Forums → The Tavern → The Zombie Survival Club (READ OP)

Not only that, but the books are effectively useless for survival, so nobody will go there.

With a little remodeling, I think that the Barnes and Noble bookstore would be a perfect spot.

What stupidity has reached my eyes?!?!

for the senario:

try to open the stroage closet. if i cant, then get back to the outpost asap. we can probably reach the outpost because the average person can walk about 2/4mph, and the outpost is only 4 miles away. we can probably make it within 1/2 hours(we have ten hours of time, no need to sprint)

oh yah, how is the stroage door locked?(padlock, combo lock, key lock, etc, etc)

I'll barricade the B&N using the bookshelves, and try to stockpile some food and water. Go on cautious daily forays into the city, and bring back anything useful to the bookstore: food, water, weapons, etc. Anything.
That said, I will need to find a way to heat the place now that winter is coming. I think sticking around is a feasible option as long as I'm properly defended against looters, and it's certainly better than in the middle of nowhere, out in the Wasatch Mountains(remember, this is Salt Lake City) during winter. I'd never survive that.
Now, I think what I will have to do is immediately start building up defenses(alternating between going out and getting supplies, and building defenses). I think that the nonfiction books will prove useful, as they can tell me what kind of materials will be most useful, how to build, etc. etc. Now that the initial panic has died down, with a little time, I should be able to find the necessary supplies to barricade the B&N against possible raiders. That is my first priority.
Once the B&N has been set up to defend against possible looters, I shall have to find a way to heat the place up. I suppose that if I could find a corner where there is nothing flammable; for example, upstairs there is only a warehouse, and it's pretty empty and made out of stone, I can set up a good fire there. I can attach that to the heating system that was already installed and presto! You have heat throughout the place.
With no power, lighting, plumbing, food, and water, are all major problems. I think that I shall have to set up lights all over the place, powered by batteries or something like that. I can probably find how to build an engine or some other kind of generator in a book. If I can hook up a manual electricity generator in the place, I will set up some lights.
Afterwards, is the problem of water. I only started out with a canteen and even with frequent trips to the stores, eventually I will run out. If I can find some way to desalinate the water from the Great Salt Lake, that would be perfect, and I probably can find how to do that.
Food? Well, I will keep raiding stores. Hopefully that will be enough to hold me over until I get some teammates. People will sure to flock to the one place in town with lights, heating, and some form of entertainment. I can let them stay at the B&N if they do some work for me; like hunting animals that are sure to be running amok around the area after the apocalypse.

Very interesting, Hypermnestra

It seems you're planning on settling in for a bit. Excellent! If all works properly, you should have the makings of a very defensable area. Barracading is always a very good idea, however do ensure you have at least one reliable escape route that won't have you popping your head up in the middle of a horde.

Remember that as you barracade inwardly, try to create some exterior defenses as well. As the panic dies down, as well as the number of survivors, the ranks of the dead will be larger and their collectivity much more of a problem for you. Once those lights go on, you may have some very unwanted company.

As far as water is concerned, you have a few immediate options and one more dangerous, however rewarding option.

Immediate option: Water tanks
There should be some restrooms about. There is a water pump that should have some filtered water within. Your choice is to either pry open the tank and retrieve it, or try to syphon it in order to save the basic workings of it in case you actually get some proper plumbing going. Fill the sinks, buckets and ANY recepticle you can with as much water as you can. Don't forget the coffee shop either. There should be some deep sinks for dishes there. Use small doses of Iodine to keep your still water drinkeable.

Dangerous option: The Great Salt Lake
This is quite risky. While there is really no way of de-salting the water completely without having some multi-filter machine to take care of waste, salt and microbes, that is not your problem. There is more than likely at least one installation on the lake that is already built for that exact purpose. Holding tanks in water refinery plants hold thousands of gallons of clean water. The trick is finding a plant, getting in and recognising the right holding tank, all without getting yourself killed by undead or survivors who thought of the same thing before you did.

This may be your next challenge. You have a home, of sorts. Now, how do you keep it?

"Johnny knock it the hell off." Standing in front of buildings with open windows, he jumped into each to look for things. While probably smart, I had to do things systematically, and with a partner, just to be safe. If He got snagged in there I wasn't going in. "Awe, christ man, just looking for stuff like I'm supposed to!" Johnny was a tall skinny kid, straw blonde hair, about 150 pounds (at one point) He had a miller light T-shirt and torn jeans. "Look I don't mean to yell at you, but saftey first, you know that." Johnny shook his head and we advanced down the street. Ahead of us lay a red brick building, a sign lay above the door reading "Stan the music man!" I kicked a rock toward he window which bounced off the glass uslesly. "Hey john, you wanna get in this one? It's still locked, may be something good." I pulled the beanie of my head. My bangs which where pushed under the hat fell down covering my face. I reached up pushing the hair out of my face, revealing the high check bones, long nose and slender lips. I had with me my crowbar as I always do, looped through my belt, a plain white shirt covered in dirt, jeans ripped from a number of things, and boots strapped onto my feet. wlaking toward the window Johnny whistled "Man, anything we want and more is in here. Lets get the door open." I pulled the crowbar out of my belt and swung into the glass. A Hole appeared in it, and we climbed through. We siletnly went to work shoving things in bags. batteries where grabbed, without them nothing would work, the base had generators only for heating water and things.

"Dude look at this computer! This things a monster!" Johnny walked over and pushed some buttons. "Haha look at me I'm a super genious! I can use the worlds biggest computer!" While standing up, he bumbed the power strip on the floor, the computor and lights in the store burst into life. I screamed at the arival of the music, it was so loud, I dropped all I had, and covered my ears. Johnny was still pushing buttons trying to get it to go off. I walked half bent over with my hands on my ears, and kicked the computer as hard as I could. Nothing broke, though my toe now hurt, and there was a nice dent in the computer. The crow bar now held above my head ended the music, for good. smashing the computer I turned to John. "ARE YOU FUC*ING INSANE!" My face was red, my voice was shaking, and I ws filled with hate. He didn't seem to care about what he had done. "You realize where four miles from base, it's getting late, we have all this to carry, and NOW zombies are gonna start coming after us?" I was picking my things up and heading for the door. John threw a cd at my head "Shutup man, I goofed, so what?" He punched the door next to him, and heared something slide down the wall. I started to yell but was stopped when I saw the look he gave the door. "Hey....I think theres something in here." He kicked the door again, and tried the handle. "Locked" He mumered, and smashed the handle with the pipe he carried. The door slowly swung open, he jumped back as the contents of the room where reveild to him. A man, soaked in blood and looking quite poorly with a bullet wound in his head. His dog was looking worse, all but a bit of flesh remained of the dog, and a bile of bones. Blood lay like a carpet around the two. I walked over, poking with the crow bar, I came to the pistol laying next to the man, and pulled it towards me. Dropping the magazine out, I discovered it to be a 22. Pistol. I slid it through my belt and walked out of the store, johnny ran close soon after. "Where are we going?" He said in a voice of shock, horror, and tiredness. "Home......we don't have a home, camp, then. Everyone will be there, we'll be alrght." I pulled the psitol into my left hand, and set the crowbar in my right. "Johnny stay close, and stay vigilant."

We walked in silence for around an hour, when from somewhere to my left I saw something moveing in a parking lot. I dropped to a knee and looked, a zombie. "Johnny you see it?" "th mo ove her and da da da da" he stamered. "What?" turning to look 20 more where stumbling across the street. "run!"

We took off running in the direction of the base, still miles off it was stupid but what where we supposed to do? More where appearing behind us, and we where closing in on the base, Thats when it happened. Running between abandoned cars, johnny got attacked. from behind a car, one reached out and grabbed him. "DUDE! GET IT!" He shirked, loseing color in his face. I was to far away to use the crowbar, so I shot the gun. At that moment the zombie fell away, and so did johnny.

I reached down, he wasn't moving. His breath was gone, and so was he. I stood up and shot the zombie untill the clip was gone. It was it's fault Johnny died. Not mine, I tried saving him.

I sat there, the hordes getting larger and closer, I did this. Me. Just then a truck horn sounded, I turned to see a guy from camp, I didn't move. He rolled the window down, "Listen, you get in here or I'm going without you!" His mouth moved behind the black beard. "But I can't just leave him!" I pointed down at johnny with the gun, Clicking another clip into the gun. The man backed the truck toward me, got out and picked him up, and tossed him in.

We climbed into the truck, and rumbled down the road toward the base. The large steel plow on the front of the truck pushing what cars where in the way out. "How did you find me?" I asked, turning toward him. My mind had yet to come up with an explanation. "The music, then the gun shots helped. we could hear music, and where curious. Maybe survivors trying to signal help, so I voulentered."

Pulling into the base we where scanned for bites, and let in. Informing every one of the situation, they all took up defensive positions along the walls, and behind the 7 foot trenchs dug around the building. If you where on a wall, you had a rifle, and in a ditch, a shotgun. In the end smashing there heads with melle waepons was much easier, once they fell in the ditch.





Alright, I took a few days to do this, and kinda craped out. But there is the answer to thoads scenario.

It seems you're planning on settling in for a bit. Excellent! If all works properly, you should have the makings of a very defensable area. Barracading is always a very good idea, however do ensure you have at least one reliable escape route that won't have you popping your head up in the middle of a horde.

Remember that as you barracade inwardly, try to create some exterior defenses as well. As the panic dies down, as well as the number of survivors, the ranks of the dead will be larger and their collectivity much more of a problem for you. Once those lights go on, you may have some very unwanted company.

This is quite risky. While there is really no way of de-salting the water completely without having some multi-filter machine to take care of waste, salt and microbes, that is not your problem. There is more than likely at least one installation on the lake that is already built for that exact purpose. Holding tanks in water refinery plants hold thousands of gallons of clean water. The trick is finding a plant, getting in and recognising the right holding tank, all without getting yourself killed by undead or survivors who thought of the same thing before you did.

I think that perhaps that the fire escape would be the best option, because it leads out to the back, not the front, and being that the zombies can't climb, it's a one-way exit.

There are probably engineering books in the library that can teach me what kind of tank I'm looking for. Beyond that, my only challenge is the enemies that are sure to be there.
I think that before I go for a big operation like the water, I should get some teammates. Let's wait a while for that.

Area Description: Rural Town
Gear:
⢠School Bag (Two large compartments, 3 small, somewhat of a messenger bag type)
⢠Bokken (Wooden Sword)
⢠Jacket (Wool)
⢠Hammer
⢠Tempered Steel Sword
⢠Small Pot
⢠Rope
⢠Map

Supplies:
⢠6 water bottles
⢠2 bags of dried cereal

Plan:
Get my supplies together. Put on the jacket; secure my bokken and sword to my person with rope. Everything else goes in my bag for now. Two miles from my house, the town turns into rural area. Less people is good, unfortunately Iâll have to follow Route 66 and the main roads to get there. As soon as I hit the rural area, Iâll get off the main road and head towards a friendâs house. Assuming that she and her family is not there, and they have only taken enough food to last them a week and left their gun, I should be okay there for a while. She lives on a large tract of land with fencing around it. There is a small patch of woods and a stream for water and fire. Besides that, she has two horses that can be shot and feed me for a while, not to mention a variety of wildlife (birds, armadillos, wild dogs) for game. Iâd use the pot to boil water to make sure Iâm not contracting diseases.

When food runs out, Iâll fill my water bottles up with water from the stream; take any food I have left, grab the gun and ammo, and head across the stream to the houses there. I know there are houses there, and stay there until food runs out again. Iâll use my gun as little as possible, and set up rope traps instead.

Oh, goodness. Sorry for all the weird symbols, I just copied and pasted from Micrsoft Word. Such a distraction. Can you guys understand it, or do I need to repost?

Bokken (Wooden Sword)

People will sure to flock to the one place in town with lights, heating, and some form of entertainment

Yes, it is a good escape, but what if there at the bottom? Don't assume they just don't come from one side.

Water before teammates. Without water your going to die. Yes, while teammates can be nice, they can be dangerous. They need your food, want to make your decisions, and possibly hurt you. Just worry about yourself first, and them later. If you find them, and they want to come with you, thats fine, but DO NOT go with them, or go looking for them.

The issue of teammates is a tricky one.

More than likely, you will run into several individuals, couples, small groups, (3 to 6), or even an established group, (7 or more), during your travels. Your most challenging decision at that point is how to approach them, or even whether to approach groups at all. That decision could either be your salvation, or your death.

In all cases, regardless of the size of the group, doing some reconacence is crucial. Try to evaluate the individual/group with prejudice.

Individuals will be easy to watch, hard to evaluate. Key indicators of their behaviors will deterimine their effectiveness to you.

-Do they have a shelter or a camp they've established?
-How are they on supplies? What are they eating/drinking?
-Are they armed and if so, with what?
-What are they doing when not gathering?
-How is their behavior? Does it seem odd or abnormal, beyond what normal behaviour would be considered in such a traumatic situation?
-Noise. Are they loud, IE: yelling, talking loudly to self, etc. or are they trying to maintain some silent behavior?

There are countless other things to consider, so go with your gut. If you see them as a liability, then move on or do what your conscience deems proper.

Couples, small groups and large groups will be harder to watch, but much easier to evaluate. The collective, depending on how long they've been working together, will have established routines and behaviorisms much more easy to diagnose than an individual ever could.

-Study their living conditions. See how well they are set up.
-Supplys. See what they have and how well they use it.
-Leadership. Find out who it is, if you can. A group can be much more readily deciphered by the actions of the Alpha.
-Weapons. What do they have and how well do they use them? Do they seem comfortable with what they're carrying?
-Routine. Does the group have a guard schedule? Do they forrage in a routine way? Does everyone have a job assigned?

Again, so many more things to consider. More importantly, evaluate your own situation. How are you doing by yourself or with your group? Would adding more members/joining a group be of some benefit to YOU? Would the group see you as an asset or an easy victim?

It's a difficult call, yet one you are almost guaranteed to have to make, sooner or later.

suppose I'll go for the water tanks now, but the GSL is better. I'll still try for that, but getting the water from all the people who are already there is going to be difficult.