When I started thinking way too much about zombies: A few years ago
What started my zombie fixation: For years I have been into survivalism in general, then a buddy of mine got me interested in Zombie Squad
Favorite zombie book: Generally only read non-fiction, but I have read J.L. Bourne's "Day by Day Armageddon" and it is a very good read.
Favorite zombie movie: To date, don't have one, but I hope they succeed in making Last Blood into a movie.





My location: Classified
Is my plan dependent on zombies in your home town, or anywhere? Plan not dependent on zombies at all. My plan is about all inclusive as it can get, no matter when or where sh!t hits the fan, I try to be ready for it.
Will I be staying in my home or headed somewhere else? On Z-day I will hole up for a couple of weeks, depending on the gestation of the virus causing the reanimation. Once the chaos has reduced due to lack of living, martial law, or what have you, I will create a team in my group to begin small raids. Within a month (or two) I will make a trip a state over to rescue friends family who live there (approx. 6 hour drive, 4 day hike). I understand the risk, but ultimately this is where we would like to end up anyways.
If I'm heading out, how do I plan to get there? Oops, just said. I am currently rebuilding an old pickup into my CVMS (Crisis Vehicular Movement Station), complete with HHO fuel.
Got anyone I want to take with me? My wife, son, daughter and I will take care of anyone else I can deem as not infected. My whole neighborhood will "lock down" when SHTF. I have over an acre right inside my neighborhood for gardening, and we should remain fine with water as my house has a built in well in the basement. How will I communicate with the outside world, or do I plan to go the hermit route? Communication while it lasts through cell, just to keep my out of state connections in touch so I know where they are when I head there. 12VDC HAM radios on solar power after infrastructure has failed.
How am I planning to get food and water? H2O already specified, and raids for additional, to include food. I already have stored on a rotational basis 1 month food and water for approximately 10 people.
What’s my weapon of choice? Do you need to reload that thing? Gotta plan for that? I am martial arts trained, so my primary weapon of choice is my hands due to ease of use, no reloading, and stealth factor. Beyond that I enjoy the AR-15 and AK-47 models, both have their advantages and disadvantages. If I had a Class 3 license I would really love a suppressed MP5 with laser sight, or an m249 SAW but we can't have everything, right? I am working on getting a reload kit right now, due to the rising ammunition costs. I still will carry a machete although I have been shopping for a traditional katana (not one of these cheap display things), you know, something with at least one thousand folds, nearly costing more than my car. I train with my bokken frequently, and given a proper katana I could easily decapitate Zack. Don't get me wrong, this is not something everyone can do, but with plenty of practice, it is one ancient art that hasn't been lost.
Got a survival philosophy? Stay low, keep quiet. The group can be as large as you want, but don't send out squads of larger that 5 or 6 in order to remain undetected. Learn what you can and cannot eat anywhere, and learn how to keep cool/warm, and stay dry. Beyond that, just remember anything that gives away your position is a potential failure. I would rather get a little stomach flu then get shot because I had to make a fire to cook my food.
Am I willing to hook up with other survivors? I will gladly accept survivors, although I do realize this will probably be my ultimate demise, so I will be careful. The only reason I intend on trying to survive is to continuing of the human race. If I turned down those that came to my door, it would be like sending cattle to the slaughter. Is my plan based on a book/movie/blog/scientist other survivors may have heard of? Not really, I have been a survivalist since I was six.

• The open field to the North is as useless as my backyard. Until supplies begin running low, and we start gardening, there will be no need. But the land is there if we choose to use it.

• The green on the map designates chain link fence at a minimum that is already in place. The entire North, East, and South faces of this fence are 6 foot tall, with wooden privacy fence built onto it. The East side also has barbed wire intrusion prevention that was in place way before I bought the house. The West side is by far the weakest, at only 4 foot of chain link, it doesn't provide much protection against Zeds, so this would be one of the first areas to get reinforced.

• The blue is a small 1 foot tall concrete barrier mainly there for terrain. I would love to replace the whole thing with 8 to 10 ft high concrete, but money and city codes stand in the way of that. As long as the front of my house is secured, along with the fence line we should be fine without such an extravagant barrier.

• The Black is the real roads.

• The Brown is dirt road alleys.

• The Grey is sidewalks, and parking in front of my garage.

• Building 2-4
  This is my garage/warehouse. 2 is a single car garage. 4 is a double car garage. 4 holds my car and my truck, but when I pay off my current truck in a couple of months it will hold a motorcycle in the back too. Number 3 is the warehouse, with about as much square footage as the house. The line in the middle of it indicates the sections. The Eastern half of part 3 is single story, but the Western half is 2 story, so I could use this upstairs if necessary, but the securing of the stairwells would be much harder over there. The second story has a door to walk out onto the roof of the Eastern half, and there is a ladder (that could be removed) to get onto the roof of the second story. Ultimately I would like to run a zip line from my house to the roof of the warehouse so we could go back and forth without needing to touch the ground, but I am not sure how feasible this is since they are on the same level, there wouldn't be an angle for creating speed.

• Building 5
  A small (12x14) storage shed. It is an actual building though, not one of these pieced together $199 deals. Nothing of importance here, but who knows what use it will become on Z-day

• Building 6
  My neighbor immediately across the street. A good friend of mine, and fellow survivalist. Between his house and mine, the whole block will be on lock down when SHTF. What he lacks in supplies, he makes up for with ingenuity and a great can-do attitude that will be so helpful when all hell breaks loose. The house is 2 story also, so that may come in handy.

• Building 7
  Neighbor I know somewhat, but they are elderly. Chances of survival would be minimum. I will assist them if necessary, but I will not put my neck on the chopping block for them. Also, this guys repairs small engine items, so if they are gone, or part of our group, tools/weapons will be salvaged from here. Anything from lawnmowers to chainsaws.

• Building 8
  Neighbor I really don't know. Would gladly accept them into the group.

• Building 9
  Neighbor I really don't know. Would gladly accept them into the group. (although their kids better not piss off my dog like they usually do, or they will be the next person pulling road guard duty...)

• Area 10
  This is a large soccer field for the elementary school directly to the South of it. They own that whole half of the block. This would be a great location for a hideout as it is a large building with 5 stories. This also poses a major threat in the event of an outbreak. Child zombies, and their parents who rushed to pick them up at the first sign of panic, will be all over. The children zombies I don't have a problem with so much when it's one or two, but a whole playground of them, who knows how long we will have to hole up in order to wait for them to wander off before we can start going on scouting/raiding parties.

We are in a residential area, but are in the downtown, and unfortunately within 7 blocks of the police station, a fire station, and only 8 blocks to the mall. So that is a problem, but as long as we don't cause undue attention to be drawn our way, we should be ok. 5-6 blocks away you can get to a major road either going West or South where businesses are, so in theory, raiding locations and rough distances are as follows:

• CVS Pharmacy (9 blocks)
• Grocery Store (12 blocks)
• Various Restaurants (13 within 15 blocks)
• Dollar General (6 Blocks)
• Pawn/Gun Shops (8 within 15 blocks)
• Convenience Stores (2 within 12 blocks)
• Hardware store (15 blocks)
• Used car dealerships (5 within 15 blocks)

About 13 blocks away is a youth center, which if nothing else, would be easily defensible, but I would assume they would have a decent food surplus too, but I will come to that bridge when we cross it. The nearest Walmart is roughly 2 miles, but with these locations and the houses in between, we shouldn't really need to mess with walmart (I don't even like going there now).
I have thought and thought of a cheap method for electrical generation, but I keep coming back to solar for reliable electric. The estimate based on my current usage would cost me over $90K installed. That's panels, cables, batteries, and inverters. Now I know this all inclusive house system is not "survival ready" but as long as I can hold my fort, is how long I would have dependable power. It is quite an investment, but I may just go for, screw the expense, when the time is right.
I am currently working on a "fuelless" vehicle system using HHO gas. Basically using electrolysis on water to separate the atoms into gaseous burning form, and venting that in. I even had a website up, but it is down right now. The only stopping point I am at now is in the hooking it to a vehicle. I want a flame arrestor so that my generation canister doesn't blow up if the engine sends a spark down the hose. I need some Fine Cut Brass Wool, and cannot find it anywhere. If any of you can, please tell me, and I will gladly mail you the money needed to acquire it and ship it to me. Once the site is running again, I will post a link. Having a vehicle that can run on lake water/tap water or even sea water would be a great advantage over having to siphon. Gasoline tastes nasty.

Drowning out the Howling Hordes My group will designate who is on watch that night, of shift, etc. The others who are not on guard, will be able to use earplugs, which I have plenty of. My main concern in keeping the calm, in unwavering psychological conditions will be the children. Although my daughter is fully aware of the impending threats, who knows how she will react when SHTF. My 4y.o. son on the other hand will probably freak out causing unnecessary attention to be drawn to us. In my home, my main base of operations, is 2 story plus a basement. Hopefully the basement will assist in the drowning out of both Zack, and the children's fears.
Surviving Non-Fatal Injuries I have been trained by the military in basic first aid, and my dad is a former EMT, so I have studied almost all of his first responder manuals. I have had to deal with a couple medical crises in the past, and believe that I handled them responsibly. One in our group is also a fully trained Army medic, so that will assist. I have FAKs on all 3 floors of the house, one at work, and one in each car, so least of all the basics are covered. My only major medical concern is nutrition, since all will be surviving (at least at first) on raided or stored goods, nutrition will be a major factor in mood, energy/fatigue, and even how fast you heal. As I said before I have a little over an acre, so as soon as defenses are in place, and the weather is right, it's off to gardening. My wife will probably be the resident Nutritionist, and hope that we can cover the essential vitamins, minerals, etc. so we can be our strongest for the Zeds.
Evaluating Fellow Survivors Part of my plan is to remain invisible to any and all, survivor or Zack. Unless they know where we are, or we absolutely have no choice (due to lack of supplies, etc.), we will not announce ourselves to anyone. I would love to help everyone, but the larger the group, the more problematic it may become. If in the event that our location is discovered by a non-hostile group, or we need supplies and have voted to communicate with said outside party, a simple decon plan will be in place. I will have an entry perimeter built as a mutli-stage entrance. We will unlock the outside, not the inside and lock in their arbitrator/leader or what have you, asking that all weapons be left outside. Perhaps only allowing one or two others with them. We will then, once locked in the entrance gate, request they remove all articles of clothing, so we can evaluate for bite marks. Once satisfied with the inspection, we will gladly invite them into the open yard to do business. We will not invite them to join us, unless our numbers are so low that we have no choice. We will not let them inside our actual buildings unless we have no choice, only to maintain security. Once completed with business propositions, we will escort them back out the way they came. The reason why my answer here differs from my "about me" question of accepting survivors is the context I use. The way I answered this question is in the case of a group of survivors. In the case of a single wandering survivor I will probably accept them in after the decon has proven clear. Where a group will probably be already organized, and has better chances of survival than the lonely individual, so I am not comfortable with giving up my security for a group like that.
What to do if your fortress is overrun My immediate action in the case of Z day is to begin moving items from my basement storage to upstairs (2nd floor), perhaps storing a few items in the attic. Boarding up the windows and doors on the first floor, and preparing the wall for plan B. In the event of an overrun, Plan B is ready to enact. All supplies have been moved to the 2nd floor, and I have exit from upstairs ready, by window or door (no there is no stairs to this door, but I can climb a rope up to it if necessary). My stairwell "wall" will be already built, with nothing left to do but bang in a few nails, screw in some screws, etc. I will then add some weight to my side of the wall with bookcases, etc. This should prove to be a good fall back. Plan C is somewhat simple, evacuating the upstairs, either to attic, or to my 3-car separated garage, whichever is deemed safest at the time.
Zombie Hunting Ideas One thing to remember is that ammunition is always limited, life does not have that unlimited ammo cheat. Along with this, goes all other supplies, so you want to get the most bang for your buck. You have to remember, if they are attracted to sound, then shooting at them from you main base will only bring more. The only unnecessary time I would deliberately hunt them down is during target practice, and while training newbs. Even then, we will find high ground, a good 5+ miles away from home base to take them out. Or even possibly train the shooters under moving vehicle conditions, still miles away from home. Besides that, I will never draw attention to my base, and take out straggling Zeds remaining near using melee attacks and traps. Except for the basement, my base will be a light/noise free place. No invaders be them Zeds or raiders can attack something that they don't know is there.
Fortress Additions I would probably keep busy taking charge of operations. Not as a dictator, but until someone more qualified entered our facility, I will take charge. In the few spare hours of the day that I have, I would probably be keeping notes of what has occurred in a journal type format. Beyond that, board games will probably be of the most value, and it will help morale by acting somewhat normal. All I know, is no matter how bored we get WE WILL NOT use zombies as carnival attractions. We can look out the fence to see one, forget bringing them inside...
72 hours before a class 4 outbreak 72 Hours is plenty
I will accommodate your "spice" to my plan as necessary, so my 100k town is now your 5 million population city.
Essentially the plan starts the same. I drop what I am doing, and get started on securing the house, windows, doors, etc. I would place a couple of calls to family out of state to explain and tell them where I will be, and find out where they are. Next, I know where 2 doctors are, one of which probably has more AK's then everybody in town together. But the other one won't be safe, so I will check on him, rescue him if possible. The CVS and Dollar General within blocks of my house would serve to retrieve any supplies that we are lacking at the time, but on a normal average day, we should already be fine. Next to the pawn/gun shops. Chances are, there are a couple that will not be touched, but coming night #1 they will get hit, and hit hard. You can expect anything of use will come back to home base. That night I will have finished the widows and doors, and my neighbors will be fully aware of the situation, and I have probably helped them secure their homes, perhaps even armed them. Communication will need to be established between the houses, so if one gets overrun the others can help.
Morning of Day #2, last chance for fresh anything (meat, milk, etc.). If it wasn't grabbed at Dollar General, then I will drive approximately 20 miles outside of town to a grocery store that should still have pretty full shelves, and empty them...
By afternoon of Day #2 I am at home, setting up exterior defenses. The chain link from the B-Ball court creates a new front yard fence for me. I setup my ladder from my balcony to get to the main roof. I setup a small zipline to my garage building, but only set with a basket for supplies.
Evening on Day #2 guards are posted. One on the roof of the second story of the garage, and one on my house roof. Perhaps one on the roof of my friend across the street.
By Day #3 I am ready. I should have food and water to last my family 3+ months without having to "shop." Given that I will support neighbors, it won't last that long, that's why I am constantly changing my numbers. Either way we should be about as good as we are going to be.
The only thing I would add somewhere in there if I had time is finish gearing up my truck as an escape vehicle.
Secondary thought: If the military is nowhere to be found, then the military base would be the best of all options due to security and availability supplies. Migrating to a base may be the choice alternative...
Distracting Zombies Slingshots with either regular stones, pellets, or even Snap-Its and firecrackers. This is for close range. In long range there are many options, but the one that seems the safest is to get a vehicle with a decent sound system in it. Install a long range remote started kit (or modify a short range one, since I do electronics work) Crack the windows and have it parked at a 'distraction location.' The stereo should be be on, and playing something loud and cheezy, like Sinatra or something, and cranked up. When the time comes hit the remote start, and it should create your distraction. This could come in handy as a remote explosive too, once enough zombies have surrounded it...

Why are we so fascinated by zombies? It's not so much the zombies that fascinate me. As I have said many times before, I am a survivalist first, zombie exterminator second. I believe the threat of a Z-virus is a real possibility, but is only one in a myriad of options that could bring the fall of humanity or the destruction of civilization. In the case of many disasters, society as a whole will find a way around, and eventually will survive. Zombification on the other hand (especially in class 3-4 outbreak) could become all inclusive, and clean up many problems we have in the world. Not that I wish this fate upon anyone in particular, but I feel that humanity is nothing more than a plague on this earth, working harder everyday to destroy the one thing that sustains our life, the Earth itself. If a zombie outbreak occurs, I would not enjoy the fact that I cannot just go outside and play on the jungle gym or what have you, but I will sleep peacefully at night knowing that I am truly free from tyrannical leaders, unjust laws, and all the associated rabble. Zombies may be the ultimate fear of some people, and that's why they dedicate their fascination to it. Me on the other hand, once secured in my home base, fear will not be the issue. In fact I may just pop a bottle of champagne while I am listening to the chaos in the streets, lights off, not making a sound...