Walking Dead Finally Answers An Old Zombie Infection Mystery

Fear the Walking Dead season 7, episode 3 has finally answered an old Walking Dead mystery about scratches potentially causing a zombie infection.

An old Walking Dead zombie infection mystery has finally been answered in Fear the Walking Dead season 7. Despite the fact that shows set in The Walking Dead universe have been exploring this zombie-infested world for over ten years now, not all of the rules about how the zombie virus works have been fully outlined yet. There are some things about the zombies that have yet to be discovered.

Fear the Walking Dead added to its world’s many mysteries in the season 6 finale by throwing a new complication into the mix. The launch of the nuclear warheads has resulted in Fear the Walking Dead dealing with two different apocalypses at the same time. Ever since, the series has been exploring this new world that Teddy (John Glover) unleashed and the many changes it’s made not only to the zombies themselves, but also how they have to survive going forward. While the show’s focus is on the nuclear apocalypse that’s currently taking place, Fear the Walking Dead is still finding room to address existing mysteries in the Walking Dead universe.

Ever since the early seasons of The Walking Dead, both viewers and the characters have wondered if walker scratches cause infection just like zombie bites do. There was an old idea that a zombie scratch that tears open the flesh might put the virus in the victim’s bloodstream and lead to infection. Fear the Walking Dead season 7, episode 3, “Cindy Hawkins” finally laid these concerns to rest. During the episode, John Dorie, Sr. (Keith Carradine) was scratched by a zombie, but never turned. In fact, June (Jenna Elfman) knew about the scratch but didn’t appear worried that this could be a death sentence for John.

This wasn’t the first time a character has been scratched by a zombie in a Walking Dead TV show, but it is the first time that a concrete answer to this question has been provided. Big Tiny (Theodus Crane) suffering a severe zombie scratch during Walking Dead season 3’s prison arc generated a serious discussion among those in Rick’s group about whether or not he would turn. However, whether or not he’d become a zombie was never revealed. Believing that he would turn, Tomas (Nick Gomez) murdered him before anyone could find out.

It seems that this was a much bigger fear in the earliest days of the Walking Dead's zombie apocalypse. After all, there was so much that they didn’t know about the virus at the time. Plus, there was some degree of logic behind the walker scratch theory. However, the time that the characters have spent surviving in this world has apparently given them valuable experiences. June, who has treated an untold number of wounds both on screen and off, has likely seen enough of these scratches to know that John would be fine. But while this does take one potential threat off the table, Morgan’s group has plenty more to worry about in Fear the Walking Dead season 7 thanks to the rise of irradiated zombies and other new problems.