Zombies Attack!!
 

Recently, I've completed a zombie movie marathon: Dawn of the Dead (both versions), Shaun of the Dead, City of the Dead, etc.. I've also been reading the books of Max Brooks - The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Max is the son of Mel Brooks, so I assumed his style would be tongue-in-cheek, but not at all. In addition to creating scary alterniverses, he's also a great oral history writer.)

Anyway, invariably such movies and books lead to us hypothesising the dilemma of "Just where to go in the event of a zombie takeover?".

Brooks contends that a shopping mall is one of the worst places to take refuge in as the weight of the zombies at the glass doors would be enough to break through, if nothing else did.

So, what you'll need to consider...

Zombie Strengths:

They're incapable of feeling fear, any kind of emotion or rational thought process (much like my ex). Thus, they can't purposefully prevent an attack on themselves or predict your next move (....nevermind)

They're impervious to any kind of pain and do not need oxygen to stay alive. They can live underwater and in almost any other environment, accept for fire. So, don't take that vacation on a desert island - go to Mt Etna, where you'll be safe.

In this scenario, their bite is 100% fatal - though, not to feed for hunger's sake, but to reproduce the zombie virus that will take over the world. They have excellent eyesight, smell, and can survive anything other than decapitation or the destruction of their brain (note: even maimed zombies can still attack).

In the most recent 'Dawn Of The Dead' they were capable of moving pretty fast. However, in most other zombie movies they're slow and lumbering, so I'll stick with that tendency. Also, in Brooks, the zombie virus is so potent it even kills the microbes that aid decomposition. Whence, zombies can take up to two years to biodegrade, so you'll need to hide for a while.

Their weaknesses:

They're slow (see above), they're incapable of conspiring or strategising or complicated movements (e.g. they cannot climb a ladder, enter your orificies, or even turn a door knob). However, when they reach a dead end, they may clamber over each other, like a Romanian circus act...so, just hibernating in a bunk bed will not save you!!

What you would need:

- A place where there's not a huge number of people (as with any other plague, it will spread quickly in highly populated areas).

- Supplies for at least a year or two.

- A place where you can view the surrounding area to see if they're advancing.

- Accessibility should be restricted, but still allow necessary resources to be reached (eg. Starbucks).

Personally, I think a zombie outbreak would be a good time to become Mormon and move to the salt flats of Utah. In addition to having few people, surely some Mormon church would have years worth of provisions stored...or am I generalising?

Failing that, some type of mansion or office building with boobytrapped staircases and a flat roof where food could be grown, but remote enough that...

Well anyway, where would you go?

Costco or Sam's Club. They have everything you need: food, clothing, freezers to store the meat, plenty of water. Also, the architecture of the warehouse would be capable of not allowing any intruders into the building. Unlike a shopping mall, there are few points of entry, making it easier to guard entrances.

Costco would be great. the zombies can't get in without a membership card! :)

Last i checked one of the costco (or was it a price club? hmm) has a sport's authority in the same building, which means quick access to firearms and ammunition. :D

I haven't seen a Costco connected to another building, but I HAVE seen one close to a Sports Authority. I think it was a Sports Authority...

A farm. I'm picturing one in western Kansas just based on my own experiences, but it's where I would go in case of zombie outbreak-- self sufficient, isolated, flat terrain for high visibility. And it's western kansas, so it shouldn't be too hard to find rifles and such. :P

Costco/Sam's Club warehouse sort of scenario seems like a good idea in the short run as it would be well supplied and more easily defended than a mall would be, but you have to consider that something like that is going to be in a pretty well populated area. If you were expecting the military to come bail you out or the zombies to all fall apart once the planets un-align themselves you might be ok, but you couldn't stay there forever. You would be able to stay there until you ran out of food, but if it became neccesary to leave you would be in alot of trouble.

And the Zombie Survival Guide is great, I haven't read WWZ yet but i'm looking forward to it. :thumbsup:

Have you seen 28 days later? That's an excellent movie.. though the zombies do move fast as well in that.

A high rise somewhere.. low access, maybe even something on a construction site. Only access is via an elevator that can be activated by a generator kept up top. Or maybe even via a pulley system. Something along those lines..

Need a few people to keep it sustainable though, some to man the site, some to be able to go and get supplies, others to build and maintain. Definetly need some sort of vehicle to get around in eventually.

Actually they weren't zombies... they were infected with "rage". As quoted from Wikipedia

And it is a great movie. On the top 3 of my favorite motion pictures. :thumbsup:

/threadjack

I'd probably go the... WINCHESTER! Or Costco or Sam's Club. If you could get the place well secured and clean house (if there were zombies in there) there's easily enough food there to last quite a long time. So my bet would be 1 of those 2 places.

I love the ZSG.
My first place to go would either be my folks place. Mine isn't defensable enough whereas theirs has a staircase that can easily be destroyed. Second place would be my work. Lots of fresh water, but food would be needed so they would have to be canned first and then grown. The roof would be alright for this. Best of all there are many area's at my work that can only be reached by ladder. Also the maitenance shop has tools and things that can be used as weapons. Hole up there until the zeds freeze for the winter.

yeah I don't know about a high rise. Seems like a security issue, plus you're totally screwed if something happens and you can't get up/downstairs.

A high rise could be good if you can demo the stairs and eliminate access to all but the first level.
Plus there is a good chance that there will be a wide variety of skill in a high rise. There might not be a doctor, but there's a good chance for a paramedic or a nurse. There might be plumbers/electricians/etc or atleast someone doing an apprenticeship.

I think that the point of going to a high rise though may be that you would possibly have more chance of contact with the outside world - placing some kind of communication up there that there are live people in the building. You really have just as much of a chance running into people of all backgrounds really anywhere (ie Sams Club, grocery store, mall) as you do in a high rise. Thing is, you can just as easily get onto the roof in pretty much any building.

The cool thing about Sams and Costcos here is that they've all got some kind of rafters/pipes/ whatever showing instead of a true ceiling. These would also help to form some kind of boobytrap. They've also got two sets of doors to go through, offering an extra layer of protection for those of us who don't want to get eaten. :)

Just thought I'd add this to the conversation and see what people got.
From the WWZ website
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/worldwarz/

Click on the risk calculator and fill out the questions. Unfortunately it only works for calculating when you live in the US.

(I had to cheat slightly as to where I live)
35% Chance of survival.
Sounds bad but when I punched in what I thought (after reading the Zombie Survival Guide and WWZ) would be the best possible answers I only came up with a 69% chance of survival.

I think mine was 41%

oh crapinahat 26%. I'm soooo dead.

I'm at 41 percent too. I'm sure there's no way to get much higher than ~70 percent on that calculator. I got 69 percent with what I thought would be the "perfect" scenario too. It must take into account random chance and slip-ups.

38%.... :( but that does not include my collections of swords, knives and axes. well the knives are useless.

Ill pick a sams club. once a few days into the attack, utilities will fail. You have the problem of the cooler food rotting but thats part of my plan later.

you have household chemicals.. i.e. drano bombs and such. remember sams and wally worlds sell napalm.. i.e. gel liquid fireplace starters now. you have drano and tin foil out the arse. you got a full automotive area with batteries and such.. you can shock wire entrances and such if needed. They cant feel pain but they still have nerves.

food can be places for bait. boom. you have sprays and such you can make into bombs as well. plenty of batteries for the games there to keep ya going. I want one with the sports store next door. most sam clubs have a lift truck out back. knock down the wall inbetween and such. wire doors and such to trigger guns. remember they dont sleep but you do. Granted your doing this with friends or strangers.

your only downfall is overcompensation. dont get lazy. remember that bloke next to ya could be wondering where his girlfriend or loved one is. watch him.. he will be the 1st to knock down a barrier to get out then all hell is on. they have pallets stuff is shiped to the store on.. and if you can do it fast enough if you get time.. back trucks .. shipping trucks to the back dock doors. some of sams clubs gens they sell run off desiel. if your lucky enough to get a refer truck out side they have enough fuel to run the truck for over 3 days and the refer for about 3-5 depending.. thats what you want in the store if you can get it in. plus they have cbs and such so you can get radios and them to talk or try to reach out. station the toy babies around the store as bait also.. every movies zombies are suckers for these.

the food.. my plan was two part.. get all the food that will spoil and if you was lucky put it in the refer truck.. it will stay cold for a bit. anything that will spoil get it ready.. get the remote control cars and such and pile it on.. find a wireless cam or web cam you can use and drive them out lead the zombies to another area near ya..

oh im sorry were there 15 people hiding in that stage.. sorry thier loss, its evil but oh well..

that or send a message by tape saying a truck will crash through the front .. 15 sec to load up and back to sams or stay and die...

they also have flying remote planes of a sort there good for an ariel view if you know what ya doing.

yeah im a scary son of a bitch at this but hey we've done this many of times

my only question before i can go on.. is.. can their blood infect you? a bite can but if i blow one up at close range with a sprakler road flare bomb or drano bomb... i get that shower of zombie juice on me.. am i a gonner too?

and for gods sake if you gotta "get rid of" an objector .. do it when your on a "scouting" mission.. get the zombies near put a bullet in the back of his head as they attack him.. what csi is gonna come asking questions? i dont think so.

heh 78% not bad survival rate.. although you cant just go by what they ask.. but generic yeah rock on

I think the blood doesnt affect you, unless it somehow gets into your fluid system. Like if you dirnk it or soemthing, I believe in "28 days later" it dropped on some guys eye and he was like "gg nub". But if it did get on your skin it would be safe to wipe it off asap, cuz you dont wanna learn through osmosis at this point.

I'm surprised no one has said they'd head for the nearest military base. Even if it was deserted, it'd still have pretty secure buildings, and definitely bunkers of some kind.

there is a reason i choose not to, analog. In every zombie movie, the military is kaput. they either..

a. shut the base killing anyone that comes near it.

b. they get over run cuz of the superiority complex involved with having guns and heavy armor (in this instance im talking tanks and such)

c. 90% of most of these movies involve the military and thier experiments etc....

but honestly first hint of a wide spread plague they have standard orders at some point to "fudge the world" and "lock down, bunker down"

Cabin in the mountains... Go! Will need plenty of canned food (already have a small lake only 20 meters away, for water), but the area where we have ours is pretty desolate, and good visibility. Plus, I'd imagine most zombies would freeze up during the northern Norwegian winter ;) Then again, I'd need a lot of firewood, as well... Hm...