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Just how long does it take for a zombie to completely decompose?

Robert MorganRobert Morgan
edited March 2013 in The Walking Dead
I mean, we're left to assume there are millions, if not billions of walkers infesting the world of the WALKING DEAD, all of which are in varying stages of rot, but it hardly ever seems to affect their ability to stalk living humans. They can only keep going for so long before their brain putrefies into liquid, or the muscles in their limbs decay to the point where they wouldn't be able to move.

I'm not an avid reader of the comic book, so I don't know if this issue was ever directly addressed.

Comments

  • MornaiMornai
    edited March 2013
    The comic sort of touches on this issue lightly, and it's hinted that they do start to decompose to the point of non-movement eventually, but not much really comes of it. It's been 1 or 2 years into the comic and the walkers are still going strong.
  • Mark$manMark$man
    edited March 2013
    Mornai wrote: »
    The comic sort of touches on this issue lightly, and it's hinted that they do start to decompose to the point of non-movement eventually, but not much really comes of it. It's been 1 or 2 years into the comic and the walkers are still going strong.

    Yeah it's been 2+ years and the walkers are just as dangerous if not more.
  • Jaded X GamerJaded X Gamer
    edited March 2013
    That's just another thing I think you have to chalk up the genre. Zombies are festering rotting corpses, but the decomposition seemingly stops at a certain point so they can remain mobile while still appearing dead.

    It's just one of those things you have to not think about for a zombie apocalypse to seem feasible. Cracked.com even put together a whole list of reasons why a ZA wouldn't last long. Best not to think about it.
  • CarScarCarScar
    edited March 2013
    It's just something you need to ignore. I mean usually it takes a body to decompose, while under ground, like two monthish. And that's with the coffin's protection. Walkers really shouldn't last all that long.

    Similarly it's like how you should just ignore the fact that the walker's teeth are made out of unbreakable titanium or something too. It'd be hard enough for an alive to do some of the feats that the walkers, nonetheless who should have fragile ass teeth due to them being, ya know, dead.
  • MornaiMornai
    edited March 2013
    I suppose we could believe that whatever is causing them to reanimate in the first place is also at fault for slowing/halting their decomposition, which continues to remain a mystery.
  • ZeruisZeruis
    edited March 2013
    In the comics, zombies are hinted to eventually decompose.

    Anyone remember the issue where Heath and Abraham found a zombie which was close to be decomposed?

    It's only been 2 years, so...
  • double_udouble_u
    edited March 2013
    My memory is a bit hazy on this, but didn't Kirkman said on a Letter Hack or somewhere that walkers are rotting away slowly?

    Either way, walkers do show hints of decomposition but probably at a much slower rate.

    It's one of those "suspension of disbelief" that comes with the genre at the end of the day.
  • DreadMagusDreadMagus
    edited March 2013
    They eat the living and don't swell or poop - and we're worried about decomposition rates? :p
  • MornaiMornai
    edited March 2013
    DreadMagus wrote: »
    They eat the living and don't swell or poop - and we're worried about decomposition rates? :p

    Bah, they need not worry about that! Just let it fall out of their exposed stomachs and intestines, and they're good to go(they won't know the difference). ;)
  • Mark$manMark$man
    edited March 2013
    Mornai wrote: »
    Bah, they need not worry about that! Just let it fall out of their exposed stomachs and intestines, and they're good to go(they won't know the difference). ;)

    Well... as far as we know.

    "Yo John! Did you see that sweet chick walking past?"
    "Oh yeah, Jake, I tried to get close but she started attacking me."
    "Damn, man. You okay? Your intestines are falling out..." 0.o
    "Yeah... I don't know why she didn't try to eat them. I was disappointed."
    "Eh, you'll find someone out there."
    "Yeah. I'll just rest easy for a bit, and then we'll go to her neighbor's for a quick bite"
    "Hell yeah!"
    *Nibble*
    "Yo, those are my intestines!"
    "Uh...sorry. Got confused I guess."

    ___

    Exactly how zombie friends would be xD. Especially reacting to a wound ;)
  • amigosolitarioamigosolitario
    edited March 2013
    Si quieres saber realmente checa, un cuerpo en caja por muerte natural tarda 8 años en descomponerse al menos las partes internas se seca como una pasita, ahora un cuerpo a la intemperie es promedio de 1 semana y queda tieso como paleta, si estuvo consciente de su muerte es casi instantáneo en quedarse tieso, como lo sé, fue mi segundo empleo bastante desagradable pero buena paga y te acostumbras a ver cadáveres, ahora si un cuerpo muerto no le sacas la sangre se convierte en un globo lleno de sangre con tantito que lo toques revienta y eso mis amigos es feo, uno de mis amigos se desmayó y tenía más tiempo en el trabajo, ahora supongamos en el universo de los muertos vivientes, es poco probable que puedan moverse en un plazo mayor de 3 semanas, solamente comen carne, hazlo y se te revientan los pies los ojos se secan por no decir que te hinchas completamente tendrías falla en el hígado y los riñones las manos se hinchan a tal grado que no eres capaz de mover los dedos, prácticamente seria ver a un luchador de sumo mal fajado, es donde más les falla a los creadores de zombis, pero estamos hablando de algo irreal, ahora hay que sumarle el clima si es frio el tiempo de putrefacción es menor pero se endurecen las extremidades, si hace calor se descompone rápido los órganos internos lo de afuera queda casi intacto, como sea, si fuera real se mueren en un plazo no mayor de 1 mes aun comiendo todo el día, el cerebro solito explota se hincha por tanta presión como una olla exprés, eso es feo y asqueroso.
  • GREYxDUZxKRUSHGREYxDUZxKRUSH
    edited March 2013
    Mornai wrote: »
    I suppose we could believe that whatever is causing them to reanimate in the first place is also at fault for slowing/halting their decomposition, which continues to remain a mystery.
    Sounds good to me. We don't even no what IT is.
  • Rommel49Rommel49
    edited March 2013
    Mornai wrote: »
    Bah, they need not worry about that! Just let it fall out of their exposed stomachs and intestines, and they're good to go(they won't know the difference). ;)

    Well, they actually do swell up if they eat enough, atleast in the show.
    the walker that ate Lori was so bloated it couldn't move
    .

    Somewhat more seriously, my thinking is that most walkers probably don't eat all that often. If they did, there wouldn't be that many of them (the cracked article previously linked touches on this).
  • Mark$manMark$man
    edited March 2013
    Rommel49 wrote: »
    Well, they actually do swell up if they eat enough, atleast in the show.
    the walker that ate Lori was so bloated it couldn't move
    .

    Somewhat more seriously, my thinking is that most walkers probably don't eat all that often. If they did, there wouldn't be that many of them (the cracked article previously linked touches on this).

    Actually, I think many people would say the walker was Lori :P
  • Rommel49Rommel49
    edited March 2013
    Mark$man wrote: »
    Actually, I think many people would say the walker was Lori :P

    And those people would be wrong. :p It was confirmed by the creators (you can actually see the bits of her hair and such around its mouth and hands).
  • Mark$manMark$man
    edited March 2013
    Rommel49 wrote: »
    And those people would be wrong. :p It was confirmed by the creators (you can actually see the bits of her hair and such around its mouth and hands).

    yeah, I saw. At first I thought Lori escaped somehow.
  • MornaiMornai
    edited March 2013
    Rommel49 wrote: »
    Well, they actually do swell up if they eat enough, atleast in the show.
    the walker that ate Lori was so bloated it couldn't move
    .

    Somewhat more seriously, my thinking is that most walkers probably don't eat all that often. If they did, there wouldn't be that many of them (the cracked article previously linked touches on this).

    Well, the show and the game are in separate universes, so that doesn't really hold up. In the game, they don't eat bodies whole, just their internal organs(maybe a limb or two), as evidenced in episode 1. "They eat you, and whatever's left comes back as one of them" -Doug

    Most of the times when we see them attacking someone, they always go for the intestines(Travis ep 2, Brie ep 4, Chuck ep 4, etc.) or the next best thing if they can't reach them.
  • GREYxDUZxKRUSHGREYxDUZxKRUSH
    edited March 2013
    No one at the CDC could figure it out. So whose to say what ever it is keeps them from decaying at would be considered a normal rate. Man does not know everything nor can we explain everything. All this could be the wrath of god. When there is no more room in hell the dead will walk the earth. Either way not having a definite answer makes it even scarier because know one truly knows how to solve the problem. Hell it could be alien and earths law and rules may not even apply like decay. Who knows.....
  • slimymeteorslimymeteor
    edited March 2013
    They touched on this a little in the Rise of the Governor novel. Two characters discuss it:
    Philip Blake's friend Nick tells Philip about this theory, suggesting they find a good place to hold up somewhere and wait 'em out. Philip gets angry and shoots him down, saying something along the lines of the zombies not going anywhere, they were there to stay and this was the world now.

    Obviously this is only a conversation that took place fairly early into the epidemic, and doesn't give us an answer for it, but it does show that characters in the WD universe are wondering these same things.
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