The Source/Cause of the Infection!

[panzerfaust]

aybe u could pinpoint and track a characters location and maybe figure out some stuff

[Eviebae]

Generally yes. Kc has said he likes to write about what he knows and where he can visit. There are obviously exceptions like the Colony....I doubt there's a booby trapped stronghold in SoCal full of sociopaths.....

...,at least I hope there isn't!

You mean other than Orange County?...badda bing, badda boom!

Seriously though, who says every zombie related plot point has to stem from a single source? There's the beginning and then there's the aftermath. For instance, There's something very wrong in ground zero that may be related to how the virus was dispersed. Then there's the possibility that someone is doing research on the infected and tracking generations or crossbred creations.

The main question I have about Ground Zero is why people get sick/can't breathe near there.

I'm starting to think Ink is a bit like a second in command--and I'm wondering where Skittles is.

[Gkeeper21]

Okay well a simple case of rabbies does not travel anywhere near as fast as what is described in Were Alive. So unless it is a extremely mutated case of rabbies like said early there is no way it could be that. Also I would like to point out that when victor and pegs were heading to the airport so pegs could practice flying the helicopter they got lost and drove right into ground zero, the start point of the outbreak, and they could not breath or anything, leading me to believe that what ever it is that causes the change to zombie started out as an bacteria of some sort that spreads by air in it's start stage, which explains how such a large group of people would be changed in such a short period of time in the beginning, and then it most likley kept mutating and advancing like other bacterias, but at a extremely fast rate, make it completely uncureable. I believe it was some experiment gone wrong and completlelly going out of control, breaking free into the world and mutating drastically once it got into the outside environment.

[Grognaurd]

The incubation time for rabies is much longer. The "We're Alive" turn occurs in minutes. No known Virus or anything else can work that fast in OUR world. But, there are zombies running around, so I suspend disbelief to play along.

If we switch back towards "The Real World" and play "let's make a zombie plague..."

No DNA or Bacteria we know can spread that fast. Period.

The only thing we have that can modify behavior that quickly is a DRUG. But, the problem with a drug is that it is a one-off. Drugs do not reproduce, so each generation of victim will have a lower does. In this case, it will reach a point where it is slower acting or has less of an overall affect.

What I do is combine the two. We need a drug for fast action and we need a virus or bacteria to propigate the drug. There are many drugs that are currently being made in bacteria and viruses. But, these vectors are killed off while the drug is purified prior to use in people. But, there have been "drugs" developed that are administered by direct infection with a modified virus. The hope is the drug will be delivered and the virus will die away or be inert. But, going back to the Math-dude from Jurasic Park, "Nature finds a way:"...

OK, another problem with viruses is that they are very small. That means they do no have a lot of "RAM" to hold new information and programs. However, some viruses contain "pseudo-genes". These things get into the human cell and change the expression level of traditional genes that we all have and use in day to day life. Although the possibility also exists that they may awaken "ancient" genes. Genes that may control agression or feeding behavior that human evolution has turned way down so we can come together as a society. Change the expression of some proteins, turn on some silent genes, drop in a gene to make a drug like LSD to really mess with perception and we are on our way to snarling ravenger with reduced cognitive abilities

I have done work on the other side of the phenomena. Modification of the flesh. BUt, Kc's "zombies" are more about cognitive function rather than physical; special zombies exempted.

[reaper239]

The incubation time for rabies is much longer. The "We're Alive" turn occurs in minutes. No known Virus or anything else can work that fast in OUR world. But, there are zombies running around, so I suspend disbelief to play along.

If we switch back towards "The Real World" and play "let's make a zombie plague..."

No DNA or Bacteria we know can spread that fast. Period.

The only thing we have that can modify behavior that quickly is a DRUG. But, the problem with a drug is that it is a one-off. Drugs do not reproduce, so each generation of victim will have a lower does. In this case, it will reach a point where it is slower acting or has less of an overall affect.

What I do is combine the two. We need a drug for fast action and we need a virus or bacteria to propigate the drug. There are many drugs that are currently being made in bacteria and viruses. But, these vectors are killed off while the drug is purified prior to use in people. But, there have been "drugs" developed that are administered by direct infection with a modified virus. The hope is the drug will be delivered and the virus will die away or be inert. But, going back to the Math-dude from Jurasic Park, "Nature finds a way:"...

OK, another problem with viruses is that they are very small. That means they do no have a lot of "RAM" to hold new information and programs. However, some viruses contain "pseudo-genes". These things get into the human cell and change the expression level of traditional genes that we all have and use in day to day life. Although the possibility also exists that they may awaken "ancient" genes. Genes that may control agression or feeding behavior that human evolution has turned way down so we can come together as a society. Change the expression of some proteins, turn on some silent genes, drop in a gene to make a drug like LSD to really mess with perception and we are on our way to snarling ravenger with reduced cognitive abilities

I have done work on the other side of the phenomena. Modification of the flesh. BUt, Kc's "zombies" are more about cognitive function rather than physical; special zombies exempted.

check out quarentine, (think i spelled that right) they covered the issue of super rabies by establishing that the scientist in the apartment shortened the incubation period. i was curious, so i looked into it: by splicing together traits from rabies, ebola, and proly a few other select viruses, you could create something with an incubation period of hours, a lethality of near 100%, and a very high rate of infection. granted, a few hours is not several minutes, but a multi-million dollar corporation, with a high tech lab and a lot of time could proly figure something out. plus, we can accelerate the incubation period a bit for a work of fiction.

i like where you're going with the drug/virus combination though, it's a great idea (great being a relative term).

[Grognaurd]

What most people do not know is that there is an airborn strain of rabies. It was identified in Spelunkers (cave explorers) and came from bat guanno (poop). Subsequent studies in the controlled conditions of the laboartory confirmed that it was airborn. Some work I did for other authors combined Influenza with rabies. Later, the idea was picked up by National Geographic.

I did not need the drug in that case, because for their mythos the incubation period was several days.

[Eviebae]

The speed of the infection is really puzzling; mostly fast but sometimes there are slow turners. Seems to be spread by blood exposure even on unbroken skin, but then why was the husband of the woman who hid in the closet at the beginning able to beat a zombie head to a pulp and then wash his hands and carry on.

The complexity of the virus is a different puzzle. I guess you could just call "genius". Someone who could figure out things that other people couldn't

I've heard one theory of the Black Plague is that it struck according to blood type (also that it could have been something other than Bubonic). As in B protects weakly and people with A are most likely to survive. Type O's die like flies (yet another reason I wouldn't have survived the middle ages)
.
I'm looking forward to the solution such as it will be because KC is determined to avoid the sins of Lost (and, hopefully Battlestar Galactica).

[radon]

Has anyone looked into the fact that this may be an irradiated virus that is causing the outbreak? In chapter 3, part 3, Bert goes on to explain the "smart ones" who used to be scientists and such, the so called "smart one" is wearing a clearance level 3 ID badge for a radon labs. This may explain why people feel weird when they are at ground zero. I know this has some holes as to how it was initially spread but i find that this may be a cause to the source of the outbreak.

[yarri]

Taking into consideration all other zombie outbreaks and causes out there, this one I think is from human testing. They mention on the news broadcast that 'Ink' is being moved to a mental institution. They could be moving him from the hospital somewhere and along the way he gets out, possibly in the zone where Lizzy and Victor got sick. He spreads the disease from there, and the people transporting him could have been carrying whatever they injected him with and it became airborne, expediting the process. Considering that no one who was in that area later got sick, perhaps the 'virus' can only survive for a short time in the air, say a day or two. that would explain the spreading from that zone and perhaps the odd feeling in the air without getting infected. The mental place under the hospital not on the map could have been illegal testing of some sort of super virus that the creators may have thought could do good or bad. Maybe they were hoping for a sort super soldier, or something, that would be strong, fast, fearless and not react to pain (jumpers?) or giants to be super strong (behemoths?) etc, you get the idea, and the tattoos for the little ones a way of recognizing what works and what does not, and Ink or whoever is one of those doctors changed over and trying to continue the experiment (dr.'s make smarter zombies). Many movies and books have been based off of trying to get a 'better' human. Perhaps this outbreak is that kind of attempt gone horribly wrong?
This was kinda lengthy, but I think as I write, so yeah this is just my rambling brain trying to work things out lol.

I'd like to add to this if I may. I agree 100% that this is a virus. And history is full of "illegal" human testing right down to Dr Jonas Salk who documented work of testing ways to infect people with the flu. He was using a "nasal spray" form of the flu virus and testing how lethal its effect was on mentally ill and handicapped women. You all do know we can deliver a flu vaccine via a nasal spray right? Guess where it came from?

Kek's idea is quite sound.

[yarri]

Like I said before, it seems to me to be human testing. Maybe Daniel Glenn is right, but instead of one evil protagonist, it could have been a group. Perhaps something like Umbrella Corp. that is trying to come up with a way to eradicate the human race, or the classic 'take-over-the-world' plot. It could be anything, and thanks to KC's amazing writing and story telling, we know it can be anything. There are so many ways to play this. Perhaps there is an evil protagonist, but his plans went awry and he became a zombie, maybe a zombie king or Ink. Or maybe a hippy organization did discover the human testing and tried to bomb it or stop it or something (explosions at beginning? lol) but instead ended up spreading the contagion. Or someone tried to break Ink out of jail or the madhouse or wherever he was and that caused the outbreak. So many possibilities!

As a writer (well, hopeful writer lol) I can appreciate the fact that KC is heightening the suspense by including all these little tidbits that will make us think one thing, but then the next week he will come up with something completely new and blow all out theories and predictions out of the water. That is one of the reasons this is an amazing podcast.

Well, that is enough of my rambling, I tend to write a lot when I am thinking and typing at the same time lol.

My theory is its some eco terrorists bent on ridding the world of mankind cause they know Ol' momma earth will be better off without us. It would explain why the virus has not as of yet crossed species into monkeys, dogs, cats etc..