Going back in time for a bit, I went back and reviewed my old LiveJournal (June 2003 - September 2017) and found this gem I thought I'd share here too. Written in 2003, in the halcyon "before times, pre-Covid, pre-"The Walking Dead", I pondered what to do in a "28 Days Later" style disaster, in two parts. Much has changed in the 20 years since I first wrote this. I have two children now, and the very world has changed. Here is my un-edited "short term plans"Circa 2003. Enjoy.
Situation:
Terrorists (or misguided animal rights activists) have released a virus which zombifies anyone who gets infected (infection is by fluid-fluid transfer, limited direct aerosol and requires a primate host). The infected undergo minor physiological changes, but psychologically are rendered incapable of rational thought and most survival instincts, such as fear of fire, and presumably feeding and drinking. Their only actions are rest and the pursuit of non-infected individuals to attack and kill or infect. Within days of release the plague has spread throughout urbanised areas, and whole population centres vanish. Government efforts to slow the infection are overwhelmed. Infrastructure such as power, water, gas, food distribution and communications cease. Perhaps one in one hundred thousand people is neither infected or killed. Presumably the infection is worldwide, but this is unknown, without a means of communication.
You (me) wake to find yourself in an empty room, an empty hospital, and empty world. signs of chaos abound; looted shops, car wrecks, and bodies, many many bodies. Scattered newspapers and graffiti indicate the end of the world.
You meet a couple of other survivors, they tell you the rest. You meet some of the infected and flee, some are killed as is one of your fellow survivors, by the other.
What do you do?
First up, I would hole up and assess the situation, it would be freaky and I'd be very freaked out and need a chance to think.
The it would be logistics time.
Where to live? Do you risk the city, or head out into the country? There are supplies in the city, and they count.
So, short term,
high security habitation:
in my opinion, most buildings are not equipped to hold off ravenous hoards, too many fire escapes, glass fronting and the like, sure buildings without fire escapes are "death-traps" but for fighting off the zombies, you want security of flesh, not just of mind. Why not a bank? you might ask, well, most security requires power, to open (and lock) all those magnetic locks, un bolt all those doors and the like. Without power they just sit there, jut like in the movies, they need to be 'opened' by skilled people with tools. well, that's not me, I'm a guy all alone in a dead city. then I thought height. office towers and the like, still, fire escapes. this would require a bit too much fortification. whilst the zombie masses cant do locks and such, I figure they could probable shamble over blockades, bash through simple reinforcing and the like. ever try to cut a fire escape down? it wouldn't be easy.
The other problem with high density populations like in towers would be the resident zombie population, odd are, the more people that used to be there, the more zombies there are now.
So in the end, I figure in rooftops, places where it takes quite a bit of skill to get up to, like factory rooftops or construction sites, where the stairs aren't up yet (remember the lifts aren't working). Go high enough to see around, and to give some space between any noises you make and the zombies listening for you. Get rope (climbing or hardware stores, there are several in and around Melbourne, most cities would have them) Knock down any scaffolding that gives access. When you need to get up, use your rope, when you are up, pull it up after you. Build some shelter, secure as best you can with what you have.
Personal Protection Equipment:
So you splatter mrs zombie with a baseball bat, that's great, did you make a mist of her brains all over yourself? woops.
Raincoats, plastic raincoats. Rubber gloves! Goggles and dust masks! id head to a fire station, get a face mask, and a fireman's outfit. Or motorcycle gear, nice and new from the empty shops, wack a raincoat over that and you have a splatter and tear resistant set of armor. Sure, if you know where to find riot gear, go for it.
Detergent and antiseptic! wash wash wash change clothes, get out of splattered gear if its not sealed up good. You may get hot, but when your have to go out, do it safe. Get some body armor, once again, motorcycle shops have it. Some 3mm wetsuit probably wouldn't go astray either, not too heavy, or thick, but tough waterproof and resilient.
Weapons:
Lets be fair, zombie comes after you, you want it to go away, quickly, and from as far away as you can. Me, I know pointy things. screw baseball bats. screw having to hit someone multiple times to put them down. I'm going swords. Sword verses bare-hands gets messy quickly. But that puts you very close to the action, and given the choice I'd be a bit further away. so what to do? a spear or lance is a good idea, especially if you have a cross bar on it, good for sticking your zombie and holding them at bay till the 12 inch, broad leaf head does its job. Even then, that's a bit close for me, id rather not be close enough to have to go hand to hand. That brings us to projectile weapons. initially I thought of bows; quiet, light but a bit slow between shots. Rifles? well not as prevalent in Melbourne as in the US, but more so than in the UK, but again, there are problems, they are loud, and alert the zombies as to where you are and like an arrow, a bullet is a precision object, it either hits or misses. my answer, shotgun. packs a punch, good enough range for venturing out for supplies with added bonus of spray, for those close in situations where seconds would count. sure its loud, but if you are using it defensively they already know you are there. If you were taking the fight to the zombies (which I wouldn't want to) then you might want to find some military hardware (good luck).
Transport:
Diesel, there are lots of trucks, they have big tanks and there would be lots of fuel sitting around. (petrol stations would not work, they have pumps). Flat bed trucks are the way to go I think, plenty of storage room, no where for zombies to hide, pretty good pickup, and range. get one with a bull-bar and you are all set for zombie bashing fun. jerry cans of extra fuel just in case. make sure its got a jack and spare tyres.
Actually finding a vehicle might be an issue to start with, if everyone is dead, where are the keys? I would start looking for depots, "leave your keys" parking lots and the like, get -something- and upgrade later.
Supplies:
No power, no water, no food distribution.
Fresh produce would be all rotten or going that way, but canned and preserved good will last for ages. Presuming they haven't already been looted, supermarkets would be a goldmine of supplies, so would the distribution centers that supply them. Bottled water has become very popular and can be found in bulk. Canned meats, vegetables and fruits are all easy to find as are vitamins and antiseptics. Rice lasts forever if its kept dry and pest free, and also comes in bulk, but needs to be cooked. Batteries and torches, gloves and salt.
Camping stores would supply cooking stoves, sleeping gear and outside wear and adventure gear (ropes, harness and such)
Hospitals would have medical supplies, but how many of us know how much of what to take and when? I can plug a hole, and -look up- antibiotic dosages, but that's long term as far as this scenario goes. They also have plenty of cleaning agents and protective gear.
Syphoning water from tanks would work for a while, until the rains, likewise fuel, from parked vehiclesPart 2 here:
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