The zombie apocalypse can take many many forms, some of which are more or less terrifying than others depending on your perspective…

Kayenne had never seen so many of them in one place at one time.  She had heard tale of whole cities being overrun in a matter of days, but not here in Cape Girardeau.  Surely they were too far on the outskirts.  She’d only caught a glimpse of her first sighting less than a day prior, and that was from a lone straggler way off in the distance.  But the rumors were true; it did spread quickly, and now she was surrounded.

One shuffled along to her right, sporting the standard greased-back black hair and sideburns, wearing dark sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt.  To her left were two more, dressed to the hilt in their studded white jumpsuits, their red rimmed, weary looking eyes scanning their surroundings.  And behind her was yet another, lavishly attired in velvet finery with smoky eyes and full, pouty lips drawn in a smirk of a smile.  There were several more off in the distance, awash in their bold-printed shirts and black coifs.  And they were closing in.

No one had realized they were zombies at first.  They didn’t seem to bother anyone; they weren’t frothing at the mouth or ripping people’s heads open on the hunt for brains.  Mostly they just shuffled around, mumbling, “It’s now or never” at pretty much everyone and everything.  Every once in awhile, one would wander along strumming a guitar or a ukulele, but most of them just sang and danced.

In fact, when they initially appeared, they hadn’t seemed particularly unusual.  Especially since the phenomenon had started on January 8 in Memphis.  That was his birthday after all, and the whole town still celebrated.  So for all that anyone could tell, it was just another convention that went a little wild.  Thus, no one concerned themselves with the growing mobs until it was too late and the zombie apocalypse was well underway.

But after the party crashed and everyone went home, they were still everywhere.  Their numbers rapidly increased and, before long, they had spread beyond the Tennessee city.  It had taken over the state of origin in no time and had quickly engulfed much of the Southern United States.  And now it was spreading north into Kayenne’s hometown, all the way into Missouri and beyond.

Kayenne knew not to get too close.  These zombies weren’t inherently deadly like in all of the horror stories – they didn’t openly attack people.  Mostly they just flash mobbed unaware bystanders, gesticulating and wildly dancing in the streets with gyrating pelvises swaying to and fro.  But they were nonetheless very dangerous, for they were laden with an airborne pathogen that would turn even the most defiant hater of Rock ‘n Roll music into yet another impersonator in their midst in a matter of seconds.

It was an impulsive illness for which there was no cure, and it was spreading across the country at an alarming rate.  After the stores selling wigs and Hawaiian shirts were overrun and had long run out of stock, newbies continued to craft creative ways to fashion themselves in his image.  They used whatever they could find, even smoothing dark colored mud into their hair to complete the look.

Kayenne pulled her hoodie in tighter around her face and raised her bandana so that her eyes scarcely peeked out over the top.  She began to hustle and was readying to break into an all out run, but the group around her edged in closer.  They were within arm’s reach now.  One of them began to sway and chant “I’m all shook up” and another chimed in.  Before long, the growing entourage had all followed suit.

Back in the day, Kayenne might have enjoyed such a show and found the antics of the scene to be entertaining, but no longer.  Now it was terrifying.  And she was completely boxed in.  She knew she needed to get away, to flee to a safer distance, but she couldn’t break free.  As the panic set in, her mind kept reeling, returning to Spider Murphy on the tenor saxophone and Little Joe on the slide trombone.

Suddenly, Kayenne burst out, “I sure would be delighted with your company…  Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me.”  The myriad of Elvis impersonators surrounding her joined in to seal the deal, welcoming a new member of the zombie apocalypse into their midst.  Kayenne stripped off her hoodie and tied her bandana loosely around her neck like an ascot as she waved to her comrades chanting “Thank you… Thank you very much.”

For more Elvis sightings here on Haunted MTL, check out my musical mayhem from February 2021. Video also available on Haunted MTL YouTube here. And if you really need more alternative zombie apocalypse craziness, you can check out my long-form summer story from 2021.

And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.

And if you want to complete the look as I have, you can order your very own wig on Amazon. Just remember, if you buy anything from the link provided we get some $ so as always, the Dark Lord says shop away…