On the Attack: Be Thorough

[macdobhran]

In the early stages of an outbreak, people tend to capture, not kill, zombies they have known in mortal life. When the captors have either fled or been devoured, restrained zombies may remain for years, able to repeat the cycle if released. After an area has been swept for ghouls, sweep it again. Then, sweep it again.

Zombies could be anywhere--in sewers, attics, basements, cars, air ducts, crawl spaces, even inside walls or under mounds of debris. Pay particular attention to bodies of water. Zombies wandering at the bottom of lakes, rivers, even reservoirs have been known to surface well after an area has been declared safe.

Comments

Counterpoint

[lastwordy-mcgee.livejournal.com]

I am concerned with bodies of water. Water can speed decompostion, which zombies *should* be subject to. Zombies wandering the bottoms of lakes for x number of days isn't working for me.

Your thoughts?

Re: Counterpoint

[macdobhran.livejournal.com]

I used to know a forensic scientist, but she moved to KY I believe and I lost touch. She would be able to answer this much better.

However, from what I've read water slows decomp. Caspar's Law is basically that a body in open air will decompose twice as fast as one in water and eight times as fast as one in soil. With no insects to feed on the body, fish don't typically eat much as far as mass and most don't eat dead things, I think a water-zombie would last even longer.

I know what you're thinking, crabs and other scavengers. I don't think they'd attack a moving zombie though assuming an underwater zombie would continue to move in search of food/blood/brains. So that would slow down decomposition even more.

I'm not saying he wouldn't be all bloated and ugly after significant time spent underwater, but I don't think the body would decompose very quickly. For reference, I believe a body left exposed to nature and the air decomposes, with insect and scavenger help, in about two weeks.

Re: Counterpoint

[lastwordy-mcgee.livejournal.com]

I think we can assume zombies have no "natural predators" -- animals would know the meat was diseased, and would avoid it. There are precedents for this in nature, and I see no reason it wouldn't apply here.

The type of water also makes a difference -- brackish or standing water would have more bacteria, which could hasten decompostion. The higher saline content, the slower decomposition.