World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 264-292

Terry Knox's experienced World War Z in a way different from everyone else, during the war he was not on planet Earth. Knox was the Australian commander of the International Space Station. He and his crew were the only human beings that were completely safe from the Z's, however they faced the dangerous of starvation and O2 depletion. Half of the crew was able to return to Earth in an escape pod, while the rest of them remained in space without any contact from Earth. They were able to scavenge an abandoned Chinese satellite for parts and supplies. They gathered enough materials to remain alive for 10 years according to their calculations. While, the rest of humanity experienced the Zombie outbreak, Knox and his crew witnessed it. The government stilled controlled their satellites images, therefore the crew had no control on what areas of Earth they were going to observe. The watch through a telegraphic lens the battles in China and the horrors of Yonkers. The most terrifying thing they observed was the Zombies abilities to borrow into ground after little animals like rabbits. This showed they were creatures who lived only off instincts and would do anything to get a piece of meat. However, no sight they saw on the screen could replace the naked eye, they view earth from the observation deck and saw the whole world in flames not just cities burning but billions of campfires across the world. They were able to survive the zombie war without ever facing any harm, these people were truly blessed.

I believe if i had the chance to return to Earth i would. I would want to go protect my family and ensure their safety. If i had a wife and child there would be nothing that could stop me from boarding that escape pod. I would leave the security of the satellite to fight of thousands of Zombies in order to keep my family safe. I would also feel terrible viewing all the horrible things happening to humanity and not being able to do anything about it. The guilt of staying in the satellite and the possibility of my family dieing would drive me insane.