How to Survive a Zombie Epidemic.

[RedCydranth]

I've followed this topic since Bub created it the other day and its quite intriguing. While I assume most of you are jumping into the Romero world of zombies coming to life (a la Dawn of the dead, Day of the dead etc) we must plan for other possible scenarios. What if these Zombies are only living because some alien force has risen them? Is it plausible to just hole up with supplies or would it be wiser to find the head of the problem and neutralize that? Do we assume that the Zombies, once they bite you, infect you with a virus that WILL kill you and ultimately make you one of them, or will their bite be like a dog bite that can be shirked off? If we are dealing with the reamination of dead flesh, it never made sense to me that the brain would be the target of its demise. These beings aren't alive and thus the brain has minimal function. Simply lopping off their head shouldn't be enough to stop them if its truly reanimated flesh we are dealing with. It would definitely disable the zombie from biting, seeing hearing and such, but the rest of the body by all intents and purposes should be able to function.

But I'll play your game and leap into the Day of the Dead with you all. In fact, its rather funny that this topic come up because my friends and I once created a contingency plan for this. If this epidemic would indeed occur, the group of us (Tim, Paul, Patrick, Julie and I) would each have a job.

Job 1: Supply securing. OTwo people would go to the local supermarket and start killing everyone. Yes. They would beat the brains of every person they saw alive, because of these reasons. Its every man for himself in the store. Each person alive is a liability and potentially could be infected. Each person alive will waste resources that could otherwise be used for yourself. In a time of crisis like this, it is in reality trying to live as long as you can because as I see it, if zombies were to ever rise, it would literally mean the end of humanity. Kill the ones you don't trust.

Job 2: Weapons gathering. We have a hick store that sells a lot of guns and ammo. One person would go there and get as much ammunition there as possible and make peace with those inside. Offer to be an extra man in their army. Play them until the next part of the plan is completed. Ensure that guns and ammunition are not wasted needlessly.

Job 3: Transport. Once this epidemic spreads it will become neccessary to have a vehicle that can plow through the hordes of dead bodies, be strong ehough to resist the zombies who try to attack it and be large enough to carry what is neccessary. This, for all intents and purposes is either a Semi or a Bus. A semi is very hard to maneuver, and a Bus is less defended. But the Bus is what we chose becasue stealing a bus is a lot easier than finding a semi to heist. Locally we have a few Bus places. One person grabs a full bus and heads out as the transport.

Job 4: Defense. In order for the plan we created to go off without a hitch it is neccessary to create a barricade so that the Zombies can not get into where we live. Home Depot is the perfect place to get supplies of this nature. Again, peacefully trey and secure enough supplies for sufficient barrricading.

Phase 1: Secure the domicile: Early in the epidemic, there won't be a crazy amount of people as zombies so stealing the bus will not be a rough task. A simple lead pipe or blunt trauma inducing object will suffice for the person who steals the bus. While that person steals the bus the others go to their set places. The bus picks up the Ammunitions folk first. They load the entire contents of the stores ammunition and weapons into the bus and drive it to the supermarket where they'll join in with the hostile takeover of the supermarket, already in progress. At this point there will be the Bus driver, the 2 in charge of the supermarket takeover and the ammunitions guy untied. Also in our ranks will be the people who helped in taking over the store from the ammunitions store, our numbers will be roughly 10 strong, assuming we got 6 people from the gun store to help.

Phase 2: Thinning the numbers more: Once the Supermarket is cleared of the general population theyt doors of the suprmarket will be locked down and heavily guarded with heavy weapons to deter any other living from atempting to enter the store. Out back, in the store's loading bay the transport driver and three of the ammunitions folk move out and back into the bus (which has been emptied and all ammo and guns are withing hte store) loaded woth high powered guns of course, and move over to Home Depot. There they enter the store and take the supplies needed from the person we'd have stationed there. Load all the planks and such into the bus and head back to the Supermarket. While the Transport team is getting the stuff for the barricade, it leaves three of our side in the Supermarket with three of the ammunitions folks. The three of us in our team quickly kill the three from the ammunitions store. This will thin out our numbers more, but will allow us to live that much longer.

Phase 3: Creating the stronghold. Driving the bus back to the supermarket's loading bay we unload the supplies and lock the bay door again. We bring the supplies to the front and barricade the windows. If the other three from the ammunition store get suspicions (the bodies will have been removed by then by throwing them from the roof or whatever) we'll lie saying there were more people hiding within the store who snuck up on them and killed them or something. By this point it wouldn't matter because out numbers are higher than thiers and we'd kill them if need be. But the plan isn't to kill them until after the barricade is fully created. Once the barricade is created and its just the 6 of us, we'd have an entire grocery store full of food, a bathroom, plenty of room, ammunition and such to last us for quite a long time. The roof is flat so if anything were to happen, we'd have a sign up there saying we're in there.

Thats the jist of the plan should zombies ever actually exist, but its never going to happen and chances are if it ever did, we'd all die. Its fun to hypothesize though, or scary if you don't like the Romero world.

Hiding in your house really limits how long you'll live. Once the electricity goes out and you're in an attic, you've got nothing for light. You've got a very small pantry of supplies and even less after the spoilables spoil. I like the idea of hostily taking a place where food isn't an issue and making that the home and barricading it off. The way the supermarket in my town is designed it would totally work as there's only 1 entrance and exit to the building and all others can be forcibly locked with reinforced steel. I worked at the store so I know the ins and outs of it all.
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[Zachwie]

This was on another forum that I am on. Moderately entertaining, just for fun of course.


http://www.bordersmedia.com/shortlist/091406/wwz/

[Tullaryx]

That's very good and detailed plan you have there. You and your friends seem to be taking the route of becoming sort of static raiders than the mobile types. It's good that you and your friends see things in a logical and cold-hearted manner. Keeping your emotions in check and not allowing for sentimentality to affect your judgement is one of the keys to long-term survival.

Now, with the tactics you intend to use to survive and create a fortified haven of sorts, this will create conflict with everyone else you come across. For one, killing everyone at a supermarket store will be difficult at best (when the people in there put up no semblance of defense whatsoever) and suicidal at worst (if they do decide they don't want to be killed by you and your group they will fight back, or flee to find others to stop you). I think what will happen falls somewhere in-between. You may be able to take out a few with surprise on your side, but people will quickly fall into fight or flight instinct.

If the outbreak is still manageable and the spread of zombies are still kept within big cities and large population centers, then you'd have to contend with law enforcement units who are not dealing with local zombie sightings. And by this time, police officers will be more likely to shoot first and ask questions later. All it would take is for one or a couple people to escape your murderous spree in the store and give your description to law enforcement or vigilante groups. as Peter said in Dawn of the Dead: "you wanted a war, well you got one.".

As for befriending the people in the gunstore in your area and leading them along before their usefulness has run its course. Success in getting rid of them will hinge upon the fact that they will not suspect or be wary of any double-cross. In times such as a zombie outbreak, trust is really something that would be in short supply. Gun store owners and those who own businesses that has huge inventory of food and medical supplies would be some of the most distrustful people. They know that everyone will want what they have and most will not have any means to pay for it. Or give something in return. To a gunstore owner they may see leaving their business, which is usually fortified to a certain degree due to the inventory for sale, as something they don't want to do. they'll see their own place as defensible enough and the guns numerous enough to keep them safe until help arrives.

So, good plan, but it also brings up major problems that would tax everyone's attention, strenght, supplies and mental health. Sooner or later some other bigger group will come around with bigger and more guns. The battle that will ensue between your group and other violent, or desperate survivor groups, will lead more zombies into the area and add a new danger factor to everything.

Avoidance. Be inconspicuous. Do not attract attention of any kind. Minimize contact with other people not already part of your group.
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[Amyral]

[Tokuro]

Is all of this necessary? I don't really know about zombies as much as the other ones do, but I believe that no zombie epidemic would destroy mankind. That is simply because any shock trooper (I don't know if I am saying the right therm, so you know those guys that uses huge shield, thick armor and all...) would destroy them, since they are good to lead with a big number of weak fools. Their phalange strategy would be enough to defend themselves against zombies, and instead of clubs they would use a blade weapon.

As for me I guess that I would die really quick...I would do nothing but cry like a baby for hours and after that...don't really know. Guess those kind of strange things you can't predict or plan, let them act and I will react. Easy as that :mrgreen: .

[Tullaryx]

No individual soldier, or even a unit of special forces, will have a chance against thousands, tens of thousands of these things slowly, but surely encircling them. A soldier can only carry so much ammunition and all it takes is for one or two zombies to get close enough on their blindspot and it could be game over. The trick to combating such a menace is for everyone to set aside their differences, think with clear, rational heads and forget about emotions, sentiments and sense of decency when it comes to treating the dead.

Zombies, once they get to numbers the size of which any form of haphazard defense and resistance would be the only army in history to conduct "total war". They don't need food other than human flesh they seem to want. Water is not needed. Detrimental weather doesn't affect them other than freezing them where they stood. They don't need rest. Once their attention has be focused on you they will follow you and bring thousands of their friends until you either lose them, succumb to ennui and just end it all, or stop and go down fighting.
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[Timbo]

[Bub]

[Vextor]

My answer is "move to Japan." Japan is an island, and it's been the practice there for centuries to cremate dead people. Thus, there'd be very few zombies in existence--enough for the police to take care of.

Although there are other nations that have had the Buddhist practice to cremate their dead, nations such as Thailand are on the same continent as other nations that have traditionally buried their dead. Thus, it won't be as safe there.

[Bub]

[Tullaryx]

I won't disagree with what you're saying since they have their own merits. You see things unfolding with a much more optimistic point of view. Where as I look at this hypothetical situation through the lens of a worst-case scenario. My choice of using the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is more to show how a break down of law and order can lead to chaos quickly. It's actually a very apt example since it was an event that showed just how unprepared the government (local, state and federal) was to deal with the problem.

My worst-case scenario where the epidemic rages from coast to coast and ocean to ocean is not a far-fetched idea. Viral and bacterial strains are much easier to spread than a hundred years ago. At the turn of the past century when the 1900's first began, an epidemic of an undead plague would've remained in the region it first flares up in due to the modes of transportation to get from side of the ocean to another. The ground zero origina of such a plague may wreak havoc on the country of origina but it would most likely stay there and, at worst, spread to the borders of neighboring nations. Example would be China. At the turn of the last century it would've been inconceivable for such a plague to go from China to the coasts of the North American continent. I'm not saying it would never arrive but it would be awhile and news of such a crisis would've made it to American shores and give people time to prepare to defend and fight.

Now let's fast-forward to the 21st century. The most common way to travel from nation to nation is by jetliner. It now takes hours what used to take days, if not weeks, for people to go from country to country. If a major outbreak occurs in countries like China, North Korea, the former Soviet Republics, and any one of numerous nations that tries to control the flow of information, there will always be a chance that infected, but still haven't turned, individuals will flee pogroms of cleansing. They may not think to believe that their wounds are fatal and thus spread the plague to other regions once they do succumb. These nations will not want to disclose just exactly the problem they're having to the outside world. To do so may be seen as a weakness for their enemies to exploit. Look how long it took China to admit that they had a major SARS outbreak in Hong Kong and the neighboring port cities nearby. This information blackout could lead to infected people fleeing to the West and Europe to escape, unknowingly bringing the contagion with them.

Another way that a plague of this magnitude could spread so quickly without having it stopped right from the beginning is the distrust people have when it comes to information disseminated by the government and the media. If I said right now that Bush was about to make an announcement to the country that a new crisis has landed on our shores and that crisis is of the recently dead reanimating back to life to attack the living how many would laugh it off and who would automatically disbelieve Bush. Then compound that with random reports of such attacks, but little else as local, state and federal agencies try to minimize the amount of info released. Most agencies will do this to make sure panic doesn't set in due to unconfirmed and unsubstantiated reports. The government will pass along just enough info to satisfy the population as they try to work on a solution. Example would be all the bird flu warnings from last year. Does anyone here actually learn anything concrete about that disease from the government and the news media? I know I didn't and was confused by the different accounts depending on who was talking. I see the same happening if, and when, such a zombie plague hits not just this nation, but the world as a whole.

then there's the factor of how to combat such outbreak in the beginning. Unless people knew right away how to deal with such creatures, there'll be period of time when fighting these creatures will go through a trial-and-error period. It will be during this time period when things come to head. If law enforcement and military personnel do not learn how to properly deal with these creatures and defend themselves from infection then their numbers could be decimated from false information brought down to them. Then there's medical and emergency services. They'll be the first to bear the brunt of a major outbreak within a major population center. People in the beginning wouldn't know what to believe about bites causing infection. Some wouldn't want to anyway if it was true. To do so is to admit that a simple bite has become an automatic death sentence.

Can anyone here truely turn in family members who have been infected, but still alive, to official disposal teams? Can you do the right thing and put down your father, mother, sibling, wife, etc... if and when they turn? Even hypothetically speaking its not a nice thing to think about. Like I said, the way they'll spread will not be one here and two there. It will be exponentially. Factor in the Great Panic that'll ensue (term created by Max Brooks) as the public reacts to the growing crisis with little information to go by and those information given either faulty or unconfirmed.

Even with my pessimistic view of how people would react, I can't see humanity becoming extinct. Those survivors who live through the Great Panic and make it to fortified regions where the government still runs things with the military (those still left) finally adapting to the nature of their enemy, will be the hardcore. They will finally be the ones to unite under one goal. But I fear that it'll take the deaths of millions before that will happen.

Again, my tips and views are through the lens of the worst-case scenario. I factor in the negative aspects of the nature of man, while you put faith in the positive things man has done in terms of evolving into a civilized race. It's a good thing it's just a hypothetical exercise in race survival. If such an event ever did come to pass I wonder which viewpoint will be the more accurate.
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[Delsaber]

Hmm, my prefered course of action would probably follow closely to my ideas for post-nuclear survival: get a few people together who I can trust, fight through the looters and other rabble (in this case zombies) to secure as many supplies and weapons we can carry, and find an easily-defensible location where we can hole-up for as long as possible. One of the smaller elementary schools in the area would be a safe bet, as would the local theatre.
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[Thor McOdin]

You all kind of ignored my zombie essay. It's cool. It's not like I spent time on it or anything...you know...like almost submitted it to a magazine. Yeah...don't worry about me. I'm fine. When the zombies are killing you all, I'll still be alive and kicking. Me? Bitter? No...I'm not bitter. Just...really hurt.

*Runs to bathroom, crying like a schoolgirl*
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[Bub]

ZOMG I think that Thor just said that he was a zombie!!!

Kill him!! Go for the brain!!!!

:D
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Kooluk's Resident Drunkard.

[Rune hunter]

Hehe i would survive a zombie epedemic using what i learned from playing resident evil :*laugh*: . First secure weapons, get a vaccine to the virus, get to a helicopter and get someone to bomb the zombie infested areas.

Assuming the epedemic is on an apocaliptic scale i would do what people did in the resident evil movie. Id move north to alaska or maybe antartica. Reason, the less people living in a certain places means there would be less dead hence less zombies.

BTW thor S.T.A.R.S didnt technically fail to end the zombie infestation. True raccoon city was too far gone to be saved but at least the were able to shut umbrella down and prevent a global outbreak. Another note i dont think you have to be the greatest at shooting people in the head to stop the zombies. Resident evil outbreak showed how even geeky people like Yoko were able to survive the outbreak.