When quarantine was in full swing this past spring, one of the shows I would watch was The Walking Dead. I watched all the way up to Season 3, episode 11 and then just dropped off from it. Two days ago I was up making myself breakfast and I decided to make a protein shake. That was something I did nearly every morning during the quarantine period, and suddenly I was feeling nostalgic for that period in time (I know, crazy). I started thinking about all of the little things I would do during quarantine and how I actually managed to have a little bit of fun. I had completely forgotten how much I loved The Walking Dead and then I remembered! So, for the past few days I’ve been watching again and I was inspired to find out what some of the important people in my life would do come a zombie apocalypse. I asked them, and they gave some pretty great answers. I decided to give them some constructive feedback on their plan and rank who would survive, and who would not. Who knows, perhaps one day this might be useful.
Survivors
- Into the wilderness
In my opinion, this is best method for survival. Areas with high population density are probably the most dangerous, so quick escape to extremely rural areas is likely the best bet. This participant said she would also stay with her dad who has wilderness experience, which would definitely help survival. The only thing that could potentially become an issue is exposure, if not in an RV or cabin of some sorts, and lack of proximity to supplies if they were needed. Not that I’m any expert on survival, but I would also recommend stocking up on gas. Overall though, I believe this participant would survive.
- Grandma’s House
This participant said she would head to her Grandma’s house with her family. The house is on many acres of land and is rural. She also added that her grandma is a bit of a doomsday prepper so she has a large stock of nonperishable food. In my opinion, this is a great starter plan. It guarantees supplies and is not in a highly populated area. I think this participant probably has a good chance of survival.
- Military Base
This participant has family in the military and has access to military bases that others do not. She said she would get a hotel on the base, and would feel safe there because each base is fairly self-sufficient. I agree that this would probably be a good place to go. However, it would be imperative to know how the virus or infection spread, and if it had already made its way into the base or not. Another critical factor is that military bases are a place of high population density. If something went wrong, it could go wrong very fast. All in all though, I think this participant would survive.
Victim of the Apocalypse
- Right to Costco
This participant said he would head straight to Costco to try and load up on supplies. This is a fairly common strategy. I do think that some people would come out of this alive, but I also imagine that there would be mass panic and it could be very likely that other people could become a huge threat. So, I think this is likely to be a disaster. Desperation for resources could take over the survival instinct of some people and violence could ensue. I think this participant might be better off collecting the resources from their home and then taking off for a rural area.
- Top of Apartment Building
This participant said she would go to the top of an apartment building so the zombies could not reach her. She then added that if they did manage to get to her, she’d probably just give up and let them eat her. She inspired confidence right off the bat. I think the critical aspects of this plan to think about are how you would get food and water, and also that zombies are capable of walking up stairs. So, eventually they would get to you.