Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, Thursday, Per 3

[deathsmajesty]

Class had been instructed to meet in the Danger Shop for the remainder of the semester, though when they walked in, they'd see it was set to the 'standard classroom' configuration. In fact, Liliana had no plans that required the Danger Shop at all today, but her planned classes included a mix of lectures and practical 'experiences.' And since it would be very obvious what type of class she had planned if they only ever met in the Danger Shop on practical days, they'd be meeting in the Danger Shop regardless of what type of class was on the agenda.

"Welcome back," Liliana said once class had begun. "We deviated from tradition last week by not having introductions--" which she generally considered a waste of class time anyway "--because it would have done us no good to attempt to affix names to faces when we all looked like ponies. Which means we're doing them this week. Please state your name, a useful skill set you believe you would bring to a post-apocalyptic community, and at least one way that either media or your own experience has taught you to kill, avoid, or fend off zombies. As I will then be explaining whether or not that course of action would be effective, at least against my types of ghouls, I would highly encourage you all to listen to one another's introductions. I'll give you this one for free, though: shooting a zombie in the brain? Isn't going to stop a single one."

Once that fun little round robin of class interaction was over, Liliana continued her lecture. "Today, we're going to be discussing the structure of the class. As was mentioned last week, this class is going to be more of a hands-on approach to surviving a post-apocalyptic scenario, one that involved an uprising of the undead. In it, you will be given different scenarios and objectives, and then it will be up to your various skills, tactics, and planning to survive. Hopefully, through these classes, you will either develop or further hone your ability to think quickly, to be decisive, to adapt, to communicate, and to cooperate. As this is a post-zombie apocalypse, zombies will likely be present as an environmental hazard if nothing else, adding additional obstacles and time pressures. That being said, the focus of the class is primarily "how can I and possibly others survive?" not "how can I fix this whole scenario?" I'm not saying you won't have opportunities to end the zombie menace, at least for the duration of a class period, but I would advise you not to expect them." But it did sometimes make for an important friction point: attempt the sure thing that will increase your odds of survival, or attempt the very risky thing that may solve everything...or may leave you in an even more precarious position than you were in before.

"Now, a note about powers. Some of you have them. Some of you have powers that are particularly useful for this type of class even, even. I am not going to forbid you from using them. I am however, going to institute a rule that you are not allowed to use your powers on behalf of anybody else. Your powers can serve you and you alone. If what you're going to do will directly benefit anybody beyond yourself, do not do it. I am not intending to hamstring teamwork, but I want you all to get a better idea of what you, personally, are capable of.

"Honestly, if this were a real post-apocalyptic scenario, the smartest thing to do would be to have Summer use her portal gun to get you off the island, or, say, have Illyana teleport necessary supplies back to survivors. And, if there is a real emergency and you don't take the fastest option to remove yourself to safety and die to stupid heroics instead, I will be very cross with you and will give genuine consideration to raising you back up long enough to blister your ears with a lecture." Was she looking very hard at one Mr. Jonathan Sims at that? If he was present, then yes she absolutely was.

"But, as tactically sound as those options are, they don't actually teach anything. We are simulating dangerous situations now so that if you find yourself in real danger in the future, you have better odds of surviving, even if you don't have access to helpful magics or advanced technology. It is for that reason that I'm also suggesting people with powers minimize usage even on their own behalf, at least if you are trained and confident in them. Again, that isn't something I will be enforcing, nor will it have an effect on your grade, but this is an opportunity to learn, which means trying things you are not already proficient at. I will be much less impressed by someone who can breeze through a scenario because they have the right combination of gadgets, powers, and/or technology than by someone who failed it, but demonstrated creativity, effort, or learning. Any questions?"

Comments

Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

Please state your name, a useful skill set you believe you would bring to a post-apocalyptic community, and at least one way that either media or your own experience has taught you to kill, avoid, or fend off zombies.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[stringstothesoul]

If Erasmus had been told to do something here it had been drowned out under the susurration of a million unhappy souls, so, uh.

Well, at least he hadn't fled the room yet? You had to give him points for that.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

Hey now. They were also a million scheming, sneaky, manipulative jerk souls.

"Erasmus?" Liliana prodded. It was the boy she'd met last Wednesday. "Erasmus, it's your turn."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[stringstothesoul]

Erasmus startled. "What? I--sorry, I...could you speak up?" He could barely hear you over all the souls.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana's brows furrowed. "Are you quite all right?" she asked, coming closer to peer at him.

Because that would surely help. The Chain Veil in proximity.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[stringstothesoul]

Please don't mind Erasmus as he sort of...backed away from you because that was making the murmuring louder and he didn't quite realize he was doing it.

"Um," he said, his eyes darting around in confusion, "Are there..." No. Okay. Rip the 'Hi I'm going insane' bandage off. "Are there a lot of dead people in this room? Like. A lot, a lot."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"What?" Liliana asked, puzzled. "No of course--"

She stopped as the Veil on her hip jingled slightly with her movement. Gaea help her, she had gotten so used to tuning out their voices that she had nearly forgotten that the Veil was with her.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, there are. Can you hear them? All of them?"

Re: Introductions If We Must

[stringstothesoul]

"...yeah," Erasmus said reluctantly, because he really, really did not want to be hearing them. "I'm sorry, um...my shields aren't good enough for this, I guess." Obviously. They weren't good enough to tune out a normal graveyard, forget something of this magnitude. But see? He did have shields! "There's just...so many." How were there so many?

Re: Introductions If We Must

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Jonathan Sims. I..." Look, Jon was an academic. He could read and figure things out. He wasn't even particularly good at planning, tending toward 'run into the middle and do whatever works'.

He grimaced. "I have a lot of knowledge. I can possibly know what's going on and where, particularly if it's frightening."

The Eye was about his only benefit here.

"I'm not sure if that counts as using a power for other people's benefit, though."

For the rest of the question...sorry, Liliana. "Based on past experience, I've mostly learned that I'm good as bait." Did he sound maybe just a little bitter there? Maybe it was because everything wanted to kill him and most people didn't care about that.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"Being bait is hardly an answer to the question I asked, Jon," Liliana said. "Try again."

Was this going to become a whole thing, like the communities based on red mana?

Re: Introductions If We Must

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon rubbed his face. "I suppose...If we're also including things from media, then beheading ought to work. And it's worked in the past on things that were very difficult to kill. If nothing else, hopefully something without a head can't see you. You could bury the head to keep it from rejoining itself, if that's an issue. If not just the head, you could take it completely apart. Even if the parts work on their own, a foot or a hand on its own is less dangerous than a complete being."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"Thank you," she said to him. "You're perfectly capable of coming up with decent, intelligent answers when you're not reaching for the lowest hanging fruit."

There was a compliment in there. If you squinted.

"Furthermore, not only is that a decent answer, it's a useful one and brings up some of the more interesting ghoul phenomena. While unintelligent zombies do not actually need their sensory apparatus, many of them still act upon it. The first half of that makes sense, no? Why should zombies be able to see, or hear, or smell? It's not like their brains are actually capable of processing and interpreting the data it receives, even among the most fresh and lively zombies. Zombies made from older corpses often don't even have eyes anymore, or noses, or other sensory organs. So why do they react that way? The current prevailing theory is that when mana infuses the dead flesh with no further instruction from a caster, it is working off a basic pattern of that species. And since your standard-issue human would 'look' or 'hear' or 'smell,' a zombie does the same, even if it shouldn't be able to do so with the body parts remaining. It's how zombie bats can fly on tattered wings, or zombie cats can hiss without breathing, and how zombie snakes can sometimes still produce venom."

Liliana paused, realizing that this was information that wasn't actually relevant to the class, and pulled it back. "What I mean to say is that, yes. Removing the head will significantly affect a feral, unintelligent zombie. Often times, they will collapse, rendering them inert. But, a zombie being controlled by another intelligence, will not be susceptible to such things. A headless zombie that I am puppeting can continue to attack you whether it has a head or not. And a powerful necromancer with fine control over their creations would in fact, be able to keep a hand or a leg animated even when the other parts are gone. It doesn't happen often, because, as you said, a hand by itself is much less dangerous than a full creature, but it can happen."

She looked back at Jon. "So. You've cut off the head of a zombie. What can you surmise from how it reacts, and how does that change your tactics, if it does at all?"

Re: Introductions If We Must

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon...wasn't sure about that compliment, but he supposed he would take it.

He listened avidly as Liliana described the rest, and was actually disappointed when she stopped.

He nodded. "If it collapses, then it's likely either feral, from a less competent necromancer, or from a necromancer who doesn't care as much about it. Which means...I suppose it means the best tactic for the time being is to take on the zombies on their own. If it keeps coming after me, then..." He huffed. "Well, first it means I need to run faster. But apart from that, it means there's a competent necromancer behind this who knows what they're doing, which means that apart from staying out of the way, the priority becomes trying to take out the necromancer."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

Well, he could always ask--no. He could always inform her about his curiosity; Liliana needed very little prodding to continue discussing the intricacies of ghoulcalling.

See? And now Liliana was beaming at him. "Precisely," she said, not even qualifying that. "Excellently answered, darling."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon smiled back, honestly relieved that he'd done well.

"I'm curious - you said snakes can sometimes produce venom, and I'd like to know if there's a reason why only sometimes. If there are things that make it more likely."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Hiiiii!" Summer started out brightly, beaming, lifting a hand and wiggling her fingers at everyone. "My name is Summer, and I had a whole apocapylse phase back when I was a teenager, and I was, like, really good at it until my jackass gramps ruined it all by giving everyone civilization again."

Excuse her while she scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, those are mutants and not zombies, but they shared a lot of similarities, and I've dealt with a lot other fucked up things I've had to fight my out of before that can track onto this kind of thing, too. I probably prefer a laser gun as a weapon of choice, but I'm also pretty good with an axe, a pitchfork, a spear, a sword, Honey Badger claws, cross bow, bow and arrows, and honestly? Just straight up choking a bitch out. And, yes, as Liliana said, I usually have a portal gun that can get me out of a lot of jams pretty quickly, too. But I'd say my favorite way to deal with a zombie horde would probably just be running them the fuck over with some tricked oit Road Warrior style vehicle."

She paused, to take a breath.

"Preferably with flamethrowers."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"On behalf of all those who enjoy the benefits of civilization, I appreciate your grandfather's efforts," Liliana said dryly.

Did she look like someone who would enjoy losing modern amenities? There was a reason she was avoiding Innistrad until her manor was repaired at the very least.

"Why a flamethrower, darling?"

Re: Introductions If We Must

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Eh..." Summer looked like she might be a little torn, like she might genuinely have a hard time choosing between being the Terrifyingly Ruthless Ruler of All She Surveyed and indoor plumbing, but she was also eager to move past that conundrum, too.

"Most organic material burns, doesn't it?" she asked/answered, feeling that it was pretty obvious, tbh.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

Please remember, you had asked for this, Summer. Liliana had tried to give you an out.

[Warning! Discussion of corpses and burning below!]

"Most organic matter burns, yes," Liliana said. "But, like most facile answers, it does not particularly address the reality of the the subject. Even just at it's most basic, different organic materials burn at different temperatures depending what it's made of. For example, paper catches fire at 451 degrees, while it takes temperatures between five to six hundred for wood to ignite, and both those numbers vary with things like moisture. Dry wood catches fire easier than wet, yes? Therefore, already, you would need different temperatures of flame to deal with bodies that were in the process of decomposition versus bodies that were mummified for example."

Was she still going? Yup!

"Except bodies are not flammable. Clothing can. Hair can. But at no point does a body ever ignite like a piece of paper. What you're hoping will happen is that something on the body will catch fire and burn long enough and hot enough for the body to char. Now, there is the wick effect, wherein the subcutaneous fat of body on fire melts, soaks into their clothing, and that causes the body to act like a candle, burning at a relatively low temperature. The wick effect can fully burn a body to ashes, but it takes place over hours, while the body remains still and unmoving. In order for the proteins to actually denaturize, you need a sustainable fire that burns roughly 750 to 800 hundred degrees. For reference, the red flames around a campfire are about 600 or so degrees. For the wick effect to burn a body to the point where the extremities are gone, it will take roughly an hour. For the body to go become mostly ash, it's closer to ninety minutes.

"So, if you want to burn an entire body, you need to make sure that it has something that can ignite, like hair or clothing. You also then need to make sure that the body remains on fire, because if you simply set flame to cloth or hair, it will burn itself out very quickly; they both catch fire at much lower temperatures. Cloth burns at around 450 degrees, hair at around 300 degrees." Synthetic fibers required much hotter temperatures, but they didn't burn, they melted, not that Liliana knew any of that. "Your best bet is to also make sure the body remains still. A mobile body not only results in lower heat, but also runs the risk of putting the fire out. And, since it can take up to an hour for a body to fully break down, spreading fires to things that are flammable, like buildings."

She took another second to consider. "I don't know how hot flamethrowers get, but even if it is hot enough to immediately induce the wick effect without somehow flash-incinerating the ignitable materials, but either, you will be spending a great deal of time and fuel incinerating bodies into ash all in one go, or you will be making incredible walking torches that last..." She shrugged picking a number out of the air. "Let's assume ten to fifteen minutes before they fall apart? Either way, that hardly sounds...efficient."

[My search history is fucked forever!]

Re: Introductions If We Must

[gospel_of_oblivion]

"Illyana Rasputin. If we are talking about a useful skill in the case that powers are unavailable, I am very good at violence, and it has been my experience that if you cut a zombie into pieces and then light them on fire, that tends to be a very good way to get rid of them."

It was a lot harder to raise functional corpses from ash. At least with the magic she knew.

"I am also a sorcerer, and a teleporter. In most cases," she practically spit the word out, "--I can remove myself and those with me from any situation, and I have a wide range of magic at my disposal."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana frowned slightly at the bitterness and anger Illyana had infused in the word 'most' right there, but did not push.

Today was just a day for worrying about her students.

"That is true when it comes to handling a singular zombie, when you can take the time to be thorough, do you have another means when you are dealing with larger groups? Beyond teleporting, which remains the wisest and best course of action."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[gospel_of_oblivion]

Yes, well, Illyana was a very bitter and angry individual. Her time at Fandom had healed the worst of it, but that old wound had been ripped open rather violently, and smashed her face-first into a reality-check that her magic could not solve everything.

"Fire," Yana replied instantly. "Fire magic demands much from the user, but it is the most effective long-term."

"The drawback is that fire will do as fire will do. Once you unleash it, you need to be prepared for it to spread unpredictably." She made a face. "And flaming zombies can be dangerous in their own right, while they burn down."

"Otherwise, some way to slow their advance -- ice, or opening a chasm in the earth between you and them."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"How hot does your magic fire get?" Liliana asked.

She'd talked to Summer about why fire wasn't particularly effective on bodies, but magic fire played by its own rules.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[gospel_of_oblivion]

"There's a lot of options, but my favorite..." Illyana closed her eyes, reaching down inside her for the flame that Clea had taught her to find. It was a harder reach than usual, but it was there, burning, waiting to be called.

"Flames of the Faltine," she breathed, and a small orange flame leapt to her hand, curling around her fingers. She opened her eyes to stare at it. "How big or hot it gets depends on the will of the caster. I can crack stone with it, but I know someone who can use it to burn planets."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"Fascinating," Liliana said, looking at the flame.

No, Liliana, the proper answer is, 'there's no good reason to burn--' Yeah, okay, the narrative can't even finish that.

"Then, yes, it's likely you would be able to burn zombies with it. I presume that you can make precision shots with it?"

Liliana trusted she could, but it was always best to check.