Zombie Infectee: Difference between revisions
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So what's a Zombie Infectee to do? Nothing. No, seriously. [[A House Divided|Any group]] trying to [[Fighting for Survival|survive]] in this apocalyptic situation will always have [[Dying Like Animals|at least one idiot]] [[Jerkass]] who gets bitten or scratched and [[Stages of Monster Grief|refuses to face the truth]] [[What Have I Become?|(traumatic as it is)]] [[Dirty Coward|and tell anyone]], knowing full well their [[Poor Communication Kills|silence will cost lives.]] They don't seek help because they know there is nothing for their condition [[Driven to Suicide|but a bullet to the head]]. They tend not to take steps to make sure they at least don't endanger others once they die. A [[Heroic Sacrifice]] is the last thing on their mind, and trying the [[Vampire Refugee]] route is suicidal in most cases.
The Zombie Infectee is almost certainly (and rightfully) afraid their friends will kill them in cases where the protagonists have figured out that a bite or scratch will pass on [[The Virus]]. Fear of discovery means they live their now shortened lives terrified and in denial, and as a result they end up behaving irrationally because of it. Alternatively, they will desperately cling to the hope that they will be the person immune to [[The Virus]], despite its 100% fatality and 100% conversion
At this point, the onus, unfortunately, is on the heroes to [[Virus Victim Symptoms|notice the erratic behavior]] (for a [[Zombie Apocalypse]], anyway) and [[Shoot the Dog|take the appropriate and necessary steps]]. Other
'''Note:''' A few zombie works (movies, literature, etc.) have [[Take a Third Option|taken a third option, so to speak.]] If the point of infection is near the end of a limb (which it often is), that limb can then be removed, a literal [[Life or Limb Decision]]. The person may die due to shock and blood loss anyway, but at least he's not getting back up again to snack on your brains. Hopefully.
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== Film ==
* The ''[[Resident Evil (film)|Resident Evil]]'' movies have examples of good and bad Infectees. Notably, a recurring minor character from [[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|the second movie]], [[Ethnic Scrappy]] L.J, is bitten in [[Resident Evil: Extinction|the third]]. What's infuriating about this example is that the movie is set well after the zombie plague has swept through the world, so he couldn't exactly plead ignorance; L.J. had likely seen the same thing happen dozens of times. And yet he keeps his infection a secret, even as he begins to sicken. Once he turns (which [[Rule of Drama|inconveniently]] happens during the big zombie attack), he almost kills [[The Chick]] while both are locked in a car, and then infects one of the likable main characters, who does the right thing and takes as many zombies with him as possible in a massive explosion.
* Played with in the character of Shaun's mother in ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]''. She waits until just before she dies to reveal she's been bitten, but not necessarily to save her life; rather, she wanted to keep the burden off Shaun for as long as possible, explaining: [[Stiff Upper Lip|"I didn't want to be a bother."
** Whereas Shaun's friend Ed, after being bitten, does a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] by staying to hold the zombies off while the others escape.
* The "Sex Machine" (played by SFX guru Tom Savini) in ''[[From Dusk till Dawn]]'' hid his rapid [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampirization]] for fear of being killed. Fortunately he was killed without much problem. Unfortunately he let all the ''other'' vampires in.
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* While not a zombie plague, in ''[[Blade]] 2'' one of the vampire strike team, Lighthammer, gets bit by one of the "super-vampires" and covers it up (suprisingly well considering he's one of the most underdressed members of the team), until he predictably turns and starts gobbling up the rest of his team.
* Although not technically zombies, the 'Rage' victims in the ''[[28 Days Later]]'' movies deliberately avert this trope; the virus infects and converts its victims within 30 seconds to a minute, thus preventing them from concealing their condition from those around them. It also ups the tension, as the non-infected have to deal with the victim immediately in order to save their own lives.
** The first movie also offers a potential inversion; after butchering a number of infected, one of the characters discovers that he's somehow received a cut. As there's so much
* In another vampiric variation, Montoya in ''John Carpenter's Vampires'' also hides his own vampire bite. His subterfuge does not really matter, as he gets bitten again later in a less discreet place.
* ''Quarantine'' involves a news crew and a group of firefighters locked into an apartment complex with a bunch of other people and a zombie infection. They store the infectees in the same room that most of the living people are congregated. Guess what happens?
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* The opening fiction to zombie RPG ''[[All Flesh Must Be Eaten]]'' records the [[Apocalyptic Log|personal log]] of a scientist who's been bitten by a zombie. Needless to say, it goes in the typical direction, ending with the doctor talking about how h-h-''hungry'' he is...
** One chapter-opening story is centered around a group of infectees, quarantined by the United States government (by the rules of the scenario it's based on, infectees rise when they die of anything after the infection hits). The narrator finds her husband has committed suicide, but refuses to report it to the guards - they were growing apart, and as she puts it, "Before I die, he's going to touch me. One last time."
* ''[[Zombie Fluxx]]'' has a card whose flavor text says something to the effect of "Dude, kill me if I turn into one of those things", and essentially indicates that any cards you have representing human friends have now become
* Like in the ''Anubis'' example above, the Neo-Victorian zombie RPG ''[[Unhallowed Metropolis]]'' features different funerary rites for a world where the dead can easily rise as zombies. The lower classes get an immediate cremation, the middle classes usually have valued steel or bronze stakes that can be used to destroy the brain, and the upper classes can hire professional "Mourners" who are trained to watch a body for three days straight and decapitate it at the first sign that it's getting back up.
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** Change "Zombie" for "Werewolf" and the [[Our Werewolves Are Different|worgen]] player character qualifies. He gets bitten early in the starting zone, but doesn't tell anyone until it's too late and turns into a worgen at the [[Last Stand|worst possible moment]].
{{quote|'''[http://www.wowhead.com/spell{{=}}72870 Worgen bite]''': You were bitten by a worgen. The wound looks minor... maybe it'll go away with time?}}
* One of the campaigns in ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' features a saferoom inside a church. There is an occupant locked inside; having been attacked the last time he let someone else in, he refuses to unlock the doors until you prove that you're not
** Don't forget the two helicopter pilots! They got bit while making rounds trying to save people, eventually forcing someone in the party to shoot the pilot.
** Inverted in the Sacrifice DLC comic. Zoey's father is bitten in the initial stages of the zombie apocalypse, and she puts him down to prevent this from happening. 2 weeks later, she finds out that the gene for immunity is passed down from the father. Ouch.
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*** Then again, Branagh didn't exactly try to hide it, even going so far as to kick your player character out of the room and lock the door in RE 2 to make sure he wouldn't hurt you when he turned. It doesn't ''work'', but not through any fault of his.
*** It doesn't help that [[Poor Communication Kills|he doesn't tell you]] ''why'' he's kicking you out.
* ''[[Dead Rising]]'' has a few survivors that have been bitten or injured by the Zombies. One will refuse to come with you unless you can prove to her that the virus is curable, and there's a Narm filled cutscene of a story character transforming into a zombie. Also, any NPC you escort that is killed by a zombie will rise as another zombie. Which can make it quite satisfying when you shoot the dumbass in the head for [[Artificial Stupidity|sticking his nose in the zombie fight]]. {{spoiler|Frank West}} becomes a
** ''[[Dead Rising 2]]'' reveals that the zombie suppressant is now the super-expensive wonder drug Zombrex, manufactured by PhenoTrans. The player character's daughter is infected and [[Phlebotinum Dependence|dependent on the drug]]. This leaves Chuck to do increasingly dangerous things (including starring on the [[Deadly Game]] ''Terror is Reality'') to get the money for her Zombrex.
*** In the ''Case West'' DLC, {{spoiler|Frank himself shows up, shooting Zombrex into his neck.}}
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* Happens to Gwynn in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''. {{spoiler|Turns out the zombies were just messing with her about the whole infection thing, though.}}
* Main characters from [[Weregeek]] played with this trope when they created [[Zombie Apocalypse]] [[Self-Insert Fic]] ''These Gooddamned Zombies''. First it was subverted when Joel was bitten, took a gun and enter room full of zombies to fight with them, because he don't want to endanger his friends, and then we saw {{spoiler|Sarah}} hiding the bitemarks. {{spoiler|This was also subverted, because it was revealed she was zombie from the beginning and lure the rest into a trap}}.
* By turns [[Averted Trope|averted]], [[Defied Trope|defied]], [[Discussed Trope|discussed]] and [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructed]] in ''[[The Zombie Hunters]].'' [[The Virus]] is contracted through exposure to ''any'' [[The Undead|zombie]] bodily fluids through an orifice or wound, but only being bitten or [[Poison Is Corrosive|vomited on]] causes [[Viral Transformation|imminent zombification]]. Those otherwise exposed are
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