Zombie Research Society
The rights of the infected will likely be a hot button issue in the coming zombie plague, especially if the zombie incubation period is longer than just few hours or days. But on an individual level, what is the correct response when faced with your own impending demise and subsequent reanimation?
If there isn’t a possible cure in sight, and the sickness spreads at an unpredictable rate, death seems the only option. That’s when your choices become truly complicated, argues ZRS Researcher Paul Freeman:
“Shoot yourself, and you waste precious ammunition and draw attention to your position with the noise. Rope is also too valuable to use for hanging. Kill yourself in or near your shelter, and the rest of the group is left with a dead and rotting body to deal with.”
From using up dwindling resources to the risk of a failed attempt, Freeman finds potential danger in nearly every method of self termination in a zombie outbreak. Even choosing to leave your group and wander off into the undead world could turn bad if zombies, or other hostile humans, are able to trace your route back to your old camp and loved ones.
What starts as a noble gesture to sacrifice yourself for the good of the group, could easily turn into the beginning of the end for everyone you know and care about.
So what about you? What would you do, and how you would do it?
If you shoot yourself and the rest of the team is hungry, they can eat you. Otherwise you can use yourself as a lure to get the zombies out in the open for someone to firebomb or whatever. Or try and get them to follow you into a dam to drown. Just remember to shoot yourself in time…
Can’t i just cut off the infected limb?
If not then I wouldn’t care if i wasted ammo.
Im dead.
I would cover my trail as I go, I would head to the side of a highway road far away, and then stab myself, easy. but what confuses me is a cure, say we took a zombie, and turned it back into a human, A: it would probably die due to internal organs rotted, B:some zombies could be impaled or have their intestines ripped/eaten C: most zombies could be covered in cuts, bruises, and the skin on the face, so if A and B somehow defy science, the person would be in intense pain
If we’re talking about “realistic” zombies and modern medicine/science, then the ‘zombie’ wont be undead.
It would be a living person with zombielike behavior. Then a cure would make sense.
If we’re talking about the fantasy zombies where the undead rises, a cure would never be possible, it’s a dead corpse. The heart doesn’t beat, the flesh is rotten or rotting away, no organs would be working. It’s just not possible at all.
However a fresh infected person who has not yet turned would likely be cured as all organs are still intact and fully functional.
Honestly what would make more sense is if say some type of “parasite” or another living parasite-like creature was living inside your brain
Only then the “parasite” would be controlling your body like a puppet living deep inside your brain.
What would I do??? I would take one or two melee weapons of my own, leave behind anything not necessary along with a note to the person who finds it that says to take care of the gear and treat it with the respect it deserves, strip off my shirt, find the nearest horde of zombies, and fight to the death. That way, I know that there will be a few less of those things for others to dispatch.
I’d probably sit there and get infected, not telling my team mates about it because hey, can’t beat them? Join them. And my friend’s would learn to love it eventually.
A zombie apocalypse is never going to happen, but since we are role playing here is what i would do if one was still intact:
I would get a duster plane, fly over the city and drop gasoline on the whole city might have to make several runs, then i would fly a low safe distance and keep dropping flares and burn the wole city and GOD willing burn all the zombies, prior to it I would drop leaflets to let surviviors know what was going on so they know not to be in city or get in bomb shelter or to a safe zone, then i would move on to the next city
What if there were people in the city dropping leaflets is no garentee that they will be warned or have time to get to safety.
I would probably make a stand and save the last round for myself…
You will need:
A baseball bat/ or other blunt object.
A fellow survivor.
Do the math.
They did cover this though, “Kill yourself in or near our shelter, and the rest of the group is left with a dead and rotting body to deal with…… Even choosing to leave your group and wander off into the undead world could turn bad if zombies, or other hostile humans, are able to trace your route back to your old camp and loved ones.” So unfortunately, your solution still won’t work.
A dead body isn’t much trouble – either bury it, or if food is short, eat it.
If the body in question is infected with the zombie virus, probably safer just to bury it.
If your group is constantly on the move leaving bodies behind shouldn’t be a problem and if they are in one place they should be able to deal with a dead body, I mean every time a zombie comes to your place your technically left with a dead body to deal with.
Well, it all depends on if I am by myself or in a group.
If I was by myself, I would probably find the tallest building I could and take the leap of faith.
If I was in a group, however, I would probably donate my body to study the infected or to use my body as some sort of decoy or trap. For example, with the correct safety precautions, the members of my group could chop my body up and put my guts on them. This would help if these zombies were attracted to smell. My guts’ smell would hide the humans’, and they could easily get through a city street or group of zombies. The only problem in this theory would be if it started raining or snowing (maybe) and wash off the guts.
Another problem is that if they gutted you before you reanimated your guts would still be human and the smell would make the zombies want them even more.
It would make the zombies savor them
stap my self with a bomb and go to a swarm of walkers jump or ram my way in the middle(or as far as I can get) and blow up as many as i can. And probably before blowing myself up throw a couple gernades around for extra measure hopefully while flipping them the bird.
I would just run out into the horde with some kind of melee weapon and try to take down as many of those monsters as I could. The survivors are only loosing one resource and I doubt you could find your old camp once dead or zombie-fied. Plus you’re taking out the zombies as you go, less for survivors to fight later.
……If I had someone that mattered turn into a zombie on me, I’d put them in a safely quarantined area until a cure is found. I mean what happens if we get word of it like an hour after we killed you? A nice deep pit with a roof would work nicely. Just toss in whatever inedible carcasses you encounter as food. probably strip the bones first though so they don’t pile up and become a platform for the zombie to break out of its cage with.
I would do the same thing but there is a major problem. When you reanimate (turn into a zombie) you start rotting. You can’t cure or revive somebody who is dead and rotting, even if they are undead. Unless you are jesus christ, god himself, or have gods power in you to revive this person.
I’d wait unitl the group was distracted and start shooting them in the back. If one managed to survive and kill me, I could rise as a zombie and eat him.
I’m the reason humans haven’t got a chance.
and im the reason humans have a chance against you and every other hell in this place man
While all of these noble contributors offering to spend their last hours on Earth in a Jihad against the undead make me think highly of the ZRS membership, the more compelling issue to me is the psychological state of the hypothetical infected-but-not-yet-dead individual. While I’d like to think that a group of fellow survivors would develop a deep sense of kinship that would make such a selfless gesture possible, I think it is much more likely that our natural individualistic tendencies would take over. This would especially hold true if you suspect that selfish people are more likely to survive the initial outbreak than the inherently selfless. Even if all hope for an individual is lost, I think that panic is a much more likely reaction than self sacrifice. This makes the potential living infected a highly dangerous possibility. Therefore, one of the most important things to figure out is how to diagnose infection among the living in order to deal with this situation (possibly ruthlessly) and maximize the chance of survival for the uninfected. This brings us right back to the original point of the ZRS researchers, what are the “rights of the infected”? Or more broadly what rights can anyone be expected to retain after the apocalypse? Each group will need to grapple with this issue on their own since it is unlikely that government or social authority will be able to retain their ability to enforce rules. For my money, it will be the groups that emphasize safety over personal rights that will be the most successful. If the groups that inevitably form do so out of a sense of co-dependence instead of purely altruistic reasons, than this will be a critical issue for survivors to keep in mind as they interact with their group.
The ideal response would be for the group to let the newly infected person live until he/she passes out and turns. Then the group would dispose of it.
Death is not the only option. There’s also Undeath. If i remember my childhood correctly gnawing on the living is a lot of fun. Suicide is for quitters.
What about the option of not getting bit?
one word ‘bomb’ I would volunteer to become the true dirty bomb. Once I get to sick (or even before) I will be strapped down once I fade I will have all unnecessary zombie organs removed and get packed with explosives and ball bearings/metal pieces (remote triggered). I will then be released upon zombie invasion wrapped in clean steak or bacon (depending upon the life span of a zombie). With any luck I will be surrounded or attacked, the explosion should make the odds more favourable for the survivors. As an added bonus I will be able to kill or maim a fair number. “Flesh for the living!”
*too
I have a dedicated team that knows what to do in the event of infection, and if we have come to the point where ammo is too valuable to use (unlikely) then a pillow over the face is the selected method of death as voted on. Then the rest of the team burns the corpse away from home base.
I would like to say that I would= Enjoy the few pleasure I can if I can.Go down in a blaze of glory.
Really I know I would foolishly see if I was immune. Then write my life for someone to find one day.
First thing is first. Gag me and tape some gloves on my hands. This way, should I turn before a more permanent resolution can be found, I’ll be less of a threat to my group. Without definitive proof that a bite/scratch is an incurable deathsentence then I would like to continue to live for as long as I can with my rations cut to 1/3. I will remain supervised while continuing to work until I am no longer able, living, or till a holdingcell can be put into effect. If need be, my reanimated corpse could be studied from a distance. As for my “execution,” if it must be done while I am alive save your bullets. We will go to the roof (if it can be accessed) and you can take a fire axe to the back of my neck then toss me over the side. If you can’t kill me while I am alive but I am asking to die before I change (unlikely), I will leave the group and take my own life as quickly as I could. If we can’t get on the roof then you will have to either let me leave or deal with my body your own way. Now if I turn and am not going to be studied, I don’t care how you kill me. It is not likely me anymore anyway.
For some strange reason all i can think of is ‘nerf’… It would be magical nerf wrapped zombies
Obviously I’d just make a zombie steak out of the next zed we drop. Everyone knows zombie meat is toxic, and at least if I put a little oregano on it it wouldn’t taste too awful. I’m dead, I got steak, and no resources are lost! To ensure that my body causes no problems for my friends, I’d have to eat it near the roof of whatever building we’re taking refuge in, so my carcass can be easily rolled off and left to rot outside – away from the doors and windows, of course.
Why worry about the logistics of offing your pre-zombie body when there’s an infinite amount of high cliffs and tall building around…find a good view and take the swan dive of your life!!!!
I think the residents of rural Nebraska (and many other rural locations) would take issue with your claim that there are infinite high cliffs and tall buildings.
Why worry about cliffs though? A 3 story high building, grain silo, even a two story building (if you literally dive) will accomplish everything you desire.
If you build it, they will come…..
I would probably go with hanging. I don’t understand in the article where it says “rope is too valuable,” because once I’m dead, you can just untie the rope and use it. If I am close enough that I turn after being hung, then I am no longer a “waste of ammo” because I am a threat like any other.
Valid point unless the rope needs to be sanitary and as for the turning point a pinata is always a valid option
it is a waste because a single zombie should be approached with melee weapons instead of using up precious ammunition and if anything bomb a building and take out every zombie inside the building and attract more to be crushed by the ensuing rubble
If it was early in the epidemic, I’d volunteer to be studied, provided I knew they’d take proper safeguards. If it was too late for that…maybe a home made guillotine would be proper and save resources. It would have to be sharp enough and sturdy enough to cut the skull, otherwise you’ll have zombie heads that could be stepped on and bite you.
I like the idea of being a sacrifice to distract zombies during a mission, but I’d hate to be eaten alive. (If a zombie eats you, do you still come back somehow? How much do they eat of you).
Arrows seem to be the best weapon. They can be retrieved. Perhaps rig an automatic arrow release at eye level that you can release yourself. No one has to take the guilt for destroying you.
But you definitely have to die. No way out of that. There are worse things than death.
First off self termination just like everything else in a zombie apocalypse needs to be done efficiently and with the intent of helping others and destroying more of the undead. Therefore the proper way to self terminate would be to suicide bomb them. You could try a vest but that would get complicated however a well though out trap which you ignite or trigger would be perfect. Also such fuse lit devices such as dynamite or black powder bombs become much more affective considering you get to bait the zombies into staying near the explosive device.
get in a car and drive as far and as long as I can make sure the doors are locked and my seatbelt is on. that way even if the car crashes when I change I’ll still be unable to get out.
You are wasting a car and gas that your friends and family could use after you’re gone. Seems like a huge waste or resources that will be in desperately short supply.
I disagree, with a large percentage of the population no longer using all the cars and gas there will be plenty of both.
Car will definitely be in supply but as the recent strikes have pointed out gas is the problem. After the outbreak 1 or 2 days would be the limit for the gas supply (Some special towns might last a week). A vehicle really should be used as a last ditch effort to escape annihilation (Hummer’s finally have a valid reason to exist).
actually people are going to be raiding gas stations and crashing alot more than usual in the case of a zombie outbreak so gas is only useful to make moltovs or burn bodies
The next time my group goes out on a supply hunt, I volunteer to be the “cannon fodder”; if there’s something that someone won’t come back from, it’s my job to do it. Hell, I’m already dead anyway.