Assignment Two:

Dillon ForemanCreator

dforema2@uncc.eduUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte

November 2, 2015

Assignment Two

Introduction

Imagine yourself in the not so distance future in the post apocalyptic nation of what was

formally the United States of America. The economy collapsed, there is no government, the land

has a distinct silence around it now. Everything you used to know is gone, many of the people

you once knew and loved are dead, or so you thought. The next thing you knew that same loved

one you thought had died became a completely different person, or were they even a person

anymore? They start trying to attack you but not in a normal way, they try to bite and claw you.

These “people” as you once knew them are not human anymore, they are zombies! You manage

to escape from these monsters in your vehicle only to drive down the road in complete horror as

you witness dozens of these creatures ripping of limbs off of innocent people and dinning on

their very flesh. Now flash forward a little bit further, imagine seeing thousands of these

creatures, armies of them and they are all hungry. Welcome to the new United States of America,

land of the free and home of the undead.

Thankfully that is not the case with the world today, however research suggest it very

well may be a possibility. Knight explains that the parasite known as “Toxoplasma gondii” has

been known to to display zombie like characteristics in it’s rodent and insect host. By

systematically taking over the behavior of the host, the parasite forces the host to find it’s

respective predators so it will be eaten and therefore further spreading the virus (2013). In the

last decade alone the public interest in the fictional zombie apocalypse has skyrocketed due to

more and more media coverage on the subject. There are dozens of zombie movies and the most

watched television show in history—The Walking Dead—is about this very scenario. Ultimately

survival is the main concept when dealing with any apocalyptic figured world. Everything from

weapons, food, shelter, and sustaining human contact are all important points when planning for

the worst. Considering the most up to date regulation that the government would implement in

the case of a disaster, I would like inform the audience how all of that could change with

“Walkers” in the mix. I will cover operation and situated awareness with weapons, scavenging

for food and making your own, and finally well built and fortifiable shelter. Finally, I would like

to show the audience how it could be a problem in today’s society accomplishing some of the

logistical functions such as obtaining guns and mass amounts of ammunition.

As I take you through the journey of preparing yourself against the undead menace I

would like to inform you of my personal position concerning the topic. The first zombie movie I

saw was the remake of Dawn of the Dead (Snyder, 2004). It literally terrified me, but it also

intrigued me. At a very young age I thought the idea of a zombie apocalypse was something that

we should all take seriously! From there my interest with the subject continued to grow from

video games to watching the pilot episode of The Walking Dead (Darabont, 2010) which I have

been following for five years now. As someone who loves camping, shooting, and the military,

“preparing” for the zombie apocalypse was a cool hobby I had invested some time in as a kid.

More specifically, this paper will examine other government plans on disasters and theoretical

disease outbreaks and how you as an audience can learn from these plans and use them as a

blueprint for preparing for something fictitious but would have a much more devastating effect

on the world if it became a reality.

Literature Review

The Field Guide to the Apocalypse (Marco, 2005) and The Zombie Survival Guide:

Complete Protection from the Living Dead (Brooks, 2003) raise a very interesting point

concerning the world surrounding the zombie apocalypse after it occurs. Vehicles, makeshift

weapons, and finding an apocalyptic shelter are on the top priority list in these two works. Since

zombies will not be the only thing that survivors will need to avoid as people will begin to revert

to a more barbaric state when all normal life as we once knew it collapses (Marco, 2005).

Marco’s work is different in the sense that it focuses more on a survivor’s new habitat than

fighting off whatever beast may be lurking in the shadows. Brooks’ book however does deal with

the zombie ordeal and how to defend yourself immediately after encountering them by using

firearms, and melee weapons (Brooks, 2003). In my own opinion, some things that survivors of

the apocalypse would want to consider avoiding would be renegade people and dangerous

groups. In any end of the world scenario, as society collapses people themselves will begin to

loose the civilized part about what it means to be human. Groups will be battling against one

another for any resource available to them.

Mark Memmott and Scott Hensley from NPR consulted their audience with tips about the

early stages of the zombie apocalypse. The first source by Memmott talks about a mathematical

equation that a handful of researchers at the University level have proposed for taking care of the

zombie apocalypse. How certain mathematics play into an apocalypse I can’t say is a promising

solution (2009). To sum it up the researchers concluded that the infected undead need to be dealt

with in a very time efficient manner before it has time to spread dramatically. (Hensley, 2011)

The second source by Hensley informs the audience that the CDC published a blog on their

homepage containing tips for handling the zombie apocalypse. This was a way for the

government run organization to spread the word about being prepared for a disaster, not

specifically the zombie apocalypse. They knew though that people would be more intrigued by

the title and would take the time to read the information. The number of hits the blog received

was enough to shut down the CDC’s blogging servers for a short while (Hensley, 2011).

When discussing the topic of where a zombie originates, one would be sure to find the

answer in by watching the Discovery Channel’s Zombie Apocalypse Preppers special, as well as

A&E’s Zombies: A Living History. Both of these sources tackle the obstacle of uncovering the

first mentioning’s of a zombie in history since knowing your enemy is half of the battle. Davis

and A&E take the audience through time stopping along major points in zombie history. The

documentary travels to Scandinavia in 700 A.D. and to California in 1876 where a group of

pioneers resorted to eating one another for survival. (2011) Zombies have been around for

hundreds of years and their outbreak seems more that likely than ever with diseases and drugs

such as H1N1 or Bath Salts (A&E). The Discovery Channel special (2012) includes an interview

with a doctor from Harvard Medical School who very plainly warns the audience to be on the

lookout since diseases can adapt and change overtime.

I also made a contribution as a source, my previous work Assignment One focused on

The Walking Dead (Darabont, 2010) and its specific functions with zombies. My observations

ended up following the beginnings of the show so we could see just how well the government

would handle a national zombie outbreak. They failed miserably. The government ended up

collapsing and only pockets of survivors remain to live off of the land in what used to be

Georgia. (2015) I would like to also compare a legit government plan to no plan as shown in my

observations. David Strutt and Todd Nordstorm published an article that is had received an

unclassified copy of a government plan to handle a zombie apocalypse. (Strutt, Nordstorm, 2014)

CONPLAN 8888-11 gives the military flexible forty-day period to handle to situation before

POTUS—President of The United States—gives the order to detonate nuclear warheads on

American soil. In reference to “The Walking Dead”, Rick also makes a plan once he has found

his family and retrieved the ammunition bag, and that is to get to—ironically enough—the CDC

in Atlanta. Once they get to the CDC it is surrounded by dead military personal and vehicles.

The plan is similar in the sense that the CDC is the first place the government is going to consult

about a possible outbreak. In “The Walking Dead” it is very obvious that there was some sort of

an attempt by the military in order to gain control of the situation and keep the CDC up and

running (Darabont, 2010).

Entering The Conversation

Due to recent spike in the interest of the zombie apocalypse it has influenced many to

battle the task of preparing for the seemingly imminent end of the world, especially in the United

States of America. However, this is not just some stupid hobby as I feel many people would like

to perceive it as. Preparing for the zombie apocalypse gives these zombie fanatics one advantage

over the average population, they are prepared—or are preparing—for an upcoming apocalypse!

This means that this group of people will have plenty of food, water, weapons, and any other

survival supplies that they have deemed necessary to include throughout their preparation. So

regardless if zombies actually start ripping apart your neighbor piece by piece, if a hurricane,

earthquake, or even if Yellowstone erupted, the ones who took the times to set aside a plan B for

a major catastrophe would be in better shape than a family rushing to Walmart to pick up

supplies on the day of.

These preppers might seem to have a bit of paranoia stocking up firearms and months

worth of dehydrated food along with emergency water. For those who have that set of mindset

just take into account the horrible natural disasters that have happened in recent years that is a

direct example of the true reason people take up this hobby. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a bad

time for Americans in general. It was even worse for the people of New Orleans who were

traumatically devastated by the effects of Katrina from great loss of life, to major flooding, and

those who survived went through a living hell waiting for the U.S. Government to send aid. This

was failure of both the government’s part and the peoples for preparing for a natural disaster. No

one could have ever predicted New Orleans would have been hit as hard as they were, but if the

proper precautions went taken it could have prevented such loss of life, and suffering of civilians

in general.

What Katrina taught us, was that both the government and the public was unprepared to

deal with a crisis of that magnitude at the time. Imagine if Katrina was a flesh eating disease that

caused people to reanimate and that had a rampant growth rate which was spreading to more and

more states by the day. If the government took as long to react as they did with Katrina, we

would be taken over with little resistance. Given the right knowledge and tools, you can not only

survive a natural disaster but you can prepare for something much more devastating that an

earthquake or larger hurricane. I will suggest ways that you can better yourself as a prepper and

or survivalist in hopes to give you a better understanding on how to keep yourself and your loved

ones alive and safe.

I would like to present to you the three main topics that are seen as the most important

when dealing with a catastrophic survival situation, and how that will be altered when that

situation includes zombies. By taking my main topics into account, I feel that they will give you

a better understanding of just how important these things are. Without them even now you will

surely die, but in a world where society has crashed, you will have bigger things to worry about

like getting your flesh torn apart by blood thirsty monsters.

The first absolute thing you are going to need is food. The most realistic survival food

item that is on the market and can be bought in bulk are U.S. Military MREs—Meal Ready to

Eat—. These rations come in airtight packages and have years of shelf life. However, the only

down side to these is that you can only carry so many. As you find a snug place to hunker down

and wait out the zombie apocalypse you may not be able to find a lot of these around. This will

eventually lead up to you and you group—assuming you have one—to learn how to farm simple

vegetables and fruits. You will need to base them on the season of course, such as pea plants in

the winter, tomatoes in summer, and carrots in the spring and fall. Someone such as myself

would hate to live off of only vegetables and fruit for an unknown time slot, so hunting will also

play a huge part in your food situation. Many animals can be found in the North American

continent almost anywhere, these range from whitetail deer, the common squirrel, an

arrangement of birds—quail, doves, and turkeys—, and even big game like caribou or bears. —

See *Figure B for visual—These animals will satisfy your meat cravings but you must also be

wary, you are not the only ones hunting these animals. The zombies will make every attempt to

harvest these animals and you if they get the chance!

The next important topic is firearms. Most citizens do not have access or the legal means

for getting class three weapons—automatic military firearms and explosives— also, I will only

review the style of weapons that most civilians would have readily available to them which for

the most part does not include automatic firearms There are essentially three categories of

firearms majorly available to the public here in the United States. —See *Figure A for visual

chart—These are handguns, shotguns, and rifles. Handguns are short range weapons and unless

you are a world class shooter you won’t be firing any further than 25 yards. Handguns come in a

variety of calibers but the most common are .45 ACP, 9mm, .38 special, .357 magnum, and .40

caliber. These should be mainly your backup weapons in case things get a little to close for

comfort with the undead. Shotguns come in mainly 12 and 20 gauge chambers. You wouldn’t

want to shoot much father than 50 yards due to the power decreasing significantly from there on.

These weapons harness the ultimate destruction power in close quarters combat. At 50 yards you

should have no problem taking out at least two zombies in a close group with one shot. The final

class of weapon would be the rifle. Attached with a scope a rifle can be effective in the hands of

a trained shooter to as far as 200 yards. Another type of rifle would be the assault rifle. Many

semi-automatic civilian counterparts can be picked up at a local gun store for 500-1000 dollars.

These types of weapons can be very deadly with a disciplined trigger finger and a clear line of

sight. When using firearms always make sure the situation calls for it. Noise always attracts

zombies and gunshots can be heard from miles away. Ammunition will also end up being scarce

in the post apocalyptic world so make sure you make those shots count. Weapons are normally

used to fend off against burglars and looters in a disaster situation, but with zombies in the

picture they will become a way of life and ultimately will be worth more than gold. I would also

like to express a logistical concern that may want to be noted. Because of recent gun laws being

strengthened ammunition is becoming harder and harder to get in stores. However online

websites still allow buyers to purchase ammunition in bulk for a higher price. If it comes down to

it, you will be glad you spent the extra money. If you identify as someone who has never fired a

weapon or learned how to properly load, aim, clean, and field strip you should begin to

familiarize yourself with types mentioned above or take a class at a local gun range. Weapons

vary in all different shapes and sizes—some more unique than others—so it would be in your

best interest to keep this in the back of your mind.

Shelter without a doubt is the most important means of survival in a sticky situation. But

in a zombie situation, it is either life or death. You can have plenty of food, water, and firearms,

but if you have no way of storing all of that you will not last long. When considering shelter, you

want something with strong—very strong—walls. Reinforced steal preferred. Also if you can,

find something completely surrounded by water, zombies probably cannot swim due to the

damage caused to their brain during reanimation. However, in reality most survival groups won’t

have access to these sort of ideal fortresses. One needs to first, stay away from any large city.

Cities are packed full of people and the level of noise and activity preformed by a large number

of people is sure to draw in a sizeable pack of zombies. Secondly, having a secure shelter is the

basis for protecting not only you but your loved ones as well. You don’t know how long you

may be held up in your shelter, it could be only for a few weeks, or it could be for a few months.

This will be where all of your weapons, food, and any other essential belongings will be stored

so make sure it can hold up a few thousand dead people beating up against it. Another thing to

consider when seeking out shelter is space. Everybody always wants more space now in the

world as it is, but come time for the zombie apocalypse, people will be killing one another for it.

If you find yourself lucky enough to have a fortified shelter with a lot of square footage, make

sure you have the man power to keep a close eye of the perimeter. Zombies are partially brain

dead but in some instances and be tricky, you wouldn’t want all of your hard work to go to waste

because two or three “Walkers” got their foot in the door.

When considering how I want to put my information out to the public I would like to

have a website dedicated to prepping. I feel as if videos and blogs about the points I have just

presented would make a substantial contribution to the prepper community. For video wise, I

would like to have a firearm safety, maintenance, and usage playlist. This could go over the

types of weapons I talked about and how to use them to the audience’s benefit. Also having blog

contributors show “how to” guides for planting crops and building a shelter in the wilderness—if

it came to that—would also be very helpful for those who are more hands on or have no idea

how to begin this process.

Conclusion

The topic of this paper was to express the key concept of survival in a zombie situation.

My goal here was to improve your knowledge on what sort of firearms that could be at your

disposal, what food for be in your best interest to try and store/hunt, and to put an idea of what a

“zombie proof” shelter would look like. My contribution to this paper was to include the

aforementioned things above that I felt would be most helpful in an apocalyptic situation.

Hunting certain types of animals and learning what ranges to use certain firearms—given the

ability—were main points I wanted to hit on. Also, I included some farming tips for when you

and your group manage to secure a shelter.

This contribution matters due to the fact that not everyone has a knowledge of even the

simple things concerning the zombie apocalypse. These tips could plant small seeds in your head

for you to remember if you ever find yourself in a survival situation. The zombie situation, is a

very important area of research for one to consider. If one was to prepare for this situation they

would have also marked many things off on most other natural disaster checklist. This also

includes being prepared for the event of a complete government shutdown. In the event of a

disaster situation, those who prepare and the ones who make the best of the ordeal, and

ultimately, the ones who survive. Stocking food, weapons, and ammunition is always a smart

idea.

In order to conclude this paper, I would like to propose a few questions of my own for

possibly further research on this subject. What would be further precautions a group would have

to take while “on the run”? If close to a city, how can a someone effectively prepare if one does

not have an adequate place or legal—firearms—means to store supplies? If a close group

member is bitten, what would be the humane way to deal with the situation? Are there different

types of zombies that could alter any preparation methods? Are there any scientists who

specifically study diseases that mimic zombie plagues? If so, what would they recommend to

further preparation? Is the general public informed enough about disease to make a connection

between zombie like characteristics and how to handle those situations?

References

Brooks, Max. 2003. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Darabont, Frank. 2010. The Walking Dead. AMC

Davis, Nick 2011. Zombies: A Living History. A&E Television Networks.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGdb0TtfmIM

Discovery Channel. 2012. Zombie Apocalypse Preppers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYRHAz2YCz4 (December 18)

Foreman, Dillon 2015. Assignment One Observation Notes

Hensley, Scott. 2011 “CDC Has Tips For’ Zombie Apocalypse’ And Other Disasters. NPR, Health

Knight, K. (2013). How pernicious parasites turn victims into zombies. The Journal of experimental biology, 216(1), I-IV.

Marco, Meghann. 2005. Field Guide to the Apocalypse: Movie Survival Skills for the End of the World. New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Memmott, Mark. 2009 “Researchers: When Zombies Attack, Hit them Hard & Fast- Or Else!” NPR, The Two Way

Sacchetto, Rob. 2009. The Zombie Handbook: How to Identify the Living Dead and Survive the Coming Zombie Apocalypse. Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press.

Sturt, David, and Todd Nordstorm. 2014. “A U.S. Government ‘Zombie’ Plan.” Forbes Magazine. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidsturt/2014/05/29/a-u-s-government-zombie-plan/

Snyder, Zack. 2004. Dawn of the Dead. Universal Studios

Appendix

Figure A

Style Effective Range Combat usage

Handgun Maximum:25 Yards Close Quarters

Shotgun Maximum: 50 Yards Close/Medium

Rifle Maximum: 200 Yards Long Range

Figure B

(From left to write: Caribou, Squirrel, Quail, and the Whitetail Deer.)