Welcome to Camp, Bitches.Submitted by currentlyonfire on Thu, 04/15/2010 - 03:15 |
I live in rural Maryland. It's very rural, in fact. For example, just about everyone in the area has at least one gun, and St. Patrick's day is spent partying at the local guns club (which happens to be right next to a trailer park, but I digress). It's also pretty secluded.
Combine that with the fact that absolutely everyone knows how kill a zombie nowadays (head shot for most types, although more realistically a body shot would do), and the area itself is pretty safe from zombies.
That isn't to say that I won't be completely prepared if shit hits the fan.
Y'see, the problem with my town is that it's a crossroads town, so people will be driving through to get away from the major cities, meaning that raiders, infected (but not yet zombified) individuals, and panicked locals will be some of my major concerns.
Oh yeah, there's also the nuclear power plant. Did I mention that yet? Well, there's a nuclear power plant, that being another of my major concerns.
Fortunately for me, I have a plan.
As soon as I hear about the outbreak, I'll go into my attic, pull down my backpacks and camping supplies, gather as much food as I can get a hold of, grab by dad's shotgun, our crowbar, axe, and anything else I could crack a skull with, and load them into my car. I'd drive by my friends' houses (most of them live on the way to my preferred location, or very close), tell them to get into their cars and follow me to my base.
My preferred base is not a heavily fortified bunker, but rather an easily escapable cluster of cabins- a summer camp.
The camp is in a valley, in the woods, bordering a river. Several of the hills are literally break-neck steep, and others just lead to a cliff where you'd fall into the nearby quarry. The river isn't all that deep, quite shallow in some places, but a zombie would have trouble getting out of it and into the camp. And being in the woods gives me plants and wildlife for food (I am both a counselor there, an amateur botanist, and a soon-to-be Eagle Scout, so I can tell what's edible and what isn't). Latrines are already dug-out, and it's got several hundred rolls of toilet paper, so we'll never have to worry about wiping with a leaf. It's also a ten minute drive from my house, so I won't need to worry about getting there.
The camp consists of a Mess Hall, Headquarters (basically where the Camp Director stays), a small cabin, a two-story cabin made for cubs to stay in, a pavilion, a larger cabin, and a plethora of tent platforms. All except the larger cabin and the tent platforms are very close together. After I got there, made sure the area was secure, and put away my food, I would go to the camp's maintenance shed and grab a few post-hole diggers, and begin digging several, three feet deep holes, in between the buildings. This is so I can build platforms, tie them to logs, and securely put them into the ground, effectively making bridges between the roofs of buildings, just in case things get out-of hand and we lose security of a building and we need to immediately flee to a nearby one.
Then I would cut holes in the roofs of every building, then using wood from the surrounding areas to create a make-shift trap doors, and allow easy access to the rooftops in case of emergency. We REALLY shouldn't need to be this prepared, because the surrounding area provides so much cover, but I'd really prefer to stay alive and cautious than foolhardy and dead. Everyone would be armed, most likely with tools found in the maintenance shed, or with weapons brought with them, and the buddy system will be required at all times. That way, everyone should have someone to cover their back. Again, we probably won't run into any zeds out there, but it's a possibility.
From then on, we catch our food, or salvage from abandoned buildings. Almost anything can be useful in the long run, cups can be used for water purifiers/boiling water, gas should be siphoned for vehicles, etc. Really, the only limitations of what should be stolen is how breakable it is, if it requires power to operate, and if they can fit it in the car.
In the event that we miraculously get fucked over by everyone and everything, I/our last survivor will use the last of my energy to go to the camp intercom system and play 'Thriller' over the loudspeaker. Not only will this be a fun way for me to bite the dust, but it should attract zombies from all around the area, and give other survivors a better chance at surviving, since the zombies will have a hard time getting out of the valley, with their low coordination.
Raiders should be a minimal problem, since you'd have to know where it is to find it, and it's too far out of the way to be noticed by someone who's rushing out of a populated area. Same goes for infected, but not yet zombified, individuals. Panicked locals could be easily avoided, just stay away from a barricaded house, and always knock/ring the doorbell before entering. Still, scavengers should be cautious at all times, you never know if someone else is raiding the same house as you.
The power plant is actually more of blessing than a curse. Upon abandoning it, the workers will, more likely than not, activate the nuclear failsafes to prevent the area from becoming a nuclear wasteland. It also greatly lowers the possibility of us getting bombed by the military, which is always a good thing. If the failsafes aren't activated/don't work, it should become a higher priority for the military. I wouldn't exactly trust them not to shoot me on sight, but if they're killing zombies while they're here, then that's just dandy.
Still, if the power plant goes critical, then the siren should go off (they test it once a week, and everyone for several miles can hear it, so it should be one of the failsafes that definitely works). Which means I'll be getting myself the fuck out of there.
Now there are a few places that I'd consider safe from a nuclear meltdown. The first would be a fallout shelter, the second would be a bank vault. Fortunately for me, I know how to get to either of those places.
The Middle School at the next town over (a twenty minute drive) has a fallout shelter. While it's perfectly suited for the job, it's one of the places that several other groups of people will go to, and probably doesn't have enough supplies to keep us from killing each other over them. There is a bank in my town, but I'd assume that it's one of those that you aren't able to open from the inside, and I'd prefer to not starve to death. The same goes for the bank in the next town over. Luckily, I know of a better option.
One of my friends' house used to be a bank, a few decades back. So he's got a bank vault in his basement, that we're currently figuring out how to rig it to open from the inside. And he's said that in case of a meltdown/fallout/zombie apocalypse, it's cool for me to come over and hang out in the vault with him. He's also loading it with supplies, in case of said situation. I mean, the place would be shit afterward, what with radioactive zombies and undrinkable water, and all that, but as far as Armageddon goes, I figure I'm as prepared as I can get.
EDIT: Also, it's worth saying that, should the zompocalypse happen during the summer, I'd be even better set for survival. Yes, the camp gets used over the summer by cub scouts, but during the apocalypse, you'd have higher priorities than going to camp. After a Swine-Flu scare last year (one camper almost got a whole lot of people sick, and we would have had to shut down for a few weeks), the camp is careful about letting in anyone with any type of sickness or infection, meaning that an infected kid probably wouldn't show up and infect the staff before the shit really hits the fan. Just in case, though, we'd give each other full physicals before we lock down the camp.
Plus the place would be fully staffed and fit to survive for months on end, with people who's talents range from cooking to axe-throwing. And then there's the guns. During the winter, they get taaken away and placed into storage, but in the summer there's a plethora of shotguns, bows and rifles to use against any zombie that comes into camp, and ammo to spare. More manpower, and better weapons to equip them with.
I recently went to a staff reunion (most of us don't see each other in the off-season, but we're all pretty good friends), and we discussed what we'd do during a zombie apocalypse. I have confidence that they'd be very beneficial in the end of times.
EDIT NUMERO DOS: Upon further investigation, the nuclear reactor would not release radiation into the surrounding area. It's designed that it couldn't unless someone was actively trying to release the radiation, making my entire meltdown plan a moot point.
Bro i didnt even read yours and we both got the same idea with tons of food in the attic and takin them out 1 by 1....Lol
You clearly didn't read it, and that isn't even close to what it says in my plan.
To put it simply, I'm going to hide in the woods like a little bitch.
Why has nobody paused to say CONGRATULATIONS! He definitely did his research. Since I'm new,I didn't vote for this, but it would have my mine!
Are you sure the cabins and such will be strong enough to hold up to 50-100 people banging on the outside? If not, your cabins will all fall too fast for you all to escape. How old are they, what are they made of, is there any issue with snakes or other crawl-space-dwelling creatures in the cabins? Does your plan include how to fight the different ways the infection can be spread? Are you taking into account whether the zombies will crawl or run? As for the whole radiation thing, you might want to keep looking for some sort of fallout shelter in mind JIC the US decides nukes in certain area is the only option. Don't forget that even if you can't get to a bank or other fallout shelter, putting a vehicle over a hole in the ground gives you approximately 80% protection from the radiation. Dig at the right angles and that protection can be increased by up to 90%. If you were to dig large enough holes and were able to remove the wheels and axles from whatever vehicle can be scrapped, you've already got a fallout shelter right there in camp. One thing the military might think of doing is exactly your last comment, detonating any nuke plants in the country to save their nukes for whatever reason. Another thing to consider is people that can go crazy during an apocalypse. Maybe they lost their whole family to zombies and in an angry rage the just-so-happens-to work at the power plant psycho loses it completely and detonates the plant him/herself. This all at least slightly unlikely but all things to keep in consideration when being stuck so close to a plant like that.
I wouldn't recommend putting guns into storage at any point as you never know what might hit you, who knows if a horde might not be affected by the cold and attacks anyways. If nuclear fallout does occur, even if its just from the power plant, you shouldn't expect to go outside for at least 6 months with how long it can take the radiation to go away, you'd never even see radioactive zombies since they'd be topside with no food for so long.
Again, you posted this months ago, you probably won't read this reply but I'm responding because I'm bored to high hell.
First of all, you pose a lot of interesting questions, most of which are a bit nit-picky for my tastes, but I will consider each carefully before responding.
Q: Are you sure the cabins and such will be strong enough to hold up to 50-100 people banging on the outside? If not, your cabins will all fall too fast for you all to escape.
A. Yes, yes they are. Without being too specific, almost all have been built within the last decade, and all of which meet building safety requirements. I haven't exactly tested this with a hundred angry people banging on the outside of the building, but I'd be extremely shocked if a they so much as left a mark. These aren't plywood shacks by any means. The only things there are to be worried about are:
-A. Windows, which will be boarded up if on the first floor, and
-B. the makeshift walkways. Not a lot I can do about these. A suspension bridge would be more useful but also much more difficult to create. Ideally they'd be gathered around one building and leave the bridge alone long enough for us to sprint across the bridge. I suppose digging deep trenches around the bridge's supports (but not so close as to weaken their stability) would be the solution to this matter, preventing any zombie from getting close enough to fuck with them, and allowing us to use them.
Q: How old are they, what are they made of, is there any issue with snakes or other crawl-space-dwelling creatures in the cabins?
A: It varies from cabin to cabin, they're of varying ages. Two are fairly old, two have been built within the last decade. None of which are flimsy. One of the buildings has a slight issue with the doorframe that might allow a snake or two to enter, but the rest are made to prevent creepy crawlies to entering in the winter, as this issue can become a major annoyance. As long as no one leaves the doors open, that is.
It's also worth stating that while venomous snakes and spiders do live in the area, I am well aware of their existence and which parts of camp they live in. Copperheads pretty much stick to this one little spring area we have because no one ever goes down there to bother them and there's plenty of food. Black widows also stick to areas that no one ever goes (a few areas around camp in specific, but not worth actually describing in detail). Brown recluses are pretty skittish and stick to the woods. I've been going to this camp for ten years and I've never seen a copperhead at all, and I haven't seen a black widow or a brown recluse anywhere near the cabins. They just don't like being in the same places as people. Anything else is more-or-less harmless. And by "harmless" I mean "food."
And because I know someone's going to ask, no we don't have any bears or wolves.
Q: Does your plan include how to fight the different ways the infection can be spread? Are you taking into account whether the zombies will crawl or run?
A: In an ideal situation, we'd all have gas masks, but that isn't going to happen. Anyone who can get a mask can wear one, other than that, goggles and cloth masks for everyone else (to prevent bloodsplatter to the eyes and/or mouth being an issue). If it spreads through the air, we'll probably be fucked long before we have time to prepare. No use worrying about what can't be prevented.
Also it shouldn't matter if they can walk or run. I mean, it matters when we're actually fighting zombies in that you have to react faster to faster zombies and whatnot, but that's true for any plan. Now, see, if they can *climb*, that would sort of suck because they'd be able to climb on our bridges, but easily fixed by the same holes I mentioned earlier.
Q: As for the whole radiation thing, you might want to keep looking for some sort of fallout shelter in mind JIC the US decides nukes in certain area is the only option. Don't forget that even if you can't get to a bank or other fallout shelter, putting a vehicle over a hole in the ground gives you approximately 80% protection from the radiation. Dig at the right angles and that protection can be increased by up to 90%. If you were to dig large enough holes and were able to remove the wheels and axles from whatever vehicle can be scrapped, you've already got a fallout shelter right there in camp.
A. Lovely bit of information, I'm sure that care will provide wonderful shelter for the decades ahead of us in which the environment is completely uninhabitable.
In case you can't pick up on the sarcasm, that's a resounding "no." If the siren goes off, I'm gonna get the hell out of dodge and hope to god that I'm not already radioactive enough to get superpowers (and also cancer). I appreciate the fact that you're trying to help, but I can assure you that I've put a lot more thought into this than you have.
Q: . One thing the military might think of doing is exactly your last comment, detonating any nuke plants in the country to save their nukes for whatever reason. Another thing to consider is people that can go crazy during an apocalypse. Maybe they lost their whole family to zombies and in an angry rage the just-so-happens-to work at the power plant psycho loses it completely and detonates the plant him/herself. This all at least slightly unlikely but all things to keep in consideration when being stuck so close to a plant like that.
A. You don't detonate a nuclear power plant, that isn't how nuclear power works at all. Just because "nuclear power" and "nuclear missiles" both have the word nuclear in them doesn't mean they operate on the same principle. What they could do is deactivate some of the failsafe shielding (if that's something that even CAN be turned off, I'm not an expert on how nuclear plants work) and unleash a shit ton of radiation into the area. There wouldn't be any explosion to speak of, it'd just kill everything that wasn't a zombie, and make a shit ton of zombies. Anyone who would be in charge of a nuclear weapons system would know that this would be a retarded way to "save nukes" because it wouldn't save nukes at all, it would just straight-up murder people and kill absolutely zero zombies (unless zombies can still get cancer in which case one or two might get a brain tumor large enough to kill/paralyze them, but even then it would be a terribly inefficient way to kill a zombie). Same goes for any ex-power plant worker who would know how to do that kind of thing.
Because there's such a large confusion about this, I might just pain a big ol' plywood sign that says something like:
"Dear psychopaths,
You cannot rig a nuclear powerplant to explode, but if you cause a meltdown you will end up killing everyone who is not currently undead. You won't die a hero, you'll just die. Please refrain.
Sincerely,
A concerned citizen."
And place it in front of the power plant.
Q: I wouldn't recommend putting guns into storage at any point as you never know what might hit you, who knows if a horde might not be affected by the cold and attacks anyways.
A: You misunderstand. I wouldn't put them away in the winter, the man who owns the camp puts them into storage in the winter, to prevent someone from stealing them. I don't have any say in this matter, and even if I did "in case of zombies" is hardly a convincing argument to keep deadly weapons out in the open, especially since the camp is occasionally rented out in the winter.
Q: If nuclear fallout does occur, even if its just from the power plant, you shouldn't expect to go outside for at least 6 months with how long it can take the radiation to go away, you'd never even see radioactive zombies since they'd be topside with no food for so long.
A: You're confusing a meltdown for a fallout. If a fallout is the aftermath of a nuclear explosive. If that occurs, that means someone dropped a nuke on me, which is just a silly thing to do with a nuclear reactor so close. Off the top of my head I could think a dozen better places to nuke than my location. A fallout isn't what I'm worried about (also I'm not sure where you got that 6 months information from, but I'll assume it's true).
A meltdown is something I could (hopefully) flee from if given enough of a head start. I could certainly avoid the worst of it. Unfortunately, it also leaves the area uninhabitable for decades. While the zombies would certainly starve in that time, it's a little bit longer than I'm willing to wait.
All-in-all, good questions.
Nuclear Power Plants always have a Security Force (especially after 9/11), and I'm not talking rent-a-cops, These guys are usually ex-Military and heavily armed. At a later date you could send people to raid the armory at the plant so you'll have access to more effective firearms. I'm an Eagle Scout and while the Shotguns stored at the camp would be useful I know the highest caliber rifle you'll find on a BSA camp is a .22 that while lethal... isn't what I'd use to kill zombies.
- Anyone who says a .22 won't kill someone/something is a moron.
- While you usually only find .22s at BSA camps I was at a camp where one of the senior staff members (an Ex-Marine) brought his Barrett .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle to camp... unbelievable but true...
This was posted months ago, and you probably won't reply, but IO figured I'd respond because I don't have anything better to do at the moment and just recently remembered that this place exists.
I, too, am an Eagle Scout. .22 rifles will do the job just fine. As I said, the biggest issue I'm likely to have is fleeing survivors from other places. A rifle and a shotgun are best used for intimidation that you (hopefully) won't have to back up (but can if necessary), or hunting. Zombies are almost a non-issue, and if we happen upon one, the .22 wouldn't be my weapon of choice.
Actually the Nuclear plant can be very useful to you. If a meltdown occurs the zombies should be attracted to the sound, or it will help hide your movements. If you could find a way to activate the warning siren without the plant having a melt down would make your life much easier.
You're assuming I'll survive a nuclear meltdown, and overestimating my proximity to the plant. It's just down the hill from camp, so there'd be a huge hoard of zombies nearby. :I
Also, if I could do that, then I probably wouldn't get a real warning if/when the thing actually melts down. I'd rather get bit by a zombie than die of radiation poisoning.
Love the idea of raised walkways in the camp, jump zombies jump, lol. Also like the remoteness of your plan. Completely different direction from mine but you still get my vote regardless.
i thought u needed lead to stop radation?
Lead will stop radiation, but its not the only thing. The vault only needs to hold me over until I can come up with a new survival location, but its not going to keep all the radiation out.
Ok man, i can find something wrong with almost every plan i read. There was nothing wrong with this at all. To put it simply, come the zompocolypse i would love to have you with me.
Can I live at ur house??? Lol that is the best plan I've ever seen.
Upon further investigation on the inner workings of the power plant, the only way I'd actually be in any danger is if someone was in the power plant pushing buttons and breaking shit with a hammer. I'm pretty much safe.
I left the meltdown plan up, though, because I'm too lazy to change it.
man thats fucking mean!!!
nice plan i voted it, i have no problem with it but say all of the things happen could you move between plans? say from a nuke then a week after zombies appere?
Well first of all, I wouldn't survive getting nuked. And I'd be willing to bet that very few people are prepared to be hit by a nuclear explosive during the zompocalypse. I'm prepared for a meltdown, which basically means that extreme amounts of radiation are leaking into the surrounding area.
But if the meltdown occurs, the sirens will go off (as I said, they test these every week to make sure they'll work in case of an actual emergency). And then I'll get myself to my friend's house as fast as I can. The vault will be safe from zombies too, the walls are two feet of fucking steel, and he's got plenty of food. The trouble would be surviving the weeks afterwards, because the zombies and the radiation would force us to leave town and we'd have to find a new safehouse. Or radiation suits.
Thanks for the vote.
Only two feet of steel? it would definently hold up against zombies but not a nuke or a chemical spill (Plus it being a underground vault, wouldn't all the chemical spillage/ nuclear spillage eventually flood through the basement and make the vault act like a giant oven?)
It was a very good plan though I Voted.
Again, an Nuclear meltdown is far different from the a nuclear explosion. If I get nuked, I'm fucked. You would be too. But that's irrelavant. Chemical spills are also irrelavant, since I don't plan on keeping any potentially dangerous chemicals near out shelter. A meltdown is when radiation is let loose from the power plant, there's no explosion or anything like that.
It's a temporary fix, a place where we have supplies and a place to rest/plan where we're *relatively* safe from the radiation, before we get the fuck outta town. Even if it was perfectly safe from zombies and radiation, we'd still need to leave eventually, seeing as the surrounding area would be radioactive and we'd need to leave to get food and whatnot, it's not a place to live out the rest of my days, perfectly safe from radiation.
Also, it's worth saying that the Vault is on the first floor, not the basement.
Nevertheless, I thank you for your comment and your vote.
very good plan my advice is to make a basic radiation suit if you can make a skin tight suit from pure cotton clothes mixed with borax then heat to 1300 F for 24 hours will be a low grade hasmat suit (they do this for military operation and it is only a few hundred bucks to make one). also for your cabin thing i would also have a small glider with a detachable solid fuel engine on it so you can escape the area if the shit hits the fan while getting lit on fire (this is obviously a way to even further show the point of shit hits the fan). now the reson you should use a glider is so the engine witch is only for a fast take off. but still your plan is one of the most solid i've seen yet