Zombie like story advice.

[Mytical]

With mob panic, no way of telling who is infected until they are trying to eat your face (the green cloud now not visible..remember these are not zombies..no decaying flesh to give them away), and everybody basically not able to trust anybody else (the not being able to tell if somebody is infected except them wanting to eat your face)..might be harder to track and figure out the west thing then you might think. Especially since they will deviate from the westward movement to chase down a non infected.

[DaDairyDruid]

well thats another thing... if your infection is spread theough casul contact (i.e. touch/inhalation) and there is no fog, where is the fear factor? all you would see is someone hurrying twards you and wanting to touch you, after which you are assimilated. part of the fear of zombies is the whole "AH THEY ARE GOING TO EAT ME" factor. there is not the inharent fear of touch as there is of biting.

also, how far are they going to "chase" someone? part of what drives "traditional" zombies is the hunger for flesh. if they lose the scent, the lose interest. noone would believe that a human would walk after a car that is out of its sight, as it has no way of tracking it. unless they have some sort of uninfected "radar" most people would escape by losing LOS and hiding. granted yours are smarter, but I maintain my point.

[DaDairyDruid]

maybe i am just now "getting the plot" but I dont think what you have in mind is "Dawn of the Dead" but more "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

i am unsure if the 2 concepts are really compatable. one is viseral fear, the other is psycological.

[Mytical]

Since I doubt this will ever be finished, I will attempt to explain what is going on..and there is a bit of both types of fear.

First you are right, they will only go so far after a person. As would any 'zombie'. You outrun a zombie with a car, it doesn't just keep chasing you. Once the primal drive for food is over, it goes back to shambling along. This is not shown in zombie movies/books because the focus stays on the survivors, not the zombies. So it would be just as scary as any other zombie movie in that regard. Ie they are as relentless as any other zombie would be, as long as they know 'hosts' are nearby that are not infected.

Now as to how they know somebody is not infected, that means I have to explain how they are infected..giving away the basic premise of the book. Including how this will be solved. So .. here goes.

There is a fungus in the 'real' (and natural) world. In only affects ants, but it basically makes ants act exactly like I have described my zombies. Spread the infection, then head to where the infection source is to just lay down, die, and decompose. It is how it gets nutrients and spreads. The premise of my story is that a mutated form of this virus infects humans. So yes, in a way it is very 'invasion of the body snatchers'. They know somebody is not infected because of a sort of 'telepathy' that the fungus has with each other. This is why they know where the 'source' is also. I was going to have a logging truck carrying a tree from one state to California have some of this fungus on it, and the 'zombies' would chase the truck, to get to the tree. Once they reached the tree..it would end (Ie the 'solution' of the zombie problem is just to let them reach the tree). Once all the zombies are there and stopped..burn them all.

Anyhow. The bite/being infected by the cloud. The spores are too small to instantly transform somebody. Much like movies have zombie bites/scratches take awhile to change somebody. The zombies would make sure somebody is infected, chasing them until the fungus has grown large enough to communicate that they are infected.

[BlaqueKatt]

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

they may not but every step a human takes breaks down muscle fiber, they'd be goo from the hips down if they don't rest to repair damaged tissue, also shoes don't last that long under constant walking, they'd walk the bottom of their feet off and then bleed out within a week.

average walking speed=3mph
3x24=72 miles per day
an average pair of shoes will have the outsole wear through in about 500 miles
500/72=6.9.

There is a fungus in the 'real' (and natural) world. In only affects ants, but it basically makes ants act exactly like I have described my zombies.

I figured that's where this was going, I read that book. yes it's already been done.

[Mytical]

Ah. Well there goes that idea I guess.. day late and a dollar short *laughs*

[Mikkel]

Ah. Well there goes that idea I guess.. day late and a dollar short *laughs*

If an idea was only supposed to be used once, we would be missing a lot of great stories.
Go with it. You may do something original, even if someone have had the same idea.

[Andara Bledin]

I actually like the "follow the beacon" mechanic. That has a lot of promise.

^-.-^

[Mytical]

Thanks, I would really need a ghost writer though..because I have the attention span of .. Ooo squirrel! *goes off chasing shadows*