Zombies: Questions and Theories

Just several thoughts, questions, and theories on the 'zombies'.

Are They Really Dead?
Clues:

• They sleep.
• They need food.
• Several survivors have described the stench of rotting flesh coming from zombies. Could be from old wounds that haven't/won't heal and have become infected and rotten.
• They feel no pain.
• Will die if shot enough or shot in the head.

Can They Reproduce?

• The Little Ones appear to be created/manufactured. Described as having "no chance of being once human." Only clue towards a second generation of zombies and prolonging the outbreak aside from turning more humans.

How Long Can the Outbreak Last?

• Zombie activity will likely slow in the winter months due to the cold. Most of the standard biter zombies will freeze because they are too stupid to have any survival skills.
• With the majority of the zombie population becoming popsicles the only zombies to survive will be the smart ones and the big ones. After winter the farther North a survivor heads the fewer zombies they are likely to encounter aside from pockets of smart ones near libraries, universities, and labs which with a map of the area will be easy to avoid.
• Nature will slowly start to take back over with the reduced human population. Zombies are likely to become prey to many predators including mountain lions, wolves, and bears.
• With no alternate means to nourishment aside from humans, canabalism, the dwindeling supply of processed food, and animals the zombies will eventually starve.

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Originally Posted by MancheeLivesOn

Just several thoughts, questions, and theories on the 'zombies'.

How Long Can the Outbreak Last?

• Zombie activity will likely slow in the winter months due to the cold. Most of the standard biter zombies will freeze because they are too stupid to have any survival skills.
• With the majority of the zombie population becoming popsicles the only zombies to survive will be the smart ones and the big ones. After winter the farther North a survivor heads the fewer zombies they are likely to encounter aside from pockets of smart ones near libraries, universities, and labs which with a map of the area will be easy to avoid.
• Nature will slowly start to take back over with the reduced human population. Zombies are likely to become prey to many predators including mountain lions, wolves, and bears.
• With no alternate means to nourishment aside from humans, canabalism, the dwindeling supply of processed food, and animals the zombies will eventually starve.

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We have no idea yet about how the zombies will act in the cold. Maybe they will be like other wild animals and hibernate in the winter only to come back stronger and bigger in the spring. (Maybe this is why they take back there dead and stockpile it in a location)

Just an FYI, two of the three questions are covered in other topics:

Cold/Hibernation is here: http://zombiepodcast.com/forum/showt...highlight=cold

Are they Really Dead is covered in this thread: http://zombiepodcast.com/forum/showt...highlight=heat

So I suppose this thread should move forward examining the idea of the zombies ability to procreate. And I shall start. We've already made the observation that the zombies seemingly are alive with increased metabolism requiring their ravenous feeding habits (and abilities beyond human comprehension: Speed, agility, jumping etc). So this outbreak has only been around for 3 months...is it possible that female zombies gestate in shorter time than regular humans? Don't see why not.

I think the ability to procreate is kind of out there. Yes, it may be possible but there are many reasons and problems with that....

The zombies have extreme levels of aggression and stress which seems to be caused by the need to eat and these levels of stress could the mother to have a miscarriage. If she is even to get pregnate in the first place. And also, if a baby was able to be formed and also survived the birth it would eventually die, because it's mother would not tend to it. Unless ofcourse, the mother zombie has a natural mother instinct and cares for its child.

So who knows....I guess zombies could do whatever KC has them do.

I think the zombies cannot procreate. To become a fetus, it starts as a zygote, then an embryo and finally the fetus and has to undergo rapid cellular division and other forms of growth. Seeing how the zombies do not heal (the rotting flesh, the sores, not caring when injured) that could imply that their bodies do not work as a normal humans should. So the cells of their bodies would not be functioning at a normal level, no division or reproduction. Also, a mother needs to provide nourishment to the fetus, and a zombie would not be getting the proper nourishment for development. Granted, a zombie fetus might need different nourishment.

Overall, I think actually becoming pregnant and giving birth is not something the zombies will do. The only way I see this spreading is through the infected and the created little ones.

btw, do the zombies bleed? That could give insight as to whether they would be able to keep warm, protect against infection, and heal properly among other things.

They seem to evolve very fast over time. They have become, faster, stronger, and more intelligent since the first episode. There is also evidence of them evolving when Michael and the group chloroformed them to put the trackers on. They evolved an immunity to it after only a few minutes. They could evolve more to get past cold, scarcity of food, or anything else that threatens their survival.

Kalani mentioned the ones in Hawaii were nastier than the ones in LA. And perhaps zombie babies in the spring after hibernation? Would be creepy as hell but the problem with hibernation is nourishment. Bears build a layer of fat to feed off of when they are asleep and we have yet to see any substantially obese zombies yet.

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Originally Posted by MancheeLivesOn

Kalani mentioned the ones in Hawaii were nastier than the ones in LA. And perhaps zombie babies in the spring after hibernation? Would be creepy as hell but the problem with hibernation is nourishment. Bears build a layer of fat to feed off of when they are asleep and we have yet to see any substantially obese zombies yet.

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It's also nowhere near time for hibernation, so the true fattening up season has yet to begin. It's still late August in the WA world. Hibernation traditionally begins in October and November when it starts to get too cold out, but the fattening up starts later in the summer/in the early fall. Otherwise animals would end up being too warm with a fat pouch in July.

The big issue with the hibernation theory with Los Angeles is simple: It's never going to get cold enough to kill off the zombies. They won't need to hibernate because they are not going to deal with freezing temperatures. Change the location to New York: dem bastards would freeze to death by mid-September!

Solution to problem. Take the Jolly Green Giant out to Kansas after winter once everything has been thoroughly frozen and dead.

*edit*
Also, with the hibernation theory killed pregnant zombies just don't seem plausible at this point.

Can the smart ones build little ones to maintain a high threat level of zombies after the majority of the standard biters starve?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MancheeLivesOn

Solution to problem. Take the Jolly Green Giant out to Kansas after winter once everything has been thoroughly frozen and dead.

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Problem with Solution: Refueling a helicopter for 1,500 miles of flying across the country

(I'm sorry I started my response that way....it was too amusing to take the snark out) :p