Surviving Z-Day

Zombie, as depicted in the TV series, The Walking Dead (Photo: walkingdead.wikia.com)

WASHINGTON – Cornell University in New York state recently concluded its “large-scale exact stochastic dynamical simulation of a zombie outbreak” and presented its findings on Wednesday, March 4, at a meeting of the American Physical Society in San Antonio, Texas.

Among the findings of this study on surviving a zombie apocalypse? If you live in the city, you better head for the hills.

The simulation – which was heavily hinged on mathematics and echoed scientific theories of how a real zombie outbreak would actually go down – suggested that the odds of survival for mountain dwellers are better than those of city folk.

Cities would succumb to a zombie invasion rather quickly, whereas it would take up to weeks for the walking dead to infiltrate mountainous regions (such as the Rocky Mountains.)

Alex Alemi, one of the researchers and a graduate student in theoretical physics noted that “if there is a zombie outbreak, it is usually assumed to affect all areas at the same time;” but pointed out as well that ” in our attempt to model zombies somewhat realistically, it doesn’t seem like this is how it would actually go down.”

Based on the team’s simulation, the populous metropolitan areas of the east and west coasts would be the first to fall in the wake of a zombie outbreak. Furthermore, in a matter of one month, most areas in America would have succumbed, as well.
But it could take up to several more months for zombies to arrive at the more remote, rural areas.

“Even four months in, remote areas of Montana and Nevada (would) remain zombie free,” the study indicated.

However, the study did not take into account the ramifications of a US military offensive against the zombies.

In 2014, it was revealed that the Pentagon has a design plan for battling zombies, in the instance of an invasion. This blueprint is part of the training process for the national defense organization’s strategic planners.

It isn’t just the Pentagon that has taken measures for a Z-Day event. The Centers for Disease Control, has, as well, by way of its website, “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.”

Regardless of the amount of preparation and the delay in succumbing to a zombie invasion, the Cornell study  –  entitled “You Can Run, You Can Hide: The Epidemiology and Statistical Mechanics of Zombies,” – sums up the ultimate odds of survival as virtually nil.

“We are largely doomed,” the researchers said, in the face of a full-scale zombie onslaught.