World Building

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Disease Origin and Path
- The disease first appears in the latter days of the War, somewhere in the early months of 1865
- Originally people thought soldiers were just going mad (then cannibalistic) but eventually it is figured out that it passes by bites
- Some talk is that the side opposite the one you’re fighting for created the disease to kill off the enemy
  - Confederates blame the Union, Union blames the Confederates, etc
- What is definitely known is that it came out of the Virginia area in March 1865, first noted as breaking the Siege of Petersburg in January 1865
  - ⁃ In our world, the Siege lasted until March 1865

The disease hit both sides almost simultaneously, and by February, it has begun to spread to the local populace
By February, much of the early information is already known
- If someone is bitten by a “shambler” (as they come to be known), more than likely they will come back a “shambler”

Only a very select few come back alive (and they are eventually called Resurrectionists or Lazaruses, the latter of which is a much ruder term)
- Roughly this number is around 1 in 100
- It is currently unknown if Resurrectionists are still contagious
- Many Resurrectionists are killed immediately after being bitten
  - Others are killed if anyone finds out about what they are
If a person is bitten or otherwise contaminated, they will become deathly ill for roughly three days, die, and come back a shambler
- Roughly three hours to show symptoms then three days of symptoms (three hour incubation, three day disease stage)
- High fever, sweats, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, joint pain
It is spread by any bodily fluids
It does not spread to animals, just humans
Animals can detect shamblers coming, especially dogs

A truce between the Union and CSA is declared in March 1865 because of mass desertions and high infection rates

After the War, by 1866, religious fervor has started to grow
- The disease is seen as punishment from God for the War, for brother fighting against brother, for slavery, etc
By April 1866, the term “shamblers” is the accepted terminology for much of the affected area, except Louisiana and her dispersed natives, as well as some parts of Mississippi, where the term “zombie” is used
By August 1866, it is known that natural predators are a good defense against shamblers
- Gators in Florida and Louisiana become highly sought after
- Killing bears and wolves almost completely cease because they make great defenses
- People begin training their dogs to attack shamblers
By 1869, the disease has progressed through much of the Eastern United States, leaving devastation in its wake
- The exact numbers killed or contaminated are not known, but the estimates around 75% to 85% of the population
Until 1868, the disease seems to be stalled at the Mississippi River, but in August, the first shamblers are seen in the Western United States, where it spreads quickly
As the disease continues to move westward, so too do the surviving people
- Railways are being built faster and faster to accommodate all the people heading towards the Pacific, often with worse and worse conditions for the people building the railroads
- Suspicions and tempers flare as the native tribes are pitted for land against the refugees from the East
The first shambler is seen in Utah around October 1876
The Rocky Mountains prove a deterrent for a while against the shamblers, but by January 1879, California has seen its first shamblers as well

Sociology and Psychology
- Religious fervor is at an all-time high in the States
  - Shamblers are seen as a punishment from God for a variety of reasons depending on the preacher/priest/vicar/etc in question
    - The War
    - Sin itself
    - Slavery
    - Abolition
- Few people still live east of the Mississippi River, mostly in areas with plentiful natural predators or harsh winters
  - Shamblers are basically animated dead tissue, so cold temperatures do not play well with them
    - Think freezer burn
- People continue to push west, but faster and faster now, especially since the shamblers have now become common west of the Mississippi
- Law and order has become more about keeping breathing people alive
  - There aren’t too many warrant officers or bounty hunters
  - One marshall may cover a large area with supplemental assistance as needed
    - Deputized townsfolk or conscriptions

The medical community is constantly trying to get their hands on a Resurrectionist to find out more about how they survive
- Attempts to experiment on shamblers have left hospitals contaminated and/or destroyed

Unique Oddities/Terms
- Resurrectionists
  - Around one out of every one hundred people bitten could become a Resurrectionist
    - In short, they are immune to the bite and disease
    - If they aren’t immediately eaten by the shamblers in question, of course
  - Their immune system seems to be focussed primarily on holding the contagion at bay or was so completely wiped out fighting it in the first place, so they are susceptible to every minor disease that comes their way
    - In other words, they get every bug, sniffle, and cold that looks at them funny
    - Anyone looking to out a Resurrectionist might as well start by looking for someone who catches every minor disease that goes through an area
    - If they do catch some major, nine times out of ten, they will recover in time
      - Even if they don’t, they never seem to die from whatever disease they do pick up
  - As far as shamblers go, they might as well be wallpaper
    - They don’t seem to see them, smell them, or want to eat them
      - At least, after the initial attack
    - Some people do take this to mean that Resurrectionists are more shambler than human
    - However, they can use this to hide a limited number of people (usually no more than two) from a horde
      - Their scent or pheromones or whatever it is can hide humans from the hordes
  - Most people don’t trust Resurrectionists, though, often thinking they are more shambler than human
    - If they aren’t killed immediately after being bitten, either due to the savagery or location of the bite or because they are shot in case they turn, they’re killed once people discover they’ve been bitten and come back
    - If there used to be one in a hundred surviving the bite to begin with, the number is more like one in a thousand surviving five years, one in ten thousand surviving ten years, and so on
      - Joshua Faraday was bitten in late January 1865, so he might be the record holding survivor, with fourteen years under his belt
  - The main upshot of being a Resurrectionist is that one can always tell exactly how far away a horde is
  - Some of the few remaining Resurrectionists have volunteered (or been conscripted) for medical testing to try to determine how they survived the bite without turning
    - None of the Resurrectionists have survived the experiments to date
- Ferrymen
  - Shamblers west of the Mississippi has created a unique need for experienced people
    - Mostly former lawmen
  - They will escort groups to their destination
    - With no guarantees of how many in a group will make it to their destination
  - Depending on his skills, one ferryman can take anywhere from one to twenty people from point a to point b and only lose a small number of them
  - Sometimes it has proven better for ferrymen to work in teams to escort larger groups
- Exterminators
  - People hired to kill shamblers, either individually or in hordes
  - A lot do it for money—usually pretty obscene amounts—but others do it in trade
    - Food, shelter, ammunition, etc
- Regulators
  - The unofficial law, as well as people brought on full-time to keep areas safe from shamblers