Undead or Alive: A Zombedy

Before his capture, Geronimo had cursed white men, triggering a zombie-like plague across the town. The curse hints at a supernatural cause behind the chaos to come. The stage is set for a clash between the living and the undead.

In a house in a small town, Ben begins to act suspiciously and is soon revealed to be dangerous. He attacks and eats his wife and daughter's brains, demonstrating the spread of the curse through personal horror. This brutal act signals the town's descent into a zombie nightmare.

Luke impulsively plans to marry a saloon girl, only to discover she is a prostitute. A confrontation erupts with Elmer Winslow, and the two men are jailed by Sheriff Claypool. The sheriff also steals $500 from Elmer during the confrontation.

In the adjacent jail cell, Ben awaits his hanging the next morning. Luke and Elmer escape their cells and lock Deputy Cletus inside, where Ben bites him. The bitten deputy begins his own transformation as the town's trouble grows.

The fugitives rob the sheriff of his money and make a break for it. The sheriff then releases Cletus from the cell, who is bitten by Ben. Cletus begins his own undead turn.

The town assembles a posse and hangs Ben the next morning, believing justice has been served. Yet the hanging cannot stop the curse, and the town's fear grows. The posse then sets out to pursue Luke and Elmer, who remain on the run.

Sue, Geronimo's kidnapped and educated niece, ambushes Luke and Elmer in their sleep and returns to seek revenge on the soldiers who killed her uncle. After a difficult start, the trio form an uneasy alliance, with Elmer revealing that he is an army deserter. They begin to understand each other's motives amid the chaos.

Sheriff Claypool and Cletus, now zombies, attack the other posse members and turn them into the undead. Luke, Elmer, and Sue realize they cannot be killed by conventional means and flee the siege. The trio must regroup as the undead close in.

The townspeople cut Ben down from the gallows, unaware that hanging cannot kill him. Ben immediately retaliates, attacking the townspeople and spreading panic. The town's minister hides as the siege expands.

The town's minister locks himself in an upstairs room at the saloon as the zombies besiege the building. The following morning, he climbs out to fetch water but is pursued and bitten by the prostitute-turned-zombie. The minister's fate underscores the curse's spread.

Elmer, Luke, and Sue are captured by soldiers, former colleagues of Elmer, and taken to their fort on the edge of the Grand Canyon. There they discover that the garrison has been turned into zombies. The trio's plan to survive becomes more urgent as the siege tightens.

Inside the fort, they confirm that decapitation can kill zombies. They also learn that the cure involves eating the living flesh of the medicine man who created the curse. During the combat, Elmer is bitten by First Sergeant Kermit, becomes a zombie, and bites Luke after a massive explosion blows up the magazine.

Sue is killed by Elmer and Luke, and they consume her flesh to cure their own affliction. The two regain their normal humanity, proving the cure can work for relatives of the curse's creator. Sue's flesh reportedly tastes like gingerbread.

Having been cured, Elmer and Luke ride off into the sunset to escape the nightmare they've endured. Cletus stands and chases them, adding a final chase to the tale.

In the epilogue, Ben digs up his family, now zombies themselves, from the cemetery. The three of them (with their dog) skip into town, suggesting the nightmarish cycle may continue. The living and the dead blur as the town confronts the unexpected returns of the cursed.