Day 1: Steve

You’re at school, you plan on staying late, and you have a test in the morning; you and a bunch of people from class planned on pulling an all-nighter in the library (it’s finals week so it is open 24 hours a day). It is around 4 p.m. and you just came out of a final not a half hour ago.  In the middle of the library is a T.V. area where students can go to relax and take their minds off studying. You sit down pull out one of your red bull’s and start drinking it. Your friend Charlie has the T.V. remote and is flipping through the channels.

“Hey Charles slow down I want to see what was on CNN”

“Alright bra CNN it is” Charlie says as he changes the channel again.

“So how did you do on your chem. final? I think I aced it.” Charlie said.

“Dude if you aced that then I got 200%, besides neither of us did as-well as Ryan did; I bet he got a 100 no doubt.”

“Yeah you’re probably right, but do you………..”

“Holy Shit look!”

“Steve what?” Charlie looks at you in confusion.

“Do you see that Charlie? That’s Downtown Detroit!”

“Wow it looks like it is on a total lock down, what do you think happened?” Charlie says.

“I don’t know, but it seems pretty serious……look at the ticker. Do you see what it says?” both you and Charlie read from the news ticker at the bottom “Local news: 10 car pileup on the Freemont bridge, dozens injured, no deaths reported yet“.

“Shit Charles flip the station over to local news”.

Charlie flips the station to channel 2 local news. The emergency broadcast channel is on. Charlie changes the channel to channel 4 news. It too is on the emergency broadcast channel. He tries channel 7, finally he gets a reporter on the screen. You can tell that the reporter is standing far away from what it looks like to be the Freemont bridge, and there seems to be a lot of smoke coming up from that area. You’d guess the reporter is about a half mile away. He is talking about how around 15 minutes ago a large accident happened on the bridge, and that police, paramedics, and fire crews have rushed to the scene.

“As you can see behind me, the smoke from the massive accident on the Freemont, now the police department issued an order for all news crews to be at least a half mile away from the bridge incase its structural integrity has been compromised. I have received word that they have started to pull people out from the wreckage, and they expect to have the scene cleaned up by 6 p.m. for the rush-hour commuters.”

“Shit I hope Matt got home okay. I should give him a call on his cell.”

You call Matt’s cell. He picks up and tells you everything he saw on channel 2 news before it cut out. He also tells you that a man attacked him in the apartment and jumped through the front window. Matt says what he thinks is going on, and that he is going to board up the front window and then go down the street to see if Zach is okay. You tell Matt that he is getting too freaked out, and to calm down. You say to him go see Zach and then to give you a call. You then hang up your phone.

“Is Matt okay?” Charlie asks.

“Yeah, I think so. He said some homeless dude attacked him inside the apartment. I don’t know though, he was talking about a riot or a epidemic or something. I told him he was playing his zombie games too much and that it is now confusing his mind.”

“Shit that is probably true, well I hope his mind is okay for our History exam on Friday” Charlie says with a smirk on his face. “So you wanna go join the group upstairs and get back to studying?”

“Tell the guys that I’ll be up in a minute, I want to watch this some more.”

“Okay dude, don’t get to glued to it, I need you to help me pass that test we got coming up”.

You are 100% fixated on the T.V. As you are watching what is happening you see more and more policeman, fire-crews, and paramedics driving past through the camera’s shot. You’re very curious about what is happening. A sick twisted thought pops into your head from what Matt was saying. You play this out in your head:

“We are reporting over 1,000 dead. Crews of police officers, and firefighters join in helping stop the riot from happening. But it seemed too much for them to push back. The police chief has given orders for riot control to come down and gas the place.”

You watch people trying to climb buildings, cars, street signs. There are people  throwing glass bottles, and balls of fire. You see people breaking into glass store fronts, and walking out with huge T.V.’s and other expensive appliances.  Cars are on fire, stores have caught flame, and you hear screaming, and car alarms. You see the side of the Freemont bridge in the background. You can tell the little black dots falling from it are people. Closer to the cameraman you can see people being chased, you can see people fighting each other, and there are people on the ground, still and lifeless. It looks like a huge mess, it is total chaos.

Time passes while you watch the same thing for a while. Then the riot teams come in to break up the crowd and calm them down. You know they are out-numbered, and will be over-run. They know it, you know it. The new reporter says it too “This seems too big of a situation for the riot teams to control, I think they should just call in the National Guard and let them kill everyone.” You can’t believe the reporter just said that, but you agree and laugh at the remark. “Oh wait, I think I see Army helicopters flying over-head. Men are getting out I think. Yes I can see men getting out on the sides of the choppers, and it looks like they are throwing rappelling ropes down, and will begin their assault on the group of rioters.” When the soldiers touch ground they start setting up their positions, and then they open fire into the crowd.  A stray bullet flies through the reporters head, and the T.V. screen is covered in brain matter and blood. You stopped paying attention though. You knew once the Army opened fire into the crowd what they were doing. Once they opened fire you knew exactly what was going on. They’re not rioters, but they’re zombies!

“YO! STEVE! WAKE UP DUDE!” Charlie yells at you from across the room. “Dude have you been asleep this whole time?”

“What time is it Charles? Have I been out long?”

“You must’ve dude,  It’s almost 7 and we have been studying without you for just over an hour.”

“Okay dude I’m coming up now.” As you walk up the stairs you take one look back at the T.V. and see black choppers flying across the screen.

The Issue of 2012

It has been the elephant in the room for a while, and let me clear the air. We are not believers in the 2012  theories. We do not think that all will end because of the Mayan calendar, or any of those other 15 sources that cite that date. We will say, that it is a possibility, and like all possibilities, we will be prepared for anything.

No We Haven’t Been Eaten by Zombies

We are college students. We have not much time all the time………BRAINS!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 1: Matt

You’re at home, you just got back from school. Your test in Calc 3 didn’t go so well, so you crack open a cold one and turn on the T.V. to watch th news.  The reporter on T.V. is interviewing a witness to a 10 car pile up on the highway you use to get to school. So you’re on your first beer and are like “Oh shit! that could’ve been me”, but you are relieved that it wasn’t, and are now enjoying the fact that you have something entertaining to watch. On your second beer the story is still on the news, and now a rescue crew has started to pull people out of the wrecks. Cars are all on fire and firefighters are using the jaws of life and other tools to help the victims. The reporter isn’t talking anymore and moves to the side of camera so the viewers can watch the event unfold.

Out of nowhere a couple of people run out from the wrecks as though they freed themselves. Paramedics and firemen rush to aid the victims. They lay them down and start to treat any urgent symptoms before placing them in the ambulance. When they started to give aid to the victim, she started thrashing all over the place and seemed to be having a seizure. You notice that they calm the victim down, but you couldn’t help looking at what the news reporter was doing. She wasn’t saying anything, she was just pointing. The camera panned over to where her finger is pointing. There are about 20 people standing around and staring at the crash scene. They appear to be innocent bystanders. The reporter then screamed in fear, a man snuck up behind the cameraman and herself, and he grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her to the ground. The camera falls sideways, but was still on. You could hear the camera man struggling, trying to help the reporter from the grips of the man. You then see firefighters and paramedics running in full sprint across the screen. Nobody watching this at home knows what is going on. You can only hear people running around, people screaming, and the camera man yelling. You notice that there seems to be civilians running around also, not just firemen and paramedics. In the middle of the screen a firefighter falls on his face.

“CRACK!!!SMASH!!!!THUD!!!” You turn your head and notice a man just broke through your living room window. He is now looking at you with eyes that say I want to kill you. “Get the FUCK out of here!” you yell. There is no response. He moves closer to you. Without hesitation, you pick up your 6 pack by the handle and swing it at his head. He falls, then gets back up and runs at you. Your bottles are broken. You pick up the lamp next to you and chuck it at his face. The man falls forward. You move a few feet behind him. He resumes to get up. You keep yelling at the man, but he gives no response, and no sense of stopping. You run to the kitchen grab a butter knife. You run back to the man and as he is getting to his feet, and you stab him in the chest. You pull the knife out; the man falls back and you on top of him. He attempts to pull you close to his face, and he tries to bite you, you punch him and push yourself up. As he stands he swings an arm at you, he missed. He charges at you again. As he comes forward, you put one hand behind the other and jab the knife through the top of the man’s skull. He falls limp, no movement at all. Before you consider what you have just done (you killed a man), you look to the T.V. and see the firefighter being mauled from a group of homeless looking people with torn clothes and scraps and cuts all over. Then the T.V. cuts out to the emergency broadcast channel. So now you’re like “What the fuck do I do?” You fear the worst and consider your next plan. What is it?

Your Situation:

• You and your friends go hunting every thanksgiving, you rent your weapons from a gun store so you have no weapons in the house
• You live with 2 room mates but you are home alone (one is still at school and the other is at work just up the street)
• You drank your 2 beers quick and have a slight buzz (you chugged those bitches) so you may want to sober up first
• You have a house phone, and cell phone
• Your apartment has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1 storage basement that belongs to the landlord, and a kitchen
• Your apartment is two stories tall with a roof access hatch
• You are freaking out because you killed a man (he may have been a zombie/infected but you don’t know what is going on anyways so you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference).

Introduction

CSM’s Corner is the new section to our online blog. It will go over scenarios in which we use the knowledge gained from the other blog posts. So we’re putting our theories to the test! This is strictly a research and test section where weights and measures will be applied to scenarios made up by you or me.

“In extreme circumstances, the assailants can be stopped by removing the head or destroying the brain. I will repeat that: by removing the head or destroying the brain.” -Jeremy Thompson, News Reporter Shaun of the Dead.

CSM’s B.O.B/Survival-bag

First off you need to understand that there is a bug out bag (BOB), and a survival-bag. It may not be called a “survival-bag”, but that is what I think of it as. So what is the “survival-bag”? It is a lightweight bag, some sort of carry bag (like a backpack). This bag will carry the things you need at every moment whether you’re bugging out or fighting a massive horde.!  Since BanditJack has listed his B.O.B I’ll list mine also, then I’ll talk about my survival-bag.

• Long Rifles
• A type of Cal.22 rifle (there are so many different types of .22′s). This rifle will be for hunting small game and long range zombie cappin’.
• A second rifle that will have a larger sized bullet for taking out big game or locks or the vast other reasons for why you would want a big caliber rifle.
• ——-  The reason for having the two rifles is that the .22 you can carry alot of ammo and you can still penetrate a human’s skull with it (and everyone can shoot one).                      ——-  The other rifle isn’t a necessity, mainly because carrying  the ammo and rifle may be more of a burden then having it with you.
• Reasons for larger Cal rifle (in terms of what you want to kill/penetrate, Giggity)
  
• Bears (courtesy Stephen Colbert)
• Car windshields
• propane tanks/other metal tanks
• pad locks/door locks
• This is a special purpose rifle and is only needed if you find yourself needing it for a special purpose
• Shotgun
• either a auto shotgun (Auto Assault – 12), or a Benelli M1. In either case a 12 gauge is the way to go because ammo is abundant
• Knives
• Multi-tool knife (to cover everyday tasks) This could be a swiss army knife or something. Just don’t bring the one with the USB flash drive.
• Any other knife you carry is personal preference for a situation you might face. Like if you’re in thick woods bring a hacking knife like a machete
• If you’re going to fight raiders (or some group of thugs) bring a lapel knife or another stealthy knife. Anyways it is up to you on how you want to survive in the apocolypse
• Medical
• Rubbing alcohol
• Needle/thread
• aspirin
• sugar (for making I.V. Fluid)
• Food
• If you’re a survivor you shouldn’t  need to bring food along. But if you must bring protein bars
• Other tools
• LED flashlight/spotlight
• neon glow sticks
• flares (they have gunpowder)
• watch
• map
• radio

So that is my B.O.B. I would like to mention that I believe depending on the situation you could have alot more then that if you have an efficient way to carry the weight. A person can only carry 150lbs + for so long. The opposite scenario is also true. You could be in a situation that makes it unable to carry around a heavy supply bag. But that is fine. Your first task is to survive not make a camp. If you have a suvival-bag you’ll be all set.

CSM’s Survival-Bag

Around the office we call this bag FRANK. FRANK and BOB  are best friends not brothers. So they can be separated and not worry about having the other right next to them. FRANK is more athletic and older then BOB. So the purpose of FRANK the survival-bag is provide the user the ability to get through tight situations and get to safety, maybe a place where they can find BOB. The survival-bag will cary a gun, ammo, and some other utitlities. The bag needs to be light and used on the run.

CSM’s Survival-Bag

• Glock 22c with 2 10rnd magazines and a 20 round magazine.
• ammo for two full clips of each
• Knife, my choice would be a short slashing knife with a baseball bat or night club
• bandages
• water
• flashlight
• socks (incase of wet feet and can be a quick turnecate)
• matches/lighter
• if you dont have a multi-tool bring a flat head screwdriver, I’ll have a multi-tool hopefully

There are many things that are up for discussion so I’ll leave it that up to you guys. The point is that this survival-bag is a last resort carry at all times kind of thing. You can creatively think of many things for many reasons to bring them. So what’s in your survival bag?

Why Study the Zombie Apocalypse?

Some of you may be wondering, with the unlikelihood of such events taking place, why one would put time into preparing for a zombie apocalypse. Because shit happens, and you have to be prepared for it. Earthquakes, floods, riots, fires, revolutions, plagues, escaped lunatics, rabid monkeys, and the 10 o’clock news are happenning all the time. If you can be proficiently prepped and ready for the walking undead, you can pretty much handle anything. Besides, you never know when grandma’s comin for your brains!

Shotguns & Ammunition

I really only have experience with one brand of shotgun (Mossberg Maverick), which I think is fantastic. Some of the other brands of shotguns include: Remington, Benelli, Ithaca, Browning, Beretta, Ruger, etc. What brand of shotgun you purchase is a question I don’t feel qualified to answer yet, so you’re on your own with that kiddos.

However, I can provide some information on gauge and choke. Shotgun gauges typically come in .410 shotshell (which would technically be around a 67 ga), 20 ga, 16ga, 12ga, and occasionally 10ga. There used to be more, but the are either exceptionally rare, or have been banned/phased out completely. My personal favorite, and what I recommend for almost all operational purposes is the 12ga. Ammunition is widely available, there’s an assortment of ammo types (slugs, buckshot, bird shot, specialty rounds), and there is good power behind it.

Barrel choke has to do with the internal bore near the end of the barrel. Generally, choke is designated as Cylinder Bore, Skeet, Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified, and Full Choke. (Taken from Stan Baker Co. via Chuckhawks) Cylinder Bore is completely level internally, has no rifling, and no choke. This gives the widest possible pattern distribution. This means the shot (e.g. birdshot) will be distributed across a very wide area. A Full Choke barrel is the most constrictive, and gives you the tightest shot pattern. The other chokes vary the pattern accordingly, but I don’t really feel like going through that right now. (If you have questions Google it and/or comment)

BanditJack’s Bug Out Bag

This is what is in my BOB, and should help facilitate the thought process for those of you who may be just starting to construct or even consider a BOB. (Note: My full BOB is designed around the idea that I am forced to evacuate my home or base of operations with uncertainty about what lies ahead and possible hostile intent towards me.)

BanditJack’s Bug Out Bag is as follows*:

• Mossberg Maverick 88 12ga pump-action shotgun (with ammo)
• 1 x 9in. Survival Knife (contains fish hooks, fishing line, needles, snare wire, and matches in the hilt)(Rambo-style)
• 1 x Fairbairn&Sykes Style fighting knife (actually a knock-off, but decent)
• 3 x Folding knives (from 1″ to 3″)
• 4 x multitools
• 2 x lapel knives
• Tactical vest/LBE
• Notebook w/ writing utensils
• A pack of waterproof matches
• Flint & Magnesium bar (fire starter)
• Chemical Flares (Chemlights)
• Bandanas
• 5 pairs of latex gloves
• Gerber Recon 4-filter light
• Maglite Mini
• Maglite Solitaire
• Extra batteries
• 2 x Poncho
• Boonie hat (MARPAT)
• 2 liter water bladder
• 3 x 1-liter wide-mouthed bottles
• A 10 x 25 Monocular
• Hand axe (which I wish to one day replace w/Tactical Tomahawk)
• Crowbar
• Zip ties
• Medium First Aid Kit
• 100ft 2000lb test rope
• 100ft Paracord
• Surefire EP3 Sonic Defenders (noise canceling above 85dBs)
• Long term stored food (MREs/canned goods/dried foods)
• 6 x pairs of socks
• 3 x shirts
• 1 spare pair of light working pants

Since I live relatively close to a nuclear facility, I will very shortly incorporate some potassium iodide tablets (potassium iodide blocks your thyroid from absorbing radiation).

*Note: One should consider their environment(s), personal needs, accessibilty to caches, destination, and the number of people you have to support, among other things, while selecting the optimal gear loadout in his/her B.O.B. List is incomplete, and should be regarded as basic loadout (minus shotgun). All bug out bags are a work in progress, as there are always ways to improve and upgrade your pack.

On the issue of walls…

Taken from a recent discussion:

The issue of wall size comes simply from the fact that the immense hordes of walking undead will heave themselves towards our bases, piling on top of each other, until eventually (and quite unplanned by the zeds), they breach our perimeter. There is a lot of weight and force behind thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of bodies, which should not be taken lightly. (Haha, pun!) Even if you rain lead on them, the bodies will remain to be clammered over. Higher, concrete walls give you time to burn the bodies down and away from your fortifications. They also provide you with distance from the enemy which has real effects on both physical and mental well-being. A wider, thicker wall also provides you and your defenders a more stable platform from which to fight. I wouldn’t want my men (and women) running back and forth on a 2ft wall they could easily fall from. With 5ft, you could even install guard rails/parapets, which would prevent falling, and provide weapon stabilization. Hell, with thicker walls, you can mount heavy guns. (Giggity!) You can stockpile ammo and fuel on the wall for destruction and disposal of the hordes. There is also the threat of raiders to consider. A thicker, reinforced wall gives you good protection from many forms of weapons fire, and a taller wall will provide you with your very own high ground. So when it comes to walls, sir, bigger is definitely better .