Here we will examine combat against zombies in several likely scenarios. We will consider the possibility of facing a zombie one-on-one, armed and not, and also being outnumbered against zombies.
We cannot stress this point enough. Zombies are completely unaffected by pain, fatigue, intimidation, and indeed common sense. A zombie will not employ even the strategy and ingenuity of a rodent when it is attacking you. It is for all intents and purposes a single minded killer bent on the extremely short term goal of your mutilation and death. Even a shark can be stunned by a punch to the nose. A wolf can be intimidated by fire or loud noises. None of this will work against a zombie. The only way to save yourself is to stop the zombie, and the only way to stop a zombie is to penetrate its skull.
Maiming and mutilating a zombie with fire, barbed wire or other dangerous static trap, explosives, and dismemberment may reduce the combat effectiveness of a zombie, allowing your escape. However, these methods will do nothing to stop the zombie's motivation to attack. These methods are a poor substitute for actually neutralizing the zombie and in some cases may make the zombie more dangerous in the short or long term. For instance, lighting fire to a zombie may eventually destroy it, but in the short term it will simply intensify the threat the zombie poses, as it will be burning as it attacks. Mutilating a zombie with explosives may immobilize it in the short term, but could turn the zombie into an unexpected danger for someone else in the long term.
Not even a well trained, physically fit specimen can reliably crush a human skull, much less the skull of someone with no regard for their own life like a zombie. Remember, all a zombie has to do is bite or scratch you to infect you and therefore kill you. If you are totally unarmed, escape is paramount.
In a pinch, there is one martial art style that can protect you from the immediate threat of an attacking zombie: judo. Zombies typically rush their victims with no regard for the subtleties of stealth or anticipation. This can be used against them. Unlike a human adversary, however, pain and even broken bones will not stop a zombie, so remember that an effective judo throw will only buy you a few seconds. Also keep in mind that even a judo expert is advised not to come into physical contact with zombies unless absolutely necessary.
You may think that the situation has become dire indeed. Few people carry on with their day armed in some way with a weapon that could crush a human skull. There are however many common items that we might have access to which could make for an effective weapon in an emergency:
All of these are improvised weapons, and would be very poor choices for an extended conflict with zombies. Even an aluminum baseball bat will bend and break if used repeatedly against an object as hard as a human skull. For more reliable yet common melee weapons, see this list:
At the intitial stages of a zombie emergency, you may find that people close to you will become infected. You may recognize friends, family, and coworkers among your attackers. Indeed, it is very likely that you will encounter people like this at first. This can be a heartbreaking and emotional revelation, as many consider becoming a zombie a fate worse than death.
In these initial stages of a zombie pathogen outbreak, many will succumb to hesitation and compassion for the people these zombies once were. To protect against this fatal mistake, you must remember that these are not your friends and neighbors anymore! This will become clear to you almost immediately as they behave exactly like another other zombie, attacking you with a blind, single minded partiality. They will show no recognition of you, and no hesitation in attacking you. You must return that sentiment, or rather lack thereof, when dealing with them.
In isolated cases, some people may want to take advantage of the fact that the zombie in question was once a particular person. Some people may attempt to preserve a zombie in a vain hope that the deceased person they were in life can somehow be 'cured' or 'brought back.' Some people may act vindictively toward the zombie because of who they were in life. Others may try to take sexual advantage of them. The flaws in all of these cases must remain apparent to you. There is no difference between any zombie in attitude regardless of who they once were.
With regard to the last case, popular media may have led some perverts astray with material like this:
Putting your penis anywhere near the mouth of a zombie is a foolish idea for several reasons:
