Who's house is prepped for the Zombiepocalypse?

[Ms. Cleo]

I've been wanting to do this for awhile now. Who thinks their house is a good bastion against the throngs of undead bound to overwhelm the world within the next few years, huh?

Using my camera phone, I took a few pics to show how I may fair. Quite frankly, I believe that mine would be just about near-perfect (provided I can maintain a secretive isolation from the zombies or from random looters).

This here is my living room. You can't tell me I can't just dump those big-ass couches down to brace against the front door. The immovable steps would act as a counter thingy that would prop up the couches and make them immovable, as well.



Believe it or not, this is the alleyway that leads to my front door (my front door being the one immediately to the left of the pic). Yes, that's an eight foot perimeter wall on the right that stretches all around the property and yes, that's an iron gate waaaay down there that opens inwards, so we can just dump a few like, couches or motorcycles against it so zombies wont be able to break in.



This is the back of the property. To the right is my own balcony, obviously zombies can't get up there, so I see my balcony as the main entrance/exit. The perimeter wall to the left has a 10 foot drop on the other end, which means I can climb it, but zombies can't. I'm seeing using the that wall to escape from zeds and have them lose sight of me while I reenter my safehouse without fear of leading them back to my house.



This is the driveway, one way in, one way out. Yes, it's well below street level. To the right is my own garage/basement, you can't tell me a truck on the inside or whatever something to that accord couldn't be a perfect barricade, especially if positioned in a way where a horde couldn't get any leverage, choking off their mob so their numbers wouldn't count for shit (like they did in the original Dawn of the Dead).



This tiny laundry room is the only downstairs room that leads to the garage/basement. That window right there is the only ground-level window in my entire house, and it's fenced up with iron bars. Unless we get Romero-style "smart" zombies (which Max Brooks theorizes is impossible), this place should be secure enough with the truck exterior truck/whatever barricade.



And this is my balcony. Yup, it's completely fenced up with those metal gratings. Save for the downstairs one, every single window in my two story home is 10 feet or more above the ground.

[Khallos]

You know, looking at these pictures that wall doesnt look 8 foot high.. heck, it barley looks 6 foot high o.o Its not even as tall as the doors. You balcony looks a little close to the ground, too, unless im looking at the wrong thing

But, otherwise, wow o.o Looks like you're in a good place, just in case. Pretty nice house, too =p

[Ms. Cleo]

Maybe they're 6 foot walls then, whatever.

Point is, the other side has 8-10 foot drops ^^

[Griggs]

You in da wroooong place, fool.

Movin'.

OT: Looks very nice. I can see you holding out for a while, but given enough zombies you would eventually have to move. They'd ramp over the walls eventually, or somehow worm their way in. Still, it'd give you the week or two you'd need for sure.

I'd like to post some pictures, but my phone doesn't have any type of connection to my computer (those cords are so damned hard to find). If and when I do, though, I'll be sure to give you the tour. It's a fairly secure location given a few hours to work on.

[Kan]

Man I would be boned, I live on a island in a POS home for zeds, my best bet is ditchin the homestead ASAP, and making my way to a secure location while I wait out for the local ammo dump to either fall, get ditched on it's own, or start bring in survivors, low chance.

Then I am gonna raid the place if applicable and make my way west.


But seeing as I will be in the airforce soon.....head to Cleon's house.

[Ms. Cleo]

*Dances*

Oh yeah, Grigori makes a good point. Which is why I reinforce the idea of secretive isolation. Remember in the original Dawn of the Dead where they built a fake wall over the door so nobody, zombies and looters included, "wouldn't even know that stairway exists"? If I could manage to complete block off the interior of my house that doesn't make it look like an obvious survivor safehouse, my idea is that if there be any zombies outside my house, I would get on the street and get their attention, leading them away. Far away.

As soon as they're all gone, I'd make a huge round about and get to the 10 foot tall drop, hop it, and as quietly as possible, get back into my house via balcony so no zombie would know my house has survivors in it. I would employ that same tactic when scavenging the many liquor stores and supermarkets around my city ^^

[Khallos]

Doesnt Max Brooks say that zombies can follow scents like dogs, though?

I mean, i know he says that they can smell you on the wind, but i dunno if they can do scent trails or not.

[Scorpio]

Well...my house is buggered. The windows are too big.

My laptop is here though...but that's less weaponry space if I bring that so when the zombie invasion comes give me time to loot one of those internet PDAs or something so I can get back to contacting you guys. Do NOT write me off as dead.

[Captain Obvious]

None of the places I usually stay would be able to repel a good sized zombie attack, but since im in Florida its only a 45 minute drive to one of the oceans. My brother and I used to sail a bit, so we could just jack some old person's boat and ride it over to one of the oil rigs in the gulf of mexico.

One of the luxuries of Florida: easy zombie escape routes.

[Rakk]

Of course that is granted you can drive for forty five minutes.

You know that the highways are not gridlocked (at best) or a killing ground for zombies (at worst). If one side of the highway is hit with zombies then traffic will stop with everyone else unknowingly doomed.

Unless of course you avoid the highways altogether... which is fairly tough in itself.

Like I am a less than forty five minute drive to the ocean. The problem being, most of it is on the highway through heavily populated areas. Hell a lot of highways are either going through or going to heavily populated areas.

But then again I still love my oil rig idea...

[Griggs]

I think if I couldn't make it to Wal-Mart in time to fortify it, I'd head north to the UP. Everything north and west of Detroit is mostly farmland and wilderness anyways, and it only gets sparser as you go north, so it wouldn't be too difficult to drive.

[Rakk]

Well depending on if you get out early or not. Because if you are driving otu when everyone else is trying to flee north...

[Griggs]

North to Canada, you mean. The UP is surrounded by water and there are only a few ways in, and nobody but a Michigander would think of heading there because most Americans probably don't even realize it's part of the States.

[Captain Obvious]

I know back routes to get just about everywhere here, or I could just steal a motorcycle if the highway is blocked.

Almost all the highways from my house to the oceans are raised, so its doubtful zeds would get there during the first day. In force, at least. Second day it might be a problem, third day its a no go.

Or, I could drive the scenic route to St Augustine and use the fort as a base. The grounds inside would make a good farm, and there are only two ways into the place.

The more I think about it, the more I like that idea. Hmm...

[Rakk]

What I am saying is that the zeds wouldn't be out in force on the first day more than likely, you would probably be hearing of it closer to the end of the first week.

My plans all revolve around a timeline basis of when it occurs. Thankfully for me I am about an hours drive away from any major cities. So that gives me about an hour after the first reported attacks to prepare at the very least. This is if this hits while I am in the US of course. Because I am moving to Canada in 2009 hopefully...

But thats not the point.

The point is you can't just assume that transportation will be good, look at the most recent hurricanes when days prior to them arriving the highways and roads out of town were blocked thanks to everyone trying to leave.

And remember any large building that would be ideal for use will also been seen that way by many other people, so be prepared to cooperate with them or fight them for the use of those places.

Ah the joys of trying to use survivor logic.

[Griggs]

I agree with you, which is why my "plan" is more a goal. Ultimately, though, I'm sure I'd be forced to play it by ear, at least in regards to any final destination. However, if possible, the securing and holding of the Monroe Wal Mart on Telegraph is my preferred course of action. Hitting the road and booking it north isn't what I'd like to do, but it's really the only alternative if I can't find a good location around here.

I have a theory, however flawed, that most public places will be fairly deserted in the first few hours because people will be fleeing home to secure their family and property. You could theoretically grab a place and hold it before it even had time to get looted. Of course, this all depends on how fast the outbreak spreads...

Gah. Too many factors involved.

[Captain Obvious]

Well I expect that smart people would realize the zed outbreak for what it was and start running. Whether they be readers of Max Brooks, J.L Bourne, Romero, or just a internet troller, I think there will be about a 1/10 ratio for zombie informed people. This would cause problems with people having conflicting zombie lore, and would mean that Walmarts would be overflowing with 10-14 year olds. Though it would also mean you would have a good sized group of people who won't just get in your way.

Most people wouldn't think it was real, and would probably sit in their houses like the government would tell them to. We know the highways will be jammed even so. Just one stupid person could inadvertently kill hundreds by tapping his/her brakes at the wrong moment, or not tapping them at all.


Speaking of transport, the best vehicle in the long run would be a garbage truck. It's made for stop and go, has huge transport space, is heavier than Rosie O Donnell, and has a fuel tank the size of Grig's liquor cabinet.A motorcycle would work on highways stuck with traffic jams, just keep close to the middle.

Or I could head over to one of the private airfields near me and steal a hot air balloon or something.

[Rakk]

Yeah it all depends on where ground zero is. If it is in a big city we will have lots of publicity and time to prepare even though it will all be shitty new and not tell us what we need to know until it is too late...

Though if it is in a rural area we might be fucked as it could spread for days unnoticed and go for hundreds of miles before anyone bothered to notice it...

So you may have days to prepare, possibly weeks or maybe you might have minutes or hours. So I say it is always best to plan for the minutes and then have backups in regards to time. Most of my plans all start with the zeds basically being on my street before they are noticed. So my fortification plans are all about getting things done quickly so my house is secured before I spread out for supplies that I would need. Supply wise any good californian will have about three days worth in an earthquake kit. I know we have a generator at work (a ten minute walk, though dragging it back will take longer).

Sadly though I no longer have a pool, so that kills my idea for emptying it and using it as a water storage area. Thankfully I have a garden and enough seeds to last a season or more, so I am covered for long term food supply. The problem would be trying to survive in the short term.

The problem with transportation is balancing speed, visibility, blind spots, noise, maneuverability, weight, size, cover (convertibles are a no-no as well as any open top vehicle so no warthog kan) fuel consumption and fuel tank. Personally I am more a fan of maneuverability in this case as the highways are likely to be littered with crashed cars and other debris. While I can see the merit of oct and his garbage truck I feel that it lacks critical maneuverability (away from debris or psychos) and has too high a fuel consumption rate. then there is its sheer size (small cab, big inaccessible back, plenty of space to grab onto), speed (slow), and its noise.

A bus with reinforced windows and most of the seats ripped out would in my opinion be better serving of your purposes oct. While it is still noisy, it has an easily accessible (to you and your chosen group) storage location, decent visibility for driving, and if the windows are reinforced not such a soft target. Yes it is still visible as all sin, noisier than the devil in heat, and slower than Grigori's uncle, but it is still better if storage is your prime concern.

I would say that depending on your concern (safety, speed, fuel, mobile killing fortress, storage) then your ideal vehicle will be different.

[Griggs]

I have a dump truck that is a little smaller than your average garbage truck, maybe 3/4ths the size. The bed is about 12 square feet in area and 10 feet off the ground and the cab window is about 6 feet off the ground. This figures highly into my initial escape plans, as it is small enough to maneuver like a large pickup truck and yet is very defensible.

Unfortunately, it's kind of old and prone to breakdowns. Not to mention it drinks diesel like a stretch hummer. I only plan on getting it as far as Wal Mart, though, so that's probably not too big of an issue. Other than that, it'd be great, because it's basically a mobile firing platform. Any assailants attacking the cab would be shot down if they ever managed to grab ahold, and the cab itself would be safe enough with a little steel tacked onto the windows.

[Rakk]

I expect Grigori to drive around in a car with the stereos blasting ACDC in an attempt to find every zombie in the tri-state area.

If the zompocalypse happens, I feel sorry for europe as it is part of the old world and if China goes quickly then they have over a billion zombies raging towards them like the mongol hordes of yesteryear. At least the North American Continent is seperated by the Panama Canal from the South. While that is still many millions, possibly hundreds of millions.... its better than what europe would have to deal with...

[Oct-taku]

I feel reasonably safe. Know why no one ever makes zombie movies set where I live?

Everyone owns a gun, knows how to use it, most people grow their own food still.

Oh, and we listen to National Public Radio.

[Rakk]

We listen to NPR in my area too... but for entirely different reasons.

And there has never been a zombie movie set anywhere near me. Hell I don't even know if there is one in my entire state. I believe there has to be, but none come to mind.

But still it all depends on how screwed we are by where the outbreaks first originate. Like I said, it occurring in the country far away from media coverage and cities is a bad thing.

[Khallos]

Oct 13, 2008 2:44:30 GMT Rakk said:

If the zompocalypse happens, I feel sorry for europe as it is part of the old world and if China goes quickly then they have over a billion zombies raging towards them like the mongol hordes of yesteryear. At least the North American Continent is seperated by the Panama Canal from the South. While that is still many millions, possibly hundreds of millions.... its better than what europe would have to deal with...

Well, the UK has got the English Chanell (which i think is a wee bit wider than the Panama Canal) and then Ireland has the Irish sea after that.. so me and scorp should be ok.

If we're not, then you guys still have to worry about Peruvian zombies anyway =p

[Rakk]

Khallos seems to forget the Channel Tunnel and Heathrow Airport being the largest airport in the world...Ireland might be okay, unless all the American zombies yearn t return to their "roots" and I doubt scorpio would be okay if the only uninfected place in the world was Ireland...

[Khallos]

Meh. The chanell tunnel is easily blocked in the event of an emergency.. I guess the main issue is from infected people trying to get in, but in that case the whole Panama Canal barrier probably isnt going to be effective anyway, is it? People allways find away =p

..besides, its a freaking continent, is North America xD its hard to police the entire coastline and boarders, especially if your stretched thin a) containing the infection or b) containing panic riots.

[Captain Obvious]

The US government would probably use airstrikes on the cities, then nuke them when it gets bad enough, so no panic riots in the long run.

It's possible there could be colonies of survivors. Like in the stilt houses on the Florida coast, or possibly cruise ships that managed to escape. Or aircraft carriers, you might be able to use the deck as a area to grow crap, and becuase of the nuclear engine it wouldnt need refueling. It could maybe act as a ferry, transporting people from the coastline, maybe a survivor safezone, to oil rigs or anchored cruise ships in some island chain.

hmm....

[Khallos]

Airstrikes and nukes on cities doesnt cause riots? o.o I would have thought that would incent MORE riots, if people think the administration is willing to bomb them indiscriminantley.

[Griggs]

The army would never bomb their own cities. I mean, have you forgotten who makes up the army? Because last time I checked, it was American citizens.

Chances are, with such a powerful shock as our nation falling apart, most soldiers would desert along with their arms and try to protect what little they had left. Any units to stay together would either fall in combat or break off into their own groups. Of course, there's a small chance the government would stay together in some small form, but chances are it would have little power, at least for a while.

[Rakk]

Lets just hope it does not happen like this...

[Captain Obvious]

Grig, the military doesn't take people with free will. If we had soldiers who thought, nothing would get done. They would stop and ask themselves "Wait a second, why am I supposed to kill all these people?" No, most, if not all, soldiers are turned into machines that only know how to kill things, act macho, and every once in a while scream about freedom and listen to crappy music.

A few soldiers would desert, yeah. But our nuclear subs, missle silos, and most of the airforce would still go through with their missions. The government could even whip up a story for the submariners and the silo guys that China attacked or some other bs, then just have them launch their missles at Disneyland or something. They don't even all have to know what their shooting at.

Most of the military would stick together, but it would be their stupidity that would be their eventual downfall. Besides, do you know any soldiers who haven't seen a zombie movie? They would know what to do.