Thursday frolic: The best 28 Days Later survival strategem

greg66_tri_v2.0

Right. So you were commuting one dark morning with no Hi Viz and got knocked off. Took a tap to the head, and because you weren't wearing a helmet, you ended up in a coma.

28 Days Later, you wake up. There's a funny (not hahah) smell in the air and everyone's gone. Well, almost everyone. There are two classes of fellow punters. First, other people. But you don't know where they are.

Secondly, flesh eater killer zombies that move faster than DDD's mice. If you can sustain 50kmh + on a bike, you can outrun them. But they may be able to accelerate to 550kmh faster than you can.

Waddyagonnado?

Provisions? Transport? Refuge? Electricity is intermittent. Running water from taps for the time being. Streets generally empty.

Get moving! That sound of running ain't the fellow punters coming to give you a hug!

daviesee

Mountain bike (my Colnago isn't going to be much use where I am going), tent, matches and fishing rod for starters.

Hopefully find a way of checking on family and friends then move to remote suitable camping spot.

Tinned food, worldwide radio (& earphones, one in) and batteries next. No torch, don't want to highlight myself to zombies.

iPod & luxuries after that. Wait with hope.

rolf_f

And worse, Greg66 is posting DDD threads :shock:

tgotb

Put on my best zombie impression, and stumble off to the Winchester(Morpeth) for a pint...

DonDaddyD

Some ones been watching Walking dead.

OK speed issues aside. I been thinking about this. Unlike America there isn't anabundance of guns about. So you'll have to go 'old skool' cricket bat.

Find an apartment cut, break, destroy part of the stairs out. We all know zombies can't climb. Fill the bath with water - need that. Block all the windows out. Check the fridge for food. Fashion a suit that isn't easy to bite through. Lay low until sunlight. Less Zombies in sunlight.

Next morning. Get the F*CK out of London. There are over a million people in London. Assuming the army lost trying to kill them all ther's still gonna be a lot of people in London. Gotta get out. Get a car, drive it to a Morrisons, fill it with supplies: food/water/clothing/baby oil (I need to moisturise my skin).

Then try to find an abandoned army vehicle, you'll need that.

Stay above ground. It's possible to traverse London via it's underground but there's mice there and I can't deal with that sh*t.

Once out of London head East to the East coast get a boat and go to Norway-ish Countries. Never get any zombies there.

If there were Vampires involved I'd let some hot chick vampire turn me. And my cameo in this film will go down as THAT (hot) scene that everyone remembers.

ndru

Greg66 wrote:

Secondly, flesh eater killer zombies that move faster than DDD's mice. If you can sustain 50kmh + on a bike, you can outrun them. But they may be able to accelerate to 550kmh faster than you can.

If they can really accelerate to 550 km/h I don't think we stand much chance. But then again if they keep accelerating to that speed often enough they'll be pretty flat and splattered over walls.

Kieran_Burns

Imhotep


Imhotep....

EKE_38BPM

DonDaddyD wrote:

Some ones been watching Walking dead.

My thoughts exactly

DonDaddyD wrote:

Unlike America there isn't anabundance of guns about. So you'll have to go 'old skool' cricket bat.

Speak for yourself, there is a gun shop at the end of my road!
Weapons of choice (assuming unlimited carrying capacity and infinite ammo).
Assault rifle (AK47 for its ruggedness or maybe a Tommy gun for the ammo drum and massive slug)
Pump action shot gun (close range carnage)
Semi automatic pistol (Glock for the 17 shot capacity)
Machete (nice long sharp edge for removing heads from shoulders)
Claymores (for defensive positions)
Grenades

Would a flame thrower work on zombies?

Pretty good advice from the mouse hater, but I think cricket bats have a weakness in that they are two pieces of wood spliced together. I'd rather have a metal baseball bat or a hockey stick.
I'd look for a good 4x4 diesel until I found an armoured military vehicle. The engines on modern British tanks can use any pumpable flammable fluid as fuel. I've heard you could run a Challenger II on Brylcreme (you'd need a hell of a lot of Brylcreme though).

Greg T

Amateurs . . . .

Battle Preparation - Section Battle Drills

Protection - Do you really need to expose yourself by moving in the open?
Ammunition - you need lots of it.
Weapons - You need loads of them
Personal - camouflage - break out teh fake blood
Equipment - special kit - ladders - meat?
Radios - call in the cavalry
Service Support - you'll need water and lots of it
Orders Groups - telling other people what to do . . .

tgotb

Roads are going to be barricaded or blocked with cars containing dead bodies.

Get to the river and find a boat. I have never, ever, seen a zombie either swimming or driving a boat, so you're totally safe as long as you can stay away from land (but be careful going under bridges). If the boat is a motor boat, use it to go and find a sailing boat.

Fish for food, look for other survivors in boats, on oil rigs, islands etc.

Greg T

TGOTB wrote:

Get to the river and find a boat.

Fish for food, look for other survivors in boats, on oil rigs, islands etc.

Worst Idea Ever!

What about climbing a lamp post and catching birds for food....?

R_T_A

Currently I think I'd hole up in my office.

No other F3cker is here, internet working and the fridge is full.

Can zombies use swipe cards?

DonDaddyD

EKE_38BPM wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Some ones been watching Walking dead.

My thoughts exactly

DonDaddyD wrote:

Unlike America there isn't anabundance of guns about. So you'll have to go 'old skool' cricket bat.

Speak for yourself, there is a gun shop at the end of my road!
Weapons of choice (assuming unlimited carrying capacity and infinite ammo).
Assault rifle (AK47 for its ruggedness or maybe a Tommy gun for the ammo drum and massive slug)
Pump action shot gun (close range carnage)
Semi automatic pistol (Glock for the 17 shot capacity)
Machete (nice long sharp edge for removing heads from shoulders)
Claymores (for defensive positions)
Grenades

Would a flame thrower work on zombies?

Pretty good advice from the mouse hater, but I think cricket bats have a weakness in that they are two pieces of wood spliced together. I'd rather have a metal baseball bat or a hockey stick.
I'd look for a good 4x4 diesel until I found an armoured military vehicle. The engines on modern British tanks can use any pumpable flammable fluid as fuel. I've heard you could run a Challenger II on Brylcreme (you'd need a hell of a lot of Brylcreme though).

Gun shop... well you are in North London it different up there blud!

Anyway I like your weapon choices. If I could choose any P90 and absolutely the 9mm for Zombie Apocalypse authenticity.

I like the P90 for its shots in bursts that (i) help reserve ammo and (ii) accuracy due to lack of recoil from controlled bursts. Shotgun is a must for those Rambo moments.

Not sure about the machete. I mean yeah, there will be times when you want to go buckwild in the bush on a Zombie. Like if you encounter the Zombie W1, that's certainly a machete moment right up there with Zombie Cameron, Clegg and Brown. But once in the brain they're surprisingly hard to get out. Aluminium baseball bat I think is the way forward. Tough hard and light - impact vibration is gonna be a b*tch though. But with that you can swing away and maybe even drop a few lightsaber moves.

As much as a 4x4 is useful getting out the car is always where someone fails to survive. If it's a race to the coast then fuel economy... Prius.

MonkeyMonster

Dear god people its so open ended you have to give stricter criteria...

p90... where the feck are you going to get one of them. Benelli autoshotgun is what you want otherwise its plain and simple shotgun really. two shots, gonna have to reload.

But still depends on the type of zombie - if we're going with 28 days later speed ones you want distance takedown - barret 50 cal sniper rifle if were being fanciful.

sword for range, be it samurai or highlander... blunt trauma is not enough.

sod air on the bike - solid tyres.

water and power. out in the country or find a good defensible block of flats you can raid and fill those baths asap. car batteries.

uggghh... who here has played left4dead(2)?

davmaggs

Guns, water and food in that order and depending on the time available. Ideally I would head for an island so that it can be cleared of the undead and defended.

Towns would provide provisions and supplies for quite some time so I wouldn't want to be too far from them.

The location of my island is secret

tgotb

Greg T wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

Get to the river and find a boat.

Fish for food, look for other survivors in boats, on oil rigs, islands etc.

Worst Idea Ever!

What about climbing a lamp post and catching birds for food....?

Balderdash! Far safer than prowling round a darkened supermarket while the zombies gather outside, and you get to top up on your tan at the same time. Catching fish can't be *that* hard...

Greg T

Guns for Show, Knives for Pros . . . . .

davis

Zombie apocalypse! I've thought a little too much about this.

Definitely a cricket bat or baseball bat required. It won't get caught on any skulls/ribs etc - I'm quite fond of my Stanley Fubar but it's just too dense to be easily heftable, and it'd get stuck in a zombie... Nomnomnom brains! Shovel would do in a pinch though.

Ammunition for guns is a problem. Most fully automatic weapons will chomp through even a large magazine in under thirty seconds, so you've got to be careful. I don't think zombies are going to have much of a reaction to the pain, so we need lots of stopping power. 9mm? No thanks. Shotgun, please. Good luck finding one capable of holding more than 4 shells in this country.

Transport: in order: APC, Unimog, Diesel Landcrusier-type thing. Big and reliable, largely unbreakable and easy to fix. Big fuel tanks also a must, because how long do you think the fuel supply's going to last? Swat-type van would be ok, too, but I'd want a little more off-road ability.

Shelter: Greg has it: get up high, block the stairs. I genuinely thought my house would be a good zombie-resistant base when looking around prior to buying. You need to store as much water as you can -- you can't rely on the mains water being safe to drink! Also food - it's tins or nothing, really.

Communications: I reckon the internet might actually hold up while the power's there. You'd need radio though.

rolf_f

DonDaddyD wrote:

Get a car, drive it to a Morrisons, fill it with supplies: food/water/clothing/baby oil (I need to moisturise my skin).

Morrisons? In the circumstances you might as well at least shop at Waitrose. Getter a better class of zombie there as well.

tx14

leather clothes, machete, riot shield, energy gel.

DonDaddyD

Rolf F wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Get a car, drive it to a Morrisons, fill it with supplies: food/water/clothing/baby oil (I need to moisturise my skin).

Morrisons? In the circumstances you might as well at least shop at Waitrose. Getter a better class of zombie there as well.

Keeping it real. Besides Waitrose does more fresh food than anything else, not much cans or tins... so I've been told, only been in a Waitrose once....

bails87

Baseball bats?
Cricket bats?
Hockey sticks?

Aren't we forgetting something here chaps?

greg66_tri_v2.0

Right. Step aside.

Protection and guns. We in the Capital are blessed with a high incidence of armed police. Who keep their guns in police stations. Along with their kevlars. That's the second stop.

First stop is wheels. Now ideally I'd like a tank. Or an APC. But they're not so easy to come by in central London. Next best is something low (high sided is easier to push over) and armoured. Step up armoured saloon cars. Must be some of these hanging around No 10, or the local Embassies. The trick is to find the keys. Quite hard to break into a high security armoured car, I'd have thought.

Do not get a Land or Range Rover. Unless the Zs are manning the service bays at your local LR dealership, you'll be fooked when it breaks down.

Guns. We need guns. Lots of guns. Knives, swords, cricket bats and badminton rackets ain't gonna work, ladies. If a Z is close enough to hit, he's too close. and if there's more than one of them you can resign yourself to being the entree. I want something semi or fully auto. And lots of ammo.

Flame throwers. Well, yes. They don't grow on trees though. And I don't want a bomb on my back, thanks. Plus the Zs can probably still keep going even though toasted a bit.

I've got my armour, my wheels and my guns. Next, food. Like Rolf F says, Waitrose. You can leave Morrisons to the underclass. That's probably how they caught the Z virus in the first place.

Refuge. Well, an I Am Legend urban home-fortress hidden in plain view would be ideal, but it ain't gonna happen. Something small (bijou, if you will) with minimum points of entry. The war rooms behind Downing Street might work.

In the long term, I'm thinking medieval for refuge. Hever Castle. It has a moat. That I can float petrol on. Defence is just a match away.

And I haven't seen Walking Dead. Watched 28 Days Later on the ipad on the plane. Got me thinking...

John0611

i think guns are over rated tbh, ideally you would get several assault rifles or similar, lots of range and plenty of fire power if you need it, but in this country the only guns that are easy (ish) to get hold of are shotguns. you would need to be fairly close with a shotgun to be sure of blowing the zombies head right off and most of the time your only going to have 2, maybe 3 shots before re-loading so maybe a bat is just as much use.

I reckon steal a 4X4 load it up with loads of previsions and bugger off somewhere remote.

greg66_tri_v2.0

There were some good ideas in this, but

Greg T wrote:

Personal - camouflage - break out teh fake blood

Fake blood? Have you been working in the BBC make up department too long? How, exactly, is fake blood going to deter a zombie? You can dress like a zombie, but you won't smell like one* and that's how these feckers work.


*In your case, that may not be strictly true, I accept.

tx14

guns and ammo are heavy and high maintenance. and thick clothes with more coverage is better than kevlar body armour/riot gear. weight is a really a top priority.

DonDaddyD

How rich do you have to be to be able to snub Morrisons in the midst of a Zombie apocalypse.

And all this time I thought I had aspired because I shopped in Morrisons and not Tesco/Sainbury's or less.

EKE_38BPM

One of the problems here is that we are all still thinking about being in an industrialised country. Think, no fuel for cars, electricity, mains water etc.

We might have to start thinking cross bows, man-traps, living near running water etc.
Its all good being in a tower block and raiding your supermarket of choice for tinned food, but when that all runs out you'll need to rack your brains for everything that you can remember from watching Ray Mears. I think you'll need a couple of dogs for early warning, but make sure the dogs stay within the area protected by the man-traps.

tgotb

I've changed my mind about my first idea; no form of zombie impersonation is ever going to work. Sure, it might throw the zombies themselves off the scent, but as you stagger up to the doors of the Morpeth you'll get blasted to smithereens by the collective membership of this forum...

Edit: Is Morrisons posher than Sainsburys/Tescos? Never realised that...

greg66_tri_v2.0

As I said, to begin with you've got leccy and some running water. I'm assuming the coal fired generators would go out fairly quickly, but the nuclear ones would run on auto pilot for a while until they flipped out. If running water requires an electricity supply to pump it, then it will run until the leccy runs out.

I wouldn't set the dogs loose until I was sure the zombie virus couldn't jump species. Last thing you want is zombie Cujo bringing you your slippers...

davis

Greg66 wrote:

Protection and guns. We in the Capital are blessed with a high incidence of armed police. Who keep their guns in police stations. Along with their kevlars. That's the second stop.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Just brimming over with wrongability.

If the police haven't managed to defend their police station with all their guns, how the deuce do you expect to be able to get in there past all the neckbiters and assume control?
If they *have* defended it, do you think they're going to open up to any Johnny Dribblebottom who comes a-knocking? You'd be encouraged to go forth and multiply, my lad.