So, I've been thinking about a zombie story. What if the zombie plague isn't that dramatic?

It starts with a global rainstorm where 10% of humanity gets infected. They turn into slow brainless clumsy zombies. In the immediate aftermath, another 5% gets infected by bites, as nobody really knows what's going on.

But over the whole rest of the event, only another 5% of humanity ever gets killed by zombie bites, because they're really not that difficult to handle.

They are human bodies that keep on moving and infecting humans, but they have no brains, barely any senses, can more or less get an keep themselves upright, but have really shitty coordination. A zombie certainly can't get itself out of a ditch. Their bones aren't any harder than normal human bones, and their muscles aren't any stronger.

An aluminum drop down screen door can keep all the zombies in the world away for however long.

Humans pretty quickly notice that unless you get mobbed in the open, you can easily hold a zombie at bay with a long stick. And rather than guns, long sticks become the main weapon of humans against zombies.

There's the grocery bag stick, which is a plastic pole with about 5-10 plastic bags layered open in one end, with a large zip the around the opening. You use the pole to get the bags around the zombie's head, pull on the rope which tightens the zip tie, and that's it for that zombie's biting career, never mind seeing and hearing. Too bad they don't need oxygen.

Then there's the loop grab stick, which is a little more sturdy aluminum pole, with a steel cable running inside. On the other end, you can either use the cable loop to grap a zombie's head, or pull on the cable to have the steel claws grab on the zombie's legs or arms. Using the grabber, you can easily dump the zombie on the ground. Then a different guy bags its head, its legs and ankles together, and maybe its hands too.

So, "Zombie to go".

So the story will be, life goes on during a "zombie apocalypse". Because the zombies are a minority and easy to handle, the populace at large is safe to a degree.

To be honest, that is quite an interesting story. You planning to write it, or just in the early idea phase?

The problem with zombies has never really been that they are hard to deal with individually, but the danger they pose in numbers. An aluminum roll down door can stop a normal person. But it can't stop a large number of them actively trying to get in. The same can be said of zombie, except now you have to deal with 'people' who don't know pain or blood loss. Physics starts to play a larger roll in how you deal with the dead. The zombies in World War Z (book not movie) had no supernatural power, no driving force beyond hunger, but posed a very real threat to people due to numbers. Just a thought.

Good man, never promise anything if you are not sure you can deliver.

You are both right, zombies are not a major threat in low numbers. Air-born zombie virus scares me more than zombie bites. Because zombies probably couldn't bring us to the edge of extinction like they are portrayed in most zombie films. Unless air born virus just sweeps across the world and no one has a vaccine, which I rather doubt we could not develop one.

Have to think about it, didn't even consider Shaun of the Dead in this context.

Somehow I don't even see it as a zombie film, it's more of a Simon Pegg and Nick Frost UK social commentary comedy to me.

This is more like optimistic sci-fi with some humor, than a primary comedy.

Perhaps an alternative title could be "Zombies aren't the end of the world" as the message is that basically we can handle things.

Thanks for reminding. It's been decades, have to rent it and watch it.

Edited by user Thursday, August 29, 2024 1:32:23 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified