To try to deal with my growing depression, I have been trying to find a way to vent my anger. Some people might punch a heavy bag or break things. I have found that putting a bullet between the eyes of these walking monstrosities is wonderfully cathartic. Now, the rule with the zoms is to put a bullet in the head. Destroying the brain destroys the zombie. It is the only fool proof way to put them down. But this is harder than it looks. I know horror movies show their heroes running through the streets shooting at zombies trying to block their path and scoring shots right in the middle of the forehead with every bullet fired. This is much harder than Hollywood makes it look. Even with a steady mounting, a powerful scope, and a slow moving, unsuspecting target, this is not an easy shot to make. But in sighting in these shambling horrors, I have been studying them more and more…
Before all of this happened, I was a country boy. Well, I liked air conditioning and I could tell you more about programming HTML language than tracking down whitetail bucks. But when you have 120 acres as your backyard, you are not exactly “citified.” I had a riding lawnmower because my lawn was too big to push mow, I would dodge snakes when running out in the back pasture. I could lie in my bed at night and hear the coyotes howl. (In Oklahoma, they are pronounced “kai-oats” not “kai-o-tees.”) And Alex and I would often go down to the creek to measure how high the water rose after heavy rains. I’ve separated cows into their herds, banded a few (don’t ask), bottle fed a small handful, and helped my father-in-law put out feed. Again, I would say I qualify as more country than city.
As I mentioned, I would often run in my back pasture. But being a big guy, it is embarrassing to run on the road. I don’t want what few neighbors I have to see me attempting to exercise and when you are from a small town and people see you walking on the side of the road every other car will pull over to see if you need a lift home.
So I would run out in the back pasture where the cows would graze and I saw my fair share of “herd mentality.” In many ways, zombies are not too different from cows in their behavior. They utilize a herd mentality.
I don’t know how the decided who the alpha is but if you can get one or two headed in one direction (say chasing someone) then it is not too hard to get all the rest of them shambling in that direction. They can be lured. And if they can be lured, that means they can be lured away. That is a huge advantage for us… and I think that it is time we start exploiting that advantage…
More soon.
Showing posts with label Zombie 101. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zombie 101. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Day 22 – Zombology 101: Migratory Patterns
I know this is pretty pathetic. I am a slave to pop culture. And when all this was starting to go down, during the quiet time of Week 1, Charles and I slipped off and had a DVD viewing party. We watched movies like Zombieland and Dawn of the Dead to try to understand what we are dealing with.
I really like Zack Snyder’s take on zombies with all the running and the savagery and it was a really good movie. However, in their version of zombies, they all just clustered at that mall wanting to get at the humans inside. It made for a thrilling escape and was a great movie finale. Thankfully, that is not what we are dealing with. This is one of those instances where Hollywood made a great movie but they got the reality wrong.
Back in the first week of this blog, I discussed alligators and crocodiles. They are opportunistic hunters. Thankfully, zombies are the same way. Case in point, not all of the same zombies that popped up in the area on Day 1 are still in the area. Several of those transformed in those first few hours came along initially and banged on the windows and doors. Truth is some still do that now.
I have this theory that a lot of these zombies are “locals” and have it engrained in their subconscious that Reason’s translates to food and they are showing up on some intuitive level. But they all seem to react the same way. When they realize that they cannot get in, they move on to look for greener pastures. We’ve worked very hard to cover up our visual and auditory presence. In the movie I Am Legend with Will Smith, he often covered up his scent by using some chemical. (Bleach maybe?) I need to look and see if that movie is in the video department. (Yes, I know technically those were vampires but the theory is still solid.)
So the zombies come looking for food. Perhaps they can sense that we are in here and they come up moaning and banging and when they realize that they cannot get in, they shamble on down the road, looking for easier prey.
Therefore, by these observations, I think we can say that zombies are migratory. How do they know where to migrate to? Of that, I cannot be certain. Why do birds just know to fly south for the winter?
Still, it seems clear that zombies’ sight is not nearly as sharp as it is in life. Their hearing appears to be about the same. If I didn’t know better, I would say their sense of smell actually improves (at least when it comes to hunting). Not really certain about touch and taste. But I often wonder if zombies have some sort of ESP to be able to detect flesh and that is why they keep coming up and banging on the doors in the first place.
I really like Zack Snyder’s take on zombies with all the running and the savagery and it was a really good movie. However, in their version of zombies, they all just clustered at that mall wanting to get at the humans inside. It made for a thrilling escape and was a great movie finale. Thankfully, that is not what we are dealing with. This is one of those instances where Hollywood made a great movie but they got the reality wrong.
Back in the first week of this blog, I discussed alligators and crocodiles. They are opportunistic hunters. Thankfully, zombies are the same way. Case in point, not all of the same zombies that popped up in the area on Day 1 are still in the area. Several of those transformed in those first few hours came along initially and banged on the windows and doors. Truth is some still do that now.
I have this theory that a lot of these zombies are “locals” and have it engrained in their subconscious that Reason’s translates to food and they are showing up on some intuitive level. But they all seem to react the same way. When they realize that they cannot get in, they move on to look for greener pastures. We’ve worked very hard to cover up our visual and auditory presence. In the movie I Am Legend with Will Smith, he often covered up his scent by using some chemical. (Bleach maybe?) I need to look and see if that movie is in the video department. (Yes, I know technically those were vampires but the theory is still solid.)
So the zombies come looking for food. Perhaps they can sense that we are in here and they come up moaning and banging and when they realize that they cannot get in, they shamble on down the road, looking for easier prey.
Therefore, by these observations, I think we can say that zombies are migratory. How do they know where to migrate to? Of that, I cannot be certain. Why do birds just know to fly south for the winter?
Still, it seems clear that zombies’ sight is not nearly as sharp as it is in life. Their hearing appears to be about the same. If I didn’t know better, I would say their sense of smell actually improves (at least when it comes to hunting). Not really certain about touch and taste. But I often wonder if zombies have some sort of ESP to be able to detect flesh and that is why they keep coming up and banging on the doors in the first place.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Day 19 – Zombology 101: Contagion
First rule of warfare: Know your enemy.
THIS IS JUST A THEORY. WE ARE DOING OBSERVATIONS TO PROVE THE VALIDITY. BUT WE COULD BE WRONG.
Thankfully, we have a roof hatch access inside the store. We had to pry off the pad lock to use it but it is positioned above the ice cream freezer in the northwest corner of the store. With all of the windows blocked off and now barricaded, it is pretty hard to get a true sense of what is happening outside, so we have been using the roof. (Lance has some plan that he has been talking about where he is going to rewire the security cameras but I cannot tell if he is full of crap or not. Still, he was taking electrician classes at Vo-tech when all this went down so…)
Given that our structure would probably be the equivalent of a three story building, we cannot fathom any possible way that the zombies can reach the roof. They can climb stairs but when it comes to the physical coordination required to actually climb a hand-over-hand ladder, they just don’t have it. So from that aspect, we are pretty safe on the roof. And it is from here that we have done a lot of observations.
This is what we have extrapolated given what we have seen as a first hand account of victims. This is pretty gruesome stuff but people need to be told the truth. So bear with me.
Somewhere out there is Patient Zero – the one who started this whole epidemic. Truth be told, we may never know who that is or was. But obviously it got up here somehow. Patient Zero must have bitten someone else and that is where it all took off.
Unless this is some sort of doomsday contagion, this thing is not naturally occurring. It is not airborne or waterborne which is why we feel pretty safe using the tap water. If it was in the air or the water there would be no escape and we are just delaying the inevitable. Might as well slit our wrists now if this thing can be contracted by drinking water.
So we are fairly confident that this is how it works. The virus is transferred via body fluids, which means if you get bit, you have it. If you are fighting these guys in melee combat, slashing at them with chainsaws and get their blood in your eyes, mouth, or an open wound, you are in trouble. Fingernail scratches are dubious.
Now, as we were discussing this, someone joked about having sex with a zombie. Obviously disgusting but my theory is that this thing started (at least in our area) in the Reedy Nursing Facility. [More on that later.] Before they realize what the virus was, crazy Ms. Glick bit Orderly Sam. Just a bite, no big deal. They may have thought she was delusional. Sam finishes his shift and heads home. His girlfriend meets him at the door for a quick round of hide the salami. Bam. Infected. They both wake up the next morning with a hankering for human flesh. And suddenly, you have two spawning zones for the zoms. So it is not tremendously far fetched. I am not saying that is what happened but it certainly could have.
I am by no means a veterinarian but you hear stories all the time about dogs contracting rabies and they have to be put down. I remember shortly before all this happened about a police officer putting down a rabid squirrel in a school yard because they were afraid it might attack the kids. This is what these things seem to be like. They are rabid. They are mean, aggressive, and just want to eat.
So let’s say this is some form of mutated rabies or it at least shares the same qualities. As near as I can figure, filmmakers in the past must have consulted doctors and such when they wrote their scripts and all the theories and postulating has just happened to turn out to be correct. The zombie must carry a virus strain that is transferred by fluids. It acts like most other pathogens. (Is that the right word?) Keith’s wounded started to show signs of serious infection within a few hours. And it was like he was hit with a double dose of anticoagulant because we could not get the bleeding to stop.
If it seems like dying from a few bites seems unrealistic, look at what a hungry man can do to a steak even without utensils. Combine that with five of these things surrounding you, chomping furiously, a few doses of the anticoagulant that they give you and a major artery. Add all that together and you have a deadly combination…
Okay, so, you encounter a zombie and you get bitten. You don’t automatically turn and start eating human flesh. It starts off as a virus in your system. I don’t believe that an antidote could reverse the effect and amputation would be very risky. If you get bit on the ankle, could you cut off your leg fast enough before your blood circulates up from your leg to your brain? I doubt it.
Now, the virus gets in your bloodstream. It immediately starts attacking your organs and systems because it wants you to die. That is the whole goal. But at this point, you are just sick. You are not a zombie yet. Eventually, the fever burns you out, your organs shut down and you die. Once you die that is when this virus really goes to work.
I have not had enough exposure to infected test subjects to do a true scientific analysis but I am guessing it takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours and then the virus kick starts your brain. You sit up and become like poor Orderly Sam from earlier in this blog entry.
My theory is that if you die by the virus, reanimation is a matter of minutes. I say this because before we blacked out the windows, we saw a customer get hit outside by a pack of these things. She was loading groceries into the back of her van when several of these monsters jumped her. All we could do was watch.
Now she did not die from the virus. She died from blood loss and the fact that her guts were chewed out by these monsters. Her body was sprawled out in the back of her van for over a day. Then we watched from the roof as she reanimated and limped around as best she could on limbs with bites taken out of them and meat chewed away. [The happy ending to this story is that Lance put a bullet in her head and ended her unlife.]
So in theory, if your immune system is compromised, you are stressed out, extremely old, or something along those lines, the virus burns through your system pretty fast and death is pretty quick. It also takes very little time for your body to “reanimate.”
Now, one saving grace is that the dead are not popping up out of the cemeteries. It does not work like that. Corpses are not busting out of their caskets and running around. You have to be infected to reanimate. So this is a viral outbreak. Either there is a cure somewhere in nature or we just have to outlast it.
I keep going back to that scene in the movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, and Cuba Gooding Jr. In that, the very lethality of the virus was actually a benefit. It killed everyone so fast it did not have a chance to spread. Do we have that option here? This works in conjunction with our One Year Plan. If we can just outlast these beasties, we can wait it out and be part of those last vestiges of humanity that will inevitably reclaim the world.
At least, that is the plan. I just hope to God that it works.
More soon…
THIS IS JUST A THEORY. WE ARE DOING OBSERVATIONS TO PROVE THE VALIDITY. BUT WE COULD BE WRONG.
Thankfully, we have a roof hatch access inside the store. We had to pry off the pad lock to use it but it is positioned above the ice cream freezer in the northwest corner of the store. With all of the windows blocked off and now barricaded, it is pretty hard to get a true sense of what is happening outside, so we have been using the roof. (Lance has some plan that he has been talking about where he is going to rewire the security cameras but I cannot tell if he is full of crap or not. Still, he was taking electrician classes at Vo-tech when all this went down so…)
Given that our structure would probably be the equivalent of a three story building, we cannot fathom any possible way that the zombies can reach the roof. They can climb stairs but when it comes to the physical coordination required to actually climb a hand-over-hand ladder, they just don’t have it. So from that aspect, we are pretty safe on the roof. And it is from here that we have done a lot of observations.
This is what we have extrapolated given what we have seen as a first hand account of victims. This is pretty gruesome stuff but people need to be told the truth. So bear with me.
Somewhere out there is Patient Zero – the one who started this whole epidemic. Truth be told, we may never know who that is or was. But obviously it got up here somehow. Patient Zero must have bitten someone else and that is where it all took off.
Unless this is some sort of doomsday contagion, this thing is not naturally occurring. It is not airborne or waterborne which is why we feel pretty safe using the tap water. If it was in the air or the water there would be no escape and we are just delaying the inevitable. Might as well slit our wrists now if this thing can be contracted by drinking water.
So we are fairly confident that this is how it works. The virus is transferred via body fluids, which means if you get bit, you have it. If you are fighting these guys in melee combat, slashing at them with chainsaws and get their blood in your eyes, mouth, or an open wound, you are in trouble. Fingernail scratches are dubious.
Now, as we were discussing this, someone joked about having sex with a zombie. Obviously disgusting but my theory is that this thing started (at least in our area) in the Reedy Nursing Facility. [More on that later.] Before they realize what the virus was, crazy Ms. Glick bit Orderly Sam. Just a bite, no big deal. They may have thought she was delusional. Sam finishes his shift and heads home. His girlfriend meets him at the door for a quick round of hide the salami. Bam. Infected. They both wake up the next morning with a hankering for human flesh. And suddenly, you have two spawning zones for the zoms. So it is not tremendously far fetched. I am not saying that is what happened but it certainly could have.
I am by no means a veterinarian but you hear stories all the time about dogs contracting rabies and they have to be put down. I remember shortly before all this happened about a police officer putting down a rabid squirrel in a school yard because they were afraid it might attack the kids. This is what these things seem to be like. They are rabid. They are mean, aggressive, and just want to eat.
So let’s say this is some form of mutated rabies or it at least shares the same qualities. As near as I can figure, filmmakers in the past must have consulted doctors and such when they wrote their scripts and all the theories and postulating has just happened to turn out to be correct. The zombie must carry a virus strain that is transferred by fluids. It acts like most other pathogens. (Is that the right word?) Keith’s wounded started to show signs of serious infection within a few hours. And it was like he was hit with a double dose of anticoagulant because we could not get the bleeding to stop.
If it seems like dying from a few bites seems unrealistic, look at what a hungry man can do to a steak even without utensils. Combine that with five of these things surrounding you, chomping furiously, a few doses of the anticoagulant that they give you and a major artery. Add all that together and you have a deadly combination…
Okay, so, you encounter a zombie and you get bitten. You don’t automatically turn and start eating human flesh. It starts off as a virus in your system. I don’t believe that an antidote could reverse the effect and amputation would be very risky. If you get bit on the ankle, could you cut off your leg fast enough before your blood circulates up from your leg to your brain? I doubt it.
Now, the virus gets in your bloodstream. It immediately starts attacking your organs and systems because it wants you to die. That is the whole goal. But at this point, you are just sick. You are not a zombie yet. Eventually, the fever burns you out, your organs shut down and you die. Once you die that is when this virus really goes to work.
I have not had enough exposure to infected test subjects to do a true scientific analysis but I am guessing it takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours and then the virus kick starts your brain. You sit up and become like poor Orderly Sam from earlier in this blog entry.
My theory is that if you die by the virus, reanimation is a matter of minutes. I say this because before we blacked out the windows, we saw a customer get hit outside by a pack of these things. She was loading groceries into the back of her van when several of these monsters jumped her. All we could do was watch.
Now she did not die from the virus. She died from blood loss and the fact that her guts were chewed out by these monsters. Her body was sprawled out in the back of her van for over a day. Then we watched from the roof as she reanimated and limped around as best she could on limbs with bites taken out of them and meat chewed away. [The happy ending to this story is that Lance put a bullet in her head and ended her unlife.]
So in theory, if your immune system is compromised, you are stressed out, extremely old, or something along those lines, the virus burns through your system pretty fast and death is pretty quick. It also takes very little time for your body to “reanimate.”
Now, one saving grace is that the dead are not popping up out of the cemeteries. It does not work like that. Corpses are not busting out of their caskets and running around. You have to be infected to reanimate. So this is a viral outbreak. Either there is a cure somewhere in nature or we just have to outlast it.
I keep going back to that scene in the movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, and Cuba Gooding Jr. In that, the very lethality of the virus was actually a benefit. It killed everyone so fast it did not have a chance to spread. Do we have that option here? This works in conjunction with our One Year Plan. If we can just outlast these beasties, we can wait it out and be part of those last vestiges of humanity that will inevitably reclaim the world.
At least, that is the plan. I just hope to God that it works.
More soon…
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Day 4 – The Enemy At The Gates
I don’t want to waste a bunch of time talking about how there is no such thing as zombies. Tell that to the mindless things shuffling outside our doors and see if you can convince them they don’t exist. While you are at it, go ahead and slather yourself with barbeque sauce. I am sure things will turn out well.
Okay, I am not a medical expert but I play one on television. My real medical knowledge is limited to what I have seen on televisions shows like ER, House or Scrubs. In fact, when my wife was going to nursing school and the doctor on TV would ask the interns a medical question, I would pause the TV and see if Amy could answer it. So I know a little bit about uric acid, menegitis, and too much pure protein turns your gas into a Level 4 biohazard (thanks, Lance.) But this is what we are dealing with. I don’t know who it was amongst us that threw out the word zombie – it might have been me but I am not certain. But that is the closest word I can find to accurately describe what we are up against.
These “creatures” were once human beings. I know that because I have watched people turn. Clearly, they have been infected with something that transforms them into these nightmares. Ordinarily, I would say something like “slit your wrists now” or “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em,” but there are a few saving graces. This is not the end of the world. This is just the end of the world as we know it. But we do have some hope.
This is what we know. It is NOT an airborne pathogen. If it was, we would all be infected and I wouldn’t even be writing this. You have seen this all the times in the movies. I don’t know if George Romero or Zack Snyder were privy to some top secret information. I kind of doubt it. Maybe there are documented cases that just never made it into the public. Maybe it is in that President’s Book of Secrets that Nicholas Cage was searching for. Maybe the CDC knows more than we do. But that is neither here nor there.
Near as we can tell, this is a disease that is transferred via bodily fluids, bites and maybe scratches. These creatures react more on instinct then cognitive thought. It is like their brains are only running on emergency power. Not all the neurons are firing. They react instinctively and all they seem to do is hunt. They seem to have some natural instincts and have some sort of brain function. I watched one pick up a rock and use it to attack a car window. But I seriously doubt these things are going to be doing geometry on a scientific calculator.
So, Point #1, they are dumb.
Zombies are not overly strong. At least, they are not stronger than they were in real life. If you are imagining that these things have some sort of vampire strength, they don’t. That is not to say that you are not going to come across some weightlifter zombie in the future with Olympic athlete strength. But near as we can tell, these creatures are either as strong as they were in real life or less so because of their muscle deterioration.
Point #2, they are not super strong.
They don’t have fear and feel no pain. All they want to do is devour flesh. I have seen these things take gunshots to the chest or the leg and still keep coming. They emit this horrible noise that is some sort of blend of human wail combined with an animalistic shriek. And if they get you, they want to feed. We watched helplessly as a swarm of them devoured people in our parking lot. It was disturbing to say the least.
Point #3, no pain and they just want to eat.
Thankfully, they are not tremendously fast. This is what we have discovered. (I credit Charles for this theory.) In video games, your character has an “aggro range” where if you get within a certain proximity of a bad guy, they turn and come after you. But you have to get within that aggro range for them to come after you. So 90% of the time, the zombies just shuffle around looking for food. I have actually seen one give up and take a seat in a car. (Again, I think it is just instinct kicking in.)
But then if something gets within that aggro range, they get back up and start shuffling towards their target. Now, these guys don’t flat out sprint but the closer they get to their target, the harder they work. So you can outrun them. I don’t think they can “track” you over incredible distances. Once you get out of their aggro range and they lose you, they are going to go back to that instinctive hunting cycle. One zombie will not track you down if you drive away in a car.
The trick is to stay out of their aggro range in the first place. They seem to hunt the same way we would – sight, sound, and smell. Do your best to remain undetected and you start to gain a fighting chance. But it is not a question of if. It is a question of when. You are going to encounter one of these things eventually.
Point #4, you can outrun them and get off their radar.
What we have discovered is that what you see in the movies appears to be true. A shot to the head puts the zombie down. And near as we can tell, that is the only surefire way to stop them. So whatever you want to call this disease, once the affliction takes hold, in order to put these things down, you have to shoot them in the head. I know the movies make it look easy but it is much harder than it looks. You have to scramble the brain. If that means gunshots, sledge hammers, whatever. Destroy the brain, you destroy the zombie.
Because of this strategy, one of these horrors by itself is relatively easy to take down. Okay, I am not going to say that it is done easily but it can be done. But if you get in a pack of twenty of them or a hundred of them… Well, you have to reload sometime and that is when they are going to get you.
Point #5, shoot ‘em in the head.
Still, I do not want you to think that now is the time to go on the offensive. For now, we are choosing to play a defensive game. The key is to keep a low profile. Reduce your noise signature as much as possible. Hide out wherever you can. And I am not terribly certain how to reduce your smell. But do this and your odds increase ten fold.
They do seem to be more active at night. We don’t really know why so extinguish lights whenever possible. Using aluminum foil to cover the windows works well if you have enough of it. Keep your windows covered and just don’t go ringing the dinner bell. At least, that has worked for us. Reduce your signature. Do that and you have a chance.
I saw on Mythbusters once that alligators and crocodiles are opportunistic hunters. If they come to grab you and you can survive the initial attack and escape to land, they don’t chase after you. They are more comfortable retreating back into the water and just waiting for easier prey to come along. Predators are lazy, man. They don’t want to work unless they know they are going to eat.
Thankfully, these zombies have a similar mentality. They come and bang against the doors and the windows but when they realize that they cannot get in, they move down the road, looking for easier prey. So if you can hole up somewhere, you can outlast them and then move safely when they have moved on. Of course, as the days and weeks wear on and food starts to get scarce, their mentality may start to change. Use this information as best you can in your attempt to survive…
More soon.
Okay, I am not a medical expert but I play one on television. My real medical knowledge is limited to what I have seen on televisions shows like ER, House or Scrubs. In fact, when my wife was going to nursing school and the doctor on TV would ask the interns a medical question, I would pause the TV and see if Amy could answer it. So I know a little bit about uric acid, menegitis, and too much pure protein turns your gas into a Level 4 biohazard (thanks, Lance.) But this is what we are dealing with. I don’t know who it was amongst us that threw out the word zombie – it might have been me but I am not certain. But that is the closest word I can find to accurately describe what we are up against.
These “creatures” were once human beings. I know that because I have watched people turn. Clearly, they have been infected with something that transforms them into these nightmares. Ordinarily, I would say something like “slit your wrists now” or “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em,” but there are a few saving graces. This is not the end of the world. This is just the end of the world as we know it. But we do have some hope.
This is what we know. It is NOT an airborne pathogen. If it was, we would all be infected and I wouldn’t even be writing this. You have seen this all the times in the movies. I don’t know if George Romero or Zack Snyder were privy to some top secret information. I kind of doubt it. Maybe there are documented cases that just never made it into the public. Maybe it is in that President’s Book of Secrets that Nicholas Cage was searching for. Maybe the CDC knows more than we do. But that is neither here nor there.
Near as we can tell, this is a disease that is transferred via bodily fluids, bites and maybe scratches. These creatures react more on instinct then cognitive thought. It is like their brains are only running on emergency power. Not all the neurons are firing. They react instinctively and all they seem to do is hunt. They seem to have some natural instincts and have some sort of brain function. I watched one pick up a rock and use it to attack a car window. But I seriously doubt these things are going to be doing geometry on a scientific calculator.
So, Point #1, they are dumb.
Zombies are not overly strong. At least, they are not stronger than they were in real life. If you are imagining that these things have some sort of vampire strength, they don’t. That is not to say that you are not going to come across some weightlifter zombie in the future with Olympic athlete strength. But near as we can tell, these creatures are either as strong as they were in real life or less so because of their muscle deterioration.
Point #2, they are not super strong.
They don’t have fear and feel no pain. All they want to do is devour flesh. I have seen these things take gunshots to the chest or the leg and still keep coming. They emit this horrible noise that is some sort of blend of human wail combined with an animalistic shriek. And if they get you, they want to feed. We watched helplessly as a swarm of them devoured people in our parking lot. It was disturbing to say the least.
Point #3, no pain and they just want to eat.
Thankfully, they are not tremendously fast. This is what we have discovered. (I credit Charles for this theory.) In video games, your character has an “aggro range” where if you get within a certain proximity of a bad guy, they turn and come after you. But you have to get within that aggro range for them to come after you. So 90% of the time, the zombies just shuffle around looking for food. I have actually seen one give up and take a seat in a car. (Again, I think it is just instinct kicking in.)
But then if something gets within that aggro range, they get back up and start shuffling towards their target. Now, these guys don’t flat out sprint but the closer they get to their target, the harder they work. So you can outrun them. I don’t think they can “track” you over incredible distances. Once you get out of their aggro range and they lose you, they are going to go back to that instinctive hunting cycle. One zombie will not track you down if you drive away in a car.
The trick is to stay out of their aggro range in the first place. They seem to hunt the same way we would – sight, sound, and smell. Do your best to remain undetected and you start to gain a fighting chance. But it is not a question of if. It is a question of when. You are going to encounter one of these things eventually.
Point #4, you can outrun them and get off their radar.
What we have discovered is that what you see in the movies appears to be true. A shot to the head puts the zombie down. And near as we can tell, that is the only surefire way to stop them. So whatever you want to call this disease, once the affliction takes hold, in order to put these things down, you have to shoot them in the head. I know the movies make it look easy but it is much harder than it looks. You have to scramble the brain. If that means gunshots, sledge hammers, whatever. Destroy the brain, you destroy the zombie.
Because of this strategy, one of these horrors by itself is relatively easy to take down. Okay, I am not going to say that it is done easily but it can be done. But if you get in a pack of twenty of them or a hundred of them… Well, you have to reload sometime and that is when they are going to get you.
Point #5, shoot ‘em in the head.
Still, I do not want you to think that now is the time to go on the offensive. For now, we are choosing to play a defensive game. The key is to keep a low profile. Reduce your noise signature as much as possible. Hide out wherever you can. And I am not terribly certain how to reduce your smell. But do this and your odds increase ten fold.
They do seem to be more active at night. We don’t really know why so extinguish lights whenever possible. Using aluminum foil to cover the windows works well if you have enough of it. Keep your windows covered and just don’t go ringing the dinner bell. At least, that has worked for us. Reduce your signature. Do that and you have a chance.
I saw on Mythbusters once that alligators and crocodiles are opportunistic hunters. If they come to grab you and you can survive the initial attack and escape to land, they don’t chase after you. They are more comfortable retreating back into the water and just waiting for easier prey to come along. Predators are lazy, man. They don’t want to work unless they know they are going to eat.
Thankfully, these zombies have a similar mentality. They come and bang against the doors and the windows but when they realize that they cannot get in, they move down the road, looking for easier prey. So if you can hole up somewhere, you can outlast them and then move safely when they have moved on. Of course, as the days and weeks wear on and food starts to get scarce, their mentality may start to change. Use this information as best you can in your attempt to survive…
More soon.
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