The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

So you wake up one morning, eat your breakfast just like normal, throw on your headphones and head out the door. But somethings wrong. Is it something in the air? Maybe the sky's a bit off shade? Or is it your neighbor hungrily chewing on the bloodied flesh of his six year old daughter in your grass. If that's not a regular occurance for you, then it's time to take action. Hopefully you're prepared.



Step one to survival is to know your enemy. A zombie (also called: shamblor, zed, or rot-box) is fairly easy to tell apart from a non-zed. First off, a rot-box smells like just that: a box of rot. Also, they don't walk, or dance for that matter, they shamble. They also have a very distinctive sad-and-hungry moan when they see living flesh. There's alot of speculation on what causes it (pasing through the tail of a comet, a virus, black magic, etc.) But no one has been able to come up with absolute proof. Zeds are tireless, they don't sleep, they don't rest, but they do eat. Flesh that is. They retain no memory of what they once were, and will devour their entire family without blinking an eye. The only way you're going to stop them, is by destroying the brain. Alot of people will tell you to behead them, or break the neck. This will stop them coming after you, for sure, but what you are left with is ''snappers'', heads on the ground that can't make any noise, so if you are unlucky enough to step on one, you just might get bit. Once you're bit, you're pretty much done. You'll be infected. You could try cutting off the limb that was bitten immediatly, but it only has a 1 in 20 chance of success.



Step Two: Now that you know your enemy, it's time to prepare for your enemy. The most important thing to remember is to follow the law. In the event of a world-wide outbreak, you can throw law to the wind and go find yourself a tank. But until then, you don't want to end up in jail for violating weapons laws, because once the crap hits the proverbial fan, you'll just rot away in there. That being said, here are some suggested supplies and preparations you may want to look into.



1. Your stronghold. First thing you need to do is decide what kind of out break you are preparing for. Two or three zeds in your front yard? Probably don't even need one. Your town or city filled with shamblors? You'll need a decently stocked and protected hideout. The entire world belongs to the rot-boxes? You're going to need a fortress. I'll take you through what AMC (the most prepared zombie survival organization to date) has prepared for world zombie outbreak, and you can downgrade it as you see fit. AMC has selected a semi-large building in a suburban area as their best bet for a fortress. This building is large enough to comfortably house 50-75 people. There is a grassy area in the rear that will be fenced with a chain-link privacy fence (the kind with the slats so you can't see in). A sub-urban area was chosen for several reasons. The population is less than that of a city, which means less shamblors, and less panicky, rioting survivors to deal with. Also, the proximity is close enough that we can still make our way into a formerly populated area to scavenge for extra supplies when things calm down. And on top of that, when things get crazy, we won't have as far to travel to get to our stocked fortress. As far as the building itself is concerned, you want to choose one that fits your survival party's size. It should have a minimal amount of entrances/exits, but at least two. Windows should be at least fifteen feet above ground level. A converted warehouse would be ideal, perhaps. You should modify it with things such as generators, an outdoor trench latrine (toilet), and sentry positions on the rooftop. The interior can be sectioned off (as we did) to create a supply area, a common area, and seperate living areas.



2. Weaponry



2a. Firearms- Again, I cannot stress this enough, comply with all local laws and regulations when aquiring firearms. All you need is a good, semi-automatic rifle with common ammunition (i.e. easy to find, stay away from odd dimentioned imports and customs) that will hold a fair ammount of ammunition (15-25 rounds is great). If you plan on having rooftop sentrys, a bolt-action, military surpluss sniper rifle would do wonderfully. A chinese or russian mossin-nagant M44 would be perfect. For pistols, look for something larger caliber, between a .38 and a .45, if you are an accomplished, or even experienced shooter. For a novice, try a .22. While they are widely viewed as a womans pistol, a 'varmint' hunter, or a plinker, the .22 has a reputation of being the hitman's choice for it's habit of entering the skull and then ricocheting around inside, obliterating the brain. Whatever you aquire, learn it backward and foreward. Learn how to care for it, repair it, and fire it. Practice practice practice.



1b. Melee weapons- A melee weapon should be chosen with care, if you ever find yourself in a situation you would need it, it has to be able to work. You want something smaller, but capable of putting down a rot-box in one blow. here are some good choices.



Khukri- One of my personal favorites, the khukri is a machete-like weapon from originating in Nepal. The ghurkas of Nepal made this weapon famous in their fights with the British. It is stout, powerful, and capable of severing a limb in a single blow. When choosing a khuk, find a reputable dealer that makes a full-tang version with good quality steel. A good sized khuk to choose would be between 13 and fifteen inches overall. There are larger, two handed versions that are more like swords as well, but these are best left to the extremely experienced. A traditional khukri comes with two accompaning knives as well, a definate plus.



Hatchet/Hand axe- An exelnt weapon for slitting skulls, it has the added bonus that it can be used as an all-purpose tool when need be.



Hammers- A one handed hammer could be a great weapon, able to punch through the skull in one blow and send shards into the brain if it is heavy enough.



3. Supplies

You want to stock your hideout with non-perishable food, water, ammunition for your firearms, generators, an am/fm radio, a wide band radio (like a CB) if possible, medical supplies, survival equipment (water/windproof matches, rope/cord/wire, etc.), bleach and/or lye (for the trench latrine), bedding, extra clothing, entertainment, and anything else you thing you might need. Think of what you might be able to use, and improvise with, and stock up on it.



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