here we go again... runners?

[darth los]

I think that we see several examples of the Zs in GARs movies moving in a fast paced manner...running, not so much but think back to Dawn when Roger, Peter and Fly Boy are running through the store and one of the Zs grabs Roger...very swift very fast hes standing there then pow (for dramatic purposes I'm sure) there are several instances like thin...the kids running after Peter in the Airport. Lets all watch the movies again...I know I know...more homework. I never need an excuse to watch those films agian. lol But it does seem like the later into the series we get the less frequent "jogging zombies become". Here's a bonus. Check out the original NOTLD. Right after the truck blows we see Ben fight for his life in order to get back to the house. There's a long camera shot between some trees we see him running and there's a female ghoul in a nightgown that seems to scamper after him.

[Thorn]

I always thought that rather than the zombies at the back, or to the rear, "catching up" with the moving vehicle, they were simply joined by more and more zombies coming in from both sides and in front (IE: from every angle) so rather than those behind catching up with the vehicle, the vehicle was swarmed by lots (hundreds?) of zombies from all angles ... slowing the vehicle down slightly and making it seem to the shell-shocked observer that the zombies were actually gaining ground on the truck. This was my take on the events as explained. Edit to add: Rigor mortis begins to manifest after about 3 hours after death, until that time the body is quite flaccid. If it became reanimated you might assume it had some degree of normal movement. If anything it would be less surefooted motion, not stiff motion in my opinion. Then after rigor hits, it lasts for around 72 hours or so and then it is just the body and decay. So as muscles and tissue decay the body would start to move not "stiff" but with unsure difficult movements in my opinion. Of course temperature would play a major part in all of this as well. Anyhow, it is hard to say for sure but I bet we all have our opinions. At the end of the day though the stiff zombie walk said by many to be caused by rigor you wouldn’t see for 3 hours meaning you could see fast movement by zombies even if I hate to admit it. Thing is the body needs Adenosine Triphosphate to move, and after you die your body stops making it. It keeps using it though until it is gone. So I guess the question is... if the body is "dead" it uses the ATP and much more quickly than a normal cadaver as it is up moving around trying to eat people. So rigor might set in more quickly. At the end of the day who knows. It is one of the things I accept as part of the Mythos of the dead world and I move along.

[darth los]

At that point in the outbreak i think it's doubtful that "hundreds" of zombies were congregated any in one given area. It always seemed far fetched to me that so many ghouls were in the vicinity of the house being that it looked like such a rural area. That seemed to be the only house for as far as the eye could see.

[Yojimbo]

Brother Cereval in his post makes a lot of sense about the "rules" not having been solidified at the time of NOLD. Regarding the fast moving zombies that were brought up, I maintain that lurching forward quickly - as exhibited by the screwdriver zombie, and the airport kid zombies, both from DOTD - is quite different from the running and other unbelivable athletic feats demonstrated in Snyders music-video of a film. A child pushing on a door will tumble forward as soon as that door opens. Forward momentum, then, will cause the child to move forward rather quickly, and this quick foward movement will assist the child ghoul in closing the space of a few paces rather quickly. Again, I maintain that is this different from a "zombie" sprinting as if he was a track and field competitor. A ghoul is standing in the aisle of JC Penneys, suddenly surprised by a group of survivors who are running past him within arm's reach. The ghoul's reaction time being as it is, he registers the group approaching, but as his body reacts to the brain's command to grab the victim, the first two have already passed by, though the ghoul is able to grab the third victim - Roger - surprising him and sending him tumbling to the ground. His movement then, as quick as it seemed, is completely believable in this context. In this regard, I maintain that the quick grab is worlds away in speed and dexterity from even the most overweight guy attempting to lose weight by power walking every morning. I might add that if someone was running past me -- even a swat officer, or a big ass marine on steroids -- I could easily send them tumbling to the ground with the slightest nudge if they were unprepared for my nudge and are moving at a nice clip. (This is the why big 16 wheelers weighing several tons can tip over with a sudden gust of wind when they are traveling at a high rate of speed.) Again, this movement by screwdriver zombie is different from the displays of athleticism that Snyder has his super zombies pull off. Certainly, in the case of Ben's soliliquy, I think that the argument can go both ways based on his ancedotal evidence. I had always interpreted that the truck was being swarmed, and that there were zombies holding on to the back of the truck, being pulled along, before it exploded. I guess his statements can be interpreted that the ghouls were running, but note that while he says the truck is "screaming by" and that the ghouls were catching up, he never says that the ghouls were sprinting after it, or making velciraptor noises for that matter. Great thread, BTW - nice take on a frequently argued topic!

[darth los]

I agree with the sudden movement angle. And as we all have seen, when food is in close proximity these ghouls can do amazing things. However, that's a different topic alltogether than their ability to, at times, jog. ( for lack of a better term )

[Andy]

Dont resurect a 2 year old topic to add virtually nothing.