It would be really nice if we could have some science behind the behaviour of the infected. Here are some rough templates of behaviour of the two known types:

Runner

  • Fast and still has brain function enough to solve basic logic but not enough for complex problems such as climbing ladders, opening doors via handle etc.
  • Extremely violent with high tendency to bite and maul
  • little or none reasoning ability
  • extremely high stamina
  • based on the 28 days/dawn of the dead remake style zombie
  • Can be killed as any normal human
  • No superhuman abilities, they retain the same ability as pre-infection state. eg a fat person will not suddenly be able to sprint as fast as an athlete
Shambler

  • based on the traditional slow 'Romero' style zombie
  • no reasoning ability
  • zero problem solving and logic function
  • brain dead appearence
  • delayed decomposition
  • extremely violent with high tendency to bite
  • tendency to consume occasional victim although the intestinal tract function ceases to exist, no nutritional benefit is taken from consuming victims. Possible early man instincts unlocked?
  • Only 'killed' by destroying the brain
  • extremely high stamina
What explainations does science have for these traits?

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Well the virus could put them in coma which shuts down the majority of the bodily functions, mainly the brain. When they rise the lack of oxygen to the brain would greatly damage it causing functions such as reasoning and cognition to be removed, thus putting them in to a catatonic state so they can only move around by shuffling. The lack of oxygen could have damaged the hypothalamus and causing the most common smell they experiencing in their life (living flesh) to give out constant release of dopamine in to the zombie, attracting it to people.
humping sexy zombies would be the worst!

I think anaerobic conditions is definitely something that looks like it needs to be present in explanations
Regarding the runners, it's important to note that they don't have super human strength. They retain the abilities they had as a human. So an overweight runner probably isn't going to outrun you if you are in reasonable shape. An olympic sprinter on the other hand...
beware of Kenyan runners....they will be like flying sharks
my thoughts

Runners- the virus could be more of a back seat driver, only taking over the parts of the brain to inflict a feral or abusive instict, the virus itself would need other human meat in order to satisfy the heightened metabolism induced hunger, until the Runner is dead then it would be under Shammie *Shambler* rules...Left 4 Dead had zombies where they would beat there victims to death before eating them....

Shamblers- the virus will take the entire brain and use only the parts that make it move and strong while the rest of its needs will be from nutrients from eating fresh parts since it cannot make its own nutrients, so after the zombie consumes what he has, the virus decomposes it and treats it to replace specific dead tissue and skin areas and the longer it goes without food, the more the zombie rots...

yes i said the shammie part before but i felt this discussion suited it and i could talk about runners here.....
The virus could also attack and destroy the Frontal and Temporal Lobes in the Cerebrum.  This could lead to partial damage of the pathways leading to the Parietal and Occiptal lobes. (associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli visual processing).  The virus or bacteria could also affect theCingulate Gyrus - a fold in the brain involved with sensory input concerning emotions and the regulation of aggressive behavior.
One thing that is not clear from the timeline, nor have I been able to gleen it anywere on the site, is what type of Zombie is more prevalent the shambler or the runner.  I think this information would be helpful in determining the path of the virus. ( ie do humans become runners - runners become shamblers) Are there two distinct strains of the virus?  Do runners develop a strain of bacteria that causes the creation of a shambler when a victim is bit?
Main page of this group
Saw that after the post. Thanks.
I usually classify zombies as "fresh infected" and "old infected"
fresh are infected tht where recently infected, so some of there body parts, limbs,muscles etc r still intact, so they would be the runners
the old infected are those who've been infected for quite awhile such as months or so, so there body won't be as intact, limbs falling off, necrosis slowly making them fall apart, leaving them shambling slow corpses, lol idk thts how I classify zeds

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