Protecting the mall...

[OddDNA]

I was thinking when the 3 found out the raiders were coming could they have done a better job protecting the mall? 1st..were they able to talk back to the bikers if they wanted to? 2ndl...I thought it would have been better for the three of them to go to the roof and shoot down on the bikers, it might make them retreat and even if it didnt the bikers wouldnt be able to get up to the roof where they were hiding. I still think the raiders would have made it into the mall and looted but all three would still be alive and depending on thier losses (They seemed to take heavy losses in the movie) the raiders my not ever come back. I just dont see the point in shutting the gates, they would just be opened again. Who cares if raiders know you are living there, if anything I think that makes it a less attractive target knowing you have to fight zombies and people protecting the mall. I just dont understand the stradegy behind what they did.

[MikePizzoff]

Peter didn't want to respond to them or harm them. He didn't want them to know they were living in the mall at all. He just wanted to talk a look at how they were doing. Hence why he wasn't firing at them from the roof. Flyboy lost his farkin mind and started shooting at the raiders. Remember the line... something like "Now we have a war on our hands, Flyboy" because Peter was pissed off about it. If he had never fired he would have lived, which would have never resulted in zombie-Flyboy breaking down the wall to their secret "home" and they wouldn't have had to flee the mall.

[axlish]

Peter didn't want to respond to them or harm them. He didn't want them to know they were living in the mall at all. Over the CB they said that they saw the "whirlybird" on the roof, so Peter knew that the bikers were aware of their presence. I think Peter was content to let them have their fun, and then re-secure the Mall. I bet they would have done a much better job the second time around.

[bassman]

I think that they should have never went downstairs to lock the gates. I mean, they saw the massive crew of bikers who obviously have their stuff together("looks like they've been living on the road all through this thing") and common sense tells you that they will be able to get through the gates. So don't lock the gates, stay in the hidden living area, wait for them to finish their looting and then attempt to re-secure the mall. If the mall couldn't be saved, they at least still had their lives and the ability to leave. But in short....I think Peter was right. Flyboy just got over protective of their accomplishment and foiled a perfectly good plan("we took it, it's ours").

[MikePizzoff]

Over the CB they said that they saw the "whirlybird" on the roof, so Peter knew that the bikers were aware of their presence. I think Peter was content to let them have their fun, and then re-secure the Mall. I bet they would have done a much better job the second time around. Yes, but just because they saw the helicopter on the roof doesn't mean there was deffinitely people living there. For all they knew it could have been sitting up there since the very beginning of the epidemic which, I believe, is why Peter never responded on the CB.

[axlish]

Yes, but just because they saw the helicopter on the roof doesn't mean there was deffinitely people living there. For all they knew it could have been sitting up there since the very beginning of the epidemic which, I believe, is why Peter never responded on the CB. They witnessed Steven giving Fran flying lessons.

[capncnut]

They witnessed Steven giving Fran flying lessons. Bravo, you beat me to it Razor!

[Danny]

If he had never fired he would have lived, which would have never resulted in zombie-Flyboy breaking down the wall to their secret "home" and they wouldn't have had to flee the mall. ooo, chaos theory. either that or some members were right about the parralel dimension thing-a-majig

[OddDNA]

1st I was just wondering "IF" he had the ability to talk back to the raiders not if he should or not. 2nd The raiders were 100% sure there were people living in the mall, however Peter and the crew did not know if the raiders were sure or guessing. The raider only says we saw the whirlybird on the roof...he didnt say, we saw you flying the whirlybird on the roof. So it coudl be the case the raider just saw the whirlybird and wasnt sure if people were in there. 3rd do you think Peter didnt want to shoot them unless he had to? While they were coming in they are a threat, Peter didnt seem to mind shooting whooly in the 107 so I dont think he would mind shooting raiders either. I just think the better plan would be to fire down on them while they approached.

[Slain]

I think Peter was right in not wanting to start a firefight with the bikers. There's no way just two guys could have defended that mall from a large gang of looters. If I had been a defender at the mall I would have turned off all the electricity & turned on the fire sprinklers when the bikers had all gotten inside the place

[Philly_SWAT]

Well, I dont think that they could have done a better job of "protecting the mall" but they could have done a much better job in protecting themselves. Some thoughts.... 1st..were they able to talk back to the bikers if they wanted to? I think we have to assume that Peter could have responded, that he didnt want to. I am not a technology expert, and especially not a 1978 technology expert, but I dont think that the bikers could have been sending their message on a frequency that would cuold over a regular AM/FM radio. It would only make sense that Peter would have brought some type of short-wave radio to the hideout, and I seem to remember something looking like a mic sitting on the table as they were listening. Therefore I think it is safe to assume that they could have replied, but I think Peter was correct in not responding. 2nd The raiders were 100% sure there were people living in the mall, however Peter and the crew did not know if the raiders were sure or guessing. The raider only says we saw the whirlybird on the roof...he didnt say, we saw you flying the whirlybird on the roof. So it coudl be the case the raider just saw the whirlybird and wasnt sure if people were in there. This is absolutley correct. Peter did not know that the bikers knew they were in there, but he had to assume that they probably did. I mean, he told Roger earlier that the "chopper up there may give us away". I always thought they should have covered the chopper with a tarp or something. But since Peter didnt know for sure they knew, it was only smart not to respond. The bikers probably wouldnt have seen the fake wall, hell, Blades was right in front of it and didnt notice. 3rd do you think Peter didnt want to shoot them unless he had to? While they were coming in they are a threat, Peter didnt seem to mind shooting whooly in the 107 so I dont think he would mind shooting raiders either. I just think the better plan would be to fire down on them while they approached. I think a couple of things were going thru Peters mind here. One, he probably knew that the bikers were going to get in no matter what. I doubt at night that they could have killed all the bikers before they got to the loading dock. So why piss them off further? Also, as a police officer, Peter was probably familiar with the biker mentality, and knew they would be careless, and would get into plenty of danger without their help. I mean, once you bust open the mall, obviously, zombies would follow you in. Peter would also know that the bikers couldnt kill all the zombies that were out there, and that the bikers would not be careful enough to be able to loot the mall indefinatley and keep the zombies at bay, so they would either leave or be killed. Therefore, the biker threat would be eliminated one way or the other with no danger to our heros. If they were so inclined, since Fran knew how to fly now, Peter and Flyboy could have tried to same trick to move another truck, learning from the mistakes of Roger, or simply tried to move the other truck back, which was still hotwired, which is how the bikers moved it. But I think firing from the roof would have served no purpose other than to piss the bikers off, and maybe make them more mad and want to find and kill our heros, rather than just loot the mall. Remember what Peter told Flyboy, "They're just interested in the place, not us", or something like that. Plus, our group in the mall was trying to live as normal as before, and just killing people for the hell of it is not the act of "civilized" people. Peter only killed Wooley when he was blantently killing innocents. Peter was protecting people, not things, when he killed Wooley. I just dont see the point in shutting the gates, they would just be opened again. True, but the more gates that were closed, the less that would be opened. If the bikers could get into the mall without letting zombies in, then yes, why bother with the gates. But with "a thousand zombies" in there as well, the bikers would only be able to open so many gates before they would either have to retreat or be killed, thus protecting the other stores. And even if Peter and Flyboy couldnt have resecured the mall, if a lot of the stores still had the gates closed, they could enter them thru the air ducts.

[rawrOTD]

they could have defended the mall from both raiders and the undead just had to get a little creative however i wouldnt have locked the doors they just would have smashed them and then what kinda zombie barrier would they have had?

[Chaos]

There was nothing they could have done that would have prevented the raiders from getting into the mall, and Peter knew that all too well. The reason why he didn't respond is that he didn't want to give them any information whatsoever, and at the same time, gather as much info about the raiders as he could. Peter knew the raiders would let the zombies back in. He just didn't want to hand it to them on a silver platter.

[deadpunk]

The very first thing I said after watching Dawn was: After they spent all that time securing the mall from zombies and then clearing it out...why didn't they then spend time defending it from the possibility of an invasion from the living? In this type of scenario, lawlessness is going to be the order of the day. Two cops should have known that better than anyone. They should have made some attempt to fortify the mall from an outside attack. Even if the bikers hadn't known/guessed they were living there, they should have assumed that looters would eventually make their way to the mall. It was way to early in the Rise for them to even possibly believe they were the last people alive.

[TerryAlexanderF]

I believe Stephen was envious of the Bikers because he saw that they were literally taking over the mall single handedly and very easily, and making a mockery of it, rampaging the stores and taking what they will. Stephen didn't like it, and wanted to get his fair share of the mall, and in his greed he shot, and then he was discovered, ran away, got shot in the air vents, and then attacked by the zombies. If plot weren't restricting their advance, Stephen just could have taken his walkie-talkie up to the elevator shaft with him, instead of leaving it on the floor like a dummy. Then he would still have been shot, but he wouldn't have been killed, he would just have been injured. But that's the movie world! =P As far as what Peter and Stephen could have done to protect the mall itself better, they could have stalled so long that the bikers would have to eventually leave. It would be very hard for the bikers to figure out how to get to their hideout, they might eventually catch on, climbing in the ducts or something, but I believe they wanted the mall itself more than killing the threesome.