"Abriged Zombie Guide"

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Some information is scrambled for people or entities accessing this guide with Green Level or below clearance.

-Start-

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Thank you for accessing the partial edition of the Red Ops Zombie Field Guide. Complete editions are available based on need.

Things to remember:

* Though many will scoff at the name Zombie, due to its cultural relevancy and everyday use we have adapted it for inter department communication when describing reanimated corpses who's primary modus operandi is the spread of a disease.

* Opposed to cultural belief not all Zombies are aggressive. Zombies are reanimated and controlled by a disease. The Zombie exists to spread the disease, most strains will show signs of aggression.

* There is not one source of zombieism. In anything but the most extreme cases proper identification and disposal is paramount. Remember, an agents eminent demises is not considered an extreme situation.

* Zombies are not identified and grouped into genus by behavior or physical characteristics, though members of the same genus often have very similar behavior and physical characteristics, they are grouped into genus by disease type.

* Just because you are not on the field does not mean you will not encounter a Zombie, be prepared to know how to survive if there is an outbreak at your storage facility or your office. If there is an outbreak do not engage. In all but the most extreme cases special forces from the Center for Disease Control will be deployed for disposal and cleanup.

* An agents eminent demise is not considered a extreme situation.

In this guide we will be covering the most common types of zombies encountered. The Zombies in this guide are split up by Genus of disease. Included in these writes up are: type of infection; mode of infection; reanimation time; identification information; base infection information; brief history; signs of infection; allowed ways of disposal; disallowed way of disposal; and individual species within the genus.

Not included are: Non common Zombie species encountered; scientific names for the family, genus, and species; thorough history of the family, in depth look into the infection, genus, or species as a whole; toxicology reports; necropsy reports; or field manual training.

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Genus: Shambler

Type of Infection: Bacterial

Mode of Infection: Saliva

Reanimation Time: 1 to 2 Days

Identification: Shamblers appear to be relatively fresh walking corpses. Any wounds from the body can be easily identified and will not heal. Shambler's teeth and gums are visible and look as if they belong to someone who is alive; but who have extremely poor dental hygiene. An excess of saliva can be seen, almost as if Shambler is drooling.

Infection Information: Aggressive, but physically weak, the Shambler will generally try to bite its victim. The Shambler bacteria can only be spread through saliva. A Shambler without a head will still be very much mobile, but the body will not be a infection threat. A decanted head of a Shambler remains an infection risk.  Be warned that Shambler bacteria is very potent and requires a very small bacterial load into the bloodstream. Cannot infect animals and the already dead.

History: The most common, and as far as the common knowledge is concerned, only Zombie on record, the Shambler predates written history. While relatively easy to contain, the species wide spread has lead it to becoming firmly embedded is our cultural zeitgeist as the quiescently Zombie. Our concentrated efforts in the media has painted them not only as bloodthirsty killers. This has helped curb outbreaks as people now fear them, where before they were merely considered nuances.

Signs of Infection: Redness around initial infection area. Uncontrollable salivating. Physical weakening. Gum inflammation. Increased Hostility. Death happens within two weeks.

Disposal: Decapitation, though this will still leave you with a infected head. Immolation. Time; Shambler bacteria does not protect the flesh of the infected from the natural rotting process. This combined with body's inability to heal itself post-mortem will cause a Shambler to waste away rather quickly.

Non Acceptable Disposal: Trauma to the head. Due to the mode of the infection anything that can aerosolize the saliva of a Shambler is considered an infection risk. Anything traumatic that will leave the head in more than one piece is not an acceptable means of disposal. While deteething a Shambler can slow the infection rate, since it does not stop the production of saliva it will not  completely stop the infection from spreading.

Species

Common: The most common type of Shambler. Appears to be a reanimated corpse. While the Common's teeth are not healthy looking by any standard, they appear to be healthier that other type of Shambler's teeth.

Spitter: Can be identified as complete lack of teeth and lips. The Spitter's mouth is little more than a roughly circular opening ringed by gums. Instead of biting the Spitter can spit, with alarming accuracy, over ten feet. The Spitter will commonly aim for the mouths, eyes, ears, and wounds of victims. Infection by this particular strain of bacteria results in the teeth loosening before death, with all other physical effects happening post-mortem.

Licker: The Licker be identified as the complete lack of a lower jaw and an elongated tongue. Often time there are blood stains down the front of the Licker. Usual specimens show an elongation of the tongue of three to six inches, though cases of elongation of the tongue up to three feet have been observed. Instead of biting this species will either try to rake its victims with its upper jaw, or more likely, try to shoot its tongue into the victims mouth or wounds. Note that infection by this particular strain of bacteria will result in a much quicker fatality, as the jaw will first develop sores then rot off within the first week, leading to death by blood loss. Tongue elongation occurs at same time of onset of physical symptoms of the jaw, and can lead to the infected dying from choking.

Drooler: The Drooler can be identified by its overproduction of saliva. The Drooler is always seen with a large wet stain down the front of its chest. The smell of halitosis follows the Drooler, as does a trail of drool. The bite of a Drooler spread the disease more effectively to not only it's victim, but to other potential victims in the vicinity by flickle of spittle. When dealing with a Drooler make sure that you are wearing protective footwear, as stepping in the trail the Drooler leaves is a  disease vector.

Wet: Originally misidentified as a type of Putriefier, the Wet  can be identified by its glistening covering of saliva. This type of Shambler will not try to bite, instead it will try to embrace its victims. Saliva pours the Wet's pores, not only increasing the danger as a disease vector but also making it the longest surviving Shambler, as the saliva protects against insect infestation. Infection by Drooler bacteria leads copious amounts of sweating, to the point of dehydration.

Preserved: While not a true species of Shambler, the Preserved are a unique example of the potency of the Shambler bacteria. The only case of a bacteria that can survive the preservation processes, the Preserved are more of an interest than a threat. An embalmed Preserved can be noted by its stiff movements. Often the mouth is sewn shut, reducing the chance of infection. Even when the mouth is not sewn shut, the embalming process stiffens and weakens the jaw muscles, meaning that an Preserved's bite often cannot break skin.  Naturally time is not an effective way of disposal of the Preserved. Only the Common Shambler Bacteria has been found to be able to survive the preservation process.

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Genus: Moss

Type of Infection: Virus

Mode of Infection: Trichomonasvirus

Reanimation Time: Ten to Fifty milliseconds

Identification: Moss appears as a meaty moss like biofilm. Depending on the species of moss it can be a variety of colors and textures, though in all cases on an even gradual look over the Moss is obviously too fleshy to be a regular outcropping of other more common biofilms, such as regular moss or fungus. It is also  often found in areas that would normally be inhospitable to life. Upon microscopic examination Moss is revealed to be a multitude of zombified microorganisms.

Infection Information: Without proper safety equipment, exposure to an area contaminated by Moss is almost a guaranteed infection vector. Unprotected physical contact with most types of Moss is a death sentence. Due to its nature infection of the already dead is a non factor.

History: Due to the inherent dangers of collecting samples; we do not have much information on Moss. While once considered by the Department of Wildlife to be a very dangerous type of cryptid recent analysis has in fact shown Moss to be zombiefied eukaryotic microorganisms.

Infection Signs: Moss infections can vary greatly from species to species. In general though nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and bloody stool are all signs of infections. Death can occur within minutes of exposure.

Disposal: Aerosolization of a hydrofluoric solution containing Fluoroantimonic acid over a wide area is suggested in the most cases. Where that is not possible precision Cyro Bombing is preferred, though afterward a regular aerosolized antibiotic and anti fungal sweep must be performed for a year plus.

Non Acceptable Disposal: Fire Bombing. Standard Bombing. Standalone Antibiotic Aerosolized Sweeps. Standalone Anti fungal Aerosolized Sweeps. Moss is extremely hardy, and it does not take much more than a patch less than a inch in diameter to start spreading.

Species

Meat Moss: The most common type of Moss. The Meat Moss virus does not attack one kind of Microorganism, instead attacking any it comes in contact. The Meat Moss virus causes the  Microorganisms to  gain a red tint and burst. After the Microorganism bursts it stays mobile and leaves a trail of viral load. In case of exposure Meat Moss species can not infect the cells of a macro organism, but also can wipe out the natural microorganism ecosystem of the victim.

Bloomer: Closely related to the Meat species of Moss, the Bloomer species causes the cell to burst, but instead of staying mobile the Microorganism stops moving, fully repairs its cell wall, and bursts again. This leads to a more aerosolized and faster spreading virus. The reaction of being exposed is much quicker and violent and can quickly spread between animals through proximity. Looks the same as Meat Moss, but is patchier and lumpier due to a piling up of microorganisms.

Living Rust: White in color. Specifically targets the microorganisms responsible for microbial corrosion. Instead of leaving a viral trail Living Rust leaves a trail of Sulfuric Acid. The Virus thrives in the acid and also causes increased damage to Concrete and Steel. Will only reproduce on Steel or Concrete, non threat of infection to animal and plant life. The increased acidity in the environment can be hazardous. Chemical scrubs are an acceptable way of dealing with Living Rust, as long as the increased acidity of the environment and possible chemical reactions are taken into consideration.  Due to the odd behaviors of the Living Rust virus it is believed that it is is an artificially created variating.

Red Tide: Red Tide only targets Plankton. Remains viable only in a saltwater environment. While the actual effect of Red Tide Moss is well known to the general public, the fact that it is a Zombie Virus is classified information.

Float: A type of Red Tide Moss that can target the microorganisms in the Portuguese man o' war. An effected Man o' War is not visually distinct. However once it finds a suitable patch of Plankton the Man o' War will burst and spread Red Tide.  

Mushroom Moss: Named after the fleshy mushroom like growths that appear in the Meat Moss, Mushroom Moss is Meat Moss that has been infected by Aerosol spores. These mushroom like growths spray a mist of Mushroom Moss infected Spores. Theses spores can infect living creatures, creating whats are known as Moss Walkers. The Mushroom Spores will kill within seconds of exposure, and will reanimate in a similar time frame. The Moss Walker cannot get far, as it only takes a few minutes for the Moss infected fungus to completely break down its host and sprout more Mushroom Moss.

Balloon: Closely related to the Mushroom, the Balloon gets its name from the puffball like growths it produces. This species happens when Moss infects the Dirigible species of Aerosol Zombies. If infecting a Dirigible type while the Fungus is still growing, the balloon will fill and when full will burst spraying Moss infected fungus. However if the Dirigible is mostly matured, it will still achieve flight, filling up slowly. After two to three days the Balloon will come down and will burst spreading more Balloon Moss. Unless found in a Moss infected area, the Balloon and the Dirigible have no visual differences.

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Genus: Puterifier

Type of Infection: Virus

Mode of Infection: Water borne pathogen

Reanimation Time: Five to eight days

Identification: In late stage infection the Puterfier is very easy to recognize due its grotesque swelling. Wounds and even its face can be swollen over. A late stage Putreifer looks like a corpse that was left in water but never rotted. Just risen Putrifiers can be identified by a complete lack of hair. Most species also lack teeth and nails. Putrifiers have a bluish tint and appear to be sweating.  

Infection Information: In general, the Putrifier is a non aggressive Genus. If cornered the Putrifer will try to embrace its aggressor. The "sweat" of a Putrifier is it leaking virus laden water from its pores, however due to the high viral loads needed for the Putrefier virus to be viable, this embrace only a small chance of causing an infection. Preventive care should still be taken to avoid infection. If left to its own devices, the Putrefier will search out the nearest body of water and enter it, at which point it will settle at the bottom of said body of water and slowly decompose, releasing a viral load over a period of months. Cannot infect the already dead.

History: The first Putrifier on record was known as "The Weeping Man" in "Madame Agatha's Sideshow of the Bizarre", which toured the Americas during the late 1800s to early 1900s. While this may seem like a preposterous idea today, due to a Putrifiers ability to live for years out of water and there low hostility "The Weeping Man" was able to become a staple in the sideshow circuit. There are various accounts of "The Weeping Man" suddenly changing height, color, and even sex. Leading us to believe that "Madame Agatha" was purposely infecting hosts to repopulate the sideshow. For a while in the late 1880's "The Weeping Man" was replaced by "The Bloated Man", the first separate species in Zombies to be observed. The fate of "Madam Agatha" and her sideshow has never been recorded, though in the area of her last performance the first large scale outbreak of any Zombie type during the 1900s was observed.

Infection Signs: A swelling of extremities. Acid Reflux leading to vomiting and diarrhea due to the build up of water in the digestive system. Fluid pooling in lungs. Weakening of skin. Slight blue tint of skin. Hemophilia. Persistent hunger and feelings of thirst. Put under a microscope the cellular membranes of the infected will show to be thickened. Death occurs within one months due to fluid in lungs. If lungs are routinely drained death occurs within two months due to water intoxication.

Disposal: Dehydration. The best way to deal with a Putrifier is removing the water from it. Since the virus can not survive in a non aquas environment then by draining or dehydrating a Putrifier can deanimate the corpse.

Non Acceptable Disposal: Fire. Time. The Putrifier has so much water in its system that the direct application of fire can cause it to burst from the build up of steam, spraying the surrounding area with scalding hot water. If left to there own devices, and kept away from water, the Putrefier is surprisingly long lived.

Species

The Weeping Man- Named after the first specimen. The most common and longest lives Putrifier. With the thickest skin among the Putrefiers, The Weeping Man is the most resilient to damage and the hardest to dispose of. Also the longest lived, with a specimen in captivity living for more than a decade.

Swimmer: The only visual difference between The Weeping Man and Swimmer is the presences of webbing between the digits of the Swimmer. Preferring streams and rivers, instead of putrefying at the bottom body of water the swimmer will actually swim through the river, resulting in a wider spread but much less concentrated viral load.

The Bloated Man: The Bloated Man is marked by it's grotesque bloating. The Bloated Man has the highest water content and thinnest skin among the Putrefiers. Not only causing an athrophy of the sensory organs before death, The Bloated Man virus also bloats The Bloated Man to a grotesque size. This combination of physical characteristics creates a very clumsy Zombie, which will run into many objects and leak enough water to either hit ground water or run into a larger body of water.

Horny Toad: The thinnest of the Putrifiers,  the horny toad is named after its ability to shoot a virus laden stream of water from its ocular cavities. The water from a horny toad has a much higher viral load than any other species of Putrifier. As well as the stream of water from its ocular cavities, The Horny Toad can also vomit water.

Barracuda: Named because of its long teeth like nails, this Putrefier is much more dangerous to corner. When this Putrefier defends itself with its embrace it will inadvertently open wounds on whoever it embraces, leaving a much quicker pathway for the Barracuda virus to enter the bloodstream.

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Genus: Aerosol

Type of infection: Fungal

Mode of infection: Spores

Reanimation time: Five to ten minutes

Identification information: A recently reanimated Aerosol Zombie will be neigh indistinguishable from a living person with a pervasive ringworm infection. A close look will give them away though, as the Aerosol has discolored eyes, and a unnatural scale build up on there armpits, buttocks, soles of feet, and inner thighs. As the Aerosol survives the fungus sucks moisture out of the body, leaving the Aerosol Zombie skeletal in appearance. In most species of Aerosol Zombie, the scaly build up will eventually form a cone like ascocarp.

Infection information: During the early phases of infection the Aerosol Zombie is only an infection threat from direct contact. A recently reanimated Aerosol Zombie will try to find a warm, moist place to hide while the fungus will continue to mature. Once the fungus matures the Aerosol Zombie becomes a much larger infection risk as clouds of spores starts forming. These spores can infect animals and reanimate the already dead. The Aerosol Zombie is exceedingly aggressive.

Brief history: The fungus infecting the Aerosol Zombie is believed to have originated in ancient Egypt. Due to the truth being stricken from the records, the public does not know of the experiments that lead to the Ancient Egyptians mastering mummification in 2600 BCE. The Egyptians found the fungus responsible for the Aerosol Zombie, and seeing how it could animate what appeared to be a dessicated corpse, began experimenting. This experimenting eventually lead to the founding of the ancient civilizations of Southern Europe, as the resulting outbreaks caused many to flee there homes and settle in those areas. Even Egyptian Mummies dated after 2600 BCE have trace amounts of the Aerosol fungus in them, which is why the public have not been able to recreate the Egyptian mummification process.  

Signs of infection: Sore joints. Fatigue. Increased thirst. Troubled painful breathing. A painful ringworm like growth that will not respond to normal treatment. Death happens suddenly around the one week mark.

Disposal: A aerosolization of Filipin sprayed over the area. Killing the fungus will deanimate anything that has been animated.  Immolation. Precision Cyro Bombing. If using a non anti fungal solution, the area of the outbreak must be quarantined for at minimum two days.

Disallowed way of disposal: Blunt Force Trauma. Gun fire. Anything causing the aerosolization of the infected will just spread the spores farther. Time. Despite how dry and sickly the Aerosol Zombie looks, in all cases, sans vacuum, there is enough moisture in the environment to keep the Fungus alive, making the Aerosol Zombie effectively immortal without intervention.  

Species

Mummy: The Mummy is named after the earliest known specimens, the most common type of Aerosol. The fungus takes about three weeks to reach sexual maturity. Will try to nest during those three weeks, and will act aggressively if found. When cleaning out a Mummy's nest be on the lookout for infected animals and corpses, as the mummy will try to trick small animals into the nest to infect. Be epically wary of the Puffball variety of Aerosol Zombie when cleaning a Mummy's nest.

Puffball: Named after the Puffball like fungus that sprouts. Does not reanimate. Instead will form a huge Puffball like fungus full of spores. Will burst if agitated, spraying both Puffball spores and and any other Aerosol Spores that were near the Puffball while it was maturing.

Dirigible: Originally confused with the Puffball, the Dirigible appears to be able to collect gases from the putrefaction of animals its host kills. The fungus will take about eight weeks to grow, during which time the Dirigible will try to find a open hunting ground where it can kill many animals to "harvest" there gasses. After harvest the Dirigible will uproot itself, and float away, spreading the fungus to other areas. The uprooting doesn't always take complete effect and there have been Dirigibles caught with large chunks of Zombies on them, leaving a trail of the spores in the air.

Dried: The Dried be identified by pieces of its flesh actively flaking off. Until three weeks the Dried and the Mummy will be indistinguishable. However the Dried fungus continues to grow for another week, at which point the Dried will leave its nest and begin wandering. Overly aggressive, the dried will try to make as much physical contact. Eventually the Dried can grind away to nothing, but while it does pieces will flake off. These pieces and dust left by the Dried have an extremely high spore count and should be the first target for disposal.

Spore: The Spore is is a Puterfier that has been infected an Aerosol fungus. The virus infects the fungus, creating the Spore. The Fungus begins to overproduce, creating what can be likened to a giant walking mushroom. Physically strong due to the resiliency of the Fungus, the Spore will attack anything that it can find. All the while producing massive amounts of spores. With club like appendages, the Spore can easily break through a non reinforced door. Classified as an Aerosol due to its behavior. Though very dangerous, they may be among the rarest of all Zombies due to the different environments that seem to foster Puterifiers and Aerosols. Other than Purifiers and Moss, the Aerosol fungus cannot survive on other types of Zombies.

Living: For some reason certain Aerosol Zombies never start nesting. In these cases we are left with what is called the Living Aerosol, named because it will never enter the late stages of the Aerosol's life cycle, due to this they remain looking mostly human. Can only transfer Spores through contact, but will actively try to do so. The hardest to track and eliminate, look for increases in crimes like frotage and muggings in a suspected area. If you kill someone in the middle of the street, even if they are a Zombie, you will have to deal with the public and police while we work on extraction.

Cordyceps: The Cordyceps appears identical to the Living Aerosol. However the Cordyceps Aerosol is attracted to high places. At roughly three weeks after reanimation a large lump starts to grow on the Cordyceps' head. Eventually this bump will grow into a gigantic aesocap, at which point the Cordyceps will climb to the highest point it can find. Anything short of deanimation will fail to remove the Cordyceps from this place. If left alone the aesocap will produce the most spores out of any found on Aerosol Zombies. This fact combined with the height the Cordyceps is found at will throw the spores into the wind, allowing for a wide, random, infection area.

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Genus: Carrier

Type of infection: Virus

Mode of infection: Fluid Transfer

Reanimation time: Ten to Twenty Hours

Identification information: Because the Carrier Zombie is so short lived post-mortem identification is not relevant information. The virus however does appear in the bloodstream. Because of this, we vaccinate against the Carrier virus under the guise of a ###### vaccination.

Infection information: There is no physical difference between a Carrier pre fatality and post fatality. Furthermore the reanimated Carrier only lives between ten and fifteen minutes, making prevention more important than identification and disposal. However this short lifespan does not make the Carrier any less of a threat, as it is extremely hostile and will go as far as self mutilation post reanimation if it means the Carried can spread the virus.

Brief history: The first case of Carrier Zombie on record occurred in Miami Florida in 2012. Rudy Eugene attacked ######, an agent posing as a homeless man. Eugene had died from an overdose of recreationally smoked Bath Salts. Thinking it was a new species of Aerosol Zombie we interfered. Due to manipulation of media, the accident was blamed on said Bath Salts. The recent changes Eugene's personality helped conspire the cover story as true. We obtained the body in transport, replacing it with a cadaver acquired from The Corpse Farm. In depth analysis of the Eugene's cadaver we discovered that it was not Aerosol fungus, but a new type of virus, the Carrier virus. The Carrier is the most genetically simple of any Zombie diseases. Because of this we have been able to develop a vaccine, making  the Carrier the only Zombie disease where preventive measures have been proven effective. We do not have reliable numbers on the number of infected individuals, which paired with the growing anti vaccination movement, makes the Carrier Virus a very real threat. While the virus can be detected in blood tests, the amount of blood tests we would have to intercept makes this solution an impossibility.

Signs of infection: The immediate signs of the Carrier virus appear as a light cold that lasts between five to fifteen days. During this phase the virus is non communicable. After this period a change of personality starts to appear. At this point the virus is communicable and the cold like symptoms will start reappearing every few months. This stage can last for years if theoretically not decades. The virus itself is non fatal and cannot infect the already dead, though the drastic changes in personality can have negative effects on health.

Disposal: Vaccination. The emphasis is on prevention not disposal. Immolation. Time.  

Disallowed way of disposal: During the short period the reanimated Carrier is alive nothing short of the complete destruction of its body will stop it.

Species

Carrier: Not the first type of Carrier found, but by far the most common. No observable change in behavior premortem has been observed.  Post mortem favors self mutilation and the resulting fluid spray to spread the disease.

Face Eater: The Face Eater is the first type of Carrier observed. Pre-Mortem a propensity for hard drug use is observed. Post mortem this carrier specifically goes cannibalistic, and can and will kill if left unchecked.

Butterfly: Pre-Mortem the Butterfly will show an increase in needs to be social. This includes an increase in inhibitions and sexual impulses. The virus i is epically virulent the Butterfly's sexual fluids. Post mortem the Butterfly will try to achieve viral transfer through attacking and aggressively "kissing" its victims.

Vain: Pre-Mortem the Vain will suddenly start being very conscious of there health. The Vain will start exercising and eating significantly healthier, becoming obsessed with there physical  appearance over night. Anorexia Purgia and Bulimia appearing seemingly overnight are a sign of a Vain infection. As is a sudden obsession with plastic surgery. Anorexia Purgia and Bulimia create a large amount of vomitus, which is a disease vector. Post Mortem the Vain chase down it's victims and bite, not unlike a Shambler. However they tend to be much quicker and stronger than a Shambler due to the Vain's physical condition.

Binge: Pre-Mortem the Binge will gain sudden and incredible cravings for unhealthy foods. The Binge will eat obscene amounts of said unhealthy food. As a side effect of these binge eating sessions the Binge will become less mobile and more unhealthy. If it can survive long enough the Binge will eat itself out of mobility.  At this point Caretakers are at the highest risk for infection from a Binge. Post mortem the Binge will projectile vomit until it passes. The Binge post-mortem survival is the shortest of any of the Carriers, only lasting for three to five minutes.

Dare Devil: Pre-Mortem the Dare Devil will do gain a prosperity near dangerous hobbies, eventually cumulating in dangerous stunts. The Dare Devil will often times openly disdain safety precautions and will go so far as privately sabotaging said safety precautions. Post Mortem the Dare Devil will become what can only be described as suicidal, doing things such as trying to jump of buildings and  attacking armed police, anything to cause the largest fluid and therefore viral spray.

Paranoid: Pre-Mortem the Paranoid Zombie will avoid medical care at all costs. We believe that the anti vaccination movement was started by a group of Paranoid zombies. While in general this will leave the Paranoid in a less healthy situation, thereby making the post-mortem animation period less effective, it does guarantee a higher chance of reanimation. Post mortem the Paranoids preferred form of infection is to try to chew extremities off, epically the ears.  

Haitian: At the time of the original Haitian Zombie epidemic we did not have the technology to detect the Carrier virus. While that Haitian Zombie still exists, we now know it was not some poison or magic as originally thought, but is in fact a modified Carrier virus. This does raise the rather disturbing question of what kind of organizations or individuals are out there and how advanced are they. The Haitian Carrier has no will of its own, and is extremely susceptible to suggestion. After death the Haitian Zombie will start dissolving into the fine powder that is used to make the it, further pointing towards its artificial lineage.

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Genus: Cannibal

Type of infection: Virus

Mode of infection: Blood Transfer

Reanimation time: Four to Five hours

Identification information: The Cannibal Zombie appears to be a  corpse that appears to be minutes old, as opposed to the hours it takes to animate, or the length of time the Cannibal Zombie has been reanimated. Older Cannibals will often have large pieces missing from the accumulation of bites. The most striking way to identify the Cannibal Zombie is not visual but by smell. Described as a mixture of rotting fruit and fresh meat, the smell of the Cannibal Zombie is unique and does not linger long.

Infection information: The Cannibal Zombie's unique smell is due to its body producing a cloud of pheromones. In carnivores and omnivores these pheromones trigger feelings of extreme hunger, furthermore the pheromones make the Cannibal Zombie appear to be the animals preferred source of food. While non sapient animals seem to be unable to resist taking a bite out of the Cannibal Zombie, Humans and other sapient species are able to resist as long as they are not exposed for long periods. While insects are not effected by the pheromones, the smell of the pheromone cloud attracts a large amount of biting insects. The Cannibal virus is both transfered through the consuming of infected flesh and through blood transfusion from infected insects. The Cannibal virus has  not effect herbivores that have been exposed, though pheromones sticking to them will cause carnivores and omnivores to react as expected. Reanimates animals as well as humans.

Brief history: The first confirmed case of an outbreak of Cannibal Zombies was in 1878. A trapper by the name of Swift Runner was found to have butchered and eaten his family, though other food sources were readily available. Originally trying to resist the urge, Swift Runner had eaten his eldest child, who was believed to have killed himself to resist the temptation to eat his mother who was believed to be the originator of the disease. However, Swift Runner's other five children were exposed for the pheromone cloud and devoured their mother, spreading the disease. While due to Smith Runner's family's isolation and the cold the disease would not have spread, after not hearing from Runner for months a rescue party was sent out. Finding Runner, noticing the skeletal remains of his family while not noticing his reanimated nature, tried to take him to local authorities. They did not make it, dieing and reanimating luckily outside of the town and attracted predators, spreading the virus into the local wildlife population. To avoid exposing more people to the disease, rescuers and Runner were replace by blank slates from the Corpse Farm, conditioned to play out the scenario of Runner admitting to cannibalism and hanging for his crime.

Signs of infection: The immediate signs of a Cannibal virus infection is strong smelling perspiration. As the virus advances this smell gets stronger, as the body begins producing minute amounts of the pheromone. While this is the only direct effect of the virus, there is a universal reaction within the body. An extreme allergic reaction occurs, causing the throat to swell shut and the lungs to stop working, resulting in death withing a week.

Disposal: Immolation or cyro bombing. As long as the Cannibal is alive the pheromone will be produced. Without the Cannibal the pheromone will dissipate in roughly an hour.  

Disallowed way of disposal: Any disposal that exposes anyone to the pheromones is not an allowed method. This includes exposure in a sealed protective suit, as the pheromone will stick to the suit.

Species

Runner: Named after the original infected. The Runner Zombie is identified by it smell and the freshness of the animate corpse. Attracts large amount of carnivores and omnivores, but a relatively small amount of bloodsucking insects. The most commonly encountered Cannibal Zombie.

Wendigo: Physically appearing the same as the Runner, the Wendigo can be identified by the strong smell of blood mixed with its pheromonal stench. While the pheromonal cloud has similar effects on animals that would eat the Runner, the Wendigo itself is an aggressor also. Attacking animals who come to pray on it, the resulting mixing of blood increases the likelihood of the virus spreading.

Insect Trap: The Insect Trap Zombie is marked by a swarm of insect following it and a sweet smelling pheromone cloud. The Insect Trap's pheromone cloud does not attract predators to it, instead the pheromones attract a large amount of biting and bloodsucking insects to it. These insects become infected, fly off to other animals they prey on, and transfer the virus through feeding. The insects themselves are not effected by the virus.

Self Cannibal: The Self Cannibal Zombie has only been observed in controlled environments. The Self Cannibal cannot resist the lure of its own pheromone cloud. If ever found in the wild, capture is of the utmost importance, as analysis of the pheromone cloud of the Self Cannibal may be useful in crafting a countermeasure to the Cannibal Zombie type.

Vampire: The Vampire can be marked by there bleeding gums. The pheromones of the Vampire do not cause predatory actions in animals, instead attracting animals who the vampire then bites. Due to the Vampires bleeding gums this transfers the disease to the bitten animal.

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Genus: Gorta Mór

Type of infection: Fungus

Mode of infection: Pollination and spores.

Reanimation time: Two to Three Minutes

Identification information: Infected plant's appear to physically in the middle of wilting, flowers close, leaves droop, stems become limp. Covering the plant will be what appear to be thick peach colored veins. Animals, though not reanimated by the fungus, will also be covered by these veins.

Infection information: The Plant Zombie fungus only infects Autotrophic plants. Spreading from plant to plant through pollen, the Plant Zombie fungus hijacks the photosynthesis of the plant, taking the chemical energy produced, which eventually lead to cell death. Though the cells show all the sign of cell death, after two to three minutes of cell death the cells will start bringing energy in from sun and carbon  dioxide, effectively restarting photosynthesis, which the fungus will absorb the energy from. While it cannot reanimate Hetertrophs, it is still fatal through toxicity. While the Plant fungus only has an acute toxicity category of five, the infection of autrophic bacteria on the skin can grow fast enough to provide the necessary dermal dose for acute poisoning.

Brief history: The Gorta Mór fungus is named after the time of its discovery, the Great Famine of Ireland. While historically the Great Famine was blamed on Phytophthora infestans, commonly known as Potato blight, it is only partially to blame. Using the spread of Potato blight across Europe as a guise, a doomsday cult known as An Dúchan Mór released the first spores of Gorta Mór into the Irish potato crops sometime in 1845. Leading to a reduction of the Irish potato crops of roughly a third and eventually leading to the a death toll over a million,  An Dúchan Mór almost achieved there goals. However due to our stepping in, both through the public eye, opening the United States borders, and the private, having members of the cult killed off, we were able to stop the release of any more of the fungus. However we did not, and do not, have the capabilities to handle a large scale outbreak, making the Gorta Mór fungus one of the greater threats to life as we know it. In recent years the Gorta Mór fungus has been linked to Colony Collapse Disorder and the looming extinction of the Banana.

Signs of infection: Look for plants to stop growing and small peach colored cracks to appear the flowering body of a plant. These cracks will become more pronounced and run from the tips of the petals to the receptacle. From the area that these cracks touch the receptacle down the rest of the stem, look for thick peach veins. On plants with bark, look for peach colored streaks in the bark and leaves, which when pealed back will reveal the aforementioned thick peach veins. On animals that have been infected look for peach patches that will eventually grow into the aforementioned veins.

Disposal: If found in the wild, an aerosolization of Filipin is suggested. If found in a cultivated source, thorough immolation is required. Due to the potential dangers of Gorta Mór fungus, anyone caught cultivating Gorta Mór is to be treated, at a minimum, as a Bio Terrorist.

Disallowed way of disposal: Ciro bombing, mulching of infected host. The Gorta Mór fungus can survive extreme colds and mulching spreads the spores.

Species

Plant: The most commonly found strain of Gorta Mór, the fungal spores cling specifically to pollen.  Less likely to infect Autophic bacteria, but in large amounts, like those found in the fur of pollinators, is still an infection risk.

Great Famine: Used by An Dúchan Mór. Only infects plants with extremely high starch content. Not only can be transfered by pollen but also through water and root systems. Extremely deadly to plants, non toxic to animals. Does not show the trademark veins as other types of Gorta Mór do.

Kelp: While originally thought to only be able to effect kelp, this strain has since been found to be able to infect seaweed as a whole. Most commonly found in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle. Believed to be the source of the original strain of Gorta Mór that was eventually cultivated into the Great Famine strain. While extremely toxic to humans, Kelp's inability to grow on land keep it from being a high threat to toxicity. Since seaweed infected by Kelp does not sink, huge thick tangles of Kelp, dozens of nautical miles in area can form, becoming a major threat for ships passing through the area. Interestingly, the fungus infects the sperm of the Kelp, making the seemingly quick adaption of Gorta Mór from a plant that uses sperm as a reproductive method to one that uses pollen a mystery that died with An Dúchan Mór.

CC: The CC fungus changes how pollinating insects see the flower. This change is not apparent to animals that can not see in the ultraviolet spectrum. The CC fungus changes the ultraviolet colors of the flower so it is more inviting to pollinators than other flowers of the same species. Named after and responsible for Colony Collapse disorder, the honey made from CC Fungus infected spores carries the fungus and can is slightly toxic to mammals. While the occasional outbreak of sickness can be traced back to infected honey, we have been able to manipulate the media to the point that they will report it as a botulism outbreak.

Goldenrod: Named after the color of the veins the that appear on the infected host. The Goldenrod fungus is a Class 1 acute toxin. While this toxicity means that pollinators can't get near the infected host, the fungus can travel through root systems to other plants. This insures a slower spread of the fungus but a much higher chance of survival, as pollinators do attract parasites and predators, both of which can damage the host.

Seedling: The Seedling fungus only infects the seeds of plants. The Seedling fungus has only been observed in a controlled environment. Due to cellular death, the infected seeds cannot take root. The existence of the seedling fungus is only known because of traces of it found in the lungs of troops World War 1, presumably from infected peach pits used in the manufacturing of gas masks.

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Genus: Digital

Type of infection: Memetic

Mode of infection: Audio, Visual, Upon death in infected area

Reanimation time: Instantaneous

Identification information: The Digital Zombie is only found within environments that have been infected by the reality infecting Happy.exe computer virus. The Happy.exe virus is not the direct cause of the digital Zombie, instead if infects reality, and those alive in the infected area will eventually turn into a Digital Zombie, slowly in alive but instantaneously upon death. Along with the environment, the physicality of the Digital Zombie will slowly degrade . This starts as simple glitches one would find in the digital environment, odd colors, clipping through objects, and the like. While the longer the Zombie is alive the worse these glitches get, eventually cumulating in what can only be considered a complete system crash, where the surrounding environment, as well as the Digital Zombie, will simply cease to exist.

Infection information: As previously state Happy.exe does not infect the individual but rather the environment. Variations originate from visually identical Flash Drives. These Flash Drives all appear to be beige, perfectly rectangular, have no manufacture marks, generate a feeling of unease, and are warm to the touch. Once infected with Happy.exe or its variation, the offending access point will start to either play a .wav file or change nearby images to an image with an infection vector contained within. If Happy.exe is not contained, reality around the infection point will continue to break down and realign itself with the programming of the virus. Everyone caught in the area during this realignment will become a Digital Zombie, as opposed to those who have just been overexposed to the .wav and the image. The Digital Zombie will slowly change its environment to match the modified environment and upon physical contact project the infected image or .wav into the minds of victims.

Brief history: All known cases of Happy.exe can be traced back to an unknown figure(s) only known as the Coded Man. While the entity has introduced itself as different names, its physical appearance is also the same, though its shadow will show different lines of coded information. The original strain of Happy.exe can be traced back to The Unknown, a futurist art collective/cult. According to texts recovered from the last known site a cell of the cult operated out of, The Coded Man appeared and gave them the original copy of Happy.exe on a flash drive. They proceeded to loop the .wav and display the image onto a billboard. Causing the first major outbreak. Upon the destruction of the area, disguised as a terrorist act, we were able to trace the financial records the cult cell responsible. However, upon destruction of the billboard the cell manged to upload the virus onto the Internet. While we have been able to stop major file sharing websites from sharing the virus, its continuation on Darknet sites still poses a problem.

Signs of infection: The physical signs of an infected individual are a glaze over the eyes, which at close inspection reflect a binary code.  However a pure physical inspection is often not necessary, as the most obvious trait in the Digital Zombie is how it interacts with the world. The Digital Zombie does not interact with the world in a logical sense, instead interacting with the world as it was a digital construct which the Digital Zombie is not properly coded into, and as such is glitching. The types and severity of glitches depends on the "species" of Happy.exe that is infecting the area, though in this case species referees to slight variations in the coding of the virus.

Disposal: Long range, Unmanned drone. The danger of the digital Zombie is its habitat. While the Digital Zombie is aggressive, changing into one through exposure to the environment eventually becomes a guaranteed outcome. As such long range, or unmanned missions, are the proffered method of disposal. Anti virus. If the source of the Happy.exe infection is found, a specialty crafted memtic antivirus can be ran through the environment to slowly cure it of its infection.

Disallowed way of disposal: Close Combat. Unless the antivirus has already been applied then the risk of spreading the infection is to great to allow for close range means of disposal of the digital Zombie.

Species

Happy.exe: The first known example of the Happy.exe virus. According to recovered The Unknown records during there first major art gallery opening the Coded Man was in attendance. The Coded Man introduced himself to the leader of The Unknown as The Coded Man and appeared to have a shadow filled with the Hexadecimal chart. The Happy.exe virus makes reality appear to be degrading in a way similar to VHS video tapes degrade. Look for colors becoming washed out, static to appear, and "vertical hold" errors. The Digital zombies in this area tend to babble either too loud or too softly and can appear under the effect of a fast forward, rewind, or pause function on a VCR. If infected by a this type of Digital Zombie, the victim will seemingly be completely replaced as if there reality has been recorded over.

Happy1.exe: The Happy1.exe was first found on the website of #######, an anarcho farmer that specialized in naturally grown herbs. Upon viewing the websites "about me" section a copy of the virus and a .txt file detailing a meeting with the Coded Man embed themselves into the victim's computer. The Coded Man appeared before ####### introducing itself as The Programmer, with its shadow filled with binary. Instead of handing ####### a flash drive, the Coded Man whispered into #######'s ear. Since then the Happy1.exe virus has seemingly randomly appeared on various low traffic website. The Happy1.exe virus degrades reality in a way that mimics the corruption of various video files found on the Internet. Look for visual hang ups, pixelated discolorations appearing, and "skipped frames". The Happy1.exe Zombie is very aggressive, being deathly quite, but being able to appear randomly with in the environment via the aforementioned pixelated discoloration. While the Happy1.exe Zombie appears to be slow and distracted, do not take them as a non threat, be on the lookout for sudden "frame skips" or sudden bursts of impossible speeds.

Harpy.exe: The coded man appeared as a keynote speaker at a small indie game developer. Calling himself The Programmer, with a shadow full C++ coding, the Coded Man gave a speech about computers causing the end of the world. All those who heard the speech became compelled to put the Harpy.exe virus into there games as an "easter egg".  Upon activation. the Harpy.exe virus causes the world to start breaking down and reforming itself as an open world game. The change is not obvious at first, but look for clipping issues and physics issues. Eventually the breakdown of reality will cause the world to be made up of less and less polygons, eventually converting everything into crude, wire frame body rigs. When first infected the Harpy.exe Zombie will repeat the same words and phrases ad nauseam, will tell people to do pointless tasks and offer rewards, and become aggressive if the wrong thing is said to them. As reality continues to corrode, look for glitches. They Harpy.exe Zombie will have body parts rotate oddly and clip through objects, will deform oddly, and may interact with the world in a strange way; such as swimming through air or sinking into the ground. Once the glitches start happening, the Harpy.exe Zombie can cause other creatures to glitch, leading to pain or even death if they victim has not yet zombified.

Puppy.exe: The flash drive with the Puppy.exe virus was given to a pair of thirteen year olds. The Coded Man appeared to two thirteen year olds, named Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weir. Introducing himself as The Operator with a shadow full of the readout from a Heart Monitor, it gave the two girls two items. A knife and the flash drive with the virus. After uploading the Puppy.exe to Piratesbay, the two teenagers stabbed one of there classmates nineteen times. The Puppy.exe virus masquerades as torrents relating to the phenomena known as "creepypasta". The virus spreads causes stereotypical supernatural phenomena. In the environment look for things like floating Ouija boards, walls bleeding, and street lights bursting. As the virus breaks down reality further the phenomenon become more and more obvious. The Puppy.exe Zombie starts as just someone who is violently mentally ill. Always armed, they are violent and mutter to themselves in either tongues or cryptic messages. Randomly within an infected area creatures taking the forms of various popular culture entities, such as "Slender Man" and the "Rake" will appear. These entities are extremely dangerous since they can spread the Puppy.exe virus simply through proximity. While the Puppy.exe virus is dangerous, it does not lead to the complete break down reality. It does make reality significantly more dangerous though.  

Sad.exe: While we were eventually able to reverse engineer Happy.exe and produce an antivirus, this progression was not without setbacks. Sad.exe was our first attempt to reverse engineer the Happy.exe virus. An unknown entity stole hard drive contain the incomplete Sad.exe virus, along with the entire security team watching it, while the virus was in transport. Roughly three weeks after the incident, the Coded Man; calling itself The Scientist, with a shadow filled with the Periodic table, appeared at a meet up for an blackhat hacking forum. Bearing a flash drive containing Sad.exe, the hackers uploaded it onto a darknet filesharing host. Being incomplete the Sad.exe virus does not slowly degrade reality, instead causing pieces of random objects in the surrounding environment to disappear. The Sad.exe Zombie appears to be in constant state of panic as more pieces of it and pieces of reality around it simply stop existing.

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Genus: Hive

Type of infection: Viral

Mode of infection: Arthropod Bites, Arthropod Stings

Reanimation time: Less than one second during the first stage of infection. Varies during second stage of infection.

Identification information: The identification of a Hive Zombie is simple. Look for what appears to be animated corpses crawling with various arthropods. However this is only the second, and more visible, stage of infection. Be on the lookout for aggressiveness in Arthropods, odd swarming behaviors, and black bruises appearing on the exoskeletons of infected arthropods. Can reanimate already dead mammals but not already dead arthropods.

Infection information: Extremely dangerous, Hive Zombies are thankfully a rare threat. Originating in Arthropods the virus will quickly kill and reanimate and infected Arthropod. From this point forward the infected Arthropods will look for a large mammal to borrow into, continuously injecting the now infected mammal with the virus. This mammalian host is not for reproduction of the virus, but rather for protection. The virus can not survive nor reanimate in non mammalian and arthropod hosts. In fact the virus can only reproduce in Arthropods, and will quickly die off in even a mammalian host unless continuously replaced with viral loads from an Arthropod host. While this virus cannot resurrect already dead arthropods, it can resurrect already dead mammals. However Arthropods will actively look for already living mammals to infect, as their flesh tends to be healthier and as such offer better protection.

Brief history: While there has been a possibility of Hive Zombies throughout European history, the first confirmed widespread outbreak of the Hive Zombies was in Tallahassee Florida during 1863. Looking for way to cripple the supply lines of the Confederacy, the Union introduced Harlequin cabbage bug into the crops of Florida. We do not know how long the virus was within the Arthropod population, however we do know that the Harlequin cabbage bug was not the source. What we do know is that the Harlequin cabbage bug's immune system was not able to combat the virus.  The spread of the Hive Zombie started slowly, but by 1864 was epidemic in the Confederacy. Unable to cope with a traditional war on one side and a war against the Zombies on the other the Confederacy soon fell. The spread of the Hive virus was guaranteed in the new economy of the unified United States, as newel sanctioned trade of agricultural trades throughout the United States bought infected Arthropods with it.

Signs of infection: Look for non swarming arthropods to swarm and large black blemishes on arthropods. Within the colony look for multiple kinds of Arthropods, many of which would normally form a predator prey relationship. From a distance a reanimated host can be confused for a Shambler that has attracted a large colony of flying insects around it. Up close there is no mistaking the Hive Zombie for anything but itself. Depending on Arthropod species look for holes chewed in the host or a hive like structure being built in the host. Massive amounts of insects will be crawling into and out of the holes in the host. Be on the lookout for strange bulbous growths on the host, as these can burst into a swarm of infected arthropods.

Disposal: A aerosol spray of Permtherin in the effected area with a buffer zone of at least five miles. Without the insects to breed in, the Hive virus will quickly die off. We do not know why Permtherin still effects reanimated Arthropods, but we have found it is the only chemical to remain toxic to the reanimate Arthropods. In extreme cases immolation may be used. However the chance of an infected insect escaping the blaze or just spreading the fire out of control are too great for this to be a common disposal method.

Disallowed way of disposal: Cyro Bombing. Unlike traditional alive Arthropods the Arthropods infected by the Hive virus are extremely resilient to temperature extremes. Traditional combat. Due to the small size of the infected insect traditional combat means of disposal do not work. Non Permtherine toxins. We do not know why other toxins do not work on Arthropods infected with the Hive virus, but they simply do not.

Species

Swarm: The Swarm Zombie is the most often found. Equally likely to infect any kind of Arthropod, the Swarm is the most obvious type, as the predator prey relationship will dissolve within the swarm.

Poisonous: The Poisonous Host variation only effect poisonous insects. Due to this the mammalian host tends to die quicker than in other forms of the Hive Zombie infection. A unique mutation in the virus causes the mammalian host to not only become aggressive but also to start producing poison from there salivary glands.

Pomegranate: The Pomegranate is named after the internal appearance of the mammalian host. Only infecting parasatoid wasps, instead of borrowing through the mammalian host the parasatoid wasp will lay an excessive number of infected eggs in the host. This will cause strange bulbous growths on the host. If these growths are cut open they appear to be full of red, semi translucent wasp eggs. Eventually these growths will start bursting forth with full grown, infected wasps.

Hive: The Hive infection only infect bees of the sub genus Apis. An infected queen will find a suitable mammalian host and lay eggs into its flesh. From these eggs infected worker bees will hatch and start chewing through the host. The workers bees start building bee wax combs out of the digested fat from the host. After this the queen bee will find the deepest recess of the host, and start laying eggs that will hatch more infected queens. These queens will find more suitable mammalian hosts and start the cycle again.

Harlequin: Named after the fist type of bug that was effected by the virus. While true bugs do not the necessary mouth parts to transfer the Hive virus, the Hive virus mutates the scent gland of the stink bugs, giving it a unique almost spicy smell. This smell not only discourages non arthropod predators, but attracts arthropod predators. This allows the virus to transfer via death of its host into a more aggressive, and as such more likely to spread the virus, host.

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Thank you for accessing the partial edition of the Red Ops Zombie Field Guide.

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