This is a modification of the suggestion that xcorvis made, thanks xcorvis!
While I don't want to lay down the law and say "this is what zombies are like and this is what zombie dystopia is going to be like and anyone thinking about anything else is just stupid." But I do want to talk about some things that we can say "no" to.
For starters:
(1) Zombies don't die of boredom ... or starvation
(2) Zombie Dystopia is not going to be an afternoon, a weekend, or even a matter of weeks. Zombie Dystopia is a very bad situation that would last a very long time.
(3) FIRE = BAD....just kidding.... <-- ignore
(3) The Zombie virus is not curable
(4) The Zombie virus is not airborne
(5) Zombies can't drown
Now, perhaps these things are more extreme than reality. For example, one might ask, "but wait, what if the zombie virus IS curable?" or "what if zombies DO die of starvation and CAN drown?" Great. That means we were overprepared. If, however, we assume that zombies can drown, and therefore set ourselves up on an island without very good protection, but it turns out that zombies don't drown....there may be trouble. I'm asking for things that we shouldn't assume about zombies, the zombie virus, or zombie dystopia. The goal is to help newcomers to the site understand what we are assuming and not assuming so we don't end up with all the noobies immediately posting things like "sit back with a scotch and a shotgun on the roof -- that'll get 'em."
Feel free to disagree with anything I have posted. What are other things not to assume?
All that needs to be said is this: FIRE = BAD |
While they can't drown, one can assume that certain underwater situations would NOT be suitable for a zombie. Like the Alcatraz thing. While they cannot drown, the depth of the water, the fact the island is located on a cliff, and the fact that, at that depth, the zombie would quickly start (if it was any older then a week or so) to break apart, make water a still-valid defense.
zombies cant starve? magic zombies cant, but virus zombies certainly can (28 days later) and i certainly believe that viral zombies can drown just like normal humans. Remember, there are more than just one type of zombie, so creating a normal list of what we can expect that applies to one single type ignores the other is not plausible (see WoTS refined zombie types).
Really you need two lists, one for true undead and one for viral, living zombies.
Magic Zombies (true undead)
1. Cannot drown, but in some cases cannot cross running water
2. Cannot starve, as they are undead and the need for human flesh is just a protocol, not a neccesity.
3. Cannot bleed to death (they're dead already)
4. Cannot asphyxiate (almost the same as drowning)
5. Have a gimmick that kills them instantly (head trauma, silver bullets, crosses)
6. There are safe places from them (when magic is used to create them, that means there is magic somewhere, ergo holy grounds and such are likely)
7. Fire will not really do much to them, besides make them smell really bad.
Living zombies (viral, biological, possessed)
1. Can starve to death
2. Can bleed to death
3. Can drown or otherwise asphyxiate
4. Hunger for human flesh because they need something special in human blood
5. Fire will kill them just as it kills normal humans
6. Dont have a gimmick for how to kill them (no magic, no special weakness)
7. No automatically safe places (no holy ground or other things, an infected zombie doesnt give a damn about jesus.)
8. The zombie virus is a VIRUS, not a germ or bacteria, meaning antiseptics, pennicilin and other normal cures will not have any effect, the only cure is a vaccine.
9. Highly infectious, minor fluid exchange is enough to get you infected.
If anybody else has any obvious things that I'm just too stupid to remember, feel free to add to the list, but i think its fairly comprehensive.
If these zombies are anything like Call of Cthulu zombies, we are totally screwed.
All that needs to be said is this: FIRE = BAD
Very true, the Survival Guide does indeed say that.
However, I think we underestimate water.
update the following
-will allways die if faced with massive head trauma, brain damage or severing of the top of tthe spinal column
-posess at least 2x human strength (ive read that humans only use a fraction of their power, so without pain involved its a safe bet that wrestling them is stupid)***
-have generally weak balance
-have heightened senses (smell fresh blood for miles, dawn of the dead)
-oughtto be unable to brave rivers and oceans, but beware of virus in the water beacause indoubitably some fell in
i think we should classify zombies in the manner of undead/posessed, athletic/pathetic and then sentient/mindless
undead means they have no pulse and no need for food, no blood running through their veins and no air in lungs (maybe some pus tho eeew) however they will still hunt for preditorial instincts (ive read that some sharks' unborn babies kill each other in uterus, that could be the instinct that drives zombies to kil)
posessed means they are in control of another organism, 28 days later classify as this, as they arent dead but only
'infected". now this type can be killed by hunger, blood loss and asphyxiation.
athletic zombies run at the brink of human capabilities, but dont have the general balance, possibly from muscle damage, brain injury or kuz someone tore a chunk out of their leg. running from them will do little good.
pathetic zombies, aka ankle draggers are still very powerful and bloodthirsty, but they move at the threatening speed of a crippled person without a wheelchair. its absolutely shameful to die from these
sentient zombies, are jsut plain smarter, its like assuming that headcrab zombies infiltrated black mesa beacause they figured out how to open doors.
mindless drool and lumber, they will be stumped by a rope tied across a doorway
therefore one can evaluate different zombies: dawn of the dead features undead (the mob camped for weeks, so no food), athletic (very fast and dont get tired) and mindless, they could have broken through some doors...
some zombies have individual weaknesses. dawn of he dead couldnt stand water for some reason... but its a foolish bet to think hiding inside a church will stop some sort of magical zombies. its worth a try but dont board up the doors.
in other words, when you see something dragging ankles and reeking of flesh, taunt it and see how it reacts. by evaluating its behavior, you can figure out the proper combat procedure
***edit edit, saying that theyre stronger doesnt mean you cant break their neck with a baseball bat, its a safe bet that when something comes at you only the torso, arms and jaw muscles are at max power
k opinions plz
war's my game
destruction by no other name
gys you underestimate fire. ill post a guide to naking napalm...
Eliot listen up, for building a fire you arent going to use gasoline, or you will kill yourself and everyone around you. some loose books can be burned or made to start a larger fire. napalm on the other hand burns so hot it should melt aluminum and lead, temperature 800-1200 C
war's my game
destruction by no other name
I think the fewer assumptions the better. The more assumptions you have, the less discussion there is, so let's just concentrate on the critical ones.
Here are my scenario assumptions. (I'm trying to be explicit, so it looks really long.)
A signifigant percentage of people become zombies.
The zombie outbreak will be a long-term event on the order of years.
The zombie virus spreads very quickly - one bite infects a victim - but it requires an exchange of bodily fluids, typically via a bite. The virus is not airborne.
The zombie virus only affects humans. It does not affect insects, fish or birds. It may infect primates, but not most other mammals.
The zombie virus is extremely resistant to treatment, and there is no known cure. (And you're not going to find one.)
Once infected, you have a limited amount of time before turning into a zombie (between 4-36 hours) and it is 100% lethal.
Zombies can only be killed by destroying the brain.
Zombie organs are superfluous. They feel no pain and do not bleed or breathe.
Zombies are not intelligent and operate primarily on instinct.
Zombies have poor coordination.
Zombies crave the flesh of the living, but do not need to eat to survive.
I don't think we need to say things like "fire=bad" (I know, you were kidding, it's just an example). We can infer that fire would not be very effective against zombies because of the information we already have - they can only be killed by destroying the brain, and that they feel no pain and their organs aren't necessary for their survival. Likewise, we can infer that zombies may be able to go underwater because we know they don't need to breathe.
I would also warn against including information from specific zombie movies. In one movie, the zombies are athletic and fast. Why? Because the writer/director thought that slow zombies were old and busted, and he wanted some new hotness. His motivation was entertainment. Likewise, in another movie the zombies are controlled by an intelligent zombie master. Why? It's more entertaining. It's different. The zombie genre is well-defined, so people try to break out of the mold.
If you're going to draw from movies, draw from the least common denominators. Zombies are dumb, they bite people, bashing their skulls in kills them, etc. Otherwise, we'll end up with all kinds of contradictory information.
The one thing I'd like to see as a base assumption is that the cause of the zombie uprising is NOT supernatural. No one is safer on holy ground, prayer won't do diddly, and destroying the Necronomicon or killing Baron Samedi will not make the zombies go away. Likewise, there's no magical sword or blessed golf club that will fend off the undead hordes. For me, the zombie scenario works best treating them as a natural threat (albeit unusual and not understood by current scientific knowledge).
The battle rages but they fight in vain
When all is done it must begin again
-"Freya", the Sword
Alright. Cyberdemon! Fire topic: [url]http://zombieinitiative.org/node/33
We have some unresolved issues. Read my most recent post. That explains why I say over and over and over and over and over and over and .... yeah. Fire is bad.
All that needs to be said is this: FIRE = BAD
I sense this post is largely in response to my "categorizing all zombies" thread.
That guide, which i still beleive to be a comprensive look at possible zombie types, covers *everything*- in that, the zombies describable under that system range from a weekend annoyance to the local state troopers, to the overnight extinction of the human race.
a couple things have been put out there as charictaristics that would disqualify zombies from causing a dystopia. For many of these together, that may be true, but let me take a look at them:
Drowning: this doesn't stop zombies from waiting on the shore for you (it's a rare island that is self sustainable, whatever other threads would have you beleive) plus, what is to say they can't swim?
Cureable: actually, not as much of a safeguard as we might think. if polio made you hunger for human brains, would it be wiped out yet? (it's not even wiped out in the real world, where it just makes you a cripple)
Starvation: It takes months for humans to starve. longer i bet for *living* zombies (face it- the likelyhood of actual undeath is much less than a *living* dead scenario) Now factor in that not all zombies will be created at the very start of the disater- it could last for years, more than enough to cause a dystopia (a thankfully non-everlasting one)
Supernatural: (ie, made by some kind of magic) lets say, they can't enter churches, for example (there are infinite variations on this). maybe they can knock them down. or maybe whatever there supernatural weakness is only works on certain days. the MASSIVEly greater threat potential of a zombie that is animated by something intangible and inexplicable is *not* nullified by one or more petty supernatural weakness'.
If you intend to *prepare for the worst*, then prepare to test all possible weakness's- if they have one, however small, you'll need it, and simply "assuming" that zombies are or are not a certain way may spell *your* doom.
What i mean by that is that you shouldn'tassume that zombies *will* drown, but it is just as dangerous to assume that they *won't*. SO while you battle for your life for years, fighting zombies mano e tooth, i'll be at my islandfortress/desertfortress/churchfortress/hotpitalfortress/magicalunicornforteress
sitting pretty
"just don't let them turn into skeletons; the last thing we need to deal with is a resitance to slashing weapons"