Most people on this website have at least some form of plan for the glorious day that the dead walk the Earth. Well, how much of a plan do you really have? I've read a few of these submitted plans and they say things like, "after a few days look for your friends and hope some of them survived", or "grab things around your house to use as weapons, about anything will do". No. That is not a formulated plan of action.

I'm not saying that some people don't know what they're talking about, I have no doubt that they are serious about the apocalypse. What I am saying is that you should take your basic lump of knowledge and hone it into a well-structured, thought-out, and realistic plan of action.

First of all, when the time comes to put your plan into action, you must be able to make a few phone calls and within an hour have everyone you love/trust safe and able to defend themselves. The best thing to do is have a "Zombie Plan Folder" that has a typed copy of; your list of everyone you want to be in your colony, your actual zombie-plan written out in stages(Day 1, Day 2, Week 1,etc.), at least one current aerial photograph of the area you plan to use as a colony(Including terrain surrounding area), and a list of every single grocery store, gas station, armory, gun store, pawn shop, airport, marina, hardware store,etc. so that you know of every single location that you could possibly obtain supplies from.

The main point that I want to stress in this post is that you must be prepared BEFORE it happens. Choose carefully the people you trust to spend eternity with, they must have some form of skill or knowledge that can be used to help everyone else. Once you have decided on your few comrades you inform them of the precautionary steps that they need to take when they get that phone call from you. Nothing spectacular, it could be as simple as "grab your shotgun, go to Wal-Mart and buy as much ammunition as you possibly can, then come to my house and get in my attic." Make sure that each person knows to grab certain things. One person could bring 10 gal. of water, another all the canned food in their house. Whatever it is, they need to know what to grab and where to meet you. There should be a designated rally point, and a plan B rally point. Not everyone needs to come right away however, the bedlam that will ensue after the news begins reporting on attacks will be a very dangerous situation. The people near to you can fortify their own house to hold out for a week or two and once things have quieted down a little, you can meet at a pre-determined location.

Now that you have that squared away, have a list of the amount of people at each location, how long they must be there, and how many supplies that will require. Make sure everyone has not only basics like food and water, but a long-range 2-way radio, a small television, lots of batteries, fire extinguisher,etc. Whatever room is chosen for each individual location(Attic, basement,etc.) needs to have a definite exit, and padded walls. Mattresses, blankets, and pillows should be used to sound-proof the room that they are in.

Next, arm yourself. Get weapons. If you aren't able to own a firearm than know where the closest one is and stock up on hatchets, machetes, materials that can be fashioned into shields, and things of that nature. Weather you have a gun or just a machete it doesn't matter. It is your number one tool of survival and it must be maintained as such. Keep firearms cleaned and lubricated at all times. Keep blades sharpened and oiled(to prevent rust). The weapons that you have available to you need to be dependable. And to select your weapon, it would be a smart choice to turn to the wisdom of the Zombie Survival Guide, because not every item in your household can pretect you from the living dead.

The first sign of an outbreak wont cause a global crisis with anarchy in the streets and looting and chaos. No, it will begin as a tiny hint that your trained eye must catch. It could be a short news report on an increase in Swine Flu deaths. Its going to happen slowly at first and then gradually spread to a wider and wider area. By the time it reaches you, you should be safely in your/or a friends/ house, waiting it out. Traveling at all during the first few days that it nears your town would be suicide. Everything is going to be in chaos and riot. Stay low and ride it out. The main thing you should be worried about for this time period is run-a-way fires, which you should have included in your plan.

After you stop hearing screaming and gunshots, and the dead has (for the most part) taken over the living, you need to check in with everyone in your colony. Every location should send out a scout to make sure the are is safe to traverse. Once cleared, all teams need to rally at a supply location(such as grocery store). Obtain vehicles and stock them with food and water. Bring it all to the location that you have pre-determined to be your first colony set-up. This should be a location close to where you already are because you don't want to travel too far. Take into account everything; fences, population density of location, access points into building,etc.

This will be your home, at least for now. Once you have building fortified and barricaded you need to gather a scavenge team. Take the best vehicle for the mission, probably something like a hummer, and sens a small group(2-5) with guns and lots of ammo to the nearest location you can obtain guns. There may be armed people inside that don't want to give up there weaponry. The main thing you need to remember in this era of mankind is "Living humans will be a bigger threat than the walking dead". They are smarter than zombies, they make decisions based on fear or ignorance, and they cannot be trusted. If you find survivors the best thing to do for you is kill them, take their supplies, and continue on.

Once you have scavenged around for a while, and you have plenty of weapons and sustenance, head for a hardware store for supplies such as rebar, lumber, concrete, and tools to help turn your little grocery store into an invincible perimeter.

It will take great leadership skills on your part, but with the will to live, and a solid plan you can sustain life even through the living hell. From here you can continue to work on your colony, or you can decide to move to a better location that would offer a more permanent residence. Whatever you do, have a plan b for everything. You don't know what is going to happen, but you can plan for it in advance. Thank you for taking the time out to hear my perspective.

MaTT