Hollow

*The term "zombie" redirects here, for those inflicted with LYVID-94, see The Infected*.

## Species

### Alias

Zombies
Undead
Draugr
Wights
Ghouls
Zeds
Zulu
Them

### Abilities

Zombification
Infectious bite
Undead physiology
Herd mentalility
Superhuman durability and resilience
Semi-immortality and indestructibility

### Members

Kurt Brewster
50%-70% global population

### Type

Undead cannibals

**Hollows** also known as **Zombies** (*zombi*; originating from the Kongo words *nzambi* meaning *god*, *zumbi* meaning *fetish*, and the Kimbundu word *nzumbi* meaning *soul* in reference to a tormented spirit wandering the world) are mindless, shambling corpses infected by The Plague.

They habitually feast on the flesh of the living out of an instinctual hunger rather than any biological necessity. All their vital organ functions have ceased and their sole purpose in The Apocalypse is to serve as hostile carriers for The Plague. At the start of the Apocalypse, every deceased corpse that was still of moderate composure reanimated as one of these.

The majority of living humans that become infected with The Plague (either by inhaling large concentrations of it's gaseous form or by being bitten, scratched or exposed to fluids of the infected) will inevitably die and reanimate as Hollows. Although Hollows tend to act of their own solitary volition, they have a preset herding mentality and per Haitian folklore are also are capable of being controlled by The Others through a sort of limited psychic hive-mind communication, explaining their tendency to migrate en masse towards specific goals. Likewise, The Others are also capable of necromancing uninfected dead bodies into Hollows as well as absorbing their astral energy (spirits), allowing them to become stronger or healing themselves using the aforementioned energy, this results in the demise of the Hollow.

Hollows are also the weakest of the three forms of those infected by The Plague, although their decomposition is slowed, as the plague kills and prevents *most* forms of bacteria from breaking down the zombie's body, it is not completely halted. Natural processes such as cellular death, blood coagulation, rigor mortis and overall general necrosis greatly hinders their motor skills, functioning and sensory abilities, despite the supernatural force keeping them "alive" and forcing them to attack others. This means that, despite their extraordinary strength, they are extremely fragile and can be disabled with relative ease through physical blunt-force trauma to the head or spinal column. Likewise, in a similar manner to The Others, they can be expelled by exposure to salt or holy fire. They are typically visually impaired as to be legally blind, unable to distinct visually between humans and other Hollows and have limited functions of smell and hearing. Hollows typically use an arcane sixth sense to locate and detect prey, although there are still workarounds to avoid being detected in this way, allowing them to be cautiously maneuvered around. Hollows also expire rather quickly on their own due to their state of decay, ceasing function entirely within a matter of weeks depending on environmental factors.

The transformation from a human to a zombie can take anywhere from minutes to several hours. In this time, the person who had been afflicted would quickly begin to weaken as their body would try and fail to eliminate the foreign pathogen, their limbs and muscles would begin to spasm uncontrollably as the plague hijacked their nervous system before the host would inevitably expire, within a short period after clinical death, the deceased would reanimate, now a complete puppet of the pathogen's will.

Had it not been for the paranormal nature of The Plague and the simultaneous rise of The Others, it is entirely reasonable to assume that most world militaries, police and armed forces would've been entirely capable of neutralizing or even completely eradicating the zombie threat, particularly due to their innate weaknesses and lack of self-preservation. However, the sudden and rapid appearance of The Plague in large population centers worked to both cripple the available firepower of the aforementioned forces, as well as completely overpower those remaining with overwhelming numbers, most major cities would fall only hours before the rest of the world had a clue that anything had happened. After the first month of the Apocalypse had passed, the once overwhelming 'hordes' of Hollows had dwindled, and the remaining stragglers proved as little more than a rare nuisance or as a sign of recent slaughters to survivors over the coming years, often being used as their own form of firepower between warring human factions.