The Zombie Book. Nick Redfern

the carpenter ant.

      The deadliest part of a zombie is not the creature itself, but its mouth, which, via a savage bite, spreads the undead virus, usually in mere seconds. It is very much the same with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis too: it’s not so much the fungus itself that the ants have to be wary and worried of, but its spores. As soon as the spores enter an ant’s body, it’s already a case of game over. And that is when another zombie parallel occurs: the brain of the ant becomes significantly affected, to the point where its behavior becomes erratic in the extreme. Also mirroring the average zombie outbreak and the actions of the survivors, the uninfected ants are able to recognize those that have turned and they quickly remove them from the colony in an effort to prevent the beginning and escalation of an ant apocalypse.

      Certainly, removing the infected is the only option available, since there is no cure for the fungal infection. Those ants affected by the spores are destined for short, horrific and very strange lives. In an acutely weird fashion, the zombie ants effectively become mind-controlled by the fungus and are driven to find a nearby tree, to climb it, and to bite down hard on one of its leaves. That’s right: just like their human equivalents, the ants of the dead deliver savage bites. This is not done as a means to devour or infect the plant, however. Rather, the purpose is to provide a stable surface for the parasitoid to thrive on: when the teeth clamp down, they never let go. Very appropriately, and when also addressing the zombie parallels, this action is termed the “death grip.”

       Ants can be infected with fungi that modify their behavior, turning them into insect zombies.

      At that point, and now completely done with controlling the mind of the ant, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis invades, to a massive degree, the body of its host. The ant is not digested, however. Rather, the fungus has the remarkable ability to actually strengthen the body of the ant and turns its skeleton into nothing less than a form of highly effective armor. There is a very good reason for this: this particular parasitoid is reliant upon a heavily protected host in which it can thrive without being threatened by outside forces, such as other fungus, as well as insects, birds, or small animals that may try and eat the ant. With the jaws of the ant still clamped on the leaf—even in death—and its body turned into a toughened shell, there is very little chance of the fungus, growing deep inside the body of the ant, being adversely affected. To further ensure that the ant remains firmly affixed to the leaf, the fungus not only grows within its host, but it also starts to spread outwards. Tough threads, known as mycelium, break through the surface skin of the ant and affix themselves to the leaf, thereby allowing for additional support.

      Finally, the sporocarp, on which the spores of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis develop, tears its way through the neck of the ant and stands tall in stalk-like fashion. Roughly a week or so later, the spores are released and the process of infection, of yet more and more ants, begins again. And again. And again. To the average human, a zombie-like ant apocalypse might not sound like a big deal. But try telling that to the ants.

       Apocalypse

       See also: Armageddon, End Times, Megiddo, Norwegian Armageddon

      In the Jewish tradition, apocalyptic thought presupposes a universal history in which the Divine Author of that history will manifest His secrets in a dramatic End-Time that, with finality, will establish the God of Israel as the one true God. The end of days (Acharit Hayamin) is bound up with the coming of the Messiah, but before he arrives, governments will become increasingly corrupt, religious schools will become heretical, the wisdom of the scribes and teachers will become blasphemous, young people will shame their elders, and members of families will turn upon one another. Then, just prior to the arrival of the Messiah, the righteous of Israel shall defeat the armies of evil and monsters that have gathered under the banner of Gog and Magog, and the exiles shall return to the Holy Land.

      The advent of the Messiah promises a great Day of Judgment in which the dead shall rise from their graves to begin a new life. During the period known as the World to Come (Olam Haba), the righteous will join the Messiah in partaking of a great banquet in which all foods, even those previously judged impure, shall be declared kosher. All the many nations of the world will communicate in one language, the Angel of Death will be slain by God, trees and crops will produce fresh harvests each month, the warmth of the sun shall heal the sick, and the righteous will be nourished forever by the radiance of God.

      To most orthodox Christians, the profound meaning of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ will one day return in the Last Days and his Second Coming will prompt the resurrection of the dead and the Final Judgment. The heart of the gospels is eschatological, end-oriented. The essential theme of Jesus and the apostles is that the last stage of history, the End-Time, was being entered into with his appearance.

      But John the Revelator does present monsters in Revelation, the last book in the New Testament, and he provides a guidebook for the Christian on what to expect during the time of Tribulation. Specifically, the book was written for the members of the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea in order to prepare them for what John the Revelator believed to be a fast-approaching time of persecution and the return of Jesus Christ.

      The first terrible beings arrive when the Seven Seals are opened (Revelation 6:12) by the Lamb (Christ). This action discloses a conquering king astride a white horse, the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Some believe this to be Jesus, but since no good comes of his arrival, more contemporary scholars maintain that this is the Antichrist in disguise.

       The Four Horsement of the Apocalypse is a fifteenth-century engraving by German artist Albrecht Dürer. The horsemen symbolize the Conquest, War, Famine, and Death that will come with the Apocalypse.

      The Second Seal (6:34) reveals the red horse, representing civil war; the third, the black horse, symbolizing famine (6:56); the fourth, the pale horse, representing the suffering that follows war and famine. The Fifth Seal to be opened by the Lamb yields a vision of the persecution of the Church throughout history and during the Last Days.

      When the Sixth Seal is revealed, it displays the coming signs of a great Day of Wrath when there will be earthly upheavals, a darkened sun, stars falling from the heavens, mountains and islands removed, and more strife and revolution throughout the nations.

      The Seventh and final Seal releases seven trumpets that sound the triumphant blast signaling the approach of the final and everlasting victory of Christ over the Kingdoms of the World.

      Rising out of the abyss to block Christ’s triumph at Armageddon is a monstrous army of demons, some resembling locusts and scorpions, others a repulsive mixture of human, horse, and lion. This motley crew of hideous demons is soon joined by 200,000 serpentine-leonine horsemen capable of belching fire, smoke, and brimstone. Led by Satan, the once-trusted angel who led the rebellion against God in Heaven, the Prince of the World sets his legions upon the faithful to make their lives as miserable as possible in the End-Time.

      To make matters even more complex for those who serve God, the greatest monster of all time, the Antichrist, appears on the scene pretending to be the Lamb, the Messiah. John the Revelator is told that this man, this Beast in lamb’s clothing, can be recognized by a name, the letters of which, when regarded as numbers, total 666.

      Although the term Antichrist is frequently used by those Christians who adhere to the New Testament book of Revelation as a literal guide to the time of the End of Days, which they feel is upon us, the word is nowhere to be found within its text. It is, however, very likely from the apostle John that we first learn of the Antichrist.