Zombex

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, an elderly man takes his prescribed pill and becomes a zombie, attacking his wife. The brutal act interrupts their breakfast as a Chandler Pharmaceuticals advertisement plays in the background. This tragedy triggers the opening events of the story.

Radio host Aldo Huxley uses his platform to publicly blame Chandler Pharmaceuticals for the zombie outbreak. His conspiracy theory spreads fear and helps frame the corporation as the antagonist. The media noise sets the stage for corporate machinations to come.

Charlie, an alcoholic, wakes up in a bar and soon returns home to confront the mystery of his parents' deaths. Grief and anger drive him to hit the road and seek answers. His personal mission becomes entangled with the wider crisis.

Back home, Charlie learns about the Chandler prescription his father had and takes a pill. He hopes the drug will offer clues or power to uncover who was responsible. The moment marks his plunge into the pharmaceutical conspiracy at the heart of the story.

The zombie apocalypse dominates broadcasts as the story cuts between on-the-ground chaos and media coverage. Huxley is interviewed, doubling down on his accusation that Chandler is to blame. The media feeds the growing sense of sociopolitical crisis.

CEO Russ Chandler hires a small mercenary team led by Katie-Ann to combat the zombies. Dr. Solis, the lead scientist, explains the drug’s troubled origins and its dangerous side effects. The plan is to use force and science to control the outbreak.

Katie-Ann and her squad head out and begin taking on attacking zombies. They confront a rising swarm and test how the drug-based crisis response holds up under pressure. Their mission reveals the scale of the threat.

Solis reveals that a cure exists that can counteract the zombie process if given within hours of infection. However, the serum cannot be administered in Louisiana due to it being a No Fly Zone. This creates a dangerous, covert delivery challenge.

Huxley receives a serum package and decides to bring more into Louisiana, planning a trip to Austin to obtain additional doses. He pairs up with Charlie, and the two begin their journey together. Their road trip becomes the backbone of the pursuit.

On the road, Huxley cures Charlie when the drug saves him from turning. They encounter Katie-Ann and her mercenaries, and Charlie realizes the woman he once slept with is now a key player in the fight. The trio's fates become dangerously intertwined.

The group shares a drunken party with Budro, a farmer friend of Huxley, which temporarily eases the tension. The moment of camaraderie is brief before the danger of the outbreak pulls them back to the road. The gathering underscores how fragile human connections remain amid chaos.

Chandler's household is attacked by a horde of zombies, and he decides to flee rather than face a fatal confrontation. His escape mirrors the spread of the outbreak into every corner of his life. The corporate founder becomes a moving target.

The group presses toward Austen, Texas, only to find the area overrun and the serum depleted. They set up a camp by a lake and respond to the new wave of attacks. The mission looks increasingly untenable as rescue and supplies fade.

During a brutal assault, Katie-Ann is overwhelmed and killed by zombies, a devastating blow to the mercenary effort. The loss deepens the despair of the remaining survivors. The group must push forward with dwindling resources.

The remaining survivors reach a government base in Austen, Texas, where Dr. Solis injects Huxley and Charlie with a Phase 2 drug intended to kill them and reanimate their corpses. They are strapped to gurneys and left to be studied as potential zombies. The grim ending tightens the line between science and control.