Well, s**t.
Apparently we know less than nothing.
We managed to get a few websites pulled up after the zombiology entry of last
week and it turns out all my theorization was for naught. As it turns out rigor
mortis is the result of chemical changes in the muscles after the death. It
starts about three or four hours after death and the corpse is at its stiffest
(giggity) after 12 hours. BUT! The rigor mortis gradually dissipates after 48
hours. So clearly, rigor mortis is not an issue.
But I managed to find an article
about animal decomposition. I know this
is not the best display of leadership but I am keeping these facts from my
fellow survivors. I am not lying to them but I am just not openly telling them
these facts that I have discovered. It is not because I am a jerk, I just see
no reason to bring them down. Okay, so let me break it down.
Decomposition begins at the moment
of death. Autolysis is where the tissue of the body is broken down by the
body’s own internal enzymes. I have a theory that possibly the Kharon virus
prevents autolysis from taking place, slowing the decay.
Putrefaction is where the tissue is
broken down by bacteria. I think this is the biggest thing we have going for
us. Okay, so the biggest things that speed in decomposition are bacteria
(money), fungi (I don’t see how that is happening), and scavengers. Note: We
have yet to see maggots growing on zombies and when we are disposing of their
bodies, we have yet to see insects infesting their bodies. Scavengers (buzzards
and such) don’t touch these things, even after they have been brain panned So
it is something along the lines of the scavengers having some sort of sixth
sense regarding Kharon infected meat and they know better than to eat it.
So what we are looking at is the only
decomposing agent we have working in our favor is the bacteria. With this, it
means that the one year plan that we discussed earlier could be wrong. There
are certain elements that do contribute to decomposition.
It is proven that bodies exposed to
the open elements will decompose faster but that is mainly because a body in
the open is more susceptible to insect infestation. Insect infestation is not
an issue for zoms.
Temperature is a huge issue for
decomposition so the summer time in Oklahoma was a huge help for us. Winter
time, not so much. The availability of oxygen, humidity, and rainfall are also
an issue too. If a body is wearing clothing that can have an effect but I
cannot imagine us running around and undressing a bunch of zoms to get them to
decay faster. The surface on which a body rests is supposed to be an issue but
these guys don’t rest a whole lot.
Now, one curious factor that is an
issue on decomposition (according to the article is) “foods/object inside the
specimen’s digestive tract (bacon compared to lettuce).” The article did not go
into if it is better or worse to have bacon or lettuce. Lettuce will rot much
sooner than bacon (I would think). So could eating all that human flesh slow
the decomposition?
But the article also had a thing
called Casper’s Ratio. Casper’s Ratio states “if all other
factors are equal, then, when there is free access of air a body decomposes
twice as fast than if immersed in water and eight times faster than if buried
in earth. Ultimately, the rate of bacterial decomposition acting on the tissue
will be depend upon the temperature of the surroundings. Colder temperatures
decrease the rate of decomposition while warmer temperatures increase it.”
One of the
biggest variables is flies. The more flies, the faster the decomposition, and
from what we have seen, flies have no interest in zoms. They say invertebrates
can reduce a fully fleshed corpse to clean bones in under two weeks. But in
extremely dry or cold conditions, the normal process of decomposition is
halted.
So, without
flies, scavengers, and maggots causing these bodies to decompose, maybe our
yearlong theory is not a long enough timeline. We will just have to see what
happens when we come out of this winter.
