The Spread Of The Undead

The Spread of the Undead

If most people are to be believed then the zombie apocalypse will occur in the matter of hours, or at most days, swiftly covering the world in a rotting, moaning, ever hungry blitzkrieg. However, is this how I will occur? Where and how will the infection spread?

While often times those who are preparing for the rise of the undead are prepared for massive onslaughts and waves of the undead is this really what will happen? If one is inclined to step back from the fear of the undead and look at the reality of our world, one will come to realize that the spread of the undead will take time and not be a quick conquest of us. Here are the reasons why.

1.       A wide spread species: Mankind is not a tight knit species, we are spread all over the world with really three major land masses as our home. While the infection can spread with unprecedented speed compared to other eras, there is still time and space required for it to get from one place to the other. Even an infected man who has yet to turn and who is one able to fly, and two capable of obtaining a plane may die and turn before he reaches an uninfected area. Also, even if the infection does reach a population center, those in the rural areas are not likely to be in immediate danger from the infected.

2.       Technology: News travels fast, and even if those spinning the news do not know what the zombies really are they are likely to spread the news to untold numbers giving those of us who have prepared an opportunity to get ready for the fight, get to our safe areas, and to block the infection from reaching us.

3.       Resourcefulness: We are nothing if not resourceful and inventive. Under extreme circumstance men of action have forever found way to overcome and thrive. Those willing to fight and who are strong willed and minded can often times find ways out of situation where the average man would just give up. A man with a will may find a way to escape and fight back.

4.       The undead: Even as dangerous the undead are, they are not gods. They are slow, stupid and predictable. They do not plan, they do not organize but in the most basic of the concept of organize. They can be beaten, they can be defeated.

5.       Mankind itself: Man is inventive, and those in rural areas that are not infected during the opening outbreaks, they will be able to prepare and through trial and error, as well as communication between other surviving groups they may be able be to find ways of combating the undead while at the same time prospering.

In the end the infection will not spread as quickly as some believe. It will take time and those who stay alert and watch from the first signs may be able to get away from population center before they are infected, before the cities fall. The likely outcome of a major outbreak, a worldwide outbreak, not a mankind killer, but one where tens of millions are killed, is that man will flee population centers and a more agrarian society may likely form.