Five things you need to know about zombies

You really should prepare for the zombie apocalypse. Don't believe us? Just ask the US Navy.

 

The US Navy Times reported that military exercises in preparation for a zombie apocalypse have been staged as part of their "counter terrorism summit" in San Diego, California.

 

The five-day event from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 provides "hands-on training, realistic demonstrations, lectures and classes geared to more than 1,000 military personnel, law enforcement officials, medical experts, and state and federal government workers."

 

“This is a very real exercise, this is not some type of big costume party,” HALO Corp. president Brad Barker told Christian News. HALO Corp. is a California-based organization founded by the US Special Operations group.

 

“Everything that will be simulated at this event has already happened, it just hasn’t happened all at once on the same night. But the training is very real,” Barker added.

 

Christian News also reported that the training exercise will simulate an emergency wherein zombies have surrounded a VIP and trapped him. A bomb will explode, injuring the VIP, where the law enforcers and first responders must take action.

 

Barker explained that like a terrorist, no one knows exactly what zombies would do in any situation, “If a law enforcement officer sees a zombie and says, ‘Freeze, get your hands in the air!’ What’s the zombie going to do? He’s going to moan at you. If someone on PCP or some other psychotic drug is told that, the truth is he’s not going to react to you.”

 

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even wrote a series of articles about preparing for THE zombie apocalypse, saying that if the people are well-prepared for zombies, they could be prepared for anything.

 

So here's a quick list of things you need to know about zombies, just in case:

 

1. Zombies are real

 

...at least in Haiti. Zombies and the zombie apocalypse have been staple of pop culture since George Romero's Hollywood blockbuster Night of the Living Dead in 1968. But they are not just a product of fiction.

 

In Haiti, the reality of brain-eaters is never put to question.

 

According to Discovery News, the original Haitian zombies were actually victims: corpses reanimated and controlled by means of witchcraft for specific purpose such as labor.

 

Haitians believed that witch doctors or "bokors" have the power to zombify a person. Bokors are feared and somewhat respected in Haiti. Authorities used this fear for political and social control.

 

In 1980, Haiti native Clairvius Narcisse claimed that he "died" in 1962 and became a zombie to work for a sugarcane plantation.

 

Discovery News reported, "He offered no evidence of his claims, and could not show investigators where he had supposedly worked for almost twenty years."

 

2. The Zombie Apocalypse is possible, science shows

 

Questions on whether a zombie outbreak could exist in real life bugged scientists for the longest time.

 

Surprise, surprise! Scientific evidence says it's apparently possible —via neurotoxins, viruses, brain parasites and nanobots.

 

Thinking that this could be somewhere between a Hollywood movie and voodoo, a Harvard University assistant professor in psychiatry actually told Popular Science that a walking dead outbreak could be possible.

 

Prof. Steven C. Schlozman, also author of the book, "The Zombie Autopsies," told Popular Science that the culprit may be a type of protein called prion.

 

Popular Science reported, "(Prion is) not quite a virus, and not even a living thing, prions are nearly impossible to destroy, and there’s no known cure for the diseases they cause." 

 

Another scientist, Dr. Wade Davis, also wrote about the science behind the walking dead.

 

NBC News reported that Davis wrote in his book, "Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie," that the Haitian belief in zombies "could be based on the (admittedly rare) cases where a person was poisoned by tetrodotoxin and later revived inside the coffin and taken from the grave."

 

 

3. You need math to survive a zombie apocalypse

Well, sort of.

 

If science says zombies MAY BE true, Math says we have a way to fight back.

 

In 2009, Canadian mathematician Robert J. Smith? —yes, his name actually does does have a question mark attached to it— published a book titled "When Zombies Attack! Mathematical Modelling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection."

 

Using mathematical equations, Smith? and the rest of his team showed that living humans could prevent the "complete collapse of society" after a zombie attack.

 

The key, according to the study, is to be fast enough.  

 

 

In the equation, S = suspectibles, Z - zombies, and R = removed. Wired reported that via this equation, "If an infection breaks out in a city of 500,000 people, the zombies will outnumber the susceptibles in about three days."

 

4. There's a bible for all your zombie questions

 

Max Brooks came out with a book that would surely help anyone fearing a zombie attack: "The Zombie Survival Guide."

 

Here are some points you need to remember in case you are going to fight a zombie:

 

Zombies are driven by their desire to eat. Their food? Human flesh. If you can, run away. Fast!

 

They are usually slow and you can always outthink them. But, they can withstand even huge damage such as decapitation. Like in the movies, hit them and hit them hard.

 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness suggested that you should have a zombie survival kit which includes water, food, medication, tools and supplies, first aid supplies, soap, towels, change of clothes and bedding, and important documents.

 

Finally, in the words of Brooks, "Don't be afraid. Use your head. And cut off theirs."

 

5. Zombies are part of Pinoy pop culture

 

Who said that zombies are foreign in the Philippines?

 

Recent pop culture history witnessed a lot of Z's: a movie with gay zombies, zombie-themed marathon, and a first ever Pinoy comic book to tackle zombies.

 

Outbreak Manila isn't your ordinary 5k-run. The goal here is to finish the race alive, despite the attack of walking, crawling, and running zombies. On Oct. 31, another batch is set to run within the grounds of an amusement park in Laguna.

 

Another fan favorite joining the bandwagon is the recent indie film Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington.

 

The movie is about Remington (played by Mart Escudero) who was cursed to be gay after making fun of every gay he sees. The movie also showcases a gay zapper, bekimon (gay linggo), and gay zombies. How's that for a fun Halloween DVD marathon?

 

The latest zombie appearance in Pinoy pop culture is the new comic book by writer-penciler Geonard Yleana and illustrator Sid Santos, "Zombinoy." The story is the usual: a viral epidemic caught the country off guard, leaving the protagonists to deal with the situation Pinoy-style, looping in political maneuvering; military intrigue; and religious belief.

 

Now, it's Halloween. Watch your back for zombies! — TJD, GMA News