I live in Darwin, Australia, and I grew up in three environments - on boats, on a 'station' (best described as a ranch in American terms), and in an upper-class marina estate. I'm a complete and utter computer nerd nowadays, and fixing/building/ripping people off over computers is my occupation. I'm an alright shot with a rifle, although I'm likely to f'ck up majorly when I have to depend on marksmanship (which is why I plan not to - my plan is structured so that I won't be dealing with zombies... hopefully). Oh, and if it means anything to you, I was previously an administrator here for a few years.

Darwin's a town of 120,000 people, and our surrounding environment (which I am able to survive in without constant help from our bacteria-free, dolphin-friendly, supermarket-dependent society) is, although inhospitable to those who do not know it, perfect for isolated survival of a Z-Day scenario. You'll never worry about freezing to death here, and as so long as you have water, you'll do great. And up here we have plenty of water. (think Florida with more mankilling/eating animals, and a couple of dry gulches)

In a Zombie Apocalypse, I do not think zombies are the greatest threat - almost every version of the zombie, regardless of physical ability, acts on a set of basic instincts, and is thus predictable. To me, zombies are an environmental factor. In Darwin, you don't swim in public bodies of water greater than a few meters in diameter, because you're likely to encounter a saltwater (estuarine) crocodile (here's a hint: they're the largest reptile in existence, and they're carnivores. Note that I do not have a Crocodile Apocalypse plan). You don't swim in the sea from October to May, because you WILL be stung by Box jellyfish. They are quite commonly lethal, and although the neurotoxic venom is enough to kill you in four minutes, the pain itself is severe enough to kill you by sending you into cardiac arrest, or if you're lucky, by causing you to drown before you leave the ocean (and I do have a Jellyfish Apocalypse survival plan - address them as sir). In a Z-Poc, you don't travel outside of a safe zone unless you are prepared to deal with a horde - either with the ability to flee, or with lots of bullets.

To me, the greatest threat is other people. This threat is NOT predictable. Other people develop incredibly varied strategies to deal with you, either by placating you or by removing your ability to threaten them. And, they have a lot more physical prowess than zombies do.

Physical prowess? Yes.

Imagine a super-duper-rage-angry-turbo-sprint zombie (specifically). He can run at 70km/h, and he has toxic spit that will kill you, and he can spit 100 meters. He can also sniff you out as well as a bloodhound can on a good day.

Now take a Zombie Survivalist - not even a raider, just a well-prepared survivalist. At maximum fuel economy, he can drive at 100km/h (he can "sprint" at 160km/h when required) - with extra jerry cans, he has a range of 1000km. He's got a nice .308 Win bolt-action rifle with a good hunting scope - let's say he can hit you at 300 meters. If he's got 200 rounds, a reasonable figure, not only can he shoot quicker than the SDRAT-zombie, and further, but after the time it takes to shoot 200 bullets at one person (maybe it's coffee jitters - maybe it's Parkinson's), I think it's safe to assume Mr. SDRAT's mouth will be a little dry.

And as for sniffing you out? Well, he'll either wait for you to leave your little encampment, storm it with a few of his buddies and wait for you to get back, or he'll wait for you to enter his field of fire, and blow a hole in your chest. Or, he'll ambush you. Maybe with superior numbers (not difficult if you're a lone wolf). Maybe he won't kill you. Maybe he'll take all your gear, your shiny gun, strip you to your underwear and glue your hands to your butt cheeks. Maybe you'll be eaten by a crocodile before you get ripped to pieces by a horde.

Maybe he'll form a loose alliance with your party, wait until you're at your most vulnerable, then steal all your ****, the female members of your party and burn your encampment/fort/boarded-up-apartment to the ground.


A lot of kids here have great dreams of live-action Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2, come Z-Day. These folks, above and below 18 years of age, will find their life expectancy significantly shortened.


Thanks, Zombieland.


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Disclaimer: Following statement is ********.
http://www.gotoquiz.com/results/zombie_class_quiz
Rating of 8.88 = Zombie Killer First Class

You are the badass of all badasses. Everyone should be like you if we want a chance of survival. Many people will follow you into the remote location that you have made prior to the zombie war. And you are smart enough to have sniffer dogs at your front gates. You have no mercy for the un-dead and will shoot any infected person that tried to make it into your compound. Your face will be on the 20 dollar bill for the world to see. Your chances of survival are amazing, 10:1.

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Bug-Out Plan 1: ROAD TRIP!

I consider myself lucky in the fact that I can quickly GTFO, if I have to.

After 20 minutes of driving in normal everyday conditions, including waiting at unnecessary traffic lights, you can be on the Stuart Highway, which will very quickly take you as far as you need to get from civilization. On a good day, 45 minutes after leaving the CBD you can be in the 130km/h speed limit territory - until recently, our speed limits stopped there, and practically (but not legally) they still do, thanks to the fact that for tens of miles on either side of the wide, 2-lane highway there is nothing but wild bushland.

Now, in a well-stocked 4WD, and with the willingness to do a bit of semi-suburban off-roading to get around possible abandoned-car traffic jams, you can get on the highway pretty quickly, and put the pedal to the metal as soon as the road looks clear (but of course, wasting diesel is not a swell idea, and if the zombies can run faster than 100km/h, you're going to have to rethink things anyway).

With a minimal amount of Google Earth-ing, you can pinpoint a running water supply (such as one of the many creeks that cross the highway and can be followed up until one feels they are sufficiently far from the road) and an ideal location where you will never have to see another human being for the rest of your days. That's great if you want to set up a clandestine meth lab. Or a paramilitary-cultist training camp. Or if you are looking for the perfect location to construct a base that will allow you and your companions to survive the Zombie Apocalypse, comfortably and securely, safe from all the major Z-Day related life-endangering factors.

This isn't just a Z-Day plan. This is my cyclone evacuation plan. (US residents, this is a hurricane, it just spins the other way. It does just as much damage.) This is my "SURPRISE, MARTIAL LAW!! Sincerely, the government" plan. Hell, this is also a good camping trip that I've done a few times, and these are excellent practice for bugging out (essentially the same, just a little more than the camping stove and 3-man* tent in the back, and a bit more panicked driving).

*: That's so 1 man has space to be comfortable. I do not sleep with two other men when I practice bugging out (see, now I can't even call it *camp*ing. Damn you!)

Custom Vehicles*:

*: These vehicles should be either done before the zombie apocalypse, or when you have a secure base in the countryside with a car shop.

1. Assault/Transport Vehicle

Base Car: Toyota Land Cruiser (one of the new-ish ones, 1990). These vehicles are absolute brutes - I have driven Land Rovers, Range Rovers, etc etc. and I have found the Land Cruiser to be the most comfortable, most powerful, and most reliable. They have a six-cylinder diesel/petrol engine, which chews up juice a bit - but diesel is definitely the choice post Z-Day.

Factory Options: Bench seating in the back, snorkel, everything else. Up in my part of Australia, we use the vehicles in tourism, with bench seats in the back. These vehicles are actually unavailable in Britain because they are too big...

Customizations: The major customization will be the addition of 2-3cm (for comparison, an inch is 2.54cm) of steel plating on the bonnet and sides. This is quite definitely feasible:

Density: 7.85g/cm3	Plate Dimensions
Plate Thickness (cm)	1m x 1m (kg)	0.8m x 1.5m (1 side*, kg)	1.8m x 2.5m (underside*, kg)	1.8m x 1.5m (bonnet, kg)
1.0	78.5	94.2	353.23	211.95
2.0	157.0	188.4	706.5	423.9
3.0	235.5	282.6	1059.75	635.85

*: This refers to the passenger section only.


Curb weight of a 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser: 2084kg
(includes the car, seats and all, and the fuel)

GVWR of a 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser: 3141kg
(maximum weight the car can take, everything included - this may be slightly more than the 1990 model, so use numbers with that in mind)

Available weight, for passengers, cargo and armour plating: 1057kg

This leaves us with some options. Obviously, 3.0cm armoring on the underside is out of the question, which would certainly be preferable if you're dealing with IEDs. (I'm not saying it would stop everything, but it could definitely mean the difference between being wounded and getting away, or being killed) Underside protection for the engine may just mean that if you survive, you can get moving again - but that won't be much help if you're dead.

This leads me to the following configuration: for patrols in potentially hostile areas (i.e, you could be attacked by a raiding party), 1cm plate on each side, 1cm on the bonnet, and 1cm on the underside, bringing it to a weight of 753.58kg, leaving enough weight allowance for 3 people of 100kg (this includes their gear) - this toes the recommended line, and protects the inhabitants and engine from small arms fire, as well as some IEDs, if you're lucky. Extra seats and such can be stripped to lower the weight a little if necessary, and only three seats should be required - in terms of vehicle-based firepower, an extra person or two will not add as much ability to the patrol as it would if it were a foot patrol.

For direct attacks: 2cm plate on the bonnet, 2cm plate on the front (approximately the same weight as a 1m x 1m section of 2cm plate), 1cm plate on each side, bringing the armor weight to 769.3m. For a semi-permanent encampment, you are more likely to be facing larger-caliber rounds such as the .45-70 Government, headed for the engine block. Furthermore, any defenders will be more focused on stopping the car than eliminating the inhabitants - by the time they work out what they're shooting at, they ideally should be dead. The entire interior should be cleared except for the driver's seat, and the intent is to deliver as many people as possible to the middle of the encampment, if your tactics involve loud entry.

For scavenging trips: 1cm plate on the sides and 1cm plate on the bonnet, bring the weight to 400.35kg. Depending on how successful you expect to be, 3 or 4 occupants should be necessary. Other than seats, everything should be cleared - this case is pretty obvious.

Uses: Seeing the car can do about 160km/h normally, and as with steel plating on, it doesn't exceed the recommended maximum weight for the car, I would say the armored edition can do 100-120km/h safely - that's certainly fast enough to outrun zombies. The reason I chose a Land Cruiser is because of their height off the road, and their spectacular off-road capabilities. This is no SUV (****** urban vehicle) - it's possibly one of the best 4WDs available in Australia. It will be able to crunch over rubble, rocks, sand, mud, and whatever else you want to throw at it.

*NOTE: NOT ONE OF THE ****** URBAN ONES, A REAL ONE.

2. Heavy Transport/Secure Command/Mobile Base Vehicle

Base Car: Automated Side-Loading Garbage Truck (basically, the ones they use in Australia)

Factory Options: (according to Wikipedia) There are three types of garbage truck in Australia - Normal, Green Waste, and Recycling. Green Waste trucks are lined with stainless steel to prevent rust from moisture... and to stop bullets! Because everyone knows you can't have your garbage trucks being riddled with bullets.

Customizations: First of all, rip the compactor out, and the loading machinery. Then, install a hatch somewhere on the truck (no external ladders - zombies like ladders). Then spray some freaking air freshener! Although one of the advantages of having the Green Waste truck is that it won't stink of garbage, only woods, forests, gardens and trees! Install firing ports for fixed guns, and hatches on the top to fire out of (you'll need to build some sort of raised floor for that, though). Also, add a large diesel tank in the back (not connected to engine, just storage - the bigger the tank, the further you can go without stopping).

Uses: Congratulations, you now have a large, bulletproof metal tank on wheels. Depending on what you put inside, you have a heavy transport which can carry a LOT of men, ammunition and supplies, and provide a secure space for men to rest and recieve medical care. Or, you have a mobile command centre. Dedicate one to power generation, or water purification, or holding cells, or a dancefloor for all I care. Two of these can secure an area - one configured for transport, one for command and medical. If they have fixed guns on top, they can hold a position against zombies until you can secure it, or run out of supplies.