I’m just looking some opinions on something that randomly popped into my head the other day.
What would happen if the dead starting rising from the grave but it turned out that instead of craving brains, that they are just these passive zombies that don’t chase anybody, don’t hurt anybody, don’t do anything but wander around aimlessly.
What would societies reaction be? Study them? Round them all up and burn them? Return each individual zombie to their families? Find some way to make use of them?
Study them to figure out what the hell is happening, them round them up and burn them.
Nobody wants to see their dead loved ones walking around. I mean, nobody wants to see anyone’s dead loved ones walking around, but especially not their own.
Cremation would almost certainly become a national mandate within a very short time. However, before incinerating risen zombies out of hand, there would have to be a discussion and decision as to whether or not they are a new race of living creatures with the same right to live as, say, dogs or cats or deer or whatever.
Slavery. They cannot be trusted to roam free so its best to confine them, guard them and if possible use them for the betterment of society. In the future people can decide to be buried whole and join the zombie underclass or be creamated.
If, as the OP has mandated, all they can do is “roam aimlessly” about, could you actually make slaves out of them since the whole purpose of slavery is to have a group of subjugated people perform specific and organized tasks? Seems to me it would be like trying to herd cats.
Sure, the first thing that comes to mind is corral them with a single exit, the exit leads to a trough like an overshot water wheel. Zombie wanders aimlessly down the only available path then falls on the wheel driving it. Once at the bottom the zombies are given a single path back up to the top to repeat the process. As long as you have enough zombies their random wanderings will keep generating power.
You could tie the zombies to large objects you want moved and give them a limited path in the direction you want it moved it. Say pulling a stump out. Drive in with truck of zombies set up the course for 1000 zombies to amble 100 yards back to truck. Attach harnesses to stump and then attach zombies. Some will stand there and other will move randomly left and right but with a limited path the majority action will be down the course you just need to figure out what the average pulling power of a zombie, is maybe 20 pounds. So 1000 zombies at 50% efficiency gives you 5 tons of pull on an object at no cost. Sure its not faster that a backhoe but there is no fuel cost to operate.
There’s a sci-fi short story where they are used for menial jobs like waitstaff and delivery men. Can’t remember what that specific story is called, but it’s part of a huge collection of best sci-fi short stories from the last 50 years, many of which I had to read for a sci-fi film and lit class.
I think we’re all overlooking the fact that zombies, mindless and aimlessly wandering though they may be, will require energy for movement, which means that they are going to have to eat … SOMETHING. :eek:
I cannot deal with germs as it is. Zombies milling around produce or the underwear aisle at Wal-mart disturbs me. REALLY disturbs me.
Wal-Mart gives me the creeps, anyway.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
ETA: automatic doors, you know they’re coming in. Just sayin’