Zombies have arrived and you're stuck in gridlock!

[flesheating]

You have been on vacation for a week at the beach. Gruesome murders have started occurring in your vacation area and the nation is in belief that there is some sort of cult demonstration based on how destroyed the bodies are. You decided to end your vacation early and while packing your things to leave a popular radio host uses the word "undead" which turns the entire place into a larger frenzy than it already is in. You are now caught in the mass escape, which funny enough moves at next to zero MPH on the highway.

While the rest of the idiots on the road do not seem to have plan, you know where you are going. Your bug out location is a secluded area near your house. It's fully loaded for this situation, but sadly it is also still a 6 hour drive away from your vacation destination. Looking in the rear view mirror you see them working their way towards you, hundreds of slow walking undead peeling through the cars one by one killing anything they can get their hands on. People are beginning to get out of their cars and run, the screams of those behind you are getting close... you need to act.

Here is where you find yourself.
Gridlock on the highway, a 6 hour drive (330 miles at 55mph) from your bug out location.
Your car is trapped on the highway.
You have whatever you had with you on your beach vacation.

What moves do you make in order to ensure you and your family's survival? What steps do you take to make the trip to your safe house?

[SRP76]

Out of the car, get to walking. If I happen upon a bicycle along the way, I grab it. Nothing motorized at all. I'd rather get to safety late than get dead early.

[paranoid101]

Use your horn while waving your fist in rage at those around you that are in your way as you slowly die of thirst.
.

[bassman]

Grab the tire iron and make a run for it until I can find another mode of transportation.

Then have someone pinch me because zombies are fictional. :p

[JDFP]

Die.

That's pretty much the summation of it. Naturally, we all like to see ourselves as the next coming of Jack Bauer during the Zombie Apocalypse. But that's just not realistic. The vast majority of us would die. If there's that many people around and zombies coming after you, chances are you're going to die at the hands of other humans who will either stampede over you or go nutso-loco and kill you for whatever measly possessions you have on you.

Now back to reading Steinbeck...

j.p.

[blind2d]

I might have a chance, since I'd be alone... riding a motorcycle... I can do that, right?

[GhostWolf]

Am i driving my own vehicle, or is there some sort of hypothetical limitation? How large is the vehicle behind me and behind it? Am i on the inside lane? Is there a divider and if so what does the shoulder look like? Most likely i can wiggle the vehicle enough to push the car behind me far enough back to get onto the shoulder or the center division (assuming its grass) and continue on in my vehicle until i can get on to an alternate road and find a replacement vehicle for the one i've most likely beaten to hell and gone.

[JDFP]

Am i driving my own vehicle, or is there some sort of hypothetical limitation? How large is the vehicle behind me and behind it? Am i on the inside lane? Is there a divider and if so what does the shoulder look like? Most likely i can wiggle the vehicle enough to push the car behind me far enough back to get onto the shoulder or the center division (assuming its grass) and continue on in my vehicle until i can get on to an alternate road and find a replacement vehicle for the one i've most likely beaten to hell and gone.

Right. Because absolutely no one else would think "Hey, I'll just pass by all these other suckers by driving on the shoulder and be safe!" :rolleyes:

The only thing that would make it even better would be doing high speeds on the shoulder away from the approaching zombie horde with your windows down waving and yelling at the top of your lungs: "So long, suckers!" :)

j.p.

[AcesandEights]

Naturally, we all like to see ourselves as the next coming of Jack Bauer during the Zombie Apocalypse.
Jack Bauer with much better hair! You forgot the most important part!



The vast majority of us would die. If there's that many people around and zombies coming after you, chances are you're going to die at the hands of other humans who will either stampede over you or go nutso-loco and kill you for whatever measly possessions you have on you.
Wow, why so gloom and doom, J.P.?


back to reading Steinbeck...
Ah, now I see :)

[Debbieangel]

Basically if you on the turnpike you are screwed!
Ok, first I would panic and pinching myself, is this one of my mad zombie dreams?
I would try to find the first semi-truck and beg to be let in or climb to the top of the back of the rig. From there I guess I am screwed unless the truck driver plows through vehicles in front of him/her.
I can't think of any other scenario at the moment where I don't become zombie meat.

[deadpunk]

You have been on vacation for a week at the beach. Gruesome murders have started occurring in your vacation area and the nation is in belief that there is some sort of cult demonstration based on how destroyed the bodies are. You decided to end your vacation early and while packing your things to leave a popular radio host uses the word "undead" which turns the entire place into a larger frenzy than it already is in. You are now caught in the mass escape, which funny enough moves at next to zero MPH on the highway.

While the rest of the idiots on the road do not seem to have plan, you know where you are going. Your bug out location is a secluded area near your house. It's fully loaded for this situation, but sadly it is also still a 6 hour drive away from your vacation destination. Looking in the rear view mirror you see them working their way towards you, hundreds of slow walking undead peeling through the cars one by one killing anything they can get their hands on. People are beginning to get out of their cars and run, the screams of those behind you are getting close... you need to act.

Here is where you find yourself.
Gridlock on the highway, a 6 hour drive (330 miles at 55mph) from your bug out location.
Your car is trapped on the highway.
You have whatever you had with you on your beach vacation.

What moves do you make in order to ensure you and your family's survival? What steps do you take to make the trip to your safe house?

Ummmm...power walk past the shamblers?

[GhostWolf]

Right. Because absolutely no one else would think "Hey, I'll just pass by all these other suckers by driving on the shoulder and be safe!" :rolleyes:

The only thing that would make it even better would be doing high speeds on the shoulder away from the approaching zombie horde with your windows down waving and yelling at the top of your lungs: "So long, suckers!" :)

j.p.

Undoubtedly. I guess i hope that my Irish luck would see me off to the side and away to live awhile longer. I'd probably end up zombie-chow along with many of my motoring compatriots but here's to hoping yeah?

[AcesandEights]

Well of course most of us would die in a horrible, right-out-of-the-movies rendition, but that's not the point of the thread :)

To answer the OP, I'd do much like SRP...the best I could with whatever tools I had at my disposal. It really depends where the traffic jam is...if it's anywhere near where I currently live I'd be screwed (major population density) and just have to try my best to head North and inland, like most others would (not a good sign). Getting out on a bike or on foot is obvious and heading away from large groups advisable.

[DEAD BEAT]

stick my ass out the window to give the undead a good shine, then proceed to playing crash derby as long as my truck can take it 2 get the hell outta dodge! ;)

also better not let anyone be a dick to me along the way, due to the fact of the situation....they'd literally have seconds to live! lol

[DjfunkmasterG]

I covered this in my first film... Everyone is fucked end of story.

[dracenstein]

Since I can't drive, I guess I will be in a taxi or a bus.

Get out and walk over to the side of the road and keep on walking. Or running, if the situation calls for it.

[Philly_SWAT]

Whenever I go on vacation to an unfamiliar area, I always bring maps with me. Maybe some people dont, either because they dont like maps or just use gps/iphone, but personally I like to have a paper map. Therefore, I might have that advantage over other tourists. I would never get on the highway to begin with, I am very good at, and used to, traveling on back roads.

[DubiousComforts]

While the rest of the idiots on the road do not seem to have plan,

What moves do you make in order to ensure you and your family's survival?
This is exactly why nobody living has a chance of surviving. The dead are never at odds with each other.

Are we learning yet? Nope.

[EDukes]

Grab the tire iron, and put all that built-up angry from being stuck in gridlock to good use. Probably wouldn't be alive for very long afterwards, but at least I'd have a healthy outlet for channeling my rage.

Those types of scenarios are probably the type of thing that would let them add numbers to their ranks. Even if people do get out and start running for their lives to evade the walkers, a large chunk of the people are going to end up tripping and getting trampled to death. Other's are going to sprint, and die of a heart attack a 1/4 mile down the road.

[Publius]

I'd look to the side. Most people go running screaming down the road, and that's the direction the zombies are attracted too. Highways around here tend to have a belt of trees and brush on each side. I'd slip to the side as unobtrusively as possible, and hope to hop a fence or wall on the other side of the treeline that will slow down the zombies and give me a fighting chance to escape.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Whenever I go on vacation to an unfamiliar area, I always bring maps with me. Maybe some people dont, either because they dont like maps or just use gps/iphone, but personally I like to have a paper map. Therefore, I might have that advantage over other tourists. I would never get on the highway to begin with, I am very good at, and used to, traveling on back roads.

Funny you mention this... everytime I drive into a new state on my FIlm Fest road trips I always stop at the Rest Area and grab a free state map. I have most of the east coast and the eastern part of the mid west covered all the way to St. Louis, MO.

Tis a great tool when all hell breaks loose and your cell phone signal goes kaput.

[DubiousComforts]

Whenever I go on vacation to an unfamiliar area, I always bring maps with me. Maybe some people dont, either because they dont like maps or just use gps/iphone, but personally I like to have a paper map. Therefore, I might have that advantage over other tourists. I would never get on the highway to begin with, I am very good at, and used to, traveling on back roads.

That's funny because once when I was traveling through PA to Cincy, there was a bad icing condition which shut down the eastern portion of I-80. So I used some paper maps to figure out an alternative route. The problem is so did everyone else, so the back roads were a gridlocked catastrophe. Worse yet, since no trucks could get through, most of the gas stations had run dry.

In this case, Penn DOT had a difficult time handling some freezing water on the road. What makes you think they would be any better prepared for walking corpses?

[BillyRay]

If it's any comfort (dubious or otherwise), the walking corpses would have a difficult time handling some freezing water on the road...

[Ghost Of War]

I'd look to the side. Most people go running screaming down the road, and that's the direction the zombies are attracted too. Highways around here tend to have a belt of trees and brush on each side. I'd slip to the side as unobtrusively as possible, and hope to hop a fence or wall on the other side of the treeline that will slow down the zombies and give me a fighting chance to escape.

Yep, and I'd be right behind you. I'd try and get off the road asap, taking what I can from my car that would be useful.

[deadpunk]

why is everyone walking on the side of the road? Am I the only one that would take the advantage of the high ground and go car roof to car roof?

[AcesandEights]

why is everyone walking on the side of the road? Am I the only one that would take the advantage of the high ground and go car roof to car roof?

As always it depends on the assumptions we make when we envision the scenario. If you're picturing yourself about to be overwhelmed, going to a car roof might not be a bad idea, but if you're picturing it as a general panic with zombies movies on up or down the line (or spread all over the place) you'll find that making good long term distance over the roofs of cars (which won't afford you so much protection you can just take your time) is not going to be very energy efficient or fast--in short you will not be getting out of the area and away from the potential clusterfuck quickly, which is what the people moving away from the road are trying to do.

Not that moving away from the road is a bang up brilliant idea, it just is likely to be the best idea (environmental/geographic specifics not withstanding). It's certainly not an idea that others won't have come up with, so it's not a ticket to safety, just a means to possibly getting out of a horrible, tightly packed area (recipe for disaster in this situation).

[Publius]

As always it depends on the assumptions we make when we envision the scenario. If you're picturing yourself about to be overwhelmed, going to a car roof might not be a bad idea, but if you're picturing it as a general panic with zombies movies on up or down the line (or spread all over the place) you'll find that making good long term distance over the roofs of cars (which won't afford you so much protection you can just take your time) is not going to be very energy efficient or fast--in short you will not be getting out of the area and away from the potential clusterfuck quickly, which is what the people moving away from the road are trying to do.

If you do decide to head for the roof, it might work out best as a refuge rather than an escape route. Climb on top of an 18-wheeler trailer, hope nobody else tries to follow you up and no zombies saw you climb up there, then lie quietly for a day or two and hope and pray for the zombies to shamble on.

[dracenstein]

why is everyone walking on the side of the road? Am I the only one that would take the advantage of the high ground and go car roof to car roof?

We are NOT walking on the side of the road, we are going TO the side of the road and then cross country. All the idiots are herding together going up (or down) the road, attracting all the zombies after them.

[flesheating]

We are NOT walking on the side of the road, we are going TO the side of the road and then cross country. All the idiots are herding together going up (or down) the road, attracting all the zombies after them.

Yes and those will be the bait. In this situation you are best off heading out in a small group or solo. A zombie will chase the large meal rather than going after a straggler off to the side.

[Mike70]

holy shite! it's the inevitable return of the "it's 3am, you're surrounded by zombies, you have 2 shells left and your mercedes is out of gas, what do you do?" thread.

bravo!

i'll simply echo what DJ said, "everyone's fucked."

having said that, i'd still abandon my vehicle and make a break for open country.

[Gabe_dead]

I would hump it on foot until I find some were to hold up and then find any make shift weapons...

[Rancid Carcass]

"it's 3am, you're surrounded by zombies, you have 2 shells left and your mercedes is out of gas, what do you do?"

Magic Missiles! :lol:

[ProfessorChaos]

i would break out my laptop, hope i had enough battery power to last about an hour and watch the pilot for the walking dead again...in fact, i may do that this evening.

[MoonSylver]

Magic Missiles! :lol:

No it's....

j_ekugPKqFw?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j_ekugPKqFw?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

..."Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Sleep! Death!"

:lol:

[blind2d]

Whoa, what was that? Moon, you crazy! Respect... Why Squidward, though? Any particular reason?

[MoonSylver]

Whoa, what was that? Moon, you crazy! Respect... Why Squidward, though? Any particular reason?

I've had 3 cranky old bastards in a row from the banner ad's. I finally got a bit bored with the last one. Somehow Squid seemed a good next step of cranky fucker. :D

[JonOfTheShred]

i would break out my laptop, hope i had enough battery power to last about an hour and watch the pilot for the walking dead again...in fact, i may do that this evening.

Best answer yet XD