sheepish…but he wasn't willing to completely break character.
"Drip, it is 'I want to eat your brains' and ditch the fake accent, you are a zombie not a vampire."
"On right…" Drip cleared his throat. "I want to eat your brains!"
"Much better." Dynamite was clearly trying not to roll her eyes, but also recognize that any attempts to dampen the smokejumpers enthusiasm would be misplaced. "Now hurry up or we are all going to be late to the park's annual mock disaster drill."
Drip did not have to be told twice. Though after he got distracted a few more times on his way to the lodge, Dynamite assigned Avalanche to bring up the end group just to make sure that they didn't miss place Drip along the way. After all, the last thing they needed was for him to 'practice' his zombie technique and scare the oil out of some poor visitor.
Term- Zombies- Though they are fictional, zombies have played a surprisingly important part in emergency response training. That is because zombies allow organizations like FEMA, the CDC, and WHO to run large scale emergency response trainings simulating sensitive problems without cultural backlash. What to have a conversation about riot management in the aftermath of an earthquake? Run an exercise with a hoard of volunteer zombies. Want to teach kids about the importance of having an emergency plan? Have them discuss zombie preparedness as a class. Trying to model how a community might take on a pandemic? You guest it, zombies. So, next time you see a local health department or fire department calling for volunteer zombies to help out with an exercise you now know to volunteer. Because while you will have a fun day in make-up, you will also be helping your community be more resilient against disaster!
Author's Note- Well, we have come to the end of another Planes Advent Calendar and I hope this last chapter ended things on a happy note. But you are most likely reading this author's note because you want to learn the topic that won. Between Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction. net, we had a lot of folks voice their opinion of what they wanted to reach next year. The final tallies were B is for Burnout=3, F is for Forestry=5, H is for Helicopter=9, P is for Prevention=5, and R is for Racer=6, which means H is for Helicopter is the winning theme. If you all have any prompts suggests for H is for Helicopter I would love to hear them.
Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope you will join me in 2021 for next year's Planes Advent Calendar.