I like the irony of ‘dead silence’ :)

One thing I would add is that ‘I felt like we were deep in a jungle.’ might work a bit better if it were ‘it felt like we were deep in a jungle.’ I only say so because it took me a few rereads to grasp the meaning. (I know – but it’s late and when it’s late I reread.)

Other than that I love the story. The end is particularly cool from the irony I pointed out to the cheesy horror spoof line (“Not again!”). I love that this is obviously a familiar occurence. Surely they should stop if it happens more than once!

I think that, even if I didn’t know the challenge was for zombie animals, I would have guessed that something was afoot, if not linked to the zombified creatures of the jungle straight off.

I’ve read several of your stories(I didn’t comment on them all) and I like your voice. It flows really well. The pictures that I see in my mind when I read your pieces are clear and vivid. Nice work!