Metadata
Author: langbot
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English[en]
This was exactly what I needed. What was happening ‘out there’? How far had the plague spread and what was the world doing about it? Curiously, the Zombie Apocalypse was not the leading news item. “That’s probably good news,” I thought. “Probably.” As it turned out, the discussion that Paul and I had recently, outside the crypt, had been half-right. This was not bad, considering our almost complete lack of data at the time. The bit we’d guessed correctly concerned how far the vanguard zombies had managed to spread the plague simply by walking out from ground zero in Melbourne. The current ‘battle front’ was indeed being fought on three separate fronts: one in each of the three regional cities of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. The vanguard had got to those cities within days of the initial outbreak, catching the populace completely unprepared – just as Melbourne and its suburbs had been. This vanguard was being continually reinforced, from Melbourne, by a steady supply of graduate or ‘new’ zombies. (That is, the guys who’d been bitten in the first few days but had taken some time to ‘change’.) So, each of those regional cities had now become the site of daily pitched battles between the zombies and a relatively ad hoc civilian-cum-military resistance. Given the inadequate nature of the initial response, the civil authorities had determined that it was better to impose a complete news blackout at local level rather than cause unnecessary panic among the civilians. Do you follow that logic? No, I didn’t either. In those first few days, it seems the military authorities took the view that, if they could do nothing effective to counter the zombies, it was preferable to maintain civil order in places where the zombies had not yet reached (and simply abandon the residents of Greater Melbourne to their fate – which neatly explained why we had seen no helicopters after Day One). Well, maybe there was a certain misconceived logic in those first few days – when the authorities thought they might yet contain the plague to Melbourne and the area immediately surrounding that city. But this strategy, if that is a worthy description, gave the residents of the three outlying regional cities no warning, no chance to flee in an orderly manner – or to start preparing their defences as soon as possible.
Cornish[kw]
Hemm o yn hwir an pyth esa edhomm dhymm. Pyth esa ow hwarvos y’n ledanna bys? Dhe by peller re lessa an pla ha pyth esa ow kul an bys yn y gever? Koynt o, ny veu an Gordhroglamm Zombi an erthygel a ledya an nowodhow. “Henn yw, yn hwirhaval, nowodhow da,” a brederis. “yn hwirhaval.” Dre happ, an dhadhel a-dhiwedhes yntra Powl ha my, yn-mes an kleudhgell, re via hanter-ewn. Nyns o henna re dhrog, res agan fowt dien (po ogas) a dherivadow y’n tor’ na. An rann a dhismygsen yn ewn o an huni a-dro dhe bellder an pla re via leshes gans an zombis y’n voward dre agan kerdhes dhiworth ‘Grond Zero’ yn Melbourne. Yn hwir, yth esa teyr thal dhe’n ‘thal-bresel’: yn sitys ranndiryel, Geelong, Ballarat ha Bendigo. An voward re dhrehedsa an sitys na yn nebes dydhyow wosa an kynsa klevesans, an dus ena anbarys yn tien - kepar dell via an kas rag an dus yn Melbourne ha’y ranndiryow. Y fia an voward ma krevhes heb lett gans provians dhiworth Melbourne a zombis fresk. (Henn yw leverel, gans an bolatys re via brethys y’n kynsa dydhyow mes re gemmersa nebes termyn rag ‘chanjya’.) Ytho, pubonan an sitys ranndiryel re alsa ha bos leow mayth esa breselyow settyes yntra’n zombis ha’n re, dynasek po breselek, a ylli furvya eghenn a gor’dhefens. Drefenn gnas anlowr an kynsa gorthyp, an awtoritys dynasek re ervirsa bos gwella kompoesa difygyans dien a dharlesansow an nowodhow leel. Y’ga breus i, y’n fordh na, ny hwarvsa skruth heb res. A yllta konvedhes an reson na? Na yllyn, ny yllyn vy y gonvedhes naneyl. Y’n kynsa dydhyow na, yth heveli an awtoritys breselek dhe grysi ma na yllens gul neppyth a allsa defendya erbynn an zombis, gwell o gansa gwitha kres y’n leow ma na dhrehedhsa an zombis na hwath – hag, y’n fordh na, forsakya drigoryon Brassa Melbourne. Heb mar, an ervirans ma a dhisplegyas fowt dien a eskelli- tro a-ugh an bennskol a-dhia Dydh Onan. Wel, yth esa, martesen, reson (kammgemmerys) y’n kynsa dydhyow na – pan grysis an awtoritys bos possybyl hwath synsi an pla a-berth yn Brassa Melbourne. Byttegyns, an towl ma, mars yw henna deskrifans gwiw, a ros dhe drigoryon an teyr sita ranndiryel gwarnyans vyth, chons vyth dhe fia yn fordh rewlys – po dhe dhalleth darbaryans aga defensow skonna galla.