Question:
You hear the infamous broadcast. A mysterious illness has people in a trance-like state, and they are attacking anyone they can. The sickness is contagious. You run to get your bag and head for your door, where your greeted by a stumbling figure. You have your cold steel machete in your killing hand. What do you do?

Answer: Forget everything you know about zombies.

Hollywood tends to promote only a few models of zombies. Here on the forum, more possibilities are discussed, but still, if ever such a pandemic does arise, it could differ from anything you've ever discussed.

So, you've put one, clean chop through the zombies head and tossed it back outside, locking the door. But what if a cure is developed the next day? What if all the infected get better? Or worse yet, what if you became infected simply by touching it, or by being near it? What if you could have just scared it away?

Question:
You need to get to the other side of a street that is covered with the infected. How do you do it? Do you throw a noisemaker in another direction to distract them? Do you cover yourself in rotting meat to mask your smell? To you adopt their trademark shamble and moan and stumble on through? Do you go in, guns blazing? Do you wait for the cover of night and sneak by?

Answer: Forget everything you know about zombies.

Only one of these tactics is the right one, and no matter how much time you have spent on this forum, you will not be any more prepared to make the decision.

The best plan of action in a situation that is reminiscent of a zombie outbreak is to, first, forget everything you know about zombies, and, second, learn it all again, fast.

Observe. How do they find you? How do they relate to each other? How smart are they? Are they dead? How does the sickness spread?

This forum contains great information on survival techniques, which are fairly universal, but do not study or prepare for a particular zombie model. What is the best anti-zombie weapon? A katana? Really? How the hell could you know? Your stockpile of 50 caliber rounds will not save you. Your ability to learn will.

Step one: Read some other posts. A lot of other posts.

Step two: Realize that this site isn't really about zombies.

If you can't rely on your trusty katana, then all is lost.

yes it is.

In my opinion there is a kernel of universal wisdom in what you say. I live in Japan so forgive me for using a Japanese analogy to illustrate the point. During the middle ages when war was common place in Japan, when a student would complete his training under a teacher in the art of swordsmanship, the teacher would tell the student to go to the top of a mountain, meditate, clear his mind and forget everything he had learned.

Step three: Read some more posts.

Step four: keep reading.



OT: OP, your questions support the idea of bugging in initially. Keeps you out of the way for a limited amount of time, at least, and allows you to gather information, so that you have a better idea what you're rushing out into.

You're right--it's not the tools we use, but our ability to learn and adapt. Welcome to ZS. Keep reading around here, I think you'll learn.

What the fuck happened to entertaining the idea of a zombie apocalypse? It's the very thing that made this site so fun for many of us. Then some asshats came and proclaimed "There ain't no zombies so grow up". Look at the fucking Name of this site and organization. It's for the fun of it guys so eat a fucking sandwich or something. Just chill.

Okay. An addition to what I said earlier.

The reason why this site chose Zombies is because a lot of us love zombie flicks, and because of the phrase "if you can survive a zombie apocalypse, you can survive anything". That's why "YES, I do prepare for a zombie apocalypse." Do I expect it to happen? No. Do I think it's a possibilty? So far beyond astronomical it's rediculous, but yes.

If you look at a "Z-PAW" from a suspension of disbelief stand point, it truly is an ugly scenario that one probably wouldn't survive. And since most of us LOVE t3h zombiez, it makes it a fun excercise to do. No. I don't take the threat of zombies seriously. It's simply fun to do and the scenarios that pan out in the mind's eye and possible outcomes are fun to prepare for.

What ever happened to the FUN of *looks around* all of "this"

Hear hear!

It's posted under "Zombie Information"!
It'd damn well better be about freakin' zombies!

Zombies ate my sandwich.

It was Molon Labe. I saw him.

I did drink a lot that night, so I could have staggering like one.

But how do you explain the smell?

That's normal...er...as normal as Molon Labe can be. :p