The 1 Percenter Rule
Those who are preparing for the zombie apocalypse often assume that the zombies that they will be facing will be a cookie cutter scene removed from the movies. The dumb, shambling, slack jawed and gore covered moron that has no situational awareness and begs to be put down like an ailing pet. But what if they weren’t?
While there are those who will claim that there will be no difference between zombies when the time comes one must assume that since there are difference between humans there will also be differences between the undead.
What the title of this article implies that there will be those zombies that we may run into that possess a degree of intuition. They are not necessarily smart, or smarter, but they possess certain powers of reason. They do not make like lemmings and walk off the edge of the cliff but stop and go around. They avoid fire and understand that they can use ladders to find victims.
While this may not seem plausible to some there is a very real danger. That danger lies in the laws of probabilities will bring forth the fact that with a large enough population you will invariably get a confirmation of your hypothesis. While there will be a large number of those who ignore this completely, on must consider that while you may never engage a zombie with any degree of intuition the idea that they may save your very life. Thinking that your enemy is smarter than they truly are may seem simple but preparing for the worst can be the difference between walking away and shambling behind the survivors.
Comments (22)
Angryvikingman on 23 Jul 2009 at 10:59 pm #
Theres a website called http://www.thezombiehunters.com
Its an online comic that has a view of this sort. There are several castes of zombies. Hunters are kinda like if a ninja became a zombie and still had all of his ninja skill after becoming a zombie. Berserkers have greater than human strength and speed and attack in small groups. It could very well be that who the person was before they turned determines how the virus (or whatever) affects your body. Say if you were genetically predisposed to cancer or heart disease you’d be a shuffler. People who are naturally athletic could be berserkers or hunters. Things like that. I personally think that the zombies wouldnt be slow moving or mindless.
MadMickey on 24 Jul 2009 at 2:07 am #
Trying to anticipate the behavior of a creature we have never actually observed, especially a massive population of these things, could be a fatal mistake in itself. Why do they always attack the healthy first before turning on eachother in films? Whose to say they wouldn’t be equally as busy offing eachother as well in the real world? The mainstream fictional zombies from the silverscreen have actually evolved from mindless barely mobile fools, to savage beligerant and extremely agile hords because lets face it…does the original ‘Night of the Living Dead’ zombie actually scare people anymore? I’d say plan for the nastiest and most cunning zombie you can think of, I’d rather be disappointed than unprepared! Frankly its not the ‘undead’ that scare me, it’s the ‘plague of madness’ or rabi infected, adrenalin pumped mob that scare the shit outa me. Can’t hardly outrun them, and if you try to fight you cant hardly hurt them. They don’t even have to bite to infect you. I would try to be prepared for anything. Lots of ammo, supplies, and fortification. Let the f***ers starve a bit before you try to move. Maybe it’ll slow ‘em down and hopefully they’ll be turning on eachother…less zombies to dodge!
McLuvin on 24 Jul 2009 at 2:20 am #
If we are discussing the “zombie” as a reanimated dead body, then I think they will be
as fast and strong(though probably not as coordinated) as the person was immediately
prior to death. As the corpse decomposes(possibly at a slower than normal rate) the
zombie would become slower and weaker.
As far as zombies with reasoning abilities I guess it really depends on what parts of the
brain are reactivated by the virus. If they are fast strong and smart we are screwed.
Ronin666 on 24 Jul 2009 at 6:56 am #
McLuvin wrote”If they are fast strong and smart we are screwed.”
I agree 100%. Fighting an enemy who is equal to you but feels no pain and never tires is a loosing game. Bunkering down and hoping they rot away or eat each other is your only chance.
For that reason alone I’m hoping for shamblers or at least stupid Z’s.
In the movie Bubba’s Chilli Parlor there is one little girl who was brilliant before she turned,after she turned she could still reason and eventually fires a gun.Now I don’t want zombies that shoot back!
Ryan Elliott on 24 Jul 2009 at 1:04 pm #
I’ve always thought that a zombie would be much like someone who has repressive rage disorder, or someone who fights the orderlies in the hospital after waking up full of adrenaline and has no idea what they are doing. Both of which are extremely violent… if youve ever seen RRD in action its actually quite interesting to watch someone punch a hole in cement or completely destroy something in a single punch, scary as hell to. Its the kind of thing that when you watch it you know that you will wind up dead if their instincs lock on to your as something threatening. All I can say is if you’ve never seen someone black out and be completely taken over by adrenaline and instinct, they actually use the other 70% of their muscles when they hit something and even when they run. So if the zeds are actually like that we’re all fucked… especially if it gets the guys from the MMA fights first.
3ID on 24 Jul 2009 at 3:46 pm #
hopefully zombies will be the dumb shamblers that are in the books or they would start of strong and gradually get more decomposed to where you could just push them over and smash there head with your boot
Caleb Hader on 24 Jul 2009 at 10:27 pm #
Well, I agree that these “smart” zombies would be a real pain to deal with. But I don’t think that zombies would be necessarily like the superhuman types like in the 28 days later movie, though I would definitely try to prepare appropriately. My friend Marshall, is one of these guys who prepares for anything, not that he really thinks that these things will happen, but he is a man who would “rather have it and not need it”. He and a few others of our group have discussed a few options in terms of protection, and came up that police riot gear would be an excellent choice when dealing with “fast zombies” because it’s bite-proof, and that few seconds of protection could be life-saving. Also, as a side note, If you do deal with zombies, I would personally recommend either a sword, or a really sturdy machete as a backup weapon, I’m getting a new gen 2 12th century sword this fall, which would be helpful i think, because it was designed for shearing strikes. And swords are only around 3 pounds for a longsword, or 6lbs for a heavy sword like a claymore, which is also on the heavier side.
Sharpshooter on 24 Jul 2009 at 11:20 pm #
dude…. ok so “ninja zombie”….. almost litteral for me ahahaha
Jay on 25 Jul 2009 at 8:44 am #
Ninja z’s sod that id be off like a bullet out of a gun lol but all we can do is wait untill the z’s come hopefully they will be slow but my best bet is they prolly be the 1′s out of dawn of the dead!
Sharpshooter on 25 Jul 2009 at 11:12 am #
well if the z’s are reanimated through an actual organic virus (and not like nanobots or anything) then the virus would slowly mutate/evolve meaning 100 years from now if the zed’s are still around they would be different from the ones that came out say tomarrow, not much different really but you know after a century somethings gotta change…. big or small somethings gotta change….
Alice on 25 Jul 2009 at 12:54 pm #
Okay, I have some very strong opinions on the fast zombie issue. So here goes.
Think about it, people. Rigormortis, decay, injuries and the inability to feel pain, not to mention the lack of muscular control that comes with being a zombie with a barely functional body and brain.
If you consider that they are, when it comes down to it, reanimated dead bodies, the concept that they could actually think for themselves and run is very unrealistic.
No, we won’t be facing zombies so slow that they just stand around moaning like in particularly bad horror movies, but I assure you that a 28 days later situation is totally out of the question.
Kain - ZAC Weapon Consultant on 25 Jul 2009 at 3:18 pm #
Sharpshooter has a very good point, one that I’ve thought about myself on occasion. With any organism you will have mutations, be them beneficial or detrimental, we may even go so far to call this evolution for those who don’t think that it is a dirty world(I live in the deep south and they can be very anal retentive sometimes). And MadMickey also put forth a very good point in that most of our conceptions are based on assumptions, which tend to bite us on the ass with unholy regularity. Also we have no idea what our loving government will do when they get their filthy hands on the virus they very well may try to engineer it for military use and have the whole project blow up in our collective faces.
Simply put, We can never predict, only prepare.
“They won’t get me they won’t get me thought they never cease to try
they won’t get me they won’t get me I would rather fight and die
they won’t get me they won’t get me well my friend will they get you?
when they get you when they get you tell me what are you gonna do?”
Dropkick Murphys – The Gauntlet
Sharpshooter on 26 Jul 2009 at 1:55 am #
Thats why we need to have supplies such as food and water instead of mainly focusing on weapons… cause what if we cant beat these things? as in headshots dont work. work on evasion and defence before you switch to offensive
Sharpshooter on 26 Jul 2009 at 1:59 am #
oh and Alice you DO know that 28 days later arent technically zombies right? they arent dead they still have basic problem solving and a heart beat. it’s just they’ve lost all sence of morality and are infected with uncontrolable “rage” so for all intensive purposes they’re still alive and human.
Angryvikingman on 26 Jul 2009 at 8:21 am #
I don’t know that I’d classify zombies as being purely undead, or reanimated corpses. Anyone in a daze, or that acted woodenly, or who wasn’t acting like themselves could be technically called a zombie. The actual definition is not limited to the undead, or recently dead. Not trying to argue, just pointing out the literal definition.
I’ve never really thought about not being able to beat the zombies.
That’s not really something that ever entered my mind. If headshots don’t work, I’d suggest decapitation. I mean, nothing can live without its head, assuming you remove it below the base of the skull. IF that doesn’t work…. Yeah, we’d be so screwed. BUT if you can take them down in any normal fashion, then I don’t forsee humanity having a problem recovering from a zombie pandemic. If they’re shufflers, then I could see clearing an area as a very relaxing exercise. We were trained in ARMA to take on multiple opponents with swords, so I don’t think that shufflers would pose much of a threat if you kept your wits about you and didn’t bite off more than you can chew. If they’re rage “zombies” then unless I could utterly disable them in two strokes or less, I couldn’t handle more than two, maybe three at a time. They aren’t going to be concerned for their own well-being and will just try to rush you. Those kinds of berserker tactics worked for many barbarian tribes over the romans and other more “civilized” nations. People running headlong into a wall of swords is a bit disconcerting, and if you can break the initial defense, then the remainder tend to flee in terror and easliy get pulled down from behind. Either that or they get seperated and mobbed. Which can give even a small force overwhelming momentum, and as every person fell, they’d rise again and increase the numbers almost to an exponential degree. As I see it, shufflers, no problem. Any other kind of unforseen mutation, or rage “zombie”, then you have to think defensively. Fortification, strategic withdrawals, and traps will be your best bet at survival. Escape and evasion work great in sparsely numbered areas, but when you’re facing droves of zombies numbering in the hundreds or more, then thinking that even one may not see you peering through the bushes is foolhardy. You better hump it out of there and hope that they don’t head in your general direction. If thousands of rage zombies or even just shufflers start to push on the sides of a modern building, then they’re going to cause it to collapse. Unless where you are trying to mount a defense was specifically designed to withstand a siege lasting months, then you’re screwed. Zombies are like water, they’ll find any little hole and trickle through it until they eventually flood the place. If they have any kind of reasoning ability, like even just being able to open doors, then we’re going to have problems. Yeah, I know I rambled just a bit, but I didn’t skew my comment too far off topic. I write in stream of consciousness… My apologies.
Yellandy on 06 Aug 2009 at 2:58 am #
As far as mindless zombies and scientific experimental scientific recreations go, I believe that it will be a while before we even accedently create something even half as powerful as our mind now. Heck, we aren’t even close to how smart we could be.
So be prepared for the worse, but don’t expect to much. I dought they could run like people have said about uncordination, but I guess the strength of them would be stretched to the max, because since they don’t have much pian fealing to stop them, they can be pushed to the limits (Remember when that guy in Shaun of the Dead, when that anoying guy with glasses got his armed ripped of?)
And the zombie survival guide says that about one out of three zombies can make it up stairs, so about zero out of zero, could climb up anything, or jump at all.
But let’s say in a couple hundred years and the humans are still alive, and our technology has grown to the sci-fi style world, and the zombie outbreak turns to a more intelegent turn, hopefully our technology will help us out at that time, because if not, we’re doomed…
KillerB on 20 Aug 2009 at 10:37 pm #
Let them climb, drive, think, reason, love , hate, fear. Who really cares. If they are trying to KILL you then you will have to kill them. What are you scared of the Zed having the ablity to figure out and plan an attack on you. You should. Truth is that no one knows what they will be capable of untill they attack. Planing on fighting of a hord of crazed retarted people that have no fear and no ablity to plan….FUCKING SISSY. You will be dead. If you however realize that they may be capable of everything that you are right now then you will already be prepared for the worst possible senerio. I mean look at a mob that is rampaging a city. Do they not carry some of the same similarities as Zombies. The mob mentality is deadly. They are going to be the true thing to run from. Fuck the Zeds they will be easy to kill so long as you are prepared for them (and they have no reasoning ablity) BUT to be hunted by a human with human thoughts that only wants to kill you is another thing altogether. ARE YOU READY FOR THAT. NO. SO TRAIN TO KILL A HUMAN AND KILLING THE TEXT BOOK ZOMBIE WILL BE A PIECE OF CAKE. BUT TRAIN TO KILL A ZOMBIE AND THEY TURN OUT TO BE CRAZED HUMANS YOU WILL BE FUCKED…………..CHEERS FUTURE ZEDS
prince of paine on 30 Aug 2009 at 8:51 pm #
dude if z’s are intelligent the only possible way of combating them would be to assume that they have there normal intelligence. saying that you have to also realize that they feel no pain, cant be stopped by conventional means, and are very numerous and reproduce rapidly……so basically you need a systamatic approach towards there desturction. clear building by building,block by block,neighberhood by neighberhood, city by city till theres a clear space with out z’s…once you got that you go find survivers and move in to the city…lets make san fransico california as our example. all you would have to wacth is the south…the west and north and only conacted by brigdes, the west is ocean. if you built some kind or wall, fence, or obstructions you could clear the city and fortified the sky-skrapers to hold people, hydroponics for food, and you could block off the first floor so even if the city is breached no z’s could take the people inside, you could have bridges to connect the buildings together…..i dont know if this has anything to do with the idea anymore but these are my ideas…
Gabriel on 29 Sep 2009 at 12:20 pm #
also ,there are different kinds of zombie strains.
There are the returned from the dead sort, re-animated corpses, then there are zombies created by a virus that makes them lose all sense of themselves. like the rage virus.
Abbaroth on 13 Oct 2009 at 4:24 pm #
I’ve seen many viewpoints about what kind of zombies there will be, and how to deal with them. I think there are a few important things to remember.
1) Even Max Brooks could be wrong. We have no guarantee that any zombies that we see in the future will conform to any predetermined standard. And it certainly is foolhardy to base your plans or assumptions on Hollywood fiction. 28 Days Later, Resident Evil, I Am Legend, the biggest thing to remember is that all those situations are made up. Assuming you can know what the zombies will be like is asking to become one of them.
2) Understanding that you don’t and can’t know exactly what you will face, your best bet will always be evasion and escape. Even shufflers can get a lucky bite on that one exposed patch of skin. It’s simply not worth the risk. Know thy enemy. In the event of an outbreak, there will be no way to immediately ascertain exactly what you face, and knowledge is your greatest weapon.
3) Once you know the enemy you are facing, your best chance of survival will still most likely be avoidance. It is a fact that biological processes require sustenance. Even a virus that reanimates dead bodies is working against the clock, because even a muscle that feels no pain cannot work without energy. Not only will destroyed tissue fail to repair itself, it will simply stop working once the host body runs out of biological fuel. A normal human can survive at most 3-4 weeks without food. Even considering that we don’t know what type of infection we’ll see, even the most unimaginable scenario still has to conform to the laws of physics. Therefore, there will be a set amount of time during which the host body will function, and after that the zombie will be incapacitated. There is also a point where the host body will be decomposed enough to stop working as well, which will vary according to the climate. So, in warmer climates you will have to wait at most until the bodies rot away, and in cooler climates until the first freeze. In the extreme case where a zombie might possibly be preserved by ice until the spring, you still have many months of safety in which to dispose of the frozen zeds and to prepare to finish waiting them out after the thaw. At the longest, this would take from the last infection a time period of about one year. It is easy to stockpile supplies for yourself and your family for just one year. Why risk doing anything else?
4) The one exception to his would be a type of infection where the host body would be able to ingest sustenance and convert it to energy. This could be vampiric in nature, cannibalistic in nature, or even simply retain the body’s previous ability to eat human food. This also brings up the possibility of reproduction in ways other than infection. If the zeds can still eat, what else can they still do? I see this as the worst case scenario, because it will eventually force you to fight the zeds to survive. This is where your weapons, tactics, organization, and planning will be put to the ultimate test. You will be fighting a war of attrition. In this scenario, there will be times to avoid and times to hide, but doing nothing but hiding is just a way to die more slowly. Whether you go mobile, or actively defend a green zone is up to you, but it is a fight that will not end until all the zeds have been eradicated. Get ready to dig your heels in.
5) My last point is that zombies won’t be the only enemy you’re fighting. Other survivors, remnants of governments, militaries and law enforcement will all be struggling to survive, and many of them will seek to do that on your shoulders then as they do now. There will be thugs, gangs, regional strongmen and everything else along those lines, along with fear-crazed masses and zeds. Seeing as how they will be human and will certainly retain their reasoning, cunning, and greed, they may prove to be your most dangerous opponents. Being prepared to fight the hordes of undead only goes so far if your neighbor knifes you in the back for a few days of MREs. Working together will be the key to humankind’s survival, but be careful who you trust, and who you let guard your supplies while you sleep. If you really want to survive, be prepared for anything, and be prepared for everything.
Kal on 28 Nov 2009 at 1:35 am #
Understanding you enemy is one of the most important rules of warfare…but you be careful that your understanding is based off of facts and observation, rather than assumption. There are tons of portrayals of the undead. Some walk, some run. Some eat flesh, some don’t eat at all. Some can even think strategically. One must be careful to ensure that they don’t become biased.
My basic belief about zombies is that they run off instinct, like wild animals. Whether this instinct is triggered by the need to feed, or some kind of survival instinct, I don’t know. But because of this, they have at least some basic intelligence. Their body is dead, but the brain is still alive. How will they use it, though? Will they hunt in packs? Will they work with others? Could they perhaps, even, develop crude, but efficient, tactics?
My first order of business, should an outbreak occur, would be to figure out just what kind of enemy I’m fighting.
skorn on 02 Feb 2010 at 9:55 pm #
technically, the name zombies implies dead person that fell to the ground dead and then stood back up…
so if this is the sort of zombies walking around, they would be decaying over time and would slowly be deteriorating away.
of course, if the zombie title doesnt fit the case… it could be that we have rabies infected humans on a rampage to kill you but not necessarily eat you…
no matter what form of zombies we are in for… its best that you always plan for the worst case scenario.