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Yeah, I've been through my plan in my head long before now. Goes towards saying something about my personality possibly.

My house (Or flat rather) is easily defendable against zombie threat. Be it the slow undead kind or the quick rabid virus kind. I figure we have enough supplies in the form of tinned foods and bottled drinks to hold out for about 3 weeks. So supplies aren't a problem. I also have radios with a 5 mile transmission radius and over 300 channels, so I can pick up any nearby military units to call for help.

Weapon of choice would be a one-handed sword, with a bit of weight behind it. I'm thinking broadsword. I plan on buying one soon anyway. 'Til then, my black tanto'll have to do. On hand, for anyone else I happen to be zommie fightin with, I have 2 cricket bats, and a large number of golf clubs. (Wouldn't trust a gun as far as I could throw it)

Good tactical positions are available, the best of which being the largest bedroom in the house, which has one sturdy door (with lock). This door doesn't open directly into the bedroom, but rather forces any possible assailants into a bottleneck. Also available is a LOT of very heavy furniture, and a large bookcase which perfectly wedges behind the door. It also has a cupboard which contains the water tank, so fresh water isn't a problem from that position.

This room is on the 3rd floor, and the window is not reachable from below. However, if you were to jump from the window, it would be possible to land on the balcony below without sustaining anything more than trivial injury (And even then, only if you didn't know how to fall properly). From there, it's possible to jump onto the neighbour's shed, then into the garden respectively. That makes for an easy escape route if worst comes to worst, and evacuation is neccessary. I have a substantial amount of gunpowder, my dad brews his own beer and I have a nice amount of spirits, so any remaining undead'll be having molotov cocktails for their nightcap.

Other viable locations for holing up involve the police station and fire station, which are just at the end of my road. ( Heck, they're just at the end of Claude's road too, we'd probably run into each other...assuming he's not an undead by then. In which case, sorry Claude, but you're becoming another red stain on my shirt).

Preferable would be the fire station, as I already know the layout of the building. Also full of axes and such, and a full powered hose could easily dispatch a large crowd of the zommies. Disable the stairs, and the only way up or down is the fireman's pole, which I somehow don't see the undead using, especially if it's coated with fire extinguisher foam.

Plus I think it helps that the way I want to die is screaming and covered in my own blood, so Zombies wouldn't be a particular worry. None of that wussy "died in his sleep" business for me.

Thread over.

I have to assume that the zombies are in fact, not magically animated. They still obey the laws of physics, for example.

That being the case, they're basically dumb, slow, weak, moving local sources of infestation. There's a whole lot of them. They are apparently hungry for brains, and can withstand any amount of damage, so long as that damage doesn't affect their brains.

That means, their brains are controlling their bodies. Or whatever is controlling them, is controlling their brains, which in turn is controlling their bodies.

If I found myself in that kind of situation, I would get a lot of batteries and a lot of tasers. I suspect tasers would work on zombies. I would find a hummer or other vehicle that might reasonably keep rolling despite having a load of zombies on it, and I would get to the Mississippi river.

Once there, I would secure a boat, preferably one with fishing gear, and get out into the water. A zombie probably can't swim, the current is strong, and the water is deep. I'd take the Mississippi out to the Gulf of Mexico, and from there... either go for an oil rig (which has food, and is not likely contaminated) or go up and down the coast stealing gas or better boats and food until...

... the zombies simply rotted away, in a few weeks time.

also of note, if i were to hold up in the med center where i work, there are many many interesting and if properly combined explosive chemicals at my disposal.

I think barbed wire would be invaluable help.
At the very least, it should slow them down to crawl, if not entangle them permanently.
Then you can use a flame thrower- magical, genetical or whatever, the zombie will be neutralised.

The only chance of zombies to break through, is if they attack in large numbers. First wave would get trapped in the wire, but the next wave could walk over them, get stuck a bit further, and so on.
But if the first wave was on fire...

(BTW, notice that using a flame thrower when the zombie is not immobilised may prove to be hazarous, so flamethrowers are just for defence.)

There is a medieval castle near my house, that should make a decent defense spot, it was designed to defend against attacker with no ranged weapons, so it'd do great agains zombies. A small team of people could defend from an army of them there.

Heavy use of slings is suggested so that you can simply drop an expended firearm and draw a new one. Reloading takes time and should only be done in a secure location.

Not really a good idea, IMHO.
Reloading isn't really that slow.
Sure, one spare gun is a must, in case of a weapon jam, or a pistol to supplement a rifle. Two spares are optional.
Beyond that, you're weighting yourself with useless chunks of steel.

Since we're talking about weapons, I'm not 100% sure military equipment would be the best. The thing is expanding bullets are banned by Hague Convention and hence military ammo uses FMJ bullets- that have less "stopping power", and furthermore are often designed to pierce body armor, so they would fly through the zombies, damaging organs on the way, but it's not like they care.
You want hollow point ammo - the stuff used by police, hunters and for personal defence.

Tasers sound good, they should stun a zombie just like a human. But still they are close range so a last resort, and the efect is temporary.

A car is a must.
For defence on regular trips for stuff, I'd take two SMGs, like say, two uzis, a taser, and an axe (I doubt I can find a good quality sword, though, I could try in the museum of Japanese art... hmm), and a car full of teammates.
For offence, like clearing some areas of zombies, rescue missions and the like a rifle and some grenades in addition to that.

Rickford wrote: I have 2 cricket bats, and a large number of golf clubs. (Wouldn't trust a gun as far as I could throw it)

put some of those suckers into socks and use it as a blunt swinging weapon.

i dunno, its hard trying to imagine you giving zombie defense advice with your current avatar.

Levi-chan wrote:

Thread over.

WINNAH

my plan: throw things out the top window, and barricade all the freakin french windows. We have 7 of the bastard things... AND the giant front windows. christ this place isnt safe, I'd make a run for the old dairy, a large spacious pub round the corner, close to two supermarkets. Weapon of choice would be Roy's floorbuffer. It's sitting in the corner of my room right now, just in case. I'd takes that and keep my mum's battery powered screw driver on hand.

I'd estimate my chances of survival to be very low. so yeah, I'll see you later Rick.

Got supplies 'cuz we're used to being prepared for hurricanes down here. And got metal shutters for the windows so I doubt zombies could through (they're meant to stop high velocity projectiles). And there's a safe spot I could use to get out and flee if needed (I'd keep a backpack of supplies ready.) Weapon would be aluminum baseball bat or shovel unless I could find an axe or something. And behind my house is a small canal I could swim across, probably enough to impair zombie movement to some degree. So, overall I think I'd be fairly okay.

My survival tip: eat your frozen foods first, and quickly. You could lose electricity at any moment and once you do all your cold stuff is gonna go bad.

*sits next to LibertyCabbage in the frozen food section, sharing cookie dough icecream*

Swikan wrote:*sits next to LibertyCabbage in the frozen food section, sharing cookie dough icecream*

One of the best parts of hurricanes is we eat up all the ice cream we beforehand since we assume it's gonna go bad otherwise. Mmmmm.

Well, I myself plan on becoming one with them.

I would certainly not stay in my house. We've got two gigantic pictue windows in our living room, and several sliding glass doors. My door is also broken. It's a friggin' de4thtrap. I would probably find a guy who goes to my school called Jordan, who's in the Cadets, and get him to take me to the arsenal. I would then go to our local fire station. Come on, axes and fire hoses? Sweet.

Scratch the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Man has 3 power stations (one of them hydroelectric), a more substantial agricultural presence, a larger shipping presence, a single decent sized airport and best of all, a population half that of the Isle of Wight.
At most 75,000 zombies to worry about.

YarpsDat wrote:I think barbed wire would be invaluable help.
At the very least, it should slow them down to crawl, if not entangle them permanently.

Goooood idea.

YarpsDat wrote: Tasers sound good, they should stun a zombie just like a human. But still they are close range so a last resort, and the efect is temporary.

There are tasers that fire either a non-wired projectile, or wired hooks. The first isn't short range at all, the second is short-ish range, but further than a bite or grab, and can fire multiple bursts of electricity into the target. You could hook these to thin wires on the outside of your car to provide shocks to anything that tries to come up close, or use it to take down your just-bitten friend, in the hopes you can save him later.

rkolter wrote:

YarpsDat wrote: Tasers sound good, they should stun a zombie just like a human. But still they are close range so a last resort, and the efect is temporary.

There are tasers that fire either a non-wired projectile, or wired hooks. The first isn't short range at all, the second is short-ish range, but further than a bite or grab, and can fire multiple bursts of electricity into the target. You could hook these to thin wires on the outside of your car to provide shocks to anything that tries to come up close, or use it to take down your just-bitten friend, in the hopes you can save him later.

The problem with a taser (the hook variety) is that it's a one shot thing, so only really any good against one zombie (though maybe more if you're carrying several). And against the kind of zombies we're typically considering, there isn't much need for a single shot ranged debilitating weapon. I suppose a stun gun could have some use a last ditch protection against zombies, particularly one with longer reach like a stun baton.

LibertyCabbage: My 10 years in Florida have prepared me well for Zombies, then.

Speaking of being prepared for zombies, we teased those who have thought of it in such detail, but my son just told me about THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE. This guy wrote a whole book on it! HAHAHA!

I'd probably try to find out if the current zombie infestation is a metaphor for a new social order devouring the older, and see if there's some logical place to avoid all that. Or possibly become a zombie because of that. I'm all about social change!

Zombie movies have taught ME that the only place truly safe from zombies is a place where you can surround yourself with rednecks with guns. Which, perhaps not coincidentally, is the center of social change avoidance.

If I did have to get holed up somewhere, I'd probably try to form some contingency plan for destroying my body utterly if I get fatally wounded. Dying is bad enough, but dying and then having to get up and do stuff again? Hunting brains sounds like hard work! No thanks, I want a little less out of my permanent retirement!



A lot of my plans seem to involve me dying or surrounding myself with rednecks.

. . . I may need some better plans.

I have actually read the zombie survival guide and I've formed a plan.

1. I am pretty good with melee weapons including a sword, knives, staff, pole arms, and bludgeons. With guns I'm a bit rusty but in close quarters guns will probably just get you killed anyway.

2. Identify the outbreak. Small scale outbreak in rural area. It's best to either hole up in a defensible position such as a second story of a home or apartment with the stairs cut off, or some manner of complex that can be sealed. Underground isn't a very good idea as it makes escape impossible if the outbreak should escalate. If you choose not to fortify then you should sweep. That is join a milita and assist in annihilating the zombie threat. This means hunting down and killing every single zombie in the area, as well as infected individuals and destroying the corpses. Sweeping needs to be complete and total. Even one zombie survivor can lead to another outbreak. This means some good amount of record checking to account for all missing individuals.

If it's a more severe outbreak it's best to get out of the area. If you leave at the first signs of an outbreak before major evacuations begin you stand a good chance. if you've waited too long it may actually be better to fortify and wait for evacuees to clear out. But in this case the roads will be clogged with abandoned vehicles and the undead, so you'll be making your exodus on foot.

3. Choose a place to flee too at the outset. Your best choices are either harsh wilderness such as the Yukon or antarctic though both present survival problems in themselves, or an uninhabbited island. Don't go picking a tropical paradise either. Zombies don't need to breathe and can eventually walk across the ocean floor and begin infecting individuals in your new home. Rather it's better to choose an island that's difficult to reach, had high sheer cliffs and no beach. This is a pretty much perfect zombie free location as long as you were smart enough not to bring any infected with you. The undead can't climb after all, so from your harsh rocky island fortress you can survive indeffinately assuming the land and sea provide enough food and shelter. Enjoy your zombie free existence. In 20 years time it should be safe to return to mainland where the zombies and subsequent generations of zombies should have all decayed to dust, and given the last survivors a chance to come together and start to rebuild.

4. A vehicle is probably a very bad idea. As mentioned above everyone is going to have the same idea leaving roads clogged and unusable, additionally this forces you to find more fuel. Without power most stations won't be able to pump gas, and the gas in the tanks will actually decay and become useless very quickly. Off-roading until you're clear of urban areas however may be possible in the short term, eventually you're going to be walking, and securing a seaworthy vessel is going to mean going back into a populated area.

Initial contact:
Barricade the living space as much as is possible (beds & tables tipped up in front of windows, stairways blocked by as much junk as humanly possible).
Gather necessary kit and gear for quick and easy retrieval in an escape and evade scenario. Sleeping bags, clothes to deal with cold and wet weather, change of underwear for two or three days of heavy activity (particularly important be socks), running shoes that can handle getting soggy, rations for a couple of days at a running pace at least, as much potable water as can be carried comfortably.
Once the kit is prepped, continued reinforcement of barricades and communications, try to gather intel and survivors (if several survivors turn out to be barricaded nearby, abandon ship with the kit and join them, strenght in numbers [and in a worse case scenario, all you have to do is outrun the slowest members of the team]).

Defence and escalating engagement:
Once the barricades start coming under attack, evaluate the situation and prepare to slip away at earliest oppurtunity, the barricades are only there to give you time to prepare. If possible try to get additional advantages to mobility (bike, car or other vehicle) in preparation for the next phase.

Escape and evasion:
An escape route plotted, get out and try to follow it as much as possible, don't bother hiding, just put distance between self and Z's.
If Z's are slow, go for rough terrain.
If Z's are runners, go for open ground in a vehicle, if vehicle is unavailible, rough terrain and pray.

Initial objectives of E&E:
1. Arm yourself or find company of armed survivors. Target is to seek shelter at the local military airbase (distace <2 km) or Police station (distance <3km). If shelter turns out to be overrun, take a long way round and try to wait for the Z's to move on, then get back in there and loot.
Ideal armament would be an AR or SMG, military weapons are not ideal for Z's shooting, but the aim is not to kill as many as possible, just to be able to kill individual Z's and cause a delay while retreating (tactically).

2. Find somewhere concealed (from a Z's standpoint at least) to store food and heavy materiel (so as to not have to lug around with it all). Ideally there'd be provisions to make facilities for rest nearby (but not in the actual storage location, to prevent Z damage on the stores, should they stumble on the resting place while occupied). Hoard supplies.

3. Stay on the move in the woods. Go for distance from occupied areas and try to think like a Z and do the opposite. Wilderness survival helps a lot and it's very hard to get mobbed by Z's when they'd have to spread out to have reasonable odds of finding you. Outrun mobs and outfight individuals (if armed).

Final objectives:
1. Set up camp in as surviveable and defendeable position as possible, preferably remote, Large stockpile of supplies necessary, live concealed, Z's won't come after what they don't know about.
Go back to initial contact and start preparations over again for worst case scenario, always be ready to scram if detected.

2. Get more intel, working radio. Try to gain contact with larger enclaves of survivors to coordinate evacuation and/or anti-Z patrols. Do not actively participate in anti-Z activities, but offer supplies for those who do (that way, they take all the risks and I reap much of the benefits, plus I get early warning for increases in Z activity).

3. Wait and live.

Of course, the ideal, anti Zombie hardware, In My Humble Opinion, is a Main Battle Tank or an Armoured Personell Carrier, or hell, just about any heavy duty vehicle, preferably military.
You don't even need it to be armed to fight Z's, just fuel her up, hatch down and bolt the hatches, point towards enemy and step on the accelerator.
If it's armed, so much the better, then you can set up a perimeter should you run into engine trouble (though, for god sakes, don't man unprotected machineguns and the like when crushing Z's beneath your treads or tyres).
As for a defensible position, troop mines or defence charges (remote controlled troop mines) make a good Z' deterrent/early warning.
If you don't have troop mines, and can't make any, alarm/warning mines will do, or some other type of improvisation with a tripwire and something to make noise and/or light.
Once the mines go off, you set off the defence charges, pick your kit up and run in the opposite direction.

The key to surviving Z's is boring, exhausting and very uncomfortable: Stay away, stay hidden, stay alive.