Max Brooks' "The Zombie Survival Guide": Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Solanum

The virus heads straight for the brain where it replicates, using the frontal lobe and destroying it in the process. Bodily funtions shut down and the subject dies. The replicated cells reanimate the body and thus a Zombie is born.

Answer: False

Fortunately, the virus can only be transmitted through physical contact. The most common means of infection is through biting, although in some unfortunate cases someone has contracted the virus by ingestion of tainted blood. This usually happens in a close-combat blood spatter scenario.

Answer: All of these reasons

A Zombie who has had its spinal column snapped will still use any remaining bodily functions to get to you. They are dead and no longer feel any pain; where decapitation would kill a live human, it does nothing to stop the hordes of the undead.

Answer: 3 to 5 years

A lot of the microbes that cause human decay have been shown to reject the flesh of a Zombie, therefore the rate of decomposition is much, much slower. Fortunately, not all microbes reject the flesh, otherwise the life of a Zombie would be perpetual, and it would survive until someone destroyed the brain.

Answer: The reason is unknown

Nothing is known about the reason why Zombies feed on human flesh. They will keep consuming and consuming until their stomachs explode or they simply rot away. Eyewitness reports have shown Zombies to keep feeding long after their internal organs have gone. It has recently been suggested that their need to feed on human flesh is simply the virus ensuring it keeps spreading, but this is mere speculation.

Answer: False

Zombies eat any flesh of the living. They do not approach their own and often seem unaware of each other's presence. Although they have been known to eat animals, contamination, infection and reanimation is only limited to humans and the Zombies will always single out a human source of food over any other living creature.

Answer: 48 hrs

Extreme caution must be exercised when handling the dead undead. It is recommended that at the minimum long gloves and long sleeved jumpers be worn. If funds and resources permit, have a boiler suit that you can change into. Any open sore or wound that comes to contact with a corpse WILL become infected.
Another thing to be careful of is making sure the dead are actually dead. Too many instances have occurred where, during the cleanup, a Zombie thought to be dispatched was simply crippled and survivors have been bitten.

The best way to completely destroy the virus is by incinerating the bodies of the slain. After all, Solanum operates just like any other virus on the planet. Extreme temperatures will kill it.

Answer: Smell and Hearing

A lot of people truly believe Zombies to possess superhuman strength and amazing eyesight. Truth be told, the Zombie brain is severely limited. Firstly, it lacks the intelligence or emotion a fully functioning human has.
Secondly, a Zombie's muscles are just the same as they were in life. The only reason Zombies seem stronger is that they are not limited in the way humans are. A Zombie will not stop if their muscles tear and they are not hindered by fatigue. A door or barricade that would tire a human would fall to two or three determined Zombies.

Their eyesight is very poor, the eyes being one of the first to decompose. To compensate for this, the Zombies' hearing and smell is increased, making it easier to seek out and devour prey...namely us!

Answer: 23 hrs

Less than a full day to survive. Once bitten, make your peace and prepare to pass over...

Hour 0: Disaster strikes: you are bitten
Hour 1: The wound clots and discolours; purple tinge appears
Hour 5: Fever up to 103 degrees; vomiting and dementia; the brain is already starting to shut down
Hour 8: Fever up to 106; limbs numb, muscle co-ordination lost; dementia intensifies
Hour 11: Paralysis; heart rate slows
Hour 16: Coma
Hour 20: Heart stops; brain fully shuts down
Hour 23: Reanimation

Answer: Jan Vanderhaven

He discovered it in 1913 and his findings were published the following year. Unfortunately, with the outbreak of World War 1 his findings passed virtually unnoticed. It is only recently that old copies of his papers were found and the new age of Zombie Enlightenment began.