So, I have the idea for a plot in my head that takes place a few hundred years in the future. It's about a group of soldiers who are trapped on a planet with rampaging zombie-like creatures. To add a twist, I wanted to have them discover that a) this happened before, but it was kept secret or b) it had been going on for longer than they though, but they didn't know. I can't decide which, or think of a reason why the US government would try to keep a lid on it. Any ideas? *waits for Cogito's "a-story-concept-means-nothing" post*
Because it threatens the Gov's control? It would cause pandemonium? Something like that comes to mind.
Maybe the government didn't want to scare people off the planet, because it contained some important resource.
There are many reasons why a government keeps secrets. 1. The zombies were part of a secret defense project and the government doesn't want enemy or rogue nations to know about it. 2. The zombies were an unforeseen side effect to a to an agriculture experiment and the secrecy is part of the containment until they can figure out how to resolve the issue. 3. The U.S. Government spies have stolen a new chemical weapon that has been developed by some terrorist sponsoring rogue state...and the container sprung a leak, creating the zombie problem. Secrecy is highly important if you don't want the rogue state to KNOW that you have their weapon. 4. EPA researchers, laboring on a new government funded project to eliminate green houses gasses and end global warming, have succeeded. The only drawback, is that the technology to eliminate greenhouse gasses also, unintentionally, reanimates the recently dead. 5. The pencil pushers in the state department just kept on getting those "practical joke" communications from the planetary governor's office, you know the ones "...blah blah blah...situation critical...blah blah blah...zombies running amok...blah blah blah...killing everybody", yeah right, those guys have been watching too many low budget horror films. Of course, the only thing is, that all communication abruptly stopped two weeks ago...with no response on any frequency since. Funny that. These are just a few
The obvious reason is that the political fallout of the public learning of a major screwup would put any elected official who knew of the projects that led to it out of office. Furthermore, the lawsuits would make the reparations from the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill look like chump change.
Right now in Sweden we have a group shooters in one oh the major cities sniping immigrants at random. The police kept the pattern and many of the shooting was done with the same weapon quiet the first months, not wanting to cause panic and to have a better chance of finding the shooter. The government don't need any evil attention. They just need to take the stance that stopping the infection will be impossible of the whole public panics.
Why would the government hide something? Go back to when you were a child and you did something wrong. I'm sure there were situations where you hid information from your mother or father. Think about all of those reasons, then transfer them to fit the personality of a government. Of course, there are other reasons that the government would hide something that don't apply to a child, but it's a starting point.
I want to read this story when it comes into being, please. Shady conspiracy? Maybe the government has a deal of some kind with the zombies...what might the deal be? What might be the motive for it? Questions to answer... Maybe the zombies are mutated government dissenters?
They would keep it mum if it made them look bad, if they were responsible or if it somehow threatened national security.
