Why don't zombies attack and try to feed on each other?

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Permalink Reply by Jesse Armstrong on June 5, 2009 at 5:22am

I was under the assumption that they only consume LIVE flesh. I havn't seen, but I am quite certain "regular" zombies should attack runners. I've never seen the two types together anyway.
Therefore, once the heart has stopped beating as the victim is being ingested, they tend to loose interest. That's when the half eaten victim tends to get back up to continue to spread it's vial plague.
It's probably a way in which the virus can ensure that the new host remains in some physical shape to get back up, yet the original host can get it's fill of meat. Nature. Terrifying and amazing.

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Permalink Reply by Dan on June 5, 2009 at 6:14am

I know little about runners, but as far as shamblers are concerned, its warmth. As soon as the flesh becomes cold, they wander off. This would explain why they dont attack each other, they are rotting and cold. They still have all the sences we do, just dumbed down. Im guessing that if you smelt dead, and cooled your body tempreture down, you could make it for a short time past them if you needed to make it through a large group.

What ive always wondered was why you never see them attack animals? it seems they only want human flesh. Any ideas?

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Permalink Reply by WildDave on June 5, 2009 at 7:32am

That's a really good question, but... it's just what zombies do. It's like asking why does a bird fly.

(Dropping out of character here, the main reason is that in zombie stories and movies, if the zombies were busy attacking each other, the un-infected heroes of the story wouldn't have any trouble getting away, and there wouldn't be any suspense. The story is more fun if things look really hopeless before they finally get away.)

The best reason that I can come up with is that since the zombies have eaten each other's brains to become the way they are, they all start thinking alike with a common purpose. The survival instinct of their shared mind won't let them harm themselves, so they go after the un-infected.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Valentine on June 8, 2009 at 7:26am

Wouldn't brains of humans(not zombies) be consumed? Therefore common thinking couldn't be transmitted this way...

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Permalink Reply by randall orry anderson on June 5, 2009 at 10:12am

i agrre that the hunt by smell the most and hereing. but maybe a zombie another one and did not like the taste so they know not to eat each other. i beleeve they cover this topic a littel in the zombie survivel guied but i am not sure.

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Permalink Reply by Liam Brebner on June 5, 2009 at 11:38am

The 'zombie' is effectively, clinically dead. Rigor Mortiis is ignored, as a nervous system doesn't exist, yes? Now, the decaying process must be delayed in some way, the living flesh they eat perhaps sustinance for them, but they still rot. So should the brain, now zombies seem to always revert back to feral intuition, now as we are aware, monkey's and humans are the only animals that attack each other for fun... Zombies aren't humans, but were, perhaps due to some feral, maybe a primal sense we have grown numb to because of society's prohibitions of it (we all know pheremones exist), maybe they can detect the same thing. They are rotting they must give out some smell that identifies themselves to all the others, and seeing as the primal urge to feed is vast, they band in mobs, unintentionally to use the 'ant theory' large mobs taking down bigger, smarter, faster prey... Us... I hope this helps, get into contact if you fancy more views on it?

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Permalink Reply by Jason Valentine on June 5, 2009 at 11:57pm

Thanks for your view Liam. It seems that people's concept of zombies and how they work is quite diverse. I guess one can only hope to understand how they work in their own mind.

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Permalink Reply by CORRADO of Dead Road on June 5, 2009 at 1:39pm

Zombies are not cannibals, they prey on humans `cause they are warm. Runners are a dumb concept since it changes from film to film. In one film they're zombies and in another they're infected humans. If we're talking zombies then "runners" are not part of the equation. Either way, find a weapon.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Valentine on June 6, 2009 at 12:01am

I quite enjoy the concept of runners. As noted in a previous post, a weapons expert said that it would be nearly impossible to continue to make successful head shots to fast moving attackers.

I love the zombie concept but I find it difficult to believe that you could be defeated by shamblers. If you can't outrun a person who is walking... you have no place in the post appoc. world.

Runners bring a real danger to the world of zombies which poses more of a challenge.

just my view.

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Permalink Reply by Liam Brebner on June 7, 2009 at 9:57am

Difficult to be taken out by shamblers... Read the book World War Z... The story comprises of much like this site, written documents of survivors, the zombies are shamblers, but reading views of different people, including army soldiers, they swarm, they soak up ammo like sponges to water, flame wont halt them, they dont sense pain. I gotta disagree with you, the book persuaded my mind to think otherwise because I was much like you, believing you could just out run them.
Its a great book, I definately recommend it.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Valentine on June 8, 2009 at 7:40am

I'll look into it Liam, thank you.

I played a few hours of killing floor tonight and I decided that a slow moving zombie in essence is not a big threat... until you mess up. Like if you back yourself into a corner, or trip or don't look around you and stumble upon more zombies, then you're screwed.

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Permalink Reply by CF Meerkat on June 7, 2010 at 6:49pm

I second that. :)

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