So what would you realistically do if the dead walked?

[Wyldwraith]

Ok you want realism, **Warning, this will not be Khardis-like B.S, BUT it WILL be ugly. If you are easily offended, you have been warned** Here's the thing. I'm addicted to painkillers because of my back. So I'm already a couple steps behind the rest of you, because I have to risk getting shot by police or fellow looters more than once, because I'll have to try and rip off a few pharmacies to build up enough of a stash to remain mostly functional for awhile. If that doesn't work, I'll have to go the hyper-high-risk route, and head into 99.9995% certain death by entering a hospital in an attempt to scavenge their painkillers. Now, assuming that God watches over addicts as he does drunks, madmen and children, and I somehow survive THIS extremely high-risk behavior, AND the extremely high-risk behavior in trying to lay hands on the vital supplies the rest of you have been working on while I was looking for pain pills. I can't even conceive of just how unlikely it is I'll survive ALL OF THAT, but saying that I do... I live in Florida, and I own a Jonboat (sp?), now Florida is interesting, in that if one has an extensive knowledge of the river systems, and you're willing to enter the Gulf and hug the coast for a brief stretch when the St. Lawrence can't take you further southeast so you can reach another one of the minor river or estuary entrances that can get you into the South Florida Loch system. Once you're in there, you're golden, because jonboats and airboats are the only watercraft that can negotiate the oft-encountered shallows in the Lochs (sp?) Problem being that airboats are too heavy to pick up and lug over the top of the many small dams, waterworks etc. that you'll have to get by to continue a mainly-direct southerly course. Now, while one COULD get shot by a nut on the banks, it's highly unlikely as long as you avoid the few waterways that empty out into lakes in large upscale residential communities. The area is mainly empty most of the regular time, so.... Ok, so assuming that I'm STILL NOT DEAD, my ultimate goal is to enter the Everglades via the artificial waterways, and hunker down a good distance in. Depending on the supplies I was able to acquire before entering, and if I could avoid the various natural perils of the Everglades, I think it would be my best chance of lasting for a long time. LOT of natural resources to take advantage of, plus its an intimidating locale that I believe would prevent a large exodus into it. Plus, that environment is all-but-impossible for the undead (and unwary people) to travel in without ending up either gator-bait, snakebit (the living), or swallowed up by the many patches of quicksand and mudboils (the undead). Assuming that this worked out and against all odds I survived to reach the 'glades, I'd lurk along the border between the settled area adjoining the wetlands buffer between subdivisions and swamp proper, doing whatever was necessary to survive, no matter how repugnant. Kinda a moot point, but that's what I'd TRY to do. I have some proficiency with navigating the south florida waterways via jonboat, and I have some VERY rudimentary survival training in that environment...but realistically I'd never make it, and even if I did, I'd be so badly hampered in my physical efforts once the pain pills ran out, that I'd get killed that way if no other. That would be my plan anyways. Might crack up and eat a bunch of painkillers and then a bullet right before passing out or the vomiting started. You wanted realism...

[Trin]

I'd wait outside the hospital and see if Wyldwraith makes it out alive. If he does I'll gank him and take all those sweet, sweet drugs.

[AcesandEights]

I'd wait outside the hospital and see if Wyldwraith makes it out alive. If he does I'll gank him and take all those sweet, sweet drugs. +1 for using the word gank and making me laugh.

[Mike70]

I'd wait outside the hospital and see if Wyldwraith makes it out alive. If he does I'll gank him and take all those sweet, sweet drugs. not unless khardis beats you there first. remember, he is the baddest, toughest dude on the planet.

[Wyldwraith]

I rest my case as to not making it out alive Big believer in realism in my zombie apocalypse fantasizing, no matter how ugly. Of course if Trin proved to be a non-Khardis individual, I might attempt to strike a deal with him. I do all the high-risk work of going into the hospital deathtrap and scavenging amidst the zombies, and if I make it out alive and uninfected, I cut him in for a 40% share for a) not killing me and making off with all the loot, and b) watching my back while I'm carting around thousands of highly-desirable pain pills and ampules of narcotics and antibiotics... Win-win situation for Trin. Lots of loot for no effort unless I actually beat the odds and survive (and hey, I'm enough of a man of my word that even if I got bitten I'd still try to make it to the entrance and deliver the loot to him. Of course I'd want him to give me enough time to shoot up with a lethal dose of Demoral or Fentanyl, and then put a bullet in my head before I begin to suffer the unpleasant portion of the overdose, ie: Aspirating vomit into my lungs, etc.) End of the day, Trin walks away with either a partner and 40% of the take from a hospitals pharmacy, walks away with all of it for the price of a bullet and five to ten minutes of his time while the drugs are kicking in before he shoots me, or nothing, but also no risk. I'd like to believe that Trin is not Khardis-like enough to murder me if he could benefit by my continued survival. Besides, from a purely pragmatic point of view, if I'm dead he has to carry all the drugs by himself, PLUS all his other supplies. Brings new meaning to the term Drug Mule, eh? Sorry for responding seriously to a very amusing post. Just got me thinking about my priorities. I'm actually MUCH more frightened of narcotics withdrawal or living with the pain hour to hour, day after day, than I am of being devoured alive by zombies. Screwed up, eh? That, and if you're anywhere but in the panhandle and you're stuck in Florida when the zombie rising gets out of hand, the Everglades is your only viable choice but putting out to sea and trying to avoid being wiped out by the storms that plague the region. Which could be good, IF you've got the various skills, manpower and access to a sizable ocean-going craft. Least it gives you the option of eventually aligning yourself with other crews/ships. Ultimately however, I think I believe in the words of the guy who said we'd all die, because 99.5% of us would do just that.

[Mike70]

well, i've thought about this thread for a bit before chiming in. i have moved back to the east side of cincy and am living on top of a huge set of hills that are about a mile from the ohio river. i have access to a good sized houseboat and it is located at a marina that is only about 1.5 miles from where i am at now. so, i'd probably pop over to dad's quickly because my old man has what amounts to a national guard armory in his house. i wouldn't at all be surprised if he pulled a vulcan cannon that he'd been hiding for years out of the basement. anyhoo, after getting him, we'd most likely head for the houseboat and take off up river toward portsmouth and huntington. strayrider and moonsylver can back me up on the wasteland that southern ohio and northern ky are. that is a very, very sparsely populated area and once you get a bit away from the river in either direction, there is literally nothing for huge stretches. i would head upriver, even though it'd be much harder on fuel, because going downriver means passing directly through the gauntlet that would be formed by cincinnati on one side of the river and the cities of newport and covington, ky directly opposite. fuck that. i'd probably try to stay on the river as much as possible in the houseboat and at the same time, i'd be trying to gauge what was going on in some of the towns along the river: ripley, higginsport, new richmond, etc. those places are small enough and isolated enough that things might not get too bad there. it might be possible that those places would be safe enough that i might throw my lot in with the folks there. small populations, very remote, not many roads lead in or out of there, some of the river towns might make perfect strongholds for people. plus, you'd be able to make a quick escape along the river. zombies may have walked underwater in land but i guarantee you that little trick would not work in a huge river like the ohio. sure they might try that but the current would get them and they'd be fucking done for, you'd probably never see them again or they'd wash up miles down river from your location. so to recap: given a decent weapons and ammo situation (which i have already) i take to the river and try to stay as close to it as possible. i'd be closely checking out the small towns on the ohio and if one of them had their shit together, i'd throw my lot in there, humans are social animals after all. i've been fishing pretty much my whole life and have decent hunting exp. so, i doubt that i would starve after taking to the river.

[Trin]

Dammit Wyldwraith - you hit me in my Achilles heel. There's no way that if confronted by someone level-headed with a plan and the option of working together I could say no. And there's also no way I could allow someone to take the brunt of the risk if they're proven to be selfless. So... fine. You storm the hospital and I'll keep a watch on the exit to guard our escape and make sure Khardis isn't sneaking around waiting to gank the both of us. No sense agreeing on percentages of the loot. Once it's a team effort it's a team reward. I call dibs on the hospital jello.

[strayrider]

strayrider and moonsylver can back me up on the wasteland that southern ohio and northern ky are. that is a very, very sparsely populated area and once you get a bit away from the river in either direction, there is literally nothing for huge stretches. Mostly vacant, yes, but watch out for pockets of hillbillies. Don't make Ned Beatty's mistake. Of course, you'd have the firepower to avoid "squeeling". -stray-

[Wyldwraith]

There we go, Proving my other argument from SRP's thread awhile back. That while *people* may be dumb as a box of hammers, that individuals can be reasonable, practical and reliable. My bet is if the dead ever walk, in all likelihood greedy & amoral people will be responsible for it. Say what you want about the Resident Evil movies, but they're very strong on providing a realistic cause and motive, and method for how an undead rising could come about. With that in mind, an individual's best chance of survival will also be one that harnesses the same powerful force that could bring about the end of the world. People, specifically trustworthy individuals equally aware of the fact that the worst dangers will always come from the Khardis's of the world in the absence of deterrents like law enforcement. Zombies are dangerous, but at the end of the day still just rotting meatbag bundles of instinct. Humans can track you across half a continent, watch and wait, and strike in an organized manner when you either least expect it, or are in the worst position for it. The only real counter to that are intelligent and trustworthy allies, and a modus operandi that includes creating as many worthwhile alliances of various sorts with other survivors you come across in various situations. Gives you the best chance of being included in someone's workable master plan to reach safety, valuable resources, etc.

[SRP76]

Romero may try to pretend that live humans are "the real threat", but I don't buy it for a second. Go ahead and take all live threats out of the equation - you and your buddies are the only survivors. Guess what happens? You STILL get eaten sooner or later. Why? Because unlike in Romero's world, the zombies aren't just harmless dudes "looking for a place to live". They're predators, and we're their one and only food source. Other cows aren't the threat to the cow; the butcher is. We're just a few cows left alive, and there are billions of hungry butchers. Life at the top of the Dollar Menu.

[Tricky]

I think out in the countryside you'd be fine in the long term unless all the zombies in the country have a built in GPRS that lets them know exactly where you are from hundreds of miles away!

[SRP76]

I think out in the countryside you'd be fine in the long term unless all the zombies in the country have a built in GPRS that lets them know exactly where you are from hundreds of miles away! That would only work if we could teleport. Just like the dead, we also have to get there first. Easier said than done. You have to get yourself through untold numbers of zombies first - and if any spot you, they'll just follow. Try just walking to the end of your street and back without anyone spotting you. It isn't easy. And for any person that sees you, that'll be a zombie that sees you. And forget any kind of motor vehicle; the dead will hear that instantly.

[bassman]

The main problem with being in the country(which is pretty much where I live) is that everyone else would get the same idea and head in that direction. So then you've got a bigger problem than the zombies - the people. They cause you more trouble and at the same time bring more zombies....

[Tricky]

That would only work if we could teleport. Just like the dead, we also have to get there first. Easier said than done. You have to get yourself through untold numbers of zombies first - and if any spot you, they'll just follow. Try just walking to the end of your street and back without anyone spotting you. It isn't easy. And for any person that sees you, that'll be a zombie that sees you. And forget any kind of motor vehicle; the dead will hear that instantly. Quite easy for me, I live on a farm out in the sticks

[JDFP]

You know, I've been thinking on it some... And I think that the gov't has some type of program in case something like zombies (or more apt, unknown viral plague that turns people into cannibalistic creatures) were to come along. The question is whether they would be able to successfully implement the program or not. Back when I was living in Atlanta I was friends with a guy who worked for the CDC. I asked him something along the lines one day, and while he didn't answer straight out (nor did he laugh for that matter); he said that there's quite a bit up the right people's sleeves to be prepared for any type of scenerio, and that there are high intelligence offices designated just for coming to terms with forms of preparedness. Makes you think at least... j.p.