Discuss The Walking Dead
Discuss → TV Shows → The Walking Dead → General
How many walkers are left?!!
posted by Midi-chlorian_CountSTAFFMOD on February 23, 2017 at 3:33 AM
I don't know if everyone will remember but this was a pretty fun thread posted back on the old imdb before "the great betrayal".
Someone had looked at the number of survivors there were, as a percentage over the overall population; how many walkers on average each person was killing per day; and how much time had passed since the outbreak.
Obviously everyone is infected, and will turn on death, but by a certain stage all communities are going to be aware and able to control this.
So the question is - how many walkers should still be out there?
Reply by spudrudder
on February 23, 2017 at 5:55 AM
Four billion across the globe, give or take. Within 100 miles of Alexandria at any given time it's probably between 250 thousand to 750 thousand, depending on herds. They're going to have to wait them out a bit. Their rate of decomposition is slower than normal but it's still there.
Reply by chrisjdel
on February 23, 2017 at 4:34 PM
Exactly. The old walkers are looking worse for wear every season. Just like the show's title on the opening credits. You know I didn't even notice that until this year because it's gotten so obvious, but every season "The Walking Dead" title lettering decomposes a little more. You'd think within ten or fifteen years the big herds would be gone. Still have to watch out for a few leg grabbers with some life left in them, so to speak, but otherwise you'd only have to deal with new walkers. People who die are a threat until you poke them in the head with something sharp. That's just part of the new reality, but like the OP said this is something people have adjusted to and can easily deal with. Long-term survival in the ZA is a matter of building a safe community to hunker down in and wait for the undead hordes to waste away.
Reply by thegoldenhoratio
on February 23, 2017 at 4:41 PM
About 7. I did the math.
Reply by Robgoblin_TheWellTravelled
on February 23, 2017 at 4:56 PM
i recounted, its 8. dont listen to Horatio. hes a hack
Reply by Midi-chlorian_Count
on February 23, 2017 at 5:23 PM
@chrisjdel
Yeah, that's true they do get a bit greyer / more decomposed each season...
I think that dude back on imdb did it using the total US population but to try and give an example I'll take the mid-figure of 500k using @spudrudder's estimate within 100 miles of Alexandria.
Guessing 1 in 1,000 survived the initial outbreak (which seems conservative enough?) that would give ~ 500 survivors in the Alexandria area, which doesn't seem too far out ballpark-wise if you add the Hilltop, Saviour, Kingdom, etc communities we've seen.
So, outwith the taking care of those dying and turning within communities, that would mean everyone would need to kill ~ 1,000 walkers (perhaps a bit higher as some of the initial 500 survivors would die over time) before the area was cleared.
If they averaged just one walker per person per day (seems possible with a Rick / Michone balancing out a Eugene) there'd shouldn't be many left after three years...
(Obviously this is completely dependant on that initial survival rate estimate)
Reply by thegoldenhoratio
on February 23, 2017 at 5:24 PM
I forgot to divide by pi. [sad5]
Reply by chrisjdel
on February 23, 2017 at 6:05 PM
Killing three quarters of a million walkers is no small task! To do it without casualties, you'd need a fleet of helicopters to gather and lead herds (maybe with old school heavy metal played at maximum volume through external loudspeakers). You bring them all together in one location where you've lit a massive forest fire, and let them all stampede into it. Hopefully the fire doesn't spread and burn down your community afterward. But there you go, a million barbecued walkers. Now all you have to do is sweep through homes and buildings to get the trapped ones that couldn't join in the festivities and you're done. Well, except for the other 360 million or so walkers roaming North America. Walkers, unfortunately ... walk. Areas you clear don't stay that way. Better hope your choppers don't break down or run out of fuel because you're gonna have to repeat that procedure many times. Ground engagements are a losing proposition. A few of your people are likely to get bitten in even the best planned operation. If you lose three people and each of them didn't kill a thousand walkers first, you're behind the curve.
Reply by Midi-chlorian_Count
on February 24, 2017 at 3:29 AM
@chrisjdel
Agreed. If we were trying to do it in one go that is. But like the guy was saying, and using the example I gave, after a certain amount of time even killing off a very small number per day per person, would mean they'd all near enough be gone.
Again, using the 500,000 figure: 500,000 - 500 (survivors) =
499,500 ÷ 500 =
999 : The amount which need to be killed per person. 999 ÷ 365 (days per year) =
2.74 years, i.e. All gone < 3 years!
Now if you think back to the prison, or even Alexandria, they were easily popping them off pretty much at the fence. So one per person per day really doesn't seem inconceivable.
True but you've got to remember there's that same certain rate of survivors everywhere with the same assumption that they'd be killing off walkers also...
Reply by chrisjdel
on February 24, 2017 at 5:25 AM
Unfortunately, every person that dies without hitting their quota puts you behind. That includes people killing each other, people dying from illness or injury, not to mention every fool (like that guy Carter) who doesn't keep their eyes peeled at all times and gets pounced on by a lurker. Every victim of the Wolves had more walkers to kill. So did all the dinner guests at Terminus. Even killing Gareth and his friends meant someone else was going to have to do their share of the work.
The siege of Alexandria in Season 6 ended with a pretty damn successful walker kill. Several thousand of them slashed, shot, and roasted. But still they lost Deanna, Jessie, and her two kids - although Sam was too young and Ron may or may not ever have been any real help, so we won't count them. Pretty close to breakeven then. When you consider what ground engagements with walker herds tend to be like, any part of the plan going wrong can lead to lots of casualties really fast. Like that ill fated walk back to Alexandria where a bunch of people got killed, including Nicholas (no big loss there), several because of one stupid walker stuck in a bathroom who made noise and attracted the attention of the herd outside. If what we see on the show is assumed to be typical everywhere, people are dying at an unsustainable rate. The living population is still going down. Without some serious mass cullings like the one I described, you'd run out of warm bodies long before the horde ran out of cold ones.
Reply by chrisjdel
on February 24, 2017 at 4:24 PM
A cold one sounds good right about now.
Reply by chrisjdel
on February 24, 2017 at 10:15 PM
Doesn't it?