PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The (Zom)Borg Apocalypse
Episodes: Q Who; Best of Both Worlds I & II (TNG)
They spread like a disease, consuming everything before them and leaving nothing but carnage and destruction in their wake. Part of a growing hive mind, they have a single-minded purpose which could spell doom for the human race. In fact, the only thing saving the earth from total consumption at the hands of this seemingly unstoppable menace is a man with a glorious beard. If you think I’m talking about The Walking Dead, then you’ve forgotten everything about the Borg. In essence, they are the cybernetic zombie apocalypse of the 24th century. Using biological components of the races, they consume while assimilating their technology and knowledge into their own collective consciousness, and they will stop at nothing until the entire galaxy has become a part of their order.
Let’s forget about the omnipotent, childish, god monster that forced the first encounter and move right in to the space zombies themselves. In every way, the Borg are zombies in every sense of the word. With each encounter, they managed to grow more ferocious and deadly, not to mention more terrifying. A single Borg could assimilate an entire vessel, turning the crew into walking automatons that serve the collective will, making them virtually unstoppable, not unlike a zombie loose on an airplane. With each encounter, they get smarter, more adaptable, and grow in numbers and strength. Expert marksmanship and increasingly sophisticated means are required to kill them (unless you’ve got a holographic Tommy Gun or a Bat’Leth), and the chances of surviving an encounter with them are slim to none. Just think, an entire race of space-faring zombies, turning every species they meet into more zombies whose singular drive is to consume anything and everything around them. Take everything that scares you about zombies or the zombie apocalypse and magnify it with advanced technology, weapons, and the mantra, “Resistance is futile.” Works for me.
