How would you survive an apocalyptic zombie rampage, if one occurred ?

[jim102016]

None of that really matters. If they had got along, the zombies still would have broken the boarded-up windows and doors, and entered the farmhouse. If they had got along, Big Daddy and his goons would still have crossed the river. If they had stayed in their upstairs room, they still would have had to leave. Retaking the mall without Roger would have been nearly impossible. In the end, the "bickering humans" would have been just fine, if it weren't for the rotting, hungry corpses beating on the door. Here's another common thread in all of them: The living are a bunch of defensive-minded people. Every movie revolves around the "stronghold" idea. Get behind a locked door, cower and cry, and hope the zombies eventually "just go away". Not one of these groups can be seen taking the "exterminate every ghoul I see" mindset. They all seem to ignore the problem, never realizing that the ghouls will NEVER "go away", unless they, themselves, take action. Retaking the mall in Dawn even with Roger would have been impossible. Unless they went out in the parking lot and lowered them out from every nook and cranny in now wide-open mall. Even then, how would they secure the loading bay door? Rather than people being 'defensive minded', they're functioning under a self-preservation mode with little regard for others or the big picture.

[SRP76]

You know, I've noticed that everyone here has put out methods to deal with "Romero-Type" zombies. Now, how about dealing with "Runners"? And, even worse, those Return-Type freaks? Runners: Not as bad as you might expect. The key is that the only difference between them and Romero-type dead, is that they are faster. The same rules apply: burn them, they croak. Destroy the brain, they croak. They have to see you or hear you to know you're around. No intelligence to speak of; just instinctive, straight-ahead pursuit of food. This is a situation where the "fortress" idea actually is the only real way to go. Since these jokers are fast (not to mention tireless), you can't outdistance them. The only chance you have, is to find a "secure" (yeah, right) location, and try to take out as many as you can, over time. Return-Type: Game over. You die. The only thing I can possibly come up with, is that you need large-caliber weapons. We're talking .50-cal, here. You have to be able to blast a body apart with every single shot. You have two targets: 1.The waist. Yup, the waist. Blow their legs off. Regardless of anything else, if you take away their legs, you reduce them to shambler-speed. This is your first priority, since they will be moving full-on when you take your first aim. Go for the larger target. 2. The head. Take this after you slow them up, because you have no chance in hell of nailing one on the run (especially if they are in a group). This won't kill them, but it will "de-fang" them. Disintegrate the head, and they no longer have a mouth. No mouth = no way to eat your brain. ......that's about all I can come up with, at the moment.

[UndeadJD]

Great thread!!!! I would definitely stay away from malls, morgues, army bases and big cities.....I am thinking either seek refuge in the wild and build a tree house (would be a problem in the brushland of south texas) or living as a nomad and driving around in a modified zombie chopping tractor....until I run out of gas. Actually, I wonder how our government (U.S.) or any government for that matter ...would respond to a zombie rampage......I am thinking that the president would notify the public but probably from the underground bunker that he is already in. Would they offer the public refuge in those underground bunkers? Would it even be the right decision to be "trapped" inside one of the bunkers? But, we would be protected by a large military force. I can already picture average Joe fighting zombies side-by-side with condelisa rice and president bush.

[Skippy911sc]

One solution, in my mind, would be for the Govts to release encephalitis. I think this illness causes an enlargement of the brain and perhaps death to the infected. Think Heinlein's puppet masters. Also my recollection of Return is somewhat vague, what is the difference in those zombies and the others...any insight?

[Yojimbo]

There's a slight problem with that (I know, I'm just full of good news, right?): Looters are people. A gaggle of people with guns will deter them. They don't want to be shot...they find someplace else to go riot. Deadheads are not deterred by anything. They will not see the guns, and head somewhere else. They will simply swarm. Which brings us to the second problem: These aren't people. A bunch of kids opening fire are: #1. going to miss the broad side of a barn, mostly. Emptying a whole clip to get one or two shots to land on what they're actually trying to hit, and #2. even when they hit, it will mostly be body shots. These will have no effect. They won't even begin to smarten up to the situation until someone gets a lucky headshot. Even then, it will likely take several, before they "put 2 and 2 together". By then, it's too late. The only hope would be if at least one of the gangbangers happens to be a Romero fan, and can spread the word really fast about what to do. That is possible. This is very true and you make a good point. Laymen and hoodrats are notoriously bad shots to begin with, hence you have everyone but the intended target getting hit in a shooting. Most layfolk just buy their weapons and set them aside without really learning how to hit a target. I have often thought that a good way of eliminating collateral damage with regard to drivebys and innocent bystanders getting killed would be for the NRA or the Millitary to provide free instruction to gangbangers on proper gun usage and safety so that they would have the skills to hit their intended targets. Of course, this would never happen. In retrospect, the fact that so many untrained folks are armed out there might cause more deaths due to accidents which in turn could increase the zombie count.

[SRP76]

Also my recollection of Return is somewhat vague, what is the difference in those zombies and the others...any insight? The Return zombies are bad, BAD news: 1. They are "runners". 2. Destroying the brain does not affect them. In fact, nothing does. They are unkillable. 3. They can smell your freakin' brain! They don't have to see or hear you; they can track you by scent. 4. They can speak, and communicate with each other. 5. They have normal thought, like the living. They can actually outplan and outsmart you. In every way, they are far worse than Romero-type dead.

[wyvern1096]

I'd fortress up (probably with the rest of our neighboorhood--close community) for the first month or two. Just bought a fixer upper house and I have a ton (literally) of building materials and tools. Making it secure is not a problem as long as food could be secured early on. After the initial chaos has died down (assuming the zombies won) we'd (as a group) head for the hinterlands. Preferably some place that could support agriculture.

[Yojimbo]

I'd fortress up (probably with the rest of our neighboorhood--close community) for the first month or two. Just bought a fixer upper house and I have a ton (literally) of building materials and tools. Making it secure is not a problem as long as food could be secured early on. After the initial chaos has died down (assuming the zombies won) we'd (as a group) head for the hinterlands. Preferably some place that could support agriculture. Hey, like the zombie cats. Just wanted to comment on that.

[Danny]

^ ditto, theres a good disney movie in that idea

[Deadman_Deluxe]

Here is something i prepared earlier : http://www.livejournal.com/users/alpha_dog

[Chakobsa]

If the authorities failed to contain the initial outbreaks larger towns and cities would quickly become the focus of the kind of Mega swarms that Brooks envisions in his second book. I think that by this point the decision would be taken to deploy and use tactical nuclear weapons. I can imagine a scenario in which most i.e around 90/95% of the population is wiped out or re-animated, the remaining survivors would probably regress to the kind of canibalistic tribalism envisioned by Cormac McCarthy in "The Road". If any enclave survived the initial holocaust with some notion of "civillised conduct" intact I think that they would have to be well founded and secure enough to provide two vital commodities; babies and leisure time. the reasons for the first are obvious the second is vital if those children are to have a future in which centuries of learning and knowledge are not squandered, so you need to be able to do more than simply survive if you don't want humanity to simply fizzle out.

[Shadowofthedead]

never thought to include the other types of zombies but werent we stickin to romero only... any who mobile caravan of survivors in a 20 mile radius of a central location. makin a small secure community(ies) out of these pockets of land and makin them defensable o that no threat livin or dead could take it away... yet this would take some time.

[CornishCorpse]

Thanks Alphadog for the hours of z related fun, youre writing encapulates every moment plus the images look like they would be simple to do but they always manage to catch something eerie. Too close to home for it to be comfortable so thanks. As Ive said in other threads like this I live not far from a farming shop full of supplies and weapons ( axes, hunting rifles, crossbows ) and two supermarkets. The downside to this is I dont live very far from a funereal parlour but you need to roll with the punches I suppose. Id take who I could with me and since I live in a part of the country with alot of good terrain and forests then things are made slightly easier. Ive discussed this with friends over many a beer and a cigarette and weve found a small enclosure. Essentially its sealed off from the public by some very tall barbed wire fences, the place is a water purification plant and has a fair few structures within it but never any personnel. The fence is climable and strong enough to hold a good amount of weight against it plus the whole thing is surrounded by a forest so its hard to see. The water purification plant which draws water from a lake with fish and plenty of birds on it about five minutes if that from the sealed off compound. So theres my plan to live out there before eventually trying to conquer whatever is left of society. Some tents and some sort of hydro power and weve got electricity and fresh water. Id say nobody considered runners instead of Romero zombies for the fact that they are too threatening. Romero zombies you can think and outwit if you need to jus outclimb them and pick youre shots and drop em. With runners youre overwhelmed, 28 days and weeks proved this. If they were romero zombies you could fall back pick em off and move back. Leapfrogging till theyre gone or youre out of ammo or at a safe enclosure. With runners youd maybe get three before you hit the ground. The return zombies? bah..Never a fan of the movies, even in this genre I like a little realism. The talking immortal zombies? Bah screw that. Romero for me.

[Slain]

The inevitable destruction that's sure to occur in a zombie outbreak would release tons and tons highly toxic chemical into the environment. A firestorm is also a strong possibility in a city without running water and fire departments to fight the fires. IMHO anyone who remains in an urban area will most likely perish.