what about the mountains

[Trin]

Look at the Ozark mountains. Very inhospitable to foot traffic. Decent climate. Good growing areas. Lots of fish/deer. Forest fires aren't really a problem. Good access to local colleges (cause you're gonna need educational books to transition from short to long term survival). Lots of little towns dotting the area for scavenging. Very few large towns or cities. There is a dam if you ever get to the point where you could consider power generation. A great deal of the area is interconnected via rivers which provide safe transportation. I don't see why setting up a base in the mountains precludes making runs into civilization. You don't have to be a mountain man survivalist guy. It's not like a zombie horde is going to follow you 50 miles through mountain roads. They aren't bloodhounds. And if they didn't stick to the roads they're just done. They won't be able to navigate the forests, hills, gullies, creeks, etc.

[FoodFight]

It's not like a zombie horde is going to follow you 50 miles through mountain roads. They aren't bloodhounds. And if they didn't stick to the roads they're just done. They won't be able to navigate the forests, hills, gullies, creeks, etc. Except that in 'Night' swarms were drawn to an isolated farmhouse with only a modicum of external stimulus. I doubt that anywhere in a Romeroesque universe would be truly 'safe', which leads to a deeper dimension to the horror.

[Slain]

If the hills/mountains are so great for surviving in, why did all local people living there get wiped out in the first place?

[FoodFight]

....because 'The Hills Have Eyes'.

[Slain]

....because 'The Hills Have Eyes'. Yeah, and weird shit happens up in 'em too

[Bone Daddy]

....because 'The Hills Have Eyes'. Oh, great, now have to worry about the cannibalistic living ah, I'm going to the moon...

[sandrock74]

Oh, great, now have to worry about the cannibalistic living ah, I'm going to the moon... Any astronauts and/or cosmonauts aboard the international space station would be safe.

[Bone Daddy]

Hopefully, in space, no one can hear you ...munch...!

[Slain]

The crew on the ISS would have to evacuate on the Soyuz space capsule they keep at the space station when their food ran out. I doubt a Soyuz capsule could be steered with the accuracy needed to land it on a small island, so these space travelers would be stranded on the mainland somewhere with little chance of rescue, no guns, and grossly weakened muscles from zero-gee living in space. Not exactly a situation I would like to be in.

[Trin]

Except that in 'Night' swarms were drawn to an isolated farmhouse with only a modicum of external stimulus. I doubt that anywhere in a Romeroesque universe would be truly 'safe', which leads to a deeper dimension to the horror. Every time I attempt to bring up the swarms in Night as proof that zombies can sense humans over long distances I get shouted down with people saying that the "isolated" farmhouse was probably really close to a more populated area. But I stand by my point. In the mountains the sparsity of population and the inhospitable terrain would be ample protection from hordes of zombies. If the hills/mountains are so great for surviving in, why did all local people living there get wiped out in the first place? Who says they did? No one went looking for them and even if they did it's unlikely someone who is good at surviving in isolation would come out at the first sign of humans.

[sandrock74]

In World War Z, the Rockie Mountains kept the american west coast reasonably safe from the big zombie hoedown. There is something to be said for natural barriers.

[FoodFight]

Every time I attempt to bring up the swarms in Night as proof that zombies can sense humans over long distances I get shouted down with people saying that the "isolated" farmhouse was probably really close to a more populated area. Night also showed that in one instance 3 zombies were trying to break into an empty shed. No humans there, so why did they do it? They also vacated the farmhouse even though Ben was only a short distance (in the cellar) from them. If they sensed his presence, it couldn't have been that enticing as they gave up in fairly short order. Further, they show even more unpredictability toward the end of the movie when they are faced with a great deal of stimulus (skirmish line of rednecks, truck traffic and the news helicopter) but move away from said stimulus, then immediately thereafter turn toward humans who are shooting at them. What I'm getting at here is that they show more randomness than they are given credit for and to my mind, it makes for a scarier ghoul who will show up on your doorstep when you least expect it.

[sandrock74]

Night also showed that in one instance 3 zombies were trying to break into an empty shed. No humans there, so why did they do it? They also vacated the farmhouse even though Ben was only a short distance (in the cellar) from them. If they sensed his presence, it couldn't have been that enticing as they gave up in fairly short order. Further, they show even more unpredictability toward the end of the movie when they are faced with a great deal of stimulus (skirmish line of rednecks, truck traffic and the news helicopter) but move away from said stimulus, then immediately thereafter turn toward humans who are shooting at them. What I'm getting at here is that they show more randomness than they are given credit for and to my mind, it makes for a scarier ghoul who will show up on your doorstep when you least expect it. Holy crap! In my 34 years on this planet, this has never occured to me! You're correct in your observations. The zombies almost seemed to be fleeing the rednecks, gunfire, barking dogs, and assorted vehicles. Almost like too much stimuli for them to process, so they just shambled along, unsure what to do.

[SRP76]

If one sees you, it will chase you pretty much forever, unless other food comes along to distract it. It doesn't need rest, and could give a damn about "inhospitable terrain". If you can get there, a zombie can get there. It's not like they're in cars, and need to stick to the road. And if another sees it roaming out into the countryside, it will follow. And another that sees that one. And on and on. Next thing you know, you've got a gang heading out to your "safe" area.

[Slain]

If anything the rough terrain in mountains would channelize the zombies and bunch them up, so it's a certainty they'll find any sort of normal habitation eventually. Sure people could lash themselves to a shear rock face like Half Dome in Yosemite, but what the hell are they going to eat up there? The natives in the mountains of Afghanistan could probably hold out for decades against the zombies, but these people are much more war like and heavily armed than most Americans--except maybe for Dick Cheney.