To be completely honest, it has been a struggle to find a worthy topic to blog about. Everything I can think of has been meticulously picked over by classmates and with my spring-semester-zombified-drooling-at-my-desk-state, I found little to actually blog about.
So then I watched the first episode of the Walking Dead, again. I watched the perfectly bearded Rick saunter into a lawless Atlanta on horseback, discover huge mobs of Zombies, and flee into the confines of a M1 Abrams tank, its not actually an Abrams, but it was dressed up to look like one, so im going with it. But still, IT WAS A TANK.
Im not saying Rick could drive the damn thing, but how did it come to be in that position in the first place? Certainly, there are loads of factors that could be considered: maybe it was quickly overrun, maybe it ran out of gas, or was unwilling to fire on civilians and infected targets, etc. Still, the Abrams can be completely sealed, can travel up to 45mph, gets roughly 265mpg, a main gun, four extra lmgs (large machine gun) and has a crew of four. So it got me thinking...
Now, I completely understand that one of the founding principles of the Zombie genre is the complete destruction of military and any other kind of organized armed response. After all, thats what makes survivors so unique and compelling characters; they are on their own. The cavalry is not charging over the next hill.
Now turning our attention to notable Zombe works and class discussions, do you think the military/defense/police would be eradicated if there was a Zombie apocalypse now?
Zone One- The Marines and Army are mentioned as effectively clearing Zone One of all the walkers, yet as the end of the book suggests, nothing stops the dead. The wall is overrun, the other 'Pheenie' holdouts go dark, and the Zombies take back the city. Zombies 1- Humanity-0
Walking Dead- No clear military presence, everything appears to be overrun. Atlanta and the CDC episode both display scenes of failed defenses. The Governor kills a band of National Guardsmen, but they admit they have been cut off for weeks. Zombies 1 vs. Humanity .5 (Some survived, well, until the Governator.)World War Z- The Battle of Yonkers was a complete failure for the US military. Cold war tactics and the 'advanced battle net' result in a widely publicized disaster. Eventually after the Honolulu conference, the military (heavily augmented by civilians) regains control of the continent by producing a cost effective rifle SIR and the lobo-thing, while fighting in regulated premodern infantry squares. The war is somewhat over and post Zack-World learns to cope with the Zombie threat. Humanity 1 vs. Zombies .5- Undersea Zombies= terrifying.
THIS IS NOT A TEST- Had to dig deep to remember this, no mention of the military, right? Between the whole tween romance and survival bit, I dont recall any passages addressing this. That said, I think the zombies in this book are easily the most powerful/effective. Humanity 0 vs. Zombies 1.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies- Between the Kill Bill-esque vibe and the gentrified love triangles, the militia was mentioned on numerous occasions. Fighting the good fight and all that, Britain Soldiers On!
Humanity 1 vs. Zombies .5- I would have called it a tie, as the war is still ongoing, but Ill call it a wedding gift and give it to humanity.
Final Score-
Zombies 4 vs. Humanity 2.5.
Damnit. We lost.
Disclaimer-
This is based off of my completely arbitrary scoring system and I possibly could have miscounted. Im not going back to check. Feel free to dispute.
Dont despair!
Showcasing the incredible proliferation of the Z genre, I came across two examples of governments and militaries preparing for worst, in the unlikely (read inevitable) event of the Zombie Apocalypse.
Britain- Owing to the freedom of information act, the Ministry of Defense has outlined a plan to be led by the Cabinet Office, to return England to its pre-attack glory.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9721072/Britain-is-well-prepared-to-fight-apocalyptic-zombie-invasion.html
United States- Some security consulting company, named HALO corp., ran a Zombie training seminar in San Diego in October to run simulations of VIP escorts and mass hysteria. Quite a production it seems. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/zombie-apocalypse-trainining-military-halo-corp-_n_2036996.html
So, if this rambling blog post has proven anything, is that there are multiple responses and outcomes in the event of the Zombie apocalypse. Perhaps the military will be completely annihilated like Zone One? Or maybe it will struggle to survive, ultimately rising from the ashes, as we've seen in Brook's World War Z? Or maybe all we need to do is hole up in the Winchester, grab a pint, and wait for the army to save the day, as it happend in Shaun of the Dead?
Thoughts?
I really liked the way you structured this post. The scoring at the end of each section really makes you want to keep reading. While at some points the scoring may have gotten a bit off-track I think you generally got it right, zombies win by a small margin. I also really like the point you make about the absence of the military in most zombie works really does give the characters much more likability. For example, if the military came and saved the surviving characters at the end of Zone 1, you might not feel the same way about any of them at the end of the book, particularly Harrison.
This is a great post, it was such a good idea. I would agree with the majority of your scoring for the works that we looked at this semester. There is one thing that we would have to come to a consensus on if we were to have an overall winner. We need to define Humanity. Is humanity a full society and civilization that still uses the monetary system? Is humanity a set of morals and the ability to still justify what is right and what is wrong? Is humanity simply just humans, still living either in groups of alone? If we say that the Zombies win in these situations, but then in 100 years in all these scenarios humanity is restored, then who really won? Is temporary victory a win?