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.

H1Z1

During the 2009 swine flu scare, because let's face it, it wasn't the pandemic they said it was. Someone released a very interesting site about H1Z1. The site is no longer up, so sadly I cannot post a link, but it brought about some interesting thoughts. The site suggested that H1N1 had evolved in England and there werecases of people dying of the flu only to rise again and violently attack others. This turnned out to be false, as ost public displays of the like are but still...

First look at the H1N1 "pandemic" which killed 1,642 people in the US, and estimated (that is to say, the cause of death could have been something else) 12,470 deaths world wide. Compare this to the regular flu which kills 36,000 people in the US alone each and every year. As I stated in 2009 and I state again now, pandemic was a little bit of an exaggeration in this case.

But one has to wonder why? Why did the WHO make such a big deal about this one strain of the flu virus? In my bio-weapon research I found cases that suggest swine flu, at least this strain, was released as a bioweapon. Because swine flu has been around since the early 1900s I doubted that at first. But looking at how the WHO responded, it could be within reason to think they received information that the virus had been released, and thinking it would cause more damage then it did they set out the pandemic campaign. This could all be one great ploy to see how people would react to it, or it could be the honest mistake of believing the virus would do more damage. The second of those two options is much easier to believe. But it does imply that they knew before hand that the strain was being worked on in a biolab for good or ill intentions, and was released, either by unsafe practise or possibly to test it's effects.

If H1N1 were to be combined with something like rabies the effects would be very similar to those of "rage" in 28 Days Later. This is something a few of my medical friends have said is completely possible. They had other things to say about why someone would do such a thing and the details of it would have to be worked out but none the less, completely possible, someone could do it today, or tomorrow.

Or viruses can evolve, it has proven to be a slow process for them and not a lot of them even get around to it but some viruses do change to attack the host in different ways. If the swine flu is not as lethal as it once was, which no flus today are compared to when they ravaged the world a few hundred years ago, then it is reasonable to assume it may try to change. This is part of the reason so many strains of flu exist, as it tries to evolve and get what it needs in different ways. In my mind it does seem a bit of a stretch however to think it would evolve in so far in such a short period. But if given a leg up by a corporation trying to create a pandemic so they can sell an unapproved anti-virus to Project Bioshield for 55 billion dollars... that seems something very much in with grasp for the tiny virus that could

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.

Protein builds muscles... and zombies

Yes you read right fellow survivors. Proteins called prions may actually be the cause for zombies.

Prions are a type of protein that is created by, you guessed it, the act of eating a human brain. Many of these proteins exist and cause various diseases: two of which are Creautzfeldt-Jakob disease and Kratos disease. Creautzfeldt-Jakob disease is literally Mad Cow in humans. By eating infected meat a human can become infected. Kratos disease is hard to find information on any more because typing "Kratos" plus anything in any search engine comes up with nothing but God of War references. It is however a disease which creates the exact same symptoms Mad Cow does in cows but in humans and is caused by directly consuming the brain of another human.

Infectious? Not really, but still look at the effects:

• Twitching, uncontrolled movements.
• Aggressive behavior.
• Incoherent speech.
• Immunity to pain.
• Loss of all higher thought processes.
• Dementia and hallucinations.

And depending on which type of disease:

• Unstoppable laughter.
• Desire for human flesh (cannibalism.)
• Glazed over, "deadened" eyes.
• Sudden, uncontrollable violence.
• Murderous rage.

Sounds a little bit like the Rage virus from 28 Days Later doesn't it? And say, for instance, a group of scientists were to take these diseases, and combine them with a drug that removes the passive chemicals in our body, like they do to these mice. Looking at some of the links from that page comes up with some scary experiments when you consider that mouse and human brains work almost the same. If a scientist can do this to a mouse, he can do it to you. And it wouldn't take much for a disease like this to evolve (or be changed) into something that could be transferred by blood or saliva. Suddenly there is a human with no conscious, living in a world of his own, where other humans are a threat and he must eat them to save himself. Because his brain tells him too and his hormones don't even try to stop him. Add in a little bit of infectious tempering and you've got the perfect weapon to drop in an enemy country or even to clean up the slums of an over populated city. Think governments aren't too desperate to try it? Take a look at China. Or wars being started to lower populations or keep certain populations and races in check. And if you think doctors and scientists are too good for that kind of thinking. The world is constantly looking for ways to solve over population. As if prions weren't scary enough on their own...

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.

Interview with Zombie film maker

The first film I reviewed as training material was the indie flick, Day Zero, by Mathew and Marshall Khalil. Well I managed to have interview with one of the brothers and ask him a few questions about the film. Note that this does contain information about the film so if you are going to whine about spoilers don't read it until after you've watched it. So here for you is Mathew Khalil, zombie film maker!


ZLC: What inspired you to write this script?
Mathew: Our inspiration for writing the script was our need for a zombie television series. Day Zero was supposed to be a pilot but was later turned into a movie after we found out that The Walking Dead was coming out.

ZLC: Where did the idea for the infection by breath come from?
Mathew: We loved in 28 Days Later how the infected vomited blood onto people and then they became infected. We tried to come up with something that was a unique way to become infected and the "smog" breath is what we had come up with.

ZLC: How does the smog infection actually work?
Mathew: The Virus is supposed to be airborne. After the comet hit earth a gas was released, turning people into zombies. Anyone who gets the virus from that point on can spread the virus through a traditional bite or through their ability to expel smog breath.

ZLC: At one point zombies ring a doorbell... explain please?
Mathew: The zombies ringing the door bell wasn't intended to be so literal. It was supposed to be the lumbering zombies bumping into the doorbell. Unfortunately because of time restraints we didn't have time to film that.

ZLC: There is also a point when a zombie pulls a victim from one room to another, to what end?
Mathew: I love the idea of people being dragged away by their attacker and finished off somewhere else. But the primary reason would be that the mom character was killed in the living room, and if the main character saw her on the living room floor when he came home, then he wouldn't have a reason to go to the back of the house to witness the baby being eaten.

ZLC: In your mythology obviously the infection spread quite quickly, just how much of Edmonton's population was turned in the first day and night in which the movie takes place?
Mathew: It's really unclear just how much of Edmonton had been affected but definitely a significant amount.

ZLC: Will we be seeing a sequel?
Mathew: Hmmm, a sequel? Only time will tell I guess.

ZLC: Favorite zombie film and why?
Mathew: I love all zombie films but I'd have to say "Night of The Living Dead" in color. They finally did it right and haven't quite done it as well since. Nothing beats a slow zombie, and besides, Tony Todd is the star. And he's hard as f**k.

ZLC: You've created a couple of indie films. Why zombies for this movie?
Mathew: To be completely honest, we thought that it would only be about twenty minutes or so after editing, but obviously that wasn't the case. It was kind of an accidental feature film.

ZLC: Are you a true believer?
Mathew: Do I believe in zombies? Well not really, but I do have a zombie survival kit packed and ready. Just in Case.

Top right: Mathew. Top left: Marshall. Bottom: Me!

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 in film: 28 Days Later

"Be Thankful For Everything, For Soon There Will Be Nothing..."

Director: Danny Boyle

Writer: Alex Garland

Produced: DNA Films, British Film Council

Story: A virus known as "Rage" is unleashed on the people of England by animal rights activists. 28 days later Jim wakes up from a coma in the end times. He bands together with a small group of survivors who grow and dwindle as the movie progresses. The survivors go to a military brigade which has managed to survive... by taking advantage of other survivors. As Jim attempts to save his fellow survivors he becomes just as brutal and terrifying as the infected they have all been running from.

Zombies: The infected in this film are often argued about as not being zombies because they can run and because they are not undead. To those people must be brought up, no one knows how the virus will spread or in what form. The zombies which have tormented mankind throughout history could very well change as the virus evolves into something even more terrifying. And terror is what these creature invoke. Heartless, relentless, brutal monsters, the pinicle of ravenous killing power within the human body tapped into and released. these infected are not traditional but they are no less possible and far more threatening.

Survival Lessons:

• Brutality is essential in some circumstances.
• Be careful of birds and other creatures which may carry the infection.
• The human need to protect others is sometimes more powerful (and self destructive) then any other emotion.
• Wear protective gear at all times, even when assumed to be safe.
• Do not trust every tale you hear about safety and supplies.
• Some survivors exist by feeding of other survivors. Be aware that any human could turn out to be one of these leaches.
• Choose your party members wisely.

Warnings: This is one of the few actually scary zombie movies. The film also has some very disturbing scenes of violence and sexual aggression (not involving zombies don't worry.)

This film is possibly the greatest zombie movie of all time even if the infected are not the standard undead fair and even though it wasn't one of the classics. It has everything, all the characters play their parts and enough die and survive to represent the real threats and how to over come them. It also shows how power currupts and why not all humans can be trusted after the fall, esspecially those with athority and the "big guns." The movie also runs a couple of social commentaries to surpass even those in Romaros origanal "Of the Dead" films. The animal activists who destroy a country and turn everyone into crazed animals in an effort to demonstrate human cruelty to animals. As well as the more obvious and beautifully done look at how a human not infected by the virus is just as -if not more- capible of the greatest feats of violence and brutality.

Stay vigilent, 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.

Z9

Hello fellow survivors,

It is a strange world in which we live. Many theories exist that zombies would first be created as a weapon of death but in fact they now exist as a tool for life.

Within as little as two years humans may be able to come back from the dead. Resent studies have literally had doctors kill dogs and then bring them back to life. Man has finally done everything Jesus could do by defeating even death. This marks a new, hope filled and scary advance in technology. Once this can be done to a human there are endless possibilities. If this can be given to the public, spread world wide and kept out of corporate hands (will never happen,) no one need ever die again.

But this begs the question what will happen when they do this to a human? More specifically what will happen to the soul? Will it begin to go to its final resting place and then be ripped back to earth? Will this prove the soul does not in fact exist as we believe it but is mearly our brain's complicated attempts to explain its existence. Or will the soul depart the body as God intended and the body become literally a re-animated corpse, a zombie?

Re-animation in this way would not involve a virus and therefore these zombies would not be infectious. One would assume. However the bestial nature of man without a soul is still the most brutal thing ever imagined. If such a creature were to rise would it perhaps create the virus within itself? Becoming a new strain or creating a sort of parasite instead of the traditional virus we think of (Solanum, t-virus, "Rage" etc.)

Another possibility is that the human without a soul would become mindless and very much like a voodoo zombi. However very few of the animals used in these experiments suffered any side effects at all. It would stand to reason that a human would not lose the ability for brain use either and become a vegetable as this did not occur to the dogs. Dogs brains are much simpler then human brains however and they rely almost entirely on instinct and training. This only proves that a human's basic instincts and functionality would remain, not that his higher reasoning or morals would return. And a human's instincts are the three Fs: fight, flee and... mate. These primal instincts are used to fulfill basic needs involved in self preservation, most prominent of these is the need of sustenance... food.

Also is the question of if these zombies could only be killed by destroying the brain. In a way, the process of killing a zombie is the same as killing a person. When the brain stops working the person or zombie dies. Zombies do not require oxygen for the brain to function which is why the brain must be destroyed directly while a living, breathing human can die from any number of ways. Zombies re-animated in this way are done so using blood, oxygen and electricity, the three components needed to make the brain function. Therefore these zombies run off the same functions humans do, they are undead but their bodies still function in very much the same way ours do. This would lead to the possibility of zombies not unlike those from 28 Days Later, infected with "Rage."

This is actually a two part study. It also looks at the possibility of dogs as zombies, the true undead form that are so popular in films and video games such as Resident Evil. There is much debate on if animals can become undead and the answer to this is actually much simpler than it would seem. Consider that the zombie virus is just that, a virus. Viruses are able to infect any warm blooded animal, it thus stands to reason that any warm blooded animal is capable of becoming a zombie and carrying the infection further. Note that cold-blooded animals, while immune to most diseases and viruses that effect warm blooded animals can still be carriers. This is vitally important, something as innocent as a bite from an infected bug will transmit the virus!

Protect yourself, 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.