Do you have one? If not, you should start planning. I posted about this before, but I think it’s time to bring it back up again.
Previously I advocated fortifying in some well protected building with food supply. Since then I changed my mind. Think about it – what happens to all these people in Zombie movies who stay in urban areas? They die! Barricading yourself in a mall is only a temporary solution. You will soon be out of power and if the zombies figure out there are people inside the mall they will start to accumulate in the parking lots like in Dawn of the Dead.
If there are 6 zombies outside, you have a pretty good chance to escape. If there are 600 of them, leaving that mall might not be possible without some clever plan – like building a spiky armored bus with chainsaw ports or something. :P
I think the best solution is to head for the most desolate, rural area you can think of. I live in NJ – one of the most densely populated states around so I’m pretty much screwed. I think the best option for me and my family would be to try to get out of the state. Me and my dad know some nice places in Catskills (Upstate New York) where we used to hike and fish. There are few small towns in the area, and lots of forests where you could camp out. I think if we could get out of NJ we could go into the mountains and camp out there. I have no clue where to get a gun around here, but there are at least 2 or 3 little gun shops up there in the mountains. I know because they also sold fishing equipment and bait. We could definitely loot one of them, or alternatively buy some guns if the town was not infected yet.
Few people around means less potential zombies to worry about. If you camp out in a remote area, living out of canned goods, fish and rarely go near the towns there is a good chance that zombies won’t be able to find you.
This would of course only be possible if we could find a safe passage out of NJ. Catskills are only about 3 hour drive from here but during a Zombie outbreak that might be a long trip.
Everyone should have a zombie survival plan. What is yours?
[tags]zombie, zombie survival, zombie survival plan, zombie outbreak plan, outbreak[/tags]
My sentiments exactly. I used to be on board with the whole fortification idea. I even had a few places around town picked out. But the more I think about it the more I can’t help but think that idea is a death sentence.
The problem is that because zombies don’t have anything better to do, they can just out-wait you. If you stay in one place too long the zombies will just pile up. No matter how much food you store up, without a constant fresh supply, eventually you’ll run out. And like you said in your post, there’s no escaping once their numbers get excessive.
Anymore I’m on board with the keep-on-the-move strategy.
Chad, awesome blog you have there.
Roaming around can be dangerous. However, in those first hours the ratio of victims to zombies might be high enough to give you a running chance. There will be still a lot of people running around, making themselves easy targets, and not enough zombies to swarm your car. The only potential dangers are car pile-ups on the highways that can block your passage, or even worse – immobilize your vehicle.
However, once you get out of urban areas your chances for survival drastically improve.
I think an ocean-going boat might be a good idea – make sure it has some ability to fish, some way of de-salinating sea water and your set.
Then you can flee to another continent if you have to, no zombies are going to follow you across the Atlantic
Matt, I’ve actually got one better on you. I hit the geographic lottery when it comes to zombie survival.
As I sit typing this, I can turn my head slightly to the right and see one of the largest bodies of fresh water on the planet, Lake Erie. A 20 minute boat ride from the shore will get you to Kelleys Island, an island that has a total area of 12km (4.6 mi), complete with farms, homes, pubs restaurants and even a winery.
Assuming the zombies don’t do that walk-under-the-water trick from Land of the Dead, I’d pretty much be set for life.
Matt, Luke, if the shit hits the fan, you’re welcome to join me and my wife on the island.
[quote comment=”4280″]Assuming the zombies don’t do that walk-under-the-water trick from Land of the Dead, I’d pretty much be set for life.[/quote]
If the “zombiefication” is instantaneous like in the “28 days after” movie then you are correct. But if the infection takes a long time – say hours or even days like in Dawn of the Dead, you might be looking at possible outbreak on the island.
You can assume that once the shit hits the fan anyone who can find a boat will be heading for the island. This includes people who have been bitten, but didn’t turn yet.
Luke, good point. I’d taken for granted it would be a 28 Days Later style outbreak. If it happens by “Dawn of the Dead” rules, things will be just as bad there as elsewhere.
I still think the island would be a safer setting than most spots on the mainland. If you were able to effectively destroy whatever zombies made it to the island, there wouldn’t really be too much concern about being invaded by new zombies.
But I’ve also forgotten one very important detail. If zombie movies have taught me anything, it’s that the real enemy isn’t zombies at all, but other humans.
A situation such as this will polarize personalities. Good people pre-apocalypse will be at their best during the crises. People who aren’t inherently good will become twisted in a world with no rules and few consequences, a world in which society has collapsed.
The real problem with trying to make a life on the island would be the ever-present danger of having a group of miscreants discover that it exists.
That’s ocean-going yacht’s time to shine – you’re safe from non-pirate miscreants as well as zombies, and if you hide well away from normal ship routes then even pirates probably won’t notice you.
Even the underwater-walking zombies can’t get you (unless they form a giant pile, or figure out how to float, in which case you either have to move the boat by 100 yards or shoot them while they’re in the water)
Seriously though, zombies are pretty darn stupid – just turn the lights off, keep quiet and stay upstairs and they probably won’t notice that you’re still in your house :wink: (A baby-gate at the top and bottom of the stairs is probably also an effective deterrent if they can’t actually see you)
Well, the ship has one disadvantage – limited food and water supply. You would have to make supply runs every once in a while unless you can manage to fish or find some space on the deck and enough loose soil to farm food for the crew.
I agree that an urban center is not ideal, but given the state of general mayhem and the gun-to-citizen ratio in the rural areas, there’s a good chance you’ll get blown to smitherenes by the living on that rural palace you’ve been eyeing. What about a totally different plan? A fall out shelter in a small town might be ideal. Small crowd of residents, thus small crowd of zombies. Built to withstand a nuclear bomb, so likely would allow a nice 10 – 20 year hibernation while you wait for vital tissues to decay. You could surface to a wolrd of paralyzed zombies, putting in head shots as you go.
Well, I think I’d rather negotiate peace terms with gun totting rednecks than starve to death in a fallout shelter in a suburb. Will the shelter have enough food to last 10-20 years?
If you are camping out in the forest somewhere you can do many things – you can hunt, fish, forage. Hell, you can even try to do some farming the land. Plus you are always mobile. If you spot zombies appearing in the area, you move, change the scenery and etc. And if you run into hostile locals you can always run for it, and move.
Hell, you can even decide to go back to civilization if roughing it in nature doesn’t work for you.
When you are camping in a shelter, you have very few options. Especially if the zombies figure out where you are and start swarming. As long as you don’t have a swarm of zombies overhead, you can be fine. But once you do, you are fucked.
I live in a small town, but it is surrounded by many other small towns. It’s a densely populated area and so there would be quite a few zombies running around here. So I’d really want to get out of NJ suburbs in case of an outbreak.
But somewhere else, in a real “small-town” area where the population is indeed sparse your idea might be viable. But then, it’s just a variant on our “get away from the cities and suburbs” plan. It’s just that you don’t have to get away from them cause you already live there.
Came across a blog post the other day that provides some good solid arguments against the “fortress” survival technique.
http://www.sciencepunk.com/v5/2007/05/zombies-and-the-science-of-siege -warfare/
More than ever I’m convinced staying on the move and foraging for supplies is the proper way to go.
Good find Chad! This is what we have been saying all along!
Too funny. We all need one of these plans! I think the red-necks would fall easy prey though – getting drunk, etc. I think they would find the zombie chicks hot, and get themselves zombified.
I also figured that rednecks will have shotguns, and will know how to use them much better than me. So if we get jumped by zombies, I can let my newly found country buddies shoot at them, while I execute a strategic retreat and leave the dangerous area. :)
One thing is certain. Shotgun is weapon of choice, all with blunt weapon ideas do not realize the no-pain in the nervous system created by redeadedness(or whatever its called). A few other certain things follow- after the zombie epidemic is confirmed by whichever government is in control of that territory, it will be eradicated unless it is fast, as some of u said.Also, like in Dead Rising, there will be multiple phycopaths, are already, and they will either sit in a corner and cry or try to beat the shizit out of you. Therefore, me living in California, i have an array of legal guns to use along with an awesome tank-rental National Guard association near. Last year, a phycopath stole a tank and ranover cars on the highway. If he could do it, my family would as well.
As for taking people in, i would love to have my mother, who is a cardiovascular technitian who is strong in any medical situation, to check if any joiners have bites. After the tank is driven to…umm… well, havent decided yet. May join u guys on lake erie, but if you think about it Costco would have a lot of food in it, etc. if my stepfather/father and anyone else is up for it, we could cut a hole in the wall and shoot consistently at upcoming zombies, while plotting escape.
have fun contemplating
Oh man! I like the tank idea. Zombie roadkill!
Costco is good if you only plan to camp there for a few days. But note that once the electricity goes, this will be just another un-airconditioned, windowless building. Half of the food will go bad and start rooting. After a week or two, the stench will probably be unbearable.
Also, our argument about being overrun still holds. But then again, if you have a tank parked outside, then I guess the escape from the building would not be so difficult. You just need to make sure you have enough fuel to get clear of zombies.
There would be nothing worse than getting stuck in that tank in a middle of a huge zombie crowd..
Here’s the most practical answer…Colorado, or somewhere comparable in geographic location….it’s mild enough to grow crops in the spring and summer…but cold enough in the winter that Zombies will freeze..making defense much easier.
Stay away from water…dead things float..and eventually currents will take the outbreak everywhere. Elevation, and climate are the keys to survival.
Height equals a passive defense..let the natural laws of physics and gravity work in your favor. Let the weather be your brick wall when possible.
Very good points. One thing though – you actually do want to stay close to a source of water – I mean, you need water to survive. But as you said, it’s probably a good idea to stay away from major rivers.
However a mountain spring, or a secluded lake would not be so bad.
One more reason to stay somewhere with elevation and freeing temps….snow melts :)
you know i like that boat idea. just de-salinate the water and catch fish and your set. just hope you dont get sea-sick or something. that would probobly be the best idea then if the whole world was infected. not to mention ever thought zombies probobly cant reproduce, (be gross thinkin bout it :( ) so going somewhere and making a permanent trap and just louring zimbies into it for a long time would also be workable so if you can kill them all someday you could start trying to find others…
The only possible pitfall I see with that is the potential for equipment failure: engines needing service or spare parts, desalination equipment failure, or just plain running out of gas.
But here’s an idea…offshore oil platforms :)
They’re stable, in a more or less fixed position and have the desalination equipment as well as living space. I used to work on one, and they range in size from floating shacks to cities in the ocean.
The only thing that would provide a hazard would be bad weather (hurricanes, North Sea winter storms, ect) or simply running out of supplies.
One thing that will always be a hazard in the open seas is the threat of floating zombies…once a body starts decomposing and filling up with methane, it will simply become a floating death machine…it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the oceans and major rivers will be full of floating zombies waiting to latch onto a slow moving or stationary boat or swimmer.
I personally, am still in favor of hunkering down somewhere in the mountains near or on the snow line…once a zombie freezes in the winter, it can be disposed of fairly easily.
The climate will be reasonably mild enough to sustain life, grow food, andwith enough vegetation and forestry to build an ample defensive structure…or even a series of structures that are connected. It will also provide a reasonable proximity to local law enforcement stations or national guard and other military instillations…you can assume they will be empty and still very well stocked…how can the government expect people to be soldiers and man a checkpoint while their families are on the menu for a pack of roaming zombies…so checkpoints and bases will have been deserted when the outbreak reaches crisis proportions (one of the main reason it will spiral out of control).
Re: oil platforms – I guess we could visit Sealand. ;)
But yeah, I agree – an oil platform or a ship is no better than a mall when it comes to long term survival stuff. They are small, confined, and you must hit up the shore for supplies every once in a while.
Also, I think that army bases would end up being staffed and defended till the end. Note that significant portion of the soldiers may have their closest family living with them on the base. So I imagine these things would turn into relatively safe heavens where zombies would face well armed defenses. I would imagine these things turning into little military states of their own.
Now the question is, if you bump into an army patrol will they shoot you just in case you are infected? Will they let you be? Or will they drag you forcefully into the base.
Army bases aren’t near as secure as you’d think….theyre relatively open with little or no hardened security/fortifications in place..
I could see military bases turning into mini states…especially if maritial law is declared…at that point every one will become moving targets, basically.
Once Zombies start to concentrate on population centers..it will be come a war of attrition….does the army run out of zombies to shoot before it runs out of bullets on hand….units will get overrun do to simple force of numbers, in my opinion.
The military as a viable resource will have a small window of opportunity when the outbreak is in it’s early stages…before the streets are swamped with the undead…if they arent able to contain it at that point…they’ll be more of a slow moving obstacle than anything helpful…and eventually they’ll become lunch just like everyone else.
I like all the ideas you guys have but there really is no perfect way to excape a horde of zombies. The remaning mobile plan is that you will have to plan everything out such as distance, fuel consumption and possibility of being stopped in your tracks by zombies. A motorcycle has plenty of manueverability but zero protection and there is still a high possibility os crashing into something. SUVs and suburbans and similar vehicles are useless because they have no off road abilities. Big rigs and even buses are a good idea despite their lack of both maneuverability and off road capabilities but make up for it with both power enough to go through partially blocked roads, have high windows so even if you run out of gas or become stranded zombies cannot reach up and get a bite of you. Also these vehicles have lots of storage space so its possible to remain off road with no worry of storage space.
Personally I would take a truck outfited with large wheels high off the ground and be armed with as much fire power as it can hold. i’ve read plenty of books on trapping and an animal is just like a zombie (concerned with only survival). Using choke holdand trail tactics combined with precausion and excellent shooting there would be no problems.
The fortress idea sounds pretty good to me but there’s one place you guy’s havent mentioned. Jails! They were of course designed to keep people in but they also keep people out. If there were a breach past the brick walls or fences (depends on the style and security of the jail) each cell block and cell. Even if these areas were claimed by the undead they could be reclaimed by dispatching and removing them.
Castles of almost any kind would be great but this isnt the middle ages and only rich tycoons have those so don’t count on them.
The only weapon mentioned on this site as far as i could see was a shot gun. While yes ideal for blowing off the heads of incoming zombies but have bulky ammo and are useless at long range. Personally I would shoot any moron using a weapon that has only full auto capabilities because its a huge waste of ammo and again unreliable for a sure shot relying on a barage of bullets for a kill. Why use 10 well aimed rounds for one head shot when you can accomplish the same result with a handgun (close range) or a scope shot (long distance)? No matter what gun you plan to use you need to train with it a lot. Hitting a human head isn’t as easy as it looks in the movies. If it can be cleaned do so often for both maintanence and so if it malefunctions or jams you’ll know very quickly. If your serious about combating the undead you need to realize the posibility of losing your weapon or running out of ammo and must face a zombie without relying on a projectile. For this reason i myself have trained in mashal arts focusing mainly on breaking out of holds rather than deliveing blows. As a last resort for a weapon (if no others are availible) duck tape a piece of unsharpend tin can like a gauntlet with a long nail tied to a string. This is useful because its both simple and allows you to use hands. By putting your wrist all the way back it forma sharp close range weapon ready to be sent through the eye.
As far as hand weapons go the crow bar is the golden boy. It can bash and skewer zombies and also useful for looting houses and stores. Knives, machetes, swords are great because of their variety. Knives should be fix bladed and slick edged. Swords are tricky because many on the market arn’t meant for actual battle so if you have the tools to do so try and make your own. Avoid throwing knives due to the skill needed to use them.
For those people who think its smart to go to islands or cold climates DONT!!!!!! This makes a possibility for multigenerational threat. Imagine thinking your safe after years of siege and get thrown right back into the fire again.Ocean currents would send bodies to every corner of the planet. The only hope in this case would be the fact that flesh will degradeand literally fall apart after prolonged submersion. My last pieces of advice are stay in a group of highly skilled of around 5-10 to remain hiden and leave multiple options when entering anew situation and when entering a new area dont go near the groung unless absolutly necesary. Farewll and stay zombie free (or I’ll have to kill you..er..again?)
Very good points there. The jail idea is pretty cool – these places are designed to confine prisoners, and be easily locked down in case of trouble. Even in case of a breach you might be able to shut off access to certain parts of the prison. You can also use the built in security features to trap and dispatch zombies (ie. lock them in a cell, and shoot/chop them from up close). But as with the mall, and other similar concepts it is flawed – if you get overrun, you are fucked. While a prison might be safer place to hide than a mall, you will still be likely starve to death if you get cut off from the outside world.
Using a truck also poses some limitations. Trucks are noisy – they might attract zombies from far away. This may become an issue when you make a longer pit stop. The also rely on fuel so you must cruise the roads and be on the lookout for gas stations. Depending on the area, gas stations may be home to zombies – so you will have to make choices. You either risk combat and refuel, or skip the station and risk getting stuck somewhere down the road when you run out of gas.
It is true if your perimiter was breached there would be no way out unless you already had a back up plan for each fallout point you are pretty much screwed. But think of all the alarms placed at a jail which are programed to trigger in the instance of a breach. You would have warning if not time to either prepare or eliminate the treat and seal any breach in the security of the compound. If the power was cut this would be one of the first things you would hook up to a back up generator. I don’t know for sure but it makes sense to me that they would have one to avoid a mass breakout and in this case a break in. Its not a question of wether or not this is dangerous and would result easily in your death if anything went wrong but how could a bunch of brain dead zombies break in when some of the most intelligent people failed at. If you have ever been to a jail you would see that there is almost no way other than leaping or useing their fellow dead as a stair case to get over the walls. Sewers and other pipeline structures could be an entry point but these locations would probably be cut offrom the undead due to the fact that thaty cant climb out of the toilet. It would be easy access for a plumber under guard but when no work is being done its almost certain that it would be sealed. Of course the first thing you should do if you decide on this strong hold is secure the area. Kill and dispose of any and all zombies or infected prisoners and or guards. (Note. If possible extract any information about the compound and how it was breached if you find someone infected before disposing of them. This could save lots of time and energy. The main worry should be that the doors are all locked and or barricaded. Don’t worry about the walls especially if their concete reinforced (every jail in the states) because unless the zombies have weapons of mass destruction your pretty much safe. Supplies should be your first worry before even entering a strong hold in case you are trapped. The most efficient way would be going some where there wont be a lot of people(depends on rate of infection) and stock up. Acuire a big rig specifically one with a big ass trailer and load up. If you have others with you get anyone who can drive one to do so and fill those with supplies too. Priotities 1 Vehicles are very important so that you can get away and transport massive amounts of supplies compared to trying to run with it. 2 Weapons because during the begining this will be an obvious thing to get so if you find a gun shop that hasn’t been looted yet grab every gun and box of ammo and run.Tip: Just because money is no longer an issue dont be shy to look at the price tag. The more it cost the more durability andfeatrures it will have. 3 Food and water are hand in hand because its most likely you will find them at the same spot. $ This is where you need to think of where you’re going. If you’re going to a jail stock up on power tools, lumber, metal, generators & fuel, and if possible go by a radio shack or something. A pair of radios plus batteries are a huge help when used with an ear piece. Remote control cars could be used to lure zombies away or to deliver an explosive charge. 5 Medicines and other things we take for granted that help the body to recouperate. Fortunately if you go to a jail they will have most everything you might need as long as you dont need major surgery. Dont discount a good mattress or sofa because jails dont exactly expend their budget making their inmates comfortable.
I agree, out of all the hiding spots, a jail would probably be the best because of the things you mentioned above.
The only problem I see with the Jail scenario is this:
If for some reason the jail gets surrounded by a throng of 10,000 zombies then you have no way to re-supply yourself. See the Dawn of the Dead scenario where the people were trapped in a mall, completely surrounded and cut off.
But that’s pretty much the problem with any fortress-type scenario.
Then again, if you turtle-up you can stockpile food and resources. When you choose to be on-the-move you can only take a limited amount of food and ammo with you so you. :(
I guess there is no perfect solution here.
A convoy would be the perfect solution for the senario you mentioned above. I did all the math and lets just say that the trailer of a semi is 8*6*15 and you used MREs (Meals ready to eat) which are about 1*1*2 and have enough calories for three days. This means you would have about 3 full years worth of food. No matter what chances are three years is plenty of time to figure something out if you got swamped by zombies. Of course other supplies will be needed but these can be strapped to the roof giving you much more room.
A semi has one major drawback…..maintenance.
As far as sustenance, food is never the most pressing issue. It’s water. Carrying potable water can be a challenge (at 8.8 pounds / gallon…give or take). Water sources will constantly have to be sterliized to the point of insanity if you are roaming.
After doing a lot of brainstorming on it…(nothing else to do on Xmas break) I’ve come to the following conclusion:
There will be only a sporadic supply of fuel…as supplies will be looted and pirated early on..leaving the best stocks of petroleum supplies largely in the hands of people with the most firepower, or in dead cities teeming with the undead…
Major roads will be near impassible at major chokepoints such as cities or major interchanges. All it would take to cause chaos on the roadways for dozens of miles would be for zombies to wander onto the freeway….a major accident leads to traffic, which leads to zombies wandering amonst the gridlock…looking to get into the cars….next thing you know…traffic is backed up for 100 miles….within an hour, the freeway is a 100 mile ato graveyard..with the dead and dieing mixed in for good measure.
More than a few major cities (possibly all) could end up being burnt out craters…a superpower with cutting edge weapons and a zombie problem can only lead to some heavy duty bombing…maybe even THE BOMB.
If a city is completely overrun….using a low yield nuke does seem like a practical solution for containment….so expect at least have a dozen strikes.
Even using a fortress approach has it’s drawbacks…as people will almost certainly revert to a nomadic and tribal mindset….not every survivor will be happy to see you…won’t want to share…and may even try to kill you to get what you have.
My gut tells me that somewhere above the snowbelt is the best bet…keep the dead heads frozen for as much of the year as possible…but the best chance at assistance will mean staying close to the coast….I would think nuclear powered naval vessels will be about the only truly self sufficient outfits around….think about it….a carrier battle group would have mostly nuclear warships…all the weapons and transportation it needs, and land and air vehicles to make limited and short ranged recon of the shoreline.
Though, sadly, I would expect them to view most civilians as potentially hostile and offer only limited assistance.
What Im saying is….I have come to the conclusion that I have no idea what is truly fool proof. Except, head for the snow and try to keep the shore within a short distance…and pray like hell for a miracle.
Absolutely true no plan is fool proof so all we can do is speculate on which is the best. The jail senario I’m talking about is’nt anywhere close enough to a city to feel the effects of even the most devestating bomb strike. I’ve decided that there is definitly one fortress idea that could very well be perfect. A Bio-dome. These are designed to sustain life without dependence on the outside world. If it were fortified it would be a perfect way to excape an infection. Accepting other survivors would be impossible because most of these domes are programed not toopen until mm/dd/yy. These are usually in areas away from cities so they wouldn’t be surrounded by huge hordes of undead. Even if you can’t find one it might be possible to build one. I know a place where I can get huge plastic tanks that I could turn into one. If done properly this could definitely withstand a horde because these things are very durable. The place im talking about has literally hundreds of these things and are often surrounded by high fences so it might be possible to grab as many as posible and take them to a place like a jail or a mall that will take a while for the dead to get into or build it on site. Even better take them to a huge hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot. Building materials are essential for this project and no better place to be. These are often located in small or medium size cities cities because letsa face it how many people in an urban area will do any home remodeling themselves. This means that if you find one there is likely to be grocery stores and other places even the occasional gunshops near by. The only setback is the windows but if you had enough time you could barricade these heavily with wood and even concrete. But as a back up these places have tall shelves that could be climbed to excape the zombies that might breach your defenses. They also have these huge bars of metal going across the roof so if the zombies were able to climb the shelves all you would have to do is toss a line over and climb up. If this occured you could use the same line that got you up to position and lower yourself down to any supplies you might need or left behind even work on your bio-dome. One last thing if you were able to get to one of the other supply places near by you could attach a line to each building on the roof and pull it tight so you could zip down it if it was at an angle or scoot across over the heads of zombies. This might seem dangerous but if tied right at both ends including break knots which catch if one breaks and are securede to the line it really would bepretty easy. The only problem might be at the other store if it wasn’t secured before a zombie horde arrived. But still if cleared out you could stock pile your bio-dome with lots of resources before shuting yourself in.
While an island that is populated might be a bad idea, as there is a chance of an infestation, a house boat on a small lake could be perfect. You can make small runs to the shore to hit a house or two when needed, and, where I live at least, the houses on the lake are usually expensive, so they’ll be stocked with everything you need. When you’re not foraging in the houses, you can sit on the boat and relax. If you pick a body of water with fish, you can fish for your food as well. And, there’s no need to worry about walk-under-the-water zombies, as long as you keep your anchor up. (That is, of course, assuming zombies can climb.)
It has all the perks of the yacht idea posted by Matt’ without the danger.
Great posts and ideas!
Velkyn
A bit off topic, while staying slightly on topic
World War Z…….probably the most realistic and detailed observation of a zombie outbreak on a worldwide scale. I couldn’t put it down….
George Rameros Diary of the Dead comes out next month…an updated start to the whole zombie/dead series.
Islands and boats have potential drawback….zombies will float due to decomposition gases….the currents will take them every which way…and the waterways of the world will be filled with possibly millions of them.
It would bite ass to have zombies caught in your intake or propeller blades.
Any shoreline would potentially be teeming with zombies….refugees who tried to escape by water and got left behind will be zombie bait, and eventually zombies, themselves.
Pirates are another hazard, so pack lots of heat…the zombies won’t be the only things hunting us.
I think its a safe assumption that between 10-30% of the population of the country will be infected in the initial chaos, best case scenario; worst case is more along the lines of 50-75%. Thats between 30 and 250 million more or less…..the more i’ve thought about it….the more I’m starting to think it will be a miracle if any of us get out alive.
Basically, they will be everywhere..and swarms of them could reach dimensions rivaling a small town…miles upon miles of zombies packed together trying to get at a person, or people.
I honestly don’t know what the best answer would be.
@Velkyn – Hmm… I agree with Tom. Floating zombies clawing at the boat would be really bad. Plus if they start floating or walking the bottom your fishing options become limited. Same with making a landfall. It may become difficult or impossible if zombies are floating all around.
There is also the problem of landing. If you dock the boat or move it to close to the shore zombies may get on board while you are away. If you swim to the shore you are vulnerable to floating and submerged threats. Ideally you’d need a small row boat or a motor boat for this purpose. But the floaters could try to rock it and turn it over.
@Tom – I haven’t read World War-Z but it is going onto my to-read list. Thanks for the tip. :)
Diary of the Dead looks really good. I didn’t even know it was coming out. :)
While floating zombies could be a threat, you can post someone on top of your boat (a houseboat, in my case) and have him/her keep an eye out for any that stray too close. He/she can then deal with them with an easy shot to the head.
Also, the thrashing of a zombie trying to get on your boat would alert the group aboard, allowing them to deal with the threat.
And, since I hear zombies can’t swim, they could only bump harmlessly against your boat. They might be annoying, but they’re not dangerous.
When docking, you’d always leave someone (or multiple people) with the docking boat to keep it safe. Yes, they might be overwhelmed, but if the press of rotting bodies becomes too much, they can call for the scavenging party to return, and shove off.
Motor boats would be fast, but would certainly attract zombies. A rowboat would be best for a scavenging party. Or, you can use oars in your motorboat, and only use the motor when you return to your main boat.
When scavengers get to the shore, they should be fast and quiet. Lightly armed, ready with bags to carry off the items. And, scavenging parties should always go out before the group is in desperate need of supplies, that way they can retreat without worrying about lack of supplies.
Bottom walkers would certainly inhibit fishing, and I can’t figure out a solution to them. Does anyone have any ideas?
Though, they only pose a threat if you hook them, right? I can’t see a zombie being smart enough to pull the line and drag you into the water.
As to pirates, we should always be on our guard. As i said before, keep someone posted at all times, to keep watch for pirates and zombies.
It’s a good short term solution but at some point you will exhaust all the available resources in the houses on the shore. All the perishable food will rot away very quickly after electricity is gone and while you can stockpile canned goods you are not self sufficient. You will need to make landfalls and venture farther and farther away from the lake to find food and resources.
The boat scenario lacks the self sufficiency component that must be part of any good long term Zombie survival plan. I really think that agriculture and hunting/gathering must be implemented at some point if the Zombie infestation will last long enough.
And you are still in the “enemy territory” so to speak.
I still think that a self sufficient colony in some remote wilderness up north is the optimal solution. You can’t get overrun by zombies if there are no human settlements in many miles.
A boat would be a great way to exellent way to excape but, a terrible place to be long term. Plus when you run out of reasources you would have to make port (depending on boat) inorder to replenish your supply and because port cities are usually quite large you could be facing a lot of the undead. Also depending on how long it has been since the begining of the infection there may be little or no edible food to salvage.
Only chance for this strategy is if you were on a big freighter with a small group of less than a dozen with a ton of non perishable food.
The thing about most good strategies is that we want to get away from large cities and go to the most secluded areas we can think of. This makes it difficult to be self sufficient. Living in cold areas sounds great since it would take care of the zombie threat. However, I found out that in colder regions our bodies will require as much as 3 times as many calories.
Good point. How do you feed yourself when you are in the middle of nowhere and it is a middle of the winter. I think you want to aim for more temperate climates – something with seasons so you can actually hunt, gather or farm for food at least for a part of the year. Then in the Winter you can try to subside on dried meat, canned goods (I hope you have been saving them) and etc..
Also you might not want to live in complete wilderness. Picking an out of the way spot that is within 2-3 hour drive away from a town or two would probably be sufficient. As long as you have a vehicle and gas, you can make scavenging runs into the nearby towns and run away from zombies. In fact, if you are with a group of people and have some weapons you could probably quite effectively “cleanse” at town to the point where scavenging would be much less risky.
Four words, The Zombie Survival Guide. Written by Max Brooks it covers everything from viable locations to weapons and tactics against zombies. Think military survival guide with a zombie theme, hence the name.
Yeah, that book is brilliant. I hear Max released a follow up book recently written in a more serious tone as sort of a documentary but I doubt it is as good as the survival guide. :)
The follow up book is World War Z…it’s very well written.
It chronicles a world wide outbreak, and is told through the accounts of survivors from various parts of the world who did different things during the war.
It gives plenty of accounts of things people did or didn’t do, and how it literally came down to “sacrifice people, to save people” to avoid the human race being devoured.
It’s a great book…i definitely recommend it.
I think the only way to really survive a zombie attack is to fight back. Get guns and get them fast. Seperate the people who have been biten and be ready. I also feel if we had attack helicopters firing rockets at concentrations of zombies we would be able to really make a dent. Even on the black hawks they have gatling(sp?) guns with thousands of rounds of ammo. All they have to do is hover over a zombie pack and spray the area with bullets. And these rounds would be taking off limbs so even if the zombies werent hit in the head they would have no legs or arms etc. you could have ground troops clean up the areas. In an infantry unit they have squad weapons that can throw so much lead down the range it would make mince meat out of zombies.
My plan when i get some money is to buy a generator zombie proof the house stock up on guns ammo food gas (for the generator) living essentials etc. I think if you can survive the first days or weeks the army would be able to take care of the problem. And i personally think this will happen. it says in the bible the dead will rise from the grave…..nostradamus also says that the dead will rise from the grave in the ending days….
Dude if you can get ahold of a black hawk please don’t bother with the whole decapitation thing. While yes it can imobilize them, you would still need to go and shoot them in the head.
Anyways, I think that there is no perfect or even slightly decent way to wait out a zombie attack. But i recently visited a jail (cousin works there) and if there is ever an infection I am definitly going there. It is an older style so it has the big intimidating fences which as stated in Brooks book great against the undead. Personally I think word would get out and I would have time to get all necesary items like food, water, guns,ammo,vehicles,generators,etc.
Anyways once there are enough supplies there is no way that zombies are going to tear through steel,iron and concrete. And yes they might be able to form an undead stair case buteven then with all the gates locked there would still be a ton of fall back points from which you could dispatch them without the waste of ammo.
Hey guys, my 2 cents.
Zombies have physical limitations. But, they don’t have mind.
They can be the best predators on Earth (and I don’t think so), but they are just predators.
If you fear lions, you stay away from Africa. If you fear penguins, stay away from south pole. If you fear sharks, stick yourself to the sole.
I say if you fear zombies, I hope you don’t fear penguins too. Because without protections, and without warming abilities, they would be as dangerous as frozen trees.
I think Canada would be enough for you. But northen US or Europe states would anyway do the trick in just one year: even if the preserve their non-life under refrigeration, it would suffice a couple “hunt your zombie day”, say in December, to almost do the trick – and I don’t think the zombie traffic would be enough to refill, they seems to be pretty stationary.
Any question about surviving in permafrost lands? Just ask the locals ;)
What do you think about that?
About the “locals”, I subtended the key point: they ARE clean, just because zombies can’t physically reach them. And they know from long ages how to survive to their land. You would end to have an entire NATION of stocks + munition + … just PEOPLE :D
Human race will not extingue without a treat that can follow humans – and the only reachable place not colonized by humans are the abysses :D
BEWARE ZOMBIES! SWEDISH AND CANADIAN ARMY WILL FREAK YOU OUT!! :D
@Jaba: Good point. I think someone mentioned moving up north in the comments before you and we all figured this was a good idea.
Here is a question – would Canada allow hundreds if not thousands of potentially infected refugees stroll through their borders or would they try to stop people from going North?
I assume that if the Zombie plague reached them at the same time as US then they probably wouldn’t care either way – there’d be to much chaos to do anything. But, if the outbreak starts in US, in the middle of the summer and people start fleeing North they could potentially seal off border crossings and station their army all along the border stop the zombies and/or potentially infected people from getting in.
Permit me to answer with another question.
Do you think the state of Canada has an emergency plan in the case of zombies invasion from the south?
The question here is not “How would everybody survive”, but “How would YOU survive – what’s your plan”. I don’t think a lot of even northen americans would think to go even norther (is “norther” a word?? :P ), and anyway if they would I don’t think Canadian borders are ready to contain an invasion from the south of this dimension. They would have to mobilize the entire army, and this requires days. Even so, the border between US and Canada is incredibly – I mean, really, it’s very difficult to understand how much it’s – LONG. I don’t think you would have any problem in breaking the fences in an isolated place.
US have a very strong policy about immigration and emigration, so I bet their border controls are oversized for normal traffic. But Canadians have not this concern: from the south, there’s US doing controls, and east, west and north there’s ocean (and alaska, that’s US).
I don’t think they’re ready for a so incredible situation. Small groups would definitely break through isolated parts of the border, while the great mass of fear-crazy possibly infected citizen would try to pass through normal gateways – only to find Canadian army reinforcements.
Hey, I like this discussion. It’s a very very crazy problem, that makes you think to the limit. It’s an hard problem-solving quest this one! :D Thanks Luke!
Another point, Luke: I say Canada, just becausa Canada *cannot* be infected. Even in middle summer, if infection spreads in the south, just go to the north.
Let’s suppose the means to spread the infection. Let’s simply say, air, water and living things. Well, Canada is big enough to find a place where wind and water comes from the north. As for living things, you don’t have to worry about humans. Animals from milder climates in general, and wich don’t care about preservation, would simply become ice scultures – even in summer, if you go north (or even high) enough.
How much north, or high? Well, it’s not difficult: just enough for anything to be frozen. You don’t need the -20°C, you just need the 0°C. I don’t know about the climate in northern US in summer, but maybe in the right places you wouldn’t even need to leave the US.
How about surviving in such places? The trick here is that you’re not alone. This places are inhabitated, and locals cannot be contaged, as you would being here. Even if it would mean a technological jump back of a century, even if it would be a really hard life, would you prefere living in a town, surrounded by zombies?
One last word about the “let’s fight them back” comments. I won’t argue with you, I’d like the hunt me too very very much. Lots of targets, an excuse to use big weapons, patriotism everywere and so on.
But look at every, every zombies film. There everytime is a moment, a single moment, of risk. One, two, some times many instants, where a single false step would mean non-life, until someone shots your head – may be years.
Would you really risk that? A weapon that doesn’t work, a round blocked in the chamber, an unusual weapon that just you figure too late how to unsafe. You throw a granade in the middle of a group, just to discover you looted smoke granades. You pick up ammos, and their the wrong kind for your weapon of choice. You run 2 minutes with a 10 kilos load of iron – rifles and ammos -, and then you can’t no more and you’re surrounded.
In videogames, every character seems to be fully trained to use any weapon you find. In films, you have an expert (or maniac :P ) in every group. In real life, there’s no save game. Think about that.
The only persons that really would fight back, are soldiers. Well trained, well armed, move in packs, are ready anytime to everything.
Join the army tomorrow, or be prepared to run north, I say ^_^
@Jaba: Here is an interesting point: you say that the locals cannot be infected, but they can. You could easily bring the contagion to them. Let’s say one of the people in your party was bitten and hid it. You settle in a small snowy town way up north, and that person turns, bites few other people and you have your own mini outbreak going on.
The safety of that town relies on the fact that most zombies would freeze before reaching it. But once they are in, they could easily move from one heated building to another within town killing people.
Most movies imply that zombies have no self-preservation instinct so the hope is that sooner or later they would take to wandering the streets looking for pray and thus freeze. But there is always an off chance that some of them are still stuck in various buildings.
But this is not a rule. One could argue that Zombies would have some self preservation instinct. After all, all living animals have some thermal regulation fail safes hard-coded into their brains. If we assume that zombies are caused by a biological or chemical agent of some sort, that severely damages the frontal lobes and makes the victims revert to primal, predator/hunter mode and heightens their aggression (as opposed to magical un-life explanation) then chances are that the fear of freezing would still be there.
Thus we could see zombies hunting on schedules – congregating inside heated buildings to “thaw out” every once in a while. Either that or just lying in wait until something worthwhile comes along and then sprinting out into the cold.
If that was the case though the cleansing strategy would be pretty straightforward – cut the heat to any of the abandoned houses and wait. :)
:D ahahhaah, wonderful, wonderful! :D
Ok, any long-incubation disease can spread anywhere there are suitable hosts, even in the cold. But I think if there’s cold enough, and zombies can’t keep themselves warm, nor keep an abandoned house at best conditions, the infection can be circumscribed. There would be controls for anyone entering an house, looking for bites or scratches.
However, if zombies are at “I am legend” intelligence level (please, don’t tell me in the film they’re vampires and not zombies :D that’s the real difference between the film and the book, do you agree?), they could prepare themselves to survive even in cold environment.
Well, let’s wait this to happen, and let’s try! We are at the limit of design, now we have to step into implementation!
And, just for better security, I think I’ll join the Army… :P
@Jaba: Joining the army might be a bad idea though. Chances are you will be sent to infected areas on cleanse or control missions. You will be on the front lines so to speak and if the going gets tough you can’t just make a run for it. You will be bound to your unit, and if you have orders to hold a location you will be stuck there for a long time. Probably longer than the window of opportunity for escaping without a scratch is open for you.
Nah, I think it is far better to be a civilian – you retain your independence and mobility and no one will expect you to heroically stay behind and cover their backs while they retreat.
Also, note how in Zombie movies army people usually die early (more or less heroically) or end up serving under some megalomaniac officer who thinks the zombie outbreak is a good excuse to start up his own little military dictatorship going.
As I said, I’d do that for training, weaponry and first-impact survival…
Who said disertion? Man, it wasn’t me, sure! ;)
THE FINAL SOLUTION:
http://hackaday.com/2008/12/01/real-life-lancer/
We have a site that might interest you: Zombie Survival Forum . It’s a place where you can converse with other zombie fans.
We also have a comprehensive Zombie Survival Tips List if you would like to give it a read.
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hey all. i have to say, in all honesty, although survival in the cold, desolate, and supercold nothern regions of the world WOULD possibly work, why not try the tropics. I have to say, if you went to a rainforest, you would be quite hidden from the stupid zombie. all you would have to do is climb a tree, make some makeshift way of gettting around, plenty of food, plenty of water. however, this goes for if the infeciton only can effect humans, if not this plan is worthless, cause in all seriousness, viruses can evolve. Now if animals became infected, say goodbye to meat. floating corpses would flood the sea and unknowing fish would see it as free meal and then become infected themselfs, causing the ship in the sea plan to fail. In the northern reagon you would still have to worry about animals and birds if this were the case, but humanoid zombies are out of the question, like the tropics. Another good place would be the savanas in africa, despite the people, there are plenty of wildlife that could be used for food, and hopefully the spare waterhole. thats it for what i have to say. The prision idea is good if you have enough suplies by the way, and seriously, your not going to be surrounded unless your really obvious, aka shooting zombies that get close, loud and noticible. they would pass bye wihtout noticing anyway and you would be safe.
@ Alex:
Well, I picked North because that’s way closer to me than the tropics. Since I live in the tristate area heading towards Canada seems like a good choice. To get to the tropics I’d literally have to travel to a different continent (South America).
Also, tropics have their own problems – such as malaria for example. We also wouldn’t know if mosquitoes or common parasites can spread the Zombie plague and tropics swarm with insects.
Not to mention that I’d rather deal with a zombie moose, or a solitary zombie bear than worry about zombie monkeys, zombie snakes, zombie leopards and fucking zombie candiru (you know, the fish that swims up your urethra). :)
You go north into the colder regions because the zombies will freeze up. without a functioning circulatory system or a body temperature that is hot…the muscles and cells will simply turn to ice cubes.
all you need is max brooks zombie survival guide it tells you every thing you need to know the best weapons are a mechete a katana and a u.s
m-1 carbine
Near where I live is a Ministry Of Defence nuclear fallout bunker with around 25 years of food for 300 people + I live in a rural area so unless the outbreak is very near and fast im pretty much safe from any sort of zombie pileup + this is the best part. I know for a fact the fallout bunker is linked to 3 Nearby nuclear ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) silos and that bunker is designed to withstand a nuclear blast so if there is a zombie pileup, push a button and its gone! and the radioactive fallout would keep zombies away but the only problem is fallout can last for 1 century and that bunker has only 25 years of food so I would kind of have just pressed a button that would essentially starve or kill me by radiation.
Almost forgot its got 3ft thick concrete blast doors, 20 of them at just the entrance, lets see zombies get through that! >=D
I would get my stuff and head the warehouse at the front of my neighborhood. Get stuff from the corner store and the other houses. After that I will be bored so I would go and find some zombies to kill. If it happend in a hurry than I would get a baseball bat and kill some zombies.
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I for one think the best plan is to ambush other survivors and take their stuff. Stay mobile so nobody you’ve pissed off can find you and go around laying traps and reaping the rewards. You could support a lot of people like that.