Dawn of the Dead (2004) 15 years after the outbreak...

[Gillan1220]

So next year will mark 20 years since the outbreak.
Here's a video asking about some lore of Dawn of the Dead:

TLDR: The survivors didn't stay because the mall became their prison, the food will run out and so will the power, and they will be driven mad from isolation.

ITTL, December 25, 2003 would be the last normal Christmas the human race in modern times would experience.

 

[Jedi Dragon]

ITTL, December 25, 2003 would be the last normal Christmas the human race in modern times would experience.

I was all of five years old. At least I probably had a nice Christmas.

 

[Gillan1220]

I was all of five years old. At least I probably had a nice Christmas.

In Christmas 2003, I received a Zoids crocodile scale model while my older brother got a PS2. I was only in 1st Grade.

I still remember what I was doing 20 years ago between December 31, 2003/January 1, 2004. I was in my cousin's house and before that, I was watching T3 Terminator: Rise of the Machines.

My cousins were playing Midnight Club 2 on their PS2.

I remember my uncle and some of my cousins said "Good bye 2003, hello 2004!"

Early 2004 would be good cartoons on Cartoon Network (note: Shows on CN Philippines are delayed by a year of release). Teen Titans and other shows began airing. On March 27, 2004, my classmate in 1st Grader met an unfortunate accident that also killed his father. We all cried at his death, because he was only 7 and summer was coming up. I guess ITTL, we would have said his death was a mercy compared to the outbreak that will occur in May of that year.
****
IOTL, I visited my relatives in the U.S. on May 9, 2014, which would have been the 10th anniversary of the outbreak for TTL. I did wonder if a fast zombie outbreak occurred with the same parameters as the 2004 remake, I would be dead. Since the Midwest seems to be the ground zero of the Dawn of the Dead remake. My relatives would have died as well. They are Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and being just across Wisconsin, it's no surprise they would have perished earlier.

 

[Gillan1220]

Meta and in-universe example: this movie and the outbreak turns 20 this year.

"Anniversary Edition Reviews" Dawn of the Dead 20th Anniversary (TV Episode 2024) | Horror

Dawn of the Dead 20th Anniversary: Directed by Barry Cameron. With Barry Cameron.

www.imdb.com

Dawn of the Dead (2004) — CineDump

When Zack Snyder’s remake of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was initially announced, I was extremely dubious, to say the least. I generally despise remakes and this was sacrosanct ground. I didn’t see it in the theater, but I eventually relented when my girlfriend talked me into it.

www.cinedump.com

https://www.facebook.com/horrorsyndicate/posts/906571698145554

 

[DG Valdron]

Nice explanation @USSManhattan very well said!

However, there are points I must add. Those Cold War bunkers around the U.S. such as Mount Weather, Cheyenne Mountain, STRATCOM Bunker, and Site R will be well isolated and fortified that zombies won't breach. If it was built to withstand all but a direct nuclear attack, then now decayed arms or claws would destroy those blast proof doors. Even the President and/or the cabinet could even be evacuated aboard Air Force One or the E-4B or to carriers and submarines off the coast (I wonder why everyone always discounts the U.S. Navy).

The map in the Special Features only shows the CONUS, Hawaii and Alaska are not included along with the territories of Puerto Rico, Marianas, Guam, American Samoa, and U.S. Virgin Islands. I could P.R. and VI gone knowing too close the Caribbean. Guam, Marianas, and American Samoa could have survived since they are deep in the Pacific. My guess Hawaii becomes like WWZ where the government makes their stand. Alaska would hold out too since the cold would freeze the undead. Lower Canada is gone but the northern provinces could hold out.

Unless of course, even one Zombie or bitten or infected person ends up on the inside with everyone.
And we don't really know if bites are the only way it transmits. Conceivably it could end up in water supplies, in food, it might be transmitted by parasites. According to the news report it appeared all over the country, spreading from multiple infection points at once. So you could have vectors of infection showing up anywhere.

 

[Gillan1220]

Unless of course, even one Zombie or bitten or infected person ends up on the inside with everyone.
And we don't really know if bites are the only way it transmits. Conceivably it could end up in water supplies, in food, it might be transmitted by parasites. According to the news report it appeared all over the country, spreading from multiple infection points at once. So you could have vectors of infection showing up anywhere.

Fort Pastor fell because of injured refugees.

Snyder actually confirmed it spreads through bites and scratches. Kenneth was in fountain water that was tainted with zombie blood and he had an open wound but it did not infect him.

The only question why it spread around the world overnight is a subject of debate. Snyder and Gunn once said the virus is supernatural in the sense is just popped out of all of a sudden. That televangelist mentioned about "No More Room in Hell" so it is heavily implied to be Divine Punishment in the form of a virus.

 

[Spiegel1]

Fort Pastor fell because of injured refugees.

Snyder actually confirmed it spreads through bites and scratches. Kenneth was in fountain water that was tainted with zombie blood and he had an open wound but it did not infect him.

The only question why it spread around the world overnight is a subject of debate. Snyder and Gunn once said the virus is supernatural in the sense is just popped out of all of a sudden. That televangelist mentioned about "No More Room in Hell" so it is heavily implied to be Divine Punishment in the form of a virus.

you bet Religious Cults popped up as well too ala Jonestown.

 

[DG Valdron]

Fort Pastor fell because of injured refugees.

Snyder actually confirmed it spreads through bites and scratches. Kenneth was in fountain water that was tainted with zombie blood and he had an open wound but it did not infect him.

I wondered about that. But the water was probably heavily chlorinated, the zombie virus might not have survived.

 

[Gillan1220]

I wondered about that. But the water was probably heavily chlorinated, the zombie virus might not have survived.

That's possible. So much gaps in the DOTD lore especially the outbreak needs to be filled or explored.

 

[Gillan1220]

This week marked the 20th anniversary of the First Battle of Fallujah.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1776004241397531112

The First Battle of Fallujah: ‘We Hurt Ourselves in So Many Ways'

Twenty years on, the battle is viewed as a turning point in the Iraq war, serving as a reminder of the complexities and consequences of modern warfare.

thewarhorse.org

“Gunsmoke” veterans reunite to remember Vigilant Resolve 20 years later

Around 150 veterans and active members of 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, reunited at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Feb. 29, to honor the 20th anniversary of Operation Vigilant Resolve. The battalion, also called “Gunsmoke,” served as one of the lead...

www.dvidshub.net

This disastrous U.S. military operation would leave a bitter taste in the ongoing Iraq War. Unfortunately ITTL, the aftermath of the First Battle of Fallujah would be overshadowed by the zombie pandemic a month later. Since General James Mattis was in Iraq at that time, I'd see Mattis lead U.S. and Allied contingents to hold out against zombies in Iraq.

 

[Gillan1220]

Alive Inside - Chapter 1 - CJs_cum_dumpster - Dawn of the Dead (2004) [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

archiveofourown.org

This Dawn of the Dead fanfiction correctly has the outbreak started on May 6, 2004 (the same day as Andy reported being attacked by "crazies"). At this period, perhaps isolated zombie attacks were mistakenly or deliberated covered up as riots before Z-Day happens on May 7, 2004 when modern civilization collapsed.

We are three weeks away from May 6-7, 2024, which is the 20th anniversary of the zombie apocalypse.