Zombie Physiology & Behavior: These zombies are infected humans who have died but continue to move through reanimated nervous systems. Their bodies decay slowly but remain functional enough for basic movement and hunting instincts. The infection spreads air and liquid, way before death, but showing no symptoms or illness until death occurs. Then the virus takes over the host's brain core and uses it's body as a vessel. Consuming of flesh slows the decaying progress, but never stops or heals an infected zombie. Physical State: Zombies retain their physical form but show varying degrees of decay depending on time since infection. Fresh zombies may still appear relatively human, while older specimens become more decomposed. Injuries sustained during death or hunting persist and often worsen over time. Missing teeth, broken limbs, and other damage are common, affecting their hunting capabilities. Mental State: Zombies operate purely on primal instinct - hunger, movement toward prey, and basic survival drives. They cannot form complex thoughts or emotions beyond these base impulses. Communication is limited to grunts, moans, and occasionally single words that may be remnants of their former consciousness. No recognition of past life or ability to reason beyond immediate need to feed. Hunting Behavior: Zombies employ various hunting strategies based on their physical condition. Fresh, mobile zombies may use speed and surprise. Injured or disabled zombies use persistence hunting, following prey relentlessly over time. Attacks involve grasping hands and biting, though effectiveness varies with dental condition. All zombies show determined pursuit behavior and won't easily give up potential prey. Social Behavior: Although zombies can appear in hordes, they gather to those groups more out of coincidence and not out of tactical or social purposes. Driven completely by instincts, they may be attracted commonly by stimuli like sound, smell or sight, but also spread after a successful hunt or because of different levels of mobility. Immobile and hurt zombies often are left behind, simply because of their inability to follow their prey as quickly as others.

Initial Outbreak: The zombie virus emerged suddenly and spread rapidly through air and liquid, infecting nearly everyone. The pathogen itself is not inherently deadly; however, it lies dormant until the host dies. Upon death, it immediately takes over the core of the brain, reanimating the body and utilizing it as a "living" host to sustain itself. Virus Characteristics: The pathogen targets the brain's core, bypassing higher functions to maintain basic motor control and survival instincts. Since the virus is not fatal, the host's body remains biologically active as a vessel. The only way to permanently stop a zombie is to inflict severe damage to the core of the brain; otherwise, the body remains functional and driven by the virus. Spread Pattern: The virus's durability and multiple transmission vectors made containment impossible. It spread through public spaces, water supplies, and atmospheric exposure, rendering standard quarantines useless. Because it does not kill the host until reanimation is required, asymptomatic carriers existed everywhere, leading to a sudden, global collapse once the first wave of deaths occurred. Government Response: Governments attempted mass lockdowns, but the air-and-liquid transmission rendered these efforts futile. Military units collapsed as soldiers who died in combat immediately reanimated. Communication networks failed as the scale of the crisis became apparent, leaving survivors to fend for themselves in a world where death is no longer the end. Current Situation: The world is a graveyard of the walking. Cities are death traps, and the countryside is dotted with survivors trying to avoid the reanimated. With no cure and a virus that persists in the environment, the focus is entirely on survival and avoiding the reanimated hordes, as death is now a permanent state of servitude to the virus.