UnDead Biology: The Runner

This is part of a series of blogs that explain the different types of zombies in the “zombie universe” I created. It is much like the History Channel specials you see explaining the biology of things that don’t exist. Enjoy.

This is an interview with a survivor and head member of an SLS colony who has personally experienced the threat of the runner zombie. It is also common referred to as “sprinters” or “marathons”.

They come at you like mad men, flailing their arms about and struggling to keep a balanced pace while trying to get at you. I can take them out if I react fast enough, but that total disregard for the bullets flying around, and through, them. Though they’re fast they’re not very good at running. It’s much like a cheetah complex; short bursts of speed momentarily interrupted by not energy, but balance. A lot of them lack this factor in their brain that tells them up is up and down is down.

It’s a scary thing running into sprinters. It really demoralizes my crew. I lost a lot of good guys and gals to those d-bags. One time, we were clearing this one town that was infested with Zack. See, zombies are what you can say nomadic, and the only reason why they would be in large numbers anywhere is because there’s food. It’s like a herd of bison looking for water in the African savannah.

Anyway, there were about a hundred of them. We did a good job of taking out what we could. The rest were forced into smaller groups which is a simple toss of a grenade or quick spit of lead. We heard screams for help atop a roof on an old office building about six stories. There were maybe four of them. They were wearing suits and skirts all torn up or dirty. They started waving their hands in the air. “They’re getting through!” or “Help! We can’t hold for much longer!” Then the moaning we just ended with a mountain of rounds started up again. A group of about fifteen zombies came charging through the narrow door leading to the roof.

We saw this on the roof of another building across the street. I had a couple guys on the street still cleaning up. We couldn’t do anything; it was already too late. All we could do was hope that it ended fast for them. Then the runner got through the narrow door. It bolted toward one of the guys and sent him flying over the side. He landed with a loud thump on the concrete.

The runner didn’t take notice, though. As soon as it got its bearings it got up and sprinted toward one of my guys and took him to the ground. It started tearing at his chest, but luckily he had a Kevlar vest on. My sniper threw a few rounds to its head.

Runners aren’t very common, but when they’re around they come fast. The only give away to their presence is that they still moan and they slap their feet on the ground like a kid running for an ice cream truck. But even then, it’s not enough to be ready for a runner. I don’t know what makes them run like that, but then again they don’t know what makes me want to shoot them. Heh.