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While it’d be easy for many to dismiss “The Last of Us” as a “Walking Dead” clone, the new series is different in key ways. The biggest and most distinct difference has to do with the “Walking Dead” zombies’ origins, which Robert Kirkman has always refused to divulge except for a joke tweet about it being caused by “space spores.” The premise of “The Last of Us,” on the other hand, is based on something that actually exists in nature: Cordyceps fungi. Spores infect insects, taking over their muscles. The fact that this is actually something that occurs to insects immediately makes it feel scarier, even if it is implausible that it could make the jump to humans.
In the series, a new strain of Cordyceps fungi has found a way to take over humans, creating “the Infected” and “Clickers.” People get infected by either being bitten or inhaling a spore. More dramatic than toxic spores blooming from a dead insect, Clickers are shown to have fungus growing from their cracked-open heads. The Infected are all connected, with the fungus growing deep underground. As Tess Servopoulos (Anna Torv) puts it, “You step on a patch of Cordyceps in one place, and you can wake a dozen Infected from somewhere else. Now they know where you are, now they come.”
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While being chased by a horde of zombies has always seemed pretty scary, the idea of accidentally stepping on Cordyceps and awakening dozens more that will join the hunt sounds extremely anxiety-inducing.
