Question about Zombies moving towards loud noises.

[Nocturne]

I dropped Fear the Walking Dead after two episodes when I realised I couldn't recall a single characters name nor care to learn them either. Fear the Boring Dead,

[Reaperbryan]

Look, I'm an official Zombie Expert (I literally just decided that, and since that one guy is famous for being an Aliens expert even though he's never met an alien, I figure I can do it, too).

 

So here's the deal. Sight works as an attractor in the first 2-3 weeks of a zombie's existence as a zombie. Since 90% of zombies that ever will turn do so in the first 21 days of the zompocalypse, this is really critical first-six-weeks information. Why is sight no longer useful after 3 weeks or so? Well, because dust will eventually damage the cornea and eye without the moisture form the tear ducts, which died, or blinking, which just stops. After 3 weeks or so the eyes go basically white, and sight fails as a locator for the predatory zom.

 

Smell fares even worse - the mucuous membranes and sinuses dry out in days and begin rotting at a prodigious rate, so a two week old zom has no sense of smell. By the end of the first month, it's safe to assume most zoms can't smell you.

 

Hearing lasts much longer - the tympanic membrane doesn't degrade as fast, although after 2-3 months it is completely gone. Again, 90% of your zoms will be completely deaf after the 4-month anniversary of Z-day.

 

And of course, overall decomposition rates mean that about 6 months after Z-day, most zoms are now losing libs at a prodigious rate, since they're not embalmed, and not protected form insects, bacteria, or the elements.

 

So really, if you can survive the first 6 months, how they detect you becomes less and less of a problem, as you will by then have only a fraction of the original horde - all of which would be the people turned in the last 6 months.

 

I totally didn't make any of this up*.

 

*yes, I totally did.

[Chaoswolf]

Seems reasonable to me.

[Dr.Bedlam]

http://www.alomal137.com/

 

The above link leads to an excellent faux case study based on the Romeroverse, in which a rather good writer produces a CDC case study explaining the reason for the zombie apocalypse, as well as a behavior study on zombies. It's dry, but quite good, and explains much.

Trouble is, zombies ain't consistent.

ROMEROVERSE zombies, those in movies by George Romero, are slow, don't seem to rot very quickly, are indeed dead, and don't NEED to eat; they are driven to do so by instinct. No one knows why they do it; apparently, one day, the laws of nature changed from "human dies, falls down, sits there, and rots" to "human dies, sits there for a few minutes, and then rises as a zombie." The bite is lethal. They can be stopped by destroying the brain.

 

SHAUNOVERSE zombies, from "Shaun Of The Dead" follow these same basic rules, but seem to be sorta domesticable over time. Then again, the movie's a comedy.

 

RUSSOVERSE zombies are found in the "Return Of The Living Dead" films. They are dead, but retain varying degrees of sentience, and can set traps. They can be fast. And they are caused by exposure to a chemical agent. Bites are not lethal, but can be serious. Oh, and they only eat the brains. Conversely, headshots won't stop these guys; only destruction of the entire body.

 

WALKING DEAD zombies follow the rules for Romeroverse zombies, but it's implied a virus is responsible... and now, everyone has the virus, and it activates upon death and shutdown of the immune system.

28 DAYS LATER zombies are not dead, but suffering from a "Rage Virus." It is contagious as all hell. They are VERY fast, being in adrenal overdrive, and attack out of sheer aggression. They tend to starve inside a month or so, or can be killed via massive damage.

DAWN OF THE DEAD REMAKE zombies work by similar rules, except that they are in fact dead, and can only be killed via headshots.

And as mentioned, THE LAST OF US zombies aren't dead, but under the control of a fungal infection; they attack to spread the infection. They can be killed as per normal humans, but be careful about spreading spores everywhere...

I once did an exhaustive list for the Federal Vampire And Zombie Agency, before I gave up; there's just too many kinds.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Dr.Bedlam

[Darsc Zacal]

Seems reasonable to me.

To me too.

And if there's one thing I've learned, reasonableness and the Interwebz do NOT mix.

Therefore the conclusion must be that...

The reasonableness is a lie.

[Dr.Bedlam]

Note that the ALOMAL case study points out that zombies' decay is retarded by the virus... and that the functioning life of a zombie is two to ten years, if they can get indoors or sheltered, and enter a sessile state.

I rather liked that. It explains why, in so many movies, some guy gets chowed by a zombie that just sproings out of a closet or behind a curtain, with no warning.

[strawhat]

No, I understand that. But put it into context. In The Walking Dead, if you are covered in zombie guts, you can make normal noise, walk like a normal person, shoot a gun, stab a walker through the head, and they won't even notice you. Moreover, if you can tame a walker by cutting off its arms and jaw, you can just drag it around on a leash, and its mere proximity protects you from being noticed by other walkers.

 

So, something else entirely is going on. It throws the entire concept of how they are detecting you into question.

 

Sort of.  I'm going from memory here, so be kind if I messed things up.

 

For the TV show, even when drenched in zombiguts you still need to act mostly like a zombie.  Stopping and having a discussion is a bad idea.  A quick kill would be OK, but not a protracted fight.  Normal noises seem to confuse them as they smell a zombie, but what's left of their other senses tells them "tasty treat."

 

Michonne's pets were special.  She removed their ability to bite and to reach out to attack, and they somehow learned or adapted (for lack of a better word) that their efforts were fruitless so they simply stopped trying.  Having two zombies walk around with you and not attacking you gives you "street cred" among the undead, so as long as you don't do anything too out of the zombie norm they give you the benefit of the doubt.

 

But as the seasons have progressed they've dropped some (not many) tidbits about zombie behavior and how it's changed since the beginning days.  

Edited February 24, 2016 by strawhat

[Nocturne]

As Doc mentioned lack of consitancy, what about the really old zombies, or the "Voodoo" zombie which is where a lot of this started? Like 1932's White Zombie where Bela Lugosi drugs people so they enter a death like state and they raise again completely under his control but return to 'life' when he's killed (spoiler, I guess?)

 

Almost certainly wouldn't be consiered zombies by currrent generally accepted lore.

[Darsc Zacal]

As Doc mentioned lack of consitancy, what about the really old zombies, or the "Voodoo" zombie which is where a lot of this started? Like 1932's White Zombie where Bela Lugosi drugs people so they enter a death like state and they raise again completely under his control but return to 'life' when he's killed (spoiler, I guess?)

 

Almost certainly wouldn't be consiered zombies by currrent generally accepted lore.

So who created the "modern version" zombie? Would that have been George Romero?

[Gadgetman!]

Whoever it was, I vote we fill his home with the zombies from Dead Snow...

 

 

Even better clip:

 

Edited February 24, 2016 by Gadgetman!

[igelkott]

I think the Dead Snow undead are more akin to mummies than zombies. Preserved humans return to fulfill a curse or mission.

 

It would be interesting to read a history of zombies but yeah, I think modern zombies were pretty much invented by Romero.

[igelkott]

It looks like what Romero did was combine ghouls and zombies together. In the original movie they actually were called ghouls but the zombie name seems to have been the label that stuck.