If Zombies Attacked....

[JonnyBoy]

...what would you all do? I know it's morbid to think about, but sometimes I think it'd be interesting to live in a post-apocolyptic, zombie-infested Western Pennsylvania. Reminds me of the scene in Dawn of the Dead where they talk about the crazy rednecks in Johnstown having a field day hunting zombies. I'm a few miles from Johnstown.

Well, otherwise, what would you do? My friends and I were brainstorming one night and decided we'd head for the Airport watch tower. It has backup generators, running water, a kitchen and all the necessities inside, and no way those flesh-eaters could break in. Also, it'd be easy to call the emergency rescue teams and they could land on the suspended helipad which is connected to the tower. Of course we'd hoard food from the Wal-Mart just a little under a mile from the airport.

So, what's your plan?

[DaveMMR]

You brainstormed a zombie survival strategy but I'd bet the farm you don't even have your tornado shelter locations memorized.

My plan: continue drinking heavily.

[JonnyBoy]

Tornados in western PA? Hardly...

Sorry, I'm a zombie-obsessed....erm....zombie.

[DaveMMR]

Tornados in western PA? Hardly...

Sorry, I'm a zombie-obsessed....erm....zombie.

Well a tornado in Pennsylvania is still a quintillion times more likely to occur than a zombie attack.    And scientific fact slams down his bishop proclaiming, "Check... Mate".

[NoOne=NBA=]

I hadn't ever thought about it, but it would probably be the same solution as pretty much any other bad situation--head for the woods.
It's got a great food supply, plenty of water, and can whip up a good shelter in no time.

The zombies are all going to head for dense populations, rather than trying to hunt down a small, mobile group in the woods; and I'm guessing their rock climbing skills leave a bit to be desired too.

[JonnyBoy]

What if they are the really mobile zombies? Like the 28 Days Later ones? I'd fear not being in a clearing, just because I'm nervous like that.

[NoOne=NBA=]

You can hitch a ride off a mountain top too.
That's what signal flares are for.

The biggest benefit though is that you don't have to worry if WalMart will have food the next time you go because your food's walking around on the mountain with you.

[jhanson]

I'd head for my parents' cabin in Maine.  Unless they're kayaking zombies, I could hide out on the island in the middle of the lake until winter when the lake freezes over. 

If I was stuck here (Richmond, VA), I'd armor my car using all the leftover wood and metal from my various projects, make the front and rear of my car truly deadly by mounting all of the blades and stuff I could salvage from my antique tools on it, strap my sword to my back and handgun to my waist, and head for the Federal Reserve building.

[Bones]

I would stand my ground and take on those mutant brain eating zombie bastard's.

Never back down and show no weakness, that's the Australian way.



" ' " added to bastard's as I have nothing against daisies. Yeah I know the grammar is incorrect, but the censorship these days is a real ---daisies---......

[Skadar]

Well a tornado in Pennsylvania is still a quintillion times more likely to occur than a zombie attack.

This is the best sentence I've read all day and it's 11:59pm.

[knuttz]

Good to see another zombie fanatic.  Dawn of the Dead (1978) is my favorite movie.  Just four months ago I made the trek from Charlotte, NC to Monroeville, PA to see the mall that it was filmed in.  I justified the long trip by saying that the mall is old and I need to see it before it closes down.  Also how many people get a chance to see where their favorite movie was shot?

To answer your question I would probably try to take over Wal-Mart.  They have a generator, gas pumps, and basically anything else you would need.  I also agree with George Romero, the rednecks would have a field day.

[paigeoliver]

I was going to run a zombie apocolypse as my next roleplaying game, but I was going to keep the theme a secret and have the players make modern NORMAL characters and THEN spring the zombies on them.

The only problem is that the zombie apocolypse is a one shot game, not much fun roleplaying a character hiding in a bunker who can't leave.

I think airport tower would be a bad bet if you ever planned on leaving it.

Unfortunately once things like that start happening they usually start happening pretty fast, and don't give a person much choice.

If I had a real choice I would commandeer the largest ship that could possible be run by a few people, and make for an island with a small population. Islands with small populations would likely not have the zombie problem, or have it under control. If there is no cemetary then they should be home free, because statistically they would have heard the zombie stuff on the radio TV or interweb before the first death on the island.

Of course long term plans depend much on the rules the zombies go by. Zombies that never NEED to eat and move fast would make every large land mass uninhabitable for centuries, eternally if you are getting animal zombies as well.

[Stingray]

I's stay home and get exquisitely drunk.

-S

[missioncontrol]

I think I posted the zombie survival manual here once.....

I'd search the forums for that start reading it again, then go kick zombie butt

[Stingray]

I think I posted the zombie survival manual here once.....

If anybody did, it was probably you!

-S

[missioncontrol]

bumped it, better get to studying...........

[Stingray]

As before, this is vital information. Thanks for doing your part to make the world a safer place from the undead.

-S

[missioncontrol]

It would also help to review movies such as "Night of The Living Dead"

or wait better yet

"When Zombies Attack Sorority Houses"

[Stingray]

"When Zombies Attack Sorority Houses"

Can I get that on BETA?

-S

[abrannan]

I was going to run a zombie apocolypse as my next roleplaying game, but I was going to keep the theme a secret and have the players make modern NORMAL characters and THEN spring the zombies on them.

The only problem is that the zombie apocolypse is a one shot game, not much fun roleplaying a character hiding in a bunker who can't leave.

Sure you can, you add an NPC (or NPCs) who falls into one of the major ZHM (Zombie horror movie) stereotypes.

-The over-protective spouse/parent who refuses to see that their loved one is doomed to become a zombie, lashing out at whoever tries to kill/dispose of the budding zombie in their midst
-The greedy individual who sees some form of profit in the whole situation
-The stir-crazy lunatic who sees zombies as a form of salvation or redemption, or who feels it is too hopeless and wants to end it all for the whole party

It just becomes a far more psychological game, especially as food & supplies run out, radio contact with others dies off, repair supplies begin to prove inadequate to hold off the ravening hordes.  Yeah, you can't run a hack-n-slash zombie campaign, but a story-driven campaign is very possible, there's jsut less dice rolling.


As for where I'd go?  Cruise ship, if possible.  Lots of supplies, water desalination facilities, plants (so there's some possibility of raising crops), plenty of escape means, controllable access points (gangplanks) so even if it never left dock it's defendable, generators, high power radios, helicopter landing strip.  And enough supplies to create a zombie killing field/chamber.  The only way to eventually stem the tide and restore balance is to be able to lure and kill large numbers of zombies in a safe, repeatable manner.  Yes, given the numbers of zombies you're dealing with, you'll likely never reach that point before you're dead, but at least you're making some small progress. 

[ChadTower]

I'd head for my parents' cabin in Maine.

[abrannan]

I'd head for my parents' cabin in Maine.  Unless they're kayaking zombies, I could hide out on the island in the middle of the lake until winter when the lake freezes over. 

You're not thinking.  Why do zombies need a boat?  What, you think they'll drown?  They'll just walk through the lake until they get to you.

Paige, on that island, you would have a zombie problem the first time someone died of natural causes.

That's an issue no matter where you go.  It's fourth on the list of things to do.

1. Find shelter
2. Find source of water
3. Find source of food
4. Develop containment/quarantine/disposal plans to severly ill/dead people

[Thenasty]

That's an issue no matter where you go.

[RayB]

I should be good to go soon. I just have to stock up a few items, and finish reading this book.

[ChadTower]

The main problem here is expotential increase of the infestation.

[abrannan]

The main problem here is expotential increase of the infestation.  Every time someone dies, they become a zombie.  You can create a new person every year but a new zombie every second.  Eventually, no matter where you are, they will get in.  There's just too many of them.  That is why the zombie concept makes such an intriguing horror movie.  It's not about what you can do to survive, it's only about how long you can do it.

Yes, but at some point, your rate of new zombie creation (assuming that they can't give birth or infect other species) reaches a limit at the rate of new human creation.  Depending on the physiology of the zombies, it could be a winnable war.  Do they need food?  Will they only eat humans?  How long can they survive on one human's worth of food?   Will they cannibalize?  Is new zombie creation always a guarantee on death by natural causes, or was it a one time seeding, and any new zombies can only be created by infection via bite/bodily fluids? 

If they're everliving, not requiring food, and all deaths lead to zombification, you might as well take a shotgun to yourself now.  As long as they can starve, it may be possible to weather the storm as the food supply dwindles, naturally reducing the numbers of zombies.  At a certain point, you'll be able to bring a force of numbers to bear, and begin to reclaim areas.  Simple predator/prey dynamics. 

Of course, you could also give rise to some brutal and inhuman practices to ensure the survival of the species.  For example, mandatory use of fertility drugs (while they last) to raise the possibility of having multiple births, can dramatically increase your population growth rate.  Granted, that puts the woman's health at risk, as well as the health of the babies.  But it could make great strides in ensuring the survival of the species overall. 

[ChadTower]

Yes, but at some point, your rate of new zombie creation (assuming that they can't give birth or infect other species) reaches a limit at the rate of new human creation.

[Stingray]

This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Chad will argue about anything.

-S

[ChadTower]

I love zombies.  Awesome movie concept. 

[Stingray]

What's not to love about the undead?

-S

[ChadTower]

Now, why can't they just use busses to evacuate everyone in the case of a massive zombie attack?  Where is the gov't when the zombies attack?  What will FEMA do?

[abrannan]

Yes, but at some point, your rate of new zombie creation (assuming that they can't give birth or infect other species) reaches a limit at the rate of new human creation. 

That is not correct.  Your rate of new zombie creation is only tied to the number of remaining live humans.  You don't have to have a baby to make a zombie, you have to have a person die.  In a crisis, people die a whole lot more often than they are created.  The number of zombies will constantly increase as a matter of nature.  A zombie, in theory, would never die, but all people will die eventually.  The number of people can decrease but the number of zombies never will.  Every person is temporary, while every zombie is permanent.

You're right, but there will come a point of functional limit (once the initial crisis stabilizes) and you have to admit that 0 new humans (once they're all dead) will result in 0 new zombies.

Okay, so your operating assumptions (If I'm reading them correctly) are that every death results in a zombie (unless the brain is destroyed in the death), zombies require no sustenance.  Yeah, that's the hopeless scenario.  Shotgun to the head time. 

My scenario is more the "passing through the tail of the comet/insert event here that releases a virus that brings back the recently deceased, making them able to infect others."  Once the comet passes, the only way to create new zombies is through bodily fluid (even saliva) from another zombie.  So if I have a heart attack after the comet.  I'm dead.  If a zombie muches on my corpse, I'm a zombie.  My scenario also has the zombies relying on human brain matter to survive, with a zombie "starving out" within 6 months of resurrection if unfed.  That is a survivable scenario that will prove fatal to probably 99+% of humanity before it burns out.

/Also thinks zombies are a fantastic movie concept, wonders why nobody has attempted a zombie TV series.

[ChadTower]

You're right, but there will come a point of functional limit (once the initial crisis stabilizes) and you have to admit that 0 new humans (once they're all dead) will result in 0 new zombies.

Yeah, but at that point, everyone is dead, so who cares?

Okay, so your operating assumptions (If I'm reading them correctly) are that every death results in a zombie (unless the brain is destroyed in the death), zombies require no sustenance.

[JonnyBoy]

Good to see another zombie fanatic.  Dawn of the Dead (1978) is my favorite movie.  Just four months ago I made the trek from Charlotte, NC to Monroeville, PA to see the mall that it was filmed in.  I justified the long trip by saying that the mall is old and I need to see it before it closes down.  Also how many people get a chance to see where their favorite movie was shot?

To answer your question I would probably try to take over Wal-Mart.  They have a generator, gas pumps, and basically anything else you would need.  I also agree with George Romero, the rednecks would have a field day.

Yeah, I'm just a few miles away from Monroeville. My World Cultures teacher was actually in the movie. He gets his arm cut off by one of the motorcycle gang members. Needless to say, he's a cool guy.

[ChadTower]

He gets his arm cut off by one of the motorcycle gang members. Needless to say, he's a cool guy.

What luck, when that happened to me, no one filmed it, so all they said was "poor guy".

"Cool guy" is better.

[Zero_Hour]

Tornados in western PA? Hardly...

Sorry, I'm a zombie-obsessed....erm....zombie.

Sorry, but as a former resident of Western PA (Pittsburgh) I should point you to this:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/pit/tor98.htm

Never say never.

Also, My Mother actually was a Zombie for the remake of Night of the Living Dead that Romero filmed in Washington County, PA. When they did the local Premiere, they called her back to Do the Zombie thing around the theater. It so happened that CNN Headline News was there. I'm sitting at home that night, flipping channels, and there is my Zombie Mom chatting it up with the reporter on National TV - truly surreal. As a resul I have a soft spot in my heart for Zombies, and hold no ill will twoards them.

[JonnyBoy]

Yeah, the whole tornado comment wasn't meant to be taken very seriously. I was just joking around, but I still like Zombies.

[jhanson]

I'd head for my parents' cabin in Maine.  Unless they're kayaking zombies, I could hide out on the island in the middle of the lake until winter when the lake freezes over. 

You're not thinking.  Why do zombies need a boat?  What, you think they'll drown?  They'll just walk through the lake until they get to you.

The bottom is too mucky to walk across without getting stuck, plus you can't see the island from the shore due to its surroundings.  In addition, the island itself is actually a very steep rock that juts out of the water, so it is a very defendable position.  Add that to the fact that it's in a very small town (population 300) that would be a poor source of zombie food (largest town within an hour's drive is 8,000 people at maximum), and it's an ideal location.

[ChadTower]

The bottom is too mucky to walk across without getting stuck, plus you can't see the island from the shore due to its surroundings.  In addition, the island itself is actually a very steep rock that juts out of the water, so it is a very defendable position.

Zombies are persistent.  Where else they gonna go?

[DarkKobold]

The main problem here is expotential increase of the infestation.  Every time someone dies, they become a zombie.  You can create a new person every year but a new zombie every second.  Eventually, no matter where you are, they will get in.  There's just too many of them.  That is why the zombie concept makes such an intriguing horror movie.  It's not about what you can do to survive, it's only about how long you can do it.

Doesn't that depend completely on which kind of Zombie infestation we are talking about? Not all Zombie infestations are the (long) dead coming back to life. Some infestations (28 days later, Shawn of the Dead) requires contact with a pre-infected person. Thus, wiping an island, boat, Airport tower, and etc clean, you could allow people to die graceful, normal deaths.

P.S. for all that say zombie attacks could never happen, a while ago, someone posted a video of a guy messed up on PCP or something. Dude was acting like a zombie. All it would take was a virus that produced the same effect as that drug...  Boom, instant 28 days later zombie style fest.