I have seen various zombie archetypes depicted in film, software, and ink. They rise from the earth, they attack, a bullet purées the inside of their skull, they slump down upon the dirt from which they came.
But what I have not noticed, is a zombie who makes its home in the soil, waiting for a human to come by,
jumping out at them for a meal, then sneaking back to their hole like a trap-door spider. While this portrayal
means nothing in actuality, as there is no real-world specimen to compare it to, it still left me with a question.
Some zombies are portrayed as slow and dumb, shamblers, if you will. Others are depicted as crazed,
aggressive creatures, ragers, if you also will. Put simply, they are blood-lust, hatred, hungry, and PMS all rolled up and slathered with bad-hair-day. The latter are far more capable than their more laughable cousins, running, scaling fences, jumping to high places.

Some have claimed that verticality is the way to survive the Zed-pocalypse, hiding in trees or buildings with no
ground floor. I agree on the issue of altitude being a key factor in survival, but trees are not safe from the ragers. No, I am not pushing for some God-awful sequel to “Snakes on a Plane” (Snakes on a Plane 2: ZEDS IN SPA-A-A-A-CE!!!). In all seriousness, I would wager the key to survival is in negative altitude. That’s right, ‘going underground’ just got a whole lot more literal. I suggest burrowing underground, as you never see
the Zed digging to go after someone. And if their smell cannot find us, then we can come and go as we please underneath their rotting soles. Just as a carpark is designed vertically to accommodate more cars than a parking lot on the same footprint, so also burrowing underground has its perks:
1) Massive amounts of storage space can be added. Anyone who has ever been in a cellar can tell you that it is cool, and before the days of refrigerators, was the best spot to store food to keep it from spoiling.
2) As with part ‘b’ of the above point, underground, the temperature is fairly consistent, and the dirt above you is worth more than gold, as it allows you to stay protected against exposure to the harsh elements
outside including wind, rain, snow, heat, and wildlife..
3) Line-of-Sight, if someone is not in the same tunnel network as you, (on even if they are, and aren’t close,)
they cannot see you, allowing you to move undetected by them, preventing hostile encounters.
4) There is a lot of land to pick from. It’s like the sky, the likelihood of two separate tunnel networks meeting
is not much more than two skydivers on separate jumps colliding in midair.
5) There are proven examples of this very principle in action. Research the Second Indochina War. Take a note from the Viet Cong. Tunnels have been built, and underground camps established. (hyperlinks at end)

Yes, the propositions are difficult. No, I don’t know how the hell to properly build a tunnel network.
But I can provide food for thought, and a few basic steps of how to build one in theory.

Step One: Figure out how to dig a tunnel, and where to dig it
It seems simple, but there are still so many people who go in guns blazing without knowing how to aim or
reload. Likewise take the time to learn how to dig and support your tunnel, to guard against cave-ins, and
know to pump air to keep from suffocation (yes, I’m serious), once you know the limits of what you can
and cannot do with your land, pick a spot to place your network. Ideally there are two things you want to have
near or at your tunnel entrances: wood and water. Try to keep an entrance at even below the waterline, next to a major source of running fresh water. Running fresh water is typically safe to drink straight from the river, and having an entrance below the waterline allows people inside to a) enter and exit covertly, and b) gather water without being seen outside. Also timber is important, propane and butane are not easy to come by in nature. If you are going to need fire for anything, you’ll need plenty of wood. Also, consider the type of ground. Softer earth is the easiest to dig through, but the most difficult to support. Rock is very difficult to tunnel into, but is capable of holding its own weight.

Step Two: Layout a Floor Plan
This will enable you to organise your ideas more effectively, allow you to identify certain design flaws,
eliminate certain designs altogether, and make sure you have easy access to water and wood or wood-substitute.You should even dig a well should there not be a steady source of running water nearby your dig site. Your floor plan should have multiple entrances, as well as multiple air holes in various locations to allow unrestricted air flow throughout most of the complex. Add lights and a generator, as it will be impossible to see. Purpose-design the wings and rooms, shaping and sizing each according to their function. Have multiple entrances and exits, in case one or more become compromised. Conceal and maybe even booby-trap them, or rig them to collapse to prevent intruders from entering the complex. Design is limited by only ingenuity, and by means.

Step Three: Layer by Layer
Ideally, your tunnel complex will be several layers deep, going as far as even 15 meters deep and several more meters outward. A large amount of ground space allows larger spaces and greater movement. But do not begin by working from one side to the other on every level. The dangers of collapse are severely reduced if you work from a completed top, downward, allowing you to support each layer individually. As you go deeper, that’s more and more dirt pushing down on your tunnels, and as such, you will need more support. Also, air will not travel down to your lower places, so you may end up needing air holes, and air holes for your air holes. Most rooms should be redundant. There should be an “upper” and a “lower”, and maybe even a “middle”. This way if you have “upper storage”, goods can be held their until you finish digging out “lower storage”. Exceptions to this would be entrances (“lower entrance”? From where!?), a kitchen, dining hall, sleeping quarters, generator room, radio room, communal area, and watering well, should you attempt to dig yourself one. Though multiple entrances are suggested, it would be difficult to place them layered underground. Your network may have multiple rooms of the above types, but are not necessary. Also a redundant generator system is an absolute must. A bicycle generator is probably the easiest to make, and shifted manpower keeps it running. A second or third bike generator can help, but ultimately, a backup gas genny is the safest bet. As for where to store all that, try to keep it in the lower levels, as much of the generator equipment is heavy. The easiest way to store all that power is to wire several car batteries together. As these are heavy, as well. They, too, should go on the lowest level, presumably next to the generators. For lighting, though more expensive, compact fluorescent lights are the way to go. They are
rated for a much greater lifetime and radiant lumens per watt (brightness per unit of power) on an order of 8
to 15 times that of incandescent bulbs in both areas.

Step Four: Just Like Home
Obviously the shock of any event on the magnitude of Z-Day to where it forces you to live in the ground is
staggering, so to cushion the blow to one’s sanity accoutrements have to be made. Bring some furniture,
perhaps a rug or two, and most importantly (only if you have a running water source at the edge of your
network) a porcelain throne. That’s right, if you have a loo bring it with!! But that’s step five, I’m getting ahead
of myself. Leave the television at home. They suck up massive amounts of power, no one after week one
Z-Day will likely still be broadcasting, and, besides, how are you going to get that 56 billion inch big screen
television inside the entrance, anyway? Same thing with the radio, unless it’s a shortwave receiver. For the
floors, it may sound strange, but try to get some cement in the communal and quartered areas, it’s solid, it’s
firm, it makes good solid floors, can add structural support to the walls, a dedicated waste line, generally leak-proof water storage, and good insulation, if applied properly.

Step Five: Plumbing
This is why a running water source is essential, if you wish to have any sort of running water or sanitation.
Without the above, life will get very uncomfortable, very fast. Waste water is easier to manage than fresh,
especially if you have your old toilet. The toilet’s design is what makes it revolutionary, and it can still flush without running water, all you need to do is to pour water into the tank to fill it up, and pull the handle to flush.
Be sure that the end of the toilet is over a prebuilt hole in the ground, to store the waste. However, without running water to carry it out, the waste will build up over time, likely decomposing and stinking to high-heaven.
A major architectural challenge is to draw the water up from a running river or stream. While pumps are a
viable method of raising water, they are often created just at the water table. Water is best served by transporting it from the top of your network, and letting gravity do the rest, while preventing flooding. Rescuing that shopvac, may come in handy: fashion enough attachment tubes and use it as a pump to pump the water upwards into your network. Alternatively, you could use an Archimedean Screw attached to an electric motor to draw water up, as well. However, too much water has its drawbacks. If stored for too long it can become septic, growing bacteria, algae, and fungus, becoming absolutely foul and unhealthy to drink. If near running water, the risk of flooding is very real, especially during rainy season. Take these into consideration and plan ahead to reduce the risks and boost the benefits. Water is necessary. Period.

Step Six: Electricity/Heat
Recently the big fad in energy today is “Think Green”. If you’re going to survive, you will need to. It’s free,
it’s renewable, and there is little labour involved after installation. Solar panels, a water wheel, even a bike
generator, they all don’t require precious gasoline, and, as mentioned before, (except the bike) little manpower. I’ve mentioned in this article the need for electricity, and all the above still applies. However, there are still some applications that require electricity that can be easily overlooked. Obviously, you will need light.
You’re underground, what did you expect? Glowing moss? Still, the choice of light is of great gravity. Things
that need to be considered include lifetime, and light output per unit power. I’ve already said that CFLs are
great items to have, because the shine brightly (pun intended) in these areas. Another area that is easily
overlooked is hot water. In connection to plumbing, if you wish to have any sanitary means, you will likely
notice the lack of hot (or even warm) water (like your first shower). You could use a woodfire stove, in a similar role to a condenser, where instead you heat the liquid inside, instead of cooling it granted it may not be as warm as you like, but it’ll do (besides, where are you going to do?) Alternatively you can use an electric
tankless water heater to fulfill the need for warm water, but I don’t know how to install one of those things, so
I can’t help you there. Moving on to heat. A central heat source, such as a woodfire stove, can provide massive amounts of heat, and with proper ducting, can heat the entire complex. It might even be useful to duct the kitchen due to its heat to the rest of the complex. Also concreting (as mentioned above), and any fiberglass you have, can keep heat from escaping, making your complex even more resistant to intense cold.

Step Seven: Concealment
Don’t worry about getting attacked. Ninjas never wore much armour, because they banked on the fact that no
one ever saw them (and lived). Similarly, deal with concealment before security. If no one can tell you’re there, they can’t hurt you. Camouflage all the aboveground entrances (aboveground meaning all non-water entrances) to prevent anyone from discovering them. Part of camouflage is not just visual deception, but all sensory deception. If they walk on a covered entrance, and it’s not supported, they can easily fall right into your food supply. Put folding boards up over the entrances, attach brush, leaves, or even dirt to them. Camouflage them so well, that you can’t even find the entrances to your own network. Because of this you’ll need a way of identifying your base from the rest of the wildlife, plant turf near an entrance, attach vines as ropes to open the doors, while not attracting attention. Create multiple exit ducts over wide areas for any wood-burning device. Dig out and concrete all air holes, to prevent unknowing individuals from causing cave-ins. Hide airholes in brush or other shrubbery, as a 10cm diameter hole in the ground can be very conspicuous. Do everything you can conceive of to prevent discovery of your network.

Step Eight: Security
After concealing, take the time to fortify your entrances, both externally and internally. Booby-trap certain
passageways, using deadfalls, sharpened foliage, or snares. Be sure to have bottlenecks by design, with forced fail-safe cave in devices as contingency, to divide the network and stop invaders. Keep at least one armory, or other place to store guns and ammo in case of hunting, Zeds, or hostile encounters. Place concealed guardposts topside, creating an early warning system against any vagrants that cross your path. Arm them if necessary. And be prepared to forfeit your location or life should the worst happen.

Step Nine: Concorde
After all the above has been met, you will find yourself in some semblance of a small, comfy, communal
society. Like termites, each member has his or her own role, which may or may not switch between people.
Working together is an absolute necessity to keep everything maintained and running smoothly. You may have switching roles (I would say within the network only) such as maintenance, inspection, water gathering,
pedaling the generator, cooks, etc. or dedicated roles (I would say reserved for outdoors) such as a hunters,
search parties, foragers, woodbringers, etc. to provide the necessary raw materials needed for survival. Groups are the key to survival; you simply cannot do everything yourself.

Step Ten: Contact
The last step of building a colony, contact is key, it can potentially increase your manpower, resources and/or
knowledge. If you have a shortwave radio, and if you or a friend can operate it, your chances of contact increase dramatically. Be wary of any groups, as they may or may not have deceptive intentions. Lastly, if you do accommodate other survivors, be aware that a network of definite size can only support so many people.


There, that is all I can give you. Oh, wait! These might help too!

Hyperlinks (in no particular order):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/720000/images/_720577_vc_tunnel_complex2_300.gif
http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/asstd/tunnel1.jpg
http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/asstd/tunnel4.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_resistance_heater
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-burning_stove
http://home.howstuffworks.com/toilet.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_generator#Human_powered_electrical_generators
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_panels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_head_hydro_power
http://science.howstuffworks.com/tunnel.htm

Afterword:
As with all the articles I write, I usually put in an afterword to the reader. In the case of explosives articles,
it was a disclaimer, but here, I, LLukeL, want to personally thank you for taking the time to read the article
completely through. I hope that this knowledge will benefit you in your future for all scenarios, and that
you will be all the more prepared should Z-Day ever come to pass.