I have been going a little overboard re-reading the book again and have been trying to put the events that happen into a timeline, here's how it's coming along so far.
I'm now also very unhappy with everything I've written before (I always get like this whenever I write anything), it reads like a rough outline which is what it is really, it needs much more fleshing out, description, metaphor, character development etc than it currently has, I also got a few of the facts wrong, I might re-write properly it some when.
Timeline
First outbreak in China
China fakes military build up as if to invade Taiwan to disguise it
First outbreaks in Africa (Spread by commercial airlines) Reported cases are reffered to as African Rabies/Jungle Rabies
Some military and intelligence organizations begin to identify the threat but most world leaders dismiss the possibility of a large scale outbreak or the presence of a virus that would reanimate the dead.
A corrupt pharmaceutical developer sells a fake vaccine ("Phalanx") for the zombie virus
First Winter
The decrease of cases over the first winter is credited to Phalanx but is really due to zombie-immobilizing cold weather.
Small elite teams sent to battle infection, initially successful
First Spring
Increased Zombie activity, infection begins to spread across Eastern Europe
A female journalist breaks the news that Phalanx is useless against the virus
Israel sets itself up as a safe zone, enacts a voluntary quarantine, and expands its perimeter wall around the entire country.
The Great Panic Begins
Refugees flees west across Europe quickly spreading the plague with them
The undead begin to outnumber the living in Africa and India.
Zombies arrive in the US; Due to extreme levels denial many are still completely unprepared (personal note: it seems that they floated over and hit the lower east coast first)
Mid Summer
No coherent evacuation plan in the US though the media urge people to go north
Massive campsites set up in Canada, morale generally good.
Outbreaks in many US cities
Autumn
Camps in Canada rapidly run out of food due to lack of preparedness, crime and looting are rife, cases of cannibalism are also reported
Outbreaks of varying degree?s spread to nearly all US cities.
Winter hits (the worst on record, because of all of the particulate matter in the air from the fires of burning cities)
An estimated 11 million people freeze to death in North America alone.
The cold weather again greatly reduces zombie activity
Spring
The Battle Of Yonkers - the U.S. military suffers a tremendous defeat in a highly televised battle against millions of zombies in Yonkers, New York
The eastern United States is abandoned in a massive retreat by the military to establish a new defensive line at the Rocky Mountains.
From here it becomes much more difficult to determine an exact timeline, but the main events play out as follows.
Turning the Tide
The seat of US government is moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, and the majority of surviving Americans are encamped west of the Rockies.
DeStRes is formed to re-structure the military from the extreme high-tech it has been to instead deal with the zombie threat.
US Air force is nearly totally disbanded except to supply safe zones, all US military focus becomes on getting as much bang for your buck
The Redeker Plan is developed in South Africa - Due to danger of infection and low resources, it is determined that not everyone can be saved; "Safe zones" are to be established for some civilians and cleared of all zombies by military personnel. However, a percentage of the population are simply to be used, essentially, as live zombie bait. They are to be set up and supplied in other sanctuaries, to draw zombies away from the safe zones and allow the people there time to regroup and reorient.
Despite initial resistance many other countries begin to implement similar plans
Total War
Full Scale war to reclaim the planet from the undead. Some old military tactics and technology: infantry squares, bolt action rifles, airships, prove better than more modern methods
Post-War
All major cities are retaken. The majority of temperate and tropical areas are cleared. Many zombies remain in cold areas (such as Finland, Iceland, and Siberia), where the undead are frozen solid over much of the year; cleanup must be done during the brief summer thaw. These heavily infested areas are known as "White Zones". Bodies of water are also dangerous -- there are millions of undead under water which occasionally make it to land. The most heavily infected area other than the ocean floor is Iceland, due to a pre-war lack of military resources and an abundance of infected refugees
Big Events that I have not worked where they go chronologically.
Limited Nuclear exchange between Pakistan and Iran
Civil war in China (triggered off by collapse of the Three Georges dam)
Rebel Chinese Sub nukes china loyalist command to end civil war
Queen sets up all of her property as safe zones
