Let’s be honest, there’s a ten percent chance a zombie outbreak could happen in real life. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the possibility of zombies wandering around is becoming more and more concreate, especially since scientist are openly experimenting unreliable vaccines on a lot of humans from different nature. The reason I think that the coronavirus vaccine is ineffective and could possibly even be harmful with irreversible damage is for several reasons.
Firstly, for a vaccine to be fully developed, it takes years and in some cases decades to develop a certified vaccine. According to a post by Ali S. Khan on the Insider, a vaccine undergoes intensive steps, including exploratory phases, pre-clinical trials, new drug application, 4-step vaccine trials, and thorough vetting from the US centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
Secondly, if the risks and limitations of a vaccine is not studied properly, everything could go extremely sideways within 24 hours. If one person had a bad reaction to the vaccine, something could permanently get damaged within their body or neural system. The problem is, it might be contagious. So, everything could go out of hands real-quick. For the sake of imagination, we’re going to imagine that an unreliable vaccine of some disease could result in the reanimation of a dead body, aka the creation of a zombie.
What are ZOMBIES and where did they come from?
In a nutshell, zombies came from literature. The word ‘zombie’ was first recorded by the poet Robert Southey as ‘zombi’ in 1819 in history of Brazil. The word was meant to refer to an ‘Afro-Brazilian’ rebel leader named Zumbi, which has an etymology of ‘nzambi’ or god/fetish in West African slang. Some linguists were able to even link it to the Kongo word ‘mvmbi’ which means a ghost/revenant or a corpse that has retained a soul. It is unclear whether the term emerged because of the involvement of West Africa with magic. But the term ‘voodoo zombie’ was a whole concept in 1929’s The Magic Island by W. B. Seabrook. This book in specific narrates the story of the narrator who visits Haiti and encounters a cult that practices voodoo to bring back thralls through spiritual and magical resurrection.
The term itself has become popular in and out of literature, and it is still as fascinating to the audiences in 2021, as it has been in 1819. It was also fascinating to pop-culture and filmmakers of the 20th and 21st centuries. We cannot forget the infamous Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and the Gothic Romanticism tales by Edgar Allan Poe. So, here are some zombie-related examples that you might have missed outside of literature:
- 1932: Victor Halperin’s film White Zombie which is believed to be the earliest zombie film
- 1934: Dwain Esper’s film Maniac which is a loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat
- 1936: George Terwilliger’s film Ouanga and Victor Halperin’s film Revolt of the Zombies
- 1939: Arthur H. Leonard’s film The Devil’s Daughter (Pocomania)
- 1940: George Marshall’s film The Ghost Breakers
- 1941: Jean Yarbough’s film King of the Zombies
- 1956: Arabic film Ismail Yassine in the Wax Museum
- 1968: George A. Romero’s film Night of the Living Dead
Fast-forwarding to the 2000’s, we have:
- 2007: Francis Lawrence’s film I Am Legend which is a novel adaptation (personal favorite)
- 2007: George A. Romero’s film Diary of the Dead sequel to Night of the Living Dead (1968)
- 2009: Mike Schneider’s film Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated
- 2010: Paul W. S. Anderson’s infamous film Resident Evil: Afterlife
- 2011: Nick Lyon’s film Zombie Apocalypse which sets these types of movies into its own genre
- 2012: Paul W. S. Anderson’s infamous film Resident Evil: Retribution
- 2012: Justin Ritter’s film The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse
- 2013: Marc Forster’s film World War Z (again, another personal favorite. Also Brad Pitt fan)
- 2016: South Korean film by Yeon Sang-ho Train to Busan (which is a must watch)
As for Music Videos, I have two honorable mentions because they’re my favorite:
- 2010 – Present: Gold Globe Award Winner for Best Television Series, The Walking Dead
- 2014 – 2018: Post-apocalyptic SyFy series, Z Nation (which I think is not bad, but not amazing either)
- 2015 – Present: prequel to the original show is, Fear the Walking Dead (which I think is not that exciting, but it has its own fans)
- 2016 – Present: a mixture of genres and settings is the thriller horror, Van Helsing (I think it’s more vampiric though, but our main character is resurrected so…)
- 2019 – Present: South Korean TV series, Kingdom (another personal favorite)
And many more films. As for the tv-series, there are some mentions:
- 1983: Michael Jackson’s music video Thriller
- 2019: Post Malone’s music video Goodbyes ft. Young Thug
So, whether zombies come from a magic spell, parasitic virus, faulted vaccination, a direct result of cannibalism, or a failed genetic manipulation experiment, let’s prepare ourselves for the worst. Here are pro-tips by me and those who know every small detail of the apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic genre. Together, we will help you survive a zombie apocalypse.
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse IRL?
Rule #1: Be smart, identify the emergencies that allude to the outbreak. For instance, if people are acting weird and attacking one another for no apparent reason, then do not try to interfere by being a peace-maker. Just RUN! Run for your life.
Rule #2: Look out for natural hazards and animal evacuations. If animals and birds are flocking away in massive numbers, there’s a high possibility there’s a contagious disease that’s going around. So, wear your mask and sanitizing gear, we don’t want you getting sick in the midst of a zombie outbreak.
Rule #3: Do not become a zombie. Seriously! If you die it is game over for you. You won’t be able to ‘survive’ a zombie apocalypse, because you will be the apocalypse. This of course involves not getting bit by a zombie.
Rule #4: Electricity will be out soon (once the zombie plague hits the electric bases in the country). Make sure you make the best of it by calling your loved ones and saying your goodbyes. If they are still not dead, then you may arrange to meet at a safe point. Let’s hope this safe point isn’t actually overrun by zombies, or else GG.
Rule #5: If you’re still at home or at a market during the outbreak, make sure to grab supplies as fast as you can and leave. Your supplies of course aren’t going to be snacks. They, however, will include: water, non-perishable or canned food, medications ‘especially if you have asthma’, utility tools like knives, duct tape and batteries, sanitations like bleach, soap and towels, first aid kit, and obviously any handy weapons to fight both the zombies and hustlers who will try to rob you.
Rule #6: You have to be always on the run. Do not try to stay at one place. If you stay at home, you’ll soon be swarmed by the predators and your city will soon be overrun. So, technically, you’ll die of either starvation or the hunt.
Rule #7: Do not go back for important documents like passport or license. They belong to the old world now, brother. Focus on finding a map. It may be stored in your car somewhere, because soon, you’ll realize that you won’t be able to use Google Maps and Waze once the internet dies.
Rule #8: Do not be kind. I feel like this is such a duh moment, but many people will end up dying because they chose to stop and help others. So, if you decide to be mother Teresa for any reason, remember that: the person you’re helping could be infected, could have an ulterior motive, could kill you and steal your shit.
Rule #9: Do not wait for the police. In case you haven’t noticed, police are human beings who aren’t immune to the disease. So, unless you feel like becoming the next meal to the nearest zombie officer, do not go to a police station. You may try to go loot it for weapons though, later on when you’ve gained some experience.
Rule #10: Don’t be religious in the open. By that, I mean don’t stop to pray or make Duaa’ in the open, or you’ll meet your maker faster than you intend to. You can also avoid going to mosques and churches because you’ll find groups of religious zombies waiting for their god-delivered meals to arrive. Be smart, don’t be the meal.