Why are there still many walkers in ANF?
Hello everyone, I've just gotten into this series (whole franchise) when I bought the game couple of weeks ago. The story-telling aspect of TWD Season 1 is amazing and Season 2 is also good. Even though I like that the series emphasise the livings become more problematic than the deads as time goes by, it irks me that there are still walkers herds in ANF because I thought they decompose somewhat naturally.
I assume most walkers are 'created' during the first 2 months of the outbreak since humanity is not prepared to deal with such things so they will grow exponentially till about 95% (my assumption) of human populations have been consumed, and then their numbers will be decreased over time. For the first two seasons which span in 2 years, I can still assume that there are still many zombies 'walk' in herds because these early zombies were still not fully decomposed, but after 4 years have passed, why are there still many of them especially the ones that are grouped in herds? Of course, these herds of walkers can be caused by destroyed settlements, but their numbers are just too many, based on the first two minutes scene in the present day of ANF. I'm not a biologist and don't know much about human decomposition but I think it is just too damn long.
I haven't read much of the comics yet (just volume 1-3), so I don't know how these zombies things work. Any explanation for it? How long is the 'lifespan' of a zombie in this universe?
Comments
Regarding the decomposition of zombies, Robert Kirkman, the creator of TWD comic, has gone on record stating that the zombies decompose at a slower rate than normal, as a result of whatever it is that causes them to come back to life in the first place.
It's hard to say how long a zombies' lifespan is, but the rate of decomposition is definitely longer than it is in real life.
-- "Hey Alan, why aren't we dead yet?"
- "Braaaaainsss...."
-- "ALAN."
- "Oh, sorry man. Um, because the game needs us alive?"
-- "..Game?"
- "Yeah, haven't you noticed? Our appearance changed drastically after the second season, the textures have become more varied, we're becoming more and more irrelevant... Hell, don't you remember that time-jump 2 episodes ago?"
-- "Now that you mention it..."
- "Exactly. One minute I'm at the Travelier Motel about to fuck the braaaaaainsss out of this hot zombie chick, and the next minute I've teleported near this group of survivors who seem to be getting involved with silly romantic subplots. One of them keeps on whining and reminding everybody how pubescent he is. I can't take it anymore."
-- "That's pretty weak, man."
- "I know right?"
linkin park can be heard silently in the background, increasingly getting louder and louder
-- "Fuck, he's coming!"
- "Dear god... N-no... NO."
"JAVIERRRR. I THINK I'VE REACHED THE PUBE STAGE OF MY DEVELOPMENT. SO AM I SUPPOSED TO TRIM THESE BADBOYS OR WHAT?"
I suppose if the zombie explanation is said that the bacteria/viruses can adapt, mutate and grow it's host's body it could possibly stop the decomposition. I feel like they might find a way to explain this.
Maybe whatever infected the humans can also secrete some kind of preserving liquid like formaldehyde or something. That green stuff coming out of the traditional zombie that could be something that preserves the body from decomposing
Another possible explanation is that since the human is already infested by some zombie bacteria/virus maybe that zombie bacteria/virus will kill off any other fungi, bacteria, or virus that isn't itself creating it's own immune system.
They rot really slow according to the comic creator.
Herds are still a big problem in the seventh year in the show(sort of).
Considering how they can hear and smell while their brains are dead, I wouldn't look for any logical explanation.
The worst part (for me):
Group arrived a new place. No undeads are around (you can see miles of empty land). The group want to do something. Hordes of undeads come out of nowhere.
Not all parts of their brain dead though, remember that the survivor still need to destroy they brain to make them completely dead?
Is it explained in the comic itself or will it be?
although it would be interesting to learn every detail about the virus, i doubt Kirkman even knows. and if he does, he's not sharing it until the AMC version has come to an end. he's already made a comment about knowing how the comics will end, but he wants that to be separate from the show. but who knows. Kirkman says many things.
what gets me is how much blood is still in your average zombie. You would think something missing an arm and covered with gaping wounds would have bled dry.
In the comics, it has been 6/7 years and there are still lots of walkers, read the latest issue of the comics and you will see definitely over 10000+ walkers in a herd
But it's only a part of the brain that works, the one responsible for movement. The rest of human brain is dead (if I remember correctly from the show).
This comment contains spoilers within the comics.
When Rick's group finally stopped being afraid of walkers and started piling them up, there was a chance as Rick has said himself , to be rid of the zombies for good within a short time, decomposition rate be damned. Heck, the Saviors were already killing them by the thousands before Negan met Rick, and then they started killing eachother, making more zombies. But then there are groups like the Whisperers who live among them and corral them and even "feed" them. The thing keeping the zombies around are the living, ironic as that is.
It's a story and there's a lot of holes. The zombies should decompose but they don't completely (though they look half rotted), and inexplicably they travel in herds when they should just shamble in circles until they notice a sound or see something triggering them to come after you. WD morphed from a zombie story to a post-apocalypse society story that happens to have zombies as the external threat. During that transition, a lot of initial plot logic was tossed for the sake of keeping the story and the sales going.