The recent zombie outbreak at Utah State University has led to questions about how long humans can last.
The outbreak started with one infected individual on Tuesday; as of Thursday evening it had spread to at least 19 zombies.
USU professors are seeking answers, but the results of their research look bleak.
“It seems to me that it would grow exponentially at the beginning and in the middle,” said USU calculus professor Nathan Geer. “At some point there won’t be a whole lot of humans left and the rate will start to go down.”
The graph for exponential growth with limits shows a quick increase in the infection rate at the beginning and a decrease in rate after the halfway point. At the point where half of the population at USU is zombies, the spread rate of the infection will be the greatest.
“Even if some humans are more resilient than others, once the population is primarily zombies, the humans will go pretty quick,” Geer said.
Scott Ensign, a USU chemistry professor, has some ideas for people to become more resilient. He suggests humans mask their scent because zombies can track humans by smell.
“Cadaver is a molecule that stinks like one of those nasty decomposing body smells,” Ensign said. “I think that would be a great way to do it. Use cadaver just like perfume. It’s good stuff — stinks really bad.”
Despite the suggested precautions to humans, Ensign still believes the spread of zombies will be fast.
“In a matter of weeks everyone will be a zombie,” Ensign said.
UnDeadline reporters Bradley Bair, Marley McClune, Morgan Jacobsen, Eliza Welsh and Jeff Dahdah contributed to this report.
