Fast Zombies vs. Slow Zombies

[Nexus Carbuncle]

So, it's almost halloween, guys! And, as such, Zombie movies are on television. My roomies and I have been having marathons every weekend this month. Also, my roomies and I are big fans of World War Z, which is probably the greatest zombie story in any media. Ever. Seriously. Go look it up if you haven't heard of it.

I room with identical twins, Adam and Sam. Adam, yesterday, when Zombieland was on, stated that fast zombies are totally retarded and don't make any sense; how could something dead, and thus decomposed, be so fast?

Sam, however, stated that if zombies are dead, and thus exempt from the "rules" that humans have, running fast shouldn't be a problem.

So Suites, just for fun, whaddo you guys think? Fast zombies or slow zombies? I have to go with slow zombies, since they just make much more sense to me.

 

[wo_nyrmo]

Well when it comes to basic zombie then slow... but if we are talking about something virus that has been mutated and alter then clearly fast is possible, but yea this is more so about zombies and not hybrid super zombies. lol So slow it is.  

[Nexus Carbuncle]

wo_nyrmo

Well when it comes to basic zombie then slow... but if we are talking about something virus that has been mutated and alter then clearly fast is possible, but yea this is more so about zombies and not hybrid super zombies. lol So slow it is.

That's what Adam and I were on about; if it's "the virus" that infects people, but they're still alive, technically (a la Zombieland), then it makes sense that they can move quickly. But anything that reanimates? Nope.

I don't like the fast, sprinting kind, myself, because if they're dead, and don't have some sort of healing factor, the constant wear and tear should, quite simply, make running impossible; every time we move our muscles tear a little bit, only to be repaired. Zombies wouldn't have this advantage.

 

[Junimaia]

Dead things get rigormortis. Therefore they must be slow.

I just feel like there's something fundamentally wrong with having a fast zombie unless there's some kind of unholy magic making them more awesome somehow. But if there is, I want it explained! > : O  

[Legendary G]

I'd have to go with slow zombies 'cause they're the original type and I can dig that. Also I'd rather deal with slow then fast any day, it's like asking would you rather be hit by a slow car or a fast car?

 

[Aaditya]

Ooooh boy
So medically when you die you get rigor mortis you can't produce the ATP that releases the components of muscle that cause contraction. This causes rigor mortis. But let's just say that zombies can make the ATP because they eat brains as their food source.

The body is in a state of decay, and this is shown even with the freshly converted, not just the ones that popped up from the graves. When the body decays, the cell membranes lose their integrity and there is an influx of salts into the cells. The osmotic force from the salt influx will cause the cells to swell and the swelling will affect their function. Eventually calcium gets into the cell and this will activate proteins that cleave up cell components and activate apoptosis, a form of "cell suicide," from the cell damage accumulated by cleaving.

So back to fast or slow, zombie movement would be as normal as it would be for a human in the same conditions (a zombie with a fractured pelvis would be slow but zombie usain Bolt=gg humanity) until the necrosis and decay starts to affect skeletal muscle.

I apologize for making this article get MED SCHOOL'D  

[Akuma Dulcet]

Slow zombies make more sense, but fast zombies are badass.  

[Fuji_hobo_jacket]

Junimaia

Dead things get rigormortis. Therefore they must be slow.

I just feel like there's something fundamentally wrong with having a fast zombie unless there's some kind of unholy magic making them more awesome somehow. But if there is, I want it explained! > : O

The point behind the idea of zombies in the first place is something that terrifies people, and when something acts in a way you don't expect it too/ it shouldn't logically be able to, the WTF factor sets in and fear happens.

So having said all that, I'm gonna say fast zombies because if somethings meant to be scary it shouldn't make sense. Or something like that. I think. >_____________>;;  

[scrub]

I've been playing a lot of Dead Rising 2 recently, best single player Zombie game ever.

The only film with fast zombies that really worked was 28 days later, that was truly scary.
I'm not sure a "slow zombie" would pose much of a threat in reality... I think it would be quite easy escape or kill them so the infection would never spread far.  

[Nexus Carbuncle]

scrub

I've been playing a lot of Dead Rising 2 recently, best single player Zombie game ever.

The only film with fast zombies that really worked was 28 days later, that was truly scary.
I'm not sure a "slow zombie" would pose much of a threat in reality... I think it would be quite easy escape or kill them so the infection would never spread far.

I agree. Actually, I think 28 days later is what made the fast zombies so popular nowadays.

See, my interpretation of zombies, the slow kind, comes from World War Z. In the book, the virus spreads only by biting, or some other contact with infected fluids. This includes transfusions, organ transplants, sperm donations, and such. In the book, this is a HUGE reason for the virus spreading, since at first, there's no way to detect the virus, and so the infected don't know they're infected. Also, the zombies can only be dispatched by destroying the brain, which not everyone knows until the problem has become a global pandemic. Then, there are the zombies that wander into the sea/are thrown overboard by smugglers, that start biting swimmers. Also, Most outbreaks start in hospitals, and a lot of the first victims are doctors.

Also, part of the book's genius is the fact that, like you said, zombies should, and are, easy to escape and kill, but due to panic, politics, greed, and just sheer stupidity of people, billions are devoured, millions are killed by other humans, and zombies eventually overrun most of the Earth.