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.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Stand and Deliver (a.) Choosing a Hideout
STAND AND DELIVER. A . ) Choosing a Hideout.
If you come to the decision that your best option is to find a defensible building and hold it down, then you are in luck - that is what we are about to cover.
“Stand and Deliver”. It just sounds badass.
By now you may or may not have other people with you. You may also have some supplies. If you have neither, reread my first few posts and come correct. Anyway…
Look for DEFENSIBLE buildings. If you are in an area you are familiar with, you should already know where some of the bigger, more defensible buildings are. To determine whether or not a building is good to defend there are a few key characteristics to look for:
1. Doors and Windows. A place with no windows and 2 doors is great and the defensibility of a building diminishes as the number of windows and doors increases. I prefer 2 doors to 1 door so that you have an escape option if you NEED to get out and one door is totally out of the question. Sure, a single entrance is easier to defend than two entrances, but if it gets breached you are effectively fucked.
2. Roof Access. It is important to get to the roof of any building you are holding down. You need to make your hideout known to helicopters and planes that may be searching for survivors. You will need the space on the roof to grow plants and collect rain water (if you make it this far, we’ll come back to this concept in a future post).
3. Contents. Most buildings will have SOMETHING useful, but some buildings are a higher priority than others. If you are low on food, locking down a grocery store is pretty reasonable if it fits the characteristics you are looking for. If you need to know something - anything - a library is a solid place to check out.
You will have to be planning in advance with any building you decide to go with. How long are you going to stay here if nobody comes to rescue you? How long are you going to have before you need to make a run for supplies somewhere?
Some of us though will be unfortunate enough to be somewhere they are unfamiliar with when the Zombie Apocalypse breaks out. If you are advanced enough to be able to identify a defensible building in a town you are unfamiliar with, kudos. For those of you who are not this advanced or who don‘t feel confident in ANY building around, you may want to read
Genesis (c.)(1.) Run Away.
Some key buildings you are DEFINITELY going to want to find are:
1. Grocery Store. Any will do as long as it has usable food.
2. Super Center. Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Costco. Anything with lots of stuff and a variety of merchandise. Stopping at a Wal-Mart for medicine can save you a trip to a hospital (hospitals are a big “no-no” in the Zombie Apocalypse).
3. Library. Once you get settled in you are going to need to learn things you never needed to know before. Libraries are full of information on ANYTHING you need. Plus they have Maps! Big ups for the Library!!!
4. Police Station / Army Depot. These places may have weapons and/or badass survivors. Either of these constitutes an upgrade to your team (assuming of course that the cops and soldiers are still true-hearted protectors of the people in this time of great peril!).
5. Hardware Store. Great place to score building materials, seeds for plants, tools (for tool purposes or weapons purposes), and sometimes even hunting gear and guns! A good hardware store is a sleeper building not oft thought of.
6. Hospital / Pharmacy. Yes, it is a big “no-no” to go to a hospital. But for long term medicinal needs it is a very real possibility that you will have to get to a hospital to get medical supplies.
7. Gas Stations. For supplies (lighters especially) and gas.
------------What other buildings do YOU consider important to be able to locate?---------------------
Coming next, Stand And Deliver (b.) Taking Control of Your Hideout.
If you come to the decision that your best option is to find a defensible building and hold it down, then you are in luck - that is what we are about to cover.
“Stand and Deliver”. It just sounds badass.
By now you may or may not have other people with you. You may also have some supplies. If you have neither, reread my first few posts and come correct. Anyway…
Look for DEFENSIBLE buildings. If you are in an area you are familiar with, you should already know where some of the bigger, more defensible buildings are. To determine whether or not a building is good to defend there are a few key characteristics to look for:
1. Doors and Windows. A place with no windows and 2 doors is great and the defensibility of a building diminishes as the number of windows and doors increases. I prefer 2 doors to 1 door so that you have an escape option if you NEED to get out and one door is totally out of the question. Sure, a single entrance is easier to defend than two entrances, but if it gets breached you are effectively fucked.
2. Roof Access. It is important to get to the roof of any building you are holding down. You need to make your hideout known to helicopters and planes that may be searching for survivors. You will need the space on the roof to grow plants and collect rain water (if you make it this far, we’ll come back to this concept in a future post).
3. Contents. Most buildings will have SOMETHING useful, but some buildings are a higher priority than others. If you are low on food, locking down a grocery store is pretty reasonable if it fits the characteristics you are looking for. If you need to know something - anything - a library is a solid place to check out.
You will have to be planning in advance with any building you decide to go with. How long are you going to stay here if nobody comes to rescue you? How long are you going to have before you need to make a run for supplies somewhere?
Some of us though will be unfortunate enough to be somewhere they are unfamiliar with when the Zombie Apocalypse breaks out. If you are advanced enough to be able to identify a defensible building in a town you are unfamiliar with, kudos. For those of you who are not this advanced or who don‘t feel confident in ANY building around, you may want to read
Genesis (c.)(1.) Run Away.
Some key buildings you are DEFINITELY going to want to find are:
1. Grocery Store. Any will do as long as it has usable food.
2. Super Center. Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Costco. Anything with lots of stuff and a variety of merchandise. Stopping at a Wal-Mart for medicine can save you a trip to a hospital (hospitals are a big “no-no” in the Zombie Apocalypse).
3. Library. Once you get settled in you are going to need to learn things you never needed to know before. Libraries are full of information on ANYTHING you need. Plus they have Maps! Big ups for the Library!!!
4. Police Station / Army Depot. These places may have weapons and/or badass survivors. Either of these constitutes an upgrade to your team (assuming of course that the cops and soldiers are still true-hearted protectors of the people in this time of great peril!).
5. Hardware Store. Great place to score building materials, seeds for plants, tools (for tool purposes or weapons purposes), and sometimes even hunting gear and guns! A good hardware store is a sleeper building not oft thought of.
6. Hospital / Pharmacy. Yes, it is a big “no-no” to go to a hospital. But for long term medicinal needs it is a very real possibility that you will have to get to a hospital to get medical supplies.
7. Gas Stations. For supplies (lighters especially) and gas.
------------What other buildings do YOU consider important to be able to locate?---------------------
Coming next, Stand And Deliver (b.) Taking Control of Your Hideout.
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