| |
Have you ever thought about what you would do when the dead start rising from their graves? Have you ever taken into consideration the level of security you could provide your friends and family if your area were ever invaded by zombies? Do you have what it takes to lead a group of survivors to a tactically advantageous location, fortify it, and co-ordinate it's defense from the undead? If not, or even if you just want to brush up on your zombiegeddon-surviving skills, I've put together this guide for you.
This guide is broken down into several crucial sections, any of which a weakness in could spell disaster.
Weapons: Weapons for fighting zombies come in a few basic varieties, all with advantages and disadvantages.
First are Melee weapons, knives, swords, axes. Since the idea is to either sever or destroy a zombie's head. Some work well, some not so well. Since you will likely be moving a bit, you may need to keep several on hand for various combat conditions. Keep in mind that you want to avoid contact with zombie blood as much as possible, so always be on the lookout for any weapon that will keep you out of the range of the blood splatter.
Knives: Not so good, but better than nothing. A knife requires you to get dangerously close before they are effective. Unless you have many, and can throw them accurately, start looking for something else.
Short sword: Much better than a knife, but still lacking if you are surrounded. They are quick and give you a distance advantage, but do not have the penetrating power to be effective against large groups. They are very maneuverable in case you are fighting zombies indoors.
Long sword/Katana: Good due to the range, but will be cumbersome in the confines of a building. Works well when surrounded, but will be harder to use than a short sword if you are injured.
 The Katana: Not the best weapon, but highly effective in the hands of a skilled swordsman.
Battle axe: Great for hacking through large groups, but almost impossible to use indoors. Also, an axe will be difficult for smaller or injured people to use.
Chainsaw: Good in many situations, and also has other utilitarian uses. Drawbacks are that it needs fuel, and can only be run indoors for short amounts of time unless it is electric. Chainsaws are great for mowing through large groups of zombies or mounting on a vehicle.
Baseball bat, Golf clubs, etc.: You've watched "Shaun of the Dead" one too many times. These weapons are only effective when dangerously close, and when wielded by the more physically fit members of the group. They cause dangerous amounts of blood to splatter, are ineffective once the user gets fatigued, and are useless when surrounded or confronting large groups. Also, they are bulky and will slow you down when you're on the run.
Firearms:
Pistols: Great for indoor combat, as well as outdoor, up close and personal battles. Not good at range, but with relatively light ammo and fairly high rate of fire for small to mid sized rounds, they are effective. Lack of power in light to medium calibers makes accuracy somewhat important. Higher-power pistols have much slower rate of fire, heavier ammo, but stopping power and extended range make them useful. Smaller or injured persons will be better off with smaller caliber pistols. Ultra-high powered pistols may be impractical due to their ammo being uncommon, but if you have one, the results can be dramatic.
Basic high-power hunting rifle: Low rate of fire makes accuracy important, but they are usually equipped with a scope. Heavier and less nimble, they are not as good indoors, but do very well at longer ranges. It's heavier ammo is a drawback, as is it's penetration power indoors: Be sure none of the people you are defending are anywhere near your line of fire, even if a wall or two is in between you and them, these things go through walls quite well. Ammo will be fairly easy to come by if you find one of the more popular calibers. The weight of the ammo and small magazine capacities will be an issue.
The Golden Desert Eagle .50: Insanely powerful for a handgun,
enough so that not everyone can handle it, and the ammunition is very rare.
Assault Rifles: Great all-around weapon. High rate of fire, decent range and high power make them the preferred weapon for most situations, a good compromise all around. Also dangerous indoors due to their penetrating power.
Shotgun: Good weapon with several types of ammo, and the type of ammo can be selected to utilize a person's skill, or lack thereof. Look for a 12 gauge if possible, it being the most common and having the greatest ammo selection. Relatively low capacity and heavy ammo can be a drawback.
Sniper Rifle: Great for defending your camp at long range, but the size, weight, slow rate of fire and scarcity of ammo male it impractical in most situations. Head-shotting zombies with one of these will provide some degree of entertainment to your group and raise morale.
Flamethrower: Great for outdoors or mounted on vehicles. Impossible to use indoors and ammo will be scarce, unless you know how to make it yourself. Flamethrowers are very dangerous to operate, and very heavy.
 The Flamethrower: There's not a more intimidating weapon, but its usefulness is very limited.
Medium Machine Gun (M60/M240/M2): High power, belt-fed, fully automatic crew-serve weapon. That's the ticket, you're going to waltz around like Rambo without a jockstrap and kill everything in site, make even Leroy Jenkins jealous of you phenomenal motivation, right? No, you won’t. It'd be great for defending your structure, but at 20+ pounds empty, you'll soon realize you're not Sylvester Stallone, and you’re not going to throw this thing around one handed like he did. It takes two people to operate it, and you'll have to recover your ammo links unless you raid an ammo dump at some military base. Machine guns are great for mounting on a vehicle.
The M240 medium machine gun: Heavy weapon with heavy firepower. Great
in a defensive or mounted role.
Weapon skills/Combat Tactics: This is one area where the crowd needs a few defined leaders to bring everyone together.
1) I was a Navy Seal/Green Beret/Army Ranger: You're in charge, that's all there is to it. Once you have the confidence of the people in your group, your knowledge is irreplaceable; therefore they will all protect you. You are the one all the women in the group want to hang out with, and after it is all over, your number of offspring will measure in the dozens. Being a bad-ass never felt so good. Keep in mind that if you lie about your SOCOM credentials and your group finds out, they will probably leave you to fight on your own.
2) I did some time in the military: You'll be in charge of small groups and defending different areas, but you'll have less experienced people under your command. Not much guard duty, and most of what you do will be in a supervisory role.
3) I Never served, but I'm not adverse to fighting: If you can learn and listen, you'll be given the better of the crappy jobs. If you can't listen, then you're going to be zombie bait.
4) I spent 4 years as a mall cop: Shut up, listen to the leaders, work your butt off, and maybe they'll tolerate you. Forget everything they taught you in rent-a-cop school, and get used to guard duty.
5) I was in the Peace Corps, man, I'm a lover, not a fighter: Either that philosophy changes, or you're dead weight. Unless you have some other skill, you're just a waste of food. After it's all over, you will be the hippie whose genes they try and keep out of the gene pool. Keep in mind that the group may be keeping you around for a pawn to sacrifice should the going get tough.
Armor: An effective layer of armor is one of the most important things you can have when it all goes down. Unfortunately, it often comes down to a trade-off between protection and speed.
1) Military/Police grade body armor system: The best option. Lightweight and effective, and of a layered design, you can adjust it to fit your exact combination of protection and maneuverability. You won't find much of it around, and it's VERY expensive, but a necessary part of any survivalist's toolkit. Can often be found on fallen law enforcement personnel.
2) Helmet, padding, sports gear: This is decent protection, but at the cost of weight, speed, and peripheral vision. If you have this type of protection, you will find yourself both loving it and hating it, depending on if you are fighting or fleeing. A helmet can be used as a weapon in a pinch.
Motocross Body Armor: Fairly effective, light, and easy to find.
3) Leather Jacket, pants: Not quite as good, but leather is tough and hard to bite through, but doesn't protect you head and neck much. May get hot when you're on the move, but at least you'll look cool.
4) T-shirt and blue jeans: At least you aren't naked. Start taping phone books and layers of cardboard underneath your clothes for additional protection. At least you'll be fast without alot of weight.
Transportation: Eventually you're going to need to move, and if possible, by vehicle.
1) Convoy of Mad-Max style armored buses or troop carriers with interceptors running interference: This is as good as it gets. Send your smaller, faster cars out front "Smokey and the Bandit" style to scout ahead. If you've armored the buses properly, you should make a slow but steady pace to wherever you're going. Loaded up buses burn large amounts of fuel, so be conservative and drive smart.
Armored Pickup Truck: Not a bad choice, and fairly easy to make out
of an ordinary pickup truck.
2) A group of pickup trucks/SUVs: Not too bad, but not the best. If you can, mount some seats in the back if it's a pickup, so whoever is back there can be strapped in and concentrate on using their weapons. Be careful to not drive TOO aggressively, one rollover and everyone in the back is toast. Make sure you equip it with a massive pipe bumper to deflect any zombies you run into. These things use quite a bit of fuel, so fit as many people into as few as possible.
3) Soccer-Mom mini-van: Not very good. You can fit lots of people and equipment into them, but they're too light and thin-skinned to provide much protection. Also, it'll be harder to armor and reinforce, and the large windows . The good part is they don't use much gas, so you can add a few extras to the group, and if one is disabled, the passengers can jump into others and nobody gets stranded.
4) A large group of small cars: You're not doing so well, but will be the envy of anyone on foot. Stick to the open roads so you can go around groups of zombies, as cars can take only so much of a beating. You'll need someone with a weapon to help you out in a jam. Be extremely careful, it doesn't take much to disable a car, so you're only one mistake away from being on foot again.
5) On foot: You will see your groups numbers dwindle daily, keep on the move non-stop until you get somewhere safe.
Location: Finding the right place to make your final stand is crucial for the survival of the group.
1) Abandon prison: PERFECT place, provided you can get in. They usually have towers for your snipers and machine gunners, lots of walls and fences. There's a good chance there are medical supplies and food, but likely there is little or no ammo/weapons, which you'll need much less of. You'll often find some sort of shop where you can make or repair weapons and make traps. A highly fortified structure means less people on guard duty, therefore everyone gets more rest. If the communications systems are still working you're even better off.
 Prison: The same technologies that were used to keep prisoners in, can be used to keep zombies out. The fence, tower, and open area surrounding your typical prison all work to your advantage.
3) Farmhouse: Not too bad, but many drawbacks. Usually there are weapons and ammo, and are in wide open areas to help spot zombies from a distance. Some of the farming equipment can be used to take out large groups of zombies, and there is usually some form of transportation. Many fertilizers and pesticides can be used to make explosive devices, maybe even flamethrowers.
4) Large building in the city: Attractive only due to the availability of supplies and such. These structures often have many openings to cover, and it is highly likely that you miss some. Many of these places have everything you need to live, but little of what you need to defend yourself.
5) House in Suburbia: Not too good, they're not very strong, and usually have many windows and glass doors that make them even more vulnerable. Since common housing is highly combustible, you can’t use flamethrowers near them.
6) A tent in the woods: Don't stay there, even for one night. Trees in the dark will not allow you to see zombies until they're right next to you. Get out of there and into civilization where you can pick up supplies, transportation, and other survivors.
Construction Skills
To successfully defend your group against zombies, you are going to eventually have to either get somewhere safe, or make wherever you are safer. This includes fortifying the structure, and possibly building traps.
1) I built my own sawmill, then milled the lumber that I built my house with: You're going to be the one leading the crew that is building the reinforcements, while others man the perimeter. Its gravy time for you, until zombies start knocking the walls in, then it's all your fault.
2) I build my own house: You'll be building the traps and the re-enforcements. No time to relax here. You'd be even better if you knew how to build explosive devices and makeshift weapons out of ordinary items.
3) I know my way around tools: You'll be doing all the grunt work. It is hard work, but you’ll have significantly less guard duty than less skilled people will have.
4) I took shop in high school and passed, but that's about it: You're going to be stuck on guard duty unless you can suck up to the carpenters enough to get them to let you be a laborer. Expect to be back on the lines the first time you screw up or someone thinks they saw a zombie within 300 yards.
5) I pay someone to change to oil in my weed eater: Expect to be pulling guard duty while others fortify the structure. You're probably going to hear the term "Recon Mission" quite often.
First aid: In order for your group to survive, they will need someone to patch up the wounded.
1) I'm a doctor, and spent my internship working an emergency room: You're going to be one of the more protected members of the group. Drop that Hippocratic Oath, pick up a gun and fight when needed and you'll do just fine. Even better if you brought your own kit.
2) I've watched discovery health enough that I have a bit of a clue, and I can follow instructions: You'll be valuable when the fighting's over. It’s another opportunity for you to make yourself useful and avoid guard duty.
3) I faint at the sight of blood: Better hope you know how to fight, because you're stuck on guard duty once the fighting is over. Whine too much and your group might kill you themselves. If you’re an attractive woman of child-bearing age, you may be kept around for the “repopulating the earth” phase after it’s all over, but don’t count on it.
Physical Condition:
1) I'm in the best shape of everyone in our group: With this, you'll command more respect, and you'll get better weapons and armor, partly because you'll be doing much of the fighting. The toughest guy in the group WILL have a large part in "repopulating humanity" when it's all said and done.
2) I'm amongst the top few of the group: You'll be the in groups performing raids and such, and you'll be helping with the grunt work of the construction, but, not much guard duty.
3) I'm in OK shape, but not great: You're stuck in the middle of the pack, you'll be carrying much of the equipment and fighting when necessary, but there are worse places to be.
4) I weigh 400lbs and sound like Darth Vader after one flight of stairs: Truth is, you're only there in case the rest of the group needs someone to throw to the zombies to divert their attention. Your survival is 100% dependent on luck. Remember, the crowd doesn't have to outrun the zombies; they only need to outrun YOU. You may even be given a couple of grenades and asked to take out a group of zombies suicide-style. All for the good of the team they'll say. Pray they keep you around in case they need to resort to cannibalism, as your nutritional value is the only thing you have going for you.
|
|
