This has been in preparation for about a year and a half, but sadly will not stand. I will be leaving this area before to long and will have to either set up operations near Charleston, West Virginia or Pittsburgh, Kansas.

NOTE: When I say something like "weld" or "cut", I'm referencing something that is within mine and my parties means of doing. If I say we are going to do it, we already have proper equipment prepared to do so. Before everything I write, I ask myself, "Can I realistically do this?", so try not to think I'm planning over my head on this one. For the record, the current residents of my BOL are already aware of our plans. They think they are funny, but have agreed if for whatever reason that our "fantasy" comes true, they will play along.

1) Location: My BOL is a "selective" housing series of apartment buildings. There are 5 apartment buildings on the grounds, and being a "selective" housing area, each building is surrounded by an 8ft x 1ft concrete wall. At the entrance of each of these walls is a 10ft tall steel gate that is hydraulically actuated and electrically driven. Being hydraulic, even with the power cut, this fence will stay closed with upwards of 6-7 thousand pounds pushing against it, as long as the actuator is full of fluid and we cap off the lines. The wall surrounding each apartment building has roughly 6 feet of open space between it and the wall for the next apartment building, spanning over 5 buildings. The outer perimeter of all 5 buildings is surrounded by a 10ft "art deco" steel fence with another hydraulically driven gate. Each building has 4 apartments, 2 on the first floor and 2 on the second floor balcony, with an open foyer area between, housing 1 set of non reinforced wooden steps. Within 2 miles of the location is a high school, a library, a shopping center, multiple suburban housing districts, 4 bars (our RVE), 3 gas stations, a community college, a national forest, and a Marine air station (base). There are also multiple wooden areas nearby.

2) Fortification: We have already selected 1 if the apartment buildings as our starting location (namely the one that we own an apartment in). When the outbreak is official, we will start by capping off the hydraulic lines on our building's gate, and possibly welding the actuator piston to its housing as a fail safe. A Little Giant ladder will be extended in an "A" shape over the wall to allow entry and exit to that building, temporarily. The first floor windows will be boarded up from the outside with precut 2x4 lumber, and secured with self tapping wood screws, leaving no gaps. The main entrance door to the building will be taken off its hinges and disposed of, as it is made mostly of glass and will only slow us down in an emergency. The stairs in the foyer will be completely destroyed, and replaced with an already prepared rope/wood ladder. A 4in pulley will be installed into a ceiling cross beam in the foyer, which will allow for easy transfer of supplies/injured. 2ft x 2ft holes will be cut into the floor in both 2nd story apartments where the hot water heaters are. A knotted rope will be draped down both holes from a stud in the ceiling to allow quick escape from the first floor to the second if the foyer is unable to be accessed. When we are confident with the immediate security of the building, we will focus on setting up a movable barricade for the fence surrounding the entire perimeter of the apartment complex. We haven't made a specific plan for that barricade, but it will probably consist of 3 short chains with combination locks at the 2 hinge points and the opposite locking point. This fence is not easy to scale due to the top being semi sharp, so it would be wise to be able to open the gate when needed. When the outer perimeter is secured, we will take scavenged wood and or 2nd story doors to bridge the gap between the concrete barriers around the buildings, and eventually secure them in the same manner that we have secured our building, as well as taking in any survivors from said buildings.

3) Initial Party: I'll refer to each party member by initials, and list their qualifications.
Me - Marine aviation mechanic, metal smith, hydraulic mechanic/troubleshooter, general mechanic

C.L. - Marine aviation mechanic, metal smith, hydraulic mechanic/troubleshooter, automotive mechanic, welder, owner of the apartment

A.B. - Marine aviation mechanic, electrician, gunsmith

J.G. - Marine specialized in EOD (explosive ordnance disposal), ordnance handler/technician

T.L. - C.L.'s wife, former stripper, chef by profession

D.L. - Naval corpsman (field medic), has access to the locks on the base hospital pharmacy

Party members were chosen because they were actually willing to prepare, it just happened to be people that have a lot of useful skills to bring to the table.

4) Supplies: We currently have been stockpiling MRE's. We have 17 boxes, 12 3,000 calories meals per box. The average person in our group can sustain comfortably for 2 days with 1 MRE. Due to size limitations, we are unable to stockpile fresh water, but we do have 2 collapsible 300 gallon water bags that we will fill when we decide its time to start fortifying. Along with that we will be disconnecting the hot water tank for storage, as well as filling all sinks and bathtubs. The kitchen is well stocked with canned foods. Each building has a large (not sure of actual size) propane tank in the back. We have a 1ft x 1ft box full of baby wipes to be able to clean ourselves (field shower for the rest of you marines) at least once weekly. Medical supplies on hand include 3 above average first aid kits with sutures, sterile bandages, and other minor medical equipment to deal with small emergencies. We have a bottle of 500 100mg Doxycycline (common antibiotic), non asprin based painkillers, and a TON of 800mg Motrin (military guys know why). Among basic household items, we are well stocked with tools of all sorts, scrap metal, scrap wood, 550lb cord, etc. This should get us well through the "panic".

5) Transportation/Communication: Theres no way of knowing how long power/cell phones/internet will be up, but we have internet access, cell phones, etc. for basic communication. Beyond that we have 2 CB radios, and a couple sets of channel based hand held radios. Vehicle wise we will have a number to chose from because of party members arriving in theirs, but only 2 that may prove useful if he NEED to use a vehicle. Said vehicles are a lifted 85' toyota pickup with a camper, and a lifted 86' Bronco. Both have baja bumpers on the front, which will hopefully prevent front end damage due to running over things. I only advocate using vehicles for escape, and ours are capable of driving over "stuff" and can get us and most of our supplies through some pretty rough terrain. Throughout our ordeal we will try and get some pedal bikes to make basic transportation a little easier, or anything that can be easily ditched to continue on foot.

6) Weaponry: I can't go into to much detail about what my party intends to bring, but I know what I will be bringing. I'll list what I will be bringing and why so it may help out others who aren't sure what they want come Z-day.

What:
Main - Romanian WASR10 AK-47 no modifications
Pistol - FN Five-seveN 5.7x28mm with non performance modifications
Oh $**** - Taurus M605 .357 Mag revolver with non performance modifications
Melee - Ka-Bar kukri machete
Bludgeon/tool - Stanley 36in wrecking bar
Extra - Mossberg 500 Persuader. This will be most likely be left at the BOL unless otherwise needed.

Why:
Main - After selling my mini-14, this was the best I could do for the money. It is versatile and I am comfortable with firing it. I am in the market to upgrade soon, but until then, this works for what I need it for.

Pistol - The 5.7x28mm is the pistol counterpart to the .223. Nice flat trajectory, low recoil, and even though its not an armor piercing round, the penetration this round offers is very nice. The round is pretty hard to come by as there aren't a lot of weapons chambered in this, but I'm more for buying the ammunition before I need it rather than looting for it afterwards.

Oh $hit - This piece is a little beast. Very accurate for a 2in barrel, plenty of stopping power, and small enough to tuck into my belt without it looking to obvious. Revolvers are easy to maintain and clean, and if all else fails, you can hammer nails with it.

Melee - I will argue the effectiveness of the kukri style machete all day. If you have ever held one, you will realize it is a weapon that was blatantly designed to cut off heads. The way it is tip heavy, it would also be useful for cutting wood, or burying in a skull. I went with the Ka-Bar model over Cold Steel just because the grip is a bit more comfortable for me.

Bludgeon/tool - The only thing I would take over a crowbar is a small halligans tool, but I'm not about to pay the $100+ price tag for a good one.

7) Raiding Plans/RVE: Supplies don't last forever, and our area isn't green enough to support enough crops to solely survive on them. There shouldn't be a big rush to buy supplies when Zday comes because this is a military town, so the locals are more likely to either try getting home to protect their families in other states, or stay and fight with the military. The local base is not infantry based, and I seriously doubt it can withstand an outbreak. The local military will either desert to go home, stay and get infected, or they will be an attempted evacuation. Either way the dice roll, few will fortify in this area, and with the towns reliance on the base, i doubt stores would be completely cashed for supplies. The base will be very iffy with raiding, if the infection takes over the base, it will be a large concentration of zeds with no where to roam but inside the gates of the base, which would make me avoid it until it was cleared out. In the event of an evacuation the base would be unpopulated, and the hospital and commissary would be ripe for the picking. I don't plan on stealing a tank, I dont plan on stealing a jet or helecopter, and I dont plan on raiding the armory. All are very impractical ideas and would ultimately end in failure (although military humvees dont use keys...). With an ordnance technician in the group along with an electrician, we will have access to munitions storage, and try to scrounge up what explosives we can for booby traps, distractions, and possibly a last line of defense.

My biggest concern would be raiding the hospital so our doc could have proper medical supplies. He knows what we would need in an emergency situation, and we would do everything in our power at getting him to those supplies. Getting bitten is one thing, but dieing from an infection cause by a blister on your foot is just embarrassing.

Aside from the base, the town is littered with gas stations, bars, grocery stores, and general locations any town is populated with. These will be raided WHEN IT IS SAFE! Lets say today is safe for raiding, but you dont want to go because your not hungry. Well, tomorrow you might be hungry and it isnt safe to raid. We are going to stay as well stocked as possible to avoid even the idea of running out of food. Hopefully by the time the world restores itself, we will be rescued with a years supply of food remaining.

My RVE is outlined on this website in the RVE section under Havelock, North Caroline. Look it up if you think you might be in the area during the outbreak.

8) Evacuation: If our plan fails, or if we get over run, we will try to hold out as long as possible. Our supplies will be spread out throughout the 5 adjacent buildings, so if we lose 1 building, we won't lose our entire supply. The idea will just be to move to the next building, and try to retake the over run building when/if we can. We will still have BOBs available at all times, so if the situation permits, we can bail over the wall and hopefully make it to a vehicle we have designated in a different area.

I'm currently working on a second BOL near the ocean on a stilted home, but nothing is solid yet as my first idea to even have a second location was when I joined this site.



This might be a little inconclusive and I may have left a few things out, as well as didnt plan for some things. I'm posting this in the hopes that others ideas can improve on the ones we currently have. We have a generic check list that covers everything I went over above. We all have our own copies of it readily available, and copies of it at the BOL. Suggestions, comments, and questions are most appreciated, and sorry for going in to so much detail. I'm starting to get a reputation of being long winded.