So, this is the chapter that started this whole story. I was actually thinking about what would cause a zombie breakout, if something like that were to happen in reality. And his idea popped in my head. The creators of the walking dead never explained what happened in the comics or in the show, so here you go. I finally used my biology degree for ones. Everything in this chapter is inspired by real science.
Go and sneak us through the rivers
Flood is rising up on your knees
Oh, please
Come out and haunt me
I know you want me
Come out and haunt me
Apocalypse by cigarettes after
Chapter 5 - Zombie 101
You had a plan.
There had to be away for the group to get inside of the prison's infirmary and get the supplies needed for Lori, with the least amount of risk.
It didn't really occur to you until Daryl showed up from a hunt with a deer he caught.
Last night, you watched the group pour over a map of the prison Axel and Oscar drew. It was Charles idea to get the most precise picture as possible, but you doubt it was accurate because the previously incarcerated men kept arguing over it.
Today Daryl had gone out hunting, and he had caught a deer.
The moment you see the deer, a light bulb goes off in your head.
"Charles!" You holler running toward Daryl. He had thrown a long piece of rope over a sturdy looking tree, and was in the prosses of hooking the deer up to prep for skinning. Your yell has gotten the right people's attention, because soon Charles and Rick, who were walking the perimeter, are running right behind you. Both men have their guns drawn out, unsure of what you are screaming about.
"The hell is goin on here?" Daryl demands. He pauses what he's doing when the group approach.
"This is it," you tell them, bending over your knee huffing and trying to catch your breath. "The answer how we get into the prison."
"I'm not following," Charles retorts, looking between you and Daryl.
"We herd them!" You say it as if it's obvious, "I don't know if you notice, but these Zombies or Walkers, whatever you want to call them, they are interested in blood." Charles and Rick look at each other and seem to understand where your idea was heading.
You turn to Daryl, "I need you to save all the blood when you drain the deer, as well as all the guts and skin. Anything we are not going to eat, save it. We'll use the north side of the building, draw them out there." Rick steps forward and put his hands on your shoulder as an affirmation.
"Yes, that's…actually a great idea." He nods to himself, eyes looking to Charles. "Let them pile on that side of the building, we'll pick them one at time through the fence." Quickly they both turn, discussing about reassessing last night's exit plan. As they head toward the prison to look at the map again, Charles stops to look back at you,
"Good work, doctor." You nod in acceptance. You turn toward Daryl who was eying you incredulously.
"You need any help?" You ask. Since the evening at the guard tower, he has been giving you the cold shoulders.
"Na, I'm good." He mumbles. You hover for a moment, feeling vulnerable, but you can tell by the stiffness of his back, he does not want you there.
So, you leave him be.
It's unusually hot inside the prison, so the group agree to have dinner outside.
Because there is no refrigerator, a lot of the meat must be eaten quick and prepared for overnight. The men have set up a grilling system with the meat rolling on a small bonfire. It's Axel and Oscar's turn to be on guard duty. After they both got their plate, they return to their watch.
As the group sits around the fire. Both Beth and Carol walk around the circle handing out a small portion of canned beans on the prison's plate.
Lori sits to your left with Jamie and Charles to your right. As the group settle with their portion of food, things are quiet. Across from you sits Rick and his son, Carl. You can sense there was tension between Lori and Rick, and their relationship drama now also involves Carl.
Your eyes slowly move to Daryl. He's sitting next to Carol, and they're whispering quietly. As you watch them, you feel this tightness in the pit of your stomach, and helplessness wash over you. Vehemently, you pull your eyes towards Herschel, who sits between his two daughters, followed by Glenn, who's chatting with T-dog.
The November weather is clear and complements the warm of the fire.
You feel Lori move uncomfortably next to you. You watch her as she only eats the beans and not touch the meat. She's at that stage of the pregnancy where the smell of certain foods can make her feel nauseated and lose her appetite.
Deliberately, you push your portion of beans onto her plate.
She looks up at you, and you smile at her. "I don't really like beans." You lie. Since the moment you got here, Lori has been following you like a lost puppy. She always seems to be hovering somewhere nearby. You can tell she was scared, and your presence comforts her.
"It's exciting isn't it." You say to fill the gap, "to have a baby?" But it seems to have triggered the wrong response across the camp.
There is a stillness.
"How did you guys meet?" Rick asks pointing at you and the military men sitting next to you.
A quick subject change…
"Long story really, I met Jamie in the Middle East before the outbreak. I was working for MSF, and my team was requested to support the government."
"What's MSF?" Beth asks, her voice soft.
"Its Doctors without Borders," you tell her. "I had a 12-month commitment, and Jamie was assigned as my protection. Charles kinda joined us later." This was your second 12-month commitment. The first time, you were sent to west Africa, and you remember trekking through the forest of Guinea.
"Protection? Pssh, I was a glorified assistant." Jamie chimes in with a laugh.
"I asked you to get me a coffee, one time." You elbow his side, his laughter contagious.
Always the serious, Charles cuts in, "Sometime during the early signs of the outbreak, I was tasked to bring Dr. Hart back to the US. She was supposed to be the replacement for Dr. Lehman, the military Infectious disease doctor. He was studying the cause of all this when he accidently got bitten. So, my job was to bring the next best thing."
"I wouldn't say the next best thing." You laugh, rubbing the back of your neck bashfully. "He was my mentor during my study of infectious diseases." You were in Guinea when you first met Dr. Lehman. It was during the Ebola outbreak, and he flew in for his research. While you were there, you assisted him with his investigation, and when he published his findings, he cited you on the footnote. Later, he recommended you for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) apprenticeship program.
"When he passed away, his higher ups in the military thought, perhaps I can make sense of his notes, and where he left off on his research," you explain.
"And?" Rick counters. "Were you able to make sense of it? Do you know what caused it?" That question has everyone's attention on you.
"I guess I wouldn't be here with you if I did." You sigh, putting your plate down.
"She was brought to Fort Benning military base to continue his research. Unfortunately, there was a lot of reductions done to the documents. She wasn't allowed to see it as a civilian. I had her clearance rushed, but by then, we had wasted too much time." Charles speaks of the logistical nightmare you went through.
"From what I was able to see, I compared it with the notes we received from the CDC. We just didn't have the time to look deeper. The outbreak overtook the military base. Charles and James got me out of there safely."
They all look defeated.
"So, no idea hah," says Herschel with a sigh.
"I didn't say that." You smirk. You see the interest spike among the group.
"Let me guess…It's laboratory made, isn't it?" Asks Glenn. "Just reeks of experiment gone wrong. Like a horror movie."
"No, I don't think so. This virus is brilliant, too brilliant to be man-made. Besides, No one cooks disease better than mother-nature." There's a possibility this still could be man-made, but your hypothesis says otherwise.
"Have you guys ever heard of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis?" You ask the group. "It's commonly known the zombie fungus. It exists all over the world and it's very common in the Amazon Forest."
The answer is silence.
"When this zombie fungus infects an ant, it grows through the insect's body, draining it of nutrients and hijacking its mind. It's basically the first real mind control. Over the course of a week, it compels the ant to leave the safety of its nest and climb a nearby plant stem until it finds the right temperature and humidity for the fungus to grow. Then it forces the ant to permanently lock its mandibles around a leaf. And since an ant typically climbs a leaf that overhangs its colony's, the fungal spores rain down below, zombifying them all. Of course, eventually, the ant will die, but the body will continue to belong to the zombie fungus." It's so quiet, it feels like you're telling a scary story around a campfire.
"So, you think, what's happening here… the walkers… this is the outcome of some type of fungus?" It was Herschel connecting the dots.
"No, but it is an example that nature has done this before. This-" You wave around on the surrounding "-is nothing new." You shift forward in your seat as if you're making a presentation.
"My theory… is that this whole thing is indirectly caused by global warming." Your revealed.
"What? Ok, now I'm lost." Glen dispute, Jamie quickly agreeing with him.
"Yeah Doc, you ain't making sense. What does global warming have to do with the Walkers."
"That's why I said indirectly, but I'll be happy to break it down for you." You picked a stick off the ground, to start drawing your diagram. "Since the first ice age, in almost 2.5 billion years, our planet is the hottest it's ever been, causing the Arctic to melt at an astonishing rate. Which led countries such as Russia, America, and China, to set their eyes on the new untouched resources. Big fossil fuel companies had already started exploiting the oil that lies deep in Arctic waters."
"What da gotta do with anything?" It was the first time you heard from Daryl all night. Your eyes drifts over his face and you clear your throat before continuing.
"Scientists believe that when the first ice age froze, it also froze bacteria, germs and viruses that existed over 2.5 billion years ago, predating humans… my theory is… I think while digging, or because of the climate change, we let something out. Something that's been frozen, something like the zombie fungal." Your hands draw the timeline. "And if we did let something out, it leads me to believe that it's airborne. That's why it's spreading rapidly." Your nose-twitches, a nervous tic when you're thinking.
"Before we ended up at the prison, we went to the CDC looking for answers. There, we spoke to a man named Dr Jenner. Crazy man tried to blow us to bits but, he did confirm that it was airborne." Rick spoke up
"Blow you up?" You questioned. Glan stepped in to give you a quick recap of what happened.
"Well, that crazy fucker was right to come to the same conclusion." You hum thinking of all the possibilities.
"Yes, he also said, we are all infected." Rick interjects and you nod in confirmation.
"Yes, it's so interesting because the virus doesn't attack while the host is alive. It's like we are all infected by a dormant virus. But once the host dies, the virus becomes active and deadly to its surroundings." You stated, pointing at some of the walkers that are beyond the gate of the prison.
"The same way the zombie Fungus controls the ant to make it find more suitable place and temperature. This active virus wants more hosts, which is why it is dangerous to get bitten." You write down on the dirt with the stick.
"So far, we now know it reacts two ways when it enters a host's body. If you get infected through airborne, it remains dormant. It requires us to die for the virus to become active and take over. But if you get bitten, we are making a direct contact with an active virus, which means it will actively kill us." There's fervent in the way you speak. You have never seen anything like the Walker virus. As you look around the group, it feels like you were back in the hospital, surrounded by doctors trying to diagnose a new disease.
"Let's say- hypothetically, our government was drilling for oil, and we dug this virus out unintentionally. If patient zero happened to be at the Arctic, and then returned home to the US, this individual can immediately start infecting its surrounding… kids take it to school... so on, and so on, the same way the zombie fungal starts affecting the rest of the colony. Within months, if not weeks, we infect the whole planet"
Hershel nods his head, fingers to his chin, thinking, "Yes, an infected person has no symptoms, no way to distinguish it. We don't even know the speed and length this virus can travel, how long it can remain outside without a host, the kind of environment it can sustain. No way we would have known..." He chimed in, following your thoughts step by step.
"Damn…" Jamie whispered loudly.
"Yep, then the virus waits until one of the hosts dies. After that, it takes 3 hours to 24 hours for the virus to be active and take over." You conclude, "it's like taking a candy from a baby." Everyone's quiet and intently listening. The atmosphere is gloomy as if they're about to fight a losing battle.
After a minute or two of silence, Lori speaks up. "How can I… How can I bring a baby into a world like this? I'm dooming this baby before it can even live. At its first breath, it will be infected." Her eyes fill with tears. Her fears are logical, and the odds aren't in her favor. Raising an infant is tough, even before the world has gone to shit.
You turn to her and grab both her hands. You wait until she looks at you.
"There is no such thing as the perfect timing. Yes, raising this baby will be tough. Yes, there's a lack of basic necessity. However, now more than ever, children are essential to humanity's survival. It's just a matter of time, but we all have to eventually reproduce and do it quick." Your voice is clear and firm. "Humanity has survived under much harsher conditions in the past. And we will continue to endure. Yes, it will take time, but we will survive it." Lori looks at you, tears rolling down her cheek.
"Do you really think so?" She weeps.
"Yes, I do. As brilliant as this virus is, it is not perfect." You run your thumbs over her cheeks, wiping the tears before pulling back.
"So, it does have a weakness…" it was Herschel that speaks up, his medical background giving him an edge over the rest of the group.
"Again, this is just a theory, but I think so… I believe the answer lies with 'why' these Walkers attack."
"Oh, so they have reason for that?" Jamie chuckles.
"Yes. They are not thinking like we do but think of it more like a tree under a shade, it bends and curves to catch the sunlight. It's instinct. I think there's a purpose for why they attack… otherwise, the virus can just wait until we die and then take the host."
"So why?" Jamie asks.
"From what we know about Viruses in general, they tend to reproduce by infecting their host cells and reprogramming them to become virus-making 'factories.' But the programming in this Walkers or zombie virus requires the next host quick. That's why I think they attack."
"Again, there's another 'why.'" Rick speaks.
"Exactly! I kept asking myself the same question over and over again. Why did it need the next host quick? I kept seeing the desperate way these walkers move… and then, just like that," you snap your fingers to make the point. "The answer came to me! It was right in my face the whole time." There's a pause, and everybody seem to be holding their breath.
"A well reserved human body takes 3 to 5 years to fully decompose. The dead host can only sustain the virus for 3 to 5 years tops. And depending on the climate, it might even be less. There's no choice, those bodies will eventually decompose completely. That's the glitch in its programming, the weakness. That's why it wants the next host rapidly."
"So, are you saying as long as we can stay alive for 3 to 5 years, we'll be safe?" Maggie interrupts, hope in her eyes when she asks the question.
"Unfortunately, no, the number of Walkers will decrease exponentially, and it will also mean the danger from them will drastically decrease as well. I suspect we'll start seeing signs soon. They will start to slow down, as the muscle starts to fall off the bones. There is no question about it, eventually, the millions of walkers from the initial outbreak will decompose."
You turn to Lori again.
"Which is why the next generation is important. You see, me and you, this whole group, we are weak. We are not made for this environment. We are used to comfort and easy life. But the next generation will maneuver this world a lot easier than we have. This world belongs to Carl and your baby. So yeah, your baby has hope."
"Thank you." she breathes.
"It's only a theory." You speak modestly.
"Yes, but if your theory is correct, Walkers ain't gonna matter in a few years. We'll be fighting each other." Rick speaks his eyes distant. With the crumble of society, so did people's morality. It's just a matter of time…
"Resources are currency." You knew this immediately after the outbreak. It was the reason you collected all the medications. Currency.
"What we have here is important, Rick. This Prison could be a goldmine." Herschel adds in acknowledgment. Everyone's sitting there, digesting all the information. It's peaceful and the fire is dying down.
"Hmm there's one thing that's been bugging me though." You voice the thought you have been entertaining. "One thing I haven't been able to come up with the theory." You decide to share it with the group. "How come animals are not affected by this virus. Our cell structure is the same, so the virus should be able to infect them too. But how come we're not seeing zombified animals when they get bit either. Even chimpanzees who shares 99% of our DNA don't get infected... Why are they immune?" Something about homosapiens seem to be the perfect host.
"That is why you must continue your research, Dr. Hart. Why we must get you to DC. There may be a way to find immunity, and I truly believe you can do it." Charles voice is firm, reaching over Jaime to put his hand over yours encouragingly.
And you can tell he truly believes that.