Appendix – Timeline
Day 1 (Monday, August 22)
At 3:15 AM, a quarter of the Earth’s population goes into unexplained convulsions, dies, and returns seven minutes later as zombies.
Jacob Thornton wakes at 6:00 AM, turns on the television, and realizes the world is coming to an end.
Day 2
Jacob meets Briana Mills shortly after sunset, giving her shelter in his home.
Day 4
Jacob and Briana leave Denton, Texas.
Day 6
The pair reaches Anadarko, Oklahoma and meets local residents who are attempting to secure their town.
Day 9
They depart Anadarko, turning down an offer to remain.
Day 13
Jacob and Briana encounter a large convoy outside of Garden City, Kansas and accept Cherie and Simon’s family (Simon, Julie, Michael, and Juliette) as traveling companions.
While passing Garden City, the group rescues Lizzy, Lois, and Mary.
Day 14
During a stop in Scott State Park, Juliette is killed by a zombie.
Day 20
While approaching Dalton, Nebraska they discover an abandoned police van and are able to properly arm themselves.
Day 21 (September 12)
Jacob and his companions enter the Nebraska National Forest and meet Pastor Thomas Wills and his followers.
Day 22
The composition of the group changes with Simon’s family leaving and Timothy and Susan joining.
While exploring the national forest, they rescue Miranda who’d been hiding in her aunt’s house.
Day 25
The group discovers the site where they will build a permanent settlement.
Day 30 (September 21)
The first day of Fall.
Day 31
During a scouting trip to the nearby town of Chadron, Nebraska, Jacob and his companions rescue Eric, Steph, and several others.
Day 33
Zombies attack the lake camp shortly before dawn. Pastor Wills is killed.
November 15
While looting in Chadron, Steph is assaulted by three men, all of whom are slain.
November 18
Jacob, Briana, Lizzy, Lois, and Mary head for Martin, South Dakota to investigate a radio transmission indicating the existence of survivors there.
November 19
The group finds the Martin compound destroyed and all inhabitants butchered. The bodies of those responsible are wearing the same distinctive jackets as the gang that attacked Steph a few days earlier.
Returning to the settlement just before sunset, Cherie attempts to wrest leadership from Jacob. Lois is killed.
Later that evening, Jacob, Briana, Lizzy, and Mary decide to target Cherie in retaliation for murdering Lois.
Jacob proposes marriage, and Briana accepts.
November 20
The band of raiders, the same group that attacked Steph and Martin, South Dakota, discover the settlement in the Nebraska National Forest and launch a full scale assault. They are thwarted and slaughtered by the defenders and an unusually large band of zombies which was attracted to the sound of battle.
November 21
Returning the next day, Jacob finds only two survivors, Steph and a four year old boy named Johnny.
Briana reveals to Jacob that she is pregnant.
Appendix – Zombie Laws
Reanimation Process
Approximately three days after being bitten, the individual will die. Bites become infected almost immediately, regardless of any medical treatment given. This will steadily grow worse, mimicking the symptoms of gangrene. A high fever will also develop, and eventually delirium will set in.
Physical contact with zombie blood, fluids, or tissue does not result in infection. Only actual bites that pierce the skin are known to be dangerous.
Seven minutes after death, the infected reanimate. Those who die without having first been bitten will rise again as zombies in roughly twenty six hours.
Appearance & Behavior
All zombies have a gray film, similar to mucus, covering their eyes. This is distinct and easily noticeable.
They are silent. They do not moan. They do not groan. They do not breathe.
The dead walk with short, shambling steps. Their maximum speed is comparable to the walking speed of a typical, healthy adult.
Zombies never stop moving and immediately target any human they sense. This includes mechanical devices associated with people, such as moving cars. While wandering about they generally favor flat, easy to traverse surfaces such as roads. Being denser than water, they are capable of crossing the bottom of lakes and rivers.
All animals, save humans, are ignored. In return, all creatures, even insects, avoid zombies. After a zombie is killed, animals will treat it like any other dead body.
The shambling dead have an intense desire to feed. However, after one or two bites they become sated and non-violent. This lasts for approximately twenty minutes, after which the hunger returns. While sated they are completely unaware of their surroundings and will not recall anything that happens during this period.
Upon discovering prey, zombies will not cease in their efforts to reach it. If a person is hiding inside a house or room, a zombie will beat on the door until it gains entrance or is distracted. If distracted, the creature will completely forget about the original prey.
Durability & Strength
The only way to kill a zombie is to destroy the brain. Severing the spinal column will cause paralysis, much as it would with a human being.
Zombies rot for roughly two days. At that point decomposition ceases. However, if the brain is damaged sufficiently to destroy the zombie, the body will then deteriorate normally.
They do not suffer physical injury from regular activities. A barefoot zombie walking over rough ground will sustain no damage to its feet. The exact nature of this is unknown with the primary theories being: 1) zombies have skin more durable than the living, and 2) zombies steadily heal minor injuries. Major wounds never heal.
The dead are weaker than when they were alive, although the difference is slight. They have unlimited endurance.
Cold temperatures, even below freezing, do not affect or hinder a zombie in any way.
Intellect & Senses
Zombies have no memory of their past and are unable to reason normally. However, they can perform basic functions such as unlocking doors.
Vision is limited to approximately one half mile. If blind during life, they are also blind following reanimation.
Their hearing is unchanged, and this sense is often used to locate prey.
Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary Page 42