Rethinking the Corps


I’m having second thoughts about Corpse Corps.

As it currently stands, there are 320 members, 240 of whom are on patrol and 80 are on guard duty at any given time. They fall into four battalions, led by a lieutenant. They do not loot and are full-time soldiers, so they do not do any other work around the Zone.

This seemed like a good idea in November. I wonder now if it is such a good idea. This means that half of the Zone or so must be fed, clothed, and put up by the other half. It would cause division and animosity. Further, it would indicate that the Looters would need to be guarded by CC squads. It makes little sense.

But since the Second Amendment states that a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state…would seem to indicate that every single able-bodied member of the Zone would be in Corpse Corps AND responsible for foraging, maintenance, and domestic duties.

Such a change would increase the relative power of not only Slater, but also Clipboard, who would be responsible for staffing the non-zombie work duties. Making a CC a duty rather than a privilege might make people want to stay inside the gates a bit more. It might also allow more flexibility for characters, as not every person would be on a zombie-killing mission every day. Someone still has to cook. What do you think? This isn’t in the world rules yet…


26 responses to “Rethinking the Corps”

  1. I like it. I never really liked its organization of it anyway. Too formal. Most of these people are civilians. The enemy isn’t organized. It should have been sloppier.

    I like the idea of making it a job that gets passed around. Everyone, besides the young, old, and handicapped, should have to do it.

  2. There still has to be some organization though.its what sets us apart from Zack, you cant just hand a group of civilians ( especially from this damn generation) a map and say, ” patrol these areas.” People will get lost all the time and with the thaw of winter, zombies will be up and about. All it takes is a group of careless, stupid civilians to lead the army of the dead to Zyracuse’s front gate. Maybe think about having a unit for those in the zone who have experience in areas like this, Cops and former Military units would be more effective doing more dangerous things than a bunch of Civilian cowboys wielding crowbars and baseball bats. Maybe im the only one that thinks this way though. Everyone should share the responsibility of the safety of the zone yes, but don’t give too much responsibility to people that cant handle it, its irresponsible on the leaders part AND is a danger to everyone.

  3. It takes no expertise whatsoever to hit Zak in the head with a blunt object. I don’t see a problem with the civies and a map idea. If this was combat against a thinking enemy than yes, but its not.

    But there should be a group of only the most hard core for the really messed up missions.

  4. Expanding the Corps like this would take training and leadership and organization, which would come from Slater, the lieutenants, and Clipboard respectively.

    There would be people who would never leave base. The organization probably wouldn’t end up looking much different than it does now. It’s just a change in mindset, with perhaps more need for more management.

    Perhaps the CC is the really hardcore bunch, but when it’s winter, everyone can do it…

  5. In response to Meaker’s post about civies running around swinging stuff, getting lost: Isn’t that what the Corpse Corp has always been? We’ve had former civilians running around since the beginning. I mean, Tallon’s most bad-ass character was a Kindergarten Teacher. I doubt she had military training.
    The civilians have, fromt he beginning, been expected to fill military roles in the zone.

  6. Im not saying that civilians are completly incapable, im just saying you put a military unit, or even a unit with training in the same situation as a regular group of civies and youll get much better results. Everyone in the zone should share responsability of security, but not everyone is meant to be outside the wire, There are also those situations where civies just will not get the mission done, are we to assume that CC is above a SF unit? a unit devoted to those really screwed up situations ( thank you K) could be useful, like a Delta team, use those bodies for other missions but should the shit hit the fan elseware those individuals could regroup, get to the hot spot and maybe bail out an entire squad with limited casualties. Im not expecting an improvised system to function with 100% effectiveness, but why settle for less? Anyone who knows me knows I prefere things to be military oriented, this is where most of my thinking comes from, I just dont expect civilians to be able to do the same jobs as a soldier. especially with the new number of Z’s walkin around, undisciplined civies could cost a lot of lives if used improperly. Just an opinion

  7. I completely agree with Meaker, soilders are a seperate group of individuals and are specialy trained for there job. One soilders is better at combat then 10 gunweilding untrained lunitics, so putting weapons in the hands of workers and telling them to go into a hostile enviroment is a suicide mission for all regualr citzens. Also countries dont have everyone as a soilder there are soilders then there are civilians tey do not function the same.

  8. To Matt yes this is true and i think your right we have had civilians just runiing around as Corpse Corp, but this jsut presents a new dilema I think that military training should become a priority in Zyracuse. I think this because if a group of trained soilders finds us and they see untrained people with guns we are an easy target, also I still side with Meaker.

  9. While I agree in an actual combat situation trained soldiers are on a whole different level, you guys are missing the point. They don’t have any training that would qualify them anymore to hit Zs in the head. Zack is dumb.

    Zombies don’t fight, they just spread. Its not combat its just dangerous menial labor.

    And I think that the purpose of writing about the zone is to see what we can do with average people when we put them in these horrible situations.

  10. Also, when the evacuations took place, most of the soldiers were involved in helping out. They probably then headed west, or stayed at their base. There would not have been hundreds of trained soldiers fleeing to the airport. There would only be a few military personel, and they probably would not have been active. If we had the army hanging out in the zone, we could have wiped Zack out of the area rather quickly. Instead, we have lawyers, aligator wrestlers, and other civilians fighting in the Corps.

  11. I’m not sure where I stand on the subject. First off, I agree that modifying CC like this could allow more character flexability.

    I agree with K about Zack taking little to kill. Zombies are certainly dangerous but their power is sometimes overestimated. The only time civilians may have a hard time is when there is a large number of them. A few Zs in an open area isn’t too threatening and one doesn’t need experience to take them down.

    On the other hand, you have psychological restraints as well. Someone, such as an ex-cop, may be more useful in stressful situations than a babysitter. What if they met a friend-gone-zombie and broke down in the middle of a fight. I suppose different people have different personalities also…

    I’m kind of all over the board but I thought I’d add my two cents. There’s also the final point that all the above arguments that are being made (such as how useful a civilian would be in the midst of action) could be made into great stories.

  12. I think everyone’s making good points here. I’m not sure that I agree that there’s nothing to taking down a zombie–in crowds, they are quite overwhelming and their moans attract friends within a kilometer.

    There’s a need for good training and good leadership. People will be identified as having particular skills and they will naturally sort toward those jobs. Training for everyone makes the zone stronger.

    There are precedents to citizen soldiers. First, there is WWZ itself. They must be soldiers: the army goes west. I don’t remember the name of the guy who introduced the lobo, but it is a standardized shovel-shaped ZED. He went east, starting in the Arizona desert and we follow him to the coast. Second is Sparta, and third is the modern state of Israel. Military service or public service is mandated to all 18 year olds in German except for citizens of Berlin.

  13. Meaker, there’s too much anarchy in America and the Zone for a Sparta.

    Tyler, that was my point with the Lobo. It was invented by some guy or woman. That’s the American way. I need a better freebleblork to randle the gimway. Now I’ll drop out of Harvard and sell it to IBM. One day, I’ll invent an operating system named Vista. Ha ha, I’m rich and you’re not.

  14. Nope. We’re going to do it with people who wear SU sweatshirts. Remember, this is a Central New York blog! Your character jetsets all over the gorram country like a friggin yuppie, but this is where we live and this is where we make our stand, live or die.

    We don’t need any stinking Spartans! We have New Process Gear, SUNY Health Science Center, and Wegmans!

  15. … Id feel safer with Spartans, and you cant get mad for My character going where he’s sent, what you think he doesnt have a story before the Zone? Special Forces guys are all over the place, I dont make the rules, just write about the events.

  16. Well, the point is not to feel safe. If the zone was safe there would be nothing to write about.

    Remember the “bad ass back lash”: if you make the characters too good at what they do you lose reader investment.

    Besides, you don’t need any special training to kill Zack. There are not tactics involved and no fancy weaponry. An ex-cop would be just as effective as a Navy SEAL. The only requirement is guts, and lots of them.

  17. Ok this just popped into my head, not everyone should be in the CC but everyone in a time of crisis must be like a type of ragtag militia. I want input on this to see what everyone thinks, its just that I think that only the experianced people who can deal with the mental stress can deal with Zombies should be CC.

  18. I think this should be discussed more because it really is a big debate.

    I personally think that being on the cops should have mental toughness and only a select people can join, but the rest of the people have the responsibility to defend Zyracuse in the form of a type of militia.

  19. Whether it is luck, skill, connections, or pity, everyone living in the zone has survived the original outbreak. They must have something going for them.

    Suppose you had a school with six hundred people and you needed three hundred to fill up the Honor Society. Would all three hundred be worthy of the Honor Society? Definitely not, but you need boots on the ground to get the job done, and there’s nowhere else to go to get them.

    The cream will rise to the top, but there will be more ordinary people trying to excel or survive. Their stories will be far more interesting to read than a straight out of a video game superstar, who can take out a score of zombies every time he pushes the triangle button.

    Please, read the book that inspired the site.

  20. Relevant debate on the topic of guns on this site: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/04/how-to-battle-z.html

    The analysis of shots fired vs. shots hitting of trained police officers is very telling. Training had very little effect. Distance matters. By the time you can hit them, you have to throw down your gun and defend yourself. A Z walks five yards in five seconds!

    I like the fact that they say bring one to three friends…Sounds like a squad to me.

  21. I went back to re-read the post because of the cross-post requests for comments on the militia idea.

    First, John, as an author, you don’t get to dodge where your character is sent. You can’t blame the Pentagon for having him in Paris or Dar Es Salaam. It’s your character. Second, the Spartan thing is out. It’s glamorized bunk.

    Third, I think people are missing the point with the Corpse Corps/active duty/tough/militia thing. There is nothing there to debate–>

    People are tough because they are in Corpse Corps.
    They are not in Corpse Corps because they are tough.

    Tough doesn’t mean rigid. It means capable of performing a difficult job when it is necessary to do so. It doesn’t mean mindless conformity. And it can’t mean that they always win.

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