The sight and smell of decaying flesh, the heart-stopping stagger of the undead and the realization your reality has turned into a living hell: The zombie-apocalypse is upon you. You have no food, the windows haven’t been barricaded, your family members are undead beings trying to take a bite out of you and your friends have all turned against you.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a strong believer in the zombies taking over our world, but some of today’s popular culture definitely makes you wary of corpses reanimating into beings who have no other desire than to get a few nibbles of some human flesh.

Two of the most popular titles on the market today are The Walking Dead and Resident Evil, both of which have expanded into television, movie and video game franchises. Zombieland is yet another title that shows an example of post-apocalyptic living, although the movie has a comedic quality to it.

The plotline of Resident Evil centers around the Umbrella Corporation, who (according to the movies, at least) operated a top-secret lab underneath Raccoon City developing biological weapons. One of these weapons, the T-Virus, eventually made its way to the surface and the infection was spread through bite victims.

In The Walking Dead you were turned into a zombie (or Walker) after being bitten or even just dying, unless the brain was destroyed. The cause of the infection was never fully determined, and although research on it had been conducted, no definite cause or cure was discovered.

Zombieland’s infection was caused by a variation of the mad-cow virus, ingested by eating a contaminated hamburger. The virus, like most other undead-related movies, then spreads across the rest of the world. Our protagonists Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita and her little sister Little Rock (names after their respective destinations or origins) all meet up whilst searching for their loved-ones, locating safe havens, trying to survive and continuing Tallahassee’s ongoing search for Twinkies.

All three of these different titles have a few common similarities, despite their difference in subgenres: The ‘virus’ can be spread once you’re bitten, the only way to truly kill them is to destroy the brain and they are relentless in their need. Zombies are known to hunt by sight, sound and smell. They can run, walk, sprint or do anything their physical states allow them to.

Do I believe in the zombie-apocalypse? Not necessarily, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be prepared for it if it does happen. If I’ve learned anything in my 17 years of life, it’s that when the undead are hungry for flesh, no rules apply. Speak as softly as you can, move quietly, keep your body parts out of mouth’s reach, cover your scent and always carry a big stick; you never know when you may need to bash a few zombie brains in.