[Shinrei]

The zombie outbreak has just passed the tipping point, people are panicking in the streets and the walking dead are everywhere. Just your luck, you were stuck at work when the poop really hit the fan.

What's your story? If you were at work, when all hell broke loose, what would your plan of action be? What do you REALLY think your odds of surviving would be? If you did survive for the first weeks/months, how would you do it?

Brutal honesty for myself? I probably wouldn't survive the first few days. At work I have access to a large kitchen knife and a wooden practice sword made from white oak (it won't break easily). I would be able to snag some water and small food items from the vending machine (even if I have to break into it).

The reason I would die? I probably wouldn't be able to sit around and wait for things to calm down, because I'd be trying to figure out how to get home to my family immediately. I live in urban Japan, meaning the saturation of people is too great. Lighting out for home would probably see me killed by zombies being armed with only a knife and a light club.

I suppose I could try and wait a few days to give myself better odds, but those would be the hardest hours of my life, wondering about my family. I suppose I could have some hope, because my wife is a diehard zombie fan, so she'd probably barricade things pretty well and keep quiet. Our home has enough food and water for weeks in case of emergency, and we've got portable stoves and even a battery powered generator (this is all in case of earthquake btw, not zombies).

Let's say I manage to get home. Even then, I think our survival odds wouldn't be too good just because there are too many people, period. Population density here is insane, so even if you were really well armed, scavanging for food/water would be beyond dangerous every time you tried, and there would always be zombies within hearing distance of any noise you (or your 3 year old daughter) might accidentally make.

Zombie apocalypse? Death for Shinrei I'm afraid.

If we were at my inlaws place in the mountains? Then we might have a shot.

So, what's YOUR assessment of your chances/likely situation? Remember, for added drama you're at WORK (or school if you're a student), so saying "I'm at home in my bunker with all my guns" is not acceptable, unless you work from home I guess...

[Aptorian]

To me it doesn't come down to the situation. It comes down to the type of zombie outbreak. If it was the 28 days type of thing, I could see civilization collapsing, but I just don't think the slow zombie, one bites another, who then bite 2, who bite 4 - scenario would ever work. The military would crush it too easily. Especially in this modern age where we have drones. 28 days/Movie World War Z zombies would end you unless you barricaded immediately.

However, lets say it was a very contagious, very deadly airborne virus, that makes sick people come back as walkers not runner.

Copenhagen is a big city but the population density is not "that high". I live close to the center but still away from the middle, same with work. I guess the obvious question is, how congested are the roads? Is it feasible to attempt to drive out? This seems like the trap that most people get caught in. I think the better solution would be to go for the harbors/coast. I'd steal a boat and sail down south to the beach resorts and farmlands. The population will be very low and I will be able to scavenge from summer houses and probably steal some hunting gear.

Then I'd just keep moving, preferably a house boat if the zombies can't swim. Otherwise a van with all the gear I need. A year out if the military hasn't killed them all or the zombies haven't decomposed, I'd probably start a farm.

The end.

[Maark Abbott]

I'd head to the top floor at work where the storerooms are and wait for it to all blow over.

[DeadHedge]

Luckily my work is less than a mile from home and is also a construction site

To start i would steal one of our Pathfinder 4x4's plus some 50L bottles of water (from the coolers), I'd then make my way to teh house (1 min drive) and either barricade me and my family in or i'd grab my replica Katana which has a rather keen edge and a nice point and then head out to the naval base 1 mile away (god im in a good place), to obtain some form of fire arm and ammunition.

If i manage to survive the initial outbreak and the above is succesful, i think scavenging wouldnt be too much of a problem as i live in a fairly small town with a low population density and within a 5 mile radium there are no less than 10 supermarkets (i know its unreal) so as long as im safe doing that, i recon i could survive a few weeks or maybe until it all blows over.

Push comes to shove i stay beside a large estuary so there are no sshortage of boats (and small islands) so i could easily hold out on one of those and do runs to the mainland when needed.

[Aptorian]

My opinion is that barricading yourself is most likely going to get you dead. Especially if it's the zombie types that can magically sense your delicious flesh even though they can't see or hear or smell you. They'll huddle up around your home and they have time on their side (unless decomposition works fast on them).

Getting into the countryside and keeping mobile is essential I think. Couple of years of nomadic life and you'll be better off.

[Ukjent]

If i'm back in my hometown and manage to get the boat on the water I'll think I gonna be okei. We got a house on a island where there only lives 1 guy. There is water there, superb fishing, and it only lacks some farming and firewood. But on the isle across the strait there is sheep running wild, so perhaps there is hope..

If I'm in Trondheim i'm utterly fucked.

[Tiste Simeon]

I wouldn't survive. I have played/read/watched so many zombie related things, I would be confident I would know how to take them out. Boom, first zombie I come across, I'm dead. Or worse.

Though my wife and I have a deal that should the zombie apocalypse happen we can kill each other if one of us gets bitten. I think she thinks I am joking though...

[Tsundoku]

I'm reasonably confident. I work in a place that could be described as a safe zone. Or at least easily transformed into a safe zone.

My main focus would be getting my family to said safe zone early.

BTW, what's an 'apolcalypse'?

This post has been edited by Sombra: 24 March 2015 - 11:59 AM

[Shinrei]

Yeah, it does all depend on the type of zombie. Fast zombies, almost anyone is screwed.

My imagining is sort of the "magical zombie" variety like you see in The Walking Dead. Slow, but with a sort of group herd intelligence.

Why "magical"? Because by the time one month of summer is over, all zombies would be big pussbags of rotten disgust. With no immune system, the microorganisms would destroy the zombies in no time. (cracked.com has some good articles about why the zombie apocalypse is impossible, unless they're "magical).

Also, I do question the idea that the military would fall to pieces and not be able to handle shambling corpses. Humans are really really good at killing things.

[Solidsnape]

I'm with Apt on this one. If they're the fast ones we might as well run towards them and get it over with. We haven't got a chance.
I also agree that barricading is a bad long term idea, fair enough it might help initially until things die down a bit, but the sea is you're only real haven from the undead.
Rural highlands are a second best option really.
It's what I would choose though, as I have no sailing experience.

As far as my getting home from work?
Well my commute, though it's only short, is quite congested at the best of times, not to mention in a end of days type scenario. Crossing the river just became a lot harder.
I'd end up taking a bicycle I reckon. My car would be a superfluous accessory at this time, and it would only slow me down. I'd take another one later, keys and all. Should be easy to liberate one from a congested road somewhere when things have died down, considering they're about to become as ubiquitous as pigeons.
So yeah, grab a pole from work for fighting and a bike and cycle home. Should take me 20-30mins. Then I would have to secure my home and formulate a plan.
On this front, all the furniture piled up against the doors and the windows boarded up with the planks from my fence at the rear should do it. Then if I fill the stairs with crap it blocks any way of getting upstairs.
This wouldn't leave me trapped as I've got access from a first floor bedroom on to the rear porch. This would be a one way in one way out situation. Elevated though. So a few pole-knife makeshift weapons would go a long way to help defending against both the undead and marauding humans.

A point is that in the UK, firearms are not going to be as to be as readily available. It's going to be a messy up close job with melee weapons.
I think I could probably stretch to a crossbow from the hunting store in town.
But these types of shops will be first on the list of many a sociopath maniac who was just waiting for this shit to go down. Not where you want to be.

Then I'd move us (my girl and my kids) to a warehouse somewhere (see below), there's actually one right next to my work (Meaning I could get my car back hehe!!), and then it would be a full re-supply, followed by an epic rural road trip out to the hills.

It's a good topic this, I like it.

I'm interested to see the different arguments for and against both a nomadic existence and barricaded defensive one.
I can see the appeals of both. The latter would certainly have to be a purpose built defensive position with very real benefits (like a cross between Alexandria and the Prison in TWD) to tempt me into staying put. The more appealing, however the more likely it is to be coveted.
Places like wholesale food storage units and freight storage depots are a good idea too, in the respect that obviously they have bounty of food, but they're generally overlooked and quite well fenced. Also, the way modern supermarkets stock these days, I could probably find everything I'm going to need when I do hit the road. So again, I couldn't see this type of thing lasting indefinitely, but a good hold up place will give you a better chance when you have to (and you inevitably will) move on.

The importance of keeping a clean towel with you at all times, can never be overlooked.

[Coco with marshmallows]

fast zombies? Dead.

magic slow(ish) zombies - probably okay. I'm single, no dependents to slow me down, and my parents live in the countryside, so no worries on that score - they'd be fine.

getting from work to home might be tricky. once home can arm up and, more importantly, get my bicycle - the one item that seems to disappear in every post apocalyptic movie ever. then ride to freedom

[Solidsnape]

Coco with marshmallows, on 24 March 2015 - 01:47 PM, said:

fast zombies? Dead.

magic slow(ish) zombies - probably okay. I'm single, no dependents to slow me down, and my parents live in the countryside, so no worries on that score - they'd be fine.

getting from work to home might be tricky. once home can arm up and, more importantly, get my bicycle - the one item that seems to disappear in every post apocalyptic movie ever. then ride to freedom

It's true! Even though it's by far the best mode of transport. It's quick, nimble, you can take it anywhere, even indoors. It'll keep you fit and most importantly it's silent. You can't carrg your kids or keep out of the weather though.
Yeah single is much easier.

Also, I don't want to see any kind of spitting/exploding/cerebrally mature walker either. That shit is going to fuck us up big style. Just like its fucked up every major zombie video gaming franchise.

Give me the classic brain dead, moronic, shuffling reanimated corpse everytime.

I think about this way too much.

[Abyss]

Apt, on 24 March 2015 - 07:16 AM, said:

To me it doesn't come down to the situation. It comes down to the type of zombie outbreak. If it was the 28 days type of thing, I could see civilization collapsing,

Disagree. It would take a more brutal toll, and until force could be brought down, it would come down to an 'I just have to outrun the other survivor' situation, but at base, 28Days rage zombies aren't that smart and if you can hide, you can live.

Quote

but I just don't think the slow zombie, one bites another, who then bite 2, who bite 4 - scenario would ever work. The military would crush it too easily. Especially in this modern age where we have drones.

The WWZ book is pretty much a complete answer to this not being the case, if we accept the zombie concept as it's generally taken. Weapons that are designed to kill people with functioning lungs and hearts and nerves won't work on shambling corpses.

Depending on which city i'm in chances are all over the place. Montreal is an island after all, making it more defensible, but it's an island with about half a million people right on it, so escaping post outbreak with the bridges jammed, so it depends on which side of the bridges things go sideways on. Montreal wouldn't be a great city to get trapped on if the outbreak is there. Too crowded, too cluttered. Runners would have a field day. Walkers, less so but the bridges mean people have less space to run.

Ottawa ... well, the gov presence means there may be enough people with guns to possibly keep things under control and the rivers narrow the approaches considerably without enclosing the population in a nice buffet-style situation. Probably a decent chance unless a herd comes up from Montreal. Not a bad city to be trapped in... room to maneuver, areas that could be sealed off and protected.

Toronto... oh who cares, they can eat Toronto.

[D'rek]

Nomadic is probably the safer bet in most cases, but if you are starting in the middle of a city you'll face the problem of everyone else trying to escape, too. If something happens to block the major roads (highly likely with crazed drivers even if none are infected) then you get stuck in a traffic pile-up that isn't going to be cleared anytime soon. Then you have to get out and continue on foot. That's even worse than barricading yourself in.

Bicycle might help in that situation, but all those folks who did try to flee in their car might decide to knock you off and steal your bike for themselves.

So, if you can't get out of the city before everyone else, it really might be better to barricade yourself somewhere at that point. Preferably not a street-level house - a concrete apartment building would be better.

A shopping mall would be awesome, IF you could actually secure it, but they have so many entrances (usually with lots of glass) that it'd be tough. If you had a buddy who was the security guard at the mall though, that could work - bring down and lock the metal security gates over the main entrances, and check and lock every delivery/service entrance at the back. Then get a welding torch from the tool store and start welding the doors, too. You've got cameras to keep track of the place until the power goes out, too - by then you should hopefully have fully sealed, blocked and barricaded every possible entrance except one - and at that one you have at least one level of metal grating so you can see and talk to people before deciding to let them in (make them strip naked to prove they aren't bitten, etc). Plus you can stick chainsaws through the grates to kill any zombies that get to there. Tons of food, communications equipment, tools, weapons and any other supplies you need.

Yeah, shopping malls never work well for the protagonists in movies, but if you actually applied rigourous caution instead of horror movie character caution it could be perfect.


I do have one better, though. I used to have a friend who's parents were lighthouse keepers. She actually grew up on a tiny lighthouse island off the west coast that was only accessible by helicopter. They had something like two years' supply of food and fuel in reserve. Plus, almost nobody knew it was there so there wouldn't be other people fighting over it. So her zombie apocalypse plan would be to get out of the city by boat and just go hide out there for a couple years.

[Aptorian]

Abyss, on 24 March 2015 - 02:43 PM, said:

[

Quote

but I just don't think the slow zombie, one bites another, who then bite 2, who bite 4 - scenario would ever work. The military would crush it too easily. Especially in this modern age where we have drones.

The WWZ book is pretty much a complete answer to this not being the case, if we accept the zombie concept as it's generally taken. Weapons that are designed to kill people with functioning lungs and hearts and nerves won't work on shambling corpses.

I disagree. I thought the WWZ book took some big liberties with logic to create the scenario that makes the foundation of the book.

The idea that trained soldiers, not to mention military intelligence, would not notice that headshots kill a zombie. Or that they can't hit legs or spines. It's pretty silly. Not to mention the idea that the military would not just napalm large hordes of zombies.

Long before that horde hit Yonkers (I think was the big turning point), military scouts and military intelligence officers, would have made hit and run attacks to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the Zombies.

I get the problematic nature of million strong hordes of zombies but seriously, a squad of snipers on a roof could kill hundreds of zombies an hour. Thousands of marines with assault riffles on roof tops would kill tons and tons of zombies. Strategic placements could easily protect and manage zombie populations. If there is one thing Americas army has plenty of it's bullets and MREs, which is pretty much all they need.

Slow zombies would never be able to win against a squad of well trained soldiers.

This post has been edited by Apt: 24 March 2015 - 04:20 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

Apt, on 24 March 2015 - 04:18 PM, said:

Slow zombies would never be able to win against a squad of well trained soldiers.

Budget cuts/the economy etc. Soldiers aren't as well trained any more...

[Illuyankas]

Zombie apolkalypse? I knew Weird Al never aging was a bad sign!

[Keysi]

My chances would be pretty good tbh.
I'm in the military and we have guns and shit.
Plenty of food stored in the mess and ration packs.
We could just hunker down and ride it out, or save the world from the baddies.

I suggest the latter, as the ratio of women to men here is not great and most are pretty rough anyway.

[Solidsnape]

D, on 24 March 2015 - 03:25 PM, said:

Nomadic is probably the safer bet in most cases, but if you are starting in the middle of a city you'll face the problem of everyone else trying to escape, too. If something happens to block the major roads (highly likely with crazed drivers even if none are infected) then you get stuck in a traffic pile-up that isn't going to be cleared anytime soon. Then you have to get out and continue on foot. That's even worse than barricading yourself in.

Bicycle might help in that situation, but all those folks who did try to flee in their car might decide to knock you off and steal your bike for themselves.

So, if you can't get out of the city before everyone else, it really might be better to barricade yourself somewhere at that point. Preferably not a street-level house - a concrete apartment building would be better.

A shopping mall would be awesome, IF you could actually secure it, but they have so many entrances (usually with lots of glass) that it'd be tough. If you had a buddy who was the security guard at the mall though, that could work - bring down and lock the metal security gates over the main entrances, and check and lock every delivery/service entrance at the back. Then get a welding torch from the tool store and start welding the doors, too. You've got cameras to keep track of the place until the power goes out, too - by then you should hopefully have fully sealed, blocked and barricaded every possible entrance except one - and at that one you have at least one level of metal grating so you can see and talk to people before deciding to let them in (make them strip naked to prove they aren't bitten, etc). Plus you can stick chainsaws through the grates to kill any zombies that get to there. Tons of food, communications equipment, tools, weapons and any other supplies you need.

Yeah, shopping malls never work well for the protagonists in movies, but if you actually applied rigourous caution instead of horror movie character caution it could be perfect.


I do have one better, though. I used to have a friend who's parents were lighthouse keepers. She actually grew up on a tiny lighthouse island off the west coast that was only accessible by helicopter. They had something like two years' supply of food and fuel in reserve. Plus, almost nobody knew it was there so there wouldn't be other people fighting over it. So her zombie apocalypse plan would be to get out of the city by boat and just go hide out there for a couple years.

This. ^

Everything you're sayinv is spot on for me.
Welding is the way to go, it's te only real non electrical powered way of cutting and shaping metal, unless you want to start hooking donkeys up to the drive train again.
I also agree about the lighthouse thing, when my mate and I used to debate this scenario (not just zombies but peak oil and all sorts too) then the light house was alway my favourite land based hideout. It's a siege risk, but a good island location will cut that risk down.

[Ukjent]

A zombie apocalypse will be a renaissance for the halberd. There isn't a zombie that can withstand 2.5 meter long axe swing.