How prepared are you for a zombie infestation?

I'll be holed up in here. Don't ask how the whataburger works, it just does.

There's also a brewery on the island.

 

^^^^

We are now at classics level, folks. HILARIOUS!!!

Can the USC cheerleader be with us, too??

 

I don't think yall are taking your zombie preparation seriously enough. You jokesters can continue dreaming your pie in the sky dreams about off shore retreats and whataburgers. Meanwhile I'm going to be creating my system of mutually supporting martello towers with overlapping fields of fire in the hill country. We will be in radio contact with our west texas allies.

AND ANYWAY ZOMBIES DON'T BREATH! They may not swim, but that doesn't mean a million zombie HAITIANS won't be walking right for you. Its the freaking epicenter of ZOMBIENESS since like forever. Give me one good reason why a zombie would be afraid of zombies? Don't let half baked movie ideas cloud your judgment about zombie FACTS. If any of up bags of zombie chow had bothered to read Brother Books account of the zombie war you would know how dangerous underwater zombies truly are. Fish don't eat them, its evil rotting flesh. Remember the cardinal rule: zombies don't die unless you SHOOT THEM IN THE HEAD. You gotta get the brain. They don't get the bends, they don't get seasick, and they don't give a hoot about international boundaries. I'm not saying an island fortress is automatically a bad idea. A sailboat might not be a terrible way to bug out. But you are going to be in your island fortress and you are going to have to still fight them off. Whether you take them out with .22lr hollow points, or you use your remote controlled helicopter blades mounted neck high, you're going to have to deal with the problem. Don't you get it? YOU CANNOT ALWAYS RUN AND HIDE! Sooner or later you are going to have to make your stand. I'd rather take em on my home turf. In a place I can get to quickly. Because when the ZOMBIE BELL TOLLS, IT TOLLS FOR YOU! Zombies are like Anderson Cooper, a hurricane may blow them down, but no mere winds can stop them. How is going to be when in the middle of a cat 5 storm, with the wind all howling, a wave of Zs comes your way? You think you can shoot them then? When a 20 ft surge comes? Look, I want to help you out. On dry land you can just run away. On your island if you get overwhelmed, there is NO ESCAPE. Your castle will be your tomb. And if you go down, you just add to their number. But this is about practical, pragmatic steps. I started with windows and the attic. Most of us have one, and its a reasonable place to start. If 1 out of 5 Americans could hole up on roofs and attics for a week, we could probably pick off many of the initial wave. We are well armed, we just need time to be ready. But sooner or later, if the zombies get bad enough, we are going to have to leave for areas with less people. I have given you the actual cost estimates for building a zombie proof tower in your back yard. You can do this with your own labor, in a weekend or two. Now even if a castle off the coast of FL was a good idea - how is that going to help the average joe? So fine. Maybe DAYDREAMING of a tropical fortress is your idea of fun. But I'm fo real. So those of with me, your homework is to think about your preps, and come up with some ideas to share. Those of us still LIVING and not just mouth breathing, feel free to post in Horn Depot. Let the jokesters joke. Jokers.

 

If I can't live in a world without whataburger and beer, I don't want to live.

I'll make sure to take myself out in a way so that I don't become a zombie.

Perhaps I'll 'Whataburger' myself to death. It should only take a few HBCBs.

 

Seriously, I don't think Texans need to worry too much about zombies. The gun-culture in the south will mean zombies are eliminated within 100' of staggering across the border. OTOH, those of us living in California should be concerned, what with the state having restrictive weapons laws and banning high-capacity clips. I bet San Francisco would be the first city to be fully infested - because the liberal hippies would try to "get along" with zombies because they are just misunderstood.

But since the debate is focused more on fortress, I would think it's more important to have a thick, solid barrier between you and the zombie masses instead of water. Reason being zombies are dead, and most likely do not need oxygen the same way a living being requires it, and theoretically should be able to traverse large bodies of water by simply walking along the surface of the moat / lake / ocean. A solid wall with slit windows to keep the zombies out, but still allowing the occupant inside the fort to take a few opportunistic shots at intruders.

 

Being that I am in Colorado Springs I believe it would be too much trouble fighting through so many bands of zombies to reach Florida; way too much risk in becoming an undead. I assessed the region and decided that securing the NORAD facility halfway up Cheyenne Mountain would be the best play for me. If it can take a 5 megaton warhead hit it should be able to keep a few zombies out (once they are indeed cleaned out of the facility). Ft Carson is right down the mountain and is home to the 5th Armored Brigade and the 71st Ordnance Group. As long as they are not deployed in Iraq or elsewhere I should be able to secure a good Humvee or tank for traveling around town and plenty of ammo & ordnance to take care of business. I would run out to Peterson AFB and rip a few M61 Vulcan Gatling guns out of some of the F-18's and deploy them at the entrance to NORAD which looks down the mountain. I figured four guns would maximize the defense; one facing SE, two on the road facing East and one facing NE.



There are so many antennas sticking out of the top of Cheyenne Mountain it looks like a porcupine which should make an excellent central communications center for all you zombie survivalists that will maintain communications with the outside.

If NORAD is already a zombie haven I’ll move to Plan B and move into the Broadmoor, eat & sleep good and play some golf until they come for me.

 

Bunker type things are kinda cozy, but will fail ultimately. If you make your enclosure so tight no one can get in, you won't be able to get out. (Mac's Germania-looking tower is neat though.) Multiple hides where one can hole up, but where only backup essentials are kept are better. There must always be a viable back door.

Move Shoot and Communicate.

Move
Trucks are noisy and gasoline may, over time, be useless. As Willie said to Joe in an early Mauldin cartoon "A moving foxhole attracts the eye." Plenty of gas in abandoned cars, but how long is it good for? Keep one on hand maybe; in case there is a need for speed. Maintenance is a concern. A mountain bike with a detachable big trailer would be good for most uses. Keep duplicate bikes for spare parts. Move with some of your essentials: food, water, minimal shelter.

Movement requires energy- i.e., fuel, i.e., food. Canned stuff from the supermarkets particularly corned beef hash and chili. (I found Austex to be passable when I was a kid, maybe it still is.) Some veggie from a can occasionally like mustard greens. Get some Vitamin C or a multivitamin in a jar or the scurvy will get you. Sardines and tuna fish, saltines. Vinegar. Get some portable backpacking food for when you're on the move. An MSR mess kit, Titanium, with cup, plate and pot; or all three combined in one. You have knives, you don't need a fork, just a good solid spoon. A stove that burns twigs, pinecones, etc. After a week or so, the supermarkets will smell really bad for a long time, so stock up now. I doubt I would ever tire of chili alternating with corned beef hash and the occasional can of sardines. I hate to say it, but instant coffee-just get used to it. Bottled water is out there for the taking and I'm not sure it expires. No booze, maybe a bottle of Everclear for cleaning cuts, wounds.

Shoot ("I'm a weapons man myself.")
Thought is required here. The weapons mix has to be designed around the adversary and his/her/its capabilities. If they are slow and walk like they pooped their shorts (Night of the Living...) perhaps an accurate heavy caliber rifle-- the two shot Browning Express Rifle, if you can find one. Otherwise a solid bolt action in .308; an M-14 might be even better. If they are sprightly and move in big numbers, maybe a Ruger Mini-14 with several 30 round mags. Like LHO, you'll need slings on your rifles and the technique on how to use them when shooting. No scopes.

Depending, again, on the nature and capabilities of your neighborhood zombies, a shotgun in each hide could be useful, especially if you are concerned about your ability to deliver accurate fire at close range.

For close work lots of Glocks in .357sig. Two on your person and two more at each hide. (This assumes you have two hands.) Lots of ammo in clips. If they are going to eat me, it won't be alive; for this reason, I'd have a Ruger .357 magnum revolver in a chest holster.

Other than the revolver, best to keep the ammo types to a maximum of two or three.

Edged weapons. As they say, they don't have to be reloaded. I have never liked machetes, they are way heavy and never seem to hold an edge. A really sharp samurai sword would be good, but it takes both hands. Rezin Bowie's brother had a good idea and there are some nice variants around these days. I saw a good-sized all black one a year ago at a sporting goods store, but it had a warning label about rust. I'd have a Gerber "Fairbairn" folding fighting knife for one pocket and a fairly simple Swiss Army knife with a can opener for the other. A Leatherman for the belt. A Tomahawk would be essential, last ditch kinda thing. Before the batteries died on the laptop it would be a good idea to study up on technique by watching two early scenes from The Last of the Mohicans and The Patriot. Practice, practice, practice. Not much point in scalping though; most of your zombies lack hair on top, and I doubt the French will be around to pay a bounty.

Communicate.
This assumes there would be someone around with whom to communicate. Don't hold out much hope here. Maybe a Grundig receiver in each hide. If someone can broadcast, they should make it possible for you to find them. Stock up on batteries and use sparingly.

 

Why is everyone so concerned with big caliber weapons?

If, as we have established, a headshot is all that will take the zombies down, a higher caliber impact weapon shot that doesnt hit brain is just wasted kinetic energy.

A pistol is a close order weapon, you cant be Danny Glover, and take a 150 foot shot from a snubnose revolver screaming immunity revoked and do any real damage with it.

Why not go with a smaller caliber weapon that is just as accurate, but by having a cartridge that is 1/2 the size and weight of a .357, you are saving the most important commodity of all, weight & volume taken by equipment.

.22 pistol ammo is hyper cheap, and you can have a box of 500 rounds that fits in a 2.5inch cubed space.

Regardless of what people tell you, a .22 will penetrate skull, it just wont blow out the back of the noggin. But again, established fact is bullet in brain equals down zombie....

More ammo being carried with you allows for more zombie kills without being out of ammo.

You can also take this smaller cartridge idea and put it towards the use of a rifle, probably one of the .22Long or .223 type rifles - again, smaller ammo volume, more rounds. just dont run out of clips.

Now, if you want to have the emergency last ditch weapon. In the thought of, " I'm taking myself if they are gonna get me type of weapon", then yes, carrying a shoulder harnesed revolver with .357 magnum rounds in it is the best way to make sure you yourself dont become a member of the living dead.

So go buy 150,000 rounds of .22 ammo, get 35 or 40 different .22 pistols that you can hide in your various safe houses. Have 20-30 slung small size rifles which have a 20-30 clip capacity, bring another 100,000 cartridges of that along for the ride.

Make sure that you take advantage of the cargo shorts fad, and fill those ******* up with clip upon clip of ammo.

Always carry a high capacity backback (which you stuff with another 50 clips of ammo, plus alcohol in it for disenfectant, and the occasional "f**k me, I need to get drunk" moment.

I would think your vehicle of choice would have to be either a pickup truck for large capacity of cargo- and the added advantage that you could pick up other stranded humans who need help who could jump in the back of the truck without having to expose yourself to opening your door an allowing the sneaky zombies to get you. And if your human apssengers have become infected, they still have to get through the glass before they get you.

or, you go the lone wolf route, which involves a motorcycle with a 10 gallon tank, and a tow package that holds the additional 50 gallons of gas you would need at all times, plus any additional ammo....

 

I am glad it is an established fact that any bullet in the brain case will terminate a zombie with extreme prejudice. Were this not an established fact, I would prefer to do some experimentation first--to determine my adversary's nature and capabilities. Perhaps some zombie plinking with a .22 with an M-14 at close hand in case I just pissed one off.

I've had a nice little Browning .22 semi-auto since Christmas 1955. Doubt I would trust it much at a hundred yards. A .223, like the Mini-14, shoots about the same size round, but the ammo is much bulkier. Like I said, know the nature and capabilities of the bad guys. What was the caliber the Jackal used in the movie? It looked larger to me than a .22LR, but I am not positive. I think Forsyth's book mentioned it was a round used for chamois hunting in Europe.

You may have underestimated the amount of space for 500 rds of .22, but the space difference is substantial. What is this about "buying" 150,000 rounds? I guess I could leave a check on the counter in the unoccupied city. Maybe we are operating in different fantasies?

 

I am not at all down with the bicycle as transportation theory.

I am down with the primarily .22 LR or shorties; a Magnum or Hornet would also allow for hunting.

I don't want a high caliber shot taking brains all the way out so that we have the problem of brains scatterred about & the possibility of cross contamination.

I will, however, disagree with those who do not like an isolated fortress like Mac's initial photo & the follow up by Clever (OP). What we need to establish is whether the undead will climb on other undead & thereby build an expanding pyramid of zombies? If they don't climb & are not capable of utilizing tools (picks to try & take out blocks / bricks, ladders for scaling) or battering ram type products, then we are pretty safe with nearly any defensible structure that is in a similar style to the Saint Augustine fortress with covering towers & a wall height of @ least 15'.

If they DO have simple tool abilities or will climb & stack on each other (think zombie cheerleaders) then we need to look into towers with reverse angled walls, i.e. jut OUT away from the base by around 30 degrees. Ladder repulsing bars (push out from the walls via simple pushrods, then pull back to the wall face) should work here.

The retention of a swift & nimble dirt bike (motorcycle) should be done for a last ditch escape option.

The issue of gas aging can be resolved with consistent monitoring & dry-gas additives.

I think an important thing to do is for us to begin NOW to compile our network of zombie aware & prepared citizens.

 

Y'all are way overthinking this.

I have stowed away for myself a turban made of interwoven wolf shirts. Once it has cradled my braincase in its tender embrace of awesomeness, no ******* zombies will be getting through to my cerebrum. Or cerebellum. Or medulla oblongata.

****, is the gray matter in the spinal cord just as delectable to the zombie palate???

 

We'll ignore Damor as it's obvious he isn't taking this seriously enough. Once the zombies do attack, remember his mockery as I will suggest he is going to be a weak link.

On to other topics:

It would appear our power source issue (in as much as stand alone islands or fortresses are concerned) are now potentially resolved. The Link

 

A 55 gallon drum filled with gasoline and mixed with a big box of Tide or two would make a lot of Greek Fire a/k/a napalm. Eureka! Detonation is always a problem, but if we could break into an arms room (30 years ago the locks were about the size of Oroweat loaves-- but they could be picked.) Claymores would serve. The Claymore, by itself, is a fine little weapon, although somewhat indiscriminate. It should not be left in the possession of idoits.

 

Greek Fire (i.e. cheap napalm as described, although you left out the diesel fuel additive) is nifty, but remember folks that ONLY A SHOT TO THE BRAIN(s) IS GOING TO STOP THEM.

---

 

I’ll keep with the standard Shoot, Move and Communicate format.Shoot - I agree with the smaller round/higher capacity argument. While a Remington 700 or something in a .308 is very reassuring, it is definitely over-kill for cranial cavity penetration. .22 rounds and lots of them. Plus a couple ruger mark IVs firing two fisted just looks cool. Also a few Marlin tube fed, semi-auto rifles are cheap, simple to maintain and don’t take up much room in your hide sites. Throw a laser designator on the pistols and rifles and you are in business (scopes mean you are far enough away to outrun the shuffling dead - don’t borrow trouble).





Just pass the red line over their heads and pull the trigger. Added advantage of non-weapons trained people being able to aquire targets quicker.

I’m a big fan of keep it simple and if it can’t touch you, leave it alone and move the hell out.



Move - I am not a bike guy. Limits my carry capacity and if something breaks I am out in the open trying to defend myself and fix the bike. Nope.

I want something that travels rough terrain, burns assorted fuels and can fight from in a pinch. I would procure a military/surplus HMMWV. Added bonus of deep water fording with the “snorkle” package.

Fill it up with weapons/ammo, water cans, MREs and tow a fuel trailer and I am in business. I would also take every opportunity to scavenge fuel from derelict vehicles and conserve the fuel from the trailer.



Communicate - CB radio and HAM radios. If you are not familiar with the HAM radio scene. You better start. Cause those are the only guys who will be communicating regularly after the infestation goes global.



As for a place to “fort” up and weather the infestation til it starves to death, I am a fan of Mac’s idea.

But the number one thing is security. Where ever you hole up you have to have enough people for 360 degrees of security at all times. That means even during sleep cycles. Attrition may thin the ranks. Along with various illnesses/epidemics and physical injuries. Plan on having all your walls/ramparts having eyes looking over them. All the obstacles in the world are no good when not employed in depth, mined/booby trapped and covered by direct fire.

Macs fort looks to need at least 15 - 20 people manning it and if they want to sleep you will need another 15 - 20 and that is 12 hour shifts. 8 hour shifts are optimal and would require another 15 - 20.

So, if 60 or so “gunfighters” make it to the fort with the inevitable camp followers, we are looking at a huge population to support. Now I am just a dumb grunt that can shoot and blow crap up. What we would really need is a first class logistics guy. Also some first rate medical types that can operate in the absence of state of the art facilities and very limited supplies.

 

Only a shot to the brain?? Would decapitation work? Such an injury would logically work the same result on a zombie's central nervous system--i.e., shutdown.

I have seen relatively few zombie documentaries: the original Night of the Living Dead and Omega Man. (I suggested an addition to the script to Mrs Idahorn2 when we saw the latter--"Don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes.")

Among the many aficionados out there, have you not seen recorded instances where they are stopped when the head is disconnected? Or do they go about headless, albeit without horses?

Without a yes on this, the Samurai sword I inherited from my Uncle Charlie (who lived out in Rollingwood) looses much of its utility.

 

I'm thinking of disconnecting the brain from the body.

So head trauma, severe spinal damage and decapitation are my goals.

But you do realize the strength it takes to remove a head?

A sharp blade is a must but also force is needed. Which is either brute strength or a large mass.

Plus you would tire using muscle weapons to fight your way clear.

Fight smart, not hard.

 

Finally an important thread we can take seriously.

I just want to remind overyone that when the zomibies attack, and they will, be sure that you are freshly bathed, shaved and hair is combed. Also wear a fresh suit so that when your surviving friends are standing around your rotting body with its split open head talking about how sad it is, in the back of their mind they will think "yeah, but he looked great in that suit".

 

Between the fortresses pictured above, the preference should be for the Castillo de San Marcos. It is much more in the late Vauban style and looks really solid. Unless zombies can operate rifled artillery, it is likely as impervious as it gets. The crenellations along the tops of the walls are critical because they allow mutually supporting cross fire; a defender never has to expose himself frontally. If the Alamo had been engineered with crenellations on the top of its walls, Santa Anna might not have taken it for months.

Still, fortresses cannot hold out indefinitely. They ultimately depend on a relieving force from the outside that is connected to the economy.

 

I believe that severing the spinal cord at the neck will do the job just as well as a head shot.

 

San Augustine has a double advantage. It's attached to land but has a sea exit. So we prepare some zodiac rubber boats that can launched out to sea where we have guide missile cruiser or two providing off shore covering fire.

 

FYI, I'm operating on the assumption that a beheaded zombie can still bite/infect if it gets you in its maw. Yes it will be immobile, but you'll still need to destroy the brain to fully eliminate the threat.

 

Re: Castillo de San Marcos, it's this one:

In November of 1702, the British laid siege to the city. All of the city's residents, some 1,200 people, along with all of the fort's soldiers, some 300, remained protected inside the wall of the fort for the next two months during the siege.

I think if they can fit 1,500 people in there then we should safely be able to maintain about 500 or so with room to spare.

After the siege of 1702, the Castillo underwent a period of reconstruction. Beginning in 1738, under the supervision of Spanish engineer Pedro Ruiz de Olano, the interior of the fort was redesigned and rebuilt. Interior rooms were made deeper, and vaulted ceilings replaced the original wooden ones.
The new ceilings required the height of the exterior wall to be increased from 26 to 33 feet

Proximity to the "Voodoun" lands do not make this exact location to be a good option, however as an example of how to build, it does stand the quality test.

My suggestion is to use this as a template with a modification for a larger size (it only takes up about 2.5 acres total... see this next photo with vehicles for scale)



I would expand it to encompass approximately 4 to 5 acres & possibly add Mac's Flak Towers... here's a variation on the design:



I think square is better than round or maybe even an x or + pattern works best like in the Spanish fort because you get cover fire the supporting parapets.

Clever wants one (one "something") somewhere within 200 miles of Austin & I am a fan of a relatively close safety location, however I do think a cold weather final destination should be discussed. Should we look to establish a chain of smaller fortresses along the way?

As to the .22 LR shown, I am not quite so much a fan of the tube feed loading as it's only going to give you around 17 shots before you run out & they are NOT easy to load under time pressures. If you go with the tube feed method, you'll need powder monkeys on hand & I'd rather they be shooting most of the time, not loading.

In stead, might I suggest a clip feed style magazine?

Take THIS: & you can rapidly feed THIS:

You can even clip them together like THIS:


Each clip holds 30 rounds, so 90 will get you pretty far.

Looks to me like our solution for rifled armaments has narrowed down a bit.

 

Ah yeah. The combo flak towers/ larger Castillo de San Marcos with Martello towers leading the way to the main fort. Maybe even build some Martellos in supporting range of each other and the Castillo via a ring system.

About the scope. If we're hunkering down, I want the opportunity to take out zombies from long range. Chances are, if they're in the neighborhood, Ft. Wolf Shirt is going to attract their attention.

 

Okay, mags over tube feed is a smart move.

I was just suggesting the Marlins for ease of use and you could virtually carry around a golfbag full of them and pass them out as party favors when the zombie party starts.

I can see some designated Markmen using scopes from the towers. But I would rather the majority just watch their front and only blow ammo at those who pose an immediate threat.

As for the Martello towers, I think rings would work with connective tunnels, to the fort that could be collapsed from the fort, should the tower become compromised.

 

Only the best qualified shooters should be used for the long range shots. Set markers out @ specific ranges after some test shooting has been done, that way you'll know exactly how far out the zombies are for proper ranging.

I think plinking @ long range is a good idea so there's less of a crush once they get closer. Heck, even one less zombie taken out from a distance is one less to wory about up close when it's possibly close quarters... provided it's not a waste of ammo trying to prove you're cool when instead @ long range you're just wasting ammo.

I'm not so sure about tunnels because you never know where a grave is & reanimation could occur @ any time. There's gonna be a lot of concrete required for our forts as it is, so unless we can dig tunnels & pour concrete as we go, that's an issue.