The Zombie Apocalypse

I know zombies are popular right now (and have been for a while) but I had an idea while I was watching TV earlier (no, not The Walking Dead; it was actually the first few episodes of a good series called Dead Set). I had the idea to go over some of my thoughts on surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.  I know countless people have done this and some have even written books about it, but I figured it might be fun so here goes.

We first have to take into account what kind of zombies we're dealing with.  If we're dealing with zombies of a supernatural origin then things get complicated depending on the details.  For the sake of this post I'm going to go with the overwhelmingly popular viral outbreak scenario.  There is some kind of virus outbreak that infects people and turns them into zombies.  If you get bitten or otherwise infected by a zombie you will slowly die and then reanimate as a zombie with a hunger for human flesh.  The typical destruction of the brain puts them down permanently.  Pretty simple, right?

Instead of giving a rundown of what I, personally, would do I'm just going to outline a few things that I feel would be very important.

1.  Get out of the population centers as soon as you can.  Take whatever useful supplies and equipment you can get your hands on and get out of there.  Humans will be just as dangerous as zombies during the initial chaos.  Go somewhere that won't be obvious.  It doesn't make sense to flee a population center if the rest of the population is just going to follow after you to an obvious refuge.  Try to keep in mind the geographical isolation of the place, the potential for harvesting natural resources (like food, water, and material), and also how defensible it might be.

2.  Don't try to take everything with you.  Take essentials and take things that have more than one use.  If you have time to cook and properly preserve perishable food before you leave then do so.  The highways might be impassible so be prepared for that and find another way if you can.  If you're already in an isolated area because you live there then you will probably have more time to prepare.  If you are already where you want to be then try to preserve as much perishable food as you can before the power goes out and try to store as much clean water as you can before the water service fails.  Reinforce doors and windows on the ground floor (or everywhere if you can).

3.  Wait out the initial chaos.  It would be best not to go into a population center to rescue someone or to snatch up supplies if you're already out of there but I understand that it isn't human nature to leave friends and family behind in such a situation.  You may even be trapped in a population center and have no choice but to stay.  Everyone is going to have the same idea to make a run on food, water, medicine, etc. so you will probably be better off avoiding supermarkets, superstores, and hospitals (especially hospitals because of infected people going in for treatment).

4.  Try to avoid the infected as much as possible.  Stealth over aggression.  Unnecessarily engaging infected wastes ammunition, opens you up to being infected yourself, and could also attract more infected or humans that want to rob you of your supplies or worse.

5.  Once you have your safe haven established you should strive to be self-sufficient.  Growing food, collecting rain water, reusing and recycling everything.  If you have to go into population centers to scavenge for supplies then I would suggest traveling light and having a plan.  Ideally this wouldn't be until a week or two after the initial chaos; maybe longer.  I highly recommend learning survival skills (including long-term survival skills) and learning the natural foods and medicines of your area.

6.  Remain off the radar.  Don't broadcast your presence to anyone unless there is a definite chance of being rescued by authorities (i.e. you heard it on the radio).  Don't fall for other people trying to take advantage of you though.  Just hole up and wait it out if you can.  Eventually the infected should become incapacitated.  There's a possibility this could take years though depending on the nature of the infected physiology.

This is all just common sense from my perspective.  Then again, I'm a bit of a survivalist so maybe not everyone thinks this way.  I am of the opinion that a zombie outbreak is incredibly unlikely but these same points could apply to a large-scale natural disaster as well.  Even if zombies are incredibly unlikely, it sure is fun to think about.  If you have something to add to this list then leave a comment:  Our survival may depend on it.