Scouts motto

2% of people are natural killers. So say the SAS and I think they are somewhat of experts on the subject.
1% of people are estimated to survived the Zombie Apocalypse according to the ZRS.
Survival experts around the world say most people would not survive more then a week to a month without a modern support and supply system.
Health statistics show North Americans becoming ever more overweight and less healthy.

With all of these statistics staked against the average person, why wouldn't you take every precausion to be as prepared as possible? When the Fall -or any other catastrophy- occurs, the average person who is not prepared stands very little chance of making it out alive; let alone prospering. Don't be average, be prepared.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Seriously

Seriously, I intend to provide more regular updates now that I have finished travelling. And while most of the information provided is vital to survival after the fall. Some posts, like today's, will simply be undead related.

For instance this video, just some good old fashion zombie fun.


And this video is a little more zombie learning directed. I do have one major issue with this video, do not set zombies on fire unless you can completely control the situation. A flaming zombie is more dangerous then a normal zombie and the amount of time it takes for the brain to boil might surprise you. Also note this is extremely simple in it's design and intend, it is not an extensive guide.



Follow me on Twitter for on the spot Zombie Tips and Awareness.

I have only recently got myself a smartphone and thus have begun to explore the world of apps. Naturally my first action was to download a few dozen zombie keyword apps. Here are my thoughts on a few of them.

Stupid Zombies is a puzzle game in which a character who looks an awfully lot like Ash with a boomstick, has a limited number of shots to kill all the zombies on the level.

It's fun, it's problem solving but it provides no actual zombie training. Unless you count the problem solving aspect, but even then the game, while hard to master, is easy to play and won't really push your problem solving skills too far. It's an entertaining way to spend a bit of time but not worth anything in the long run.

Zombie Village is another entertaining little game without too much training value. Kill zombies to gain coins and ammo, search houses to gain coins and ammo. Spend coins for better weapons after each level. The strategy of hiding is very important and should be a lesson well learned if it's not already understood. The benefit of surviving far out weights the benefit of whatever money or supplies the zombies might drop by you killing them. Never be afraid to hide from the undead.

Coins vs Zombies is a bit of whacky fun. Nothing too complex here, its a crazy game that actually requires a little bit of skill and timing to play. But the real joy of the game is just letting loose and everything happening at once. Any training or survival value here? Nope, unless you have the battery power to play just to ward off boredom.

Zombie Killer is a fairly standard side-scroller, melee/ranged attack game. What makes it a little different is interesting art used in the game but the art never really changes so it in itself isn't a selling point. Lessons like ammo saving and learning to take the path of least resistance are notable here but as with any side-scroller, better learned somewhere else, like in real life training. Definitely among my favorites in the genre, the genre just doesn't impress me a lot.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Romania

Well survivors I have fallen quite behind in my duties but I have a lot of information gathered. I just need to find time to sort through it and then you will have a stream of zombie guidance unlike ever before.

At this moment I am waiting for a flight to Romania. Romania, home of Dracula, not a zombie but I believe a small tribute to him and a look at what a vampire is and some myths of undead might be in order.

It is easy to confuse old stories of vampires with old stories of zombies. After all the word zombie comes from Haitian voodoo and West African mythology. Just as the word Vampire comes from the Russian word Umpyr. In Romania the undead were known as Strigoi, and how much of the Strigoi are real zombies and how much are the basis for many of our modern vampire myths? Romania has had undead myths ever since it had people to tell the stories. They even have two specific dates for the observance of the undead, St. George's Day (April 23) and the Eve of St. Andrew's Day (November 29.) On these two days, especially Nov 29, it is advised not to go out at night or be near any crossroads. November 29th is reputedly a special day for the Strigoi at which they must all return to their living homes before travelling to crossroads at which they will do battle with other vampires.

The Romanian Strigoi are interesting creatures in that they are not all equal. Here are a view things from accounts of Strigoi:
When dorment (in coffin/during the day) blood pooled in the mouth or eyes.
Killed by a silver steak through the chest.
Killed by having heart burnt.
Killed by decapitation.
Dead looking, decaying purple toned flesh.
Bloated with the consumion of blood and flesh.
Feed on living family members.
Torment living family members.
Come to full strength 40 days after death.
Must be killed by family.
Put garlic in the mouth.
Place iron coins on the eyes and tongue.

The Gypsies also believe there are many forms of undead. The Romanian Strigoi could not harm the Gypsies according to their believes but they did fear the Mules. Demons who took the bodies of the living and returned to demand a wife. If the chosen woman was not given the mule would reek havoc on the village. The only ones able to kill mules are the Dhampir, mortal children of mule who had enhanced strength and speed because of their mixed blood and could see the mules true forms even when the mule was invisible to others. These mules sound a bit more like the vampires of legend. But where does that leave the Strigoi? This "other" form of undead that the Gypsies did not fear. Perhaps the average Romanian simply couldn't tell the difference between a Strigoi (zombie?) and a mule (vampire?) and over time and with retelling and extraction the myths blended together completely. This would explain why the Strigoi in the Romanian vampire tales don't always follow the same rules.

These myths still prevail in many areas which with all of our "modern" science and technology one has to wonder how much we are hidden from the truth here in North America. After all there are many accounts of many mystical and supernatural things all over the world and it is not hard for most people to believe in spirits, demons or the undead. Yet we in North America can't even decide for ourselves if we think there is a God or not. In 2004 the family of Toma Petre cut out his vampiric heart and made tea from it's ashes to heal his niece. Or in 1988 a 13 year old girl was found to be a vampire and killed by her family. These are only two examples of reported cases, that the media got a hold of and was aloud to make public. We know from zombie research how much the media is censored and in the case of other supernatural myths I have no doubt it is similar.

If it is so easy for the Strigoi and Mule to be confused as one monster and then converted into the generic "vampire" how hard would it have been for the official vampire plague of the 18th century to have actually been a zombie outbreak? An event the Catholic church publicly declared and supported but now will not let anyone view records of. Many modern scientists have theories about a strange form of rabies or a mental disease brought on my poor living conditions and food. But are those not possible causes of zombies as zombie researchers have proven? The biggest proof to zombies may actually be based in the confusion of undeniable vampire reports which science tries to explain away when the simplest answer is sitting right in front of us.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Whack-a-zombie

Some times it just helps to let loose a little steam. Or sometimes you want some target practise on a 3D object. Now you have a miniature zombie to do so. A tiny, (about 5" tall) zombie-punching bag called, Whack-a-Zombie: You Can't Keep a Good Zombie Down.

I mentioned target practise, now this can only be done to a certain extent unless you want to buy a new $7 for each bullet. But it does provide a good stepping stone for those new to firearms. An airsoft gun and one of these make for great practise on aiming and proper weapon handling.

Also with the little guy comes an equally tiny book called, Whack-a-Zombie: The Book. It begins with a lovely little introductions giving equal praise to zombies as real research and zombies as an entertaining pass time. The book continues on to tell the basics of zombie lore and where it comes from, even including a basic list of zombie films to start introducing oneself to the world of undead lore. A very well put together list of books is also included. The little book even goes so far as to provide the very basics of zombie survival. Over all I would say this book is ideal for those just beginning their training and getting ready to prepare for the fall of society as we know it. Is it complete or full of information? No. But the best way to begin such a large task is with a small but sure step. And I would say this book is that step. If you get a chance, pay the $7 just for the book, the bop-zombie is just a bonus. Even if the book has no use to you it will make an excellent gift to any friends or loved ones who are just beginning or you are trying to drop hints at. Often it is the ones close to us who deny and reprimand the preparation the most.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Zombie Make-up class

If you happen to be in Calgary next week you may want to check this out. Nothing like knowing how to look like your enemy or having the skills to put together instructional videos or just partake in a good ol' zombie walk.

This workshop will be a demonstration with time at the end to use the some of the products and practise some of the techniques you have learned. To register email info@donshobbyshop.ca - Space is limited! WE WILL BE DEMONSTRATING: Contouring face, neck and hands with cream makeup's, water based makeup's and powders Creating various zombie skin textures with latex and gel effects Wounds and broken bones using prosthetics,bone simulation wax and gel effects (application and removal) Various blood, dirt, eye and tooth effects.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Videos

From the creators of Red vs. Blue comes a very interesting idea, Real life Horde Mode. The video pretty much explains itself.



Now this I find a very interesting idea. Any real life zombie scenarios are always worth looking into and this represents very literally what I think most people fail to realize. Shit goes wrong. Your guns don't work and 400 zombies is a lot. Now these two had the mistake of staying in one place forced on them but with only one chance to survive many people will make mistakes like this. Or like spending so much time and energy running back and forth. The two of them killed less then one hundred zombies and they had basically unlimited ammo. You will not be so lucky. So be prepared! Have better barricades and exit strategies. When the Horde comes, there is no replay button.

If you want to partake in something like this you can look here or find similar events in your community. Airsoft, paintball and nerf make excellent training grounds to actually test the skills every would be survivor claims to have.

Another zombie experiment will be happening due to over whelming audience interest and despite past claims it would never happen. Check out the video, coming September 14th.

The Deadliest Warrior Pits Vampires Vs. Zombies
Get More: The Deadliest Warrior Pits Vampires Vs. Zombies

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Mini-shows

Well survivors, I'm getting the site up and running again and some of you may have noticed I've added a gallery. I will be adding one picture to it each day, so while small now it will be mighty. If you have any zombie pictures you would like to be considered for the gallery, send them to zlc@live.ca with any names that need to be credited. There is also a new poll up; and here, as foretold is another zombie related theatre show.

The show is called Dine + Dash. It played at the Regina International Fringe. Kent Evans, Ash-Lee Hommy and Kelly Sanchuck play in this series of short plays written by David Ives, Mark Levine and Virginia Lamax. Directed by Jason Fedorchuck with music by Kevin MacLeod. Now that all the technicality of names is out of the way onto the show.
Remember the piece I did on  Toxoplasma gondii back in February? Well writer Virginia Lamax has done her research when she was writing the zombie section of Dine + Dash. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite which has evolved to control mice, influence cats and is estimated to already infect 50% of humans. And science has shown parasites like this evolve hundreds of times faster then we do so the chances of it getting to the point of controlling us before we become immune to it is actually quite high. But Virginia's theory is that it's not that parasite that already infects us, or that we get from petting the cats or cleaning their litter boxes. She suggests the parasites first change evolve in the cats and turn them into undead-infection spreading machine of furry rage. I was quite surprised by the research and understanding that went into this piece. However aspects such as zombies climbing the outsides of buildings, retaining speech and human grudges all take this show away from being a reliable piece of research into pure fantasy.

From a more theatre tinted point of view this show stank like a rotting shambler. The writing was quite good for all three pieces but the delivery was where it all seemed to fall apart. Young actors who didn't seem to get much direction, with scripts above their talent level just made the whole event rather hard to watch.
Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Zombies at the Fringe

Back from a long quest across the country details of which and break downs of the preparedness of the cities I visited will follow shortly once I am actually home. For now I am visiting my final city of the trip.

It only makes sense with my involvement in theatre and the zombie survivor community that I should pay attention to what is happening around the country in the way of zombie related theatre. So I bring to you, follow survivors, a series on shows across the country which with zombie content.

It is also my great pleasure to start this off with an interview with the man behind one of these shows, Notes from a Zombie Apocalypse. Written by Brian Trimboli and Megan Moriarty, this show is produced and directed by Edmonton's own, Jamie Cavanagh.

I was at a preview showing of Notes from a Zombie Apocalypse a couple months ago and I'll share my thoughts before I get into the interview with Jamie. And those thoughts are very positive. As Jamie will goes on more about in the interview, the show doesn't deal with issues like, 'how many beans are left?' or 'what type of gun is going to blow a zombie apart the best?' This show deals with a subject I believe will kill many of today's would be badass survivors, loneliness. Wishing to see loved ones from before. The willpower and drive to actually live without human contact. I challenge anyone to go a week or even a day with zero human contact. Most people cannot do it, and they often only manage due if they have well prepared for the event. In this respect I believe the show brings up very valid points about having to prepare oneself mentally and emotionally as well as stockpiling and having a good plan.

The poems themselves are written quite well when taking into consideration things like zombies slowing in the cold, people heading either North or South for various reasons. The effects of loneliness, the despair of possibly having to kill the only other human being you've seen in months. The response by scientists and military. While the specific logistics of how to rebuild a town and supply it with power and food are not discussed that is not the point. Look to practical experience and training to find the skills required for those and many stories, films and plays make the mistake of going into these details when the author does not know himself truly how to do it. Not to mention the extreme circumstances that will be facing all survivors.

The play also does not focus on the zombies, as with most good zombie related material; the struggle is about people and having to live with themselves as well as dealing with the ever present threat.

Finally I'd just like to take a quick moment to look at the play from a theatrical point. This was just a preview/workshop for the piece but it has a great amount of potential. It's a short piece, running about 35 minutes, and as such not even long enough to loose interest. It was so easy to get lost in the well formed words and world of the two actors.
So the interview:

ZLC: I understand this show was written based on poems from a writer in America. Where did you find his poetry in the first place and decide to turn it into a show?

Jamie: The origins a bit of a story. I had an open Fringe spot, my previous show had fallen through. Evan and Perry expressed an interest and asked me to direct them in a show. The pieces were actually discovered by Evan and Perry via a mutual friend of ours, Elena Belyea. She has spent pieces of her last few summers teaching poetry writing in the states, and she has come to be very close friends with Brian Trimboli and Megan Moriarty through the camp she works at. She showed them to Evan and Perry, they presented them to me, I fell in love with them, and here we are.

ZLC: I know you are a bit of a comic book fan. Will that have any influence on the piece and how it's staged?

Jamie: It’s funny that you ask, because the blocking of the show is going to be completely comic book based. It’s a short show, and the words are the most important part. For that reason, we are going to work with a really image based style with little to no movement while speaking. Attempting for live-action comic book frames.

ZLC: In the preview of the show, their wasn't much attention to statistical details, like ammo count or exact locations. But there was a lot of other, more personal, details given. Could you give us your thoughts on that aspect?

Jamie: Well here’s my take. I’ve always thought of poetry as the truest way to communicate. You skip the detail and the extra, and jump straight into the heart. Honestly I don’t care how much ammo they have, where they are getting it, or where exactly they are in the United States. I believe that for the story we are telling, it is simply unimportant. What is important is the imagery they paint. They describe not where they are but what is around them, what they see, and how they feel about it. Likewise they don’t talk about the ammo or where they got it. They talk about how it feels to have to kill another person for their own survival. That is a much more interesting and loaded show to watch.

ZLC: What would you say the theme of this show is?

Jamie: I would say that the main theme in the show is isolation. Ultimately it is about two brothers separated and wanting the company of the other. Morgan [Evan’s character] references the fact that he is claustrophobic. His claustrophobia becomes an issue for him not because he is caught in small compact spaces, but rather he is all alone in a big empty world. An unfavourable situation he has no control of. He is trapped like a plant in a pot.

ZLC: Now do the two brothers ever find some sort of solice or come to an ending, or do the letters just sort of stop at some point?

Jamie: I don’t want to give away the ending for those who are planning to see it.

ZLC: What survival lessons do you think would come out of watching this show?

Jamie: Well, I’ll say this. When confronted with the problem of a zombie apocalypse, many people have their ‘survival plans’. They know where they are going to get their equipment, they know how they’re going to escape, and they know where they will start anew. Not many people plan for the solitude. My favourite visual artist Banksy has an amazing quote “There are so many people willing to suffer for their art, and so few willing to learn to draw.” Similarly, in this regard, there are so many people willing live a lone wolf, Road Warrior-esque lifestyle, while they chat with their friends in bars about life after the apocalypse; but when their friends aren’t there, when their family isn’t there, when strangers, and cars, and animals aren’t there, when they are all alone with their tents and guns and industrial cans of baked beans what would they give to see another face, familiar or otherwise? Is the life you’re fighting for worth anything when you cannot share it?

ZLC: What sort of things have you learned while putting this piece together (zombie related or otherwise)?

Jamie: Well I have acted in dozens of shows in my life, however I have never directed a show, so this whole experience of directing is new and exciting for me. I’m just piecing it together based on directors I respect and enjoyed working with. So far it’s going well.

ZLC: Now honestly, which brother do you think stands a better chance of survival?

Jamie: Brian [played by Perry] is the older of the two brothers. While Morgan’s disposition is that of regret, wanting to go back to a happier time, Brian’s goal seems to be to move forward. To fix the broken world in which he lives. Because of this outlook he encounters groups of people along the way, and takes a leadership role in the group as well as his own life. In a realist situation, I subjectively would pick Brian to fare better.

There you have it, Notes from a Zombie Apocalypse. Directed by Jamie Cavanagh, starring Evan Hall and Perry Gratton, definately worth looking for it, to both the seasoned survivor and the newly interested, at the Edmonton Fringe festival later this month!

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Stocking up

Funds may be an issue for many survivors so it is worth mentioning some tips for stocking up on a budget.
First off too stock up you first need somewhere to put your stock. This can be tricky depending how much room you have. If you have a pantry or storage room then fill that up and your set. It also depends how much you plan on stocking. The more you have the better but don't go to extremes and fill the space under your kids' bed with canned food or toilet paper. Watch extreme couponing or hording for some good ideas on storing things, such as buying a can holder like some bulk stores have. Stores hundred of cans and easy access once you need them.
In Canada, no frills is the cheapest place to buy beans. And trust me, if you don't like beans, you need to aquire the taste. At .77 cents a can this is the easiest way to prepare yourself and beans are one of the healthiest foods for you. A can of beans virtually never goes bad and will provide the basics any person needs. One container can be spread to last but ideally a minimum of three cans per person per day is suggested. This combined with vitimins and the odd fruit or vegetables will be enoguh for a more Spartan exsistance until a consistant source of food is secured.
Eating healthy before the fall can be hard on a budget too. Try to find deals, buy chicken in bulk, or don't be afraid to try new things. Octopus and chicken hearts are a lot cheaper then crab or chicken breasts and are just as good for you. Search around for good deals on free range chicken. Try farmer's markets, if it costs even the same as in the store it's a better deal. But keep searching, it's not rare to find chicken for as much as $5 cheaper in a farmer's market then at your local Safeway.
Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Military tactics

A couple of days ago I put out a post with a link to two zombie survival guides. One of these is "How to Survive Zombies" by Dave Johnson. The book starts out with a brief explaination of one possible cause for zombies and goes into a little detail on theories. Most of the book seems to treat zombies as if they react like normal humans -more on this later- but this stems from the explaination of zombies given in the book where by the infection causes a coma, the person either dies during this time or awaken from the coma as a zombie. The flaws with this theory are evident, zombies are dead. The "coma" state is in fact death, and re-animation is 100% if the body has been infected.

Now survivors, I believe you will be smart enough to see through this but I will state it just on principle. While organizations like FEMA, CDC and WHO may try different tactics such as Zombie Feeding stations to keep the zombies controlled; these will not work. Zombies feed on the closest fresh meat. The amount of fresh (read "live" food) to keep even a small number of zombies in one location would be vast. Although this could be used as a strategy to coral the zombies and lock them away until the time and resources exsist to eliminate them.

Looking past the fluff there are a couple of good survival tips in here. Make friends with the socially awkward guy who believes every apocolypse story and has a stock pile ready to go in an instant. This person can probably teach you a few things about preparedness and if they end up turning during the fall you can always take advantage of their preparedness.

Knowing the location of the nearest hardware store is also very important. While you may be able to buy/put together everything you need, eventually you will need to resupply or things will come up that you didn't think of and you will need more wood for barricades, quick cement for windows or walls, and tools.

What is not good advice is trying to make it to the nearest Costco or Wal-Mart. Why? Because every would-be-survivor will be grabbing his pawnshop katana, army surplus combats and heading for the nearest Wal-Mart or Costco. In addition to the people who will already be there. In addition to the people who will be desperately rushing there to get last minute supplies. All-in-all, stay away from these places until things have calmed down a bit.

Run or Hide. Good tip for the begining. Only fight the undead you have to. Trying to be a hero during the first couple of days will only get you killed or in a jail cell. Neither of these are ideal.

There are a few other good bits of information in here. One of which I constantly push, invest in a real leather jacket. If you can't bite through it, neither can a zombie.

But all of that is just the basics, some general survival tips every survivor can tell you. The meat and potatos of this book actually has nothing to do with zombies. It's copied from the US Marines handbook, Battle Drill handbook and US Army Field Manual, how to move, on your own or in formations. Very basics of hunting and fishing. How to use hand signals and even how to opperate a military radio. If this useful information? Absolutely! But not for the reasons Dave writes. Zombie do not opperate like humans but humans do. Eventually you will come across hostile humans, raiders, bandits, looters, other survivors or even military units. It is against these humans the knowledge presented will prove of use to you. While not vital to your survival, every advantage you can get over an opposing force is an advantage worth taking.

The final section of the book is more entertainment then survival guide but is worth reading and taking in with a grain of salt. The one thing I will argue about this section is the note about shotguns. Everyone tends to think of shotguns as a close range weapon because of video games and movies. If you have no weapons training, take a shotgun over an assualt rifle. With a shotgun you just have to aim around the head to get a hit (or the chest if you can't hold the recoil.) With an assualt rifle you have to get a head shot, perfect aim on a moving target, every time. With no training and the target moving in to EAT you, most people will not be able to do this. Most shotguns are accurate out to about one hundred meters (330 feet), a range at which anyone not trained will have a very hard time getting a head shot. Once the target closes to thirty meters (33 feet) I suggest switching to your sidearm. This will give better control, aim and speed. Three things that will be vitally important once the infected get that close.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

The choice is yours

It's been a long time since I've seen a choose your own adventure book but I still go to websites where you can do them. So you can imagine my joy when I found a choose your own adventure zombie book, "Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?"

Can't say everything in the book plays out logically. Some stories are ultra realistic and others border on teenage wet dreams. The zombies however are always consistant and clear in their presentation.

The choices aren't what I would call the best. Some choices are down right stupid and the reader can see other options but only has two or three choices to go for. Usually the only time you are called on to even make a choice is when picking which weapon to use or which location to go to. The book does however display how good choices early on can make all the difference as some situations have no happy endings. Even most of the good endings in the book sit uneasy, they are not so much endings as temporary safety or escape, an end to that part of the story yes but I, for one, was left rather empty by many of the endings in which I wondered... so what happens now?

The brutality and pain of death is captured extremely well. As well as the simple math and unstoppable power of the undead forces. Watching one become two, become four, become eight. All a zombie has to do is get one bite in before someone kills it and the cycle continues.

Now I would like to go through some of the endings in more detail so you know, stay away if your scared of spoilers, I will try to avoid as much as I can but I am talking about the endings so...

So your first choice is made on page seven (7), cab (204), subway (205) or walk (22).
Now from that point on there are many more choice to make but the results are somewhat limited. Basically you can end up dead, escaping, in a safe house or at one of three strange endings. Now the death endings are pretty obvious and the most plentiful, some paths also lead to choices which only result in death. The escape endings are definately the weakest of the bunch as they end more or less like many zombie movies, with the hero or heroes sailing away on a boat or flying away on a helicopter. There is no real closure, nothing is fixed or established just temporary safety, which in most cases is all one can ask for I suppose. Then there are safe houses, these are my favorite endings. Where the hero has established a place where he can live out the rest of his days surviving the apocalypse. In most of these cases the safe house is somewhat reliable and would stand the test of time, other cases the safe house is dodgy at best but might keep the hero/heroes alive for some period of time. Finally are the three "other" endings. Two of these I feel are cop outs by the writter, forcing the reader to choose a more rash and "heroic" option, which in real life will often lead to death. These two endings basically result in the writter questioning the reader's manlihood and insulting his choice to take the safer option. While somewhat humorous, it does destroy the idea there being a safer choice. Finally we are left with "The End" as the writter calls it. The hero discovers the cause for the zombies but even then is left with a strange sort of open ending because he does not try to stop it, to either succeed or die trying as everything else in the book seems to focus on. The source of the zombies? Why it's George A. Romero of course! No wonder he backed out of Calgary Comic Con with this book diffulging his neffarious plans! Broken arm, a likely story!

I did keep track of all the endings and how to get to each but I thought putting that up would be to easy and take away the fun of the book for you. It is a book that can pass a lot of time. And provide much entertainment so long as you can stomache some of the more gruesome endings and put up with the unrealistic heroism or battles in others.

"Dear Calgary Expo Fans,

Sorry I can't be there with you this weekend. As luck would have it, I banged up my arm the other day and can't autograph. I was looking forward to seeing Calgary and meeting all of you. I hope you all have a great weekend, and I look forward to getting there next year. Thank you for your loyalty and understanding!"

Stay Scared!

George A. Romero"

Stay vigilant, may you make the right choices, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so mistaken, Mike D.

Free stuff!

Hello survivors, while I gather information for a series of reports on different locations across Canada (and two special locations outside of Canada) I have been tardy in my daily posting. I would like to share with you however, thanks to my favorite zombie forum two link to books you may enjoy.

The_Zombie_Survival_Guide_Download_Instructions.txt

How_To_Survive_Zombies_Download_Instructions.txt

I will be providing in depth studies of the survival advice and tactics provided in both of these books. So you may want to read them to have reference to what I'm saying or you may want to read my notes first before cementing any ideas in your mind. The advice in Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide will get many potential survivors killed. However some of the advice and information presented is quite useful.

Now and then I also like to play games. I believe they are a fundamental part of surviving in the world before or after the fall in order to keep sanity. To that end it is important to have a deck of cards or some dice in your survival kit and know a few games to play with them. Either on your own or if you run into others.

Here are a few online games I enjoy:

Zombie Lane
It's fun and easy and takes a long time. The routine of re-establishing one's house and family is an important one as is the regular upkeep of barricades, farming and slaying of zombies. All of these things the game instills while being light hearted and simple.

Zombie Slayer
A game a kin to Mafia Wars or any of those. Simply building a group of friends and killing zombies and zombie bosses around the world by clicking them to death.

Pandemic
Not necessarily a zombie game but this game does a surprisingly good job of depicting how a virus might spread. Through water and airports, infecting the entire world in a matter of days. Often wiping out entire countries before they have a chance to even start work on a cure.

Infectonator
This is a fun strategy game of sorts where you infect and destroy the world one city at a time. While the "game" aspects of it make everything more game-like and less real, some interesting parallels to real life can be made. Watching how the zombies naturally group together where there are more people. The people who hold up in a corner seem to last the longest but if they stay there too long they get over whelmed. The faster police and military are on the scene and recognize the threat the better chance of keeping the outbreak contained. The patterns of both the humans and zombies in this game can be watched and obvious mistakes leading to death or smart tactics leading to a single person surviving the horde can be observed.


Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Poop burgers

Those with a weak stomach will not survive after the fall, get ready to hold it in and read on.

"It's being called the "poop burger". Japanese scientists have found a way to create artificial meat from sewage containing human feces.

Somehow this feels like a Vonnegut plotline: population boom equals food shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes, but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.

Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria.

The researchers then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The “meat” is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The researchers color the poop meat red with food coloring and enhance the flavor with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef.

Inhabitat notes that “the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from animals.” Livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in efforts to feed ourselves as well as the controversy over cruelty to animals. Ikeda’s recycled poop burger would reduce waste and emissions, not to mention obliterating Dante’s circle for gluttons.

The scientists hope to price it the same as actual meat, but at the moment the excrement steaks are ten to twenty times the price they should be thanks to the cost of research. Professor Ikeda understands the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted knowing that your food is made from human feces. They hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the fact that the meat will have fewer calories.

Waste not; want not."

What does this have to do with zombies? Well, I'm not sure on the details of this fake meat and how hard it is to make but with that high of protein content for lower then normal calories? This jumps to one of the healthiest things you can eat. It's fitness potential is obvious but depending how easy it is to put this into production it could make food shortages less of an issue. And trust that once the world has ended, after the world's food supplies run out and the animals have been killed of, survivors will be willing to eat anything, and if the process can be simplified and easily reproduced, food will become that much less of an issue. So to get ready for the possibility, I'm having a poop steak next time I go to Japan.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

London, Ontario

I sent a letter to the mayor of London. No response yet, I've included a copy of the letter below. So I will continue to make my own research and notes. I have decided to post these notes as I make them and just continue to edit and make changes as my time studying here continues. This will result in fewer new posts but new information being put up more regularly. Be sure to continue to check this post as it will expand almost everyday.

Statistics
Population: 352,395
Size: 162.4 Square miles
Temperature: 21C to 30C (summer), -10C to -2C (winter)
Humidity: 77-94
Pressure: 101+
Climate: Dfb (humid continental climate)
Young children: 5.2%
Elderly: 13.7%
Population Density: 838 people per square kilometer (Ontario average 13 people per square kilometer)
Police: 586
Law Enforcement ratio: 623:1

Climate
The air here is incredibly humid. This is something you may not really think about but will actually make a huge difference. Consider this example, two fit men experimented with physical activities here. Both fighters, but after a very quick fight routine where both breathing heavily. A routine that wouldn't have even made them speed up breathing or break a sweat in Alberta. My own study is as a runner, while in Edmonton I don't begin to get tired until about 30 minutes into my run, here I was struggling to keep going after roughly 15 minutes. Effectively being about as exhausted and dehydrated as I get around the 75 minute mark back home. While I was able to make it through my whole run it was at a much slower pace and much greater difficulty and discomfort. Meaning if you aren't used to a humid climate, running from the undead here is going to be much more difficult then you can imagine. Now this humidity isn't completely due to a slightly higher relative humidity or the minor difference in pressure but also due to the low ceiling. In Alberta the ceiling is almost always unlimited or in the high thousands. Here the ceiling is usually under 2000ft. and quite commonly under 1000ft. This makes the air feel much more dense and heavy, even though the actually humidity is roughly the same. Also the air is just wetter, the wind blowing in from the Great Lakes and the constant fogs make it a lot more work to push air in and out of your lungs. So what does all this actually mean in terms of London as a place to hole up and survive. Well if you are from some where even more humid like Orlando then this would be ideal weather but if you come from some where with much dryer, lighter air, like Alberta, you will find your abilities will not be what they were back West. Won't run as far or as fast, won't be able to carry as much, will need more water and food, all of this at least for the first while until your body gets used to the density.

Location:
The location of London is interesting and well worth noting. London is surrounded by small towns about it's own size. This means there are many communities to explore, loot or escape to should the need arise. It also spreads out the population, meaning it will take longer for the infection to spread.
Also of note is the proximity to the American border: less then a two hour drive. This means come Z-Day you can expect a lot of very scared, very aggressive Americans trying to cross that border to get as far North as possible. My suggestion? Let them. Just get out of the way and protect yourself if any of them are dumb enough to try and take your supplies along the way. The two big threats to be aware of here are spread of the infection, which you can do nothing about so you might as well just let them get as far from you as possible or let the military deal with them. And secondly the earliest form of raiders. Once no longer in their own country many of the new refugees will be looking for help. If things are still in a relatively early and calm state they will find this help and be grateful for it. Once things continue further on though and help becomes harder to find the fleeing people will become desperate and resort to violence. Trying to forcibly take shelter or supplies, demanding assistance. At this point if you are well equipped enough to say no and protect yourself then do so but if not it might be a safer choice to let the person have their way. People won't have the full taste for blood yet and most will genuinely rather take what they need then kill for no reason. Don't let this fool you though, desperate people will do desperate things and there may be one or two stone cold killers in the masses of scared civilians.

Military presence:
While there are no military base or airfields in or directly around London there is a very important thing on the city's side, it's production facilities. General Dynamics Land Systems builds tanks. And more importantly it builds state of the art advanced tanks and weaponry. The kind of stuff the public isn't supposed to know about. For years everyone has known about cruise ships using sonic weapons against pirates. But what few people know about is the real devastation of these weapons. I have an inside source who has pictures of tanks being ripped apart by a single blast from a sonic weapon. The weapons being developed at GDLSIIIs or other APCs and tanks made there would provide you with shelter, transport and weaponry. Three vital resources after the fall.

Local Law Enforcement:
With relatively low homicide and missing persons reported by police compared to crimes of a non-violent nature; combined with what I've seen from locals put into conflicts the ratio of turn around from humans to zeds will be quite high. However the amount of police presence will prove a very valuable asset. It is virtually impossible to go out into London without running across law enforcement of some kind. This will provide a lot of order and support during the first few hours and even days. Obviously with a ratio of over six-hundred to one the police will not be able to end a Class 3 or 4 outbreak but they will provide time to the military (and more importantly, you.) This time will be very valuable, while the police try to keep things under control you can make fortifications or skip town.



Geography/Layout:
Here’s a thing about old cities, before the grid system. And this may put to rest some of the arguments between which is better, names or numbers for streets. Old cities were built with twists and turns and no seeming pattern, with all named streets (also with no real pattern) for the sole purpose of confusing an invading army. It is supposed to be hard for people who are not from there to get around in the city. This will do two things: work against you if you don’t know the city, and work for you if you do know the city. If you don’t know the city, good luck trying to find anything without a map, good directions or a guide. Also when people start panicking (which theoretically 99% of people will do) they will very quickly become lost and confused without regimented training –which, never kid yourself, even the understanding of a grid system is training.- However the flip side to all of this is once things calm down and you’ve learned the city and established a safe house. You can use this advantage for its original purpose against outside raiders or overly aggressive military. Using the maze and confusing nature of the city itself to help you while knowing it will cause them grief. It’s also of some note to understanding the layout of the city quicker, it was built on two grids. Each of the great lakes has been put on a grid by surveyors, London is built on a place where two of the grids from the lakes collide and so part of the city is built on one grid and part is built on the other.
The houses in London are also very small. Fine for a couple of people but for a decent sized group to survive for an extended period you will want more space. Both for the personal sanity of the members of the group and for storage of supplies. Smaller buildings do mean less to barricade and protect though. A large portion of the houses are in fact only one story as well. This can prove very problematic. The biggest problem is one most people will not think of and that makes it the biggest problem. If there is a breach in the barricades people will run to another floor, in this case, the basement. Never get trapped in a basement. No matter how well fortified you need to have an escape route or you will eventually be overrun or simply holed in and starved out. This second option not the intention of the undead of course but if you do have a well prepared basement then you can very easily create a chokepoint through which no zombie will ever step foot even if all the armies of middle-earth were zombified and assaulting you. However once you’ve killed the first few dozen the path will be blocked. After you kill a few more that manage to make tiny openings the passage will be sealed by a wall of zombie flesh, behind which the undead horde awaits your exit. Suddenly you are trapped with only what food, water and company you have with you. Now the only option of escape is those tiny windows most basements have and between the noise of breaking/removing that window and then the time crawling through it, that little window is almost as deadly a bear trap there ever was. This of course is a completely different situation if your basement has A) a patio or ground floor exit, common if your house is built in hilly terrain. B) a cellar door. Or C) multiple ways to other floors. Ideally you want to have a building at least two stories tall with other buildings of relative height near by so you can continue to climb and seal off the floors below you, always having the windows to exit through and even after the third floor (the point at which jumping is no longer a save option) you can have premade planks or ladders to move to another building.
Apparently there are a number of firearms stores in London, but I was unable to find any of them in my time there. Now that being said I didn’t look overly hard but I was  looking and what I did see where lots of Airsoft or Youth Firearms stores. Now Airsoft and Youth Firearms are great, for practicing military tactics and playing games with your friends. They will not kill zombies. For fighting humans the real stuff (not the cheap San Fransisco ones) can actually do a fair bit of damage but they aren’t capable of piercing the skull unless you are a crack shot who will be hitting the zombies in the eyes with every BB.



Population:
Finally as mentioned before about drunk people. It is possible to mistake a drunkard or one of the many socially challenged people in the high traffic areas of London, for a zombie. With all these undesirable people around it may hard to spot an undead at first. Anything resembling a zombie should be reported to police, not of course as a zombie, but as an aggressive, violent person. Include and gory details, such as blood or damage to the body. Then find a safe spot to watch from. If the police arrive and it infects them, you know it is a zombie. If they kill it, great. If it kills them start putting your plans into effect and barricading you safe house. If it only infects one but is put down this is an even more dangerous situation. Do you leave and barricade your safe house knowing that cop will turn at the most unexpected moment and spread the infection, or do you take your chances killing the cop and then hope you can get a light sentence by pleading insanity and telling them about the infection. I suggest option one, what’s the point in saving the world if you will have to live the rest of it behind bars. Now if the person wasn’t a zombie, well you probably did a civic duty by getting them off the streets for a night or two anyway, especially if the suspicious person was on Dundas and Richmond.


Letter to the Mayor:
Honorable Mr. Fontana:

I'm a writer from Edmonton, Alberta and I'm contacting a few cities across Canada asking a couple questions about the preparedness of the cities in the event of a zombie outbreak. I would be very grateful if you or someone in your office would be so kind as to answer any of my questions to the level you are comfortable with.

Is London prepared for a zombie outbreak? How so?

How would London respond to each level of outbreak? Each level is mostly categorized by the amount of infected involved.
Level 1 - 1-20 zombies
Level 2 - 20-100 zombies
Level 3 - 100-100,000 zombies
Level 4 - World wide apocalypse

Do you have any special teams or procedures ready to be put in place in the case of zombies?

Is there any training or information in place, such as provided by the Agoge Dojo in Denver or the Centre for Disease Control?

Do you have any zombie specialists in your city to help with preparation or look for warning signs?

Thank you for taking the time to read my e-mail.

While London's leadership has not yet responded or taken the threat seriously, apparently St. John's has though.


In summary:
I do not wish to give any city or region a ranking or anything like that but merely provide concerns and opportunities for those potential survivors living in the city or considering moving there. London (like much of Southern Ontario) has a heavy wetness to the air which will take some adjusting to. The high percentage of police will mean a slower decent into chaos once the outbreak gets to Class 3 or 4. And the neighboring towns provide quick exits. The military importance of the city can also not be underestimated for both gathering resources and considering military response. Consider all of these and the cities close proximity to the border when preparing to spend any length of time in London. And as always-

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you; and if it does may those close to you have the resolve to do what is necessary. Mike D.

Space Zombies part 7

In another universe there is a setting in which we find humanity stretched out among the stars, the culture has changed but the people haven't. It's become the wild west all over again but with Chinese influences and spaceships. This is the world of Firefly. A world ravaged by a civil war which now settled leaves humanity under the rule of a harsh, controlling government.

Here we find no aliens but the biggest threat to humanity (besides smugglers, pockets of resistance and former brown coats) is the Reavers. Humans who have lost their humanity. They are savage beasts who rape, eat and torture for a living.

These creatures were caused by a government experiment to create a drug which causes people to be passive and unaggressive, which worked , on 99.9% of people. The other 0.01% it turned into crazed killing machines who feel no fear and live only to cause pain in others it seems.

Reavers only hunt. They pack together (simply for numbers, no social implications) and search out prey. They try to capture their prey alive they then rape it to death, eat it, and sew it's skin into their clothing -not always in that order.- The prey of course is other humans. The reavers bolster their numbers by brainwashing a few of their prisoners and torturing the humanity out of them.

The reavers feel no pain or emotion and thus are not slowed by anything but a killing blow. Otherwise they are roughly the same as other humans, although they tend to have bits of metal and fresh wounds gapping from their bodies.



Cause: Chemical
Undead: No
Body: Human
Freewill: No
Infectious: No
Fear: No

While the reavers are an enemy to by dealt with brutally and with caution it is safe to say they are not zombies. They are closer to the Crazies but more brutal, think of Rage zombies with intelligence; truely frightening. Reavers may behave similar to zombies and are found in space but they aren't undead and while crazed they add torture, rape and other actions instead of blind destruction.

Stay vigilant, may Pax never infect you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Space Zombies part 6

In the future mankind has finally come to peace with itself, now being called the Alliance. Many other alien races have been found and they all have a sort of co-existence that is led by a counsel of representatives from the most influential races. However all cannot remain peaceful forever. A robot race known as Geth wage war on all bio-organic life, led by God-machines known as Reavers. This is the world of Mass Effect.

The Geth use a particularly nasty weapon against the organic species: their own dead. The Geth capture creatures and impale them on large alien spikes dubbed "Dragon's Teeth" due to the Dragon's Teeth Jason sows in the ground to produce skeletons. These Dragon's Teeth are Reaver technology which converts all the organic material in the body to cybernetic material. The body is then reanimated with an electric charge and set loose to kill all organic life.

The husks have no intelligence, no fear, no emotion of any kind unless counting the look of frozen pain and horror on the face of the person they once were. They cannot use weapons that are not built into their bodies, husks created from different races have different abilities but all have the same simple minded, single goal, destruction of the nearest living creature.

Any attempts to domesticate or revive husks has ended in horrific failure and lose of life.
Cause: Alien Technology
Undead: Yes
Body: Humanoid (augmented)
Freewill: No
Infectious: No
Fear: No

Well survivor I present to you another true space zombie. The husks are mindless killers with no intelligence or motives. As a bonus they are even undead, although a futuristic version of such. They only thing that could make these sad creatures more zombie-like is if they were infectious. And as Mass Effect shows zombies in the future pose a similar threat as they do now. Little to none if encountered in small numbers but potentially the biggest threat of all if faced in overwhelming numbers.

Stay vigilant, may the indoctrination never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Space Zombies part 5

In the not too distant future the United Federation of Planets faces a threat to which resistance is futile. In this future of peace, politics and exploration many alien races exsist but only the Borg cannot be reasoned with. They have a single goal of assimilating everything and everyone in our galaxy worth assimilating.

The Borg are part cybernetic, having enhancements including an energy shield, an eye which can see beyond human capacity, an arm which has many tools built in and nano-enhanced strength and healing.

The Borg relentlessly pursue other races and infect them with nanobots which being assimilation immidiately. Assimilation can be rejected or reversed but is very unlikely. Everyone assimilated becomes a drone with the sole purpose of obeying the Hive Mind and creating more drones.

Because of the shielding and nanobots the drones are almost invincible and capture, death or assimilation is all but inevitable. A drone will infect a living subject by injecting him with nanobots through the use of it's tool arm. Borg have also been proven to be capible of reproducing on their own but this does not furture the goal of assimilation so is not common.

Cause: Nanobots
Undead: No
Body: Humanoid (augmented)
Freewill: No
Infectious: Yes
Fear: No

Now I know this is pretty short but I had to call it here. Borg are not zombies. They are take the invincible aspect zombies can sometimes feel they have and the inevitable death motive but they are not zombies. While they do infect victims, those victims are not killed but rather enhanced and turned into a living robot. And while they have no freewill, they are also not completely blood thirsty killing machines. The similarities are there, parallels can be drawn but the fundamentals are missing.
Stay resistant, may you never be assimilated, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Space Zombies part 4

Now this space creature is a little closer to home. In the setting of one of the most iconic enemies in video games. Half-life, in the near future mankind of experimenting with alien technology and well, all goes wrong. Enter the aliens and the aliens food, the headcrabs.

The headcrabs are a small parasite, roughly the size of a pumpkin which is all mouth and legs. It latches onto a host and starts to mutate it. Causing the host to grow a large mouth and claws itself. And then to search out food. Oddly enough for such an iconic character in such an important game to the industry there isn't a lot on the way headcrabs work. What is known is that they do not kill the infected host and thus must feed so both the host and headcrab can continue to survive in this strange relationship. A rather inefficent process compared to many other parasites. The headcrabs take control of the body while leaving the host's mind conscious and in control of unimportant functions such as speach. This may be a strategy of the headcrab to induce fear in further victims but sinse the headcrabs show no other signs of higher intelligence (even in their methods of attacking, using claws to beat instead of stab or tear) I feel safe in assuming this is not the case.

Cause: Parasite
Undead: No
Body: Humanoid (mutated)
Freewill: Somewhat
Infecious: No
Fear: No

While Half-Life was called by many people one of the scariest games ever I am glad and slightly disturbed to say headcrabs are infact nothing like a zombie besides being a parasite. Infact the biggest difference and the part that would make them scary were they real is the fact the human infected is still alive. Which also thus makes Gordon a murderer of countless innocents in addition to unleaching the alien hordes on humanity.
Stay vigilant, may the necrotics never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Zombie-busters

Have you ever wondered just how effective certain weapons would actually be against zombies? One of my goals here at the ZLC has been to test weapons and tactics and bring the results to other survivors. Much like Mythbusters I want to present actual field tests or as close as can be safely simulated. And apparently I am not the only one.

These guys are taking everyday items and putting them to the test as a new youtube channel, ZombieGoBoom TV. Now it looks like they will be including: nunchucks, hammer, baseball bat, umbrella, hunting knife, soft drink, a package of lunch meat, ball point pen, guitar and with a line up like that I think we can expect a whole lot more to come. They plan to take these items and rate them based on type, size, weight, splatter rating and survival rating.

The first episode is all about baseball bats. Looking at the advantages of an aluminum bat versus a wooden bat. Now survivors I just want to do a quick little comparison myself: wooden bat breaks eventually, doesn't provide as much impact due to softer material. Aluminum bat, provides a faster swing with but isn't as heavy or carry as much crushing power. I have done no tests to prove these things but those are my first observations. Now ZombieGoBoom took two bats, did not tell us how heavy they were and used each to smash a coconut in ballistics gel. Then without giving any actual data collected. Made pretty close to the same statements I made above. Sadly while I expected a lot from these guys they did not deliver on this first video.

However these are not the first people to attempt this type of video however. Check out Zombie Command for example. Without making any major claims they simply state they will be testing weapons used in zombie movies against coconuts to simulate a zombie head. No promises of data collection or anything of that sort and thus when any information at all is given it is taken as extra instead of waiting for more. In this one video alone they test a straight blade knife, ball peen hammer, crowbar, kukri knife and chainsaw.

There are many videos out there of this nature. Looking at and determining if certain weapons are choice for killing zombies. No video series I've found so far has provided actual statistics and analytical data about if these weapons are actually useful or not. Sadly one of the differences between real survivors and many of these video makers is understanding there is more to killing zombies then just smashing heads.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Space Zombies part 3

Now here is a setting that needs no introduction but for the people who haven't been around for the last ten years and at risk of upsetting the elitists I will offer one. Humanity has expanded, colonies stretching across the galaxy, nothing stands in our way. Except for the Covenant, an alliance of alien species unhappy with humans continued growth and virus-like expansion. Also the fact humanity itself grows too large and hates being controlled so the colonies verge on civil war. Thus a new kind of soldier is made, a race of super soldiers called Spartans is engineered from young children to face the threats against humanity both from without and from within. Wars have come and gone, eventually mankind has been reduced to much less then it once was and only a single Spartan remains. And if things weren't bad enough suddenly a new menace resurfaces. A parasite that once wiped the galaxy of all life, was contained and has now found new hosts a plenty in the wake of the human/Covenant war.

This is the setting of the Halo universe. Very science fictiony and super-hero, standard first-person shooter fair really. Until suddenly The Flood arrive; a race of parasites from another galaxy which were treated as a virus instead of as an enemy in a war and thus they grew to destroy most of our galaxy. The parasite attaches to the body of a dead, sentient creature and reanimates and mutates the body into a killing machine. With the sole purpose of killing more to create more corpses for other Flood to infect. Called Inferi redivivus (the dead incarnate in Latin, a name also given to vampires in other lore) the Flood works by reanimating dead hosts.

The Flood take the memories and intelligence of the creature they infected and assimilate it into itself and eventually the Gravemind, a powerful being which simultaneously controls all of the Flood in the area it has access to. The Flood use combat tactics, weapons and stratiges, becoming ever more dangerous as they infect more intelligent beings.

The Flood can infect a living being by connecting directly into the nervous system via tentacles all of the combat forms develop. It is possible to be immune to the Flood or to cure someone who has been infected but not yet killed. ORION genetically altered soldiers are immune as well as it is possible to kill the infection with electric charges without harming the host.

The Flood are an extremely complex race from another galaxy which has evolved at incredible speeds and continues to evolve to survive in whatever circumstances it is in or to assimilate whatever species it can find. The Flood can also reproduce among themselves but this is viewed as a last ditch effort if all other avenues of infecting fresh hosts are gone.

Cause: Parasite
Undead: Yes
Body: Humanoid (mutated)
Freewill: Yes
Infectious: Yes (tentacles)
Fear: No

Flood while at first glance appear to be standard zombie fair are in fact very far from being zombies it would seem. While a parasite they are extremely intelligent, causing the first major reason they are not zombies. Add in the way infection works and the fact it can be cured are nothing like a zombie virus. Not to mention being able to reproduce without new hosts to infect. All in all a terrifying enemy but not a zombie horde as much as it may feel like one running through dark tunnels gunning them down in scores.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Space Zombies part 2

In another section of space we find humanity has once again conquered everything in its path. Now we have tools capable of "cracking" open entire planets and harvesting the resources within. Except on one planet we find something much older then humanity. And discover that while humans knew they weren't completely alone, whatever is out there, does want us all dead.

The video game which has spawned an plethora of content for it's expanding universe is Dead Space. And in Dead Space we find something that has been missing in video games sinse the old Resident Evil and Silent Hill games, true horror. A game that you play at 3 A.M. with the lights turned off knowing that it will make the maniliest of men jump and have nightmares. The reason for this scare factor? A large part of it lies with the unknown. The enemies are complete unknowns, Necromorphs they are called, mutated bodies of dead humans. But the Necromorphs mutate in many unpredicted ways.

While the humans gone crazies are one thing to generate fear in and of itself (also crazy humans never equals zombies) the Necromorphs are the true terror of space. Once the alien parasite has latched onto a corpse it takes ten seconds for the body to mutate and rise. The Necromorphs have no real need for any of the host body's functions so they are virtually impervious to damage and the most useful way of fighting them is to simply disable them by removing all limbs. Once a Necromorph has been created it's sole goal can vary depending on the type of Necromorph created but in general, is to kill more creatures so other parasites can find hosts.

The Necromorphs have proven to be predators who hunt in packs and set ambushes, often waiting in vents or playing dead, until a victim is close enough to kill in a single strike. Beyond this they also have a sort of Hive Mind and will listen to "leaders," more advanced Necromorphs, which sometimes are composed of multiple host bodies merged together. This base intelligence makes the Necromorphs a threat humans in todays culture often refer to as the end of mankind, that is to say, intellegent undead.

So to break it down:

Cause: Parasite
Undead: Yes
Body: Humanoid (mutated)
Freewill: Yes
Infectious: No
Fear: No

In the end I have to say Necromorphs, while more dangerous then any zombie are not infact zombies. They are intelligent predators, which zombies are not, and they are not directly infectious. While they are a parasite which infects and reanimates the dead this alone does not a zombie make.

Stay vigilant, may Marker never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

May poll results

Well survivors May has been a crazy zombie awareness month but I consider it a success. I created and gave out my grey zombie awareness pins. The ZLC went from hundreds to thousands of readers. I completed my goal of a-post-a-day-for-May.

I am now going to try to keep up with posting every day but these three months are my biggest money earning months so I really need to put a lot of hard work into my other endevours. Never fear though! I am planning special posts about each city I travel to over the next few months and have been inspired by the sudden increased in readers to keep the content coming fast and furious! Hopefully on those days I can't fit a post in there will be lots left on the site you haven't read or you can post a comment somewhere about your thoughts or ideas for posts you want to see. I do get and regularily respond to a lot of e-mail traffic, mdthesoldier@hotmail.com feel free to send anything there as well that is ZLC related.

Now to the meat of this post.

Would you rather become a zombie or die?
Bite me: 13%
Save a bullet for me: 86%

Even among survivors the rate of people who would rather become zombies is unfortunately high. This is not completely unexpected though. As much as zombies represent death, they can also represent a twisted continuation of life as many other undead do. People are so afraid of death they would rather live the sick and twisted life of a zombie. Here is the fatal flaw in this thinking however. A zombie is not you. Whatever you are, whatever your soul is, it has moved on. A zombie is an empty husk being controlled by a virus or parasite. There is no cure. There is no living on as a ghoul. Becoming a zombie is infact dying, someone else just has to clean up your mess. The more zombies means the less chance of humanity surviving, becoming a zombie, for whatever misinformed or estranged reasoning is a selfish act of desperation that will not prolong your life but might end someone else's. Do the world a favor and let's try to get this number from 13% to 0%.

More discusion on this topic can be found here.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Space Zombies part 1

Every mythology seems to have a version of zombies. Often causes this is simply zombies, nothing hidden or changed about it but what has always interested me is how futuristic settings always seem to have zombies of one sort or another. I would like to talk about two types of zombie.

The first is set in a dark universe 38,000 years in our future. Mankind has conquered the galaxy, more or less. Other races still wage war on man and the hellish alternate universe exists, constantly trying to destroy our own. Also a strange new race has appeared, a race that travels from galaxy to galaxy consuming all there is to consume, adding everything to it's own massive army and moving on. This is the world of Warhammer 40,000.

The last race I mentioned is the one I want to talk about. Already it sounds a little zombish; a race that literally takes every bio-organic life and substance on a planet and converts it into goo which it uses to create it's own mindless (or rather, Hive-minded) army. There is one particular type of creature in this strange army that works slightly differently, Genestealers. There are two myths about where the name comes from, the first is that these dangerous monsters have ended many family lines and possibly entire races own their own, thus steal the genes from the universe. But while they have done these things the name comes from something else entirely.

Genestealers are humanoids, barely. With two legs, a torso, a head and six arms. Each arms ends in three twelve inch long claws that can rip through the most powerful in the galaxy. The body of the genestealer is covered in a hard carapace that requires significant force to penetrate and has mutated to have 0% body fat. The legs in particular have enhanced muscles to make these creatures move at incredible speeds, faster then most vehicles in fact. The head has also mutated to allow for a massive tongue and dozens of teeth just as sharp as the claws. The head has also formed a massive shell as it grows larger and in this shell is the brain but also a virus, the virus is transferred by the tongue to the claws and teeth making even the slightest scratch a dead sentence and worse.

I mentioned a couple times that these attributes of the genestealers are mutations. This is because the virus which kills a genestealers victim, also mutates and reanimates the body. As soon as the victim dies the virus starts changing the DNA of the human. Literally stealing genes and replacing them to create an entirely new creature. Once the transformation is almost complete the body is brought back to live and the muscles finish growing and forming while the genestealer starts looking for it's first victim. Genestealers have also been suggested to not be part of the Hive-mind, they are supposedly just killing machines with the sole purpose of the continued spread of the virus inside them.

All of this really sounds like a creature we already have here on earth. So are genestealers in fact space zombies? Well we can take a look at the things that make a zombie and compare.

Cause: Virus
Undead: Yes
Body: Humanoid (mutated)
Freewill: No
Infectious: Yes, via bite and scratch.
Fear: No

Well fellow survivors I have to say I am glad to be alive today and not in the year 40,000AD, because these creatures are in fact futuristic space zombies. They match up to being a zombie better then zombies from most zombie films or books do.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach space, and the Space Marines have the firepower to do what is needed should we all be so unfortunate, Mike D.