Surviving a Zombie Outbreak

I have to disagree with a couple of pointers here...

Shooting zombies anywhere but the head...
I don't know about you, but blowing out one's legs while he's coming at you, effectively buys you some time, and that's a good thing (and would likely knock him back a couple feet, such as over a ledge, etc.)

Fire...
A can of hairspray and a cigarette lighter beats nothing, and zombies may not be too flammable, but their clothes are, and really easy to spot a flaming zombie!

That said, best zombie defense ever....

Get a boat, go to an island that has plenty of wild game and fruit, etc. Kill any and all zombies on said island, and never worry about them again.

Meh, common house flys produce maggots witch feed olny on rotting flesh. Also they have acidic saliva to break things down and reproduse quickly. One fly will lay a 1000 eggs with a 1000 larva. They also enjoy conective rotten tissue such as the brain. The when the zombies are gone they will drop like flys for lack of food.

As zombies are drawn to sound a number of remote controlled stereos and alarm systems would be useful in diversionary tactics. They shuffle off to investigate the sound while you make your get away. Portable systems like ipods (ipod shuffle LOL) and mobile phones could also be thrown some distance to divert them.

An island would be a good area to hole up, as would a shopping mall (as used in the dawn of the dead movies). Having a reliable food source would be essential.

Cars may be virtually useless in running down zombies, but a tank would not be necessary, any large vehicle should suffice, though speed may be an issue. A grader, bulldozer or just about any other earthworks vehicle would be high enough off the ground to be safe. The problem as I said would be that the noise of the engine would attract more zombies and you might not have enough speed to outrun them long enough to get to another defensible position.

Electric fences would not work - the zombies do not feel pain and so would continue piling up against the fence (even if it was a strong enough charge to neutralise them) to the point where the electrical system overloads/shorts out and fails.
I would also imagine that the electrical grid is going to fail fairly quickly - there wouldn't be anyone performing line maintenance in a large scale zombie outbreak.

I feel like I'm missing something in this thread. Is a zombie threat that realistic? To re-animate a body mechanically and give it cause to perform any given action?

Given that...

Originally posted by ilandrah
Electric fences would not work - the zombies do not feel pain and so would continue piling up against the fence (even if it was a strong enough charge to neutralise them) to the point where the electrical system overloads/shorts out and fails.

Electricity across muscles can effectively override any nerve impulses to instruct them to do anything structured or intelligent.

This is why dangerous voltages/currents can cause people to grip even harder on whatever it is that's shocking them: the clenching muscles in the hand are stronger than the muscles that open the hand, and the clenching muscles overpower when they're caused to contract by electricity.

Anything trying to move over a sufficiently high-voltage fence, whether dead or alive, will not climb it, so long as its muscles operate by nerves that use electrical impulses.

Originally posted by bsbray11
I feel like I'm missing something in this thread. Is a zombie threat that realistic?

I thought it was more of a practical joke, than anything else.

But seeing is how most everyone that is replying seems to be missing the obvious, I might as well start a thread here about survivng an alien invasion.

[edit on 12/24/2006 by Mechanic 32]

Hehe, funny thread. I've always had a pet aspiration to play a zombie in a zombie flick. I think it would be a bucketload of fun...and the lines are easy to remember.

Anyway, one thing you all seem to have forgotten is eye protection. One drop of blood spattered in your eye from a zombie whose head you just cut off and oops, bummer, you're infected. Get yourself a pair of complete wrap-around, rubber-sealed eye protection, like the kind worn by skydivers.

Now as far as survival goes, assuming 99+% of the population is "zombified", you will only have to hole up for a month at the very most, and that's assuming dry, cold weather conditions. Corpses decay rapidly, and are picked apart by maggots and other insects very quickly in open air, even fast er in tropical areas. In the tropics, a corpse can become an unidentifiable mound of maggots in 24 hours. Now let's say these zombies are somehow insect-repellent, their tissue will still be liquefied after about a month and they will be unable to move, even assuming the brain is still functioning.

So, get enough supplies for a couple of months, find a location that can be quietly barricaded and easily defended, preferably with only one main entry/exit and one alternative, hole up and stay quiet. A month later, your zombie problem is fixed. Then all you need to do is find a female partner and get busy repopulating the Earth (if zombie films are anything to go by, only good-looking chicks survive zombie outbreaks so you're in luck). Sweeeet.







[edit on 2006-12-24 by wecomeinpeace]

Originally posted by bsbray11
I feel like I'm missing something in this thread. Is a zombie threat that realistic? To re-animate a body mechanically and give it cause to perform any given action?

It doesnt really matter how slim the chance is of a zombie outbreak. these threads are for all survival situations. Some people really do worry about this. To me a zombie outbreak is about as likely as some imagined NWO but others dont feel that way so I do my best to help them become prepaired for what they fear.

New Term: Zack and RTKR

I'd quite forgotten about this little gem from Brooks. In most any military engagement, the enemy is given a short one-syllable name. In the case of Zombies, it's Zack. The other term is "RTKR", or "resource to kill ratio". For instance, a bullet fired from a gun has a much better RTKR than a jet fighter.

Originally posted by bsbray11
I feel like I'm missing something in this thread. Is a zombie threat that realistic?

As stated in the OP, Zombie Outbreaks (along with alien invasions, robot uprisings, nano gray-ooze, and other "inconceivable" situations) fall under the Wargames/Theoretical category of Situation X. The whole point of preparing for a Wargames/Theoretical Situation X is not to assess the likelihood of such an event happening, but rather to be prepared ahead of time, in the unlikely event that it ever does happen. I'm sure there was a point in time when the idea of a floating eye in space that could read a postage stamp, and a bomb so powerful it could wipe out an entire city, would have seemed preposterous. Today both are practically passe.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
But it does point out that knocking the teeth out of a zombie with a baseball bat or rifle butt is a waste of time, since the zombie will merely clamp down until it's jawbone breaks through its own flesh.

Indeed. To say nothing of the fact that when you break someone's teeth out, it is rarely a nice clean dental removal of tooth, root, and all. In point of fact, what one is actually left with is a jagged set of partial teeth that are even sharper and more capable of piercing the skin than before. All they have to do is break through your flesh enough to let the juices in.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
You have to use humans as bait. That's part of the horror of it all.

Very true, though I'd say "pragmatic" would be more apropos. After all, even if one were to dispatch all zombies by hand, the combatant would themselves be the bait.

In a Class 3 or 4 outbreak, it is quite likely that the only surviving pockets of humanity will be inside small fortified areas, surrounded by a sea of Zack. The military, having its own hardware, weapons cache, and self-sufficient resources, is the most likely to establish successful green zones. Before this happens, though, their tactics will have to adapt to fit the new situation. Chief amongst them is that "you can't save them all."

In "The Redekker Plan", military resources will be relocated and consolidated first to a few, stable green zones. Contact with stable civilian pockets will later be established by way of radio. These pockets are vital to the retaking of the land from Zack. One well-defended pocket of humanity might act as a lure for literally millions of zombies, which is millions that the military does not have to focus on fighting yet. These civilian pockets will be supported as best as possible to maintain this lure until the military can regroup, re-organize, and engage Zack on their own terms. The pockets will not, however, be evacuated. Their purpose as bait to occupy the zombies is simply too valuable to be understated.

The pockets to receive priority shipments of supplies will be the self-sustaining ones. Shipments of cargo that will encourage further self-sufficiency will take primary importance. In other words, you can largely forget about shipments of consumables like medicine and food. However, if you need tools, seeds, or manuals, then your pocket will likely see one of the few available air drops. Assuming it acts as a big enough lure to merit attention.

Eventually the military will establish a stable enough base of operations and plan of attack that it will begin a campaign to take back the land, but that could take years.

Originally posted by xpert11
Well some kind of chemical response to Zombies has yet to be mentioned.

Well, considering that zombies need neither a functioning circulatory nor respiratory system, I'm not really sure how it could be delivered other than direct injection to the brain. In such a case I believe the most effective chemical response would be incindiary rounds designed to penetrate the skull once, stay inside, and then activate their heating element. The best delivery system for this would be via a rifle, and probably a .22 slug would be perfect for single penetration.

Originally posted by Gazrok
I have to disagree with a couple of pointers here...

Shooting zombies anywhere but the head...
I don't know about you, but blowing out one's legs while he's coming at you, effectively buys you some time, and that's a good thing (and would likely knock him back a couple feet, such as over a ledge, etc.)

Well, three big problems with that idea. One, if you have time and accuracy enough to shoot them in the legs, you have enough time and accuracy to shoot them in the head. Two, it takes at least twice as many bullets (two legs versus one head) to detain your zack via the legs than does the head, so your RTKR is worse. Three, you STILL haven't actually destroyed the zombie, all you've done is leave it for someone else to deal with in the future. Except instead of it being an upright walking target, it is now a crawling menace that will be hidden by the overgrowth until you're literally right on top of it.

Oh, yeah, and number four, bullets don't have enough mass to send anyone backwards. Even an enormous solid 12-gauge slug fired at point blank range is only enough to move a 150lb side of beef a tiny fraction of an inch. Assuming the fall were not from the mass of the slug, but from the lack of support, the zombie will still fall forward, because his entire mass has been aimed at his prey before the shot.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Fire...
A can of hairspray and a cigarette lighter beats nothing, and zombies may not be too flammable, but their clothes are, and really easy to spot a flaming zombie!

The question is not whether or not a zombie is flammable or if a flaming zombie is hard to see, but rather the fact that the zombie won't care that it is burning, and it takes a long time to burn enough of a zombie away for it to be physically incapable of movement. In the meantime, anything the zombie nears that can catch fire, most likely will. And fire can be just as big a hazard as the zombies themselves.

For instance, say you are holed up in a barn, fifty zombies shuffling towards you. Pulling out your handy hair spray and zippo, you light at least one of them on fire. Instead of screaming, running around, and quietly burning down in seconds, away from anything flammable, it instead continues to shuffle towards you as trees overhead, the grass, the hay, and the barn itself, is all set ablaze before the zombie's brain cooks enough to lay it out. Now you have no effective shelter, 49 more zombies to deal with, and the added hazard of the surrounding landscape being on fire, along with, most likely, your supplies for surviving the next wave.

Originally posted by ghost00
Meh, common house flys produce maggots witch feed olny on rotting flesh.

Well, that would be great if zombies rotted like normal dead people. Unfortunately, they aren't technically "dead". And since they repel living things, including most of the bacteria used in the process of decomposition, it is unknown if flies would even touch a zombie, and even if they could, if the maggots could survive the virus that caused zombism in the first place.

Originally posted by ilandrah
An island would be a good area to hole up, as would a shopping mall (as used in the dawn of the dead movies). Having a reliable food source would be essential.

More on islands in a minute, but a shopping mall would be a very, very bad idea for several reasons. One, malls are always in the most densely populated area of a city, because their purpose is to get as much business as possible. And the densest areas of population are the most likely to be overrun by zombies.

Second, malls are not a reliable source of food. Granted they have a food court, but most of that food requires electricity to prepare and store, and the stuff that doesn't immediately spoil will be both limited in supply and nutritional value. Carbs and sugar will not keep you healthy for very long, and they will certainly run out when you consider that, even if the mall were made safe in such a situation, there will be a LOT of people that flee to the mall.

Three, speaking of a lot of people in the mall, anyone who's played "Dead Rising" has at least a vague idea of what happens to the common denominator when under the stress of a zombie outbreak for more than just a few hours. Between the people going nuts, the normal non-zombie diseases, and the lack of any replentishing, nourishing food supply that can be stored and prepared without electricity, you're pretty much sitting in a large display case, waiting to die.

(more in the next post)

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Now as far as survival goes, assuming 99+% of the population is "zombified", you will only have to hole up for a month at the very most, and that's assuming dry, cold weather conditions. Corpses decay rapidly, and are picked apart by maggots and other insects very quickly in open air, even fast er in tropical areas.

I'm not sure you read the previous posts. Part of the problem with zombies is that the very disease that makes them living dead also repels living organisms.

Just assuming that the disease ISN'T a pandemic, that it only zombifies humans, it would still prove fatal to damn near anything that comes into contact with it, including bugs, bacteria, and carrior eaters. It is estimated that, minus these three factors, it could take years for zombies to lose their ability to move.

You also assume that all 99+% would simultaneously become infected. This is not the case. More likely it would balloon up to 99+% gradually as the initial outbreaks overran cities, then states, then nations, then focused on the few remaining pockets of humanity that are left, and several of those, if not all of them, will eventually fall as well.

This isn't like a normal military engagement. Normal military engagements are much more balanced. If you kill a human enemy, they do not rise up and join you. For every zombie killed, humanity only scores one point. For every human killed, the zombies score two points. As long as there are still humans left, there is always the potential for an increase in the zombie numbers.

About Islands

A few people have mentioned islands as being the end-all be-all of zombie defense. Islands are a good plan, don't get me wrong. But keep in mind that they have limited space, limited resources, and everyone else is going to be thinking the same exact thing. Unless you live near the docks, you probably won't get there in time to get a boat, even if you own one, it'll probably be stolen. Assuming you can get a boat, do you know how to use it? Will your craft survive at sea? Do you know how to navigate by sea? Do you know what to look for in an island in terms of food and sustainability? Will you have any tools with you to help out on this venture?

Further, zombies don't drown. Millions, if not billions of zombies will march right out into the sea, chasing after fleeing boaters. Because they do not decay rapidly enough to generate gas, they will just continue walking along the bottom of the sea (which is often less than 30 feet until you get PAST most nearby islands). Between the underwater march and the tides washing zombies up on shore, you will have to regularly keep a watchful vigil over ALL borders of your island to keep it from being overrun. Even then, suppose you are someplace like the Catalinas, which are right off a major population center, a sufficient zombie march could take hundreds, thousands, or even millions of zombies directly into the path of your island.

So if you want to go the whole island route, I'd start planning now, buying real estate in a very isolated surrounded by a VERY steep dropoff now, and stocking the island up with supplies and weapons now. I'd also start practicing navigating from your home dock to the island so that in an emergency, it is second nature. Even then, there's a pretty good chance your boat and your island will be stolen before you can get to it, but at least then there would be a fraction of a chance for the "island" scenario to work out successfully.

[edit on 12/27/2006 by thelibra]

Luckily, I live near a lot of boats. I can drive one. I can steal one (if facing a Zombie outbreak). I can navigate somewhat, and use onboard instruments at an amateur level. Of course, I can also navigate by shoreline (in Florida), and make it to the Keys, then off to the Carribean.

Of course, part of this plan would involve some prep research. The island would have to be largely uninhabitated, have game and suitable natural food growing, and preferably a defensible location (such as a steep cliff, etc.)

That said, some basic Zombie fighting tactics I'd adopt.
1. run, run, run...always make it a priority to be AWAY from them.
2. obstacles, obstacles, obstacles...the more in their way, the slower for them to reach me.
3. ammo, ammo, and more ammo.
4. always have a nice light aluminum baseball bat as a last resort.

Firstly i love how everyone talks like this is a distinct possability.

The best bet has to be aboard a cruise ship or something similar, and just moore it off the coast a bit when your running low just nip to the mainland and do some looting, farm some secured land ro whatever. But then that too ideal to happen for most of the people left after a zombie outbreak so might aswell just try to find a nice peninsula with sheer rock cliffs behind you and a nice easy place to defend

anyway im not too worried about zombies, but after reading thsi post i will have a good idea what to do when the time comes.

It seems to me that a napalm drop would do a lot of damage. As would a nuke, which I'm willing to bet that the government won't hesitate to use in this situation.

I would rely heavily on Armor. A long leather Jacket with a zipper, and buttons would do great. Also, leather gloves, and a protected neck. In my house right now, above my piano, is a Klingon Batleth. It's about 3 1/2' long and capable of decapitation. For a small attack, it would do well when paired with a knife, and the jacket.

I'm also a bit concerned about going anywhere within a city, or suburbs. Where there's one zombie, there must be more, and in a city, no matter where you are, chances are you'll run out of food before you run out of zombies. If you can, I'd recomend staying on rooftops. However, none of us are spiderman, so be careful.

However if we were attacked by Marvel Zombies which is just as likely to occur, rooftops, armor, and ammo won't do us any good.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Luckily, I live near a lot of boats. I can drive one. I can steal one (if facing a Zombie outbreak). I can navigate somewhat, and use onboard instruments at an amateur level. Of course, I can also navigate by shoreline (in Florida), and make it to the Keys, then off to the Carribean.

You'd be one of the few ideal candidates for survival via boat. Me, living in BFE, Texas, with the nearest sea-port over 500 miles away, I'm better off trying for the Rockies...that and I know jack squat about operating a boat, but I know how to survive in the Rockies indefinitely on just what I can carry. And the land between me and the mountains is a lot less inhabited than the land between me and Galveston.

Originally posted by Gazrok
That said, some basic Zombie fighting tactics I'd adopt.
1. run, run, run...always make it a priority to be AWAY from them.
2. obstacles, obstacles, obstacles...the more in their way, the slower for them to reach me.
3. ammo, ammo, and more ammo.
4. always have a nice light aluminum baseball bat as a last resort.

Hmmm... my top 4 tactics would be:

1. Stay Calm and Collected....the moment I freak out is the moment I make a mistake.
2. Higher Ground = Less Zack...especially if there's no direct way up (like stairs).
3. Always keep a crowbar or a claw hammer on my person...a useful one-handed tool that can penetrate a skull without damaging the weapon.
4. Procure Fresh Water...With fresh water alone, one can live for weeks, albeit miserably if there is no food around.

Originally posted by manta
Firstly i love how everyone talks like this is a distinct possability.

Well, it would be pointless to have a "How to Survive a Zombie Outbreak" thread that did nothing but tell jokes. I don't think any of us really think that a zombie infestation is right around the corner. But like I said, we don't deal in terms of odds, we deal in terms of "How to Survive Situation X".

Originally posted by manta
The best bet has to be aboard a cruise ship or something similar, and just moore it off the coast a bit when your running low just nip to the mainland and do some looting, farm some secured land ro whatever.

Three problems I could see with a cruise ship (or similar big ships). One, the fact it requires gas to move about and generate its electricity, and gas will certainly be a precious commodity that very quickly either runs out or goes stale. Two, it is a huge target to raiders and zombies alike. Since objects are lighter in water, zombies could, I imagine, quite easily climb an anchor chain, at least until it could then find something else nearby to latch on to. Third would be scarcity. There aren't that many luxury liners in the world. When a major cruise line like Princess adds a ship, it makes international news.

However, if you could somehow find an obscure enough location, and had enough gas, you could load up the luxury liner with topsoil and seed, and make a floating city capable of producing its own food. Only problem is without some support craft, you're sitting ducks for the first pirate that comes around. Even in real life, modern times, pirates pose a huge problem for watercraft. Imagine how bad piracy will be in a world with no law, no government, and everyone being extremely desperate because of Zack.

Ultimately, IMHO, the best craft would be a nuclear submarine. It could weather any storm and avoid detection simply by diving. Its electricity could be farmed out to other communities in exchange for goods or services, and thanks to hydroponics, you could grow your food internally. In a pinch, you could destroy pirates and defend communities as well.

Originally posted by manta
But then that too ideal to happen for most of the people left after a zombie outbreak so might aswell just try to find a nice peninsula with sheer rock cliffs behind you and a nice easy place to defend

Yes. That is pretty much my plan, only it'll be a mountainside.

Originally posted by manta
anyway im not too worried about zombies, but after reading thsi post i will have a good idea what to do when the time comes.

I'm not particularly worried about zombies either, to tell the truth, but being an Eagle Scout, it never hurts to Be Prepared, heh.

Libra,
You bring up a good point. Piracy would be rampant, and a huge problem for those fighting for survival. What about creating a pirate group yourself in order to gain supplies. Or, pirating when trading doesn't work? Once people are on the open seas, there would no longer be any fear of Zombies, it would be more like waterworld *(I hated that movie )*.

And, like in waterworld, you either fight the pirates, or become one.

I finished watching 28 days later last night, And have just come across this thread
With zombies fresh on the brain ive been thinking about this scenario .

First off need a gun, find a farmhouse that looks like its empty and look for the shotgun cabinet, hope they have a fourtrack, theyre a fast road going tractor here in the uk that can bounce over zombies all day, run on diesel in proper storage that lasts for ages and stays good for use.
Most have a cb radio in them so that would be handy trying to find people.
Also can hook up a trailer and go round trying to find survivors, collect supplies and loot places of anything handy.

For a base i would travel near the coast and find a lighthouse, or if theyre all taken find an old church as the doors are usually solid oak, the windows are high enough for people not to climb in and the main advantage is being able to use the cb radio on the tower for a good reception on the cb radio. same with the lighthouse but also can use the light to tell others where you are aswell.

For cooking food theres camping shops for stoves, for heat theres plenty
of wood about to burn.


Ok these are ideal sitautions, with everything you want to hand and no-one competing with you for the same things.
I live in the country so i know what resources i can use but if i was in the city, i think i would be in worse off situation.
In 28 days later it turned out an unsupervised platoon are probably more danger than the zombies so i would stay away from the military as much as i could.

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
What about creating a pirate group yourself in order to gain supplies. Or, pirating when trading doesn't work?

Well, that's an interesting question for any Situation X. When do you draw the line between survival and barbarism? Now, in all total and complete honesty, if killing an otherwise innocent man was the only possible way to save my wife and child, then I'd kill. But that's almost never going to be the case. As much as the news media, the movies, the music, and so forth, want us to believe that every other human is out to get us, the truth is that it is, at a very biological and neurological level, an instinct of mankind to work together first... our instinct to not kill each other is quite ingrained.

The other problem with piracy is that it is a strictly raider and foraging based ecosystem. If you don't have anyone to attack and loot, you starve or go without. In a community of people who think nothing of using brute force and even murder to get their way, if your crew starves or goes without for a long enough period of time, they will turn on themselves, and mutiny is usually the end of a successful crew because the only people who really knew what they were doing have just been killed.

A community, on the other hand, can become self-sufficient through agriculture, livestock, fishing, mining, smithing, etc. They can also be armed and trained to fight in addition to their normal duties. By the time community pockets have formed as a result of a zombie outbreak (or other Situation X) many if not all of your members will already be somewhat battle-hardened and willing to accept that they must sometimes fight and kill to protect what is theirs. A pirate ship may be well deterred from attacking a group of industrious people ready and armed to defend themselves. They might attack anyway, but the chances of survival for a community are better than that of pirates.

So... almost without exception, if you can find a way to work together with other people to share resources, share protection, and share the work, you will find that piracy will probably not be neccessary.

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
Once people are on the open seas, there would no longer be any fear of Zombies

Sure there would. Fish and predators aren't going to eat the zombies. Zombies will float once what they've eaten decomposes enough to produce gases, and you can bet there will be many, many, many boatloads of zombies out there as people who were infected fled upon a boat. Zombies are a lot like rats. Once there's an outbreak, they never really stop being a problem and they get into everything. You never really get rid of all of them, or completely get away from them, you just try to keep their numbers down enough so that civilization can move on.

Originally posted by trueskeptic
I finished watching 28 days later last night, And have just come across this thread

Welcome to the thread. I don't think I mentioned this before, but if the zombies are anything like they are in 28 Days Later, we're screwed. It's been a while since I've seen the movie, I can't remember whether or not the only way to kill them was via a headshot, or if a chest shot would do the trick. But if they were that fast, that organized, and that contagious, and the only way to stop them was with a headshot, we're all pretty much screwed. I'm pretty sure they could even reproduce, since it didn't appear to actually "kill" the victim like the "normal" zombie virus does.

28 days later zombies are just infected people. Anything that would kill a human would kill one of them. They don't recognize pain however. They can be shot in the arm or leg, or stomach, and still keep coming. They're a bit more vulnerable, but they are also as fast and as strong as a normal person.

I haven't seen any of the "28 days movies" or even the "____ of the dead" movies in more than a decade. But I'm seeking some clarification about the zombie nature that we are speculating with.

1). What is the zombie motivation for attacking humans?

Is it to increase the number of zombies, by infecting others with the virus? Or do the zombies seek human brains for food? What do they feed on? If they want to eat, then they would consume MORE of their victims, leaving fewer new zombies. In other words, if they eat people, the zombie population will grow slower than if they are merely increasing their numbers by "playing tag" and infecting humans by touch.

2). What's the half-life of a zombie outbreak?

After all the humans in a given area have been depleted, how long will zombies in that area survive? Given say, 70 degree weather for a month, with minor precipitation. A human corpse, even sustained by a zombie virus, will begin to break down. Muscles that aren't fed oxygen, and don't have their wastes carried away by a circulatory system wont function for long, and even if they are converted to another mode of functioning, wont sustain themselves.

Obviously, every responder will have their own answers to these questions, but the asnswers will greatly alter the goals I'm striving for. If z-virus resembles prions, then it can stay in the soil indefinitely. If it resembles the "black death" of the middle ages, then we are talking sporadic outbreaks for the next 50 years or so.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
1). What is the zombie motivation for attacking humans?

Is it to increase the number of zombies, by infecting others with the virus? Or do the zombies seek human brains for food? What do they feed on? If they want to eat, then they would consume MORE of their victims, leaving fewer new zombies. In other words, if they eat people, the zombie population will grow slower than if they are merely increasing their numbers by "playing tag" and infecting humans by touch.

Interesting point, and it all depends on what type of zombie we are referring to. If we're talking about the standard Romero zombie, they are slow, flesh eating, and yes, they will eat you completely given the chance.

If we're dealing with the Return of the Living Dead zombie, they are a bit tougher. There is no way to kill them, even with head shots. The only defense is complete isolation and containment. Even an attempt at a nuclear drop resulted in the smoke from the remains converting more dead into zombies. They eat brains to end the pain of being dead. However, I'm not sure whether or not those whose brains are eaten can return. In part 1, one of the victims (Linea Quigley) returns after being feasted on, but in part 3, there is specific mention that they eat brains to recharge electrical impulses tat are lacking in their own brain. If the dead have no brain, there is no way for the impulses to need to be recharged.

28 days later zombies are just regular people who are infected with a disease that affects the mind, and is transferred through bodily fluids, like rabies. Their infection however, is instantaneous. If bitten, you will become a zombie in 8-10 seconds.

2). What's the half-life of a zombie outbreak?

After all the humans in a given area have been depleted, how long will zombies in that area survive? Given say, 70 degree weather for a month, with minor precipitation. A human corpse, even sustained by a zombie virus, will begin to break down. Muscles that aren't fed oxygen, and don't have their wastes carried away by a circulatory system wont function for long, and even if they are converted to another mode of functioning, wont sustain themselves.

Again, it all depends on the type of zombie. The Romero style seem to either last for a very long time, or they convert people into zombies so often, and efficiently that their numbers only seem to increase. The first gen zombies may decompose and die away, but each subsequent generation is larger and larger. I would say the same about the ROTLD zombies, but they are able to rise from the dead no matter their state of decomposition, so I don’t think the elements would get rid of them.

28 days later zombies will die out when the food supply goes away. After all, they’re only human.

If z-virus resembles prions, then it can stay in the soil indefinitely. If it resembles the "black death" of the middle ages, then we are talking sporadic outbreaks for the next 50 years or so.

In the Romero style, we have no idea what brings back the dead. It may be a virus, or the hand of God for all we know.

In the ROTLD style, we know it’s caused by 245 Trioxin, which was originally manufactured to destroy marijuana fields. Trioxin can survive indefinitely , and can be transferred through the burning of zombies into a gas that if inhaled can cause zombification, and, once it goes into rain clouds, can spread anywhere.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
1). What is the zombie motivation for attacking humans?

I just got this mental image of a rather metrosexual zombie holding a script, rolling his eyes, and saying "now...what's my motivation here?"

Well, early-conceptions of movie zombies had them wanting to eat brains. Hence the "braaaaaains" mantra they chant. However, more recent consideration has made this seem a bit ludicrous. Zombies don't "eat" anything, because they lack a functioning endocrine system. Supposedly, whatever flesh they eat just stays there in the plumbing until so much accumulates that it is literally forced out by further swallowing, or until it rip through the lining of the throat, stomach, or intestines.

So why do they attack humans?

I'm going to go with the viral-spread or neural parasite angle. It's the only one that really makes sense. You can make dead people move by stimulating the right areas of the brain. Unlike bacteria, a virus cares nothing for its host, its only concern is to continue spreading, without regard to a dwindling supply or condition of hosts. Supposedly, the Z-Virus would be a highly evolved virus that is just self-aware enough to realize exactly what hosts it can spread to (humans), how to infect them (fluids), and how to transport the infection (using the host and manipulating its brain to bite), and how to prolong its own life long enough to spread (by keeping the brain alive).

Virii can remain dormant as well. Now presumably whenever we see a city full of zombies just standing around doing nothing, they'd be a dormant state, on standby till the few virii left awake notice another potential host. The discovery of a new potential host awakens the dormant virus, which then "pokes the brain" for whatever mobility is at the body's disposal to approach and infect the prey, and involuntary wailing (probably caused by spasmic muscles in the chest bellowing the lungs), which of course, alerts the surrounding zombies.

Once the virus or parasite has been successfully transmitted and replicated to detectable level in the new host, the other virii cease to attack it and look for more prey. Hence why zombies don't eat all of their victim, and why they don't attack each other.

As for what they eat, virii don't eat or grow, they only spread.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
2). What's the half-life of a zombie outbreak?

Virii are neither really "alive" or "dead"... they're more of... a...well... if we knew what, we'd probably be a lot further along in medical science. Since virii can not only become dormant, but also have the ability to fuse themselves with DNA, the half-life is indeterminate for the virus itself. Even if there were no host, in theory, a new outbreak could happen if someone ran across the z-virus hundreds of years from the last outbreak.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
A human corpse, even sustained by a zombie virus, will begin to break down. Muscles that aren't fed oxygen, and don't have their wastes carried away by a circulatory system wont function for long, and even if they are converted to another mode of functioning, wont sustain themselves.

Honestly, no idea here. I've heard everything from a month to years, per zombie, from the point of infection. Perhaps the virus, in addition to choosing when it goes "dormant" acts as a combination poison and preservative, so that while muscle tissue still cannot regenerate, it does not break down from the elements or get eaten by bacteria nearly as quickly. Logically it seems like it should break down quickly, but if you remove elements and bacteria from the equation you effectively have a mummification process that, for the most part, preserves the body indefinitely. And as long as the nerve paths didn't get severed, a little jolt of electricity in the right spot on the brain will make a cadaver move. And while muscles may begin to break down through use, the zombie doesn't have to move particularly well, only persistantly.

The biggest problem will be in the beginning, when ignorance, fear, and hysteria keeps people from acting in a logical fashion. Like someone already mentioned, first outbreaks will come from the hospitals. Medical professionals will be at a premium afterwards, most having been zombified, and by the time governments were willing to take the appropriate measures (ie. shooting their own citizens in cold blood in front of their other citizens) the outbreak will have spread far beyond a containable area. As panic ensues, people will flee to every part of the world imaginable, spreading the epidemic because no one will know what to have looked for yet. When transportation is shut down, and quarentines become enabled, then one has to worry about snake-heads, who are basically black market cross-country international people smugglers. So the outbreak happens in the new country, most likely in the hospitals as well.

At that point, countries will be looking for a scapegoat. Wars will probably, briefly, break out. As more and more governments are destroyed through the outbreak of zombism. By the time the world and the people realize they need to work together to survive, there will be far too few people left to mount an immediate response. Sensing the near extinctual precipice on which humanity stands, any reponse eventually taken will be slow and deliberate, leaving plenty of time for other isolated pockets to be overrun by Zack, providing a fresh supply of new zombies.

A gradual exponential spread of zombism really could take, IMO, years, because of the spread and sheer number of human hosts available.