#blooming dead

[a-starl1t-k1tsun3]

GAH, okay so i was going through the blooming dead tag again because the idea is so freaking awesome and i just had a thought- Iron Lung in the blooming dead. Like its a wonderful idea, Eden could be a plant cult that worships the zombies or whatever and The Consolidation could be one of those classic militarized groups that always show up. you can even add bloodymary if you want and have the petrova taskforce be trying to figure out a cure for the zombies

[allykatswriting]

The Blooming Dead - short story

The world ended last week.

Not really, of course. The planet was still around, humanity was still surviving, but everything you'd ever known was gone. The government had dissolved, taken down by it's own incompetence and machinations. The internet, and the mega-corperations that existed on it, were crumbling to dust.

The dead rose from the streets and walked again. Zombies, the shambling undead, attacked the living under the red moon. Power and water was being shut down all over the country. Many had died.

But not you.

You're not special, you know that. If the zombies got you, you were as good as dead. No immunity for you. But when you heard the news, you ran to the library.

It wasn't like you had much to live for, but the library was all you had left. You loved it. It was more of a home than the apartment you paid too much for was. It would likely get raided, you assumed, and it's knowledge would be lost. It needed to be defended.

So you grabbed your things, grabbed food and water and whatever else you could fit in your small car, and drove to the library. You picked up a gun and ammo along the way. You knew how these stories went, after all. Survivors always needed guns.

The red moon burned overhead as you drove to the building. The streets were full. You could see another car crashed into a pole nearby. The driver was clawing at the door as a zombie crawled it's way inside the broken windshield. You don't stop to help.

The library stands tall against strange stars, defiant in the face of everything. You're surprised to find the door still locked, and you park in front of the doors to block them as you use your key to get inside. The chaos of the outside world seems to disappear as you enter your sanctuary.

That night had been surprisingly calm. Neither zombie nor survivor had even attempted to enter the building. You felt strangely at ease, knowing blood wouldn't be on your hands tonight.

The next morning you had started the process of transforming the library to what it was today. You'd stored non perishables in the staff only rooms, blockaded the windows, and set up a small living space behind the front desk.

The next step would be securing food. The water fountains were still working fine, for now, but that wouldn't mean much if you starved to death. There were decorative gardens outside and on the balconies to the other floors. You could replace the flowers with crops, if you had the seeds.

Thankfully your food stores, mostly consisting of canned foods, were enough to last your for at least a month. You had to hope and pray that you wouldn't be swarmed by a hoard by that point. There were a few stores that sold seeds in town. You'd have to risk and excursion to get them.

In the meantime, you found a book about agriculture and began to read.

----------

You were still there a month after the world ended.

A whole month and nothing had attacked you. No hordes, no survivors, no cannibalistic cults. And that made you worried.

Usually, unless there was a reason for this behavior. This would mean the zombies were regrouping to plan a huge attack. But it wasn't like you hadn't seen them. They hadn't disappeared, they just had no interest in the library.

From the windows you could see them shambling across the street. Once, one had even seen you. You stare at each-other. The zombie swung it's head away from you, silently, moving along. Every one of them did this.

You were very glad you got the 'Walking Dead' variety of zombies. You don't think you'd survive the green flu. Or 'The Last of Us'. Shamblers were your preferable match-up.

Whatever infection had caused this made them avoid trying to get into the library, it seemed. Passing to close to the garden around this place seemed to confuse them. They got turned around, sometimes walking against the hoard instead of with it.

The two options when zombies stopped attacking were that they were either going to launch a full scale attack, or that there was a reason for it. If it wasn't the former, you had to figure out the latter.

You stared a the orchard lilies just outside the library's entrance, blooming pink and white with orange stamen. You've never liked them, being able to smell their sent every spring, even from indoors. It drifted through the doors, burning your nose every time anyone entered or left.

You were starting to think that maybe the zombies didn't like it either.

----------

(@aspiringcandleartist)

[otherwindow]

I have come to your blog because of that one post you made about the blooming undead, i cannot find it, i am sad

Original post that went around is here!!!

[otherwindow]

I have a question about yhe blooming dead

What about people who are allergic to perfumes and colognes when they were alive would they get agitated no matter what

I personally am allergic to aerosols ( small airway + particles in the aerosol = clog = cant breathe because lungs are blocked)

Plus strong sent from incense and stuff give me headaches even if they are pleasant

I've got a sensitive nose myself, and I've been knocked out by fumes and perfumes so I know how you feel lol

For what I have in mind for the Blooming Dead setting, there would be an unspoken rule to limit strong scents since it'd upset zombies and people with sensitive noses.

Because the world needs to adapt to these smells, masks and breathing accessories would be commonplace, and areas safe from from zombies like homes and the inner parts of fortified communities wouldn't require scented protection, so you're free to breathe in regular air :D

Incense, perfumes, and stronger smells would only be used where zombies linger.

[marisol-000]

I think bloomers who get too heavy/grow in place should be called Rooted

[acute-octogon]

Takes place is the Blooming Dead Universe by @otherwindow .

You are in a zombie apocalpyse and a group of survivors is trapped. The only way to save everyone is to walk out through a horde of zombie completely naked.

You have to be completely naked because there are no clean smelling clothes that don't have blood on them, and you have limited resources. You use what little water you have left to clean yourself. When you face the undead, your only protection is the lavendar scented oil you mixed with water and covered yourself in.

But you can choose to walk out with Crocs on or go bearfoot. What do you choose?

What would you wear when you are naked and walking through a horde of zombies?

Crocs

Nothing. I go barefoot.

Voting ended onMar 15, 2024

Tag or comment why you chose your answer.

I choose to wear crocs because it would be extremely funny if I died and strangers see my undead corpse naked except for some lime green crocs. Like what would you even make of that? I want to be a clown even in death. Even better if I could put a red nose on.

My friend chose barefoot because he said it be even more embaressing to have crocs on.

[otherwindow]

Ok, here it goes again (I am crying bc it got deleted)--

I accidentally found your post about the blooming dead and got inspired from all the beautiful stories and thoughts you and others shared.

You got me thinking of the undying love humans have for others of their kin, so much that they will willfully become a beacon for their fallen ones. But I also thought of the strong and deep love that humans can develop for others that aren't, like animals, and plants, the own planet, that makes them protective and curious.

Like those who dedicated their life, even from before the apocalipse, to protect and care for local species. Like the guy who asked to have the endangered species Lennea viridiflora planted on his back after he got hurt working and realized he was on his way to becoming another one of the horde. Begging, so he can keep taking care of it even in death, so that even his body can be another chance for his beloved plant.

Or those whose reason to live is to love and care for their pets, their companions. Like that old lady that plants catnip on the wound in her side as she watches her kittens rub their heads to her leg one last time, purring as they are blissfully unaware of her state. Slowly bleeding as she makes sure she brings joy to them even if she is no longer herself.

Those whose love is the reason they will find peace one day, their own body a love letter to the ones that they cared for. A bloomer with a healthy bush growing on them, stumbling down now as part of the flora and soil, still and quiet as if it was sleeping, laying down as they are unable to move anymore under the weight of a tree sprout on them, returning to the ground one last time, being more part of the tree than the tree part of them.

Idk, I think your idea is cool.

AHHHHH the thought of infected people knowing they can't be Bloomers but still putting plants and flowers on their own zombifying bodies for other reasons is so deliciously sad 😭😭😭

I wanna believe that these unique zombies still find peace, and although they don't have the calming effect a Bloomer does to other zombies, they're still gentle and people generally leave them be 🥺

[otherwindow]

So I haven’t been able to read alllll the posts in your Blooming Dead tag but I was thinking about how the virus could’ve started and came up with this :)

The military was testing in an underground facility how to turn corpses into suggestible soldiers by bringing them back to life. They succeeded in bringing the corpses back but they couldn’t figure out how to control them so the project was abandoned. When the tested-on, reanimated corpses were being brought up to the surface to be burned (the origin of the hate of bad smells), the blood of some dripped into the soil, affecting the flowers and plants of the area. The virus was spread when a woman gathering dandelions nearby to make dandelion wine. She drank the infected wine and was the first to be turned into a Bloomer (calmed by dandelions). Her spores/seeds spread into the air and from then on the virus was airborne. Now, when someone dies, they turn into a zombie, only being calmed by flowers and good scents.

What do you think? There might be lots of plot holes. 🤭

I prefer zombie infection origins to be vague even though I have my own take, but yours is so good!!! I love the simplicity of the zombies developing a hatred of bad smells and violence due to the way they were treated 🥺