This thread will either die a death or become an unmanageable mess. Here goes...
I'm currently reading 'The Stand' which in short is;
...the escape and spread of a human-made superflu (influenza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza)) virus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus) The virus is . (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_biological_weapons_program). accidentally released. ...set off a pandemic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic) that kills an estimated 99.4% of the world's human population, as well as that of domesticated animals, such as horses and dogs.Made me start thinking, assuming you are a survivor, what do you do?
The given constraints;
- There's no power
- The roads are blocked where people have died at the wheel, main highways are completely jammed
- You've seen no other survivors, it's been 2 days
What do you do?
Find water and food 1st.
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And a shotgun
Load the shotgun.
Pack appropriate clothing
Pack bug-out-bag along with sleeping bag and camping survival gear
Pack SAS Survival Guide (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=Sas+survival+guide&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41867550,d.d2k&biw=1920&bih=1021&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14785131613575225191&sa=X&ei=3LEPUcOqKsKn0AXik4CYDg&ved=0CFsQ8wIwAg)
Get a decent off-road vehicle.
See if any of my family/friends have made it through and take them / convoy.
Go to any supermarkets / food outlets / shops and stock up on any medicines, bottled water and longlife (canned) goods which haven't been taken.
See I can get any fuel and load up as much as I can along with a generator if possible.
Relocate to a decent defensible location - high woodland ideally which has fresh spring running water and a supply of game.
Try to shoot, snare or trap food.
Spend as much time as I can repopulating humanity.
People spend their lives preparing for this and I'm not kidding. You just have to look at some of the 'bug out bag' forums out there with people discussing the different merits of items they'd take.
Hell, retailers even sell BOB's for those too lazy to do their own: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/01/17/ultimate-bug-out-bag-revealed-at-shot-show/
http://survivalcache.com/bug-out-bag/
These people are so very proud of their BOB's, they take photos of them:
http://www.survivalistboards.com/tags.php?tag=bug+out+bag
Quote from: Penfold;365995Load the shotgun.
Pack appropriate clothing
Pack SAS Survival Guide (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=Sas+survival+guide&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41867550,d.d2k&biw=1920&bih=1021&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14785131613575225191&sa=X&ei=3LEPUcOqKsKn0AXik4CYDg&ved=0CFsQ8wIwAg)
Get a decent off-road vehicle.
See if any of my family/friends have made it through and take them / convoy.
Go to any supermarkets / food outlets / shops and stock up on any medicines, bottled water and longlife (canned) goods which haven't been taken.
See I can get any fuel and load up as much as I can along with a generator if possible.
Relocate to a decent defensible location - high woodland ideally which has fresh spring running water and a supply of game.
Try to shoot, snare or trap food.
Spend as much time as I can repopulating humanity.
Done.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and technology
On a related note, I am thorougly enjoying wiping out humanity in a fantastic little smartphone game by Ndemic Creations (http://www.ndemiccreations.com/) called Plague Inc. Seems to be the way the media is going at the moment. So many zombie movies and games, it's quite worrying if something like this does happen. [comspiracy]Are the media conditioning us to such an outcome?[/conspiracy]
Plague Inc is good fun...
So, Pen, where are you off to? You've not found anyone else, why the desire to move somewhere defensible? Off road vehicle would be handy where you are near the hills and fields, but as soon as you hit the towns you're stuffed, broken down cars everywhere! My initial musings on this took me north, the colder the better, less rotting corpses, more chance of food surviving without a fridge.
Go to any supermarkets / food outlets / shops and stock up on any medicines, bottled water and longlife (canned) goods which haven't been taken - why not stay local to the food source?
See I can get any fuel and load up as much as I can along with a generator if possible. - agree on the genny, but remember any risk you take, shock etc, there's nobody to help you! I was talking to someone at lunchtime and we agreed everyone task suddenly becomes mammoth. You may see a nice ferrari that you want to take for a spin. After you've pulled the corpse out and fired it up you realise that if you crash it, you're stuffed, no help. Basically any type of adrenalin activity will result in a bigger risk.
Spend as much time as I can repopulating humanity - a lonely job when there's one of you ;)
How long do you wait? You've not seen anyone for 5 days, do you go looking? If so do you take stuff to go with you or increasing radius of searches. Incidentally, you have not prepared by being slightly deranged and planning ahead (although the links are pretty interesting!) - my game, my rules :)
I'd hunker down in my house.
Get busy fortifying the ground floor windows and doors.
About the only thing I'd have to go foraging for in the early days would be salt, sugar & vinegar (for preserving my rapidly thawing freezer contents)
There's enough water in my tanks to last a few weeks if I'm careful, and after that, there's a spring in the field 100m away. It'll be safer to venture out after a couple of weeks.
I have shotguns and plenty of ammo.
I have all the tools that I'll ever need in my garage.
I have firewood.
I have everything I need here, I would have to be mad to leave.
Quote from: Benny;366012So, Pen, where are you off to? You've not found anyone else, why the desire to move somewhere defensible? Off road vehicle would be handy where you are near the hills and fields, but as soon as you hit the towns you're stuffed, broken down cars everywhere! My initial musings on this took me north, the colder the better, less rotting corpses, more chance of food surviving without a fridge.
Well Not 'everyone' is dead. By your reckoning there is still 0.6% of humanity left. In the UK with, say, a 65,000,000 population that still leaves a whopping 260,000 people. Given that most of humanity is crap and history tells us that when society breaks down everything gets lawless, I want to get me and mine (and others I find en route) the hell out of dodge and find somewhere defensible. Not just defensible from humans but also wild animals which will thrive now humanity has gone.
I also don't want to around rotting corpses (most of which would be in towns).
I'm keeping well away from Nuclear stuff that will go pop with no ongoing maintenance.
Avoiding cities, the 4WD should be enough to get you through troublespots when you need it (traffic jams etc). and get you to a place of safety.
North doesn't really help except you have a surfeit of wildlife. Dig a hole deep enough and anything will keep.
Quote from: Benny;366012Go to any supermarkets / food outlets / shops and stock up on any medicines, bottled water and longlife (canned) goods which haven't been taken - why not stay local to the food source?
The local food source is towns ergo dead people. Rotting corpses will encourage carrion and disease and those humans left alive will also likely head to food reserves. I don't want to have to fight to stay in place. Best to retreat to your camp then forage as you need.
Quote from: Benny;366012See I can get any fuel and load up as much as I can along with a generator if possible. - agree on the genny, but remember any risk you take, shock etc, there's nobody to help you! I was talking to someone at lunchtime and we agreed everyone task suddenly becomes mammoth. You may see a nice ferrari that you want to take for a spin. After you've pulled the corpse out and fired it up you realise that if you crash it, you're stuffed, no help. Basically any type of adrenalin activity will result in a bigger risk.
fuel and a genny would be useful. A Ferrari would not. A Humvee would be great.
Quote from: Benny;366012Spend as much time as I can repopulating humanity - a lonely job when there's one of you ;)
As pointed out above, there's 250,000 other people left alive. I'm sure out of the 50% that were female I could find someone especially when I show them my manly survival skillz innit.
Quote from: Benny;366012How long do you wait? You've not seen anyone for 5 days, do you go looking? If so do you take stuff to go with you or increasing radius of searches. Incidentally, you have not prepared by being slightly deranged and planning ahead (although the links are pretty interesting!) - my game, my rules :)
While travelling to my safe haven (be it Scotland or perhaps an Island) I would encounter people on route. You'll soon find pockets of habitation from looking for fires if nothing else.
Mmmmm.......having read this thread I think I'd be out blockading all roads north to keep out the rampaging hordes of southerners in their Humvee's towing Ferrari's.
Taking my survival tips from Red Dwarf I'd hunt down all supplies of Dogs Milk.......the longest lasting of all perishables.......though the downside is that is because it tastes like #%$â,¬ rather than a longer than normal bacterial resistance....
Taking a petrol tanker or two and parking up somewhere out of the way would be high up the list as well as raiding the supermarket warehouses and loading up all the long lasting canned goods into lorries and parking up with the petrol tankers.
In short I think I'm looking for a large car park and somewhere defensible.......in short I think I'd be moving into a prison..........strange times indeed
Plague Inc is indeed a great game.
You know what I'd probably do not being Tom Cruise or Denzel Washington super hero types. Wander about in a state of catatonic shock for a few days until a pack of wild dogs ran me down and ripped out my throat. :)
Actually it's a serious point, how would any normal person deal with such a monumental shift in their world. You're quite possibly the last human being alive with absolutely no meaningful future. Everyone you have ever loved or cared about is dead. Insanity and or suicide would seem the most likely short term outcome. If you're lucky you'll get a couple of decades wandering hopelessly about in an increasingly inhospitiable and savage world until you finally die alone and probably violently.
Jesus, that's cheered me up, cheers Smilo.
Hadn't thought about scale Pen, all valid points. The book is US based so much grander in terms of space that you wander aimlessly. So, killer question....you're at home, news of the outbreak. Within 24 hours you're alone......how long do you wait for the authorities?
I think in such a situation that maybe the authorities would be the last people you'd want to meet should they exist in any form.
Though i have just clicked where the perfect place might be........aircraft hardened aircraft shelters built for the cold war lay around our military airfields in abundance........nice hardened shelter to keep the bad guys out with storage and backup electrical generators, battery systems and store rooms in which to keep the dog's milk.......plus a nice big secure parking spot for all the supplies you manage to lay your hands on.........the bonus being that the airfield nearby is a great spot for taking the ferrari out for a spin and pretending you're the Stig on the days you get bored ;)
Quote from: Niel;366021......in short I think I'd be moving into a prison..........strange times indeed
That's just what they did in Season 2 of The Walking Dead. Green space and accommodation all nicely safe from the zombies outside.
Whip out Max's Zombie Guide!
Well living in Swansea I'm fairly near (easy walking distance) from a Marina and a ferry service. I'm inclined to believe that there would be plenty of boats with a few cans of food lying around (if not the riskier option are the two big supermarkets across the road). There's also a stash of fuel, radios and other useful stuff.
If the apocalypse turns out to be the zombie kind I would find the largest ship I could feasibly manage on my own (given no sailing experience...likely fairly small), strap a row boat to the back and pull it about 100 yards away from the dock (still within sea defences in case of storms).
I'd use the radios to try and communicate with others. The benefit of some semblance of society beats the risk of robbery...considering 99% of people are dead there are far more valuable things left unattended than what I've scavenged, which would short term be water, fuel and food in that order (food should be everywhere at first). As time went on photovoltaic panels and marine batteries would move up the list (again reasonably easy to come by in a marina) with the aim of building enough capacity to run a fridge, kettle and cooker (though I'd probably put that gear in a second nearby boat for fire prevention). Then I'd have storage for fresh fish etc, clean water and cooked food.
As far as medicine goes, I imagine that would be the hardest part. Hospitals and doctors surgeries would be overrun initially, and afterwards would be looted first. I'd imagine going to a small chemist and grabbing pain killers, gauze and anything with "cilin" at the end of the name would be a safer option, but other than that I'm not sure what I'd be looking for.
If I made contact with anyone far off and the situation was not too bad I imagine my floatila would be the best method to reach them unless they're completely land locked...I'd have to make a call based on the situation.
These are all good suggestions, but I think I might have to go with Niel on this one. Either a prison or an airfield. Possibly a prison near an airfield?
I'd have to bust into a sporting goods store to secure a decent rifle for hunting and long-range defense. I've already got all the handguns I need, but I might be a bit short on ammo until I can resupply somewhere. I'll probably also check near the local cop shop to see if they're still alive. If they are, fine. If they're not, I'm gonna have to make sure I'm the first one there to secure their armory, both to increase my own defensive capabilities, and make sure their offensive capabilities don't fall into the wrong hands (wrong being anyone's but mine).
I'm assuming I'm going to have ample time on my hands, television and internet being out of the question. This means transportation is a temporary problem. If you find a mobile crane (preferably one with an operating manual nearby, but for lifting cars ten yards to the side you're never going to exceed the load restrictions anyway), cars can be lifted out of the way to create transport corridors. Car density around here isn't such a major problem anyway, so I think I could get my hands on a tow truck for smaller gatherings of cars, and then go looking for said mobile crane.
Having all this ample time on my hands, scavenging and general life improvement will be priorities. What sucks is that I'll probably have to learn some form of farming to be able to do long-term survival, most canned goods are only good for a decade or so. Military preserves last quite a bit longer, but taste a fair bit worse as a result. The norwegian RSP (reservestridsproviant, reserve combat rations) are tinned beef, pork, fat and peas, and lasts for a minimum of 20 years after production. As long as the tin isn't dented or rusted, the contents is most likely OK. My father uses that stuff when he's out hiking, and although he says it tastes just as bad as when he was in the army, it doesn't taste any worse. Last year he finished his stock of cans manufactured in the 60's, so now he's up to the 1974 vintage.
The army stopped buying the product in 1995, but that means if they still have the stuff in stock, it's good for another 15 years or so. A lot of supermarkets have the civillian equivalent, so even though it's not gonna be gourmet dining, you're likely to survive on it.
To hoard every scavenged bit of kit in one location makes me vulnerable to raiders. After having set up a defensible and decent primary location, I'd have to start looking into creating a fallback position. 1on1, I think I could handle things. If there's more of them than me, running is a good choice. I'll get to my secondary location while they're busy looting the primary one.
After that, I'm sure having all the time in the world will lead to some pretty interesting innovations on my part.
So it seems everyone's view is that society will turn feral and we'll have to start shooting and looting. That's a fairly poor thought innit!
It's the simple things that would be a pain in the ass. You break into an army base, turns out everything is locked behind secure doors. Do you rifle the bodies (100's) for keys, if it's electronic locks you're going nowhere. You won't be able to get at stuff.
I like the boat thoughts, it's something we came up with here. You could either walk through the channel tunnel (in the dark) or nick a ferry. What happens when you run it aground a mile from shore.....
Would be great to think it would be anything other than feral......but with essentially everything gone and no systems maintained that put food on the table then the reality would be every man for himself..........we'd be turned into rats scavenging what is left.........and it wouldn't take long for groups with guns to start to think "this would be a lot easier if we had people to do the hard work for us" and we'd be back into the dark ages and end up with daft things like Lords,Barons,whatever's calling he shots whilst the plebs did what they were told..........not too different from okay tbh but with less foreign holidays;)
Quote from: Benny;366104So it seems everyone's view is that society will turn feral and we'll have to start shooting and looting. That's a fairly poor thought innit!
It's the simple things that would be a pain in the ass. You break into an army base, turns out everything is locked behind secure doors. Do you rifle the bodies (100's) for keys, if it's electronic locks you're going nowhere. You won't be able to get at stuff.
I like the boat thoughts, it's something we came up with here. You could either walk through the channel tunnel (in the dark) or nick a ferry. What happens when you run it aground a mile from shore.....
Military shelters still have metal doors .....and a cutting torch would get you in still ( in my time in the RAF I did actually break into a hardened shelter with a long screwdriver when we managed to lock ourself out .......the door/lock design was changed as a result ) . But I think it highly likely to find the aircraft shelters open........they only get locked properly when they play at war games. On a RAF base there would be lots of them to choose and you'd be sorted out fairly quickly.