Things you should take under consideration for making a character that is not likely to die horribly:
We are facing a form of traditional Zombies. NOT infected. That is to say slow zombies, sometimes referred to as "Walkers". They are slow, stupid, and do not mutate. They aren't dangerous alone and not very dangerous as smaller groups. s**t, as long as you have enough distance these guys aren't a problem at all. The problem is when you get in close.
When a person uses their muscles their body and brain regulate the amount of muscle they use by use of restricted electrical impulses and pain. A zombie has no such countermeasures. When one grabs you it does not grab you as a person does. A person will hold back and show restraint. A zombie will not. It will grab hold of you with all it is capable of without consideration for even it's own flesh. As such all things it does it does with it's full strength. Biting, grabbing, clawing, and even walking.
Despite their complete ineptitude and lack of anything resembling a physical control they are dangerous because of three things: They are tireless, they come in numbers, and they are residents of the Uncanny Valley. That basically means that there is a small, primitive part of your brain that makes clowns, dead bodies, the sick, the insane, and the deformed give you the willies. It has been affectionately been called the "Uncanny Valley". This is the place where zombies will live. Their mere presence will have you crawling out of your skin. In the Zombie Apocalypse it's not the zombies that kill people. It's the fear.
In regard to methods of defense, anything that requires you to get within range of physical contact without protection is far riskier than is advised. As far as weapons are concerned, projectiles with high stopping power are preferred. Machine guns and most other fully-automatic weapons are made to cause grievous bodily harm. The problem is you aren't aiming for the body.
We are facing a form of traditional Zombies. NOT infected. That is to say slow zombies, sometimes referred to as "Walkers". They are slow, stupid, and do not mutate. They aren't dangerous alone and not very dangerous as smaller groups. s**t, as long as you have enough distance these guys aren't a problem at all. The problem is when you get in close.
When a person uses their muscles their body and brain regulate the amount of muscle they use by use of restricted electrical impulses and pain. A zombie has no such countermeasures. When one grabs you it does not grab you as a person does. A person will hold back and show restraint. A zombie will not. It will grab hold of you with all it is capable of without consideration for even it's own flesh. As such all things it does it does with it's full strength. Biting, grabbing, clawing, and even walking.
Despite their complete ineptitude and lack of anything resembling a physical control they are dangerous because of three things: They are tireless, they come in numbers, and they are residents of the Uncanny Valley. That basically means that there is a small, primitive part of your brain that makes clowns, dead bodies, the sick, the insane, and the deformed give you the willies. It has been affectionately been called the "Uncanny Valley". This is the place where zombies will live. Their mere presence will have you crawling out of your skin. In the Zombie Apocalypse it's not the zombies that kill people. It's the fear.
In regard to methods of defense, anything that requires you to get within range of physical contact without protection is far riskier than is advised. As far as weapons are concerned, projectiles with high stopping power are preferred. Machine guns and most other fully-automatic weapons are made to cause grievous bodily harm. The problem is you aren't aiming for the body.
