How Bad Could IRL Zombie Outbreaks Really Be?

[@Morec0]

My favorite example is Shaun of the Dead, where the unarmed people have problems dealing, but the moment the military steps in with armor and weapons they curb stomp a whole horde

[@King.Leonidas]

Yeah just imagine an abrams with its 4 machine gun setup

[@al-imranadore1182]

IRL people aren't over ripe tomatoes, hitting a zombie anywhere wouldn't do much damage, fall traps and explosives are the only defence aganst big hoardes.

[@simonacerton3478]

@@al-imranadore1182 Rifle bullets can easily rip pieces off people so automatic weapons and shotguns would be quite lethal . However we do know from real life experiences that zombie like behaviors can be quite dangerous to the unprepared and even to handgun armed police . In Florida and elsewhere some persons exhibiting zombie like behavior and cannibalistic traits like face eating were able to shrug off multiple handgun rounds do to insensitivity to pain. They did die after at least 4 gun shots but if there were dozens? Worse UK cops which are mostly unarmed would literally be lunch. These occurrences are generally assumed to have been some sort of designer drug, a new bath slat variant but while highly likely its unproven. If such a thing were to occur as highly contagious virus we'd have serious issues. Consider the damage done to the economy by the reaction to COVID 19 any sizable outbreak would end society rapidly Society would probably just stop. The legitimate risk of marauders being eaten and the fear of contagion would basically mean no food, medicine or anything else. Maybe power and water and some supply distribution could be maintained by the military but at a certain point your soldiers will fear zombification too much to obey orders.

[@The_Murder_Party]

@@al-imranadore1182 I mean... 50 caliber machine guns turn people to pulp remarkably quickly. And they’ve got plenty of ammo...

[@SangoProductions213]

Yeah. Too bad drones nowadays can only at most manage to hit 12 kids.

[@Tadicuslegion78]

It’s often overlooked that what would happen is the zombies would continue to decompose, insects would consume them, and places with extreme heat would dry the out or extreme cold would freeze them

[@bryanm498]

Yes. A zombie epidemic might last for two weeks on average. Less than a well-organized quarantine.

[@swanqlord3048]

Not even just insects. All living beings have billions upon billions of bacteria living in and on them. With no immune system to keep them in check, zombies would be decomposed from the inside out.

[@Skallagrim]

Yes, I hinted at wear & tear over time but forgot to mention the effect of harsh weather. As far as decomposition is concerned I think the Max Brooks' version makes most sense, where the virus actually slows or halts decomposition. Much better for the virus to preserve the host.

[@kaimagnus5760]

Enviornments like The Florida Everglades would also hyperaccelerate decomposition. So super humid climets would have theirs ended much faster. And Citizen Z probably had the best depiction of zombies in arctic climets. No body temp = Instant Zombiecicle.

[@18Krieger]

@@bryanm498 Might be enough to kill off a large chunk of the human population especially if the momentum is going.

[@elzar5987]

The zombie genre just doesn't seem to die Quite an ironic fate

[@vast634]

Works well in games and shows: Killing people without moral repercussions. Perfect target.

[@GothicDragonX]

@@vast634 Three things that get an auto pass without mortal repercussion in most games, movies, and shows. 1. Any type of Zombies 2. Nazi 3. Extraterrestrial Aliens especially the planet-destroying kind.

[@goreobsessed2308]

That's cause theirs people like me who love zombies and will pay put the nose for more zombie content

[@KingOpenReview]

@@GothicDragonX Also robots.

[@GothicDragonX]

@@KingOpenReview I would add it on that but none living/organic some sentient robot may count but eh, not convincing to get over the uncanny valley. Human portrait as robot... Maybe. In that case might as well "bad guys" especially thugs and henchmen, even more true when they don't have a background or story.

[@Xaxp]

Personally I think that the general public is so inoculated to how zombies could or would work, so most people would know how to deal with zombies in an efficient enough manner to stop the outbreak before it got off the ground. Unless it's an airborne/waterborne strain in which case the zombies are a very secondary threat.

[@erikjrn4080]

We all know both the symptoms of zombieism and how fiction says we should respond. Unfortunately (not really), the one's who would look at the symptoms, and then unhesitatingly smack an axe into the head of the sufferer tend to be locked up in various institutions. We simply don't have enough psychotic sociopaths on the streets. Well, not where I live. Some other places are all set.

[@lightningpenguin8937]

Yeah, the threat would depend much on the infectiveness of the disease. Instead of death it's replaced with zombiefication. The zombies would become a pain later on when attempting quarantine. You're not outnumbered because there's more zombies then. You're outnumber because you're alone.

[@marocat4749]

I envy your trust in humanity, you see that people that for reasons think that zombies are harmless, spirit healing or th iune system can fight it easy off, ... you saw the start. It posible that people wouldnt do that but also it likely would happen. As recent years shows, the dumb zombie pople being h wort, is still underestimating whatwe would do.

[@RhinoBarbarian]

So like they do in 'The Walking Dead.' To my knowledge(and I have never read the comics and I stopped watching the show cause it got boring), they have never discovered the source of the virus but they know that everyone is already infected. They just have to die from any cause to become a zombie.

[@Gellert1984]

I think the opposite, the thing to remember is most people are going to react exactly like Skall did at the start of this video: LOL zombies, yeah right! and some people'll stick with that belief even after a "crisis actor" breaks through their living room window and eats their wife.

[@andersforsbergmalmsten6290]

Great point about zombies not being able to bite through clothing. It's one of the things that never made any sense to me in movies and series: why people never seem to try to protect themselves in some way. They always seem to run around in t-shirts and tank tops, when a reasonably sturdy jacket could make a big difference. Or they could just improvise some form of protection or armor. It doesn't take that much to stop a human bite.

[@Rokaize]

At least in the RE series, the zombies generally go after the neck. And are super strong. What makes more sense is 28 days/weeks later ones. Where they don’t just bite, they brutally attack and beat to death any uninflected they catch.

[@julietfischer5056]

Tank tops and T-shirts are needed for that sexy sweaty look of the absurdly-attractive leads. Audiences simply _must_ see rippling man-muscles and lady-boobs.

[@Kayther33]

I didnt watch The walking dead but there is an scene of a guy going full rambo with anti-disturbs armor agains a lot of zombies and surviving. I think that if they are Stupid slow zombies having some kind of knight armor (maybe made of kevlar and other tech things) and a spear would be broken, of course if you mind wasting bullets

[@Wastelandman7000]

You would think someone would hunt up a good suit of mail. I don't care how strong they are, human teeth are not biting through iron. A good sword would help too.

[@trentonalcantara2812]

Yeah It hurts trying to make sense of that with people not putting on armour or something

[@federico3652]

Also, in most movies the zombies have visual/audio clues, even the fresh ones: cloudy eyes, yellow teeth, moaning, limping, etc. What if they just look the same (at the start), are silent and move normally, just slower than usual?

[@comradebork]

I'm an elderly cripple and already have ALL of those clues.

[@federico3652]

@@comradebork Patient zero spotted!

[@dimitarivanovski6322]

In such case it becomes culturally acceptable to do the DayZ friend-check wiggle. Silent and efficient.

[@federico3652]

@@dimitarivanovski6322 I have no idea what is that (I know Day Z is a videogame), but if it's a gesture I'd say it could be very dangerous. Imagine being killed because you don't know it. Or because you didn't see someone do it at you, so you didn't do it in response. In real life we have a much more limited and imprecise eyesight.

[@mrjtfang2]

There's a Manga like this. It's cringey because it was written by a hentai artist but the zombies were cool. Totally blind, but they didn't make a sound aside from whatever sound movement makes, and their hearing was OP

[@jollygoodfellow3957]

You should also remember that, depending on type, some zombies have permanent hysterical strength since their muscles are no longer held back by limits imposed by the brain. It's just 100% force every time they grab, bite, claw, rip, and tear at you.

[@JPelus]

.... Leather jacket....

[@TheArklyte]

Where do they get energy for it, how do they deal with heat and why don't they fall apart after a day in this mode then?:P You can't have superstring zombies AND lasting zombies at the same time. Because at that point they're not only living, but also immortal superhumans. Why don't give them smarts too then and make it a tale about humanity being faced with evolutionary obsolescence?

[@tarille1043]

Fun Fact: Human jaws are strong enough to shatter teeth. The brain is simply hard wired to prevent that (People executed via electric chair are noted to have cracked teeth because electrical stimulation can bypass the brain)

[@yeahnaaa292]

Fun Fact: YOUR held back the limits imposed on you by your brain 🤣

[@ruga-ventoj]

@@TheArklyte so you figured out the story of I Am Legend? Neat. It's a good story.

[@launch4]

I always thought the idea of some kind of gigantic societal collapse caused by hordes upon hordes of monsters of some variety was always a great idea, but zombies on their own always had their limitations. I liked the idea of zombies being one component of a much larger apocalyptic scenario including other fantasy threats like demons, orcs, cyborgs etc.

[@techpriest6962]

I would agree, zombies are a interesting idea; but as a precursor of a greater threat. It's an element I am using in a story I am writing.

[@astranix0198]

@@techpriest6962 Just the like Undead Scourge is the vanguard for the Burning Legion

[@solracsolrac3594]

Prepare for it might happen very soon

[@pedroivantaveraferreira3037]

Zombies destroy Order, without Order few things are as scary as humans. Think of DnD, for instance, there are dragons and demons and feys and sincerely a bunch of cunning and sadistic humans are still the worst treat

[@canyunhicks1587]

dude get out of my head lol, me to I always thought that a supernatural zombie movie with other monsters would be cool!

[@grimmwolf9690]

I see a parasitic zombification as a more plausible form. They keep the host completely alive and functional. Creating a type of symbiotic function. The parasites take control of the nrain functions, basically controling the host like a puppet. This would even allow cellular reproduction thus healing minor injuries, ie muscular tears. If the parasites die the host dies but the parasites use the body to gain sustenance that keeps the parasites alive. They host would operate on a limited mental capacity, mainly basic motor functions and the like. Due to the sustenance requirements of both parasite and host there would be a heightened push to feed. The host themselves would mentally cease to exist, simply becoming a meat suit for the parasites. These types of zombies would be just as, if not alittle more, dangerous as the classical zombie but could be more fragile than such. The living body would still be susceptible to everything normal humans would be and wouldn't require a shot to the head primaraly to kill them, but so long as the body can move they are a threat. They would cause other host of problems as well. They would eat all food they find, not just meat but would go at anything they get their hands on. Plus they would look just like everyone else, only with empty eyes. They wouldn't be decomposing like a reanimated body would. So they would last longer than the Dead ones.

[@delilahfox3427]

But then, unless the parasite is particularly adept at keeping a human alive, the infected host would likely die of exposure. No human brain means the zombie can't even use a can opener. Also, if the human body is alive, a headshot is unecessary to kill the zombie. Anything that would kill a person would kill the zombie, including freezing or overheating, which would probably be the fate of most of these "zombies".

[@grimmwolf9690]

@@delilahfox3427 agreed, as i spoke about. But just like classic zombies, heat would speed the rate of decay as cold would prolong it. If you think about it, viral zombification wouldn't work as once the body dies so does the virus. Anything that would result in a "zombie" would have to keep the body alive. But no matter what eventually the body will die, the question is what will keep it alive the longest. To me that would be something that would keep the body performing as close to normal as possible, without the human being able to take control. Plus, if a parasite adds that exstra layer of horror. The person infected could be completely aware of what is happening and going on but unable to do anything about it.

[@shinyvictorcarp]

@@grimmwolf9690 The Flood from Halo would be one of the worst case scenarios if it counted.

[@LikePhoenixFromAshes]

I agree completely on your take, but would add a point that in my mind DRASTICALLY changes everything: yes, zombies are alive and die with exposure, after being shot etc. But the parasite changes human body endurance and muscular starvation drastically. What I mean is for example starfish or earthworm level endurance to critical damage. Imagine shooting zombie with a pistol, even high powered one with expanding ammunition, but landing a hit on the abdomen and lungs. Zombie would "feel pain" (phantom pain, as it would brush it off pretty easily due to infection), it would bleed out and be out of breath. It's heart would even stop. BUT IT'S BODY WOULD HAVE ENOUGH FUEL AND STAMINA TO KEEP IT "ALIVE" FOR HOURS STILL. Imagine shootout with some zombies and then watching them from safety as they squirm, bleed, drag their feet, jump in pain, spasm, scream and call others for help, inadvertantly calling other infected in... Just as normal human beings dying from gunshot wounds FOR HOURS AFTER SHOOTOUT. Now that would be real horror and nightmare fuel, imagine the PTSD of watching someone you know scream his lungs out with bowels spilling and half a head missing yet unable to die quickly and still searching agonically to help/pulverize it's intended victim...

[@raidermaxx2324]

so exactly like the Last of us, and the very real Cordyceps fungus in nature

[@ArmouryTerrain]

I feel that the police kill rate would be higher as the Zombies are not shooting back, hiding or require and sort of covering fire. Also there would be less of a reluctance for a kill shot compared to a person. Another factor would be the difference in speed between a person running and a shambling undead. As for spreading, the models really don't take into account of the terrified/selfish people who are non fatally attacked and then jump in their car and drive at top speed until they are no longer able, then each of those create a new centre to spread from.

[@VK-sz4it]

I think kill rate for runners would be less then that IRL. I am basing myself on VR game Alyx. If target is slowly approaching sombie - it is easy to do well placed shots and be mindfull of surroundings. If it is runnig towards you - you just fire in general direction.

[@kazzTrismus]

police are members at our local range as their training and testing facility in canada.....(where shooting sports has more people signed up than hockey) *let me be gentle*.... police are terrible shots.....their training is poor and their testing/qualifying is worse than poor. they dont need to qualify yearly and are hired by measures that basically filter out anyone with any real firearms experience and often disclude military vets on purpose. as a result they get mostly the firearm ignorant/afraid & anti gun on a much greater scale than even the general population. *i am still being gentle* their excuse is often the "fresh canvas" or "unbiased" trope. these recruits and requalifying individuals "couldnt hit the wide side of a barn" even at much shorter ranges than the standard we hold of 25 yards. we use the same training to qualify for the new range members as the police do (which is part of the reason they use our range) on average, new range members qualify with a final score of 65% after their day 1 training. ( thats a full day of acts and prove and handling and "licensing confirmation training" and multiple paper targets = roughly 100 rds after a year of enthusiast level practice 2x a month thats crayon eatingly low) police qualify much lower.....only needing 10 shots "on the paper" from the mess they leave behind we can tell its a "very forgiving" test. but hey.....free brass! ...amirite! *here i am not gentle* by every measure of expectation and fantasy and derogatory insult you can think of.....its shameful. the general gun community and new shooters (in a few months) are enjoying the sport at dramatically higher levels of expertise such that my expectations of their swat teams capabilities being much more than any of the community is capable of producing in very short order is basically zero. what the world imagines of police is unfortunately what theyll ONLY get from gun enthusiasts...and no that doesnt include the average potato buying a gun and throwing it under the back seat of his pickup truck and ignoring it or calling a once a year hunting trip proof of his aptitude. even the average military member is not as skilled as he will be once out of the military and training/practising for himself (yes there is certain positions in the military with much more training...but also many with much less) both police and military could be easily capable as its just a different bunch of humans. but in reality they are not....not by a large margin.

[@ArmouryTerrain]

@@kazzTrismus So very glad that here in Australia the police do have to qualify yearly. I often find them down at my local indoor shooting range.

[@marocat4749]

I trust the military more, an i know it has a history of civil casalities, but as long as the military isnt bombing everthing, they are better behaving under pressure and not be a menance as the police who would not help, just harm and cause panic. Not that reasonable gun lovers woulsnt be th best. Just mention the rate of stess accustumed people in the military is better than the police, with more retraint, and less shooling civilians oddly if thy deal with things.

[@kazzTrismus]

@@ArmouryTerrain from the looks of your police in the news, theyre in the middle of having a rather zealous real world practice session

[@Sophistry0001]

The most plausible type of zombie, aside from fungal like you said, I think would be a variant of rabies or something like we see in 28 days later.

[@Sophistry0001]

@Jo Jo yea theyre fast and angry, think rabid dog but people. I thought 28 days later was a good movie, 28 weeks later wasn't as good imo

[@cesar6004]

@Jo Jo There’s a game too Left 4 Dead and I think that new game Back 4 Blood counts too

[@overlorddante]

The movie Quarantine/REC also had a variant of rabies. Good movie, worth watching.

[@huldu]

I wouldn't be surprised if if there are certain labs in the world where very, very dangerous viruses have been "created" over the years. Just imagine something like the ebola but airborne. That would be basically rip mankind. Of course there would be no zombies from that.

[@Sophistry0001]

@@huldu 100% agree, hopefully this covid lab release is a wakeup call to virologists that they are playing with fire and could potentially end mankind or transform society to be unrecognizable.

[@Gojiro7]

*edit at the end* as a teen my favorite book to read was the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, the same author behind World War Z, only this book was DEEPLY rooted in being the most factual guide it could be, to the point where if you ignore the zombie parts, it would actually function extremely well as a basic survival guide in natural or social disasters focusing on things like shelter, water sanitization, food rationing, psychological moral boosting, skill learning, and other stuff that treats surviving a zombie apocalypses as alot more then just blowing up their heads (infact the book outwardly preaches not endangering yourself by confronting zombies and risking getting infected or signaling more to your location ) *some people have pointed out that the info in is dated in some areas, so dont treat it like the only reading material you'd need to survive in a structureless society but rather an amusing read or a gateway book to more researched survival guides, I should also add that I think alot of people in the comments are kinda missing the point, the book isn't just about what weapons are best for blowing up zombies brains, thats a fraction of the books contents, much of it has alot to do with how to deal with rationing, shelter, escape planning, dealing with psychological trauma, doing research on things, training your body all while playing up the farce that zombies are real, so its a novel read that has some biased opinions on some things (namely weapon usage because everyone's a critic when it comes to video gamey things) but over all its a book that gets you thinking about all the non "exciting" parts about surviving the end of the world, cause a bunch of sources around will tell you the best thing to chop off a zombies head, but how many will remind you to fill your bathtub with drinking water before supplies to water lines get cut off*

[@Gojiro7]

@Raziel354 I highly recommend it but I got that book like 15 years ago so im unsure if there were ever any reprints.

[@civilizedsquid2455]

It’s a great book. My fave choice of weapon comes from this book, being the M1 Carbine (the book is relatively old btw). Why waste bullets when you can place single, accurate shots in a rapid pace. Same for any rifle, that can use semi-auto. Many ideas such as keeping yourself occupied are covered too, I can only imagine the insanity and madness that would result from listening to zombies moans all day long.

[@TheLazyFinn]

@@civilizedsquid2455 Basically the best thing you could have in a zombie apocalypse would be a 22. rifle or a 9mm carbine and then suppress them, common ammo and easy to carry and handle

[@namethis658]

I recommend reading the critique on this book, as it contains a lot of dumbass advices that would be detrimental to your survival in reality.

[@julesthurongi1223]

Have you read the “Emberverse” series by SM Stirling…. Similar post apocalyptic content, but with an interesting and thought provoking twist.

[@potatomatop9326]

A Zombie Outbreak is my only chance to impress pretty girls using my Leon Kennedy Rocket Launcher skills against monsters.

[@christopherbarbosa321]

Come in man, start weight lifting, make a diet eventually take some steroids, all that while being able to say something smart occasionally... Worked for me.

[@Tienhamir100]

It'll give me more purpose than work, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep. Rinse and repeat.

[@jacksonquinn8744]

I'd say I would punch boulders in lava field but

[@sheevinopalpatino4782]

@@christopherbarbosa321 Why take steroids haha

[@christopherbarbosa321]

@@sheevinopalpatino4782 well maybe Skip that part, 😂

[@Fireheart318]

The Flood from Halo are the most terrifying and effective zombies I can think of. Because of the Gravemind, they can think and plan ahead and organize their movements and actions like a proper army instead of just a shambling horde. They’re fast, (sometimes) stealthy, can use weapons, and can infect through the air AND contact.

[@petersmythe6462]

Rabies shows off the potential for varied time to "turn." It can take anywhere from a few days to over a year for people to develop early symptoms, which progress to fatal symptoms quickly after that. A lot of it is just based on how much the initial bite can actually hit a major nerve.

[@sevenproxies4255]

You do have enough ammo to kill almost every single enemy in most Resident Evil games. It's just that people waste ammo on missing the target and also use the wrong kind of weapons for the wrong kind of enemies.

[@callsignblaze4388]

lol I have plenty of ammo to shoot wildly for a few years before I needed to be concerned.

[@fakecubed]

In real life, in America, we have hundreds of billions of rounds of rifle ammo, hundreds of billions more of pistol ammo, and enough guns to arm every American, plus everyone else in North America, even the children, babies, people in comas, and those still in the womb or recently dead. American cities would get wiped out, because they either don't have their rights, or they're anti-gun liberals, and city cops are worse shots than rural first graders. The suburbs have a lot of LARPers who may or may not have taken a tactical rifle course, but they sure do have the equipment and they've been to the range more than any city cop and more than most military personnel. They'll show up when it matters, and at least they learned about cover and concealment from their video games. Rural folks live every moment of every day with a gun close at hand, and shoot guns as their main form of entertainment since they can't go clubbing. They also know and like their neighbors and will coordinate quickly to ensure 24/7 patrols and watches in their communities in times of trouble. The rest of the world is fu...ndamentally buggered, but Americans outside of cities will be okay. I'm sure the oil fields will be safe from zombies too, since that's where all the American infantry is stationed, but they won't be around to protect any of us in event of zombies. City folks are screwed because their reaction to seeing zombies if they react at all will be to record it for social media. Mostly they'll ignore the obvious signs of sickness and odd or violent behavior before they're eaten because they've been socially conditioned to ignore the mentally ill and drug abusers acting crazy in public. They ignore women being raped on subway trains, or people being beaten in racially-motivated attacks, so they'll ignore the zombies too except to tweet video of it. Diffusion of responsibility in crowds is a very serious problem in the initial hours of a zombie outbreak. Not wanting to be called a racist is an even bigger problem, and at least some of the zombies won't be white.

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

@@fakecubed This must be a troll post

[@minutemansam1214]

@@neurofiedyamato8763 It is. He knows nothing.

[@gottagofastest]

@@fakecubed Nice pasta I will save it for later

[@canyunhicks1587]

I'm glad you mentioned that at the end. The fact that there is a possibility that all mammals could be infected. Imagine herds of zombie deer or flocks of zombie pigeons. dude zombie cows would be terrifying!

[@ernie9538]

Zombie Grizzly or Bison maybe even a Moose

[@AureliusLaurentius1099]

Every Texan with a Sherman Tank in their garage: My time has come. Seriously, the Chinese already showed us in a certain event that never happened how to control a hostile crowd with tanks.

[@yuritrasimaco5201]

[Oof in Taiwanese]

[@robertagu5533]

Yeah but EVERYONE regardless of whom you are and where is used to fighting other people and sometimes isolated animals at times.. whom in the world ACTUALLY trains to engage packs of the Undead? With guns of any type or melee? There'd probably just be a few billion more zombies

[@kerwinbrown4180]

I saw a man with grocery sacks controlling tanks.

[@TheWarmotor]

And the russians showed us how one guy with nothing to lose and balls of steel can render a multimillion dollar tank a smoldering wreckage with little more than what's left of his booze and one of his socks. I realize zombies aren't big on tools but they're not polite asians, either - you'd be picking limbs out of your bogey wheel suspension after running down a handful.

[@morriganmhor5078]

Skall, two points: 1) In the beginning, you specified SLOW zombies. It makes a great difference, if you are shooting at fast moving perpetrator, or at shuffling ex-coleague. 2) That perpetrator could be shooting back at you, which the type of zombie you mentioned couldn´t do. And 1+2 should help the shooter a lot.

[@sodiumb425]

Yeah, I was just thinking that.

[@GinsengStrip-wt8bl]

In a shootout with armed opponent you have to consider taking cover and the fact you might get hit from the distance. There's no threat from a zombie untill it gets close to you so I bet people ain't gonna miss that much. They'll even get better cause any zombie they kill is some kind of practice.

[@minutemansam1214]

@@GinsengStrip-wt8bl Hit a target the size of a coconut from 50 yards away as it moves back and forth. Now add a few dozen to a few thousand moving at you, plus the smell of a rotting human corpse.

[@paulbrule5897]

@@minutemansam1214 if you're standing there shooting at a 12+ horde then either your trapped either you're stupid. Also why bother shooting them at 50 yards if they're slow? Just wait until they're at least half that distance and dome them. And that's just in the hypothesis of zombies dieing only of headshots, if they have the same fragility as normal humans then targeting the torso is much easier. Moreover while hitting a slow moving soccer ball sized target at 50 yard is hard with a handgun, rifles are a whole other story, any decent shooter can manage that, no need to be a pro at skeet shooting

[@DayglowRed]

@@minutemansam1214 With a pistol that would be tricky. With a rifle it would be trivial and isn't it standard for most police to have an AR in their car these days?

[@penitentialarts]

When you start talking about guns and ammo, keep in mind that 1/3 of households in the U.S. have at least one gun. It isn't uncommon for gun owners to stock up on ammo when it goes on sale, as well. Police only account for a tiny percentage of the people in the U.S. who would have rapid and easy access to guns.

[@overlorddante]

True about stocking up ammo. I currently have about 170 rounds for my AK and that's a small amount for many gun owners. Also, most gun owners have multiple firearms and could share with unarmed friends/family/neighbors.

[@Lyulfr]

@@overlorddante 170 rounds isn't even a fun day at the range!

[@overlorddante]

@@Lyulfr exactly my point.

[@penitentialarts]

@MelloWattz 1/3 have at LEAST one gun. A pretty significant number of gun owners have more than one. I know a fair number of people (particularly hunters) who have dozens. That isn't even taking into account all the guns at stores, warehouses, and other places that aren't people's homes. Once the zombies start killing people, the ratio of guns to people just starts rising dramatically.

[@Edramon53]

I once had a dream that I turned into a zombie, but didn't actually die. In my dream zombies were only interested in eating still-warm/living flesh, so they would attack, bite, rip flesh off, but soon as the victim was dead or the part they were biting detached they'd lose interest - preventing the bodies being too injured for the virus to revive/turn. As I ended up stuck in a state between living human and zombie, I had both the zombie requirement to eat living meat, and my human love of Nandos. Grossed myself out, as in the dream I was attacking people leaving Nandos and eating their stomachs - I didn't eat for a day or two after and went a week without Nandos.

[@al-imranadore1182]

You probably saw an alternate future where you are patient zero of a zombie outbreak.

[@devil5cry]

The fido thingy "Head coffin"

[@sodiumb425]

Well, that's pretty disturbing. I thought I had messed up dreams!

[@devil5cry]

@@sodiumb425 Thanks god no one will ever seen mine 😂😂😂

[@al-imranadore1182]

@@devil5cry did you screw a zombie chick/dude??? In your dreams I mean🤔🤔

[@CJOwen]

I love how Florida is totally untouched. Zombies must be like "Uh... yeah, my rotted brain still remembers the stories about Florida Man, and I wan't nothin to do with that!"

[@devil5cry]

Lmao 🤣😂🤣

[@andrewk.5575]

Local news headlines from the Florida zombie apocalypse: FLORIDA MAN SEEN BITING THE HEAD OFF ZOMBIE FLORIDA MAN WITH ALLIGATOR TAKES ON ZOMBIE HOARDE SINGLE-HANDED, CLAIMS "JESUS MADE ME DO IT" FLORIDA MAN SEEN ROBBING ZOMBIE WITH CATFISH FLORIDA MAN CHAINSAWS ZOMBIE WHO WOULDN'T BE HIS FRIEND FLORIDA MAN STOPPED BY POLICE AFTER TRYING TO SMUGGLE ZOMBIE IN HIS PANTS FLORIDA MAN SHOTGUNS TWELVE CANS OF BUD LITE, FALLS OFF OF HIS ROOF, STEALS HIS EX-WIFE'S CAR, AND CRASHES IT THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR OF ZOMBIE INFESTED LOCAL MACDONALDS, KILLING SEVERAL LOCAL ZOMBIES

[@SirShawn-qb2fk]

I think medieval weapons and armor would work best against zombies. Even if you didn't have full plate, you would probably need gambeson

[@edwardheppenstall8690]

In the book of world war z, they actually talk about how to combat the zombies, it once again becomes common custom in the UK to wear armour and carry a melee weapon such as a sword

[@zenogias01]

@@edwardheppenstall8690 In the book, in Paris they go down into the catacombs that way. It's pretty horrific with a high casualty rate. Meanwhile, in the US, the response is just full-body bite/stab/tear resistant armor, a high-caliber rifle, and firing lines/Napoleonic Squares.

[@edwardheppenstall8690]

@@zenogias01 it's a pretty good book

[@kerwinbrown4180]

@@zenogias01 the weapons and armor are believable but the USA prefers snipers.

[@climhazzard115]

Something like chainmail would have good coverage and protection against typical resident evil like zombies. A more modern equivalent might be something like shark suits. Knife proof clothing might work well too, as long as it has full body coverage. In the case of a widespread outbreak, shark suits, chainmail, or other kinds of good coverage armor, won't be widely available, so I suppose a modern equivalent of the gambeson is actually the most realistic kind of armor people could use. Probably just made out of layers of denim since that's a widely available material.

[@petersmythe6462]

One issue with this simulation is it assumes zombies never drive, fly, or take a train after being infected. It also assumes that humans don't run away or increase their combat effectiveness over time (in reality, people would get a lot better at surviving as they fought the zombies, and Alpha would drop. Another issue that it doesn't take into account is stealth. One lone case turning in a subway could end up being 50 cases by the time people get off the train car. Another thing it doesn't account for is massed combat scaling laws. If one person vs one zombie gives one result, that's not the same as 100 zombies against a person, or 100 people against a zombie if they're at least somewhat armed and aware it exists.

[@fakecubed]

Humans are clever animals, and will quickly adapt to threats, coordinate their efforts, and learn how to kill zombies more and more efficiently while minimizing risks to themselves. But zombies will simply sweep through cities faster than people can even really know what's happening. The suburbs will be the first places where people know enough to start fighting back, although a lot of suburbs will be caught off guard, too. There are *way* more guns in people's hands than Skallagrim is apparently aware of, outside of cities, and they won't be shooting handguns, and they won't be as poorly trained as cops. It'll be rifles with scopes or red dots, which are very easy to be accurate with, and deliver a lot more kinetic energy. That's in America, anyway. America a week after a zombie outbreak will look pretty much the same as it does now, just with zombies in the cities instead of gang violence. Most of the suburbs will be back to normal, just with more aggressive neighborhood watch programs, and rural counties won't even know anything happened. The rest of the world will be pretty much fu...ndamentally buggered.

[@minutemansam1214]

@@fakecubed Most Americans, even ones who regularly use guns, are not well-trained in how to use firearms in stressful combat situations involving moving targets. Try hitting a watermelon from 50 yards while it's moving. Now increase the number of water melons to the dozens, have them all moving towards you, while smelling like a week old corpse. The idea of the American cowboy saving the day is a myth. Owning a gun and shooting it at a firing range does not make one prepared for a survival situation, and those few who are are still not trained to shoot a human in the head. You are trained to shoot center mass. Even sharpshooters are trained to shoot center mass.

[@fakecubed]

@@minutemansam1214 Wait until you hear about bird hunting. Or hog hunting. Moving targets is a major sport in this country. Targets moving directly at you are not meaningfully different than targets standing still in terms of ballistics, but anyone who’s played so much as a video game is familiar with the concept of leading a target. Most defensive gun uses today against living human beings involve the human moving, not unlike a zombie. Headshots for zombies is a meme. Center-mass shots disable the ability of a zombie to keep moving. The spine is there, at center mass, and with rifles (the type of gun people will use) and common ammo, bullets will travel far enough to disrupt or destroy the spine. A zombie with no brain is as effective as a zombie with no spine. Theres’s also the heart and lungs, necessary for metabolism, which even a zombie in the real world would need to have in order to physically move its muscles. If the zombies are magical, then call a wizard. The fact that zombies are well inside the uncanny valley makes it psychologically easier for people to shoot them. It’s healthy humans that are hard to kill, and many gun owners use human-like targets at the range which were developed back in the last century to make it more likely soldiers would shoot at human enemies.

[@evensgrey]

@@fakecubed Feral hogs are not merely moving targets, they WILL attack humans without hesitation. Remember that they're ancestors, the wild boar, had a habit of charging UP THE SPEAR IN THEIR CHEST to attack the wielder.

[@elihollingsworth6852]

@@minutemansam1214 wartime combat against other humans is SIGNIFICANTLY more stressful and difficult than defending your home property from what is basically just rabid animals.

[@brianwyters2150]

I think a lot of things are overlooked when analyzing zombie situations. Armor would greatly decrease the infection rate just like thick clothing. Train to Busan had a scene where the protagonists wrapped newspapers around their arms to reduce the chances of being bitten. On the higher end, it could be like a suit of plate armor with modern materials like polycarbonate for the visor, a gas mask filter to protect from airborne virus, better steels, etc. In between, people could bend sheet metal to cover most of their body, but with exposed joints to reduce complexity and cost. The military also has a lot of things that would heavily sway it into their favor. Zombies can do basically nothing to a helicopter and a helicopter could get somewhat low altitude then fire at a horde with plenty of horizontal distance and right at head height, which would mean a slight downwards angle and lots of headshots. Armored vehicles are also pretty much immune to zombies and likely have rapid fire weapons in fixed mounts. For example, some MBTs have roof machine guns remotely controlled by the commander, which means you could get a similar downwards angle as the helicopter and recoil control is done by the mount. Even if the vehicle runs out of ammo, it could just go and run over the zombies just fine. Airburst explosives would be very effective on hordes because it sends thousands of fragments downwards at their heads.

[@R0GU351GN4L]

Paintball armour, Bike gear etc would all be easy to obtain and effective.

[@kielbasamage]

I recall in a zombie apocalypse MMO that it was mentioned under normal circumstances, biking armor to protect from abrasions and scratches would be enough, it’s just, well. Tanks, and spitter boys, and super strength and all that.

[@brianwyters2150]

@@kielbasamage Acid is actually a lot weaker than most people think. It'd really be quite simple to have bases to neutralize the acid (baking soda/ powder is most available to average people) or simply blast it off with something like a fire truck. Then there's the challenge of actually having the spit hit the target. I doubt zombies would be able to hit a helicopter that is several hundred feet up, while the helicopter could be very effective at that distance. Large tough zombies with super strength still don't sound particularly dangerous. Plenty of people hunt elephants with rifles just fine. Something like a mounted heavy machine gun firing rounds like .50 BMG or 12.7mm for the Russians should kill the tanky zombie just fine from a safe distance. If that fails somehow, then just throw explosives at it. Planes and helicopters can have dozens of explosive rockets in just a few rocket pods, each would kill the zombie, or damage it's limbs enough to neutralize it. It's very silly that in most depictions of zombies that the military gets rolled over when some ragtag survivors are able to fight their way through loads of zombies. If the zombies are as weak as they're typically depicted, where survivors can kill them, the military would have no problem. If the zombies were dangerous enough to wipe out the military, then the survivors wouldn't last long. It's just plot armor for the sake of the story.

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

@@brianwyters2150 It should also be mentioned that even the most potent acids take several minutes to melt a chicken's drumstick. Chemical burns are pretty bad and even worse if it gets in your eyes. But I agree that acid's lethality gets overplayed way too much. In reality, patient 0 would easily be subdued before any zombie outbreak occurs. Police and paramedics have dealt with some crazy drug induced cannibalism before just fine. Usually the argument is when there is a hoard of zombies but how does it even get to that point? If it did, the civilian population and police would struggle to contain the outbreak BUT a lockdown would basically halt the outbreak. But I guess COVID is a perfect example of how most countries fail to enforce a lockdown. If we get the military involved, the situation resolves itself instantly.

[@chrisjones6002]

Those modern shark suits would be the best armor I can think of. It would offer great protection but still be light and flexible enough to wear for long periods. The problem would be availability or lack thereof.

[@afterzanzibar]

Also, Robert Kendo's daughter in the RE 2 and 3 remakes seems to have taken a while to fully change into a zombie; almost like a slow degeneration from cognitive, to semi-cognitive and finally a full blown walking dead.

[@brokefangmagepunk3685]

To the wear and tear point I would like to add with our modern diet millions of humans have terrible teeth(I had a friend chip his tooth on a soft sandwich and he didn't have visible cavities and you could tell he brushed) so a couple chomps on a leather or winter jacket full force could leave tons of zombies basically toothless, sure the broken teeth will be sharper but they won't last. Add in that if they don't have the physical restraint that the brain puts on our muscles they could theoretically break their own jaws limiting any bite after that

[@DarlockAhe]

One factor, that you overlooked, is when person becomes infectious. If it's before symptoms set in, then the situation become muuuuuuuuuuuch worse.

[@reaperwithnoname]

It's still hilarious to me that Skall accidentally described L4D with his worst case scenario, right down to the asymptomatic carriers and how the virus is sometimes airborne and sometimes not.

[@TocsTheWanderer]

Honestly, the "worst case scenario" that you gave is similar to what happens in the "Stand Still, Stay Silent" webcomic, especially with the every mammal can get infected thing.

[@Cryogenius333]

"Food????? FOOOOOOOD!!!"

[@willemverheij3412]

Something they always forget is castles. That's what would be a thing in Europe and well, most places outside of America. Castles are build to withstand long sieges and where only made obsolete by cannons. Zombies don't have that. Castles provide a safe haven to attack zombies from. If you get some armoured horses and ride out on horseback in plate armour and wielding maces, you could kill a whole bunch without wasting ammunition, go back to the castle and do it again the next day. Won't be any left before long. Or at least they'd be able to clear out enough of an area to build wooden walls further outside of the castle and grow crops there around the castle. Also cremate everyone who dies. No more new zombies. I'm just thinking of regular zombies though, those rage things or the running ones aren't zombies to me.

[@bombastikderteutone6858]

yeah the problem with that is that there are not enough castles for all of the survivors

[@flawless_Cowboy]

One, there are plenty of "castles" in America. Two, what you're thinking of is a fort. A castle has a living population and is more akin to a city.

[@edwardheppenstall8690]

@@flawless_Cowboy a castle and a fortified/walled city are 2 very different things. Windsor castle is a very famous example, it's only really in fantasy settings that we see massive city sized castles

[@mylifeisacomplexpastiche7901]

We have forts tho. DIBS ON THE ALAMO, BITCHES

[@kevincrady2831]

A lot of times in movies, infected people "turn" at the speed of plot. If there's a crowd of people, one zombie bites someone, that person turns fast, bites, and so on. If a bitten person is alone or in a small group (in movie terms: main or side characters, rather than faceless NPC's), turning is usually slow, to allow for drama (the bitten person tries to hide their wound so they can stay with the group, or they have to face their impending doom, or the group has to decide whether or not to kill them, etc.). I came up with the idea that the infection agent (doesn't have to be a "virus") has a kind of stochastic intelligence, like a slime mold. Normally, slime molds live as single-celled organisms. But when food gets scarce, they trigger a change of state, into a cooperative form able to move as a single entity, form structures for spreading spores, etc.--slime molds in this state can solve mazes. So you could have a zombie plague that works slowly when the infected person is alone or with a small group (giving them time to travel to someplace with more hosts), but causes the host to "turn" rapidly when there are large numbers of available hosts. In the case of slime molds, there are "dissenters"--some of the cells remain in single-cell mode when the rest merge into the collective. This allows the species to have a chance at survival if the slime-mold phase fails; the "dissenters" might get lucky and find food in their original location. In like manner, there could be "dissenter" infected in a crowd who do not switch to rapid-turning. This would allow a bite victim to escape a horde and get back to their survivor-group (so that the aforementioned Drama can take place), but would also make the infectious agent more dangerous than if all "turning" happened at the same speed.

[@Interrobang212]

The first thing I learned after reading Zombie Survival Guide is that I would die in the initial wave

[@torgomaghanyan7633]

The worst it world war Z scenario, when “zombies” are more like unkillable mutans, who can run as usein bolt, can climbe better than monkeys and can lifit like olimpic champs and the virus’s incubation time is around 4-10 seconds

[@1.1797]

Another thing is down here in the south where its humid as hell in the summer, while we'd be more susceptible to bites, theyd also rot faster too.

[@legiolegat2871]

There's one question, that bothers me every time anyone mentions zombies: What About -Dragons- Tanks? In vast majority of scenarios zombies aren't able to use weapons nor are intelligent enough to use any kind of tactical maneuvers. Few dozens of tanks with flying drones onboard to scout the area safely won't be cornered by any horde, thus eliminating the only advantage unarmed crowd can have over the armored vessel. Considering all other factors I can't think of any scenario in which zombie outbreak could last long enough to harm any country more than war. It still can be a mess with some serious consequences, but nothing even remotely close to the definition of apocalypse, imo.

[@al-imranadore1182]

Zombie virus with extremely slow incubation period like Rabies could meet your expectation of an apocalypse creator.

[@mrjtfang2]

Waste of fuel, pilots are guaranteed to attract every z for miles, and bodies can probably still muck up everything and cause them to get stuck.

[@mrjtfang2]

Also, ammo. Tanks generally aren't effective anti infantry.

[@dalekmasterblaster585]

You should add on to the account that tanks usually have 2 machine guns, and they can go 70 MPH.

[@josephhuggins5394]

yeah every time i watch a zombie flick or show and they overwhelm a military force i laugh. 1 chopper could take out 100s of zombies a tank could run over 1000s of em. only thing i could think of giving a army trouble is if there are no concentrated hordes that would be easy to wipe out.

[@MinersLoveGames]

You had a lot of fun with this video. Me, I'd try to hold down until the initial panic is done and then try to get into the countryside or find a boat.

[@robertagu5533]

So the plot of 2005s Dawn of the Dead remake

[@al-imranadore1182]

You Sir, remind me of Kenny from Telltale The Walking Dead game season 1.

[@devil5cry]

Basically the machete and M1 carbine survival thing again -take a PCC[pistol calibre Carbine] share the magazine with your pistol instead- -glock is shit but definitely more commonly available everywhere- -need a hatchet than a machete if you're in northern region- -the Hypothermia will kill you before the Z word- #Survival101 #ZWord

[@al-imranadore1182]

@@devil5cry an M1 carbine will only be used in very dire FUBAR kinda situation. Mostly problems will be dealt with a sharp well maintained machete.

[@devil5cry]

@@al-imranadore1182 need lubrication regularly keeping it reliable And machete is just a thin blade And solo purpose is for cleaning the bushes Not as mutil task as a crowbar or a hatchet

[@juicyjuustar121]

It's unfortunate that nobody ever talks about Left 4 Dead when discussing this topic. I know it's super unrealistic, but I think we can all agree zombies in *general* are already unrealistic, so it's not that much of a stretch. An ever-mutating airborne virus that infects incredibly quickly so *only* those who are immune to the virus have even a chance of living. It's easily my favorite interpretation of zombies, even if insanely unrealistic in the way it's portrayed.

[@malvulable4351]

Plus the fact that the "zombies" aren't dead, they're just infected, living humans.

[@pawegorka8589]

Despite the fact that zombies couldn't survive without a working body, I wonder how they will recognize each other as zombies

[@OldieWan]

I am perfectly comfortable in my understanding that I would be just another shambling mindless zombie if things got really bad. Everyone seems to think they are going to be one of the few who survives the first wave. The sickness is what gets 96% of the planet right off the get go. You didn't take a bite, you didn't get clawed. Simply died of the sickness and reanimated into the horde.

[@Maxuras]

What plot hole I find hard to ignore in the classic Zombie movies is, that when a Zombie attacks a human, there only every are three outcomes: 1. Zombie fails, gets killed, doesn't bite anyone 2. Zombie bites, but gets killed. The bitten dumdum hides his infection until he himself is a zombie. 3. Zombie totally wins and devours its victim. The point is, in case 1 we have zero remaining Zombies and in case 2 and 3 we have one remaining zombie. There is no way for the Zombie population to increase. A Zombie does not just bite a dude and then move on, unless it sees more survivors, that it attacks, in which case it will then be killed (I guess in theory it could run around, biting multiple people and then dying but I've never seen this happening in any movie).

[@mckinleyostvig7135]

This assumes zombies feel a desire to consume. Most organisms that require a host only focus solely on "reproduction" aka spreading as much as possible. In both viruses and the real world creepy fungus scenario, there would be no reason for zombies to do anything EXCEPT infect as many other hosts as possible.

[@tarille1043]

This would only be the case if the only transmission of the "Zombieness" is via bites. If it has alternate vectors (Which it would require to exist in the first place. It has to come from SOMEWHERE before there exists a zombie to bite someone) then it can continue to spread, with the general existence of zombies being this at best 1v1 exchange. Though, you can't disregard the potential for a dead zombie to be feasted upon by animals, thus infecting the animals (Depending on how the zombiness works, if animals can carry/become zombies)

[@Maxuras]

Yeah, I really just base this of the "X of the Living dead" series of movies. Possibly some others movies I don't remember that well. There definitely are versions where this the zombies behave somewhat differently and this is not a problem.

[@ColonelSandersLite]

@@Maxuras "Zombie totally wins and devours its victim." Dude. I can't believe you ate that whole thing... You couldn't even save me a leg or an arm?

[@desfox3685]

Another thing many people forget to consider is that there's different interpretations of zombies, like Left 4 Dead for example, where rather than being reanimated corpses, they're actually living people, mutated by disease, much like the scenario he mentioned at the end of the video.

[@asahearts1]

In any setting where it isn't magic or nanomachines or something, the zombies would be blind within a few days, either from rotting if that's a thing, or ocular pressure decreasing from dehydration. Unless the zombies can photosynthesize, they simply aren't going to be able to sustain themselves, so the huge hordes should largely die down. If they cannibalize each other after a certain point, the hoards might last a little longer, I guess. In any case, if you can chill out somewhere without attracting attention for the first couple months, your odds of survival should increase considerably. Edit: Not to mention giving other people a chance to thin the hoard or for some zombies to be destroyed by fire/trampling/falling/etc.

[@LainK1978]

World War Z the book, not the movie, actually did an amazing job of covering all of this. The issue is always the initial outbreak(s). People don't know what's going on are hesitant to kill the infected in case they can cure them or refuse to accept that they are dead. That hesitation prevents people from saving themselves as well as ignorance in how to actually kill them. Also low caliber bullets would be the way to go, a 22 that goes in but doesn't come out of the head and instead bounces around in the skull destroying the brain. Plus, remember in shows like The Walking dead where the zombies tend to have mush skulls, also have been decomposing for months or years.

[@TheLordsynfel]

some things about resident evil that everyone forgets is that the zombies arent undead but mutants, that the infection from biting can be prevented by disinfecting the wound according to some files and that for the virus to kick in completely someone has to get the inmune system debilitated so it can start affecting the body, thats why the aereal infections barely infects the injected ones act fast and water supply one takes weeks

[@nelsonrortiz8045]

Assuming it happened in the US, i think it would pretty much come down to how fast the army and government react to it. Since in real life bullets would actually damage zombies, bone still breaks and they would still need nerves and stuff to move so pretty sure a .50 cal bullet would do pretty well.

[@davidmacy411]

The US army has an actual plan for a zombie outbreak, partly because various aspects of one can be applied to living hoards as well. Btw they also have some form of alien invasion plan also.

[@ranwolf76]

I remember reading one of those self published amazon e-books a while back that had a take on zombies you don't see too often. They had all the classic traits of a Romero zombie except they were still alive. In the lore of the book, a cure was eventually found, but with all the damage the zombies did to themselves many of them ended up being amputees, disfigured and/or clinically depressed because they remembered a lot of the things they did when infected. Apparently there were a lot of suicides in the first few years after the cure was discovered.

[@1IGG]

And also for everybody killing a loved one because they tried to be merciful. Just to realize they could've been saved.

[@ranwolf76]

@@1IGG There was no mention of anything like that happening as far as i remember. But it would make sense.

[@andrewcoltzt1563]

Source? Sounds interesting

[@azraelus1]

Skal seems like the armed sword wielding neckbeard who you'd expect would do well in a zombie situation but get hilariously killed in a clumsy accident

[@cocacola4blood365]

All you'd have to do is hole up somewhere and wait for the zombs to starve to death after the supply of brains is gone, which would be a lot sooner than you think.

[@tonyhakston536]

4 years ago I would have said a zombie outbreak would end in a single week.

[@KelrCrow]

I really like this type of content. Stuff with fantasy analyzed in real life. A lot of the old fantasy weapon evaluations are similar.

[@thenathanr4243]

Great video! One thing that always gets left out of these discussions are tactics and cooperation. Look at civil disturbance responses in police departments. Shield walls and coordinated forces could contain the spread.

[@comradebork]

POLICE BRUTALITY!!! #ZombieLivesMatter

[@al-imranadore1182]

Only for a few days though🤔

[@davenhla]

One concept of zombie that is generally ignored when people try to "deep dive" is: What if the zombies behave like Elder Scrolls zombies? In that universe, they are animated by magic. Let's just say for the purpose of evaluation that it isn't magic but some other phenomenon that makes zombies behave the same way. In the Elder Scrolls universe, you don't stop a zombie by shooting it in the brain or otherwise. They simply continue on their mission until so much damage has occurred to the entity that it simply can't move anymore. This means a headless, armless zombie would still continue it's attack. A burnt up zombie wouldn't care, etc. It would require utter destruction to stop it. In this scenario, the outlook is much more grim. Overwhelming force would be needed to stop the zombie force, and it would have to be of a magnitude to exceed the spread of whatever has caused the zombies. Contrast this to the walking dead where a guy armed with a pointy stick can defeat multiple zombies in short order.

[@Just_a_Piano_]

well we got nukes and bombs I think completely obliterating a zombie would kill it in that case. In america at least there do seem to be a lot of people with bombs of sorts

[@savage7882]

That's not unlike Dead Space necromorphs that don't die no matter what you do since they're not intelligent and operate as a hivemind. If their nerves and muscles can operate, then they're still alive

[@bartunthegreat2999]

There is the real-life accout of the Battle of Osowich Fortress (I don't know if is correctly spelled) also known as "The attack of the Dead Men" during WW1, where one German Division encountered what they thought were undead russian soldiers that raised from the dead. They were in fact a handful of bloody, badly-injured remnants of the Russian garrison that were previously attacked with poison gas and that somehow managed to survive. The entire German division, at least 8.000 men, succumbed to mass-panic and routed.

[@semajniomet981]

I'd say that the chrysillid from the XCOM games would be a somewhat "plausible" way of getting, but I think that Minecraft's would be easier to deal with. The difference is quite easy to see. XCOM: Enemy Unknown / Within - If a chrysillid (I'm probably butchering the name of this thing) kills a target directly, then the corpse will turn into a zombie, which will then hatch into a new chrysillid three turns after it rises, allowing exponential growth. Ironically enough, if a survivor of a chrysilid gets killed by any means other then the claws directly (poison, plasma rifle, sectopod, etc), then it won't turn into a zombie. Minecraft - If a zombie kills you, then you turn into a zombie. Thankfully, the zombies (barring a variant, the husk) burn in the daylight, making avoiding them a matter of surviving the night. If you decide to use the Counter:Side interpretation, then a corrupted object (CS's version of zombies) will kill you, but won't spread an infection. Living in an area that's under the Counterside effect though, is a different story. Treat it like you would radiation. In other words, stay away entirely.

[@katherinestives940]

Someone mentioned two reasons why any zombie that moves slowly and/or decays would be toast before long. (1) Dogs/wild animals. Feral dogs (if a lot of people are dead, there would be a lot of 'abandoned' pets roaming around) would be looking for food. Zombies, being slow moving, would be easy prey and would be torn to shreds. Assuming the plague doesn't affect dogs then the zombies shouldn't even try to defend themselves as (a) they have no sense of self-preservation and (b) they would ignore targets who are immune. (2) If a zombie decays then you have to take that into account in an outbreak. Even if you say that the state of decay is (for some reason) slowed in places like the South where it is hot, humid, and swampy (I live in Louisiana, btw) flesh rots VERY FAST. In a few weeks any carcass left out will be picked clean by scavengers and decay into nothing. Usually only a few bones left. So, while a high heat-high humidity environment would generally support wearing lighter clothing (if you know that a bite is dangerous I would see people wearing long sleeves even in Summer. It might be uncomfortable, but it's not actively life threatening), that very environment would cause them to fall apart at a truly rapid pace. Great video, by the way!

[@Bjorn308]

Plus all the flies and other bugs laying eggs in them, maggots eat dead flesh from the inside out. I give the zombies a week or 2 at best in the south even without anyone going out of their way to use the undead as target practice... Unless it's evil magic zombies, then we're all screwed.

[@mylifeisacomplexpastiche7901]

“Wearing long sleeves in the summer might be uncomfortable, but it’s not actively life threatening.” Heat stroke would beg to differ.

[@polishFantasyEN]

No matter how dangerous, in present times someone would surely defend their rights.

[@JewishFrog]

I like that.

[@randomdude8877]

Im sure calling them zombies is inappropriate. How about "humans that were once living and now have rotten flesh and the desire to eat brains". That should please the mob.

[@nitrocharge2404]

Doom Eternal in a nutshell

[@Tadicuslegion78]

Or people would say it’s all a hoax/conspiracy to attack the people fighting the zombies, people would demand they have the right to get bitten, people would completely ignore the zombies and instead use it as an excuse to enact vendettas against people…and a lot of people would become super violent because someone else has all the food/medical supplies/and a lot of gunfire in America

[@lucianograff6512]

Dead rising lol

[@DukeofTxtspeak]

>Zombie outbreak starts in a city in Texas. >Zombie stumbles out into square and tries to bite people >Zombie is riddled with lead and collapses. >Texans go up and kick the Zombie >Texans get infected >Crowd descends into shooting eachother.

[@ImmortalLemon]

I’ve been preparing for the zombie apocalypse for years and I can 100% say without a doubt that if zombies ever came I would be the most badass. Coolest looking…. Corpse on the street

[@randombystander991]

If we generalize term "zombies" to any mindlesss crowd that's aggressive towards unafflicted, the biggest problem is that they are still considered members of society, so you're not allowed to defend yourself.

[@rvaughan74]

I remember the Day of the Dead remake explained the fast zombies as occurring because of rigor mortis not setting in yet. They would start about as fast as the uninjured individual going all out, slow as rigor sets in (possibly powering through it, it was never shown in the movie that the zombies were stuck in place), then speed up and slow as decay/damage sets in.

[@jonathanabril8618]

The thing he seemed to miss or ignore from the walkin dead, is that the corpses still rot. The 3 examples I can think of off the top of my head was when the zombie got trapped in a well and basically turned into a rotten water balloon, the zombie prisoner that ripped its rotten hand off with its hand cuffs, and the skin and bones girl in the first episode. So if by assuming the non nessicary parts are decaying it would theoretically make them easier to kill. I dont wanna get too over analytical of the things but I feel like world war z had the most fighting type and spread of the zombie idea. The 2 biggest factors that would stop or prevent the spread of zombies would be location and infection method /time. Location can be broken down into 3 parts how many people, how isolated, and time of year. If it started in the Yukon or on a small island chances are really good it would be easily contained even if that's by mass military action, time of year makes a big difference as well they would freeze solid in -60 weather also making them easier to deal with, and I feel like the heat would increase decay rates if they do decay. If the spread is only by biting or body fluids again world war z showed us how easily improve to amour could be made that was effective at stopping being bit. Its is air born well then that depends heavily on if you die right away or you just get the virus and then when you die it takes over. The next big question is would their be natural immunities to this or not, but that's it own rabbit hole.

[@Beuwen_The_Dragon]

The other thing the walking dead forgets is how many diseases and nastiness a rotting corpse carries.. the sheer proximity of corpses and gore would see everyone dead from plague..

[@jonathanabril8618]

@@Beuwen_The_Dragon yes the walking dead is by no means a good example of reality lol from the zombie eating Carol in entirety bones and all, to michonne being cut and covered in zombie juices but not getting infected. My favorite being how fast Carl ages compared to his sister

[@muninrob]

Keeping 70% of pistol rounds in a target at 10 yards is surprisingly difficult when you are doing mag-dumps for giggles.

[@baziwan9407]

Relatively dangerous on initial infection if it is the rapid acting variant 5 minute incubation max. First 10-100 attacks. First instinct would be to try and help someone being attacked. Thus getting attacked yourself. 1-10 hours, threat is lower as it is likely awareness of what is happening has spread, term zombie thrown around. 24-48 hours threat is high due to number of infected grows to a percentage of the town/city where it becomes easy to get surrounded. Outside of the infected city threat is basically zero. 7 days, air support would be used to sanitize the city. If this is in Texas(Austin Excluded) or Kentucky, 1st zombie attacking someone is shot dead infection count zero.

[@ambosen]

One of the things I think a lot of people ignore is that simply put, in the sort of scenario often presented in movies the urbanized areas are largely fucked. Not because the zombies themselves would form an existential threat, but because the supply networks that allow cities to even maintain human life would be disrupted to a massive extent to try to contain the event. It wouldn't be zombies that'd kill massive amounts of humanity. It'd be humanity demanding we "do something" without thinking through the long terrm implications, and shutting off access to vital supplyl lines and services in the process particularly in the urban areas. Also almost all of these settings forget that the infectious spread mechanism of zombies they typically go with virus spready by biting, is relatively inefficient. Realistically, not everyone's gonna be bitten and infected especially if they get immediate medical care and proper cleaning of the wound, the time for symptoms to set in will vary, and in the typical zombie movie horde scenario, it'd actually act to significantly limit the spread of infection, since no setting I know of depicts zombies as stoppingbiting once a human being is infected. Also, everyone forgets most viruses become weaker over time *specifically* because it helps them to spread faster that way. An individual who seemingly acts normal, and display no or very few visible symptoms of zombieism, while unknowingly contaminating surfaces, disperrsing an airborne virus ect would be the ideal transmission method. Which makes it really weird so few if any zombie movies depict it as airborne, caused by actual fluid contact, ect.

[@Ashtor1337]

Good points.

[@christianmonch2567]

The two most dangerous scenarios are missing: "Land of the Dead", where Zombies start regaining their ability to think, including abstract thinking, cooperation and use of tools. "I-Zombie", where Zombies, as long as they feed on brains, never lost their intellectual abilitys and are even able to exist among people undetected.

[@hautakleightontam771]

If the undead truly began to rise in our world, they would effectively be an existential threat even before they drew blood. All our lofty notions of science, consciousness, being, and reality itself would be the first meal of a horror that shouldn't be yet is. No weapon can cut you out of a nightmare.

[@texasbeast239]

Meh, if you already believe in evil and monstrous beings and have a defensive lifestyle set up, then what's one more vile creature?

[@jonathanhancock470]

The true killer of apocalypses: panic.

[@King.Leonidas]

indeed if the zombie apocalypse started in the 30s the civies wouldn't be pussies

[@3dmaster205]

That depends on what kind of zombie you're dealing with, there are several that are quite scientific; they also wouldn't be the unkillable things that can only die by brain destruction, but still, you can scientifically create zombies. Hell, there are several parasites that take over the nervous system of simpler animals than mammals that effectively produce zombies, the spores that take control of ants are a perfect example of them.

[@texasbeast239]

@@3dmaster205 There were also real world carnival showmen who electrified body parts and cadavers to induce muscular contractions and give the semblance of life, which inspired the Frankenstein story.

[@BelgorathTheSorcerer]

Lol, not even zombies want to go down into Florida. It really is the worst. Granted it would be hard to find an adequate supply of brains there.

[@johnmcconnell7052]

Your skits made me cough while drinking mate. Well played

[@bakawaki]

Zombie rodents would screw us real bad, zombie birds too. I don't even want to think about zombie insects and other invertebrates.

[@crsmith6226]

I really like this video, more apocalypse analysis could be fun!

[@somewierdoonline2402]

The thing about those huge hordes in some things is that they'd eventually have to feed on each other to survive so just letting the zombies starve is still viable

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

When you listed all the rabid aggressive.murderous animals, I was expecting a rabbit... not even a mention 😭

[@techpriest6962]

*Here is an idea:* A zombie virus that was both airborne, and had mutated strains passed on through biological transfer (injury). The airborne would infect everyone, but only the dead would turn. So everyone who dies turns. Where as those who have turned generated mutated strains like resident evil that make them more dangerous. So not only is everyone infected, but the longer the infection mutates in a host the more dangerous they become. Kind of like the old flash game Dead Frontier.

[@Scugzerker]

Alien invasion or zombie outbreak: * happens * Everyone: * panic * Everyone realising they're not living in the USA: * calm * Also there's one flaw in your clothing theory you forgot to think about: it bites you on a covered body part, so you won't get infected. But then what? The only possible way to really get rid off the zombie would be to kill it, but that usually means attacking the head. Lets assume during an apocalypse everyone would carry some sort of weapon (axes or hammers would prob be the most effective if firearms aren't available), so you can defend yourself. Though the problem is that parts, and fluids will fly in random directions. Big chance some gets into your face most likely infecting you anyway.

[@Spladoinkal]

That whole thing about crossfit: While it IS true that someone doing crossfit is prolly in better shape than someone doing nothing: 1. It's very easy to become a crossfit trainer and doesn't require NEAR the training that becoming a certified personal trainer does and because of that combined with crossfit WOD's not being designed for the beginner, many people have been injured in the process of wanting to get healthier and a few have even died from rabdomialysis, when is when you break down your muscles so much they tear open releasing the proteins within into bloodstream (something that is extremely toxic and sometimes fatal). 2. On top of the chance of injury, it's been proven that those that try to work on everything at once like crossfit does (strength, muscle size, endurance and cardio) don't get results NEARLY as fast as those that just do one type of workup at a time and switch focuses everything 3 months or so.

[@tyrellthiel2201]

The worst scenario I have ever heard of would be biologically mediated zombies and the infection jumping species. Hordes of zombie rodents is a terrifying thought

[@johnqpublic2718]

Trust the science. Make sacrifice to the Science.

[@timucinbahsi445]

great analysis. love it. except the part where you forgot to mention the cops will not try to fight for the public anyway. they're gonna get themselves to safety and just play negan

[@leonardopaz1137]

In the simulation, when the red wave hits Florida it stops. Not even the zombies want to deal with florida man.

[@baldr2139]

I'm gonna go with not having enough ideas for a zombie crisis. Also, I'm using Campfire to write a book right now and I HIGHLY recommend it.

[@orvetoralsolo7892]

"The past 2 years have shown how braindead humans can be when dealing with a global pandemic" Damn Skal you gotta drop truth bomb on us

[@angorRainerNagel]

Hi Skall, another horrifying scenario would be a desease which makes any infected infectious after minutes, shows no signs of the desease for a year or so and then turns them...

[@Lemon_Force]

Idk if this counts but imagine you're flipping though tv or just scrolling the internet and you see the news that they just unearthed something out at the Yucatan peninsula today. A double-helical monolith. The Black Marker. What do you do?

[@baziwan9407]

I think most plausible scenario of a zombie in real life would be Cordyceps jumping into humans. It has jumped from ants, to spiders, to fish, and I believe in the last 5 years some mammals. Since that one is a spore based infection... The gestation might be longer, than a few days. Wind could carry the infection across cities which would make containment much harder.

[@evensgrey]

I just realized something dumb about the entire contagious zombie horde genre. How is it that zombies can avoid fratricide? They're always targeting humans, but to the minimally functioning brain of a zombie, how does another zombie not look like a regular human enough to get it to attack? (IIRC, the only zombie movie that ever deals with how zombies recognize targets to attack is Shaun of the Dead, where the heroes manage to fool zombies by wearing clothes and crude makeup to look like zombies, then are able to walk right through a mass of them. Meanwhile, in World War Z, the zombies are attracted by noise, so all you have to do to not attract them is be fairly quite. Hence the ideal way to travel is by bicycle, which is quiet, doesn't need fuel and can be carried over obstacles, and the idea weapon is a crossbow, which lets you take out individual zombies from range rather quietly. Since zombies are stupid, if you find too many to take at once, you hop on your bike and pedal away.) Another interesting idea: (This occurred to me while watching the one a few years ago that had a bunch of survivors hiding out in a shopping mall.) Why not bust their heads from above with a long pole-arm? If they somehow grab it, you just drop it, since they can't effectively use it on you. All you need is something that can suspend a heavy weight with a spike on the bottom. Drop a ten pound sledge hammer with a big spike secured to it should only take a few feet at most to punch through a zombie's skull and destroy it's brain.

[@jurakarok3343]

Love this holiday themed content.

[@phatpigeonii]

If you want a plausible "ZA" story involving the diseased living tpye of "zombies," I HIGHLY recommend the "Black Tide Rising" series by John Ringo. It takes into account human resilience and the fact that not all people will act like idiots (*cough* Walking Dead *cough*). It's also an incredibly entertaining read. First book is "Under a Graveyard Sky."

[@Artyomthewalrus]

FYI, the fungal parasite that effects ants doesn't actually infect the brain. . The fungal cells invade all parts of the ants body and head, but don't enter the brain. (the belief of the fungal cells being in the brain was actually generally agreed to be a thing until recent studies with improved technology allowed mapping of the fungal cells) We still don't know how exactly they control the ant. But the fungal cells get throughout the entire ant. Even entering into muscle cells. They likely control the ant with chemicals released outside of the brain, or possibly control the muscles and make it act like a marionette doll. One of the more terrifying theories is that the fungus cuts off connection between the muscles and the brain, and puts itself in it's place. The ant could still be conscious as it loses all control of it's limbs (although if an ant is conscious in the first place is up to debate on definitions and their brain power) It is still a mystery. But it doesn't actually infect the brain. It either completely circumvents the brain, or controls the brain from outside.

[@kovona]

So you're conscious and completely aware about your body being controlled by the fungal intruder, but helpless to do anything about it. Frankly, that's even more terrifying...

[@daniel-zh9nj6yn6y]

If an outbreak starts in England, Matt Easton's weapon stash will be extremely useful.

[@bthsr7113]

Really depends on a number of variables. How much does the virus change, how long does it take to turn someone, what kind of zombies does it produce, how exactly is it transmitted, where is patient zero going hot, etc.

[@JewishFrog]

"Zombies are stupid." -Bilbo Baggins

[@dgb1952]

According to my brother (retired police chief), most police officers are actually poor shots with their duty weapons.

[@devil5cry]

More like a common man with firearms

[@chanachon56]

Plus aren't police officers trained to shoot at the center of mass? Aka the exact OPPOSITE of what you're suppose to be hitting a zombie at?

[@SitKid721]

The one thing about zombie movies and shows I never understood why they don't just climb a tree or build a treehouse. It really seems like the best place to be

[@TheTimbs_]

Because eventually you need to go back down. Once zombies find out, you’re stuck up there.

[@biblequotesdaily6618]

you're underestimating how equipped police officers are in the crowd control department

[@randlebrowne2048]

The problem is that a lot of that gear works by inflicting enough *pain* on the rioters to make them want to disperse. All that pepper spray is likely to do to a zombie is flavor it's food!

[@Imporridge]

I love zombie games that have modifications on weapons, like you strap a D battery on kitchen knife and you got a electric knife haha. Skall should make a video on how effective there weapons might be

[@devil5cry]

I assume you're mentioned RE outbreak series Good times

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@devil5cry. Probably referring to games like Dead Island, Dead Rising, Dying Light, etc.

[@nitrocharge2404]

I'd just move to Kansas. Low population density, incredibly high visibility, and harsh weather conditions make it the perfect anti zombie environment

[@nobleman9393]

North Korea is the perfect Anti-Zombie environment

[@DukeofTxtspeak]

Try Wyoming or Alaska. That's a pretty good one.

[@sharonrigs7999]

Alberta

[@vast634]

In a zombie apocalypse, its not just the zombies that are dangerous. The economy breaks down, anarchy sets in. The most dangerous is then roaming gangs and local warlords.

[@randlebrowne2048]

@@vast634 Or just regular people trying to get food and water for their kids! Desperation, and panic, can make even the nicest person do terrible things to their neighbors in order to survive. Forget zombies. In, say, a civil war type situation, where supply routs are cut off (even just partially), it would probably take less than a week before the desperate people inside would make things much *worse* than what we see in most zombie movies.

[@snazzyshark20]

I'd like to mention that zombies need to eat aswell if we're going with the "bite to infect" zombies the zombies are people who got infected but that doesn't stop their need to consume nutrients in some shape or form even though they won't realize it themselves which means they all will start to starve eventually unless they actually go seek out food (and I think zombies would seek out other humans not to eat but spread the infection further)

[@SirCrusher]

Eventually meaning a few days.

[@danielvalentine2191]

Last of Us has good zombies that feed off of their host's decay since they are a fungus (and is similar to a real fungus that infects ants).

[@al-imranadore1182]

Rodents and insects are preety common and easy to get.

[@heroismismissing9516]

I'd like to see a new iteration of zombies that uses neuropsychological explanations to make them terrifying. Maybe a pharmaceutical company produces a new drug and it causes a contagious parasite to appear. Eats the PFC, eats the frontal lobe, amps up the amygdala and hypothalamus, causes psychotic aggressive delusions. Turns people into vicious animalistic brawlers that see anyone living and uninfected into immense threats and only leaves in-tact the "fight" response. Nice video btw

[@vast634]

Late stage rabies is somewhat similar. Infected get aggressive and bite, thus transmitting the virus.

[@evanplanas]

The breakdown of the stats of the 28 days latter rage runner zombies correlates perfectly with the actual events of the two films. It seemed in cannon that the hardest hit areas were cities. Rural areas had less infection rates. The virus contained on the island of England, and the original military guys had a infected chained to see how long it would take to just die.