Zombie like story advice.

[Mytical]

Ok I have a 'different kind of zombie story' rambling around in the old melon. While nothing may come of it...would like some input from zombie fans out there. I can't give away too much (just in case I do ever write the story), but ...

Ok I say zombie-like for a reason. However, there are some vast differences. First..these things are not dead. While they exhibit some zombie traits, they are living. There is actually a reason that is based off of nature why they are behaving the way they are behaving..I just can't say what (SPOILERS!). While they are just as single minded in their goal, and will seek out others to infect..it has nothing to do with the consumption of flesh/brains/etc. Once a living organism is infected, they lose interest in that person, and move on. Always going west (again, a reason for this, and again without spoiling things I can't say WHY).

They are somewhat easier to get around then normal zombies. One..they are easier to kill (anything that will kill a living person will kill them). Two if you can get behind the 'line' they will continue west for the most part, with only mild deviance to infect those not infected. They will pursue any non infected thing they are aware of until the ends of the earth..but they will continue moving west if nothing stops them. (so you can 'wait' them out as long as they don't become aware of you). Also, if something would 'kill' them they will immediately turn west regardless (ie stop chasing somebody)

Which leads to the second thing. For 24 hours after anything but brain death, they will come back..again a reason for the 24 hours..again can't say why. However, they will lose any desire to spread the plague..and only travel west mindlessly. Also..if their momentum is completely stopped in any manner..they become much more dangerous. They turn into 'bombs'..exploding in a shower of blood and a green substance. They also do not need to bite or scratch you to infect you. Within 1' of any 'zombie' is a cloud of green something that will infect anybody who breaths it in, and contact of any part of your body with any fluid or the cloud from the body will infect somebody. Keep in mind that even if headshot..they will do the shower of blood/etc .. so they are in ways MUCH more dangerous then your normal zombies (no melee with these! At least not without a hazmat suit on).

Also, by the end of the book..the zombie issue will have been solved..

Now a few questions for zombie fans out there. The story centers around a group of special military sent in to stop the zombies. They do not know what is causing things, or such..but they will use whatever means needed. Without melee option though..(as fighting in a hazmat suit would be hard) there would be an ammo issue. Since they are military they will have a LOT of ammo, but there is going to be many many zombies..how do I keep (MOST) of them alive AND uninfected?

Since they can just be chest shot (which would turn them west and they would just loose interest in infecting somebody) How do I keep the 'zombie horde' threat level up? They are much easier to deter then normal zombies.

Is this a story that zombie fans might be interested in, or is this too far out there?

[fma_fanatic]

Actually, that's pretty cool. Infection without being bitten by the infected. Talk about your FUBARed situation. Seeing as the contagion will continue to spread if the host stops moving, then you have to deal with not only the infected who are moving but the potential for it spreading globally.

I can't suggest anything military wise, and I'm sure someone with more military experience than me will chime in. But maybe somehow staying above the infected might work. The only problem is the cumbersome hazmat suits. Of course, you could always create some sort of more versatile hazmat suit to make it easier to carry weapons.

[wolfie]

The only problem is the cumbersome hazmat suits. Of course, you could always create some sort of more versatile hazmat suit to make it easier to carry weapons.

Such as Army-issue NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical warfare) protective gear? From what I've heard, it's damned hot to wear, so that would be a problem for the soldiers.

How long is a killed/exploded zombie still contagious? That could be an interesting issue.

[Mytical]

The killed zombies only until they stop..the exploded one only a few minutes. As for suits..don't want to make things too easy for the soldiers..so might have something limited effective.

[Kisa]

For keeping your team alive:
-if the infection is airborn only, a respirator with a face shield would work fine without limiting movement and it would only slightly decrease their vision.
-if the infection can be absorbed by skin, you can try rubber waders, gloves, a face mask, and a thick jacket to reduce exposure. Besides that, it's chance it or full body suit.

For how to keep the threat level up:
-virus mutations to increase the types of transmission
-make the virus able to infect animals such as rats, wolves, bears, birds
-army drops bombs on some of the bad cities to contain the contamination. Instead, this aerosolizes the virus and infects nearby military bases with vital ammo.

[DaDairyDruid]

I have been pondering this for a bit since alerting FMA Fanatic about it.

It won't work.

IF they are heading DUE WEST, and no one is there to stop them, sooner or later they will hit a tree or a building or a parked car, and then, Boom. Assuming they are capable of maneuvering around an obstacle, again a river would stop them, assuming the zombies can't swim.

Not only that, the whole Miasma thing is a problem. think about how much particulate would be required for a 1 foot green fog that is VISIBLE. it would be like putting out 1 cigarettes worth of stuff every minute, within a DAY your mass would be depleted so you would not walk. Even if your body was to become a hive for alien bugs, or some sort of nanotech, again your mass would be depleted at an alarming rate.

as for your soldiers, all they would have to do is after evacuating everyone, put up a simple concrete barrier in front of your wave, move back, wait for them to blow up, and then wait and clean up. .. no need to DO anything.

[Mytical]

DaDairyDruid raises some good points, which I will try to answer.

IF they are heading DUE WEST, and no one is there to stop them, sooner or later they will hit a tree or a building or a parked car, and then, Boom. Assuming they are capable of maneuvering around an obstacle, again a river would stop them, assuming the zombies can't swim.

They can maneuver, and remember there are ways around most rivers. I am not one hundred percent positive, but no river completely cuts America in half. Not to mention that said river would have to be deep enough to drown them (and still 24 hours after they drown, they would not need to breath and a river would not stop them then), and have no places for anybody to cross..at all.

Not only that, the whole Miasma thing is a problem. think about how much particulate would be required for a 1 foot green fog that is VISIBLE. it would be like putting out 1 cigarettes worth of stuff every minute, within a DAY your mass would be depleted so you would not walk. Even if your body was to become a hive for alien bugs, or some sort of nanotech, again your mass would be depleted at an alarming rate.

Now this, this makes me have to change things. Simply making the cloud invisible will be good though. Thank you!

as for your soldiers, all they would have to do is after evacuating everyone, put up a simple concrete barrier in front of your wave, move back, wait for them to blow up, and then wait and clean up. .. no need to DO anything.

*nods* Once they figure out what is going on yes. They are not going to know what is going on, why, or anything. They would have NO clue about the west thing, and remember it would spread in a cone effect, not a straight line. Because if a 'zombie' sees an uninfected person they will deviate from a straight line to infect said person. As time goes on the 'line' will become much larger. While states behind them are pretty safe, those in front, and eventually parts of Canada and Mexico will not be.

Edit: I also should have clarified that the explosion does not happen the split second they stop. It will take awhile for the brain to register "No more forward movement is possible", which would trigger the boom. A head shot will stop the explosion, but death wont (when the body 'dies' it's like starting a timer..it would count down to when the body will no longer suit its purpose .. then explode). The brain has to die instantly to stop the explosion also. So fire, etc would still trigger the boom.

[DaDairyDruid]

a few more stupid questons: How "smart" are your infected? how "quick" are your soldiers? where would agent zero appear?

The Mississippi does a pretty good job cutting the US in half. at least until you hit Minnesota or so in the north. no idea of canadian rivers. even so bridges can be blocked easily.

average walking speed is what 3-4 mph? call it 100 miles a day?

soo many questions. i do enjoy playing devils advocate sometimes.

[Mytical]

a few more stupid questons: How "smart" are your infected? how "quick" are your soldiers? where would agent zero appear?

The Mississippi does a pretty good job cutting the US in half. at least until you hit Minnesota or so in the north. no idea of canadian rivers. even so bridges can be blocked easily.

average walking speed is what 3-4 mph? call it 100 miles a day?

soo many questions. i do enjoy playing devils advocate sometimes.

Believe me, I appreciate it, any holes in the story need to be plugged. Constructive criticism is always welcome, especially if it helps me. I will say this is a 'short story' since there will be a solution to the problems.

Ok first off the River..one quick solution to the Mississippi is just move ground zero to past it. The original ground zero was going to be someplace in West Virginia..but I am not locked in to that.

The infected are a lot brighter then your typical zombie. Being still alive, they have most of their cognitive ability, just the all consuming impulse to infect others and move westward. Now they won't be 'as bright' as a non infected person. No operating complex machines, driving, or the like..but opening doors, getting around things, maybe even basic tool use (no weapons though).

I am not sure what you mean by quick for the soldiers..I guess you mean how quick they would figure out the 'travel west thing'? Pretty quickly, but understand that they won't be sent in right at the start of the infection..several states will have been affected before they are sent in.

As for travel, varies. They are somewhat slow, and will deviate..but remember they do not tire.

Of course this comes with a price also..they need fuel. They can eat normal food/drink water..and they will deviate to keep the body fueled..so that is another weakness normal zombies do not have.

[Nurian]

Fighting is more than about having more ammunition to mow down combatants. You have to look at all angles: terrain, morale, training, backup, assets.

Intelligence of the zombies will play a factor. A shambling horde of slow, dumb zombies can be lured into all kinds of fun traps and the most you would lose is a couple blocks of C-4 and scrap metal. More intelligent zombies will require more thinking.
Improvised weaponry can always be used to supplement ammo supplies. Think a potato gun only has to fire potatoes?

The last thing that every zombie flick seems to forget is that we have airpower. A guy with an AK-47 sitting in the door of a Huey that's above a battleground will always win over a guy with a melee only weapon.

[Mytical]

There is serious problems with any zombie story to be honest. Like..if they eat brains, and damage to a brain causes them to stop..how do they multiply? If they eat flesh, once they reach 'horde' status..how do they increase in number (at least ones that would be a threat). Decomposition...there are a lot of things that could stop a outbreak before it really began. Heck a single tank could take out a horde...

At least this way I get some of the major issues taken care of, the rest can be handled by the zombie movie/book separation from reality..

[Jay 2K Winger]

There is serious problems with any zombie story to be honest. Like..if they eat brains, and damage to a brain causes them to stop..how do they multiply? If they eat flesh, once they reach 'horde' status..how do they increase in number (at least ones that would be a threat). Decomposition...there are a lot of things that could stop a outbreak before it really began. Heck a single tank could take out a horde...

At least this way I get some of the major issues taken care of, the rest can be handled by the zombie movie/book separation from reality..

Yup. As documented elsewhere.

...dang, I went on Cracked. *gone for hours*

[Mytical]

Interestingly enough, though mine have their own issues..most of those by Cracked are not an issue for this version of the zombie. So..yay me???

[Jay 2K Winger]

Interestingly enough, though mine have their own issues..most of those by Cracked are not an issue for this version of the zombie. So..yay me???

I actually find articles like that Cracked one and entries on TV Tropes to be a boon to me as a writer. In my recent SF writings (specifically for Star Force One, my NaNoWriMo entry from last year), I've done what I can to avoid the whole "sci-fi writers have no sense of scale" issue. (e.g., single biome planets, lack of cultural diversity on planets, etc.) While a lot of it didn't so much factor into the story, I did make sure to work it into my world-building.

Still, you at least built in some excuses for why your zombies are different.

[DaDairyDruid]

OK assuming your Infected have the mental intelligence of say a 10 year old (as a benchmark) they would probably have enough "smarts" to stick to roads/paved areas when they could, instead of heading cross country, making travel easier. again *I* power walk at call it 4 MPH or so, most people run at about 7-8 mph or so, assuming they are moving like locusts (stop, eat, move on) they would have to stop and refuel 5-6 times a day to keep up their caloric intake. Even so, they would still be able to be tracked fairly easily, and the westward thing would be easily observed. evacuation would probably be started within a day or so, moving the non infected EAST as once you are "behind" the mob you would be safe. Simple roadblocks would hamper a LOT of forward motion. High altitude Napalm drops would probably be the "easiest" way of handling large groups.