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Base: Bluffton, South Carolina

Date/Time: October 31, 2006

Incident: I wish I had the chance to post an update earlier, but I've had a busy week. My worst fears were realized, as four people have been reported missing after Halloween night, and another two have been confirmed to be mobile undead at this moment. One has been eradicated; the other is missing in action, along with our primary zombie. Our missing friend from the night before Halloween is still missing. I presume him undead. The man we detained three days ago for questioning gave us the location of the zoo, which I investigated personally with a three-man armed escort.

The zoo was located about a half-hour drive from almost any other civilization, surrounded by dense Carolina forest. The road had many winds and curves, and several places where the road would fork into three or four more roads. Some of these would abruptly end, but most would lead to other forks. This was most likely a way of keeping any intruders away from the property by confusing them.

Because the man who told us of the zoo's location failed to tell us about the maze, it was nearly nightfall before we arrived. The main driveway had a gate meant to keep cars out, and it was open. The first thing we saw were several trailers of various types scattered through the twoacre open area. Horse trailers were mostly what we found. Past that was a trailer home with a broken window and a curtain rod hanging in the window.

Two of us went inside the trailer to check it out while the other two guarded the truck. Inside was relatively normal, save for the window. In the bedroom facing the backside of the house was a set of boot stains on the carpet which, in the twilight, could have been blood or mud. The entire house had an odd feeling to it, because it was set up like the entrance of a zoo. I looked out the window and saw where the zombies were kept.

Much to my dismay I could see three zombies: two in the early stages and one that was about six months old, roaming inside and around the pit. A small ramp was inside the pit that allowed the zombies to move in and out as they pleased. I immediately grabbed my friend and headed out to the truck. I grabbed a small shotgun to complement my .357, while two of my companions took a lever action rifle and a shotgun. The last stayed in the truck, pistol in hand. As soon as we had phoned the team searching Bluffton to alert them of our actions, we made our way around the house.

What I saw when I rounded the corner still frightens me. A woman of muscular build, about 5'10" tall, was staring me in the face. I backed up to get a shot in, but it grabbed the nose end of my shotgun. I dropped the gun, backed up, and shot it in the head with the .357. That was the closest I had ever been to a live zombie, and I quickly realized that if I had tried to keep my shotgun I would have been badly bitten. I really understood how dangerous this was for the first time.

Enough of my personal thoughts for now. There were an additional four zombies, making even total. They were killed soon enough and after some scouting of the immediate area we left. I will return within the week to investigate in fine detail.

What I can say for now is that the remaining owner (only one, sadly) was killed along with two of his customers. A third customer was the zombie I had my close encounter with. We could easily distinguish the original zombies because they were all from six to nine months old and so looked quite dissimilar to the others.

My guess as to what happened is that the zombies managed to escape, overpowering the owner and the guests. An empty .38 pistol cartridge was found, and one of the older zombies had a few misplaced shots along its body.

I am unable to comment on the condition of the situation in Bluffton currently, but now that the zoo is dealt with I'll be putting the greater part of my effort into town.

Comments from Dr. Pecos: Can I ask what ammunition you had in that .357?