Screaming Dirge

Lily jumped as the stiff next to her opened its mouth wide, letting out a gurgling, hacking noise. Around it, the other stiffs soon followed suit, raising their voices to the skies, with vacant faces and dead eyes. She'd heard rumors of the dirge before, but never like this - it spread like wildfire, and soon the whole regiment was screaming, wheezing, and moaning. Even as the Butchers did their best to silence their charges with batons and kicks, the chorus continued. Here and there, Lily was sure she could hear words, but wasn't right. No stiff had ever spoken.

The Screaming Dirge is a phenomena associated with the Shining Throne, a recent celestial phenomena of unknown origin. Everytime the shimmering fields dance across the night sky, stiffs that see it begin to scream, shout, or make any noise they can, without breaking a stride. The undead will keep on doing whatever they're told, all while singing the dirge. Worse, symptoms linger for hours after the Shining Throne has faded, and become infectious. Any stiff who hear the dirge begin to scream it themselves, no matter how far removed from the initial outbreak.
To some, the Dirge is an omen of things to come. The faithful labor furiously at every outbreak to record anything they hear, or think they hear, from the screaming dead. They know, certain as only the faithful can be, that something great awaits. Opinions are mixed if it is a message from the gods, a prophecy from on high, or something else entirely.

by Unsplash

The dirge is the instinct, buried deep in rotting flesh, of prey animals to know fear when faced with certain doom, so strong that even the undead can feel it.