Killing your Infected Friends: When is the Best Time?
August 21, 2008
The scenario rises again and again. The survivors of a zombie outbreak face constant attacks from zombies, and dangers from the undead as well as their less-than-friendly living brethren.
Finally after a days, or even weeks, of running and jumping and dodging, not to mention a lot of saving each other’s lives, they find out that one of their number has been bitten.
They might be blissfully ignorant of the fact that a bite equals an unpleasant death and consequential rise from the grave, but it always happens. The smallest scratch, that makes bodily fluid transfer possible, creates a zombie.
So, as a survivor, what is the protocol when dealing with our doomed compatriots? Should they be slain on the spot, their brains destroyed and their body burned, lest they should rise and track down their former friends?
Or should they be given every accommodation? Should they be allowed to live out the remainder of their lives in the company of their friends? And, only when the last breath has passed from their lungs and their dull, staring eyes have reopened, filled with murderous, apathy should we destroy them.
This is a question that has plagued survivors time after time, and will continue to be an issue in the future. I can’t give you a hard fast rule for dealing with your companions because every group of friends is different.
Immediate and merciless destruction of a victim of zombie contamination may work well in some groups and cause stress and turmoil among the remaining survivors of others.
Only the group can know what’s best.
With that said, I’d like to make sure you can make a well-informed decision when the time comes, so here is some information you may find interesting.
The Process of Becoming a Zombie
An infected individual, depending on the size of the wound, may have anywhere between 24 and 120 hours before they die and their corpse is reanimated as a flesh-eating menace.
Before reanimation, the infected will go into an extended coma, accompanied by high fever, that generally lasts between 4 and 7 hours. At the end of the coma, the victim’s heart and nervous system stop during what is known as clinical death.
The final rest of the victim has a wide range, it can be anywhere from less than a minute to several hours, so this is really one of the more dangerous times to be with the infected friend.
When the zombie rises, it’s important to remember that it is a zombie and is in no way related to your former friend. The only thing the zombie shares with your friend is their body. More than one person has been lulled into the false belief that they could do something to cure their loved ones. Don’t become a victim yourself.
Considerations During Destruction
To stop the zombie you must remove the head or destroy the brain. Removing the head severs the spinal cord and stops the zombie from moving. Destroying the brain destroys the creatures conscious mind.
This is an important distinction. Studies show that an immobile zombie with a severed spinal cord still has a conscious mind trapped inside.
Further Dangers
When destroying the newly created menace keep in mind that all of its body fluids have the potential of infecting you. A single drop of blood mixed with your own will make you the next to die.
Finally, I think it’s important to discuss your plans with your companions well in advance. An open line of communication is always important in any group, and especially important when you may have to kill one of them.
The Survivors and Choosing Your Companions
August 20, 2008
Zombies and zombie stories are a study of humanity. Because, and bear with me here, zombies aren’t the primary element in a zombie story. The most important ingredient in a zombie story are the survivors at the heart of the tale.
Without survivors and their often harrowing tale, there is no zombie story-telling genre. Because, let’s face it, by themselves, zombies just aren’t all that interesting.
That group of undead flesh-eaters stumbling their way toward the survivors is simply another piece of the environment in which the survivors have to survive. And, the survivors are the meat of the story.
All of this comes from a recent comment from Dana on the Big Box Stores as Shelter from the Living Dead post:
Any place that might attract a lot of people would be just as scary as the zombies. Eventually, people start to freak out and you either get “Lord of the Flies” or crazy evangelicals such as in Marcia Gay Harden “The Mist” - (brilliant performance, btw).
I’d much rather face my fate outsmarting and hiding from zombies by myself or with a small group than have to deal with a bunch of freaked out crazies proclaiming that the attack was God’s will, or even worse, proclaiming themselves as gods.
Dana hits on an extremely important point, and one that I have overlooked in my preparation posts:
One of the most important parts in getting prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse is choosing proper comrades, and keeping that list small.
Proper companions are people who are skilled at many things, do not hold overly strong opinions on subjects of race and religion, are good campers, ex-military, ex-boy scouts, and extremely smart.
Now, I realize that it’s difficult to find all of those traits in one person, but the more the better.
Things you want to avoid are people with abundances of aggression, vanity, arrogance, or strongly religious or racist characteristics. Usually it’s a good idea to avoid people that you wouldn’t want as a friend…
If a person thinks that the apocalypse is “those people’s” fault then you should probably start watching out. Because it’s just a short jump for them from saying that it’s those people’s fault to saying that it’s your fault.
Next thing you know, you’re being thrown into an awkward crowd-surf on top of a sea of zombies.
Not good.
In the next post I’ll cover another important topic in this vein: Killing your friends, when is the best time to shoot your infected companion?
Big Box Stores as Shelter from the Living Dead
August 16, 2008
I’ve been having a conversation on the Shelter from the Living Dead post with Jacob.
Jacob thinks that a big box store like Wal-Mart, Sam’s or Costco would be a great shelter because of the ready access to supplies and because of the limited entrances.
Most recently he made a good point about the entrances:
well you do know that cosco has the same consept as walmart but the front doors are all metal lift doors like storages and there imployee do only have handles from the inside so no one could break in.
I thought I’d respond with a full post.
Jacob,
No, I didn’t realize that - and it’s a good point. A building with metal door covers would be a great boon. Things to keep in mind are marauders (who could find a way to break through the metal lift doors) and spoiling food.
Several years ago, in my neighborhood, there was a Food Lion (a grocery store that used to be well known in the southwest) that had to close its doors because it was going out of business.
The owner of the store closed and locked the doors without doing anything. In other words, he didn’t get rid of any of the food. The power was turned off, and the food was left to rot on the shelves.
Several weeks later, the neighbors started complaining about the noxious smells.
In the end, a team of haz-mat protected workers with masks and full body suits had to go into the store to clean up the mess. The gas coming out of the rotting food was too poisonous (aside from being gross) for anyone to face it without gas masks.
If that gives you an idea of the dangers of fresh food in supermarkets, it would be for the best. Technically it’s possible to spend the time and effort to remove the food - but, you won’t have that luxury during the first wave of the zombie apocalypse - and, the first wave might last long enough to put you into a bad situation with the food.
And, after spending weeks clearing out the rotting food (probably through the roof and down the wall) - and after smelling it as it rots outside for many more weeks, you would eventually find your shelter surrounded by thousands of starving undead.
You would be trapped, and eventually a well-supplied, well-armored group might come along, fight their way through the zombies, tear down your thin metal drop doors, and hold you at gun point while they take all of your remaining supplies.
In the end, they would probably either kill your group or leave it unprotected and without supplies in a sea of zombies.
Now, I realize that’s the pessimistic view, but I think it’s better to know what’s possible.
I still say that a fortified series of houses, well stocked, and high off the ground are the perfect shelter. They may be unrealistic, and not likely - but they are the best protected from all threats.
Thanks again Jacob.
Where Did these Zombies Come From?
July 18, 2008
A reader, Chelsie, recently wrote:
Okay, so, I always read about people, constantely talking about “how to survive a zombie attack”, and I always ask myself, and anyone I am currently talking to on AIM, the phone, etc, (haha) how people surmise that eventually there will be an army of the living dead.
In Dawn of the Dead, they use “proof” of a priest saying, “When Hell is full, the dead will walk the earth.” and whether you’re a believer of the Bible or not, it says nothing of the sort. in “The Book of Revelations” it says nothing of zombies, only the pleagues, etc.
I’ve read on zombie spoof sites, and have conversation with people, about how they “think” zombie storys have “came about”, and most people have agreed with this theory that I’ve read multiple times..
Back in like, well, some long ass time ago.. and this is no joke. People use to “use magic” and make people “die” and then “bring them back to life”. Also, back when they didn’t have high tecnology, and they weren’t able to tell if a person was actually dead when burried them, and a lot of the times people wouldnt be, and would awake in they’re coffin of doom and would tripp out and claw at their casket trying to get out.. and when people would see this, they’d assume “oh shit! zombies!”
and I just ask, because I’m HORRIFIED of zombies.. like, if there’s a phobia name for “fear of zombies” I have it.. I can’t even look outside at night ’cause I’m too afraid. =(
so what makes people “have proof” of zombies? other than people using “voodoo”, because that’s all I’ve ever came across.
Chelsie brings up a few very valid points: What makes a zombie?, Where did they originally come from? And what is truth (this one is pulled out of the "proof" question)?
There are only a few of these I can answer. I’m not the expert on everything, and even if I were - several of the questions were somewhat objective.
The ones I can answer are about the origin of zombies.
Zombies themselves stretch backward into history as far as human beings do, with reported zombie attacks all the way back to the ancient Egyptians.
The "magic" zombies you are referring to, and popularized by the 1988 Wes Craven horror film: The Serpent and the Rainbow, are actually a constuct - and possibly a true one - of the Voodoo religion in Haiti.
The Serpent and the Rainbow is based, loosely, on Wade Davis’ non-fictional account of his investigation of Clairvius Narcisse, a man who claimed to be a Voodoo Zombie.
The problem with the Voodoo zombie is that the "zombie" is alive.
Scientifically, the "potion" that the Voodoo "bokor" creates in order to create a zombie has, as one of its chief ingredients, a powerful neurotoxin (found in the puffer fish) that forces its victim into a hibernative, comatose state that closely resembles death. The bokor can then claim his zombie (now a brain damaged person) as a slave.
But, because the Haitian zombie is alive and cannot create other zombies, it’s not the type of zombie that we typically think of when speaking of the zombie apocalypse.
Solanum, a deadly retrovirus, is also sometimes pointed to as a cause for zombification.
The horrible truth is, outside of the transfer of body fluids, we aren’t really sure what causes a perfectly normal corpse to rise from its peaceful end and kill.
And, as for proof of zombie attacks, it all depends on how you look at written history. The history of mankind is riddled with proof of the dead rising from their graves and attacking the living. The true stories are quite naturally "spun" to divert public outcry.
In the United States alone we can look back at multiple zombie attacks: The Salem witch trials were incited by a zombie attack, The multiple outbreaks of the "bubonic plague" in early colonial North America, The Donner Party, and the events in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863.
As for a name for "fear of zombies" you can use "necrothanatophobia," broken down it means: "irrational fear of walking corpses." Of course, I would subtract the "irrational" part… It sounds very rational to me.
Keep your eyes open Chelsie, and I suggest maintaining your healthy fear of the undead.
Physicalism and the Walking Dead
May 19, 2008
This post is another question and answer post. Phil the Physicalist writes in with a question about the being of zombies:
"Dear Justin,
My name is Phil, and I am studying physicalism in college right now.
Physicalism dictates that everything is physical and in a very real sense the fact that the brain is the "Sum of its parts." What Vonnegut aptly referred to as "a dog’s lunch."
Recently I have been reading a lot of material about the impossibility of zombies from the physicalist’s standpoint.
Physicalism contradicts zombiism. A zombie, which is physically the replica of a normal human, is very different from its original self mentally.
How would you resolved these contradictions?
Thank you,
Phil"
Phil, thanks for writing and thanks for the very good question.
Physicalism, in the zombie argument, is weighing the physical traits of a different kind of zombie. The argument you mention is an attempt to contradict Descartes’ "automata."
Descartes postulated, based on questions of the state of mind of animals, that a world full of human looking creatures - but without the minds to go with the bodies and actions - couldn’t exist.
Physicalism calls into question the possibility of these "automatas." Physicalism is contradicted by the possibility that creatures exactly like humans, physically, could be different from humans in behavior. That is to say the physical imitation dictates that all aspects of the creature would be an imitation.
In other words, it’s impossible to create an exact copy of you without including the mind and behavior that goes with it.
What physicalism is not arguing against is the existence of the undead. And, I think, when you consider a lack of biological circulation, you will agree that the undead zombie is not an exact replica of his living self.
So, don’t worry, Phil, when the undead horde rise from their graves and start eating the flesh of your fellow philosophers you will be able to rest assured in your knowledge that the universe, as you know it, isn’t being called into question.
Snapshots in your Face
May 9, 2008
Snapshots is a pop up ad service.
No, wait, that doesn’t do it justice. It’s the most annoying pop up ad service in existence. It presents itself as a relevant semantic web application when, in reality, it’s just annoying.
You can see what they do by rolling over any of the links at Techcrunch and you can see their website at http://www.snap.com.
Learning the Hard Way
May 7, 2008
Zombie Comic
April 29, 2008
Urban Zombies and High Rises
April 28, 2008
Today, my post is a question/answer post. One of my readers wrote in with a very important question that directly involves all urban survivors. If there is any possibility that you might be in or near a city when the outbreak occurs, you should read this post carefully.
How do you feel about high-rises, as in “I Am Legend”? Can dead zombies use elevators? - Suzi
Great question, Suzi. Quite often, and especially in the heart of big cities, people try to use the height of sky-scrapers as an advantage against the encroaching dead menace.
There are multiple reasons for the choice:
- The height - The height of the buildings give a feeling of safety, and make survivors feel as if they’ve been removed from the armageddon unfolding below.
- The reduced access - Keeping in mind the limitations of the zombie (Shelter from the living dead) it’s easy to think that a high-rise building is inaccessible to the average zombie, who can’t use elevators, use keys or climb walls.
- Better Surveillance - Limiting his/her scope to one floor, with only one or two entrance/exits makes a survivor feel more in control of what is happening.
- Comfort - Being indoors is always preferable to the alternative. A survivor can stay out of the weather and usually maintain some form of air conditioning. And, finally, let’s face it: If the survivor is used to high-rise buildings, it’s going to be psychologically more comforting as well.
The upsides of high-rise buildings certainly make them sound palettable and even preferable to other shelters, but they must never be considered. They are dangerous traps and will expose you to the horrible enemy more easily than an open field. Here are the reasons to avoid high-rise buildings at all costs:
- Difficult Access - Often some of the things that make a shelter seem appropriate are reasons that it isn’t appropriate. We musn’t forget that the zombie is a pale and horrible reflection of ourselves. If it’s impossible for a zombie to do something, it may also be impossible for a human. Imagine going out for supplies and being chased back to you living quarters by a hoard of undead. Do you really want to be chased up 40 flights of stairs? And, what about getting the place to begin with? Unless you’re already living there, you would have to fight your way through multiple levels of zombies to find an appropriate living space. It’s impractical and unsafe.
- Few exits/entrances - Every benefit comes with a problem. By limiting the number of places that a zombie can use to get in and out, you also limit your own entrances and exits. In an emergency you need as many exits as possible.
- It’s a trap - A high-rise is a trap. Imagine the concept of a high building laid on its side. Imagine that you still have to go all the way to one end to get in and out. It looks like a bucket with you, the prey, caught in one end, and the other end open to whatever comes along. Also, I don’t think I have to remind you of the plot of The Towering Inferno, but I will remind you that the rise of the zombies will more than likely be accompanied by many accidental and intentional fires.
So, Suzi, when the end approaches, do everything you can to insure that you are as far away from high-rises as you can get. Don’t put yourself in the position of being the only human left in an infested trap.
First Strike of the Catja
April 25, 2008
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About
Justin Flowers
Mad Scientist
Zombie Expert
Fort Worth, TX -
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