The Pentagon Gears Up For World War Z...Do They Know Something We Don't? (Part Two)

Yesterday we talked about what kinds of zombies the DOD and United States government aim to protect us from. But what kind of plans could they possibly have? And where do these zombies come from that they’re worried about? And what the heck happened in space to a DirectTV satellite that was zombie related enough for them to go “huh…we should throw that in the defense strategy.”?

In Part One we broke down the ridiculousness of their strategy, but we also revealed that that was the intent. They wanted the report to read like a silly science fiction novel. After all, when people are laughing as they’re learning they’re enjoying what they’re learning. If not, the words may as well just be bouncing off a brick wall.

Today in Part Two we’re going to discuss how they intend to keep us safe from the hordes, where these worrisome zombies even come from, and where they drew their inspiration for this strategy from. Everything from Plants Vs. Zombies to Resident Evil, the NSA is on it, if it’s a zombie, it’s in the strategy.

For the final section, we’ll break down this apocalyptic sized two part entry into a list of all the scenarios we’ve discussed, in order from least likely to what you should probably fear the most. Let’s sink our teeth in to some Science (ish.)

All Hordes Not Created Equal

There is one centralized theme that runs throughout the entirety of the Defense Strategy. We need to protect our citizens, power, water, and sewage. Not just from a zombie, but from multiple zombies. Otherwise known as a horde. Those of you who have never watched The Walking Dead or played Dead Island may not know what a horde of zombies looks like. If a battalion of rotting fleshbags start meandering toward you, that’s what’s known as a horde, see the opposite direction they’re moving? That’s where you want to run.

However, there were a couple of zombie classes on the strategy report that even in a horde format, I’m not too concerned about. One was the Vegetarian Zombies. If Sunflowers and Dandelions can kick those zombies down then we should have no problem, especially seeing as they aren’t interested in eating us. The next ones are the Chicken Zombies. While the sight of these Poultrygeists can be quite unnerving, there is nothing fearsome about atrophied avian nibblers.

These are the two we’re going to break down first.

Kentucky Fried Zombies

Chicken is darn tasty. So are eggs, so it’s not a wonder that the poultry industry attracts many entrepreneurs to the field. There are billions of dollars to be made. But there are a host of environmental factors would-be farmers have to take into account, some are costly preventative measures, some are just common sense. Forty to fifty years ago, laying-hens (the chickens that produce eggs) were used as stock for soup and canned meat when they were “spent”. After all, a non-laying-hen contains around five pounds of meat comparative to its one pound equivalent. Why would you use a spent hen in lieu of a viable, strong counterpart?

And that is exactly what drove the industry to its current “chicken recycling” practices. When a laying-hen is old and no longer able to produce eggs it’s put to death. Back in the day these chickens were sold as food, but consumer’s want big, meatier, chickens, so because of this, processing plants stopped taking spent hens. This posed a major problem for the farmer. Obviously they didn’t want to eat a thousand pounds of spent meat themselves, and processing it for their own use cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. So what do you do?

Chicken compost.

It sounds terrible but it’s actually not as awful as you think. Everything dies, it’s an inevitability of life. But even after death these chickens serve a vital purpose. As the birds decompose they add valuable nutrients to the soil. As we all know from last week’s discussion about vampire trees, trees and plants draw nutrients through their roots in the soil, this compost is spread as a natural fertilizer in lieu of manmade, more chemical oriented ones. Sounds pretty good to me.

And the chickens are humanely euthanized. Placed in a sealed box, they are flooded with Carbon Monoxide which quickly shuts down the brains ability to get oxygen. Within seconds the chickens lose consciousness. Within minutes they are dead. The box is unsealed; the chicken is removed, and layered into a compost pile of sawdust and woodchips. After about a month the compost is usable.

But…sometimes…things don’t always go as planned.

A California resident by the name of Jim Stauffer witnessed what most of us would consider a scarring sight. From the chicken farm next door, a lone hen was clawing its way to the surface of a compost pile. The bird’s vacant expression and stumbling ambulation alerted Jim that this creature was unwell. Within a few minutes the bird collapsed and died from organ failure, but not before becoming the first zombie chicken.

This incident occurred several times on that farm; however this is a rare occurrence for any farmer who is experienced. What Jim witnessed was likely a young farmer who didn’t know what he was doing, the box hadn’t remained sealed long enough for the chicken to die, and it was able to recover enough oxygen to wake its brain up. But not for long, Monoxide poisoning is deadly, and overexposure will kill you, but it isn’t painful at least. This just goes to show you; sometimes what’s good for the goose is rather arbitrary to the gander…and not good for the goose at all.

Graaaains

Okay…it’s hard to write this section. Not because it’s difficult to research, it’s just difficult to maintain a straight face. I have no idea what method would cause a zombie to go for greens over brains but whatever the cause one thing is certain.

These zombies are ridiculous.

If the video game is to be believed these zombies come apart rather easily, aren’t concerned with humans, and really enjoy munching on oversized walnuts. A lawnmower is capable of taking them out and the heaviest body armor I’ve witnessed is football helmets and serapes.

In short, these zombies are purely fictional, and even if they were created are easily handled. My concern over this is where did the Pentagon get its concrete factual sounding information on their “tendencies to incomprehensibly groan the word “Grains””. Look out Vegans, sounds like the Pentagon has some experimentation lined up for you.

Now that we’ve gotten those two out of the way, let’s get semi-serious for a moment and talk about the ones that could exist and become problematic to human life, starting with the most commonly concerning one of them all.

The Viral outbreak.

The Real T-Virus

Most of us know about Resident Evil, and so, we know about the Umbrella Corporation. Ever since the advent of Pharmaceutical Corporations we have had the advent of human experimentation and pure, unbridled evil. They claim to do their shady research in the name of Science and enlightenment, but for the most part, some of these people just enjoy torture and the benefits of money that the ends eventually can produce.

So it’s no wonder people are terrified of a real-life scenario in which a real-life Umbrella style Corporation creates a mutagenic virus capable of altering our DNA to the point of zombie-like symptoms. In fact, not too long ago, a couple of microbiologists were asked to weigh in on the probability of this; surprisingly they both said the same thing. Rabies.

Rabies already behaves a little bit like zombieism. In both situations the host is overcome with primal urges. While the zombie feeds to restore energy to damaged cells due to its pathogen induced condition, the rabies virus alters the chemicals of the hosts’ brain to seek out other people to infect.

The disease would have to be genetically manipulated through us or change through evolution in order to keep the host alive. Typically with cases of Rabies, within 10 days of symptoms presenting themselves the host dies. These symptoms include dehydration, anxiety, hallucinations, and even hydrophobia (fear of water). Coupled with the insatiable urge to bite things, I think we have a pathogenic candidate.

I’m sure there are other viruses out there we haven’t even discovered yet, or combinations of viruses that could create this effect. There’s more than likely some mad scientist in the hidden hive basement of Pfizer synthesizing an apocalypse right now. Time will only tell, but for now, we’re going to move onto our next concern.

Gamma rays!

Chernobyl Chompers

That’s Chernobyl. It’s a Power Plant in Russia. But it’s not just any old power plant; it’s a nuclear power plant. In 1986 it experienced one of the worst meltdowns in history, releasing 100 times more radiation than both Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s bombings in WWII combined. A sarcophagus was built around the plant to contain the disaster somewhat, but not before afflicting everyone in the surrounding area and designating the entire area around it uninhabitable due to abnormally high concentrations of radiation still lingering in the soil to date.

In 1968 George Romero released his classic film “Night of the Living Dead.” In it, zombies were created via radiation exposure. If this were possible wouldn’t we have seen this following the Chernobyl disaster? Or even the Fukushima meltdown in recent years?

Probably not. That kind of radiation deteriorates the body at alarming rates everywhere, eventually leading to organ failure and death. The victim is hardly able to conjure the energy to walk, let alone prowl alleyways in search of brains.

But what about Vladmir Putin’s Zombie Ray Gun announced in 2012?

The most reputable source I could find on this was the Daily Mail in the UK. I don’t really find them to be the most reliable of fact-based journalism, but sometimes they hit the nail on the hand. Allegedly, this “Super-Weapon” uses microwaves, which are electromagnetic radiation, to target the central nervous system of the victim, thereby inducing a zombie-like state briefly. Some reports account that even some Special Forces guys couldn’t handle the use of the weapon on them.

While this isn’t likely to kickstart Armageddon by Walkers, the concept is based in Science Fact. A few years ago articles were surfacing all over the web about “Zombie Fish”. The truth is, these fish weren’t zombies, and they were being targeted by researchers for disease and ecological study in select rivers. Their method of extraction? A big pole that conducted a current through the water via electromagnetic waves. This caused the fish to become paralyzed and gently float to the surface unharmed. The look in their eyes and behavior was an aquatic equivalent enough to coin them the sobriquet Zombie Fish, but alas, this was just a nickname.

Radiation poisoning is highly unlikely to cause an apocalypse. But what about space? Could zombies come from space?

Xeno-Biological Re-Animation

I love Neil Degrasse Tyson. I have a lot of respect for Jon Stewart and his program The Daily Show. When the two are combined it mixes intelligent conversation, with hilarity and typically the viewer leaves the program knowing more than they did before going into it. That’s why when they teamed up for the sidesplittingly funny segment “Buzzkill of Science” I had to watch it a hundred and thirteen times.

As you can see from the video, reanimated humans? Highly improbable, reanimated aliens? Why the hell not.

It’s true, the cosmos is infinite and we don’t know what’s out there. It’s possible a race like the one Neil described on The Daily Show exists. Only time will tell. Hopefully though, we discover the Space Zombie colonies first and not the other way around, after all, we wouldn’t want Earth to become an intergalactic buffet.

Zombie Janey’s Got A Gun

The last ones we’re going to talk about today are the Weaponized zombies. These can pretty much be made out of any kind of zombie really. This however implies that there is still some level of complex thought available to the zombie, making this scenario extremely unlikely.

In fact, unless its something like a kamikaze zombie rigged by humans to be exploded, weaponized zombies go against the very definition of the word, “zombie”. Aside from the fact that in supernatural definition it’s the reanimation of a corpse, the use of it in personality terms is someone who is “wooden, listless, or otherwise without cognitive thought. An automaton.” A zombie able to fire a weapon, even somewhat accurately, requires more complex thought than the definition provides.

So what is the military going to do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?

Contingency of a Contingency Plan

While you can almost guarantee the government is going to set up boundaries, borders, perimeters, and safe zones, you can also bet that the fictitious training exercise released to the public isn’t going to be the actual plan. We’ve seen the movies; we’ve seen the media they drew this silly plan from. But if an actual outbreak was to occur, we wouldn’t see that plan, because it wouldn’t be nearly as light hearted or humorous as this one.

You can almost bet they would protect power, water, and sewage with their lives and resources. They would also screen the parts of the cities that they deemed useful as Forward Operating Bases. While I’m sure survivors would be rescued, they wouldn’t be herded into hospitable environments. They would be caged and isolated to lower the chances of further infection, regardless of whether they had the disease or not.

In short, while this was a fun guide to read, don’t read too much into it. I posted the link to it yesterday so head over and finish Part One to read the actual DOD strategy. It’s extremely thorough. And it should be. It’s intended to train a future generation of individuals to devise strategies to protect this country from ANY enemy, foreign, domestic, or even fictional.

So I promised you a list of the most likely Zombie Apocalypse Scenarios right? Alright, here’s your list, arranged from 01 being the Least likely to 08 being the Most:

01.  Poultry Based Apocalypse? Eh…not likely. As scary as chicken zombies sound I highly doubt they would pose any real threat to human life, other than being extremely weird looking.

02.  Plant Biters? Once again, not likely. Just a fun Tower Defense game. I don’t even know how it made the DOD’s list.

03.  Groaning Gunslingers? Fat chance. Most zombies can’t even walk very well, let alone reload a pistol.

04.  The Irradiated Reanimated? Nope. The body would deteriorate too fast, plus infection couldn’t be spread through classic means of mastication (biting you, you perverts) so the disease would have difficulty transmitting.

05.  Made In Haiti? This one is actually somewhat viable as we saw yesterday from Clairvius Narcisse (Part One). The problem is it would be difficult to replicate on a global pandemic scale and could only be contained into isolated scenarios given the complex rituals of keeping the indoctrinated infected with the various venoms.

06.  Symbiotic Relationships? Scientists are pretty clever. We talked about Cordyceps yesterday (Part One also) and their effect on ants. If this was genetically manipulated there is a strong probability it could infect humans as well.

07.  Through A Bad Cough? Lab accidents happen, and it’s possible to create a strain of rabies that could behave similar to a zombie virus. I hope not but this seems like one of the most likely scenarios.

08.  Extraterrestrial Xenozombies? You heard it folks. Neil Degrasse Tyson said it. Don’t rule out Space Zombies.

I know it seems as though I’ve used the word “likely” and “possible” a lot throughout this article. But that’s kind of what I do here at To Infinity and…In Theory. It’s in my name. I enjoy the theoretical sides of Science, because I find it fascinating when Science Fiction becomes Science Fact.

However I think I can pass on a zombie apocalypse and if research is currently going on into this abhorrent nightmare scenario I beg of you to stop. Regardless of whether they come from the minds of the creators of movies like “28 Days Later” and are aggressive and fast, or are more “The Walking Dead” and meander toward you at a listless pace, they’re relentless nonetheless. It’s a terrifying thought.

Until the next potential apocalypse folks, I bit- I mean, bid you adieu.

            -Ryan Sanders

Thanks for reading everyone! For more information on anything discussed in the article above today feel free to follow the links below. Share this around on Twitter and Facebook and stock up on supplies! You never know when the apocalypse could strike!

-       Article outlining Zombie Chickens

-       Article on “Chicken Recycling”

-       Wiki on Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

-       The Chernobyl Sarcophagus

-       Microbiologists talk about Rabies and Zombies

-       Wiki on the fictional “T-Virus”

-       Mother Nature Network article on Putin’s “Zombie Gun”

-       Daily Mail article on Putin’s “Zombie Gun”

The Pentagon Gears Up For World War Z...Do They Know Something We Don't? (Part 1)

If you’re plugged into the social world chances are you’ve seen an article floating around from any number of publications this past month relating to the Pentagon’s Zombie Defense Strategy. Some of you may have scrolled over this, some of you may have clicked it and said, “ha ha, I get it!”. Some of you may even have locked yourself in your bedroom with three thousand boxes of Girl Scout Thin Mints, 600 gallons of water, and every season of The Walking Dead on Netflix (in the name of research of course).

I’m here to tell you it was a joke.

Kinda-sorta.

See the Department of Defense does have a strategy for a zombie apocalypse. It isn’t because it’s a feasible threat. It’s actually because it isn’t. Not making any sense to you? That’s okay. Today at To Infinity and…In Theory we’re going to break into the Pentagon’s file and declassify some zombies for you. We’ll also check out some possible real scientific reasons these methods may one day become useful.

After all, what’s the world without a little mad science?

U.S. Army Handbook on Zombie Survival Training

Yeah, it’s not legal to just own a belt-fed chain gun. Good thing I doubt we’ll be facing an outbreak of zombie-citus anytime soon. But if we do, the Pentagon has a very thorough, declassified version of “Max Brooks” “Zombie Survival Guide”. Since they have no actual Science to draw from, as we scientists do from time to time, they turn to guys like Asimov and Heinlein to lay it out for us. In other words, Science Fiction.

We’ve seen plenty of cases where Science Fiction became science fact; in fact, we’ve talked about several of those instances here before on this blog. For the most part it’s fairly detailed and on the bright side, it’s intended as a training exercise with a sense of humor. The disclaimer at the beginning of CONPLAN 8888-11 “Counter-Zombie Dominance” (Yes, that’s the real ****ing name of the document) stresses this, the absurdity is intended to invoke a laugh, but the preparedness training it offers is very much real.

In response to a pathogenic defense in which the CDC would be involved with a Class-4 or above pathogen (think Ebola on steroids. Yay! …) it’s a great plan. And in this day and age, a biological preparedness plan is not a bad idea. The plan is split into several phases, and as the man who penned the disclaimer said, there are giggles to be induced.

It covers protecting our water, power, and sewage facilities, medical facilities, and how to kill and dispose of bodies. Phase 4 involves immolation of the corpse. Yep, that’s right. The DOD tells you to burn your zombie kills, otherwise they could come back from the dead.

So what kind of re-animated nightmares are we talking about here? I mean, zombies aren’t real right? So like…how do they prepare for that?

By being extremely (and cynically at times) thorough.

Evil Magic Radiated Voodoo Chicken Zombies From Space!

According to the CDRUSSTRATCOMM CONPLAN 8888-11 there are several types of zombies we need to worry about. We’re going to break them down just as the manual does so we’re sure to avoid any confusion in the event these tactics ever actually be deployed.

Pathogenic Zombie (PZ):

The strategy guide declassified unto us by the Pentagon says that “PZ’s are zombie life forms created after an organism is infected by a virus or bacteria or some other form of contagion.” This means a pandemic on a global scale. Pathogens can spread quickly, infect mercilessly and indiscriminately, and can incubate and manifest over a period of anywhere between ten minutes to ten days.

So what’s the plan for Pathogenic Zombies? Quarantine duh. After which point epidemiological scanning and monitoring will be vital. Non-Humans will be shot in the brain stem and burned. No exceptions.

NEXT!

Radiation Zombies (RZ):

The plan outlines radioactive zombies thusly. “RZ’s are zombie life forms created after an organism is infected by an extreme dosage of electromagnetic and/or particle radiation.” This means whether it’s a radioactive waste spill or the sun decides to blast us with Fantastic Four levels of cosmic radiation the military has a mobilization strategy.

The problem with rad zombies though is they create another barrier, radiation exposure. Even if soldiers and civilians aren’t infected, continuous contact with non-humans could result in fatal radiation poisoning anyway. Yay for harmful side effects. (Lots of cynical yays today…)

You’re going to love the next ones, and yes, they’re very real. (To this defense strategy anyway.)

Evil Magic Zombies (EMZ):

Yes.

There is a detailed plan meant to defend us against Evil Magic Zombies. The ever so scientific and vaguely…um…vague, description of these is as follows: “EMZ’s are life forms created via some form of occult experimentation in what might otherwise be referred to as “evil magic””

So…yeah…beware of Nazi Zombies and all that jazz.

We all know Hitler had zombies and demons. Call of Duty and Wolfenstein told us so! All joking aside this is most likely in reference to the Haitian culture relating to voodoo which we’ll talk about a little bit later.

The next group is out of this world. Literally.

Space Zombies (SZ):

Zombies can strike from anywhere, at any time. The Department of Defense luckily has us covered from any undead commuting back from the ISS. There are actually two parts to the classification of Space Zombies.

1. “SZ’s are zombie life forms originating from space or created by toxic contamination of the earth environment via some form of extra-terrestrial toxin or radiation.”

2. “”Zombie Satellites” can be classified as SZ’s, however they pose no danger to humans (unless they conduct an unplanned de-orbit). Typically zombie satellites only pose a threat to the SATCOM services like DirectTV (Refer to Galaxy 15 incident-May 2010)”

            I swear to Christ those are copied verbatim from the manual. I would just like to know what their point of reference for zombie satellites threat to DirectTV is. Clearly they are better informed then the rest of us. Hmm…anyway, moving right along.

Weaponized Zombie (WZ)

Like SZ’s, WZ’s have two classifications as well.

1.            “WZ’s are zombie life forms deliberately created via bio-mechanical engineering for the purpose of being employed as weapons. Zombie weaponization programs and supporting infrastructures are included in COAs to deal with these threats.”

2.            “The movie “The Crazies” exemplifies the most common type of WZ (humans turned into zombies via exposure to toxic chemicals/gasses)”

Oh yeah, that’s right, calling on a “classic” horror film like The Crazies as a reference tool is a bold move, even for the government. Weaponized zombies seem unlikely to me however, mostly because the zombies we’ve become accustomed to over the years whether they are slow shamblers or terrifying sprinters, they are dumb, mindless, creatures, regardless of their origin story.

Speaking of origin stories, our next one actually may be more probable than I’d care to admit. Out of everything on this list aside from PZs, the Symbiote variety of zombies actually sort of occurs in nature already; thankfully it hasn’t been adapted to us yet. Without further ado.

Symbiant-Induced Zombies (SIZ)

Okay, so she’s not a zombie, but that is one hot symbiote. The Symbiant-Induced Zombies may be the worst considering a fungus already exists in nature that has zombie like effects on ants. It’s called Cordyceps, and it’s the primary focus of this section of CONPLAN 8888.

“SIZ’s are life forms originating from the introduction of a symbiant life form into an otherwise healthy host. Although the symptoms of symbiant zombieism is similar in most regards to pathogenic zombieism, the symbiant does not kill the host organism quickly, or at all. However, there is no known way to save an organism after zombieism has occurred, even if the symbiant is removed.”

This is also true and we’ll talk a little more about Cordyceps later and how it affects the host. Our next zombie is fairly harmless to human kind but foliage had better look out, because these guys may be the biggest cause for deforestation since human expansion.

Vegetarian Zombies (VZ)

This section of the defense strategy reads like a painful 60s acid induced low-budget Sci-Fi film made in some mother’s basement in the suburbs somewhere. “VZ’s are zombie life forms originating from any cause but pose no direct threat to humans because they only eat plant life (as indicated in the popular game “Plants VS. Zombies”). Although VZ’s do not attack humans or other animal life, they will consume all plant life in front of them. They can cause massive de-forestation or elimination of basic food crops essential to humans (rice, corn, soybeans).”

As an addendum they have written “Of note, where normal carnivorous zombies commonly groan the word “brains” semi-comprehensibly, VZ’s can be identified by their aversion to humans, affinity for plants, and their tendency to semi-comprehensibly groan the word “grains.””

By golly, I think the DOD just made a joke.

Oh wait my mistake, this next ones the joke.

Chicken Zombies (CZ)

Haha! I lied again. Actually, out of all the zombies on this list this is the only one the DOD is willing to admit actually exists. While they aren’t actually zombies, and they aren’t anything to worry about, chicken zombies are scary as balls, and sad at the same time. They are defined as follows.

“Although it sounds ridiculous, this is actually the only proven class of zombie that actually exists.”

“CZ’s were first documented in Jonathan M. Forrester’s 4 Dec. 2006 online article “Zombie Chickens Taking Over California.””

“CZ’s occur when old hens that can no longer lay eggs are incorrectly euthanized by poultry farmers using carbon monoxide. The hens are then deposited in large piles to decompose. The hens appear to be dead when buried, but inexplicably come back to life and dig themselves out from the piles of dead chickens. After reaching the surface, CZ’s stagger about for a period of time before ultimately expiring due to internal organ failure.”

“CZ’s are simply terrifying to behold and are likely only to make people become vegetarians in protest to animal cruelty. They appear to be no direct threat to humans. They are different from WZ’s because they are the result of actions taken to kill a living organism verse actions taken to deliberately re-animate dead organisms or impair life functions to a minimal function.”

Yes, chicken zombies are real.

So now that we know what the DOD is worried about, let’s talk a little bit about the why.

When There’s No More Room In Hell…

In the 60s there was a strange case that arose out of Haiti. A man named Clairvius Narcisse, who had been presumed dead for several years, strolled back into town with a story to tell. A story so crazy it had to be true. Turns out, the Bokor, which is a Haitian Voodoo sorcerer of sorts, had turned him into a zombie and forced him into slavery on a sugar plantation.

And he wasn’t the only one. Others had been zombiefied and put to work. In fact, Narcisse is still alive today, and he’s known throughout his village as “the man who was once a zombie”. That’s a heckuva title.

And it’s not completely true. Narcisse was never a true zombie as he had not really died and been re-animated. Even though he had been pronounced dead, buried alive, exhumed, and returned, that’s where our brain-eater similarities end. Turns out everything Clairvius experienced is completely explainable.

After a quarrel with his brother over land, Clairvius was administered a high dosage of a neurotoxin known as Tetrodotoxin. It’s more commonly known as Pufferfish venom. Tetrodotoxin is known to induce a death-like state when used in a certain way. It slows down metabolic processes, requiring less oxygen intake; ergo the lack of breathing that can fool a non-attentive physician.

After his burial he was dug up by our sorcerer and given a combination of hallucinogens derived from the venom of certain Toads. It was this that took away his free will and made Narcisse and others like him into the zombie. Fortunately the plantation owner died and Narcisse wandered home when regular doses of the Toad venom stopped.

So I guess it’s a good thing the NSA is ready for Evil Magic Zombies…NOT!

While the classic signs and symptoms of zombiefication may present under the duress of certain chemicals administered to the human body, alas “real” zombies cannot exist. The deadness would kind of be their biggest downfall. Being dead means no blood movement, which means no muscle movement, which means no zombie walkers.

Cordyceps have been talked about in recent years as well. Some have even said people plan to weaponize Cordyceps and video games such as “The Last of Us” take this theme to the extreme with an unforgettable story.

Cordyceps is a fungus that infects ants however. Our physiology is much more complicated than that of an ant, so is our free will. While it would be theoretically possible for Cordyceps to create a strain that could affect humans, it would seem highly unlikely as ants make a much better carrier than we would and are much simpler to infect.

The point I’m trying to make is Zombies are fun…in the movies, but this Pentagon plan is just a semi-joke. It was actually designed to teach people how to devise a STATCOMM plan, but they wanted to make it fun for once. You can read the entire .PDF of the Pentagon’s Zombie Strategy by clicking here.

Until next time everyone!

-Ryan Sanders

Thanks for reading everyone! And feel free to share this around on Twitter and Facebook and whatnot! As always, if you want to know more feel free to follow any of the links below! Happy learning!

-       FOX News article on Zombie Chickens

-       Wiki on Tetrodotoxin

-       HowStuffWorks article on “Haitian Zombie Powder”

-       Wiki on Cordyceps