The Apocalypse Survival Thread

[MeoTwister5]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Why is everyone talking like weapons are the sole factor to survival? What about medical research and vaccine building?

I already have that covered, which is why you will want me on your survival squad.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

I already have that covered, which is why you will want me on your survival squad.

I would deliver you to the nearest research facility then go out to hunt for test subjects. Good luck with them.

I was actually thinking about how, on the research side, the antivirus should be developed. I don't remember any strain of virus or bacteria is able to reanimate tissue, so I was thinking about somewhere along the lines of an infected mitochondria.

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

The question here is if the soldiers at the base are going to deprive themselves of weapons/ammo to every random untrained civillian who shows up looking for them.

If I am not wrong, he's from the same place as I am, and if he served national service, he's legit to hold a gun in a government mandated emergency.

[Jaden]

If it's a zombie apocalypse, shouldn't you assume even the military bases are mostly held by the undead and it's up to a few survivors to retake the world?

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Jaden

If it's a zombie apocalypse, shouldn't you assume even the military bases are mostly held by the undead and it's up to a few survivors to retake the world?

Yeah, it is safer to assume that we, the average Joes, will be in the same situation as I Am Legend, the book and not the Will Smith movie, or Shaun of the Dead.

[ZeKeR]

if all else fails.... theres still the bayonet.....

if i want an all purpose blade..... it would be the Nepalese kukri or our pride.... teh pinuti BOLO..... tho they were not combat blades but agricultural and household implements, they can be when in times like this.... especially when you sometimes need to go up close and personal.... lawl or these blades

Spoiler for philippine pinuti:

TEH KUKRI!

[JokerD]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

The question here is if the soldiers at the base are going to deprive themselves of weapons/ammo to every random untrained civillian who shows up looking for them.
Piercing weapons aren't the best things to use against zed. Since his head is his only really vulnerable point and you're bayonet can very well get stuck in the skull after you pierce it.

SaintessHeart is right, I have gone through conscription and military training and still in reserves so even if I don't want to, I'll still be called into the army at some point. Just a matter of sooner rather than later. Just hope that there's enough ammo to go around. Seems that in modern conflicts, with volume of firepower more important than accuracy (covering fire rather than snipers), ammo gets burnt through very fast.

Another good(?) idea I have is a wire barricade seen in HoTD rather than a solid wall or gate. Zs going through would be cut up and they can't stack themselves on it to overwhelm it through sheer weight. A fireteam on a spot where Zs can't get to like high ground surround by these wires sound good. Just need to make sure there's extraction in case of swarming, like a zipline to a secured escape route or something.

[Kafriel]

Hmm....
If you can carry some weight, get a gatling gun for the case of a base invasion (you WILL need a base to get organized). No matter how immortal they are, scattered pieces of former zombies can't harm you, unless they're vampire halfbreeds.
If guns aren't your thing, pick a sword. Slicing off their legs is enough, even if they can crawl on their arms they'll be thrice as slow. Of course head chopping is optimal, but who'd do that? Beware of rust!
Make sure you got a decent source of fire (home-made napalm, a flamethrower from the casual weapons store, or if it's been overrun already, a matchbox and two galons of oil). If they seek heat sources, just light something up and send it tumbling down the road, should buy you a few minutes.
Get armoured up! Heavy suits may impede movement, but they also prevent any kind of...bite o_0
Always keep moving. They hunt in packs and they're always hungry. Careful not to run into a horde while escaping a small company. And on that matter...
Know your place! Like, the area you're in, borders, etc. Your best bet is the airport with the first flight to the Antarctic, assuming you can find a clean airport first.
If you can't bail, set up traps. They're stupid, and will definitely fall for ANYTHING (hay pit included, although that one will fill up at some point...). Best trap would be invisible wire around your place. Sure, you can't go out, but nothing can come in and still be in one piece.
Search for other survivors. United we survive, and in the worst case scenario, they are your decoys...or your emergency rations
If the enemy is overwhelming you in terms of territory, hijack some nukes and destroy the planet, right after making a nuclear shelter. That way you kill everyone, possible survivors included, and the species dies out, but at least you'll have some 60 years before that happens.
*If you're living in an imaginary world, try getting yourself a Metal Gear-RAY and you can survive till the end, guaranteed...unless you didn't pack up on provisions.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Jaden

If it's a zombie apocalypse, shouldn't you assume even the military bases are mostly held by the undead and it's up to a few survivors to retake the world?

Curious fact: highly trained military units are highly effective at fighting off the horde, considering they are aware of it that is.

And anyway the best places to hold out the apocalypse are Military bases and prisons since they were meant to keep people out/in, have ample suply of food and power usually (due to backup generators and alike) and also probably have enough ammo as well.

[Kafriel]

But prisons would be the first places to get hit, America's jails are more crammed than shopping malls, and I'm sure they're pretty packed in any country...but if you're going to an army base, steal yourself a tank. That badass mofo can steamroll hundreds and blast hundreds more...unless you don't know how to drive one, but I think these days it's elementary, for cases just like this one.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JokerD

SaintessHeart is right, I have gone through conscription and military training and still in reserves so even if I don't want to, I'll still be called into the army at some point. Just a matter of sooner rather than later. Just hope that there's enough ammo to go around. Seems that in modern conflicts, with volume of firepower more important than accuracy (covering fire rather than snipers), ammo gets burnt through very fast.

Regarding volume of fire, I doubt it would be the case of the zombie pandemic. Ammo belts would be stripped down and placed in stripper clips, and ammo discipline will be tightened (120 rounds for everyone instead of the usual 210 in 7 mags). Just pray that you are the guy holding the MP5 or the GPMG, and pray for the poor guy holding the shotgun.

The last weapon I want to hold when facing more than 30 zombies is a bullpup weapon. Those things are combat reload nightmares : even the discard-old mag reload style of using the new magazine to push against the magazine release depressor at the back won't ensure the old magazine just drops to the ground - you have to manually pull the thing out. And the position of the magazine well doesn't allow you to use double mags.

Another good(?) idea I have is a wire barricade seen in HoTD rather than a solid wall or gate. Zs going through would be cut up and they can't stack themselves on it to overwhelm it through sheer weight. A fireteam on a spot where Zs can't get to like high ground surround by these wires sound good. Just need to make sure there's extraction in case of swarming, like a zipline to a secured escape route or something.

And with a properly connected side wire, it can be linked to a generator releasing 500 volts of alternating current. Fried zombies anyone?

That is a smart alternative to concertina or barbed wire. The latter types are rather useless in a zombie invasion IMO, they spread disease more easily should those manning the checkpoints accidentally get cut.

Originally Posted by Kafriel

But prisons would be the first places to get hit, America's jails are more crammed than shopping malls, and I'm sure they're pretty packed in any country...but if you're going to an army base, steal yourself a tank. That badass mofo can steamroll hundreds and blast hundreds more...unless you don't know how to drive one, but I think these days it's elementary, for cases just like this one.

A tank is much more harder to drive. The whole thing moves on inertia and momentum rather than its engine : so accelerating takes a long time. Unless it is fixed with a heavy machine gun, I am not getting into that thing - I would rather go on foot.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I am not getting into that thing - I would rather go on foot.

Or on a bicycle.

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

If I am not wrong, he's from the same place as I am, and if he served national service, he's legit to hold a gun in a government mandated emergency.

Hmmm, if you live in a country that has mandatory conscription that's a different story.

Then the military can bassically just grab any random young adult male, hand him a rifle and expect a bare minimum of proficiency out of him.

Originally Posted by Jaden

If it's a zombie apocalypse, shouldn't you assume even the military bases are mostly held by the undead and it's up to a few survivors to retake the world?

If the military got wiped out to a man us unorganized civilians are pretty much screwed.

I'd honestly say military units have much higher chances of surviving as effective fighting forces than your plucky band of all walks of life survivors. They're the one's with the weapons, training, but more importantly the indoctrination and organization needed to survive combat with zeds.

Originally Posted by JokerD

SaintessHeart is right, I have gone through conscription and military training and still in reserves so even if I don't want to, I'll still be called into the army at some point. Just a matter of sooner rather than later. Just hope that there's enough ammo to go around. Seems that in modern conflicts, with volume of firepower more important than accuracy (covering fire rather than snipers), ammo gets burnt through very fast.

Not coming from a country with mandatory conscription I hadn't considered that angle. But if that's the case the Army will probably be more liberal in handing out weapons. That is one good thing about zombies. Despite them being much physically harder to kill than regular humans, in actual practice you're going to spend less ammo doing so. Due to the massive amount of fire needed to just pin and suppress the enemy to keep him from moving (or shooting back at you), the numbers of rounds needed in modern combat to actually kill an enemy soldier ussually measure in the tens of thousands of rounds.

So bassically it'd be a matter of the NCO's ordering everybody to switch over to semi auto and to start aiming carefully at the head.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

But prisons would be the first places to get hit, America's jails are more crammed than shopping malls, and I'm sure they're pretty packed in any country...but if you're going to an army base, steal yourself a tank. That badass mofo can steamroll hundreds and blast hundreds more...unless you don't know how to drive one, but I think these days it's elementary, for cases just like this one.

But consider this: during the chaos of the outbreak two things could happen:
1 - The prisoners would take the chance to escape and as such would be out of jail pretty fast

2 - due to the high amount of bars and doors the zombies wouldn't move very much so it would be a relatively simple job to clean up the place.

And tanks are even worse than cars in case of a zombie apocalypse: they're big, their hard to drive (they don't have a regular steering wheel you know?) and worst of all their awfully noisy and consume large amounts of gas.

Motor vehicles overall are a bad idea in a zombie apocalypse for a lot of different reasons:
1 - Noise:
the noise made by them would surely attract the undead.

2 - Misleading feeling of security:
When inside a motor vehicle the passengers would feel "safe" from the zombies even though they truly wouldn't be. Consider this: if a zombie would suddenly walk into the road while the car was doing 60 what would happen? You would either hit the zombie wreaking the front of the car and taking some damage as well or you would try to dodge it and probably hit something else. Also the roads would probably be packed with cars from all those who tried to escape in panic so a car would be mostly useless.

3 - Gas:
Motor vehicles need gas and even as such you would have to refuel every now and again so you would be vulnerable then. Also as time went buy gas would get harder to find increasing the odds that you would run out of gas just when an horde of zombies was zoning in on you. Not good

4 - Maintenance:
Face it, most people don't have a clue on how a car works so there was a rather good chance that it would break down leaving the occupants stranded in a zombie infested road.

There are plenty of reasons why cars are a bad idea during a zombie apocalypse. If you really want to be mobile get a mountain bike since they have simple maintenance, are better off-road, are light (so you can carry them when crossing tough terrain for instance) and also they make no noise and need no fuel other then your legs. You still have to be careful when riding a bike on zombie infested ground since a crash would be catastrophic and could end up getting you killed.

[disposablehero92]

Originally Posted by CuXe

^ This guy knows what he is talking about. I was a pyro myself (13-15 yo) and I tried all kinds of crazy sh*t.... hitting a stash of gun powder with a rock (didn't end well) .. Shooting at a glass jar filled with gun powder (didn't work out cause I needed incendiary rounds which are illegal off course!) ... the super soaker trick that almost cost me my eyebrows....setting lines of the strongest types of ants on fire (that was awesome! they didn't die and I almost caused something bigger cause those dam ants didn't stop running around even tho they were on fire)... u name it...

When ur an amateur ur weirdest fantasies will always backfire on you.....

lololol the ants, didn't die right ayaw? see that what happens with zombies, they won't die right away aso they are on fire and STILL comming for you

[james0246]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I was actually thinking about how, on the research side, the antivirus should be developed. I don't remember any strain of virus or bacteria is able to reanimate tissue, so I was thinking about somewhere along the lines of an infected mitochondria.

I always thought it was more a problem with the central nervous system, specifically, something is keeping the signals firing even after the heart has stopped. Could an "infected mitochondria" account for this?

Additionally, since a kill-shot to the brain is the only thing that can stop a zombie (outside of starvation, which is an unknown factor based on the different mythology), how come electrical attacks and nerve-gas aren't considered more often (obviously only a government or rich organization could afford to have nerve gases)? In other words, how effective would a stun-gun be against a zombie? Would they just be paralyzed (as a human would) for a short time? Or would the current traveling through brain actually cause the zombie to stop functioning? (Bear in mind, munitions and the delivery of them are a mystery to me, so I could have asked a very stupid question without realizing it .)

Additionally, I could see a government carpet-bombing an infected city with nerve gas. True not all the infected would be taken care of, but it could create an opening for an adequate offense, especially if you can draw the zombies to you before unleashing the gas...

[Xion Valkyrie]

Wouldn't something like full body platemail make you impervious to most zombies? You need to modify it so it's harder to take off, and maybe add some Iron Man esque weapons in case they swarm you.

[Darsovin]

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

Wouldn't something like full body platemail make you impervious to most zombies? You need to modify it so it's harder to take off, and maybe add some Iron Man esque weapons in case they swarm you.

Someone has already built a modern suit of armor, but it was originally designed to fend off bears. I think this new version is bullet resistant too. Only problem is if they pile on you, you're probably dead meat anyway.

[kenjiharima]

Oh this thread...

Rules of Zombieland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQTIxqD2lrE

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by Darsovin

Someone has already built a modern suit of armor, but it was originally designed to fend off bears. I think this new version is bullet resistant too. Only problem is if they pile on you, you're probably dead meat anyway.

Something like this would allow you to just burn everything around you and not worry about burning yourself (as long as you don't go too overboard). Plus, you can always install things like grappling hooks and what not to pull yourself out of a sticky situation. Plus, even, if they pile on you, if they can't bite or claw you because of the suit, that gives your allies enough time to kill them and get them off of you. As opposed to instant death if you weren't wearing something like this. Also, you don't need these things to be bullet proof, just scratch/bite/stab proof. Also, your mobility shouldn't be that impeded by it, as Knights in medieval times could actually SWIM in full plate.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by james0246

I always thought it was more a problem with the central nervous system, specifically, something is keeping the signals firing even after the heart has stopped. Could an "infected mitochondria" account for this?

You got a point there about the central nervous system rather than the mitochondria....I was wondering about the increased durability and endurance of the zombies thus I went for the body cells first.

I don't see how eating brains can sustain the brain activity of the zombified brain, unless it is able to feed nutrients directly to the bone marrow to regenerate cells, or it has got to do with the neural stem cells being able to consistently regenerate.

Additionally, since a kill-shot to the brain is the only thing that can stop a zombie (outside of starvation, which is an unknown factor based on the different mythology), how come electrical attacks and nerve-gas aren't considered more often (obviously only a government or rich organization could afford to have nerve gases)? In other words, how effective would a stun-gun be against a zombie? Would they just be paralyzed (as a human would) for a short time? Or would the current traveling through brain actually cause the zombie to stop functioning? (Bear in mind, munitions and the delivery of them are a mystery to me, so I could have asked a very stupid question without realizing it .)

Headshots do not instantly kill, but rather, incapacitate the living being for a few seconds before the other brain functions shut down due to not receiving signals from the other parts of the brain.

Incidentally, certain people live with damaging brain damages or parts of their brains blown off, like a guy who accidentally put a steel bar through his head in a mining accident. I believe it is the direct hit to the temple which instantly incapacitates the zombie as the the frontal cortex of the brain houses practically most of the human motor functions.

Additionally, I could see a government carpet-bombing an infected city with nerve gas. True not all the infected would be taken care of, but it could create an opening for an adequate offense, especially if you can draw the zombies to you before unleashing the gas...

Neurotoxins are pretty hard to treat - I read from somewhere that it is so agonising that most patients prefer to be put to death than to be treated. Then again, nerve gas may not destroy the bloodborne virus, so many governments would want glassing weapons, namely the nuke.