Dead or Undead?

[Andy]

So a real zombie apocolypse situation has happened, the world has crumbled.. goverments failed, everything wiped out. everything you knew has gone and a new world inhabitated by the undead has replaced it. Except you have somehow made it this far, you've even managed to rescue a small group of loved ones and friends and have made a go of it in this new world. Then one day something happens, someone makes a mistake and allows a couple of Z's into your compound/base/mall and in the confusion and the fight that ensures, trying to save your loved ones, you have taken a bite. You know whats coming, your biten. your infected.. there's only 2 ways out of this, now the interesting question (i think) is would you have someone kill you so that you dont come back, or would you rather let zombification take its course and see how the other half live (or dont live...)?

[Legion2213]

I try to go out Roger style...nobody really wants to go all "suicide", it's unatural to end ones life, no matter how desperate, but do I want somebody trustworthy to de-brain me as soon as I breath my last.

[Wyldwraith]

Hmm, Didn't we do a thread like this recently? Will give the answer I believe I gave there. I cannot imagine a more horrible fate than the possibility of my consciousness and (if you believe in such things, I do) my immortal soul trapped inside a rotting carcass I have no control over, that's driven to kill and consume (not necessarily in that order) the very people I've spent all those years protecting and helping to survive. So yea, I vote for a quick bullet to the brain...after I've had time to say my goodbyes and then maybe (if the situation and supplies allow) get incredibly intoxicated before my executioner does his/her work. Personally, I find it all but impossible to conceive of any reason or possible motivation that could convince someone to choose rotting undeath over a mercifully quick death. In fact, I'm rather curious as to whether anyone can put forward a good reason to embrace zombie-style undeath. (Modern conceptions of vampirism are another thing entirely. Would happily sign up for immortality, agelessness, perfect health, rapid regeneration of all but the most extreme of traumas and various other physical perks in exchange for adopting an exclusively liquid diet and nocturnal lifestyle.) Still, if you worked that hard to survive the fall of civilization and attacks by relentless ghouls for who knows how long, what could persuade you to become a threat to the uninfected people you've been sharing your life with? Very interested.

[bd2999]

Strangely have had this talk with people before. It just depends. You last as long as you can to try and make a difference for everyone but if you start slowing them down I think you have to ask to be put down. At best you wait a bit so you are in that gap phase between life and living death so it is easier on both of you, but I would rather be put down outright if that was the only choice. To big of a chance of hurting someone you care about.

[bassman]

Depending on what family survivors i'm with, I would most likely have someone to keep guard and take care of me AFTER turning. Who knows....maybe I won't come back. Most likely I would and if I did I have the same opinion as Cholo. "I wanna see how the other half lives"

[Trin]

Hmm, Didn't we do a thread like this recently? Will give the answer I believe I gave there. I cannot imagine a more horrible fate than the possibility of my consciousness and (if you believe in such things, I do) my immortal soul trapped inside a rotting carcass I have no control over, that's driven to kill and consume (not necessarily in that order) the very people I've spent all those years protecting and helping to survive. That presumes that being dead is better. What if Hell is real and you are condemned to live eternity in torment? When you could spend eternity chillaxin in the deep end of your rich idiot nephew's pool.

[Danny]

eh, either way im dead so im not bothered.

[Andy]

Ive always wondered if you would be concious so to speak or even aware of whats happening around you as a Z, even if you had no control over it. If we beleive that parts of the brain are being motivated or are still functioning, including vague memories then i think its not a big leap of imagination to think that you could still be concious on some level. Kind of like being in a coma but walking around.

[AcesandEights]

Ive always wondered if you would be concious so to speak or even aware of whats happening around you as a Z, even if you had no control over it. If we beleive that parts of the brain are being motivated or are still functioning, including vague memories then i think its not a big leap of imagination to think that you could still be concious on some level. Kind of like being in a coma but walking around. My thoughts on the matter, as taken from the previously mentioned, similar thread from last month: No thank you! I've always been afraid of suffering any sort of mentally impairing injury (stroke, brain trauma, aneurysm etc.) and the condition of a shambling corpse seems too close, especially since I'm not convinced that there is such a thing as a soul, I'd just rather the spark go out of my form entirely when I die. If there is a soul, an animus that persists after we die, there's a chance that being a zombie might trap it inside the body in some way...so either way it just seems wrong, unnatural and hellish to me. And, most importantly, why would I want my animate body wandering around causing problems for fellow people, putting them in danger and possibly eating them? I'm not that much of an asshole...who here, in all reality, is?

[bassman]

I would think you would have a small memory of yourself and your surroundings for the first few seconds, but then you just turn to instinct. Kinda how Shaun's mom recognizes him when she first comes back, but then loses it and goes in to kill. I guess you could say the same about Roger. But on the other hand....Bub knew the whole gun and military salute. Did he realize that he was once a soldier or was it something he didn't really understand?

[darth los]

I would think you would have a small memory of yourself and your surroundings for the first few seconds, but then you just turn to instinct. Kinda how Shaun's mom recognizes him when she first comes back, but then loses it and goes in to kill. I guess you could say the same about Roger. But on the other hand....Bub knew the whole gun and military salute. Did he realize that he was once a soldier or was it something he didn't really understand? You know, I always wondered about that as different things are implied about bub's learning capabilities. The salute is pretty straight forward that Logan didn't show him that as it seemed to catch him by suprise as he said, "apparently he's former military". You would think that logan would be taking creditfor teaching bub as much as he could, not the other way around. The other things, like the walkman and razor, imo, were taught to bub. He makes the point of saying "he remembers them from before." And then repeats the latter half while laughing, apparently at it's double meaning. He remembers them from his former life and he remembers them from his previous lessons with logan. Hey, it's a theory.

[SRP76]

I'd rather die. The zombies are the enemy. I'd go out suicide bomber style. May as well take as many ghouls as I can out with me, since if the living are ever going to retake the planet, they have to wipe out the dead. Give them a little head start.

[Publius]

The salute is pretty straight forward that Logan didn't show him that as it seemed to catch him by suprise as he said, "apparently he's former military". I'd say that conclusion is suspect, considering that Bub was at a military installation, was not kept in isolation, and could plausibly have seen salutes rendered before. In which case his own salute is more easily explained by a talent for mimicry than memories of past life. See the "Clever Hans Effect," where some researchers were fooled into thinking that a horse (Clever Hans) could count and solve simple arithmetic problems via hoof-taps. In reality, he was just picking up on subtle nonverbal signals the researchers were sending when he reached the right number of taps. Studies like this showed the importance of double-blind testing, which certainly wasn't used in Bub's case.

[EvilNed]

Didn't really see that many (if any) salutes going down in Day of the Dead, tho.

[Publius]

True. But didn't see anyone taking a crap either, and that doesn't mean THAT never happened.