Zombie Apocalypse scenario: What will you do?

[madster11]

Take my parents off-road capable vehicle with tinted windows and a bullbar and go somewhere where there's no zombies.
Tint stops the glass from braking as easily, and the bullbar and torques can push cars/zombies/other people out of the way fairly easily.

Regroup with the millions of people that survived (protip: zombies can't get into cars easily. Ever tried to punch through a cars side window? You break long before the glass does.) and then we have the choice of either going back to the cities with flamethrowers, or just getting a bunch of trained dogs and telling them to go nuts.

 

[kaizen2468]

Light saber and the force. All I'll need.

 

[Athol]

Like anyone else here, I'd most likely die. My goal before I die though would be to gather as much explosive/volitile material as I can, hook up a generator to run a stereo/spotlights, get as many zombies as I can to congragate on my position...blow everything up.

If I'm gonna die it might as well be in a big ass mushroom cloud.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

Stay in my house, put as much furniture in my single stair well as possible after I obtain every Hostess snack product I can find within a mile, learn to like the taste of my own pee, and start playing Pokemon yellow on my game-boy.

 

[The Heik]

-I have no intention of carrying everything around with me, only having it available if a situation calls for it. The riot gear for example would only be donned if poking into a close quarters area. I'm also a big strong guy used to lugging crap around to little purpose.

Strength is not the issue here. It's more about how much endurance you have. You see, a lot of muscles aren't trained for exerting lower level force over extended periods of time, say for example holding a pencil out to your side for five minutes straight (seriously try this. most people can't do it without their arms becoming ridiculously sore because of it, if they can do it at all). Now imagine trying that with a 13.6 pound USAS-12 shotgun for the better part of a day. It may not seem to bad at the start but constant wear and tear does a number on you. That doesn't include the 4.4 pound .44 Deagle you'd carry with you, plus two spare clips for each weapon in case (amounting to another 5 pounds), and any water or gear you'd need for your excursions away from your base camp. All these little weights nickel and dime you in terms of endurance, and unless you make carrying constant weight a part of your daily routine, it's gonna tire you, especially if you have to sprint around because the undead have discovered you. And speaking a a person who loves to sprint, I know that every little bit of weight counts in determining how long or fast you can move.

-I've packed for major outdoor trips using a vehicle roughly the size of the FED before, the guns, armor, and compact generators being the only items I haven't had to account for before. Somehow I think I can get them to fit into the roughly 40 cubic feet of space I normally leave empty (to be later filled by other campers and their personal stuff)

I'm sure you have, but then again, most civilian vehicles actually have more room for storage than most military vehicles, which were designed for durability over room. Check out the Fed's compartment space compared to it's actual size.

Spoiler

despite it's overall size, it's not very roomy. The drive train has been moved higher up to protect it from fire, which means that you not only lose a whole seat's worth of space, but all other seats lose a bit of space too. Also see the trunk in the back, which not only is placed at an angle, but has a significant portion of it dedicated to the gas tank. Overall, it's space is internally several cubic feet smaller than a civvy truck of the same rough external proportions, as it was designed for short jaunts around a central point of operations, carrying only what it needs for the direct mission. You'd be hard pressed to carry what you've listed even if you hitched a trailer in the back, and that's assuming that you're bringing only one person along in the vehicle.

-When push comes to shove, that list is what I would take if all preparations go perfectly (a somewhat unlikely scenario all things considered), fully intending to leave some behind if and when necessary. If forced to pare that list down only to the absolute bare essentials, I could still make the plan work with a little extra luck while bringing only a hiking bag filled with 60 lbs of gear. Of course, I would be stealing a few cars from the dead on the way, and scavenging quite a bit more than intended in that case, both actions increase the risk substantially. Also, if that occurs, I might actually change gears and head south, hot weather gear has less mass and bulk to them, and heat can do the same job cold will, although not nearly as cleanly.

Well it's reassuring to hear you can cut down if necessary, but I thought that the point of this thread was what you'd take under ideal conditions. My point throughout this whole thing is not that none of this was necessary, rather that on the whole the implementation seemed a bit impractical. You could have accomplished equal or better results with more commonplace stuff, and saved a lot of space and weight taking everyday things over specialized equipment.

But hey, if that's the way you want to ride the zombie wave, go nuts. It's not anyone is going to be in any position to complain, and I can think of worse ways to combat the undead masses. Should the ZA actually happen I hope that you will come visit me on my newly-annexed Police HQ, and we'll share a couple of beers and some oatmeal whilst watching the zombies chew in vain on the steel bars of my fortress.

That shall be a good day (relatively speaking)

 

[Nouw]

I would build bigger fences around my house and stock up for at least a month. The zombies will kill themselves, nature and all.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Climb a nice tall tree.

Zombies can't climb trees right?

No, but they could probably huddle together and knock the tree down eventually. As a single zombie, they are quite harmless at a distance, but as a unit, they are quite dangerous.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

This is what I would do:
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs21/f/2007/291/f/a/Fetal_Position_by_Pixel_Sage.jpg

Zombies scare the crap out of me.

Yeah, me, too. But I'd rather go down fighting and try to take down as many of those brain munchers as I could with C4 strapped to my chest.

Their dinner would just be...

*puts on sunglasses*

...too hot to handle.

 

[Gatx]

If I had a gun, probably shoot myself. I mean, damn, the alternative is being eaten alive so...

But if I had to survive I'd probably for sure take a crowbar. Useful tool to have for scavenging stuff from the modern, abandoned landscape and a good weight to be used as a melee weapon. Guns are too noisy, take training to use, need reloading, and not to mention you'll eventually run out of ammo. For everything else I'll just take whatever I need from wherever my crowbar can break me into.

Realistically, a zombie apocalypse wouldn't last two weeks before they're all dead. Consider the following:

Their food source is us, and we're pretty damn good at survival. And, you know, we can fight off the hoards with any number of methods, almost all of them are effective against zombies.

Zombies aren't all that good at fighting back. Unless they're smart enough to think of defending themselves, and unlikely possibility, considering the brain rot, we can mow through them easily enough. Sure, they might try to eat us, but that's where our defensive measures come in.

Zombies can't fight off the little pests that eat dead and/or rotted flesh. Simple enough. Mostly insects, some small animals... and bacteria! The littlest bit of rotted flesh will fester like mad, quickly crippling the zombie.

Zombies can't regulate their body temperature, and don't know when to seek shelter from the elements. Too cold, their bodies freeze up and lock up. Too hot, they'll decompose really, really fast, if not something more gruesome.

Zombies can't feel pain, and don't know to avoid hazards. Zombies have no problem walking off a cliff. If they step on a nail or even a sharp rock, well, they fall apart all the faster.

So, realistically, I would stock up on food and chill for a while.

Well it depends on the rules of the specific zombies we're talking about.

As for us being good at survival, I'd say the comforts of modern living have actually made most of us not as fit for surviving under harsh conditions.

As for pests, if we're talking about virus zombies (which most zombies seem to be nowadays) then of course once anything from the zombie enters another entity they'll become infected, whether it be by the zombie attacking them or them attacking the zombie (talking about pests of course).

As for environmental effects, yes they'd stop moving in the cold, and they would rot faster in hot, humid areas, but this would also only apply for where and when the zombies appear.

And for not feeling pain, well I'd argue that's what would make them more dangerous. If you had one coming at you and you had a gun. If you shot a human in the chest or anywhere they would react to the pain and stop, a zombie would continue to come at you. Not feeling pain would also mean they would be able to push their bodies longer and harder than we can, making them harder to outrun. When you stop to rest, they'll have time to catch up.

 

[Aetera]

I may have access to anything, but I am a completely out of shape smoker and have never shot a gun in my life. Realistically, if the zombie apocalypse happened right now and I had access to anything, I'd shoot myself in the head.

Unless you have the skill and training to shoot a gun and have at least moderate real survival skills, you're zombie food.

 

[Psychedelic Spartan]

Item A: One incredibly sharp knife
Item B: Another incredibly sharp knife
Item C: Hoping that package from that website comes soon
Item D: Twinkies
Item E: A longbow
I'm prepared! Bring it!

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Buy a lot of treadmills and place them round my house like so

Hmmmmmm..... seems legit.

OT: Well the first thing I'd do is grab my dads repeater rifle, grab the pickup truck, then drive down to a military base new Brisbane. Grab a bunch of their weapons and make my own little base. Seach for people that survived then make my own little government and rule with an iron fist.

Realistically: I'd be eaten within a second of the outbreak.

 

[Ix Rebound]

Mostly likely for me:
run down to the gun shop.
grab some guns and ammo
turns out i made too much noise and now im surrounded
hopefully i get a couple before im overwhelmed
pop myself in the head(zombies aren't getting me!)

 

[Ix Rebound]

Like anyone else here, I'd most likely die. My goal before I die though would be to gather as much explosive/volitile material as I can, hook up a generator to run a stereo/spotlights, get as many zombies as I can to congragate on my position...blow everything up.

If I'm gonna die it might as well be in a big ass mushroom cloud.

Damn right!
when i die (hopefully natural causes)
thats what i want done with my body

the mushroom cloud part, not the C4 strapped to chest part

 

[Ix Rebound]

Realistically? I'd grab the bayonet I have in my drawer, the small first-aid kit, and pelt down to the local supermarket, which fortunately has a gun shop nearby. Only air rifles and shotguns though, few guns in the UK.

You have a bayonet in your drawer?
please explain

 

[Matt King]

I'd probably die.

Why?

Because I have no illusions of being some sort of zombie fighting expert. I have no combat, survival or weapon training.

I'd try to survive, of course, but it probably wouldn't end well.

Inb4 "I grab my katana and herpa derp"

Yes, because your mock sword that you bought for 50 quid is totally combat worthy.

this, i would like to survive, but i would get the shit kicked out of me

i could just walk 5 minutes and be in the country side so that would be my only plan

 

[tlgAlaska]

No guns and no big blades for me.

Guns in untrained hands would be useless in this situation. If I don't hit the head, what do the zombies care about bullet wounds? And by the time my ammo runs out all the zombie I just lured to my position would scuffle around the corner to have a snack. Maybe I would carry a small handgun, if I'd find one, to scare off dangerous survivors (looters, murderers and so on).

Blades big enough to cut off heads would be unnecessary weight. If they are close enough to cut something off they are too close! I think the smart thing would be to stagger the zombie with a blunt weapon and get out of arm's reach quick. And in the worsed case the blade could get stuck and leave me without a weapon, few have the strength or technique required to cleanly cut through any body parts and I'm certainly not one of them.

I would want to avoid the zombies, not fight them. So my weapons of choice would be a crowbar and a heavy bolt cutter. Both can be used as weapons in a pinch, but more important, I can use them to create shortcuts or to get into places.