TexasCHLforum.com

Zombies, the plague and pestilence of mankind. If there was one creature with the ability to steal our rightful place at the top of the food chain it would be zombies. No other creature throughout all of recorded history has had the ability to capture our imagination and cause as much raw terror as zombies. From biblical times to now, zombies have loomed an ever growing and horrid shadow over our heads.

Throughout the ages zombies have appeared in many different forms from the mummies of Egypt to the viral outbreaks in such famous present day titles as 28 Days Later, zombies have always played an important role in culture. No matter what form they appear in the threat is still the same. Their infection is spread from person to person claiming countless souls turning man against himself and turning brother against brother.

Zombies are defined simply as the “living dead”, a seemingly dead body that by some means has been reanimated. The term has also been used as a way to describe someone who seems to drone on and is seemingly lifeless in their activities, for example, “Are you going to sit in front of the TV like a zombie all day?”

Zombie Physiology and Attributes
Below we will discus a zombie’s physiology. It is important to note that these are generalizations based on currently accessible data, and educated guesses. The information contained in this article is subject to change at any moment as more zombie research becomes available.

Life Cycle
The life cycle of a zombie is fairly simple and easy to understand. First the initial infection agent (i.e. virus, bacteria, toxin, etc.) finds a host. Once infected, the host will fall ill, and eventually lapse into a coma. The duration of the coma can last anywhere from just a few minutes to several hours. The entire metamorphosis from time of infection to becoming a zombie typically does not last more than 24 hours.

Zombies can not reproduce by traditional means. Zombies are completely sterile. Since the human reproduction system is not essential to the functioning of the brain, it is shut off and rendered useless instantly. Zombies, instead, reproduce by infecting other healthy human beings with their “zombie causing agent” via direct fluid transfer typically through a bite to the flesh.

Once a human turns into a zombie, the body begins to decay instantly with the immune system. The lifespan of a zombie is estimated to be as long as 4 years, but is often much shorter. This varies greatly, depending on a number of factors including relative climate, physical damage sustained, age, size, weight, etc.

Zombies do not require any nourishment to survive. It is still not known why they feed on human flesh. They also do not require air, and have no use for any organs with the exception of the brain.

Zombies can only be “killed” by direct trauma to the brain as this is their only vital organ. Once a limb is severed from the body, the limb will cease to function. A decapitated zombie’s body will as well cease to function. However, the head with brain intact will still attempt to attack passersby.

Once a zombie is terminated, it still poses a threat to non-infected humans, as tissue and bodily fluids still contain infectious material. Thus, corpses should be properly disposed of.

Physical Abilities

Strength
Zombies are not superhuman. They are bound to all the same earthly laws and physical traits that define the person they once were. For example, a blind man who becomes infected will produce a blind zombie; a particularly weak person will result in a particularly weak zombie. The thing that sets us apart from zombies is their inability to feel. This refers to both feeling in mental form (i.e., emotions), and physical form (i.e. pain). Because zombies are without feeling, they are able to push themselves much harder than the average person, far beyond what we would consider to be “the breaking point”.

If you were trying to move a heavy object obstructing your path, you would begin to exert force on that object in the hopes of moving it. If the object were too heavy, you would be forced to stop due to fatigue or physical injury. These feeling of fatigue and injury are not felt by zombies however. If a zombie were to attempt to move the same heavy object out of its way, it would continue to due so until either the object was moved, or it was rendered physically incapable of moving the object. Very often zombies are seen with injuries such as dislocated joints, broken bones, and severe muscle or tissue damage. This is usually the result of the zombie attempting to perform feats beyond what its’s body is capable of. Without the benefit of a working immune system, or regeneration of any kind, the injuries that a zombie sustains (both self-inflicted or otherwise) are permanent, and will last until the zombie expires. So, a zombie’s greatest advantage over us may possibly be their biggest disadvantage.

Agility
Zombies possess the same physical abilities we all possess as human beings. One tends to wonder why they are so incapable of running, or dodging and block incoming attacks. The correct answer is that they possess the ABILITY to perform these tasks, but lack the coordination required to PROPERLY execute those tasks. We take walking for granted. A lot goes into each step we take. From your foot to your head there are literally hundreds of subtle muscle movements. Balance and terrain are also taken into account, along with dozens of other factors. All this information is calculated instantaneously by our brains, and we take a step. This information is poorly calculated by a zombie’s vastly more simple brain, thus rendering them unable to properly balance or take steps in rapid succession (e.g., running) giving them a more “shuffle” like appearance to their movement. For these same reasons, zombies are completely incapable or jumping or balancing on a narrow surface. They also tend to be poor at side stepping, and backing up, which typically ends with them falling to the ground. Zombies are also unable to swim, and can only float for a short period of time before becoming water logged and sinking to the bottom, they can however remain intact at the bottom of a body of water for a fairly long period of time before ceasing to function.

Senses

Smell
Zombies do not necessarily have a better sense of smell than your average human. They just rely more heavily on it, making them far more aware of odors around them. Oftentimes people seeking refuge from zombies are sniffed out rather then heard or spotted. The systems responsible for the sense of smell are buried deep inside the head near the brain, typically making smell the last sense to diminish due to decay or damage.

Sight
Zombies have the same sense of sight that you have. However, their sight diminishes quickly as their eyes begin to dry out and decay. Typically in less then a month’s time, zombies are rendered completely blind. However, their lack of sight is made up for with a very adept sense of smell. Zombies also do not possess any other special types of vision either. For example, they do not have thermal (infrared) vision, night vision, x-ray vision, etc. They also do not see by movement. That is not to say that movement will not set them off, but it is not what their vision is based on. Basically if we don’t have it, neither do they. It is estimated that zombies are still over 80% combat effective without their sense of sight.

Sound
Sound or hearing is a zombie’s primary sense. As their eyesight quickly fails, they become more reliant on their sense of hearing for direction, making it their dominant sense. This is a trait similarly found in humans. People who have been blinded often have their other senses (especially hearing) greatly heightened. Due to the simplicity of their brains, zombies are unable to distinguish differences in sounds. In turn, they react to any sound they hear, tracking it to its sources with uncanny accuracy. Silence is one of our greatest weapons.

Taste
It is uncertain whether zombies possess the ability to taste. They can however distinguish the difference between old and fresh meat, and prefer the latter. They also seem to favor certain pieces of the human body above others, namely muscle mass. It only makes sense that if something could smell, it could taste as these senses work in tandem. But this is still an unverified theory. A common misconception among people is that zombies eat brains. This is just not that case. The brain is housed in the rear portion of the skull know as the cranium. This is one of the hardest bones in the human body, and is not easily accessed by the rudimentary scraping and biting associated with a zombie attack. That is not to say that should it by some means become accessible to them they would not eat it. It just means that they don’t seem to have a particular “taste” or desire for it, let alone the means to acquire it.

Touch
Zombies do not possess a sense of touch. They can, however, sense when they have grabbed onto something, or when they have come into contact with an object. This reaction would seem to denote a sense of touch. However, studies have confirmed that zombies are 100% nerve dead and therefore lack the receptors required for feeling. How they do this remains a mystery. As mentioned earlier, a zombie’s lack of feeling prevents them from reacting to physical injury. Because of this, zombies are relentless. There have been numerous cases reported where zombies have been decimated, and they still retain the will to pursue and feed.

Extermination
Zombies do not require any of the body’s vital systems to sustain operation. They do not require food, water, blood, or even air. They can easily function in both extreme heat and extreme cold, however they will only function for a short period of time in subfreezing conditions (until their brain freezes), and will regain function once thawed. They require none of their internal organs with the exception of one, the brain. Destruction of the brain is the only sure way to kill a zombie. Freezing or burning a zombie can potentially kill it. However, this is entirely based upon the amount of damage their brain sustains, and is an unreliable method of extermination. Decapitation will render the body nonfunctional. However, the head will remain “alive” and still pose a hazard.

The two most effective ways to exterminate a zombie have been found to be massive blunt force trauma to the head (from weapons such as clubs, crowbars, and machetes), and impalement of the brain from projectile based weapons (such as guns, and arrows). Once the brain has been destroyed, a zombie will cease to function on all levels.

Disposal
Once killed, a zombie’s body still poses a number of hazards. Zombie or otherwise, a rotting body is a breeding ground for any number of different diseases, and must be dealt with as soon as possible. A zombie’s body should be treated like any other form of hazardous waste. You should avoid direct skin contact at all costs, and whenever possible, wear a full hazardous material (hazmat) suit while disposing of a body.

A zombie’s body can be disposed of a number of different ways. The most traditional method would be to simply bury it and allow nature to run its course. However, this may become unfeasible when dealing with large quantities of bodies. Also, you are going to want to cover the bodies as soon as possible to prevent contamination, and this may not be possible with a mass grave. The most preferred method when attempting to dispose of a zombie’s body would be cremation. A fire hot enough to successfully destroy a body is more then hot enough to destroy any diseases. A pile of ashes is also much easier to dispose of, and takes up far less room than a whole body, and is far safer than a field a buried diseased corpses.