Your Reaction to Zombies

If the news came on and said there were reports of real zombies on the street, would you believe it? What if the police said to stay in your home to avoid being attacked by zombies?

What would it take to convince you zombies are real, and how would you react?

Edited to add details:

In my story, the city is being overrun by what most people would call a zombie, or close enough to it. People get attacked, fall down, and some get back up within a minute or so, and act like those that attacked them. The behavior is like having rabies and advanced dementia without any pain response whatsoever.

I'm trying to gauge whether people would believe the reports, or if they would chalk it up to a hoax. At first, it's just news reports, but within hours, the police come by in patrol cars with loudspeakers to advise people to stay in their homes. Shortly afterward, the National Guard rolls in with trucks and JLTVs (kind of like a beefier Humvee). Then there's the press conference with the National Guard, mayor, governor, et. al. to declare a state of emergency.

Maybe they wouldn't say "zombie," but that's the idea.

 

One of the more bizarre hypotheticals I've encountered, but I'll give it a shot.

Would I believe it from a news announcement alone? Absolutely not. I would assume it was a hoax. At heart (or should that be head?) I'm a practical man (get it from my father). Paranormal occurrences can, at best, always be explained, or at my most cynical be dismissed as downright lies.

Beyond the news announcement, what would it take? Probably me being bitten and becoming one, but then I'd still be doubtful. I'd be a zombie looking for a reason why I wasn't really a zombie.

It's hard to answer because the truth is I wouldn't believe it if it were staring me in the face.

 

Would I believe it? No, but I would go out to see what I could see.
When would I believe it were real? When a cop or member of the military was standing by me and killing others as well.

 

Thanks for your reply. I take it you would have a laugh and go on with your day, then?

In my story, the city is being overrun by what most people would call a zombie, or close enough to it. People get attacked, fall down, and some get back up within a minute or so, and act like those that attacked them. The behavior is like having rabies and advanced dementia without any pain response whatsoever.

I'm trying to gauge whether people would believe the reports, or if they would chalk it up to a hoax. At first, it's just news reports, but within hours, the police come by in patrol cars with loudspeakers to advise people to stay in their homes. Shortly afterward, the National Guard rolls in with trucks and JLTVs (kind of like a beefier Humvee). Then there's the press conference with the National Guard, mayor, governor, et. al. to declare a state of emergency.

Maybe they wouldn't say "zombie," but that's the idea.

 

I think the word "zombie" might be a problem.

It'd be easier to believe, say, some sort of virus causing erratic behaviour and violence, than the term "zombie".

 

So I should probably "sanitize" the language into something more official, then? Makes sense. Might make people more apt to take it seriously.

 

Definitely. If I heard a news report that referred to any of the tropes or cliches of zombie stories, I'd almost definitely ignore it as some kind of hoax. If the National Guard, (or whatever my country's equivalent tho that is) rolled up my street, I'd show a little more concern, but even then I would probably go about my day as usual until there was a curfew in effect. If however there was a news report of people showing symptoms of rabies and attacking others, I would probably definitely take a little more care than otherwise.

 

Yes, this. It would also give proceedings a slight originality.

But this is fiction. Your characters should behave the way you need to them to behave. Yes, a running streak of authenticity is always good, but just remember you're not reporting on real-life events.

 

It is an unknown and would be handled as such, at least initially.
"We don't know what is causing this outbreak. It could be water contamination, a virus, bacteria, food poisoning, something ingested that is laced, an air-borne allergen; we just don't know." Then the characters in the story could say "Holy crap! Zombies are real? WTF?"

There have been a few movies with this theme, like The Crazies.

 

I wouldn't personally believe it. Most wouldn't until they saw one. Adding sirens might help people believe it. Tornado warnings maybe? However any news source communicates the message is imperative. "Zombies," while recognizable, is also laughable. As in, people would probably find it amusing at first. Make the news report nuclear warfare or something that would get people to listen when they're told to lock themselves inside.

 

I'm with the rest in that I wouldn't put much stock in it until the military showed up. My initial reaction would probably be to laugh it off, maybe look up multiple sources online.

If you've never seen Shaun of the Dead, it's a pretty good 'regular people react to zombies' movie, albeit a comedy. I just love that movie so I'll rec it for anything

 

I have seen The Crazies, as well as Shaun of the Dead. Comedy elements aside, it does have some interesting "real world" moments.

"Sorry, Phillip."

 

Back when I lived out in the country with my folks, we used to joke that there could be a zombie apocalypse and we wouldn't even know it - and it'd be such a waste, because my dad's a gun collector so we'd've been perfectly well off.

 

I want to avoid my characters "just going with it," though at the same time I don't want them to spend a chapter freaking out. The trick will be for them to realize what they're up against, but too busy fighting it to disbelieve it. I'm also wondering what it would take to get a city off its ass to evacuate. Not that they actually need to make it out alive...

 

I'd believe it right away. I wouldn't necessarily chalk it up to people being undead zombies, but I'm not going to risk my life by running out into the street to prove it. I'd probably assume it was some virus sweeping the nation but I'd take it seriously even at the initial news report.

 

Film footage, of which there would surely be no end given our current love affair with filming and uploading video. My reaction would be to lock myself in the house. We have security doors here in Puerto Rico for several reasons, not least of which is to be able to let the breeze flow through the house and still have the house secure, so... yeah, lock myself in. I wouldn't be pedantically concerned with whether or not the phenomenon was actual zombieism like in the movies. If it were just a spreading infection of a purely rational bacterial, viral, or fungal origin, that would be enough for me to hole up and make sure I had my firearm loaded and ready to go.

 

If I was watching TV and the zombies were being announced, I'd first want to learn more about it. What kind of disease is causing it? Does it spread through contact with bodily fluids? Does it spread through the air? If became clear that it was a small scale infection that doesnt spread easily, I'm definitly turning to legalized decapitation through brutal trauma to the zombies' necks. Makes a great story for the grandchildren.
If is was an average scale infection with a decent rate of not-getting-infected, playing it save.
If it was a large scale infection in which infection kinda becomes the norm... legalized decapitation through brutal trauma to the zombies' necks.

 

Nursing school kicks me out of the program for 40 total hours missed in a 4 month period, or 2 days of no-call-no-show, so I'm showing up to school. And they are hazy on how missing clinical hours affects my ability to graduate other than to say missing clinical hours cannot be made up, so, I'm showing up to clinical sites.

Aaand I'm sort of in the middle of escalated warnings about attendance at work because, apparently, the company gives me 7 days sick time to use at me discretion, but those days still accrue points towards termination? Or something. So, I'm showing up to work.

I'm treating the zombie apocalypse like a TN snow storm... everything might be closed and gridlocked but I've got places to be.

 

I think that's the thought process behind The Walking Dead - they never refer to the zombies as Zombies, they're Walkers, Biters, Roamers, etc. I've often postulated that the series might take place in a universe where the zombie mythology as we know it might not exist.

As for me, hell yeah, as soon as I saw the footage come in I'd be hunkering down with my machete and chainsaw. I've seen way too many zombie movies and TV series where Jane is is like "Oh my goodness Agnes, you look unwell" before Agnes tears her goddamn throat out with her zombie undead teeth.

 

99.9% Implausible. That tiny percent that it could happen would be more
like in the game The Last of Us, with that fungus that attacks ants mutates
to take over people. So from a logical standing zombies are damn near
impossible to happen on a scientific stand point.

In the unlikely event, get the hell out of Dodge. Hope the military imposes
a scorched earth policy for the affected areas, burning everything within
the hot-zone. As well as enforcing a stringent quarantine until a vaccine
has been developed. (I vote for napalm since the nuke option would make
the area uninhabitable due to radiation.)

 

Sorry, but that job's taken.