When it happens, it'll happen fast

[The Sentinel]

While it is tempting to discount the undead as a uniform mindless mob, the truth is far more complex. Recent anecdotal evidence suggests a definite shift in the characteristics and behaviour of the 'average' zombie. This shift has important consequences for an effective preparedness strategy.

The classic solanum zombie is a slow moving predator which - when encountered alone or in small groups - can usually be outrun or avoided by all but the most incompetent or unwary survivor. The most immediate dangers in solanum incidents arise when survivors are confined to an improperly maintained safehouse - allowing the undead to mass in the vicinity and exposing the safehouse to an increased risk of pressure breech or infiltration by infection. Proper safehouse selection, fortification and day-to-day protocols should however reduce such dangers so that the key to survival becomes a question of disciplined living, strength of mind in the face of psychological stress and frugality and ingenuity in locating and managing resources.

Insofar as the longer term scenario is concerned, the well prepared will need to be ready to establish and maintain contact with other survivor groups and manage and contain any conflict within and between these groups. Despite that the solanum strain has been known for some years, the longevity of a solanum zombie is a subject which has often caused debate. In the final analysis, the most widely accepted view - and that which appears to be supported in experience - is that these zombies may remain active for a months or even years. While mobility during this period is gradually reduced due to the accumulation of damage to the body, the brain will usually remain intact unless the cranium is broken open and thus the zombie will remain responsive even as the body becomes less functional. It is this characteristic of solanum infection which has led to the widely quoted maxim "destroy the brain".

In contrast to solanum infection, the newly emerging rage strain displays a far more acute infection pattern. Whereas solanum infection proceeds over the course of hours and results in death and reanimation in hours or days, rage infection completes this process in a matter of minutes or seconds. Further, on reanimation the rage zombie will appear more alert, more focused, more aggressive and much, much faster. Only the most physically fit survivor will have the capacity to outrun a rage zombie and if this is attempted over distance, the endurance of the zombie is likely to win out. The trade-off for this increased activity appears to be an increased reliance on the structure and functions of the body.

The implications of rage characteristics for a successful preparedness strategy are well worth considering. Strategies developed to deal with solanum incidents may well be ineffective against a fast moving and virulent infection scenario. Clearly, the speed of survivor response to a rage outbreak will be a critical factor in determining success. Given the increased activity and virulence of carriers, quarantine measures will need to be imposed in a more stringent manner and the survivor will need to develop the capacity to act quickly and decisively - possibly ruthlessly - in order to ensure that infection does not spread.

Turning to the longer term prognosis of a rage outbreak, it appears that the greater reliance of a rage zombie on the body's functions results in a more acute outbreak curve - with the infected being incapacitated due to natural causes within the space of approximately one month. Thus the most effective strategy may simply to be to have a secure and well stocked safehouse or complex within close reach - and to simply 'batten down the hatches' and wait for the storm to pass. In this respect there is some return in the preparedness community to the days of the atomic bomb shelter.

The solanum and rage strains are of course not the only known revenant pathogens but they represent the two most commonly encountered forms of zombie. The increased virulence of rage appears likely to result in its increased prevalence in future years and given the shift in paradigm that this requires in preparedness strategies, we highlight it now in order to encourage a reassessment amongst the community.

Proper preparedness includes a full consideration of all the known revenant causative factors - including chemical and radiological agents and parasitic infection as well as the more often studied viral and bacterial pathogens. This article can only begin to consider the issues at hand: we invite your comments and further thoughts.

[LabRat]

I was just looking at Lucinda's post which puts forward a number of different strains of zombies: interesting thoughts. I had been focused on infection-type zombies with my work as I'm unsure what can actually be done to prevent voodoo zombies, if I even believe in them. However, I'm very interested in the evolution of zombie infection. After all, nature (if zombies are indeed creatures that belong in nature), decrees "survival of the fittest" and the solanum strain of zombie is simply not fit for purpose as a predator (and let's face it, zombies are predators). The rage strain is the type of predator that can successfully thrive in today's world and doubtless will. However, to go from solanum to rage strains in one huge leap is not so much evolution as either a miracle, genetic or bacterial/viral engineering or else several strains have gone unnoticed between solanum and rage. The main concern is if this rage strain further evolves. Time is running out. Either we cure the infection, destroy all the zombies or become extinct.

[Doctor G]

I don't know that we can say with certainty that the rage strain evolved from the solanum strain. I'd also dispute the notion that the solanum strain is inferior to the rage strain. However, I do see that the rage strain is a very worrying development.

My background includes some experience in epidemiology. Suffice it to say that there is a trend in infectious diseases that has been observed through the ages. Highly transmissible and highly virulent diseases will wipe out their host population and burn out without spreading too far. Think Ebola or other haemorrhagic fevers for example. They can only survive when the population of potential hosts is large and densely packed. Sadly, this doesn't really provide much comfort for the city based Zombie survivalist... Eventually diseases tend to evolve into a less damaging form, co-existing with the host species to some extent. However, given what we know of solanum and rage perhaps these observations simply don't fit...

Our watchwords must be constant vigilance, coupled with ruthlessness and determination...