It was a sort of protein.

(This posting was a part of My Elves are Different's "Blog as if it's the end of the world" event. It is about a zombie invasion, and entirely fictional.)

No, I'm not quite sure what exactly that substance is, still. My best guess is that that towel was contaminated by something in the zombies, and I think we'll never be quite sure what it is. All we know is that it combined with the deteriorating hemoglobin proteins in the zombie blood to create an airborne protein that repels zombies. It's the same one that deters them from attempting to feast on each other. It is, thankfully, totally harmless to all mammalian life, although there are indications that it may have a nasty effect on arachnids.

(Giant spiders may be a problem for a little while.)

It isn't perfect by any means. it's still zombie blood, so it can still infect, and there are still a lot of zombies out there, though. Fortunately, now that they know exactly what the two proteins are, it's relatively simple to synthesize them and combine them to create this repellant. Already we're seeing "death squads" fanning out across most of North America, equipped with powerful weaponry and this repellant, wiping out zombies with great abandon while being totally ignored by their prey. Hopefully these squads will be present everywhere in the world over the next 24 hours, and there are no shortage of volunteers among the civilian population to deal with it.

Others may still blog, and others may still die; but don't worry. This Too Shall Pass. We will survive, and rebuild. Many still don't know it exists, and believe that they've reached "the end of the world"; they need not worry. Help is on the way. Help, and the vengeance they desire.

We're also fortunate in that it didn't come to blows between the major powers. While I was hearing stories suggesting that everybody, even the Americans, were trying to hold on to this themselves, wiser heads prevailed and the formula was published for all. I think people realized that there was something more important going on, and that they need to deal with it. Business as usual may resume tomorrow, but for now, peace prevails. We really aren't as dumb as people act in those movies.

I actually got a chance to speak with the family of Mrs. Ayinde. They were understandably shaken, but I think that they can at least take comfort in the fact that their mother and wife had, quite possibly, been the first person in history to literally save the world.

(I wish that we could have gotten to her before the end. I would have liked to have met her.)

I'm so tired. I've been gunning down things that used to be people for the past twelve hours. My hearing is shot, my hands won't stop shaking, and I never want to see another round of ammunition ever again as long as I live. I'm glad I wasn't trapped in the middle of it, like so many others were, but I'm still badly shaken by the experience.

One thing remains: BLITEOWL. I think it's safe to discuss now; the powers-that-be are too distracted to care, and the people responsible are largely dead. So what is BLITEOWL? Essentially, it's the codeword for a Russian military project, dating back all the way to their war in Afghanistan, that attempted to deal with their manpower issues. They were trying to revive the dead to serve as soldiers in place of the living. (It was the inspiration, heavily edited, for that old "Universal Soldier" movie.)

I still don't know the specifics- I only got a chance to glance at the file, and had to track down hints and whispers whenever I wasn't shooting. I think it's scientific, but it might actually be some sort of supernatural process. I don't know. What I do know is that the Americans managed to stop it, but not completely; the attack on the Russian facility that was attempting to revive their dead only ended up delaying things. The original attempt was made on June 13, 1987; the Americans quickly learned that the outbreak would be pushed back 20 years. Predictably, though, the whole thing was buried by the powers-that-be of the time, and DoD filing being what it is, well...

They didn't start this, but they should have known it was coming. Some did: that's where that information clearinghouse came from. As I found out, though, most didn't. Those that did tried to hide it, which is why it was called "BLITEOTW" as a convenient acronym for "Blog Like It's The End Of The World", but they knew very well what was really going on and wanted to signify it to those "in the know".

So that's all. I'm going to get some sleep, before I pass out on top of this bloody grenade launcher.

(Wish I knew what was going on with that comet.)