Free All the Dead Are Here by Pete Bevan

Zombies’ state was a second state separate to that of standard meat structures, there may be a reason for it. Initial subjects did not act like meat structures and the Nanodes could not determine the reason for this. They are not as intelligent/pan dimensional/omnipotent...No...too much ego. Not as smart as me and they looked for a precedent on which to base higher function programming. Seeing as this was not a normal state for the meat structure to return from system failure/death they used a guide to understand higher function programming and not knowing individual psyches/higher functions/personalities/memories they based it on a template,” explained Cadish.
    “What template?” said John pensively.
    “A DVD copy of George Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’,” said Cadish, the room shuddering with embarrassment. “Everyone was the same. It made the programming easy and this was what we assumed the people looked like before death, because they still looked like that in their graves. I think the Nanodes may have become confused and thought it was a historical document. This has never happened before,” said Cadish.
    “So you thought everyone would embrace Zombies as old friends and loved ones and that no-one would notice that they weren’t actually acting like they used to?” said John.
    “This may have been an error.”
    “Yes, Cadish. This is an error,” said John, thinking about what this meant. He rubbed his face and forehead. His head ached and was getting worse. Eventually he looked up at the screen and smiled. “I reckon we can fix it.” he said.
    “Hmmm.” vibrated Cadish. “I’m not sure how wise this is. I don’t want to interfere/spoil/mess up and make the situation any worse.”
    “Can’t you just go back in time and stop yourself doing it?”
    “As you yourself said, JohnKendall, it doesn’t quite work like that,” said Cadish.
    “Really? Ok. Well we’ll just have to repair what you’ve done the best we can,” said John.
    Relinquishing the endless possibility of Cadish’s considerable power to this meat creature was too delicious a opportunity to ignore. He felt positively giddy at the thought, and he could feel non-linear time flapping about like a wet fish with all the uncalculated possibilities that could occur. Cadish tried not to show his excitement.
    “Can you get the Nanodes to relinquish control of the bodies, just let them die again?” asked John.
    “Hmmm. I am reluctant to comply. People will not see their loved ones again, and will be sad. I cannot allow that.” John laughed. Cadish was stunned at this reaction, it was like nothing he had ever seen before, he was quite perplexed as to its meaning.
    “Cadish, I absolutely guarantee that the people will be happy about it,” laughed John, smiling for the first time in hours.
    Cadish negotiated with the Nanodes and, reluctantly, they agreed. On the screen John saw the Zombies drop to the floor, their link severed from their microscopic puppet masters. The image changed to show a group of survivors fighting a running street battle against the Dead. As the pursuing Zombies fell to the floor, the group slowed to a walk, looking dazed and confused. Slowly, one edged back to the now dead pursuers and poked it with the end of his machete. It didn’t move. The grouped started jumping around, laughing, hugging each other, and crying. They didn’t look sad at all.
    “Ooh!” said Cadish, “well that is good, isn’t it?”
    John sagged in his seat, relieved the nightmare was over. Cadish flicked through other scenes of celebration occurring all over the globe, but John couldn’t see the celebrations, all he could see was the devastation the last night had caused. This gave him an idea.
    “Cadish. Can the Nanodes repair inanimate objects as well as living forms?”
    “Oh yes. It is much easier, but the amount of damage done compared to time of my arrival is massive, this may take several linear...sorry...minutes to achieve