It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie who is in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. It is also known that a man who fights alone must desire a woman of character and loyalty, his equal, to fight at his side.

The scourge of undead began with the Black Plague. (It was assumed, of course, that this plague came from France.) In time, after the plague had run its course and nearly one-third of the population of the colonies was counted among the deceased, the dead started to rise, much to the shock and dismay of the loved ones they had left behind.

These beings, soon termed 'zombies' by the common or 'unmentionables' by the refined, all awoke with an insatiable hunger for flesh. Once they obtained a taste of human brain, they became like animals, seeking nothing but brains and more brains. There were groups of people who believed that the alarming side effects of being a zombie could be slowed by consuming brains from other mammals, but this scheme never succeeded for a notable amount of time, save for in one small infamous church.

In time, all of the dead became zombies, and they walked or crawled through the countryside or town, searching for another victim to devour. Therefore, it became fashionable to study the deadly arts of the Orient to attempt to combat the zombie scourge. Save for destroying the skull of the zombie and thereby what remained of its brain, there was no stopping the herd of undead.

Many said that the zombies were the first sign of the apocalypse.

After the initial panic, Storybrooke created a barren land around its borders, and then a large moat directly around the town. The land was called the In-Between, and four bridges connected the town to the In-Between. The unmentionables gradually learned the ways of bridges and three of the connections were destroyed in an organized attack on the city. The mayor of the great town, who was reportedly driven mad upon seeing his people slaughtered by the masses of zombies, ordered the destruction of all but one, leaving only Hingham Bridge.

Over time, the plague of the rising dead slowed, and the wealthiest families of Storybrooke ventured past the walls and created their own villages and homes beyond the In-Between. Lady Cora de Bourgh, said to be the fiercest zombie hunter throughout the colonies, was one of the first to create such a home, and her estate, Rosings Park, was perhaps the most secure place in all of Maine.

Her nephew, Killian Darcy, was one of the most powerful warriors against the zombies. It was he, Colonel Darcy, who was called to battle if a zombie outbreak was present in a country home.