The Living Dead

The Living Dead: Is such an attack possible, and how would we survive one? Jordan J. Fanucchi Period 2 Adv. English II

How possible is a zombie attack? You may say impossible, that it’s just fiction, but that could be a grave mistake. The correct answer is possible, but improbable. There are several ways a zombie could be created, but not all of them are even remotely likely and/or capable of a mass outbreak of vicious zombies. One way a Zombie could occur is the Voodoo zombie. Now, the voodoo zombie isn’t all that dangerous, and is in no way infectious at all. Realistically, ignoring Black Magic and other possibly fake means of zombification, the voodoo zombie may be created with an employment of natural neurotoxins. For example: the poison from a Japanese Fugu blowfish. These neurotoxins slow your body functions to a point where you would be considered dead. With the use of a drug like datura stramonium or some from of Alkaloids, the victim may be ‘revived’ in a trance-like state, possibly wit no memory. Obviously, these zombies are not infectious, and tend to not be vicious or cannibalistic. But they still are extremely creepy.

Another possible zombie creation method is a ‘rage virus’ as seen in the move ’28 days later’. Now, obviously the virus seen in that movie does not exist, but there are several realistic possibilities as to a real rage virus. A rare disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, is just one of these. It is the disease found when a human is infected with Mad Cow Disease. The symptoms are as follows:

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Blurred vision (sometimes) Changes in gait (walking) Hallucinations Lack of coordination (for example, stumbling and falling) Muscle twitching Muscle stiffness Myoclonic jerks or seizures Nervous, jumpy feelings Personality changes Profound confusion, disorientation Rapidly developing delirium or dementia Sleepiness Speech impairment

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease: • •

Memory loss Anxiety, stress, and tension

Sounds a lot like a zombie, doesn’t it? Now, this disease is rare, occurring in about 1 in every 1 million person. But, imagine a mass contamination of this disease. This would likely result in an outbreak, possibly widespread, of a real rage virus.

Another possibility for the rage virus is an evolved form of the rabies disease. Already we know Rabies is transferred via bite or saliva. In the beginning stages of rabies, the symptoms are malaise, headache, and fever, while in later stages it includes acute pain, violent movements, uncontrolled excitements, depressions, and the inability to swallow water (hence the name hydrophobia). In the final stages, the patient begins to have periods of mania and lethargy, and coma. Death generally occurs due to respiratory insufficiency. Now, the rabies virus takes a few months, typically, to take effect. If there was a mutation, allowing it to travel faster, say, perhaps a few days, we would then see a rage virus style zombie with a short incubation period.

The final zombie creation method, if the most questionable, is still there. It involves a brain parasite known as Toxoplasma Gondii. This parasite tends to infest the brain of a rat. The rat naturally avoids, out of fear, cats. The parasite somehow, by controlling part of the brain or some sort of chemical is still unknown, reduces and sometimes destroys that fear. The reason for this is that the cat’s intestine is the ideal breeding ground for this parasite. Rats are not that different from us humans, the reason they are used most for animal testing. A simple mutation could cause the parasite to affect humans, and over half the human population has the parasite. This probably would not ever create a zombie, but the idea of a brain parasite is still scary.

Now we know some of the different types of zombie, what would you do in an outbreak? First you should understand the different types of outbreaks. There are 4 classes of a zombie outbreak. Class 1 is small scale and rural. No more than 50 zombies and small amount of casualties. Class 2 is small scale urban outbreak, likely to have around 100 zombies and a much higher number of casualties. Class 3 is at worst a nationwide epidemic. It is typically a large scale urban invasion, at the least around a hundred mile radius from the originating city. Class 4 is the worst, a full-scale zombie invasion, a world-wide epidemic. On a scale of one to ten, you are totally screwed.

Now that we know the different types of zombies, we should discuss proper weapons for zombie defense. We will divide this section into different categories: Hand to Hand, projectiles, and Guns. Each type of weapon has advantages and disadvantages, so make sure you decide which weapon would best suit you and get your hands on one!

Hand to Hand combat is never the best option. If you are close enough to a zombie to hit it with a melee weapon, you are too close to a zombie. But, being prepared is essential, so let’s cover the pros and cons of several popular [and not-so-popular] zombie melee weapons.

First: the ever popular Chainsaw. The chainsaw, although portrayed as a Zombie killing wonder machine, is in fact a terrible weapon for several reasons. First, there is the weight. A Chainsaw is usually very heavy, and clumsy. With the weight of a chainsaw, and the fact that you are likely to be surrounded by zombies just dying to sink their teeth into you, you might very well end up cutting off your own arm rather than a zombies head. Second, there is fuel consumption. Unless, for some reason, you have a limitless amount of fuel, a chainsaw probably will not last that long, and once its out of fuel, its essentially as useless as a rock, and you might as well just chuck it a zombies face in the hopes of crushing its skull. Maneuverability, also, is a problem. I a zombie managed to get a hold of you from behind [and in all likelihood, this will happen], good luck trying to get it off of you with that clunky chainsaw [or any other bladed weapon, for that matter]. Then there is the blood splatter. With the spinning part of the chainsaw, there will be a large amount of blood and chunks of flesh flying, basically, everywhere. Not the best idea if its transmittable by bodily fluids. And lastly, we have noise. The chainsaw is extremely loud, and any zombie within ear shot will hear it and come running. You might as well ring the dinner bell and set yourself up on a giant plate.

Pros: Makes you feel powerful, slices through flesh and bone quickly, lots of weight behind the swing.

Cons: Covers you in zombie goo, attracts the attention of more zombies, heavy, and may run out of fuel, possible danger to user in a struggle, mutes out surrounding sounds you may need to listen for. -the OZORT zombie survival guide.

Next on our list, we have Stung Guns/Mace. Carried by many people, this seems like it might be a good idea, right? It’s handy, and it impairs attackers. Well, if your attackers are normal humans, it would work, but not with zombies. Mace won’t even slow a zombie down, and typical stun guns don’t have enough power to do anything to a zombie unless hit in the head. Also, there is the battery issue. When it runs out of power, it’s about as useless as a baseball. Essentially useless, if you have one, you can use it as a distraction, but don’t even consider it as a weapon.

Pros: No blood = no disease, relatively quiet and compact, may stun a zombie for a short period of time with a direct head shot.

Cons: No batteries = no use, body hits are useless, short range exposes user to zombies grasp. -The OZORT Zombie Survival Guide

Next are the Brass Knuckles. It adds some extra BAM to your punch... But why would you want to punch a zombie? This is probably one of the worst ideas for taking on zombies. If you’re only taking on one zombie, it could be an okay weapon, if you want to spend five minutes slugging a zombie in the face until you smash its brain to a pile of useless goo. Overall, this weapon is essentially useless.

Clubs! Another overly glamorized weapon, bashing a zombie’s skull in would obviously work wonders to incapacitate it, right? Wrong. A simple club wouldn’t destroy the brain in the first few hits and you would likely have to spend several minutes bashing a single zombie’s skull in if you want to accomplish anything. ] One classic example that comes to mind was the incident a few years back involving a young man who had taken a bunch of PCP painkiller and after a thorough beating from four police officers during which he sustained numerous hits to the head, he kept standing up. -the OZORT Zombie survival guide Now, we come to Knives. Knives are a nice aesthetically pleasing weapon, but not much else. The blade won’t do much damage to the brain, even if it does pierce the skull. It would be difficult to score a direct temple hit to kill a zombie every time, and there’s the matter of retrieving the blade afterwards. Better than Brass Knuckles, but not by much. Useful for utility purposes, but don’t dull your blade attempting to slay zombies. Swords- They are everyone’s favorite zombie slaying weapon. Running around with a shining blade and decapitating Zombie’s seems perfect! In reality, it isn’t so great. Slashing won’t do much damage, even if you aim for the head, unless you are going

against a mob of armless zombies. Stabbing won’t do much good either, unless you can accurately stab a grape from 3 feet away. A well-made machete may work, but test it out first. If you can swipe through a 2x4 in one hit, you can make it through bone. If you can’t, however, it’s essentially useless in zombie combat. Easily the best weapon listed up to this point, we come to the hatchet, or axe. If you have the option, it is advised to pick a hatchet. The Axe is large and heavy, and makes accuracy difficult. Hatchets are smaller, and considerably lighter. Sharp points are not all that necessary. Remember, it’s not for cutting; it’s more of a wedge to smash in the skull and pulverize the brain! Hatchets are probably one of the best, and most widely available hand to hand weapons. Martial arts weapons… No. Although good for combat with normal humans, they aren’t meant to kill, let alone destroy a brain or remove a head. If you aren’t already a master at a martial arts weapon, using one is worse than going hand to hand with a zombie. Regarding the scythe, there is a bit of a debate on the practicalities. When made properly, it is like a sword on a stick, giving you awesome range and leverage. Possibly more deadly than a chainsaw, plus silent and hard to find, there are just as many negatives to this weapon. It has essentially no practical use besides serving as a weapon, and its large size would make any sort of crawling or traversing tight spaces extremely difficult, if not impossible. If you have one on hand and a zombie attacks, it could serve as a useful weapon, but don’t go out of your way to find one. Hammers can be treated similar to a hatchet or axe with a couple of exceptions. The crowbar-like end can easily pierce the skull, and the blunt end could fracture and

damage the brain very easily. Widely available (you could probably find one in about 5 minutes if a zombie attacked right now) and cheap, it’s your best bet if you don’t have a zombie arsenal collected already. Alternatively, the range is poor, and has limited use in a grappling situation. Probably the best weapon you could get easily is the crowbar. Besides being very useful as a tool, the crowbar has many uses in combat. The back end of a crowbar can work similarly to a club, and the hooked end can work almost like a hatchet, and once the skull is pierced, you now have something on the end of a lever to scramble brains with. The sharp end can easily puncture a zombie’s eye socket into its brain and is fairly easy to retrieve. A trench knife has the potential to be one of the best zombie killing weapons ever. The only problem with this weapon is its rarity. Trench Knives were designed to puncture metal helmets in WWI, so no problem in reaching a zombies skull. The brass knuckle style handle also adds a lot of extra power to your punch. They don’t make trench knives too much anymore, and the ones you can probably find will be antiques, and most likely have weakened over the last 90 years. The space mace, designed by tom Anderson, is easily the best zombie weapon out there. It features a ball with interchangeable spikes and an axe head. It basically combines a hand axe, a mace, a spear, and a trench spike, and can be used as a hammer. This weapon is becoming more easily available, and is the best recommended weapon ever. Now that we have discussed some options for melee weapons, we will take a look at projectile weapons. Remember, if you have to fight a zombie, it’s only as a last resort,

and no matter how good you r weapon is, it won’t be good enough and running is always better. We’ll start with slingshots. I’ll sum this weapon up with one word: No. It has no power to pierce a skull and poor accuracy. Dennis the menace has yet to kill Mr. Wilson with his slingshot, and you have even less chance of killing a zombie. A compound bow has a better chance of killing a zombie, but even if you can score a head shot every time, it isn’t a guarantee that it will be a kill, and you might just end up having a zombie with an arrow sticking out from its head on top of you as you think what a great shot that was. Similar to the compound bow with a couple of differences: Almost impossible for a newbie to aim properly, and it offer less power at full draw. On the upside, they are simply constructed, and easy to restring should the string break at an inopportune moment. With the right design it can also be used as a staff weapon, making it two in one. A crossbow is basically a rifle with a built in silencer, massive amounts of ammunition, less power and a slower reload time. It will do a fair amount of damage, but it probably cannot shoot a flaming arrow, which is the staple reason for any weapon using arrows as ammunition. Much heavier than a conventional bow, but with the prospect of sights, that downside is balanced. Throwing stars, knives and tomahawks are a poor choice in weaponry. Knives and stars aren’t killing weapons, but are merely made to hinder your opponent and cause bleeding. And we know well that this is ineffective on a zombie. The tomahawk is better because it is heavier, and has a better chance of piercing the skull, although any thrown weapon (excluding the star, which wouldn’t kill anyway) requires a certain amount of

rotations, and the ability to judge and adjust the amount of rotations to a move target takes years of practice, which most people don’t have. If you’re even considering a rock as a weapon, here’s a better option. Take the rock, and knock yourself unconscious with it. At least then you’ll save yourself the pain of being eaten by a zombie. Really, A rock? Worst idea I’ve ever heard. The only time I have ever heard of a sling being of any use at all was the tale of David and Goliath. Not to mention terribly inaccurate, slings have almost no power. It’s easy to make, but this is almost as bad as the rock. A harpoon can be good for boosting morale, or having a little fun. It’s not likely to kill a zombie, but you could attach one to the back of your car and drag a zombie around for a few miles. You would be better off attaching a machine gun, though. Guns are going to be a big part of your arsenal. It won’t replace the melee weapon; there are several things that can go wrong with a gun. Guns can jam, run out of ammo, you can drop your clip, and reloading can be difficult under the stress of an undead attacking you. There are several things you need to know about your gun before you consider it for a zombie attack. •

Can it blow a human’s brains out?

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What kinds of ammo can you use with it?

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What is the effective range?

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How difficult is it to dismantle and clean?

Hand guns are great hand to hand weapons, and a lot of families already have at least one. They are common weapons, and most, except for lower calibers, have the power to reach the brain. Rifles are one of the most dangerous weapons ever created. They come in enormous variety, to a skilled shooter they provide amazing accuracy, and it can be rapidly reloaded for multiple targets. Shotguns are the over popularized choice zombie hunting weapon. Realistically, they lack the range and accuracy of a rifle. There are some uses to a shotgun which will be discussed under ammunition. Machine guns are not the best choice of a gun. They create a large amount of noise, run a high risk of jamming, and consume more ammo then a starving Ethiopian in an all you can eat buffet. These weapons can be useful if you can resist the urge to just squeeze the trigger and lawn-mow the mob of zombies in front of you. Assault rifles are capable of killing a large amount of zombies if used right. A hail of bullets does not replace a carefully aimed shot. Again, remember to not attempt to mow the zombies down with rapid-fire. Ammo will be precious.

Ammunition is important. What’s a gun without ammo? We need to discuss the different types of ammunition, so you can be aware what types of bullets are most effective for your situation. Although arrows weigh a lot more than bullets, there’s a lot of weight, and therefore power, behind a foot of arrow shaft. With a sharp tip and a direct hit, an arrow

can drive straight into a zombie’s brain. This, however, would require insane accuracy, as a hit anywhere besides the brain would obviously be useless. Flaming arrows are a good replacement for lack of accuracy. The dried out flesh of a zombie can easily ignite, and the zombie typically won’t know to pull the arrow out, maximizing exposure to the flame. A flaming zombie has a chance of lighting other zombie’s on fire, but you should be careful. Fighting hand-to-hand with a flaming zombie is not a good deal. Also, be wary of your surroundings. Don’t risk burning down your shelter, or starting a forest fire. There are several different types of ammo, and it also depends what type of gun you are using. First we will take a look at the different options for a hand gun. Keep in mind what will be most useful for your situation. First we have the Full Metal Jacket (FMJ). Full Metal Jacket bullets are non-expanding and deep-piercing. Designed for penetrating armor, this means the bullet will go straight in and out. Good for making itty bitty holes in a zombie skull. The Jacketed Hollow Point has an exposed lead tip, designed for maximizing the transfer of energy into your target. Basically, if the bullet happens to go all the way through, you’ve got one hell of an exit hole, and a little entrance hole. The Semi Jacketed Hollow Point has a ton of exposed lead at the tip, and is designed to expand more than a regular Jacketed Hollow Point. If you can’t figure it out, this bullet pretty much destroys most of the brain in one big bang. The Full Metal Case or Truncated Cone is a good choice if you’re having trouble getting a JHP bullet into the skull. This bullet is encased by a light copper and filled with a lead core. It offers deeper penetration than a JHP, and more expansion than a FMJ.

The Soft Point bullet has a massive amount of lead exposed at the tip, resulting in more penetration than in a regular JHP and more expansion than a FMJ. The first bullet we will discuss for rifles is the Full Metal Jacket. Like the handgun, the Rifle’s FMJ has a small in and small out hole. Minimal brain damage means this bullet should be avoided. The FMJ Boat Tail has greater range and higher velocity by decreasing drag. Still has a small in and small out, so avoid this ammo. However, it is okay support ammo for a sniper a long distance away. HPBT (Hollow Point Boat Tail) High range, high accuracy, hollow point increases energy dispersal. Great long range support ammunition. -OZORT Zombie Survival Guide The Soft Point is capable of blowing huge chunks of a zombie’s brain out, with the bullet expanding up to twice its normal size before it exits. Finally we come to shotgun ammo. There are only two choices here: Buckshot, which we will discuss first, and Slug. Buckshot has the potential to destroy a zombies head. There are several different shot sizes, but only two of them really matter in the case of a zombie attack. The two choices are #0 and #1 shots, and anything smaller than that won’t damage a zombie much, if at all. #0 will easily penetrate a zombie’s skull, but risks destroying what’s behind the zombie as well. In the case of team fighting, you might want to stick to a #1 shot so that you don’t risk injuring your team mates.

Finally, we come to the slug. This bullet has higher range than buckshot, and more power than a rifle. Shot has a much higher caliber, at .70. Not all types of slug work with all shotguns, so make sure your ammo is compatible before you load up your gun. Now, remember. Fighting a zombie is your last option in survival. The best way to survive a zombie apocalypse is to run, and hide away. Hole up in a country side shack, rig some traps, stock up on your weapons in case there is a stray zombie or two, and start a garden for food. And never, EVER eat a zombie’s flesh.

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.zombiesurvivalwiki.com/page/Zombie+Survival+Guide+By+OZORT

http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=480

http://www.changesurfer.com/Hlth/FutDeath/FutDeath.pdf

http://2000plus.mpg.de/e/90/article/

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000788.htm

http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=547

http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_5-scientific-reasons-zombie-apocalypse-couldactually-happen.html

Brooks, Max. The Zombie Survival Guide Three Rivers Press, 2003