I only had access to a shotgun, a caged hockey helmet, and some fireworks in my lucid zombie dream. We were all camped out at a movie theater. It was all preparation though, they never actually attacked.



[Edited on June 3, 2008 at 3:39 PM. Reason : sdfd]

6/3/2008 3:38:12 PM

Some of my friends have been pushing hard for Sam's Club as a holdout, for obvious reasons. And now that I've actually been in a few, I realize that it would be easy to secure against zombies, but many living people would stop at nothing to get in.

There's a good chapter in World War Z where the interview subject talks about his boss having an impenetrable fortress for him and his celebrity friends. Their anti-zombie security was top-notch, but the fools decided to make their experience a sort of reality TV show. All the living people saw how safe and well-supplied the house was and forced their way in, thereby ruining its defensive integrity.

The moral being: a site can actually be too good.

6/14/2008 7:02:03 PM

bttt

6/18/2008 4:19:41 PM

http://www.zombieharmony.com/

Dating site for zombies

7/24/2008 8:13:06 PM

I <3 this thread.

What do you guys think about a marshland for camping in during an outbreak, such as the area outside of New Orleans? (Obviously right out of New Orleans would be a horrible area with large migration to and from the city) The swampy mud would be good for stopping zombies who can't move very well through the wet land, and it could be easy to be away from any roaving scavengers.

7/24/2008 8:33:31 PM

Quote :

"will cellular networks stay up for a while, you think? "

most towers have a diesel generator for backup. the fuel supply is quite small though, so after the initial surge of call volume, you would have free reign. problem is finding the phone #'s of the people not infected.

CQB - close quarter combat weapons medium to short barrels would be most effective. for long range, use a semi auto or bolt action scoped rifle. medium range would need medium length full or semi-auto rifles with or w/o suppressors. close quarters would need a shorty rifle/shotgun with suppressor and a supressed handgun.

.22LR or magnum suppressed would be great for survival (a suppressed mp5 would work great). you wouldn't need to take out too many infected AND you wouldn't draw attention to yourself with the extra noise. it's much like the escape/evade training the military makes you go through. except with zombies.

leading hoardes of zombies to an open area such as a highway and then hosing them down with machine gun fire seems the best way to deal with it. enlisting the military to drive around in their APC's and killing anything that moves also helps. being a pansy about it will only get you killed.

helo's with machine guns, apc's with machine guns, hummers with machine guns, and anything else with a machine gun would be the most effective means of extermination.

you would need a huge supply effort though.

7/24/2008 9:15:51 PM

^^ Well the thing about marshlands are that it is gonna take significant effort for you to get out there in the first place and the one thing about zombies is that they may be slow, but they have a steady pace. They won't get tired. Luckily I would imagine the marshlands would be pretty rural so the odds of coming across one would be slim. So I guess just as long as you know the land and have the necessary equipment to hike through marshland, you would be gold.

^I don't think that machine guns would be too effective. Machine guns are effective against humans because they shoot the hell out of people's vital organs and (if the gun is big/powerful enough) sever some limbs. The only vital organ a zombie has is it's brain, so unless all the zombies are hit in the head, it isn't gonna do a lot of damage. Obviously machine guns aren't gonna be too accurate and you will run out of ammo quickly. You may think that you can mow down a bunch of zombies but after the outbreak, the only good its gonna do is alert more zombies of your location. Pistols and semiauto/bolt action rifles are where it's at.

I doubt the military will be organized enough after the outbreak too... the virus will spread to them faster than a wildfire after people try to seek refuge in military bases.

[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 10:41 PM. Reason : ]

7/24/2008 10:40:34 PM

Just finished reading World War Z while on vacation and was fascinated by it. The chapter with the Chinese submarine was particularly interesting, as I'd never even considered the nautical threats that zombies could pose. Is it true that this is being made into a movie?

I'm now reading The Zombie Survival Guide.

8/7/2008 2:15:31 PM

Without going through the entire thread--

Has the method of infection been agreed on?

My tactics would vary widely based on this factor.

8/7/2008 2:44:22 PM

Quote :

"The only vital organ a zombie has is it's brain, so unless all the zombies are hit in the head, it isn't gonna do a lot of damage."

If you mow down a crowd of zombies using a machine gun mounted on a helo, it will DESTROY them. I dunno if you've seen a helicopter gunship let loose before, but hitting them in the head should be the least of your worries.

Quote :

"You may think that you can mow down a bunch of zombies but after the outbreak, the only good its gonna do is alert more zombies of your location."

That's why the military should take care of it, logistics/resupply and all.

Quote :

"Pistols and semiauto/bolt action rifles are where it's at."

Next crowd of zombies I see, I'll give you a pistol and a rifle and let you take care of them yourself.

[Edited on August 7, 2008 at 2:45 PM. Reason : db]

8/7/2008 2:44:43 PM

Also, have we agreed on the level of self-awareness?

Are these Shaun of the Dead zombies or 28 Days Later zombies?


These details are crucial before you even begin to discuss tactics.

8/7/2008 2:47:08 PM

Alright, skimmed through the entire thread. I have to point out some fatal flaws in some of your plans:

GIVEN: You only have one life-- you can't make assumptions about what type of zombie you're dealing with. There's a sliding scale between occult zombies and virus zombies, and preparing for one or the other cuts your odds to 50%, max.

THEREFORE:

FACT #1: You can't count on starvation within X days. You don't know what's feeding them. You don't know they're decomposing. Hell, even if they are plain old need-to-feed zombies, chances are they'll be eating like kings off of urban holdouts long after you've eaten your last tin of beenie-weenies. (also, if you resort to cannibalism, you aren't any better than the zombies; it's essential to maintain the moral high ground in this battle)

CONCLUSION #1: If you stay in an urban area, you're screwed food-wise under all but the sunniest of decay scenarios. Yes, getting to the country will be nigh impossible. That's why zombie attacks aren't for pansies.


FACT #2: You don't know how the zombieism is spread. There's a strong possibility that it's blood-borne, therefore melee weapons and shotguns are out of the question. If they're non-blood-borne-but-within-the-realm-of-the-natural-world zombies, then small caliber rifles will do splendidly. If they're demon-occult-voodoo-what-have-you zombies, then fire is the only surefire defense against the undead, beyond complete obliteration (which would be impractical, and who's to say the pieces wouldn't attack you).

CONCLUSION #2: You must carry a blend of fire and small-caliber weapons if you are to have any peace of mind. Even then, you should never count of your weapons being completely effective. Once again, the only chance of surviving an assault of indefinite number and duration is to avoid them altogether by fleeing to the country.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Ya'll in Raleigh are pwnt. If you don't want to plan a method of escape, do the rest of the world a favor and commit suicide early on so we don't have to deal with zombie-you.

[Edited on August 7, 2008 at 4:24 PM. Reason : .]

8/7/2008 4:19:43 PM

Quote :

"If you mow down a crowd of zombies using a machine gun mounted on a helo, it will DESTROY them. I dunno if you've seen a helicopter gunship let loose before, but hitting them in the head should be the least of your worries."

I originally thought this as well until after having read World War Z. The author explains quite rationally how even if you completely maim a zombie, so long as the head and brain are still intact, it's still a capable of creating more zombies by spreading the infection. Shoot away its legs, and it'll crawl after you. Shoot away its arms and torso, and it'll still just lay there like a land mine waiting for something to come within bite distance. (Sounds rather like the Black Knight in the Holy Grail.) Make a mess of it with an automatic weapon, and infection can potentially be spread to nearby targets. In the story, the military learns to treat even the most wounded zombies as lethal threats until it can be confirmed that the brain is 100% dead. The reasoning that "an intact zombie is the best kind of zombie" is because you don't have to risk tearing up some part of it which is still carrying the infection, and you also can be certain that an upright walker presents the best target by which it can be stopped outright.

8/7/2008 11:16:48 PM

^ you just had to go and blow my idea all to hell didn't you, with your well reasoned responses and high falootin nonsense.

terrible.

[Edited on August 7, 2008 at 11:33 PM. Reason : e]

8/7/2008 11:32:50 PM

^^I was about the say that in response.

Also, in response to:

Quote :

"Next crowd of zombies I see, I'll give you a pistol and a rifle and let you take care of them yourself."

How many people have access to a machine gun mounted on a helicopter? I was saying that a pistol and a rifle would be ideal in isolated survival situations in which there are a few zombies. If there is a crowd of zombies running towards you there isn't much you can do to stop them. A regular machine gun isn't gonna be accurate enough to hit all of them in the head, and odds are you are gonna be panicking/shaky anyway so you will probably blow through the ammo quickly and hit them in limbs/torso which may slow them down a bit but certainly won't stop them. In a situation where you have a large crowd of zombies descending upon you, the best defense you can have is run like hell and try and get to an area that they aren't smart/agile enough to get to, then pick them off.

[Edited on August 8, 2008 at 12:24 AM. Reason : ]

8/8/2008 12:24:11 AM

premptive FUCK IMAGESHACK

8/8/2008 8:19:16 AM

OMFG I'D GET IN A HELICOPTER AND COORDINATE WITH MY GROUND UNITS IN TANKS



get real people.

8/8/2008 9:07:30 AM

Quote :

"Just finished reading World War Z while on vacation and was fascinated by it. The chapter with the Chinese submarine was particularly interesting, as I'd never even considered the nautical threats that zombies could pose. Is it true that this is being made into a movie?"

Oh man i borrowed it from the library and was going to read it over vacation but didn't have time. What was that thing about the chinese submarine? Was it something about zombies in the ocean?

8/8/2008 12:30:05 PM

Quote :

"What do you guys think about a marshland for camping in during an outbreak, such as the area outside of New Orleans? (Obviously right out of New Orleans would be a horrible area with large migration to and from the city) The swampy mud would be good for stopping zombies who can't move very well through the wet land, and it could be easy to be away from any roaving scavengers."

Insects would eat you alive before the zombies would.

8/8/2008 12:51:01 PM

Yeah. It dealt with a submarine crew's plot to covertly rescue as many of their family members as they could before they went rogue. They spent a very long time at sea before finally making the decision to combine their sub's nuclear power resources with a group of mixed survivors who were attempting to reclaim and defend an atoll in the Pacific. It's explained that there are potentially millions of zombies in the ocean, which is something I honestly never thought about before. Eventually, the captain of the submarine is forced to make an extremely difficult choice concerning the remnants of the Chinese government... and I've already said too much.

8/8/2008 12:53:22 PM

good book.

8/8/2008 1:49:15 PM

Hahaha, so I posted a "What is your zombie survival strategy" on a message board I use at work with some friends, and this is what one guy replied with:

Quote :

"Acutually the first thing i would do ig o over to a hummer dealership then take it to home depot or lowes. Form protective barriers for the windows and door and windshield. get some bug spray because they are dead after all and have flies all over them. Then i would drive the truck through wal mart to the accessories section. AKA the gun shops. Load my truck with several pistols and riffles and shot guns. Then i would get some non perishable food items and a can opener, toilet paper, water, the essentials. The i would go over to the gas station and fill up. And then i would stop by a pawn shop and get me this awesome looking gun that has 2 in bullets to mount too the top of the hummer were i had previousy built a docking station for it at lowes. And head for the highets point i could find and hopefully meeting other people with the same mindset as i do and irradicate them mo fo's..."

lol

8/8/2008 3:34:42 PM

ha!

8/8/2008 5:35:39 PM

bttt

m4a1
p223
bat

8/16/2008 9:53:55 AM

Quote :

"There's a sliding scale between occult zombies and virus zombies, and preparing for one or the other cuts your odds to 50%, max."

So-called "occult zombies" fall into one of two categories:

1) Chemical-induced semi-catatonic slave laborers. These are generally non-threatening, normal humans in a stupor, and their condition is not contagious.

2) Magical or otherworldly zombies, which do not exist. Zombism will fall within the laws of the natural world.

Neither one of these is a going concern. We established universal zombie characteristics early in this thread which are perfectly reasonable and which exclude your preposterous objections.

8/25/2008 12:00:25 AM

8/25/2008 2:08:38 AM

I so want to make on of those "break glass" posters now.

8/25/2008 2:12:32 AM

Hear me out on this...
What if we have a zombie outbreak...and a hurricane hits?
Would this increase survivability rates, because most people will have already stockpiled supplies, or will the lack of access to emergency personnel and pre-hurricane panic just make the outbreak spread faster?

9/12/2008 1:38:14 PM

[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 3:58 PM. Reason : fuckin zombies]

9/12/2008 3:58:13 PM

Wow, I need to get some wall decor like that.

Anyway, now that I've finished reading both The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, I'm jonesing for more zombie reading. What should I go for next?

9/16/2008 8:34:20 PM

Yea, this gun rewrites the rules of zombie combat for the 21st century

9/16/2008 9:30:22 PM

Quote :

"will the lack of access to emergency personnel and pre-hurricane panic just make the outbreak spread faster?"

that one.

9/16/2008 9:35:11 PM

i want one

9/16/2008 9:38:09 PM

new zombie defense gun

http://www.military.com/news/article/army-to-test-air-burst-weapon-for-joes.html

want

9/26/2008 9:11:12 AM

Seriously, the idea of zombies freaks me out.

Not because I'd be all "Eeeeeeee! Zombies are going to eat meeeeeee!" but more because of the hopelessness that goes along with something like that.

I mean yeah, we can all hop on the roof of a mall or something, and we could shoot a ton of zombies and be all "Blargh I'm the death-bringer!", but when it finally comes down to it... you will eventually run out of food. Then it's a matter of starving or somehow getting to something.

Blargh.

9/26/2008 9:30:41 AM

^^^^^

9/26/2008 12:14:37 PM

Lately I've been considering the potential use of a compound bow for killing zombies

if you don't lose your arrows you've got a near endless supply of ammo for it and a compound bow should be strong enough to put an arrow through something's head (right?)

9/26/2008 1:01:09 PM

The right bow is more than capable of putting the right arrow through a skull, sure. And your idea does have the advantage you mentioned, as well as silence -- its use won't alert other nearby zombies in the same way a gun would.

However, it has disadvantages:

1) It requires archery skills, which most people don't have and which are difficult to acquire. A gun is easier.
2) Bows take longer to reload, and the process also requires a lot of strength. Every shot you take is going to require a certain level of exertion on your part.
3) You are going to lose some arrows, and others will be broken, etc. Your ammunition supply is extended, but I wouldn't go so far as to say "near-endless."

However, if you're proficient in their use, a good bow could fill a niche for a silent, intermediate-range weapon. It would be ideal for taking out the occasional loner that comes across an isolated hideout, or for clearing small numbers while on the move.

9/26/2008 1:12:50 PM

what about cross bows?

how easy are they to reload?

do they have any semi auto crossbows?

9/26/2008 3:09:08 PM

And keep in mind that with a bow and arrow, you are going to have to factor in panic. As zombies get closer to you, your aim is gonna steadily decline. The same would be said for a gun, but with a gun there is a low reload time so it wouldn't be as bad. As stated before, it would be great for taking out a small number from a fair distance (provided that you are competent) but it would lose it's effectiveness against large numbers. A crossbow would probably be very similar except you wouldn't need as much physical strength.

Quote :

"I'm jonesing for more zombie reading. What should I go for next?"

I recently started reading a book called Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne. It is a first person diary entry type of book detailing a man's fight for survival from the early reports of an infectious outbreak through complete breakdown of society. It even details how the main character hears a radio broadcast that the government is gonna nuke the countries' major cities in order to destroy as much of the undead as possible, meaning he has to evacuate his safehouse and fight through zombie infested areas to get to a new safe place. The first chapter is available online here:

http://www.tacticalunderground.us/journal1.htm

9/26/2008 5:47:14 PM

REANIMATION OF DEAD ORGANS

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/13/eod.ghost.heart/index.html

10/16/2008 7:59:31 AM

Quote :

"Yea, this gun rewrites the rules of zombie combat for the 21st century"

That gun'd be great if not for these reasons.

If you need to fire that many shots from a shotgun, being in close enough range to both accurately and effectively penetrate the skull and rearrange their brainmatter, you're way too close to a large group of zombies.

I'd take a good semi-automatic pistol or rifle anyday for the smaller/easier to carry ammo and for decreasing travelling weight and bulk.

It would be way too easy to allow adrenaline to kick in with that shotgun sending you into Rambo-mode, exhausting all your ammunition before you know it.

10/17/2008 10:35:01 AM

yea cereally, who the fuck uses a shotgun?

hmm?

not fucking batman, thats who

10/17/2008 10:52:21 AM

I went to B&N today to get Day by Day Armageddon but they didn't have a copy in store . Oh well

I'm reading this right now http://www.tacticalunderground.us/journal1.htm , it might get interesting. I found it when reading up on reviews about the book.

10/20/2008 12:42:55 AM

Oh they are out there. Ever watch the crackhead homeless walk around at night. If that is not the living dead it is pretty dame close.

10/20/2008 1:07:17 AM

Day by Day Armageddon is fun... I'm thinking about buying the full print version on amazon

I should write something like this

10/20/2008 2:18:09 AM

10/20/2008 2:23:08 AM

What are you reading, a pdf or something? Lemme borrow it

I checked the website out a bit more and found this forum thread very interesting. Basically, people taking the concepts of survival in an apocalyptic situation and seeing how the New Orleans - Katrina catastrophe affected those plans. The majority of people said that the disaster changed their plans, seeing how the government was completely unreliable, and how some extra measures really saved some people.

http://www.tacticalunderground.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=993

10/20/2008 2:24:40 AM

I just read the sample from teh website

but I'm looking for a working torrent

hard to find though

10/20/2008 2:28:06 AM

This shit is nuts. These are collected accounts from people in New Orleans. Warning: words.

http://www.frfrogspad.com/disastr.htm

Quote :

"2. When help gets there, you may get it whether you like it or not. There are numerous reports of aggressive, overbearing behavior by those rescuers who first arrived at disaster scenes. It's perhaps best described as "I'm here to rescue you - I'm in charge - do as I say - if you don't I'll shoot you". It appears that mid-level State functionaries and Red Cross personnel (the latter without the "shoot you" aspect, of course) were complained about most often. In one incident, a family who had prepared and survived quite well were ordered, not invited, to get onto a truck, with only the clothes on their backs. When they objected, they were threatened. They had pets, and wanted to know what would happen to them and they report that a uniformed man (agency unknown) began pointing his rifle at the pets with the words "I'll fix that". The husband then trained his own shotgun on the man and explained to him, in words of approximately one syllable, what was going to happen to him if he fired a shot. The whole "rescuer" group then left, threatening dire consequences for the family (including threats to come back once they'd evacuated and torch their home). The family were able to make contact with a State Police patrol and report the incident, and are now determined that no matter how much pressure is applied, they will not evacuate. They've set up a "shuttle run" so that every few days, two of them go upstate to collect supplies for the rest of the family, who defend the homestead in the meantime."

Quote :

"1. People who were prepared were frequently mobbed/threatened by those who weren't. This was reported in at least seven incidents, five in Mississippi, two in Louisiana (I suspect that the relative lack of Louisiana incidents was because most of those with any sense got out of Dodge before the storm hit). In each case, the person/family concerned had made preparations for disaster, with supplies, shelter, etc. in good order and ready to go. Several had generators ready and waiting. However, their neighbors who had not prepared all came running after the disaster, wanting food, water and shelter from them. When the prepared families refused, on the grounds that they had very little, and that only enough for themselves, there were many incidents of aggression, attempted assault, and theft of their supplies. Some had to use weapons to deter attack, and in some cases, shots were fired. I understand that in two incidents, attackers/would-be thieves were shot. It's also reported that in all of these cases, the prepared families now face threats of retribution from their neighbors, who regarded their refusal to share as an act of selfishness and/or aggression, and are now threatening retaliation. It's reportedly so bad that most of the prepared families are considering moving to other neighborhoods so as to start afresh, with different neighbors. Similar incidents are reported by families who got out in time, prepared to spend several days on their own. When they stopped to eat a picnic meal at a rest stop, or an isolated spot along the highway, they report being approached rather aggressively by others wanting food, or fuel, or other essentials. Sometimes they had to be rather aggressive in their turn to deter these insistent requests. Two families report attempts being made to steal their belongings (in one case, their vehicle) while over-nighting in camp stops on their way out of the area. They both instituted armed patrols, with one or more family members patrolling while the others slept, to prevent this. Seems to me to be a good argument to form a "bug-out team" with like-minded, security-conscious friends in your area, so that all concerned can provide mutual security and back-up. My take I can understand these families being unwilling to share the little they had, particularly in light of not knowing when supplies would once again be available. However, this reinforces the point I made in my "lessons learned" post last week plan on needing much more in the way of supplies than you initially thought! If these families had had some extra food and water in stock, and hidden their main reserve where it would not be seen, they could have given out some help to their neighbors and preserved good relations. Also, a generator, under such circumstances, is a noisy (and bright, if powering your interior lights) invitation saying "This house has supplies - come and get them". I suspect that kerosene lanterns, candles and flashlights might be a more "community-safe" option if one is surrounded by survivors."

10/20/2008 2:39:43 AM