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How to Beat the Zombie Apocalypse
by Time travel
Part I
The Zombie
We only have to turn on the TV any night
(usually after 9.00pm) to see that the world is being ravaged by various forms
of zombies and mutant dead infected people who just won’t lie-down and die. Of
course we’ve all been told over the years how to terminate a zombie. Whatever
the advice the general method is the same, separate the brain from the rest of
the head. This is of course a traditional cure for many types of undeadism;
from vampires to zombies and other creatures but is more easily said than done.
All of the advice we receive is usually
focused on the tactical situation of defeating an immediate zombie challenge
while what we will attempt to do with this paper is look to this danger and how
we might overcome it from a strategic level. When we look at plans such as
those put forward by the US Army[1]
we still see how to deal with the impact of the zombie, indeed the name of the
plan says it all, it looks to dealing with “zombie dominance”. Even the CDC[2]
(Centers of Disease Control and Prevention), when looking to deal with the
zombie treat looks to the emergency situation where the zombies are already
with and infecting people.
The greatest challenge with dealing with
zombie hordes (the collective noun for a group of zombies), is not the danger
of dealing with them one, or more, at a time. This situation is inherently
dangerous with usually a far greater chance of permanent death than survival.
As with any close quarter battle, you will need to know your enemy, something
which is easy enough in this case, in so far as that they will be coming at you
trying to eat you, we know they are not going to be planning any big pincer
movements or complicated ways of confusing us. Thus far the evolution of the
zombie has not repeatedly produced a generation which has learned to think and
adapt. This is of course significant because we are dealing with a static enemy
and not one which adapts and changes generally.[3]
Knowing how our enemy thinks (or more correctly, does not think) helps us to
deal with them. Our ability to create and deploy an array of defences and
weaponry also improves our chances.
So
we are okay there. We should also pick the location of our fights, this is
something we can have some influence over, but it is where do not have a place
of choice that we can run into difficulty. The biggest challenge is with the
horde mentality. Zombies general like to group together and travel in packs.
Evidence gathered to-date indicates that
zombies are pack creatures who normally group together to survive and hunt for
food. While the grouping together for survival is a useful trait, it is quite
annoying to humans who gather in small groups and find themselves outnumbered.
Where as a human when in danger will think about running-the-hell away, a
zombie will just keep going. It is the attrition caused by such a practice that
kills so many humans. We usually realise that as a result of them coming on to
us from all sides we are trapped. A
further issue is the human practice of “bugger that, I’m taking you all with
me” where we do not run away but rather
develop a rather stubborn streak which requires us blindly killing any creature
we can. While this perhaps a desirable way to fight and defend against other
humans it is fairly useless against zombies. We have to shoot, or kill them to
stop them; as they do not injure or suffer pain like us, they can keep coming
until they are no longer physically able to. All they have to do is infect us.
Infection spread
It is this infection which poses the
greatest danger to us as it is normally unheralded and judging from reports to
date has a very short incubation time. This short incubation time means we
cannot quarantine or separate potential zombie victims, because we simply do
not know who is the next victim. We also do not know the “starting Point” or
“Ground zero” for the infection. The
vectors (infected) are in society and spreading the disease before we know it
is there. There are no screening options and when the sick do come looking for
medical assistance they usually are close to transition and actually pose a
danger to the medical facilities being provided. Such is the speed of
transition that a patient sitting in A&E
can often be a vector within minutes, removing not only other patients but also
the medical staff and the facilities themselves.
The Zombie Research Society[4]
staff have looked at the incubation periods of known zombie infection to date.
While there is no confirmed set incubation period, an over long asymptomatic
incubation period has been ruled out. It is generally understood to be between
4 and 48 hours. The zombie plague is at its most dangerous at the start when it
reaches a critical mass as this growth will be quick and likely overwhelm society’s
ability to respond. If the disease can be prevented from reaching this level
then there is a chance to control and contain it.
To date, the source or ground zero points
for vector spread have been epidemic in nature, should an outbreak be pandemic
in form then we are likely to face the end of society as we know it. A potential
consequence of a non-centred and rapid disease spread is that local emergency
treatment and response centres will be overwhelmed before a global response can
be put in place. It is the local attrition repeated at various points which
will remove society’s ability to remove the risk successfully. The problem is
that such a reduction in first response
and security efforts will mean that strategically created plans will likely fail
because the local resources are not available to implement the necessary plan
elements. In essence the short
incubation time, coupled with the necessary organisational lag for response
will mean that any response effort will be hindered by not only a localised
shortage of personnel but also
unavailability of emergency resources as a result of them either being
damaged or in zombie controlled areas. I say “controlled” but we must
acknowledge that the control factor is purely one of us humans not actually
having control, it is more a case of resources being outside out immediate
range.
When we look at modern diseases, even
ones about which we do not know much we can still track the vectors and look to
patient zero. Patients are usually
cooperative and to a greater or lesser degree coherent, infected zombies are
usually anything but cooperative and have no ability to communicate. This
reduces the investigative ability to track, trace and eradicate the disease. Two
current epidemics give examples of this. The current Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome, MERS, (first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012) is a coronavirus
causing acute respiratory illness with high temperatures, cough and shortness
of breath, about 30% of confirmed cases have resulted in fatality (permanent
fatality). The majority of cases originate in the Arabian Peninsula and have
been associated with pilgrimage sites. The source points, vector
characteristics (pilgrims or business travellers) and disease factors mean it
can be tracked and to an extent controlled. We see something similar with the
2014 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. Initial reports gave a death-toll of
about 50% which is quite low for Ebola, this is currently being revised upwards.
However once authorities got a greater grasp of the situation and the necessary
external assistance, measures were put in place to contain and control the
disease. Initial resistance to medical teams gave an indication of how a less
than compliant population can hinder attempts to eradicate the outbreak. In the
case of zombies they are down-right belligerent and are likely to have damaged
the available medical resources.
Essentially many of the factors we rely
on in dealing with “traditional” disease outbreaks such as an ordered society,
non-belligerent victims and the ability to control and contain potential
vectors where necessary will largely be missing in relation to dealing with the
zombie threat.
Zombyism and
Feeding
The ability of this disease to spread
quickly and directly is perhaps one of the greatest dangers. The desire to feed
on medical responders and others also
acts as a hindrance. One important aspect of the zombie apocalypse however,
which might be of use to us in dealing with it is the need for food. As a
general guide uninfected humans can survive about 20 days or so without food
and an averagely fit human can last
about 3 days without water before things go downhill fast. This is important
because it is time related. Where living
humans may suffer from lack of food or water we need to look at the impact on
zombies.
Looking at food, we can see that this is
a rather more complex factor than might be initially thought. The zombie by his
(or her) very nature can no longer absorb or digest food as living humans do.
The thought is that the necessary minerals are absorbed from liquids with
unused solids regurgitated. Most of the essential bodily functions are no
longer present so changing utterly the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. This
should be a decisive factor in dealing with zombies, but with many viruses, one
of the essential dangers of infection is the ability of a virus to alter the
nature of its host purely to facilitate the survival of the invading organism.
Given the reduced capacity of zombies to not just function but also to
efficiently feed we should look at the 20 day rule. In essence one way to
control the disease is to limit access to food supplies (i.e. other humans) for
at least a month to ensure they no longer have the strength to be a significant
danger. This is not an easy option
because we will not know if a person is infected until they show external
symptoms (which apart from physical ones) only manifest themselves when it is
too late. Once outwardly infected they must be isolated and prevented from
feeding. A significant school of thought says that once corralled the infected
should be eradicated rather than starved. Although there have been isolated
cases of cross species feeding it is felt such cases are out of primal urges
for food and are usually unsuitable. The absence of multi-species zombieism
would also suggest that there is not cross species infection either. It might
be presumed that the effect of non-human flesh on zombies might be similar to
that of humans, raw flesh or blood of certain types cannot be efficiently used.
Water is another factor, we living humans
can last, at most a long-weekend, before declining and dying. Zombies on the
other hand do not drink water, nor do they use water for their bodily functions
to the extent living humans do so this rule does not apply. The water inherent
in the flesh consumed must provide the necessary quantities of moisture
needed. While it is possible to isolate
and starve zombies it is hard because of the feeding urge which is coupled with
the spread vector. Having no lungs breathing and air is not a controllable
factor also. In theory zombies can survive in non-air environments such as
underwater. Currents, zombie lack of
intelligence and various marine predators however limit the effective of water
based survival for them. The fact that zombies consume so much blood further
indicates the level of transformation. Living humans cannot consume anything
other than very small amounts of human blood, (we do not have the necessary
enzymes). The altered physicality of zombies means that this is not an issue
for them and so they can consume and absorb as much as they need.
It should be noted that there is still
much research needed on this area as zombies would seem to directly breaks down
and absorb the minerals and nutrients from feeding. Witnesses dealing with
zombies have repeatedly reported how the strength of a zombie is often related
to how recently they have turned. Conjecture is that the basic strength is
inherited from when they were living and the absorption of nutrients contributes to existence. The,
as-it-were- life expectancy of a zombie although never properly documented is
essentially one of dying from the day created, the absorption of energy from
nutrients needs, as with living humans,
to equal or exceed the energy expended, otherwise starvation.
It has also been noted that as the energy
level of zombies decreases they become more lethargic and essentially go into a low-energy survival
mode, this is not quite hibernation and indeed there is no evidence of
hibernation experienced to date. Even shorter periods which equate to sleep in
humans have been more accurately described as a dormant state rather than
sleep. Such behaviour is not unrelated to what we would expect of a virus in
its immediate host; the more extreme the environment and the greater the risk
to the virus’s existence will often drive it in to a state of animation where
it can lay dormant for many years. An example of this is the research being
done on the 1918 strain of influenza.
One hypothesis regarding the zombie’s
ability to absorb energy and survive details two aspects firstly expounding
from human biology we know we need oxygen and energy to work our limbs and
other bodily function. As the zombie’s heart and lungs do not function in any
meaningful way it is thought that the nutrient breakdown process (digestion for
us humans) is capable of extracting a quantity of oxygen to allow continued
motor-function. It would seem to work on a most basic cellular scale
transforming the necessary elements to the necessary materials and compounds.
As in many other areas of zombie physiology we are hindered by the difficulty
in capturing, containing and controlling test specimens. The limited range of
movement demonstrated by zombies indicates that the “feeding” and subsequent
internal dispersal of nutrients and necessary chemical reactions are not
happening to the extent necessary to the zombie to function at a level closer
to that of a human.
Having
briefly looked at nutrient absorption and muscular action, we should not ignore
the role of the brain in the animation of zombies. Just as the heart pumps much
needed blood through our bodies and allows us to function, we need to look at
what allows “full system operation” within a zombie. The only significant organ
left functioning is the brain. When we say functioning we must caution on the
level of function available. If we look at the some basic functions we can see
how the brain function is impacted by the virus. Perhaps the most obvious and
visible characteristics is the ability to communicate. Almost immediately all
higher order communications abilities are lost with the victim able to do
nothing more than grunt. The lack of oral communication may be a result of one
or two factors. Firstly without functioning lungs and air flow through the larynx it is next to
impossible for zombies to formulate and speak words. This “eternal silence” is
perhaps one of the more nerving aspects of the zombie plague as we witness
attackers marching towards us it complete silence. As with many aspects of nature it can be
beautiful but also merciless. Nature and aspects such as this virus show us how
non-functioning aspects are discarded in favour of allowing the critical
characteristics or functions to operate more efficiently and at the same time
adapt the immediate (host) environment to a manner which best facilitates
external factors such as an invading virus. One theory currently gaining ground
is that electrical nerve impulses generated in the brain allow bodily function
such as it is. One of the ways this becomes possible is as a result of the
attacking virus altering the essential DNA of the host and reducing brain
function to merely on of supporting the existence of the virus.
When we think of survival, in human
terms, we think of a synergistic strategy of using the resources available to
us to survive, viruses often sacrifice the individual [virus] to facilitate the
whole, this is done without any obvious swarming. Essentially the body is now
an incubation and feeding unit for the virus. The human host has become home to
what is no more than an opportunistic parasite altering and feeding from the
host in order to survive. The human is the survival method, while the virus
controls replication by using the host as a transfer vector to pass on the
virus to one vector after another. The human host is reduced to nothing more
than a hosting environment.
The limited purpose of the human body to
the virus is demonstrated in the restricted abilities, the brain functions to
keep the rest of the host functioning and allowing the virus to live and
replicate. Although the zombie is seen as a threat and a hunter it must be seen
in the context of most other hunters. The significant difference is the zombie
does not fear humans and comes from a shared habitat. It is this proximity to
the humans they hunt that adds the significant danger. Although humans are
caught and killed by many animals it is usually on a direct basis by animals (I am considering mammals
only) which are normally shy of humans and live in different food chains. In
the modern world human food kills are an opportunistic kill, with zombies the
human food kill is a specific target hunting of prey. The human body purely
serves to sustain and replicate the virus.
We see also in the movement of zombies
how the body adapts to its new function, with all essential brain function
capacity dedicated to the virus, nothing but the most rudimentary abilities
remain. We see that the legs transport but only at a specific pace, the brain
function to assess a certain situation no longer exists and so movement is kept
to a basic form. As with many viruses, apparent restrictions are actually
advantages to the host. This limited movement conserves energy and brain
function allowing the virus to maximise its dominance of the host. Although
physically able to catch and kill humans we need to be mindful of the methods
used. Appreciating the attack methods of zombies allows us to defend ourselves
in the most efficient manner. Zombies catch their prey by trapping in a
restricted space or with additional pack members preventing escape from a
particular area. Whereas we will fight (as mentioned earlier) the zombie
lounges and grabs, the sole purpose of a zombie attack is to sufficiently
incapacitate or restrict the human victim just enough to allow for a virus
spread through a blood generating injury
or exchange of bodily fluids (through non-sexual transmission, as following the
general rule of viruses that we mentioned earlier, the human reproductive
process is no longer needed as the act of feeding is in-and-of-itself a
reproductive act). It takes more of a concerted effort by a human to restrain,
defend against or incapacitate a zombie, indeed these very actions are often
enough to vector the virus.
The discussion thus far is in relation to
direct hand-to-hand or small weapons engagements. It should go without saying
that distanced lethal actions are to be recommended. Although no outbreaks thus
far have incapacitated the general industrial organisation, we must be prepared
for such an event. It is with this in mind that we will not be discussing armed
weaponry in the fight other than to discuss the following immediate points.
Firearms are highly specialised tools
requiring a certain amount of training but more importantly ammunition.
Ammunition like the firearms themselves are restricted and highly specialised
items with limited supply. There is a danger in the event of a zombie outbreak
that our production or logistics capabilities will be severely compromised and
limit out abilities to distribute or replenish supplies. Firearms and such
weaponry must be used sparingly. The noise associated with firearms is also a
limiting factor as the ever hunting zombies will be attracted to the noise,
this of course is fine if you are in a position to safely deal with such a
threat, if not; fire and run. The use of firearms will be an initial response
item. As the challenge to society increases so in all likely hood will out
ability to replenish weaponry stocks diminish. This leave the use of weaponry
more suited to the nineteenth century or earlier, swords, knives bows and
arrows can all be effective over different ranges. The greater the fighting
range the better, because as we mentioned, they only have to infect us, we have
to kill them (without infecting ourselves). Where possible avoid close contact
but kill at any convenience.
A method of control discussed but not implemented
is the use of toxins and poisons on zombies. These have limited impact and are potentially of greater danger to the
humans attempting to apply any toxins or
poisons. Zombie tissue is already necrotic and short of a chemical reaction
dissolving the body parts most materials will have little or no effect. Yes, corrosive chemicals can be used but
again to a limited degree only. The danger to humans means that delivery
systems need to be restrictive and usually close quartered, this adds greatly to
the human danger. Also because zombies do not register pain and function only
to feed and replicate the virus, they will continue with any remaining movement
of fighting ability until permanently dead, a human will likely retreat once
poisons or chemicals are applied to him or her and seek medical assistance. So
they do not ingest poisons, toxins and chemicals will only be effective if
there is a specific chemical reaction with the zombie tissue (the application
of a strong dilution of caustic soda
will burn a hole in whoever or whatever organic compound it is applied
to, but if the burn in not in a location that will debilitate the zombie then
it will continue pain free to hunt or attack its next victim.
As we have mentioned, the primary vector
vehicle is touch (wounding, eating etc.)
and transmission of bodily fluids such as a blood. To date, despite certain limited anecdotal evidence
that the virus may be capable of becoming airborne[5]
the overall situation is one of bubonic or physical spread rather than
pneumonic or airborne. Where the virus
is suspected of becoming pneumonic, it is reported that the virus remain
dormant in the human host until such time as the host dies. It is reported that
in such cases the corpse is reanimated a short period after death as the virus
adapts to the new host environment and begins to take control of the host. In the cases of bubonic transmission we see
immediately how higher brain functions such as
cognitive abilities, speech, coordinated movement all go, essentially
all learned functions are gone and only the reflexive animal movements relating
to hunting survive. Speaking of survival it is noted that apart from hunting
and replicating there are no survival modes exhibited by the typical zombie,
this makes it both easier to remove but also a challenge in so far as it shows
no social default social function (other than random hordes) or organisation,
thus dispersing any infected population/vectors. In short the use of poisons
and toxins and or suitable corrosive chemicals is purely of a localised value
and often carries as much danger for the human
as the zombie, if not more so, while knowledge of the virus is limited
to a certain extent to either laboratory samples or observational analysis.
Attempts to study captured zombies have been limited by their constant need to
feed and replicate, thus creating an unstable environment for those studying
the disease.
We mentioned earlier the ability of
viruses to react to cold by turning to a suspended state or hibernation, we
should also consider the effect bright light has on them (UV light as we know
works well on most viruses (exposed to a surface)) so we might want to consider the effects of weather on the
zombie population in relation to two factors, the virus itself and the
(formally) human host. We know that severe cold will contain the virus, but not
kill it. While it contains a virus it kills humans, so the question is, if
there is a population surviving say, sub-zero temperatures can they isolate and
remove zombies. The human body cannot physically cope below certain
temperatures, it will begin to freeze regardless of its nature. The zombie body
should begin to freeze, which if left outside will render the zombie immobile.
The limitation here is that the zombie is already dead to as long as it can get
mobile it can continue to be a danger; think for example of a zombie shot in
the stomach, they can continue with a gaping hole, but remove a leg, they
become immobile. The benefit of freezing is the, at least temporary, paralyses, the zombie must be neutralised
while still frozen, so limiting danger to the human population.
We can also look to tropical hot weather,
this can be a mixed blessing, humid rainforest conditions would most likely
allow the virus to thrive (such
conditions are most likely the basis for the origins of the virus, before the
human manipulation to the present form). That said hot open desert conditions
may be good. The climate will again degenerate the physical body and through
the use of open spaces protection should be provided; again the ssue here is
human survival in a particular climate, it needs to be possible but
sufficiently had to limit zombie propagation.
Considering living conditions, a lot of
thought must be given to how humans can best live in a manner that protects
from zombies. If we look at their
mobility we know they can cross flat relatively simple terrain and also travel
downhill/stairs (gravity helps), however climbing obstacles or even stairs is
somewhat more difficult. Defences which make noise and also require a degree of
mobility and agility work well. Traditional defences such as large walls
usually work well also, that said, the author is aware of reports that there may be incidences of zombies
evolving to climb over each other to get over walls, such evolutionary
practices must be stopped and the zombies removed to prevent spread of such
innovations.
Cramped living conditions need also to be
looked at, as any mutation in a closed space immediately offers danger to all
humans present. Living accommodation needs to be designed to allow for the
various humans to be closed off from all others, as much for their own
protection as any others present. Depending on the nature of the virus and incubation
period, communal living may act simply to provide a host reservoir for fresh
localised outbreaks, each potential outbreak must be controlled. On more individual
basis thought must be given to different solutions to the question of ongoing
habitat. The traditional designs of our towns and cities needs to be replaced
by an approach which takes account of the new concerns of security, food,
communication, maintenance of resources and where possible the production of
new. Such social aspects of living in the zombie apocalypse are covered in
additional documentation.
[1] CDRUSSTRATCOM CONPLAN8888-11
“COUNTER-ZOMBIE DOMINANCE” 30 April 2011
[2] http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/learn.htm
[3] Mr
Brooks has of course written about limited evolutionary advancement by way of
the swarm mentality, while Mr Romero reports from Pittsburgh of limited
learning..
[4]
Zombie Research Society, http://zombieresearchsociety.com/
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