I think you might just have the concept of acquaintance confused with friendship. What you describe as friends are what most people I think would describe as acquaintances.

As a person myself that has many many acquaintances all over the world, I have very very few that I would consider friends.

To be frank you might not have very many actual friends because you don’t sound like a very good friend yourself. You speak about people as if they are a hassle and an inconvenience to deal with or a business transaction. From the sound of this article it sounds like you don’t have much time to give to people and your interactions are mostly transactional in nature.

Listen I don’t say any of this to irritate you. I don’t know you, you are probably a perfectly fine individual. But if you want real friends, be a friend. Give a relationship the time and attention it deserves. Don’t spread yourself so thin you don’t have time for true friends. Don’t use superficial relationships to hide from the prospect of real connections or yourself. Maybe most of all I would suggest you go and just be alone for a time.

And when a zombie does come back into your life recognize it for what it is. Someone that thought if you and said hey let’s try that again.