What happens to walkers after...

[Mr._Wok]

wandering the Earth for a year or so? They are dead so they don't generate new cells. Do they decay to the point to were they just can't move any more? If this is the case all the survivors have to do is wait it out and all of the walkers will become immobilized or rot away. IMO there have to be some survivors that don't have the virus.

[Tind]

I am still hang up on the idea that a so important government facility, like CDC runs on fossil fuel and when that runs out, everything ends.

But to be on topic: yea, they should slowly rot away to a point where they can't even move. But like it was said in another modern zombie series, the time of decay may vary and the winter cold will slow it down.

[thestalkinghead]

i would imagine they would rot away, be eaten by bugs and just get damaged naturally(falling getting cut/caught on things) but by a year they would all be more or less dead or immobile.

but of course we are talking about magic, so it could last as long as kirkman says it lasts

[Lin001]

It's pretty much what thestalkinghead said. If we were in Bioware's Forum of Mass Effect, I would certainly say that is "space magic". But I guess we can name it as " Zombie Magic". Or " Apocalypse Magic".

Science don't applies much in those cases. If it did, wouldn't be fun.

[Master of Aeons]

This is covered in the comic. Read it.

[thestalkinghead]

Originally Posted by Master of Aeons

This is covered in the comic. Read it.

couldn't you just say what they covered in the comic?

[bghjkl]

Many times (later in the saga) in the comic books and the tv series they come across dead that are decomposed to the point of being too slow to be threatening, too weak to attack, or in some cases, completely immobile.

Kirkman has stated that his zombies continue to decompose after reanimating, so logic would indeed dictate that at some point the zombies will be extinct. (assuming all new dead people are "dealt with," ones attacked by groups of walkers usually are eaten to the point there's nothing left to reanimate)

I'm not sure if it's clear whether the zombies' diet or state of nourishment has anything to do with their strength.

[Lin001]

Well, yeah. After a time, the zombies will be so slow, that they're not going to be a big threat.

However, I think that we should remember one thing: You don't need to be bitten to reanimate. So long that are people alive, there will be zombies in their most perfect state. The time can deal with 'em, but still, unless the virus( or wtv it is) is destroyed or something... There are always going to exist.

[thestalkinghead]

humm, i would imagine the military and governments found this out first and are just hiding until it all finishes, where millions of people will emerge to a similar but smelly world, where the main difference is that dying is seen as a hazard to other people and it will all be dealt with differently, but basically the world would return to normal

[Lin001]

Ahm... It just seems TOO good for TWD universe. And so, highly not possible.

[thestalkinghead]

Originally Posted by Lin001

Ahm... It just seems TOO good for TWD universe. And so, highly not possible.

why would hershel survive if millions of people on secure bases across the world would die?, i have read the first hardback and hershel just grabs hold of the zombies by the scruff of their neck and guides them into the barn, why would intelligent military people get outsmarted by zombies?

they may however conclude that saving the few survivors isnt worth the risk and they would just stay hiding until it all blew over

[Lin001]

Originally Posted by thestalkinghead

why would hershel survive if millions of people on secure bases across the world would die?, i have read the first hardback and hershel just grabs hold of the zombies by the scruff of their neck and guides them into the barn, why would intelligent military people get outsmarted by zombies?

they may however conclude that saving the few survivors isnt worth the risk and they would just stay hiding until it all blew over

Well, now that you're saying, it doesn't seems THAT impossible. But still, I don't think that people would like that type of ending...

But yeah, a true zombie "apocalypse" would be really easy to manage. So, the only answer I have to you is " Zombie Magic".

[thestalkinghead]

yeah i'm sure the ending would be better than that, but even if i am in the right kind of area, kirkman would make it way more creative and cool

[Master of Aeons]

Originally Posted by thestalkinghead

couldn't you just say what they covered in the comic?

I could, but after researching to answer you, I couldn't find where it was covered, what's been discovered yet or answer any of the question. Also, it's better to just read the comic.

[thestalkinghead]

Originally Posted by Master of Aeons

I could, but after researching to answer you, I couldn't find where it was covered, what's been discovered yet or answer any of the question. Also, it's better to just read the comic.

of course, you are right, reading the comic is better, but you basically said "i know something you don't know" and i really wanted to know what that was

[coryay113]

The comics are way past one year deep into the Zombie Apocalypse and there are still fresh zombies. Everyone who dies become a zombie if you don't destroy the brain.

[thestalkinghead]

Originally Posted by coryay113

The comics are way past one year deep into the Zombie Apocalypse and there are still fresh zombies. Everyone who dies become a zombie if you don't destroy the brain.

thats "Zombie Magic" preserving the bodies, we have to assume that the majority of the worlds population were undead in a few weeks, else an apocalypse scenario would never happen, so after however long the zombies unlive the majority of zombies would be dead.

[Master of Aeons]

Originally Posted by thestalkinghead

of course, you are right, reading the comic is better, but you basically said "i know something you don't know" and i really wanted to know what that was

Shit, I really wanted to have the answer. I think somewhere in the 90's run, there's a zombie that is totally rotted and useless, but I wasn't able to properly cite it. In the end all I could say is "There's an answer to your question, and it's a good one. Mmmmmbye."

[Rommel49]

Ultimately, it really does boil down to "zombie magic", it's not like Zombies are going to swat away the bugs eating and laying eggs in them, etc. (a case where insensivity to pain isn't a benefit), and they're completely helpless against ordinary putrefaction, they couldn't do a thing about that even if they had a mind to. This is especially true in the hot, humid Summer of a place like Georgia. By the end of the first week you're looking at zombies that're going to be riddled with maggots and the like, they wouldn't even have faces by that point, let alone eyes.

At the point we're at in the game (about three months after the initial outbreak), there realistically wouldn't be much left of the Zombies from the original outbreak... even if we ignore injuries due to them doing things like stumbling off of cliffs, bridges, highways, falling down stairs, etc.

[Kiel555]

Originally Posted by Mr._Wok

wandering the Earth for a year or so? They are dead so they don't generate new cells. Do they decay to the point to were they just can't move any more? If this is the case all the survivors have to do is wait it out and all of the walkers will become immobilized or rot away. IMO there have to be some survivors that don't have the virus.

I don't recall the sources but I think in TWD universe the following applies:

1) Walkers continue to decay. The longer they have been dead the slower they become. A fresh walker moves the fastest. On a tangent, the manner in which a person dies seems to affect haw fast they reanimate but I don't remember the specifics.
2) The decay rate of a walker is much slower than say the decay rate of someone who died in our universe (assuming zombies don't exist in our universe ofcourse). Something to do with the zombie virus attacking the bacteria that would decay a body at the normal rate.
3) Walkers may remain where they are, motionless, for long periods of time. If they are in a cool building this may slow the decay rate even more.
4) Everyone is infected...bummer.

Just guessing here, but I'd say a walker out in the elements moving around would "wear out" in a year. Just stay away from the head as it may still detect you and snap at you.

It's the walkers that are in buildings, especially basements (or some place out of the elements and cool like a subway or long tunnel), that could last a long time maybe up to five years or more.