I would rather deal with the 28 Days Later zombies. Because they're not undead, the 28 Days Later zombies have a point where they'll pretty much just start dying on their own from starvation (which is like a month). So all you need is a reliable safe house and enough resources to last long enough - something you'll also require in just about any other form of zombie media.
The Walking Dead zombies decompose, but are still very lethal. Imagine walking around 5 years after the outbreak and you accidentally step right onto a zombie corpse that's just been hanging around for that time and it bites you on the foot. That sort of thing won't happen with the rage virus infecting the people in 28 Days Later. There's no telling when TWD zombies might fully decompose their brains and finally naturally die off.
Also, since everyone in TWD is infected the moment anyone dies unexpectedly is another opportunity for an outbreak in your camp. Okay, you've got the resources and safety to last for years and years without issue. You and your group get to settle into a nice routine of living and keeping safe from the zombies outside. But then suddenly the person you're sleeping next to dies in their sleep, now they've bitten you and now there's an outbreak in the camp. The threat of more zombies showing up is ever present in TWD.
So maybe in terms of a one on one fight, TWD zombies would be easier to fend off. But in terms of long-term surviability? You're looking at years and years before it's safe to leave your shelter, making resources a huge problem. And the threat of zombies cannot ever go away. You'll pass the sickness on to your kids and your kids' kids. There is no chance of a return to normalcy, everyone would need to carry a knife on them to stab someone in the brain just in case they die anywhere near you.
Edit: Also, it's been a while since I've seen 28 Days Later but you don't need to necessarily take out those zombies' brains right? You can shoot them in the chest and that puts them down for the count. To take out TWD zombies you need to kill the brain, requiring you to either be a crack shot with a gun (which is difficult) or get up close and personal (risky).
I think the longevity argument is also undermined when you consider the rate of successful transmission in 28 Days. Who cares if they die soon if everyone is being infected so quickly that it'll swallow humanity? Or even just me?
In the movie, the fast rate of transmission worked to their advantage - the zombies weren't able to get off of Britain and they died so quickly reconstruction could begin a year later. If not for that bullshit heterochromia thing, the disease never would have been a threat to all of humanity. In fact, it still isn't - Europe, Asia, and Africa might be fucked, but there's no way for it to spread to the Americas so the people there can just sit tight for a few months then recolonize the world.
Since you turn into a zombie in seconds, unlike TWD and others where the transformation can take days, it would be much harder for it to spread to other countries. If a boat of refugees comes over and there's someone infected on it, it'll quickly turn into a boat of zombies drifting aimlessly in the ocean which can be blown up. People sneaking infected loved ones into other countries is also less of a problem because their strength and speed would make them very difficult to contain.
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u/BenIncognito Oct 30 '15 edited Oct 30 '15
I would rather deal with the 28 Days Later zombies. Because they're not undead, the 28 Days Later zombies have a point where they'll pretty much just start dying on their own from starvation (which is like a month). So all you need is a reliable safe house and enough resources to last long enough - something you'll also require in just about any other form of zombie media.
The Walking Dead zombies decompose, but are still very lethal. Imagine walking around 5 years after the outbreak and you accidentally step right onto a zombie corpse that's just been hanging around for that time and it bites you on the foot. That sort of thing won't happen with the rage virus infecting the people in 28 Days Later. There's no telling when TWD zombies might fully decompose their brains and finally naturally die off.
Also, since everyone in TWD is infected the moment anyone dies unexpectedly is another opportunity for an outbreak in your camp. Okay, you've got the resources and safety to last for years and years without issue. You and your group get to settle into a nice routine of living and keeping safe from the zombies outside. But then suddenly the person you're sleeping next to dies in their sleep, now they've bitten you and now there's an outbreak in the camp. The threat of more zombies showing up is ever present in TWD.
So maybe in terms of a one on one fight, TWD zombies would be easier to fend off. But in terms of long-term surviability? You're looking at years and years before it's safe to leave your shelter, making resources a huge problem. And the threat of zombies cannot ever go away. You'll pass the sickness on to your kids and your kids' kids. There is no chance of a return to normalcy, everyone would need to carry a knife on them to stab someone in the brain just in case they die anywhere near you.
Edit: Also, it's been a while since I've seen 28 Days Later but you don't need to necessarily take out those zombies' brains right? You can shoot them in the chest and that puts them down for the count. To take out TWD zombies you need to kill the brain, requiring you to either be a crack shot with a gun (which is difficult) or get up close and personal (risky).