World War Z, written by Max Brooks, who has published many zombie survival books by the way, is an amazing book that I believe accurately describes the psychological response in a zombie apocalypse. Let me start off by first saying that it is nothing like the movie. At all, personally I think the movie was an insult t the book. First off, the book is not focused on one character. None of the stories in it even have the same narrator. At most the reporter who "wrote" the book asks questions. He is the only reoccurring person in the book. And it is only through explanation of setting or questions.
It starts with a prelude of the "author" explaining why he wrote the book. Because he had originally gotten the information together for a history book but was stripped of the human aspect. And so he put his work into this copy of
World War Z. The entire book is a collection of stories from different survivors. From the supposed patient zero in China, to the end of the "war". I quote war because it wasn't technically a war. More of just a fight to survive. It hadn't become a war in my opinion until they started to try to take lost land back. Any way enough of my personal vendetta against "war", the story starts out from a doctor's point of view in China. He is called to a village to investigate a child and five sick adults who were bitten by the child. He later finds that it was not the first case and that it is spreading. So you never really know how it started. As the story continues it talks of how it spreads to different areas through sick people reanimating after death, and refuges getting past. That's if a horde hadn't attacked. Israel was smart and started preparing after they had heard the rumors. Many countries did not fallow suit. After it got bad and more zombies started popping up everywhere people started blaming the government, the military and basically anyone who hadn't done enough to stop the apocalypse from happening that wasn't themselves. In a section called THE GREAT PANIC it tells of how people freaked out. How they looted or ran or attempted to shelter themselves. A group of celebrities built a fully zombie proof living area, and hired guards to guard them from zombies, but were on live television broadcasting their safety and location. The guards(one of whom is telling the story) do nothing as a mob of civilians over run the place because they were hired to protect against the dead, not murder the living. It goes on to tel of how countries around the world attempt to turn the tide. Governments rebuilding or isolating places to live. Some by blowing up a foot pass making it impassible, others, like Russia, who dropped chemicals on bridges to kill anyone who wasn't infected. And shot the ones who remained. Then it goes on to talk about how the United States held up by going moving to the west coast and training the survivors how to survive on their own. And reorganizing the air force for supply drops across the country. It tells of a soldier who's plane crashed in the middle of a zombie infested territory and how she survived thanks to the help of someone named Mets, who saw the plane crashed. However the military believes that she was hallucinating the voice.

This is a picture from the cover page of the book depicting the battle of Yonkers, a military standoff against a horde of zombies made to look fancy for the media. However they were badly defeated and with so it had the opposite effect than was originally intended.
" 'Shhh... it's okay, baby, it's okay...'
[Her hand moves down from her face to her throat, tightening into a strangeling grip.] 'I won't let the get you. I WON'T LET THEM GET YOU!'
[Sharon begins to gasp for air.] [Doctor Sommers makes a move to stop her. Doctor Kelner puts up a hand. Sharon suddenly ceases, throwing her arms out to the sound of a gunshot.] Warm and wet, salty in my mouth, stinging my eyes. Arms picked me up and carried me.
[ She gets up from the table, mimiking a motion close to a football.] Carried me into the parking lot. 'Run Sharon, don't stop!'
[This is a different voice now, not her mothers.]" World War Z pages 75-76
The quote above is narrated by Sharon, a twenty-six year old who was a child when the panic struck. Her and her mother were holed up in a church with a group of people when the zombies came. After they started breaking through her mother attempted to strangle her. However her mother was shot and she was rescued by someone in the group. I chose this quote because I believe it accurately describes the different levels of stress responses people have. And how certain people react to what happens when faced with immenent death with their children nearby. Unsure of their fate they make rash choices. I think it shows
THE GREAT PANIC section perfectly.