Writers should not read about zombie survival during a major natural disaster, but in 1995 that's exactly what happened. Hurricane Rita tore through my state and knocked out power for weeks. The roads were blocked by downed trees and no one could come in, get out, or make phone calls. Naturally, I was seeing zombies shambling about behind every chunk of debris that littered the roads.
Sometime later, a dear friend of mine asked me to write a story with her as the main character. Thus my post-hurricane zombie story was born. My friend, tough, sassy, fearless, became Bonnie in more ways than one. After completion of the story, I tagged the fictional name on her and there it stuck. It was probably the worst Christmas present ever. Sorry Bonnie, but for better or worse, you've been immortalized.
"Bonnie, get the gun."
She hurried to the back of the room and removed a pistol from its holster. She thumbed back the hammer and looked at Troy. Never could Bonnie have imagined that she would be drawing down on another human being, but now the situation was thrust upon her, and she had to take action. She stared into his lifeless eyes, into his blank expression as he attempted to bite her friends.
No, she was not drawing down on a human being. Whatever it was that had invaded and attacked them only resembled a human, and the longer she watched him, the less human he seemed.
Bonnie shut her left eye, took aim and squeezed off a shot. The bullet passed through his left shoulder, exploding the joint as it exited. They expected a cry of pain, a scream, and for Troy to jerk away. But he failed to even flinch. The pain did not even register.
Bonnie fired a second shot that ruptured his torso and obviously damaged his spine, as his legs went limp. Still he tried to squirm free and bite.
"Shoot him in the face," Joe yelled an instant before Bonnie reacted. Troy's head came apart as the hollow point ripped through his skull, spraying blood and brains across the room. The lifeless, ruined corpse dropped limp and Joe and T.L. released their hold on the thing.
"Someone tell me that didn't just happen," Bonnie said, shaking her head.
"Bonnie," Joe said quietly as he rose to his feet. "You just killed a zombie."
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