Zombie Apocalypse. Is It Possible?

I never watched any zombie genre works but I know some people around me who really loves it. It appears that to me, the premise is mostly the same, something about infection, although I heard that in original Romaro's work, they just came out of fucking nowhere.

Then I came across a Cracked's article that explains why it would never, ever, EVER happen. EVER.

Again, I'm not that familiar with zombie works in general so for those of you who are zombie enthusiasts, what do you think of the article's arguments?

Should this be here or in Yack Fest?

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Cracked also has an article arguing the opposite.

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom

It's extremely improbable IMHO. Maybe there could be some kind of a virus causing people to be uncontrollably aggressive and mindless, but still either everyone gets infected or the millitary solves the problem. Even though running around a wasteland with shotgun and a group of friends while killing zombies would be awesome

"Take your (...) hippy dream world, I'll take reality and earning my happiness with my own efforts" - Barkey

Without serious levels of soft science fiction (I did a zombie story that attempted to address every argument presented by Cracked; it made the zombies mary sues, but that was kind of the point since The Bad Guy Wins), no. If the question is, would it work in Real Life, then, absolutely not. It's simply technology; if a zombie outbreak began in, say, Africa, the area would be saturation bombed from the air and then, possibly, nuked.

Now, a Period Piece Zombie Apocalypse might work out better (after playing Fable III, I wanted to do one set during the Napoleonic Wars-era, for example), but in the end, we have too much dakka for zombies to really pose a threat anymore.

edited 4th Jul '11 4:03:38 AM by USAF713

I am now known as Flyboy.

My point is that after reading the article (I haven't read the other article yet), I don't think I can ever take zombie stuff seriously.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Well, it's always fantasy or science fiction. If you can take any kind of speculative fiction other than hard sci-fi seriously, then zombies aren't any worse.

"Take your (...) hippy dream world, I'll take reality and earning my happiness with my own efforts" - Barkey

Wrong. I'm no sci-fi fan, but as mentioned in the articles, there's absolutely no way to handwave them. Ever. I can't even suspend my disbelief.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

You say that, but wait until 2012 comes around...

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom

Well, Zombie Apocalypse is theoretically sound, on the surface. It's not too much of a stretch to believe that, say, The Virus or magic brought the dead back to life. That isn't the issue. It's the way that what amounts to glorified insects (because really, is a zombie war anything but a glorified Bug War?) managing to defeat organized and dakka-equipped modern military forces with nothing more than "run at the men with guns" tactics.

The fact that nearly every single example of the genre does it doesn't help much.

Which leads to two solutions: the military wins, handily (boring, probably) or the zombies are given incredible powers so they can beat the military (and then it might as well become an Alien Invasion plot, if handled poorly). Thus is the dilemma, which Cracked implied and the OP has brought out openly...

edited 4th Jul '11 4:18:45 AM by USAF713

I am now known as Flyboy.

Pretty much. Speaking of Bug War, the most basic solution of the ZA can be summed up in one word, as mentioned in the article.

Maggots.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

I would still qualify a Zombie Apocalypse set significantly far back in the past (sometime before the American Civil War and the wide-spread use of proper dakka) would be very valid. Actually, they'd probably be totally screwed. Armor and swords (which would own zombies, for varying reasons) are gone, but the dakka isn't nearly up to par, and adaption wouldn't be fast enough for them.

Of course, nobody ever wants one of those, because it's so different from everything else. Face Palm...

I am now known as Flyboy.

A Zombie Apocalypse in the days before mass transit is even sillier than one set in the present day.

With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.

We still had maggots.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Not all zombies are slow dumb rotting corpses. Some of the newer ones are fast and tough and cunning.

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom

and Anthropic Principle. In this case, Applied Phlebotinum. The very idea of the dead rising is stupid, anyhow, if looked at it from that basis. It's obviously, if it were set that far back, going to be magic, which probably means that 1) mass transit isn't going to matter because it's not The Virus; at least, not if the writer isn't an idiot and 2) magic means the mundane, such as maggots, probably won't matter...

Of course, you could always deconstruct the Zombie Apocalypse, but it's one of those ones that, instead of people hailing you as a master of the genre for exploring its hidden depths, will probably get cries of MST3K Mantra and "it's just fiction, quit ruining our fun."

It's about the same as on Atomic Rockets where they complain about how science fiction writers don't like to respect science. Yes, but "respecting science" rules out most science fiction and nearly all fantasy. Wish-Fulfillment demands that we have a reason to kill people without cause and in droves, as well as steal with easy justification. Zombie Apocalypse, strangely enough, is the answer.

edited 4th Jul '11 5:00:08 AM by USAF713

I am now known as Flyboy.

Hard to say. Normal zombies, under the "Romero Rules"? No, we'd blast the fuckers apart with machine guns and tanks and bombers oh my.

However, zombies that are, say, nearly impossible to kill, fast, and possessed of an animalistic cunning? Might stand more of a chance, though would almost certainly fall in the long run.

Either way, the scenario begins and ends with the military, not some ragtag group of survivors.

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.

This. World War Z can take its bullshit about conventional weapons magically not stopping the undead and go stuff it.

edited 4th Jul '11 6:42:19 AM by pagad

With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.

What if it spreads through a radically contagious airborne virus?

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom

Then we're fucked. You wouldn't get a Nakama and shoot the zombies, you'd get infected extremely quickly from contaminated air and everyone would turn into zombie. Basically, the only ones to survive would be the ones living in remote areas or the ones who carry gas masks everywhere

"Take your (...) hippy dream world, I'll take reality and earning my happiness with my own efforts" - Barkey

Eh, then it's no fun. I set it up as waterborne, of all things... of course my zombies were created by nanomachine parasites made from Imported Alien Phlebotinum that also spread a virus which stops wounds from healing (therefore killing you with run-of-the-mill infection).

The problem with an airborne virus is that there probably wouldn't be any survivors to tell a story about, unless you went with carriers like Left 4 Dead.

Edit: ninja'd

edited 4th Jul '11 8:09:26 AM by USAF713

I am now known as Flyboy.

The closest thing to it is stuff like rabies, which makes you spread it by biting people before you die.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

It should go without saying that a Zombie Apocalypse can't happen in Real Life or any hard sci-fi context. The very existence of predatory walking corpses that spread through a virus is infeasible in the first place, without even getting into the barriers preventing them from taking over a significant portion of the world. There are, however, Zombie Apocalypse stories where, given the particular fictional universe's rules, a victory for the zombies remains plausible.

28-days-after style infectees aren't particularly far-fetched, though.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.

This is true, and they do side-step most of the more glaring parts about being a zombie (like, say, the whole being dead thing). The problem is they're easier to kill. Sure, a berserker human is quite dangerous in close quarters, but in the end they're still just a bunch of people running at men with fully-automatic assault rifles, vehicle mounted heavy machine guns, and close-air support.

Shit, if they wanted, they could just run an Abrams tank down the street and crush all the zombies. It's not like they could open the hatch...

I am now known as Flyboy.

I think airborn would be best. Or some sorta bio-weapon. That way only handsfull of people survive.

Please.