What's your method of escaping to somewhere safe?

[Ov3rlord]

My plan is to take the Solid Snake approach, I get a cardboard box with some eyeholes. On the outside I write "No humans inside/Ningunos seres humanos adentro". The zombies seeing this will have no clue I'm stealthily Making my escape. How bout the rest of you.

[SymphonicX]

I'd paint my face green/grey and walk slowly....but will avoid saying "brains" cos that's just stupid.

[Trencher]

Rollerblades and plate armour!

[Bub666]

My plan is to take the Solid Snake approach, I get a cardboard box with some eyeholes. On the outside I write "No humans inside/Ningunos seres humanos adentro". The zombies seeing this will have no clue I'm stealthily Making my escape. How bout the rest of you.

:lol:
I don't think that would work.But it is a good idea.

[GhastlyJoker]

Shelter

I would not attempt escape. I live in a small town and will live it up like the hillbilly I've become. My neighbors will fortify themselves in their home or they'll go on the road. If they do that, I'll ask for the house keys and I'm going to chop down all their trees to make a tower and a wall. There will be a draw bridge that is operated via trucks with chains. From there, I am going to dig until I hit ground water and I'll make a natural well. Dig out in front of the wall to create a large ditch about 15 feet deep with concrete coating the inside to prevent them from contaminating the water or digging their way out. Weapon shops would probably be raided quite a bit so I'd probably get what I can from the shop up the road and look through houses some more.

Food

I'd go house hunting to get supplies and such. Vegetation is important, so I'll make use of the home and smash the basement concrete and replace with soil. For lighting and electricity I would use a turn crank generator to get the big lights to keep the crops growing year round.

Clothing

For clothing, people really should've packed their own but whatever, we can go house raiding to get clothes. Once in awhile, hit up a city and carry semi automatics and shotguns. No pistols, too big a crowd to be using them. In the meantime, I'd probably get wood from Home Depot, get other supplies from Wal-Mart and The Mall if they haven't become infested or raided. I'd look for survivors as well. Knowing the situation, citizens would more than likely go to Wal-Mart, Home Depot, The Mall or The Schools for shelter and I may pick up a few or bargain for supplies.

Smokes

I'd have marijuana growing along with the crops. It's not really a pothead thing but more of something to steady the nerves without having to become addicted to cigarettes or have to pop pills. I'm not a pharmacy, nor do I want to guess and check.

Vehicles and Gas

If my crank generator idea doesn't work, I'll be siphoning gas from cars. This should allow for enough gas for electricity to get running or to give our cars some juice.

[SymphonicX]

hmm I think realistically I'd probably just board up my flat and stick it out - I can easily get to the rooftops of the other buildings as a couple of my windows have another flat roof below them (makes an awesome mid-summer chill out area)...and Tesco is down the road so....

[Bub666]

I'd have marijuana growing along with the crops. It's not really a pothead thing but more of something to steady the nerves without having to become addicted to cigarettes or have to pop pills. I'm not a pharmacy, nor do I want to guess and check.


:shifty:
Yeah,just something to steady the nerves.

[MaximusIncredulous]

Jet-pack:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ndfprs2SSc8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ndfprs2SSc8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Banzai pus heads!

[Ov3rlord]

*Note to self move in with Ghastly*

Steady your nerves or sell it, marijuana would be even harder to come across than cigarettes you'd be the Bill Gates of supplies in zombie world.

[RustyHicks]

I would travel under ground,
using the old sewer systems,
may be smelly but it might do
the trick. I would try and set
up camp in a Wal-mart or a mall,
I am such a copy cat

[GhastlyJoker]

*Note to self move in with Ghastly*

Steady your nerves or sell it, marijuana would be even harder to come across than cigarettes you'd be the Bill Gates of supplies in zombie world.

lol, If you live in North Easter Ohio then you're in luck :D.

Nah, I wouldn't say it'd be harder to come across. Cigarettes that are manufactured are cut off, no one to make and sell. But, tobacco and marijuana can be grown but I prefer not to be addicted to nicotene.

Everyone seems to have a very basic idea of what they will be doing when (hopes it will)/if this happens. I think the question we need to ask ourselves is "can we really do this?" I mean, I'm young, I'm not going to do this **** by myself obviously but I'm sure survivors will be with me. I can fortify my home if necessay but it's refered that I make my own fort. I mean, every home has flaws to it, but when your building plan is to survive the living dead, you are forced to think about how to prevent those things from getting in.

I benefit where city dwellers do not, thankfully. I have woods that I can use to my advantage. I am able to cut down trees and create a basic fort. After doing that, I can use materials that people would consider junk otherwise. boxsprings as a fence, hook a car charger up to it and you get a zombie roaster. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if a family took refuge in their kid's tree house.

[Bub666]

I would travel under ground,
using the old sewer systems,
may be smelly but it might do
the trick.

I've always wondered why no one ever went in the sewers,in zombie movies.

[GhastlyJoker]

Because, you'd get bottlenecked easily. Sewer systems could be tightly packed, not very good when surrounded. That and there's no good water down there. I'd rather survive in a crackhouse than in a sewer.

[MoonSylver]

Catch a ride with a friend...he's got this he-lo-copter to one of those shopping malls, the big fancy indoor jobs;)

[Wyldwraith]

Ghastly,
You hit a nail on the head I've been sort of conceptually groping around for. Look at the threads where people talk about just blithely jogging down a street and dodging/weaving amongst the living dead to avoid them.

Think about that. You're six to eight feet from an obviously dead person, who's reeking so bad they're making your eyes water, and you can tell the only thing they're interested in is getting a hold of you. It'd be even worse if you'd already seen them get some other poor s.o.b.

How easy would it really be for the average person to cope with that? Or being inside your house and seeing some insanity (what it looks like to you) being broadcast live from Channel X Action News, and then looking out a window to see a few of your dead neighbors staggering up your lawn towards the house.

People can say they've thought about it, and they'd be able to deal with it, but speaking for myself I'm not so sure I wouldn't freeze up. I just hope to God I have my deer-in-the-headlights moment and get past it without being eaten/infected.

Sorry for the rambling nature of the post. Just had that notion spurred forwards when I saw your post.

What do you think?

[Ov3rlord]

I agree Wyld those that say they would see it on the news and already be halfway to Juno are complete liars. With the shows and the way everything is I'm willing to bet most would either ignore it and change the channel, think it's an ad for a new show, or something along those lines. This isn't saying that people are completely unprepared, quite the opposite. I'm sure there would be those prepared it's just most wouldn't know to act when the shtf.

P.S. Ghastly I'm in south eastern PA about a day's drive away. I'll be bringing the booze, wings and pizza. :D

[Bub666]

Think about that. You're six to eight feet from an obviously dead person, who's reeking so bad they're making your eyes water, and you can tell the only thing they're interested in is getting a hold of you. It'd be even worse if you'd already seen them get some other poor s.o.b.

How easy would it really be for the average person to cope with that? Or being inside your house and seeing some insanity (what it looks like to you) being broadcast live from Channel X Action News, and then looking out a window to see a few of your dead neighbors staggering up your lawn towards the house.

People can say they've thought about it, and they'd be able to deal with it, but speaking for myself I'm not so sure I wouldn't freeze up. I just hope to God I have my deer-in-the-headlights moment and get past it without being eaten/infected.

I agree.I think most people wouldn't be able to handle that.

[sandrock74]

I'd like to think I could handle whatever whackiness comes my way due to the dead rising, but in reality, while I am sure I could adapt and survive a while, I'm sure I would just end up capping my own ass.

Who really wants to live in a world that has been overrun with zombies? What are you gonna do, go forth and multiply? You really want to bring kids into that kind of world?

I'd just carve my name onto a bullet, lock myself into a room and BANG!

[Yojimbo]

I agree Wyld those that say they would see it on the news and already be halfway to Juno are complete liars. With the shows and the way everything is I'm willing to bet most would either ignore it and change the channel, think it's an ad for a new show, or something along those lines. This isn't saying that people are completely unprepared, quite the opposite. I'm sure there would be those prepared it's just most wouldn't know to act when the shtf.

P.S. Ghastly I'm in south eastern PA about a day's drive away. I'll be bringing the booze, wings and pizza. :D

Off topic for a bit: Ov3rlord, did you finally see the DOTD 78?

[Legion2213]

I've always wondered why no one ever went in the sewers,in zombie movies.

Well, they did use the sewers a bit in Dawn 04, but I think that once all the pumping equipment was down (within days I suppose) that they would be flooded up pretty bad, and as Ghastly J says, if you get zeds coming from two directions, you are royally f**ked....there is also the fact that you could get horribly lost down there or pick up some seriously nasty infections and/or diseases.


I'd like to think I could handle whatever whackiness comes my way due to the dead rising, but in reality, while I am sure I could adapt and survive a while, I'm sure I would just end up capping my own ass.

Who really wants to live in a world that has been overrun with zombies? What are you gonna do, go forth and multiply? You really want to bring kids into that kind of world?

I'd just carve my name onto a bullet, lock myself into a room and BANG!

This is a great post and something I've often pondered, survivors of catastrophies generally hope to rebuild their lives after the initial onslaught of plagues, earthquakes, wars etc, zombie armageddon is different, they could be around for decades after the initial outbreak. Grim stuff.

[Ov3rlord]

Ya I finally got a chance to see it on youtube. Easily became one of my favorites.

[Bub666]

Ya I finally got a chance to see it on youtube. Easily became one of my favorites.

:D
I'am really happy you finally got the chance to see it.

[Skippy911sc]

My home was built by a survivalist so it is designed differently than most. I have 55 acres all fenced by 6 foot high chain link with barb wire on top. in order to enter the acreage you must drive across a bridge or walk through water. The house has a turret at the top so you can see the whole area and the home itself is fortified with these large gate like doors that have the large steel arms that lock them closed. So no-one could get to the upstairs. I own a back-hoe so digging trenches would be a snap and the pond is relatively clean but I also have several wells around the property for water. I own several firearms as well as off road vehicles and ATVs. the closest neighbor is almost a mile away. The property has a ton of these horrible Locust trees with thorns that are around 2-3 inches,(easily go through a tractor tire), so building a defensive position from raiders using these trees would be easy. The entence is gated with a large iron gate that could be padlocked, I used to use a krypton lock from my bicycle until I fixed the electric gates. I feel pretty safe at home, but getting the rest of the people here would be more difficult.

[Mike70]

i would use some of the students (not any of the hot females though) as human shields as i made my way back home. once there i wouldn't be in too bad a shape. lots of guns, supplies and hueston woods is right down the road from me.

hardly anyone dies in oxford, of the 22,000 people in town, 15,000 of them are college students. so i don't think the zombie population would be very big here to start off and most of the students would flee in an attempt to get home. in addition to that, the next town of any size at all is 15 miles away.

there was a thread a bit ago that turned into a giant discussion about how oxford would be the perfect place to face something like this. there are 2 or 3 other board members that live in or near oxford.

[Ov3rlord]

Lol, Scip you forgot on top of the supplies and guns the non-human shield students (hot chicks) are with you as well. I can see you are a great tacticionist not unlike that of Sun Tzu. :lol:

[Mike70]

hey, there will always be room at my place for some oxford honies looking to escape the apocalypse. believe me man, oxford has more hot women per square meter than just about any other place in north america.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Well if you wanna see what I would do, you will have to wait from the next Deadlands film after Trapped.

Basically it is how I see things happening in my zombie universe.

[jim102016]

My home was built by a survivalist so it is designed differently than most. I have 55 acres all fenced by 6 foot high chain link with barb wire on top. in order to enter the acreage you must drive across a bridge or walk through water. The house has a turret at the top so you can see the whole area and the home itself is fortified with these large gate like doors that have the large steel arms that lock them closed. So no-one could get to the upstairs. I own a back-hoe so digging trenches would be a snap and the pond is relatively clean but I also have several wells around the property for water. I own several firearms as well as off road vehicles and ATVs. the closest neighbor is almost a mile away. The property has a ton of these horrible Locust trees with thorns that are around 2-3 inches,(easily go through a tractor tire), so building a defensive position from raiders using these trees would be easy. The entence is gated with a large iron gate that could be padlocked, I used to use a krypton lock from my bicycle until I fixed the electric gates. I feel pretty safe at home, but getting the rest of the people here would be more difficult.


Good god, what happened to the man who built this house? Did the survivalist get knocked off? I can't imagine him selling it after so much preparation.

[Bub666]

Good god, what happened to the man who built this house? Did the survivalist get knocked off? I can't imagine him selling it after so much preparation.

I know,why would a survivalist sell a house like that?I wouldn't.

[Shadowofthedead]

oxford oxford oxford.... mike the main block right across the street from the park uptown minus the stone animals... perfect fortress. the miami students have these shuttle buses that take them everywhere. using these to block off entrances to alleyways and such would make a great fortified and nearly unmoveable encampment. police station is right across the way and could be used to house un wanted guests. no ammo there though. their amory is with butler county sheriffs and thats somewhere in hamilton so good luck gettin there. also there is a derilect (spell check) army national guard base outside of oxford so fall back there would be nice. sewer system in oxford could be used to get to many different sectors of the college and other establishments. plus two of the schools have fall out shelters. oxford has an endless aray of possibilities. from where i am now in harrison about an hour from oxford... i could make it there using back roads or go off road seeing how my truck has big knobby tires and 4 wheel drive. i have a jc higgins 12 gauge and about 36 shells...six 00 buck, five slug, and 25 7 and 1/2 bird shot... also i have a ruger security six .357 magnum with twenty two 38 special flat nose full metal jacket rounds for it and an assortment of knives all about the place including an aluminum baseball bat of the t ball variety so its short and easier to store. slap on the junk get in my truck and head to my parents farm where i would hold up until i got ahold or until i found my gun totin buddies. parents place is fairly securable but we are right on a major state highway. hueston woods would be my next safe venture or maybe the newer talawanda elementary school not 3 minutes from my parents place. then the plan with oxford could commence. i have several family members who work for miami some in the bookstore at the shriver center and one who works in trucking and shipping. i would pretty much be able to access everything at miami maybe not so much in oxford. id do what i coud but the zombie population would be high in oxford because the students are of all the rich and stupid and stuck up variety. most wouldnt know what was going on. so i would suppose fire bombin and snipin or just plain running the fruckers over would be the way to go. i could go into more detail but my brain doesnt want to process any further so i will leave to the others close to oxford. if such a thing happens we meet at the indian creek tavern in riely which im gueesing is fairly close to you mike. ill leave it at that.:elol:

[capncnut]

oxford oxford oxford.... mike the main block right across the street from the park uptown minus the stone animals... perfect fortress. the miami students have these shuttle buses that take them everywhere. using these to block off entrances to alleyways and such would make a great fortified and nearly unmoveable encampment. police station is right across the way and could be used to house un wanted guests. no ammo there though. their amory is with butler county sheriffs and thats somewhere in hamilton so good luck gettin there. also there is a derilect (spell check) army national guard base outside of oxford so fall back there would be nice. sewer system in oxford could be used to get to many different sectors of the college and other establishments. plus two of the schools have fall out shelters. oxford has an endless aray of possibilities. from where i am now in harrison about an hour from oxford... i could make it there using back roads or go off road seeing how my truck has big knobby tires and 4 wheel drive. i have a jc higgins 12 gauge and about 36 shells...six 00 buck, five slug, and 25 7 and 1/2 bird shot... also i have a ruger security six .357 magnum with twenty two 38 special flat nose full metal jacket rounds for it and an assortment of knives all about the place including an aluminum baseball bat of the t ball variety so its short and easier to store. slap on the junk get in my truck and head to my parents farm where i would hold up until i got ahold or until i found my gun totin buddies. parents place is fairly securable but we are right on a major state highway. hueston woods would be my next safe venture or maybe the newer talawanda elementary school not 3 minutes from my parents place. then the plan with oxford could commence. i have several family members who work for miami some in the bookstore at the shriver center and one who works in trucking and shipping. i would pretty much be able to access everything at miami maybe not so much in oxford. id do what i coud but the zombie population would be high in oxford because the students are of all the rich and stupid and stuck up variety. most wouldnt know what was going on. so i would suppose fire bombin and snipin or just plain running the fruckers over would be the way to go. i could go into more detail but my brain doesnt want to process any further so i will leave to the others close to oxford. if such a thing happens we meet at the indian creek tavern in riely which im gueesing is fairly close to you mike. ill leave it at that.:elol:
Mmm, nice but... enter button? ;)

[Shadowofthedead]

this is my boom stick..... ha. improvised enter button. thats what us country boys are good for.:elol:

[MissJacksonCA]

Ov3rlord has the best plan i've ever heard

And yet i'd still try to drive away from the scene of the zombie attack ... its just too damn hot to try to ride a bike like Mr. Brooks suggests and since zombies have been known to both run and shamble who's to say i'd have the energy to outrun or walk them...

[Exatreides]

I have the fallowing weapons
Ar-15 with 90 round drum magazine +2 standard mags, cleaning kits, and 550 rounds
Mosin Nagant with 120 rounds and fixed Bayonet
Ruger 22 Rifle with about 900 rounds of hallow point .22 ammo
Baseball bat, several other melee weapons

If it were to happen while I was at home, I would grab my bug out bag from down stairs(Purchased at the px) Load it up with canned food and any medical supplies in the house, clothing ect.

If time permitted I would change into my ACU's for even if you have no idea what your doing, you can bull**** your way into alot with a militarty uniform, a ar-15 and a flack jacket.

My room is located with a convenient roof access on the second floor, with a good line of sight for about 1000 meters in each direction. Hopefully, if their numbers are limited, i can pick a couple off with the Mosin, AR, or 22.

I would clear the immediate area and drop onto the ground, Shoulder the .22 cal and mosin and primarily use the 90 round drum mag at this point.

In my trunk I have about a dozen MRE's from my unit that I have saved, A flack jacket from my the early 90's era, my issued sleeping bag, and a bayonet.

Also since I'm a medic in the national guard, I have been able to get some medical supplies of my own and have a aid bag in my trunk. Which consist of about 4 liter bags of Saline, 2 of ringers and 1 of Hextend, tubing catheters ect,(sneaky devil aint i?) Israeli trama bandages, Cat turnequeits, over the counter stuff, and more trama stuff.

Grab a friend who lives down the block who is ex-infantry. Head downtown to the gun store, raid it if possible, aquireing side arms, rifles and as many rounds of ammo as we can.

From that point head out of town, north to Michigan and the north, far away from Chicago to the West, Indy to the south. If my unit is somehow together, work my way south to join up with them.

Try to save people along the way, arm them and get a fighting convoy going. Strength is with numbers, and more people means more rounds down range.

Supplies, raid towns along the way. Strength comes from mobility, always fast moving and not allowing yourself to be sourounded by more dead then you can handle.

Ultimate goal? Either the Yukon, or the Desert, someplace with either a total lack of people or a line of sight that goes till the earth bends.

[Shadowofthedead]

couldnt let this thread die....

resident evil extinction made a good point in noting that mobility is your best defense from the dead.also a pretty good offense when you run the buggers over. yet i feel you can have a decent barricade defense if set up properly. land of the dead had a good defensive set up yet it required way to many resources to maintain. i think heavy almost unmovable objects and a good sniper defense would work great. one must think of every possible outcome of anything. that means someone has to constantly think about the worst possible situation that could happen. i sit and think about the negative all the time so i would have almost no problem comin up with some type of unmovable defense. it would take alot of time and man power but it could be done. ill think about it then ill get back to you. especially with a detailed plan of oxford.

[SRP76]

couldnt let this thread die....

resident evil extinction made a good point in noting that mobility is your best defense from the dead.

It's just common sense. Staying on the move is the only possible way to survive. There is no such thing as a static defense with a bottomless well of supplies. Your resources will run out, and you will have to move. So there's not much point in trying to establish a "fortress" in the first place, since you'll just have to leave it at some point.

[Publius]

It's just common sense. Staying on the move is the only possible way to survive. There is no such thing as a static defense with a bottomless well of supplies. Your resources will run out, and you will have to move. So there's not much point in trying to establish a "fortress" in the first place, since you'll just have to leave it at some point.


Unless you find/form a sustainable community. Then you don't have to keep stumbling into unknown situations.

[Shadowofthedead]

in my neck of the woods mainly oxford or butler county where it resides there is alot of farm land and wooded areas. the mobility would work good for foraging food and hunting and the such. i wouldnt limit myself to just oxford not at all... i think i discussed this once before but ill save it tomorrow when i get more in depth. basically i would play on i am legend using the surrounding area to grow crops. plus there would be plenty of machinery to do so. and it doesnt take a genious to learn how to use it. if machinery breaks down or is unusable then i could just plant them and use hand tools to cultivate and the such. plenty of animals to hunt. and trust me you need to try raccoon before you say nasty gross. actually not bad if you cook in butter onions and salt.

[Skippy911sc]

Good god, what happened to the man who built this house? Did the survivalist get knocked off? I can't imagine him selling it after so much preparation.

Haven't checked this post for a while...

The guy that built it sent the keys back to the bank after he got his property tax bill...could no longer afford it. Really a sad story...his dream home and poof had to walk away.

[AcesandEights]

Haven't checked this post for a while...

The guy that built it sent the keys back to the bank after he got his property tax bill...could no longer afford it. Really a sad story...his dream home and poof had to walk away.

I've revised my survival plan to waging fiscal war on Skippy911sc, Flintheart Glomgold v. McDuck style, and buying his zombie-proofed fortress for a pittance. :evil:

[Skippy911sc]

I will be waiting in the turret armed with this...

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/mj911sc911/DSC02696.jpg

:elol:

Or maybe this

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/mj911sc911/DSC02597.jpg

[lullubelle]

Cars need to be fueled, skates leave you out in the open and unprotected, walking is out of the question, maybe ride a horse if they catch up they can eat the horse...


Cars need to be fueled, skates leave you out in the open and unprotected, walking is out of the question, maybe ride a horse if they catch up they can eat the horse...
It's not what you do, it's how you do it.-


I will be waiting in the turret armed with this...

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/mj911sc911/DSC02696.jpg

:elol:

Or maybe this

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/mj911sc911/DSC02597.jpg
Do you have a spare one?

[Skippy911sc]

I might have a few extra lying around...but you have to take turns reloading the brass and the clips & magazines.

:lol:

[Deadman_Deluxe]

I would try and set
up camp in a Wal-mart or a mall,
I am such a copy cat

Yeah, you and ten thousand others ;)

Best bet is to lock yourself in at home for a couple of years until all those freaks at Walmart have shot each other.

Where you have people, you have conflict, where you have armed people, you have murder by the bucket load.

Myself, if i absolutely positively had to leave my home ... i would go out in style. Probably opting for the tried and tested "unicycle/peashooter/shark-proof clown outfit" combo.

[sandrock74]

I have 5 or 6 magnum bullets to my name. Unfortunately, I have no magnum gun to fire them from :(
Maybe with training, I can throw them with superhuman speed and accuracy to make them lethal to zombies? Yeah, I don't think so either.
I guess I could do the Shaun of the Dead trick and just toss them into a fire and hope for the best...

[Dillinger]

There's a national guard armory about six miles from my house, and i'm only thirty miles from WAFB where they store the stealth bombers.

So first of all, i'd hit the guard armory, and take a couple Colt M-16s. Then i'd comandeer a Jeep and drive out the WAFB, and find a pilot to fly me to Bermuda or some other Carribbean island where I can live out the rest of my life having fun in the sun, and banging brown chicks that talk funny, and getting drunk off rum and tequila.

[Yojimbo]

banging brown chicks that talk funny

Dude, what is up with this?

[Bub666]

banging brown chicks that talk funny

Thats not very nice.

[Yojimbo]

Once a racist, always a racist. Some people never learn.

[JasonEdw]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e381/lokirulez/zombie-manual-wallpaper.jpg

[Bub666]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e381/lokirulez/zombie-manual-wallpaper.jpg

That is very cool.Where did you find this?

[AcesandEights]

Perfect, Jason! Now we just need our mail order zombie survival kits.

[JasonEdw]

That is very cool.Where did you find this?

I find this crap at random, I have another one similar somwhere.

Here's one i made the other night...
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e381/lokirulez/0obama1-1.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e381/lokirulez/zombie-poster.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e381/lokirulez/zombie-repellent-mini2.jpg

[Thorn]

I think there is something to be said for both staying on the move, and fortifying a position. I think you need to have both options available to you, and I am a fan of keeping your options open. Being nomadic is something we as a people have not had to be for quite sometime. We go to school, get a job and “settle down” in a zombie uprising people are going to be looking for normalcy. Constantly being on the go means constant danger, constantly peering into the unknown.

I am a fan of fortifying, and having a solid escape plan while maintaining constant and or as needed excursions into the outside world.

First and formost what I never understood was why people think fortifying your house temporarily would be so hard. If you are in your house and it has more than one floor If it becomes surrounded move everyone up stairs and sledge hammer out the stairs. Or use a Sawz-all to cut them out. While this may be a short term solution, and you would certainly need a rope ladder or other means of lowering yourself or those not capable of jumping later you would surely not have to worry about a zombie breaking the windows and “getting you” on night one of the epidemic.

Keep the family and friends or whomever away from windows and make yourself scarce. The zombies would eventually move on or help would arrive. But this is how I would survive the first night if I was stuck in my house, or anywhere away from a more fortifiable position.

It is what they should have done in Night, they had tools and able bodied men. Removing wooden stairs is pretty easy work.

Now as for a long term plan, I would claim the data center I used to work in. I have mentioned this before on these forums years ago back before the wipe on the old version of the forums. Basically there is a river nearby, generators, it is a secured facility designed to protect people and data. It is a brick and mortar structure and the inside is marble there is not much to burn that would cause the building to “collapse” in the event of a accidental fire.

There is also an attached parking garage, and I would use the upper level of this to grow plants and food stuffs. The lower level would have animals like cows and chickens and the like. You could essentially construct a fortress right there with renewable energy and supplies. A self sustaining modern day commune. Clearly I could not do this alone so I would enlist the help of friends, family, and co-workers. Many of whom are familiar with fire arms and life in either law enforcement or the military.

The building is an old converted train station from way back in the day it is spacious with a number of levels. It would be easily fortified with the exception of the glass security doors which while durable would not withstand assault from people determined to get in. I do think they would be fine against the undead in numbers under a hundred and I do not think they would be able to apply enough pressure to break through. That said I would make fortifying them a top priority, as well as getting gas.

Stealing a gas truck and raiding local gas stations would become a priority as well. The location is near the NY State capital so it would likely be well defended for a good long time as the governors mansion is there. It would enjoy the benefit of the protection that this afforded, and the thinning of the ranks of undead and increased military presence while still allowing people who are determined to start taking over the facility which would offer little use to the state officials given the resources they have at their disposal. It is also just far enough away that they would likely not be aware of our activities there unless we tipped our hand and in this case I doubt they would much object to people defending themselves especially if this “militia” was helping thin the ranks of the undead and offering safe haven to some survivors.

Maybe they would but at that point we would have to make a decision. The Parking garage is attached and fenced in. I would further fortify by parking cars along the fenced in walls and tipping them if need be after draining them of gas and oil. A nearby armory would be raided, as well as local gun stores, restaurants and walmarts for supplies. It would be a constant and evolving process with both long term and short term goals but the primary goal of self sufficient, sustainable survival would be achieved through direct leadership and empowerment of the people who came on board.

The roof of the building provides a great view of the surrounding streets and ample firing positions for marksman should we need to defend from looters and zombies alike. The river as I said is very close and I would commandeer one of the nearby boats (and there are a number of them one of which is a military boat Iam not sure if this is fully operational) and ensure it was on standby in case we needed to flee. The docks/launch is very nearby and there are even tour busses there that can drive on land and quickly convert into river going boats. The speed is not amazing but the functionality is.

If that is not possible or if we became over run, retreating to a more mountainous area such as the Adirondacks or Catskills both of which are close both are options. Once there creating structures that are raised off the ground makes the most sense to me. Either by converting traditional buildings and removing floors while fitting them with hoists and winches (or by using construction vehicles for this purpose). I simply do not see keeping the first floor around or basements. I see living in a zombie infested world like living in New Orleans. Why would you want to be where the water can reach you? Build up, build on stilts. Don’t sit in a soup bowl and complain when you are drowning.

[Yojimbo]

If it becomes surrounded move everyone up stairs and sledge hammer out the stairs. Or use a Sawz-all to cut them out. While this may be a short term solution, and you would certainly need a rope ladder or other means of lowering yourself or those not capable of jumping later you would surely not have to worry about a zombie breaking the windows and “getting you” on night one of the epidemic...

It is what they should have done in Night, they had tools and able bodied men. Removing wooden stairs is pretty easy work.




You post is well written and very detailed. The only thing is, and I've said this before, I doubt that removing a staircase can be done as quickly and as easily as Max Brooks would lead folks to believe.

Likely it would be a lot quicker and easier to simply barricade the stairs than removing them entirely.

Maybe some of you folks who work construction or are contractors might correct me if I am wrong, however, it seems to me that removing a staircase, even a wooden one- while not impossible - would be a labor-intensive and time-consuming task.

[Thorn]

Thank you very much; I was not sure who Max Brooks was so I had to Google him before responding. Though I have seen his book around before.

It does take some time, but using a sledge hammer to knock out the supports is pretty fast if it is wood. You can even selectively remove steps by just knocking the risers up and then out. Deconstructing anything takes much less time than constructing it of course but I can not argue the labor part.

Knocking out risers can be tiring work even for a fit man, and destroying the stars by removing the supports from below can be dangerous and problematic.