THE DEAD TIMES
DEAD ARE COMING...
The Curse of Unbelief
"Attention Citizens: Beware the Zombie Plague. All deceased must be burned within six minutes of death to prevent re-animation."
- Propaganda poster
Welcome to an article all about the Zombies of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, more commonly known as the Zombie Plague or The Curse of Unbelief. The Curse is an infection spawned by the Forces of Chaos (former Space Marines and protectors of good who have been corrupted by the infinite and mesmerising grandeur of space, turning these once Holy warriors to the side of evil). Any mortal touched by the curse is mutated into an ambulatory, mindless sack of decaying meat, driven by the desire to spread that infection as far as possible. This power to infect billions with an insatiable lust to infect billions more grants Chaos a weapon of the upmost potency - one that is both spiritual with a commander, as with the ancient Vodou Bokors and their Zombie powder, but also modern and ethereal, an almost invisible biological threat that affects without mercy or hesitance.
A harrowing end
When an uninfected individual comes into contact with the plague, their bodies become riddled with necrotic microorganisms that physically "eat" away at the human's (assuming the infected was human) insides, devouring their internal organs and, gradually, breaking down their skin. This process, naturally, resulted in death and soon thereafter the Chaos energy still contained within the lifeless corpse (presumably, deposited by the microorganisms), cause the body to re-animate, filling whatever remained of the host's brain with two simple rules; consume the flesh of the living and spread the infection. However, they are not completely without soul, killing and consuming at random. Due to the large amounts of Chaos energy flowing through their necrotic veins, Chaos psykers (essentially the wizards of the future who have the power to manipulate space and time, merging together dimensions that should not be merged) can exert some of control over these pitiable creatures.
Infection: A more detailed look
There are typically four stages of infection. Only infected at stage one can be treated and possibly cured though, even at this stage, which can often be missed or mis-diagnosed, treatment is not always successful. Despite the option of medical care still being viable at stage one, it is vitally important to note that, as soon as the necrotic microorganisms have entered a host's body, that host is highly infectious and must be treated as such, the stage of infection as mentioned below is irrelevant in this respect.
Stage 1: Onset
The host's skin becomes pallid and sickly-looking. The host experiences nausea; dizziness, vomiting and so on. In some cases, the host reports seeing spots in front of their eyes. Potentially, minor areas of green scabbing will appear on the skin.
Stage 2: Deterioration
The host's skin tightens and hardens, making their veins clearly visible. Hair-loss occurs as the hair follicles cease to function and die. Green scabbing spreads over the entire body. The host suffers significant degradation of the mind, becoming aggressive without provocation and no-longer responds to many normal stimuli.
Stage 3: Feral
All semblance of humanity is lost form the host, both physically and mentally. Cheeks have become sunken. The skin has become a greyish-white and is stretched thin over bones. Teeth have begun to rot. Vast areas of skin are covered in buboes, seeping green pus. Portions of the body are effectively "dead" and useless. Aggression continues. No stimuli provokes a response in the host other than aggression and a seeming desire to bite human flesh.
Stage 4: Animalistic
Necrotic degradation reaches its climax, parts of the host's body simply dropping off. Skin becomes extremely thin and even recedes in places, exposing the body interior. Veins pop and "erupt" though the skin. Complete collapse of mental facilities, including basic reasoning skills. Seeming desire to congregate with other stage 4 infected individuals. Unstoppable desire to spread the infection to the uninfected and to consume the flesh of the living. Stage 4 infected can only be eradicated by destroying the brain or through excessive dismemberment.
DESCRIPTION:
Zombies exist in the Warhammer 40,000 universe - the expanded lore created for the once-popular board game. This article examines the so-called "Curse of Unbelief" in detail, without delving to deep into the mind-numbing complexities of the Warhammer 40,000 mythos laid down by its creators, Games Workshop.
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DATE UPLOADED:
02/06/2019