Question Flaw with zombies?

[old.Tohtori]

So in movies(etc) the zombies are a huge group of turned folk who munch you into little giblets right?

Right.

And a bite/scratch/etc turns you eventually into zombies, right?

Right.

So, basic problem there.

How did the zombie mass get to such high numbers?

Either A: The zombie virus affected billiosn of people at a similar time(talking minutes here), which isn't really plausible according to the stories(it spreads via bites n such) or B: A LOT of people, talking of hundreds of millions, get bit/etc and then escape for a day or two to be turned.

Go nerdgastic and solve it

 

[megadave]

zombie 1 bites someone, makes 2 zombies. 2 zombies bite 2 people, 4 new zombies, 4 zombies bite 8 people, 16 zombies. MULTIPLY MOTHERFUCKER

 

[Cerb]

Hmmm not something I had thought about before and I love the zombie genre.
Here's my take on it.

Traditionally zombies by their lonesome don't usually amount to much of a problem for people because they are slow and only really get dangerous in overwhelming numbers. So lets say our first zombie just turned cannibalistic and wanders out of his house. His long time neighbor spots him across the fence and never suspecting the zombie onslaught to come, hurries over to say good morning. As he reaches over the fence to shake his good friends hand, he is shocked to pull it back with a sizable chunk missing. While the fence between them slows down zombie 1, victim 1 runs into his house to wash his hand leaving many curses and threats in his wake. Later that night the wife of victim 1 gets a love bite a lot harder than usual and runs from her room screaming that she is going to her mothers...as women do. Victim 2's mother gets a visit from her daughter that for once she doesn't want and so this kind of thing repeats itself. It's the initial one on one confrontations where people are more likely to escape and don't yet know whats happening that would cause the zombies. Rather than the all you can eat buffets.

Haha I put way too much thought into stupid things sometimes.

 

[kiliarien]

So in movies(etc) the zombies are a huge group of turned folk who munch you into little giblets right?

I suppose there's many lore premises on this - what I don't get is that in most Zombie flicks they just want to chomp and eat all living flesh, and yet don't eat their own undead flesh (ie. eat each other.) Well that's not very sustainable is it? Needing living beings to feed but wiping them out with their insatiable hunger and lack of control and hierarchy to get things done. If they were sensible about it they have us all on human farms and breed us up to feed, just like we do with cows and the like.

I think if the premise if infection by wound then it must be viral (though I am no Doctor.) Surely that means superstrains can exist which are therefore more intelligent/calculating/foresightful and could create a Zombie with more intellect and planning? A Juju Zombie or Zombie Lord as it were for those in the D&D world.

Megadave's extrapolation seems reasonable (as reasonable as this discussion can be!) - until you can't cross continents; Zombies are mongs who can't operate shit so flights would never make it and crash so other than the original affected landmass everyone else should be ok and you could just 'purge' the landmass (such a shitter if it's Europe/Asia/Africa.)

Shaun of the Dead is THE best Zombie film imo.

 

[Cerb]

until you can't cross continents; Zombies are mongs who can't operate shit so flights would never make it and crash so other than the original affected landmass everyone else should be ok and you could just 'purge' the landmass (such a shitter if it's Europe/Asia/Africa.)

Shaun of the Dead is THE best Zombie film imo.

What if someone gets infected a half hour before a flight? in the first few hours of the infection before people know they should be operating a quarantine?

 

[pikeh]

If they were sensible about it they have us all on human farms and breed us up to feed, just like we do with cows and the like.

Pretty good premise for a film!

 

[Zenith.UK]

You people obviously don't play Left4Dead.

And did you see 28 Weeks Later?
That scene when a bunch of people running away get locked in with *ONE* zombie, and it turns THE LOT of them... bar the kid.

 

[Huntingtons]

I suppose there's many lore premises on this - what I don't get is that in most Zombie flicks they just want to chomp and eat all living flesh, and yet don't eat their own undead flesh (ie. eat each other.) Well that's not very sustainable is it? Needing living beings to feed but wiping them out with their insatiable hunger and lack of control and hierarchy to get things done. If they were sensible about it they have us all on human farms and breed us up to feed, just like we do with cows and the like.

my take on this is that the zombie infection is primitive bacteria thats able to multipy much quicker than normal bacteria but therefore it has not been able to mutate into a more sustainable organism.
They deliver an insane metabolism and are able to create huge amounts of energy keeping the zombie alive like a parasite to spread. the bacteria feeds on fresh flesh so the zombies hunger it.

thats what i think at least...

about the OP i theorize that they are predators first and foremost, therefore slay all living. So the first billion zombies will just be in a frenzied bloodrage of killing all living. When living flesh get scares they feast, so last living survives are more likely to get complety consumed before zombie stage and deliver.


long stoned zombie babble

 

[Chosen]

A better question! They are slow and dumb, but still they seem to manage to take out every freaking military outposts(The Walking Dead). I thought a abrams gunner would be quite safe from bitemarks!

 

[Zenith.UK]

A better question! They are slow and dumb, but still they seem to manage to take out every freaking military outposts(The Walking Dead). I thought a abrams gunner would be quite safe from bitemarks!

And I say again, you've not been watching the recent zombie movies.
Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil, 28 Days/Weeks Later... all have zombies running at you full speed. None of this shambling slow moaning crap. Blood-curdling scream of rage sprinting at you like an Olympic athlete is much nastier.

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

Zombies. Boring as fuck. The end.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Zombies. Boring as fuck. The end.

You. Out!

Yeah the basic "bite, bites 2, bites 4, multiply" would work, but it clashes with the said frenzy eating that's evident in all lore. Reaching a billion zombies as such, rather difficult.

After a night out(sober for once ) i've come to this conclusion;

The virus has a slow initial incubation time, meaning that it spread like a common cold, people get sick, but nothing major happens.

This way, the virus can spread to pandemic proportions, cross continents etc.

Then, after several weeks of incubation, the virus has reached its full potential and turns a whole sh*tload of people in a day or two.

This would mean that if say around 30% of the population has been infected, the rest are zombiesnacks.

Rest of zombies come from bites, scartches etc and as the virus has reached the full potential, it also turns people a lot faster.

That's the only explanation i can come up with that would explain mass zombies.

Patient zero type scenario isn't really plausible(where the virus only spreads by zombienomnom), as then you would have it rather contained, atleast to one continent(unless we're talking zombiebirds ).

About the military compound etc; zombies never rest and are in mass. So while you could hold up in your house with ammo and other supplies, they will never stop, never rest and will keep coming. After a while, military long while, they would simply be over-run or run out of supplies and forced to vacate or starve.

 

[megadave]

if u like zombies read this

World War Z: Amazon.co.uk: Max Brooks: Books

i see what you mean though. they all feast on human flesh, so how is there any humans left to become zombies

 

[Talyn]

7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail (Quickly) | Cracked.com

 

[PLightstar]

That book explains alot, can't wait till they finish the movie. The thing is that governments would be slow to react if like in the film/game/book universes Zombies are unheard of in fantasy, thinking it is some rioters or anarchy group. So they send in the cops and army but the first confrontations would be useless as our armies are set up for humans, so you will get the sniper schools doing great with head shots every time, but the general soldier wouldn't be getting headshots everytime, also Tanks would be useless as they may take a large group on but if theres no damage to the brain, you could have half body parts everywhere and end up with infected in all locations instead of a manageable group. In the end society would win (see World War Z) but not without the population of Earth suffering a severe depletion. Also as in World War Z you would have to watch out for Zombies on the Ocean floor finding there way to beaches and Zombies thawing out in the Ice regions every year.

 

[Zede]

Old zombies used the supernatural, new zombies - its just a disease, case closed.

 

[Vasconcelos]

Thts the good thing bout zombies, few movies explain where do they come from. The classics never clarify it.

Its like a dream: you start in the middle of the action, but you dont rly remember how did you end up there <--- Nerd o' meter reaching dangerous levels here

 

[Chosen]

And I say again, you've not been watching the recent zombie movies.
Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil, 28 Days/Weeks Later... all have zombies running at you full speed. None of this shambling slow moaning crap. Blood-curdling scream of rage sprinting at you like an Olympic athlete is much nastier.

Hehe, I've seen them all It does not really matter if they can run or not! Having multiple tanks, blow 'em to hell, or run them over. They should not be able to do shit! Its not like a flock of zombies whould be able to stop mainbattle tanks like a M1 Abrams(Since most seems to be on US soil)

 

[old.Tohtori]

Hehe, I've seen them all It does not really matter if they can run or not! Having multiple tanks, blow 'em to hell, or run them over. They should not be able to do shit! Its not like a flock of zombies whould be able to stop mainbattle tanks like a M1 Abrams(Since most seems to be on US soil)

It's explained in World war Z i thinki, it's just that the mass of zombies is so large that it's really ridicilous and they don't ever stop.

You'll eventually run out of gas, ammo, food, water, whatever. They will never run out

 

[Talyn]

They also don't 'reproduce', so once the population has become infected, the survivors just need to whittle down the numbers bit at a time.

Eitehr that or move to a currently uninhabited island, live on a boat, just find somewhere with a large expanse of water around it. I don't believe any zombies (new or old) can swim/walk along the bottom for extended periods of time. (Unless there's a water zombie movie I missed)

 

[old.Tohtori]

Zombies can walk under water as they don't require air either(if i remember correctly).

Though walking in oceanfloor is a bit tricky since it has a good layer of dead fishgoo on it

 

[Talyn]

And what about water pressure? It would crush thier muscles and bones making them all floppy and unable to walk.

That something else I've never got with zombies. We're all agreed you need to take out the head to kill them. But if you damaged the spine, or kneecaps, or somehow split the muscles in the legs (i'm no doctor, hamstrings?) they would be unable to walk, thus they'd crawl (although if the spine is broken surely they'd be paralysed?)

I've seen them moving with feet bent inwards, and I understand they will still be 'alive' but surely slowing them down is another huge advantage we humans would have?

 

[old.Tohtori]

Yeap, water pressure would make squishy zombies. Though they have no reason to even wander that far off the nomzones.

Not sure about the spine, but as long as the brain acts, the rest of the body is operational more or less. Slowing them down ofcourse works.

The nly thing zombies got on them is the brute amount there is and that they never have to stop for anything. There's also no fear, emotions etc to hinder them.

It's kinda like, hmm, you meeting 3 rabid dogs. Sure, you'll be able to kill them with a gun, maybe without a scratch even. But what about 10? 20 surrounding you?

Holding up in a shack is a-ok, a wooden door stops nails pretty nicely, re-enforced windows etc more so. No zombie is getting in.

But...how much supplies, fresh water, food, could you carry in? Week? Two? What then? You have to go get more and if you're surrounded and the hungry zombers outside don't sleep and are guard 24/7, not really helping you.

It's kinda like the old "how many 5 year olds could you win in a fight?"

 

[Larossa]

More of a fantasy fan myself but in DDO when encountering zombies, failing having a cleric/paladin to turn them, a wizard with fire spells usually toasts them sufficiently. Do new-age zombies not react to religious symbols? If not then a decent flame-thrower should sort them out (remember to dampen local buildings first).

An entrepreneur could maybe sell toasted zombie on a stick (guaranteed no zombie viruses )

 

[cHodAX]

Obviously Zombie'ism is sexually transmitted.

 

[megadave]

was just thinking; surely it would be extremely easy to produce a suit that is bite proof?

 

[old.Tohtori]

was just thinking; surely it would be extremely easy to produce a suit that is bite proof?

In my own personal zombie escape plan, i have a scuba gear shop as a stopping place.

If they don't happen to stock the chainmail gear there, the scubasuit in itself is a perfect base for an armor.

Though shouldn't underestimate the bite of a human, especially if you're not covered 100% in chaimmail or some such

 

[ECA]

No crying in the boat damnit.

 

[DaGaffer]

.You'll eventually run out of gas, ammo, food, water, whatever. They will never run out

Yes they will. There are more human beings alive today than have existed in the rest of human history put together. Therefore the numbers always favour the living. Living person with stick with a nail in it > zombie, Every time. And that's why zombies are so fucking useless as adversaries; the only way they win is by every living person being an utter bonehead.

Do the sums, the living only have to have K/D ratio of better than 1 to win; in reality every one who can drive a car can kill zombies by the hundred, without even getting the military involved (and they would have K/Ds in the millions).

 

[old.Tohtori]

Yes they will. There are more human beings alive today than have existed in the rest of human history put together. Therefore the numbers always favour the living. Living person with stick with a nail in it > zombie, Every time. And that's why zombies are so fucking useless as adversaries; the only way they win is by every living person being an utter bonehead.

Do the sums, the living only have to have K/D ratio of better than 1 to win; in reality every one who can drive a car can kill zombies by the hundred, without even getting the military involved (and they would have K/Ds in the millions).

Err, you're thinking the current living vs the deceased, not gonna work that way.

The buried aren't even in the equation.

And also; are you claiming there are more people alive, then there are dead?