One of the big problems I have with a lot of the zombie genre books and movies
is the idea that humanity could be destroyed by flesh eating creatures rising from
the dead. For the sake of this discussion to continue, let’s accept the premise
that by whatever means, natural, man-made or viral the dead have suddenly
begun to get up, stumble around and eat the living. Let’s also assume they are
the typical slow-moving, shambling eating machines as depicted in many of what
I consider the best zombie literature. Obviously, if they were the fast-paced
speed demons depicted say in World War Z, this would be an entirely different
discussion.
I don’t believe these slow type zombies could ever take over the earth. Or should
say they couldn’t take over the United States. I should point out in defense of the
undead, in my Dead Kill zombie book series I do point out that those countries
with strict gun control do get over-run by zombies. This is not me taking any pro-
gun political stance or anything of that nature. I’m too busy to get involved with
such nonsense. This is just a logical assumption and my opinion based on what I
know and what I’ve observed in my many years on this planet.
Consider this, in the movie Dawn of The Dead, (the first one – and my favorite)
George Romero had a scene that was meant to be satirical, as was the entire
movie, where a bunch of red necks were out having a good old time drinking
beer and hunting zombies. But think about this for a minute. Many individual
states in the United States have more guns per capita than many large foreign
countries.
If we are to accept the premise that the dead could rise and eat the living then
you have to realize that most Americans wouldn’t just sit back and become a
main course. It just isn’t how we are wired. We love to shoot stuff. And shooting
moving stuff – even slow moving stuff – is much more fun than shooting targets.
I’m neither a gun enthusiast nor a hunter, but many of my closest friends are. So
I know they would have a blast, pardon the expression hunting zombies.
In my Dead Kill series the government offers a $100 per zombie bounty to any
undead rendered permanently dead. The name “Dead Kill” itself refers to killing
something already determined to be dead. The idea of open season all year
round with a hefty bounty attached would easily result in total annihilation of the
zombie population.
In my less than scientific opinion, zombies simply wouldn’t have a chance, at
least not in the US. We Americans are a bit too crazy for that.