Stand And Deliver B. ) Taking Control of Your Hideout, Scenario 1: Zombie Occupied Buildings

Stand And Deliver B. )   Taking Control of Your Hideout, Part 1: Zombie Occupied Buildings

Once you have found your target building you must move forward with taking control of it.  When I say “taking control” I mean gaining complete ownership and authority over the building.  To gain this authority you need to neutralize all threats - zombies and survivors alike.  Yes, other survivors should be regarded as threats and handled accordingly.  HOWEVER! 

Note the word “neutralize” and not “eliminate”.  Let us examine our threats and walk through why a “shoot now, ask questions later” approach will be ineffective in the long run.

Major Threat  :  Zombies.  These are generally pretty dim-witted and slow moving.  Yet one scratch from any of them can result in deadly consequences for a survivor.  Do not get arrogant after killing a few zombies.  None of us are invincible.  Approach with caution or, even better, neutralize from a distance. 

Latent Threat  :  Other survivors.  People are going to be panicked during the Zombie Apocalypse.  Some may very well lose their sense of “right and wrong” and act unpredictably and without regard for others.  There are people who will see other survivors as more mouths to split a finite amount of resources with and will not be willing to coexist.  Then there are those who share my mindset : do not trust who you do not know.  Family and Friends are the best company to keep in the Zombie Apocalypse.  Be wary of all others.

Another good reason not to go in guns blazing is because you do not know who is inside.  What if there are a few soldiers inside?  Or a doctor?  Or a pilot?  Anybody with a unique skill set is worth their weight in food during the Zombie Apocalypse.  There is no sense in killing someone that you may end up needing later down the road.

This being said, although the zombies are your major threat, it will be a lot easier to take control of a building that does not contain any survivors already.  I would prefer the prospect of cleansing a building of zombies to lock it down to the idea of trying to negotiate with survivors who already have the place locked down.  You may be wondering why.

The possibility for survivor vs. survivor violence is a legitimate possibility for sure.  You just can’t assume that people will be happy to see other people;  some don’t want the trouble of hiding out with people they do not know.  It will be hard to approach any building that is currently “survivor-controlled” because, if it is defended properly, the survivors defending the building will have the drop on you as you approach.  This is the riskiest part of taking control of a building - getting initial access.  It may be scary to think that neighbors from your town would be so ruthless, but in the Zombie Apocalypse it is survival at ANY cost and some people will draw their “line in the sand” in regards to which aspects of morality and civility should still be acknowledged in different places. 

However you do not want to initiate negativity with other survivors.  It will ALWAYS prove more useful to be a peacemaker and try to grow your team than to gun down people you do not know simply out of fear that they may kill you first.  Conversely, it is hard to be peacemaker with someone who is a clear threat to your safety.  Be very cautious when feeling out how other people are and what kind of mindset they are in.  We will go over this in more detail in a post soon-to-come in regards to the topic of “crowd control” and how to coexist in a post-apocalyptic world.

Let us get back to taking control of your hideout.  The bigger your team, the easier you will be able to lockdown bigger buildings.  Conquering and locking down your target building will vary slightly from building to building in order to encompass the vast range of possibilities and settings but still these concepts will hold true. 

Step 1.  Get Inside!  You need to be inside of the building to take control of it!  Duh!

Step 2.  Secure the front of the building.  Whichever room is the first one you enter into from the outside, that is your first assignment.  Kill all zombies in this room with extreme prejudice.  Then, someone agile should maintain control of the front door while the rest of your team moves forward into the building.  It is essential to keep a lookout at the front door to ensure two things: A. the door is still available to escape out of should you need to abandon your attempt to control this building and B.  to make certain nobody else comes in. 

Step 3.  Go through EVERY room in the building.  Nothing can be overlooked.  Make a note of how many entrances/exits there are total in the building and post a lookout at each one until the building is secure.  While looking for zombies and making sure the building is clear of threats, take a note of ANY useful or potentially useful materials you find.  You’ll come back for all that stuff once the building is locked down.   

You want to keep people at the entrances to the building until you are sure the building is habitable.  Once you have examined every room (and eliminated all zombies) you will begin the process of “lock down”.  Shut down the entrances and start fortifying your hideout!  Gather up any furniture that is big and heavy in front of the entrances.  Take interior doors down and use them as fortification material for large windows on the ground level of your building.  This is where your resourcefulness will shine.  You want to make it impossible for anybody to enter your building without your express permission.  That is how to properly lockdown a hideout.

Next posts :  Taking Control of Your Hideout, Scenario 2 :  Survivor-Controlled Building.  

And Also!

Hideout Makeover - How to Set Up Your Hideout to Stay Organized and Alive.