You are standing in a darkened room...

[Thorn]

You are standing in a darkened room, your back to a window, a fire escape outside. The door you had secured as best you could with such little time and forewarning gives way under the force of the undead outside it pressing ever forward, banging, clawing, biting their way forward. Ever forward.

You look left, a hand gun with two clips both full sits on the coffee table. On your right an axe, clearly belonging to a fireman who either lived here or who also too kup refuge here for a time before you did to escape the zombie horde.

It is clear the zombies will get you unless you do something, too many to shoot, too many to hack apart. You do not even have time to gather both weapons.

Which do you grab before making your way out to the fire escape, and why?

[DawnGirl27]

For me, the ax. Guns run out of ammo, and your aim could be off if you get rattled easily. Yeah, the handle could break, but scouring stores for another I think would be easier than finding a gun left lying around. With the ax, yes, there is some danger of close proximity, but also the greater chance of getting the job done. Plus, it would be a great multi-tasker tool when you need to chop wood, get into a shelter that's locked/boarded up, etc.

[Trencher]

If I had so little time that I could not pick up both I would pick up the axe because I am afraid I would fumble and loose the clips if I tried to go for the gun.

[bassman]

Axe. Basically for all the reasons Dawngirl stated...

[horrormad]

Axe for me chopping up all those zombies sounds like fun.

[Thorn]

You all make excellent points, and I have to say I agree with all that has beesaid. I grab the axe as well and I bust out that window and get the hell out of there.

[Bub666]

I have to go with the axe in this situation.You don't have to reload an axe,and you don't have to worry about losing the clips to the gun.And an axe is a lot quieter then a gun.

[Shadowofthedead]

are we talking semi auto magazine fed pistol or revolver... revolvers have speed loaders but take more time to load than conventional semi autos. id go witht the pistol if it was a revolver. with the double single action process of the pistol you have to control and aim your shots more precise. axes are harder to use thatn most normal people think. you cant just bring an axe straight down on a piece of wood... you have to go in at an angle to get a deep cut. this might mean getting to close to the zombie if you are going in at an angle. if you are good with a pistol you should have no problem. heck if you are at point blank range you really dont have to aim just stick the gun head level and boom... no brains. i think a maul would work better in the axe class. has both a axe bit and a flat hammer end for smashing. my two cents

[MoonSylver]

The axe would be the logical choice. I have a feeling most people would be panicked & grab the gun...

[Yojimbo]

Without panic, I would take the gun.

Hell, you are bound to find things laying around everywhere to bash a zombie's head in. At least with a gun, you will have a chance of surviving a fight against any "living" enemies, whom I think pose a greater threat to your survival than the "undead"

[SRP76]

Without panic, I would take the gun.

Hell, you are bound to find things laying around everywhere to bash a zombie's head in. At least with a gun, you will have a chance of surviving a fight against any "living" enemies, whom I think pose a greater threat to your survival than the "undead"

I completely agree.

Real life isn't like the Zombie Survival Guide. An ax will be useless to you. Ever tried to run with a two-handed, 10-pound object? Good luck. It will hinder your mobility. It is also impossible to chop heads with. Go ahead and try to swing this thing at a moving, melon-sized object. Not happening. You'll miss the head, hack into the shoulder, then get eaten by a ghoul's buddies.

And breaking into a place is useless to begin with. If you hack your way into anyplace, it is no longer secure. Which means zombies follow you in, and you get eaten. So no, an ax is not a useful tool for entering areas.

The gun has none of those disadvantages. Even if you never fire the thing, you can at least run away, which you cannot do while humping a heavy ax down the street.

And when it comes right down to it, you have a much greater chance of finding another ax later on in your quest than you do of finding another gun. So, take the gun while it's available.

[clanglee]

I'm going with the gun. You can find another axe somewhere else much easier than another gun. . with clips.

:lol: Just realized that I could have just quoted you jimbo and srp and said I agree.

[sandrock74]

I'm greedy I guess. I would grab both! No reason not too.

[Bub666]

I'm greedy I guess. I would grab both! No reason not too.

Yeah,but I think Thorn said you could only pick one weapon not both of them.

[EvilNed]

I'd grab the axe. A handgun is basicly the fire-arm least effective against zombies. It's aim is poor, and you might as well grab the axe because it has more uses and you'll need to get close to the zombies anyway with the gun. Besides, what do you do when those clips are gone?

[Wyldwraith]

I take the gun,
Then I avoid the slow moving zombies, and use the two clips of ammo to blast a clear space around where I need to bust in at later to get more ammo/equipment.

That's if I don't just freeze up in terror when confronted by cannibal cadavers, **** myself, and get eaten alive, like 9 out of 10 of us would.

Anyone ever kept up with kidnappings, or the few victims of serial killers who escape before being done in? Almost ALL of those incidents read the exact same way. Person somehow gets loose, person blindly sprints as far away in a straight line as possible from where they were.

In the last twelve years we've had 3 known kidnapping victims escape their kidnapper, only to run out into traffic and get killed. That's just in the US.

People panic a lot easier than most think. But yes, I'm taking a gun. I can have a broken arm and just barely hanging on to consciousness from the pain and still be able to press a 10oz object against the bridge of a zombies nose and squeeze the trigger. The axe relies too much on one being in good shape, and having very few zombies to deal with, plus the problems with carrying it already mentioned.

[lullubelle]

I have to agree with the others go for the axe, break window and get the hell out of dodge and it can also help u break in the next place u need to hide in. And I cant shoot my lifes worth so i'd be dinner without the axe.:D

[EvilNed]

That's if I don't just freeze up in terror when confronted by cannibal cadavers, **** myself, and get eaten alive, like 9 out of 10 of us would.


Word.

[dracenstein]

I would probably chose the axe.

But why am I unarmed after blocking the door?

I would probably pick up the gun as I move away from the door to the window...

[AcesandEights]

I grab the axe as well and I bust out that window and get the hell out of there.

^ This. That was my first reaction. Of course, a lot depends on the details, but I think it's a good bet given what we do know of the scene that you set, Thorn.

[Debbieangel]

At first I was going to say grab the gun but, thinking this over I would grab the axe for the reason of the window. No time to open window..you dont know if its locked or not..no time to think..take the axe break the window and hopefully there is fire escape or drainage pipe to hold on to when you go through the window. Hang on if you can until zombies clear out of room then go back and get gun or go down wall and go into another window or go to the street to escape. Maybe crawl up to roof for safety? It all depends on surroundings and how many zombies are around and where they are all at at the time. Then when it is safe I would go back and get the gun and ammo.

[RustyHicks]

Axe, axe can be powerful,
guns what you going to do when you
run out of bullets. You're screwed then.
At least with an axe there are other uses for
them as well. I have to agree with
the majority here. Axe would be best.

[Skippy911sc]

I would grab the gun...at least if all else fails I could do myself in. Killing ones self with an axe could be a problem.

:hyper:

[Bub666]

Killing ones self with an axe could be a problem.

I agree with you there.

[lullubelle]

I would grab the gun...at least if all else fails I could do myself in. Killing ones self with an axe could be a problem.

:hyper:

You got something there, got to admit I did not think of that:annoyed:

[Thorn]

I would probably chose the axe.

But why am I unarmed after blocking the door?

I would probably pick up the gun as I move away from the door to the window...


You just got into the room, you hastily move items in front of the door and as you retreat away from it they immediately start to press in. Remember in Dawn? The Krishna Zombie? She had no time to really fortify or to find weapons; it was a hasty barricade and a panicked flight. I was looking at a situation like that.

If you were already armed there would not be much of a choice to make thus killing the fun of the post ;)

I do not think I could ever take my own life, and to go along with some of the excellent points raised here. In a bad situation it is fight or flight. We all have the instincts and we all react differently in those situations. It is of course all hypothetical.

I like to THINK I would be cool under pressure I generally am in real life. Who knows though I could get that “9 mile stare” and just be zombie tartare.

[Zombie Snack]

I would grab the gun...at least if all else fails I could do myself in. Killing ones self with an axe could be a problem.

:hyper:

Ding Ding!!! Thats my thinking

[Bub666]

You just got into the room, you hastily move items in front of the door and as you retreat away from it they immediately start to press in.

Yeah,but wouldn't you already have a weapon before you even go in the room and block the door?

[Thorn]

You could but in this case it is a hypothetical situation, much like being in a movie we were looking at a what if under a specific set of circumstances.

Again in Dawn 78 Gaylen Ross did not have one, and had to scramble for a make shift weapon. She used flares. There are a number of reasons why you might not have a weapon at that point. One example, you just ran out of ammunition in a gun you had in the hall before retreating into this room. A zombie grabbed your rifle and you lost grip because you were sweating too much or at a bad angle... you panicked and dropped it. You were sleeping and had to make a fast retreat in your flight you forgot to grab your weapon. Whatever the reason you did not have one before entering this room.

It is all in fun guys, and not to be over thought. Much like watching a movie you suspend disbelief the same holds true here. It is more to get to your view on what would be the best weapon to go for in the given situation and then to open discussion as to why.

[Legion2213]

I have no experience with fire arms, I would have to go axe-man style.

If however, I was proficient with a pistol, I would probably go with the gun, for the easy suicide option should I be cornered and vastly outnumbered, and it would probably be easier to obtain a melee weapon than a fire arm with a few clips later on. Wyldwraith also makes a good point about being able to use a pistol if you are injured.

[Thorn]

The point about being injured and unable to use an axe properly is an amazing one and one I certainly have not thought about. I of course ideally would want melee and ranged weapons in the event of an uprising.

I have always leaned however towards melee because they do not run out of bullets.

In reading what you all have to say though I need to reconsider for a while.

a) The injury part, hard to swing an axe with broken ribs, or a broken arm.
b) Fatigue. You would eventually get in pretty good shape during an uprising if you are not already, it is getting there that would be a problem and you might not have time for that.
c) Since we all know it is likely that you may have to deal with looters and other assorted living bad guys... you never want to show up to a gun fight with a switch blade.

So while I am sticking with an axe in the above situation, I really think I want both options going for me and I am going to sit down and ponder the upside of each again. Which is excellent I have been set in my ways on a lot of these things for years, it is always god to be able to sit down and daydream about it once again to see if maybe you might not have had a change of heart.

[Yojimbo]

The point about being injured and unable to use an axe properly is an amazing one and one I certainly have not thought about. I of course ideally would want melee and ranged weapons in the event of an uprising.

I have always leaned however towards melee because they do not run out of bullets.

In reading what you all have to say though I need to reconsider for a while.

a) The injury part, hard to swing an axe with broken ribs, or a broken arm.
b) Fatigue. You would eventually get in pretty good shape during an uprising if you are not already, it is getting there that would be a problem and you might not have time for that.
c) Since we all know it is likely that you may have to deal with looters and other assorted living bad guys... you never want to show up to a gun fight with a switch blade.

So while I am sticking with an axe in the above situation, I really think I want both options going for me and I am going to sit down and ponder the upside of each again. Which is excellent I have been set in my ways on a lot of these things for years, it is always god to be able to sit down and daydream about it once again to see if maybe you might not have had a change of heart.
A person who can take the statements of others, and using that information truthfully reassess their own position on a matter is a reasonable dude. Regardless of what your final decision is, you have shown yourself to be, at the core, a reasonable and rational person.

All tools have their particular uses and advantages, and also their own unique disadvantages. Can't cut a cord of firewood with a .357, you know, but us cannot use a fire axe to shoot a meth head coming at you with a big ass machete at 20 yards.

Good thread, brother.