Dead Center (Volumes) by Joshua Pierre
Originally this series was going to be my version of ‘The Walking Dead’ and I wanted to title it: Survive the Walking Dead. The point was to base the spinoff of the series in New York City and show the factions that would develop based on the survivors with a crazy story that would probably reinvigorate the franchise for AMC. But then I took the time to really think about what I would really want to do if given the chance to make my own Zombie franchise. My favorite zombies are the ones from ‘Dawn of the Dead’ & ‘28 Days Later’ and that’s because those zombies run. How do you survive if they run? Now what if they were able to retain some intelligence sort of similar to the creatures in ‘I Am Legend’ where they attempt to draw out survivors (and I’m talking about the book, not the Will Smith movie). With all of that being said, this is simply the idea that came to mind:
A freshman in college travels with their family to New York City to sight see while they set up the dorm room at the college they got admitted to. While in Times Square a bomb goes off nearby and they see everyone start to panic as smoke secretes itself into the crowd. Some people get away (the immune) and the other instantly are affected when they breathe in the toxin (the inhalers). Those infected begin to lose their humanity and become animals in and of themselves. Speech isn’t lost forever but must start almost from scratch only learning language again by observing their prey. They have a standard hunger that drives them to hunt their prey, but once the first wave occurs, they realize that they want to preserve their food supply. They also have their own language in order to communicate with one another. Those that are bitten by the infected (the turned) are decomposing bodies that can be eaten by the inhalers but are used as the rabid hoards that search for the food supply. They are also sired to the ones that bit them. They communicate telepathically to their leader. The inhalers can also reproduce asexually or by simply having sex with one another which then mutates to an even more superior version of zombies. The inhalers immediately look to those born as the new leaders based on who is the strongest. They are far smarter than your average zombie that’s for sure. And they are fast and incredibly skilled hunters. This makes the people that are trapped in New York City to become even more clever because they are trapped in more ways than one because they are in the most condensed city they could imagine for this sort of situation.
This is a series because there is a war between the infected and the survivors of society. Not only that, the survivors are split into factions and are forced to work together (but that doesn’t always occur). The first story focuses on the college freshman and their family locking themselves in a brownstone with several other survivors. Once the infected start to hunt through the neighborhood, they think of ways to combating their enemies and fleeing to a new place. Their radios that work and communication isn’t completely lost within the infected zone and this isn’t happening everywhere. But as time passes, the airborne pathogen will touch everywhere and infect people at a slower rate, but change them nonetheless. A pandemic that will take years to get everyone in the world. As they look to survive their impending assault, the family look to save the children first, and the survivors of the first story will lead on to develop their own faction and method for survival within the city.
The sequels will focus on multiple new characters and even a perspective from outside of the city as the nation begins to fall. Multiple spinoffs and side stories are capable of being done. In the overarching universe of the books, this will be exactly what New York City is: an island of infected. It’s a place where criminals are sent and they must serve their time there. Which makes their only way for repentance is survival. That, in and of itself, is another story right there. The story grows and grows every time I sit to write anything on it. That’s why volumes are necessary for this story in specifics. I’m excited to actually dive into all of the stories that will come from my version of zombies.