Setting Things Straight About Zombies

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I am sure you have seen the person driving around with the Zombie Hunter bumper sticker, or know some who is completely infatuated with Zombies. I am going to talk to you about real life zombies.

zombie

There have been several cases of “zombie-like activity” which people exhibit when they take the drug called “flokka”. This makes them look and act like the zombies you see in the Walking Dead, or Z Nation.

These are not the “zombies” I will be talking about. Nor will I be talking about people that died and came back to life wanting to eat your brains.

Zombies are all around us daily and when shit hits the fan (SHTF) they will strike in larger numbers at once. You even see this daily on the news.

A real life zombie can be defined as anyone that is unprepared, underprepared, or someone who will do whatever it takes to get what you have.

Based of this definition, there are Zombies out there today. Every day people are stealing from people like us. They are determined to get what we have without working for it like you and I have. I read the local newspaper, and they have sections with countless reports of break-ins and robberies.

These are real life zombies. If you think it is bad now, wait till after SHTF and watch your neighbors, friends, and even your family turn into zombies. These people will eventually do whatever it takes to survive or they will die.  They will run through their supplies very quickly and when all the stores have been looted they will turn their focus to the prepared people like us.

You have spent money and time getting everything set up for when SHTF. You have your home, vehicles, bug out bags (BOB), bug out location (BOL) and your everyday carry bag (EDC) fully stocked and ready for anything and everything.

Now, when SHTF you go into survival mode. You will find out very quickly that everyone you have ever told or shown your supplies to are now your best friends, as they need your supplies to survive.

Regardless of how much you have stockpiled, you can only support a certain number of people for a certain timeframe.

Lets say you have a family of 5 and you stockpiled 5 years worth of food and have the methods of getting water for those five years. If you do nothing else to grow or gather resources, you can live for 5 years off your stockpile. If you do some gathering of other resources you can prolong your stockpile.

How Zombies Will Chip Away at Your Supplies

If you have 5 other friends or family members show up to your door asking for help, and you take them in, all the sudden your 5 year stockpile is now a 2.5 year one. Now you have 10 people you are feeding and protecting everyday.

If you have some neighbors (5 people) that come by and ask you for food for a week, that isn’t much out of your supplies, so you give it to them and wish them well.

After a week has passed that same neighbor realizes their family is hungry again. They return asking for more. Do you give them more, knowing they will be back in another week asking for more, or do you turn them away? Two things are going to happen.

Number 1: You offer them the supplies they need and now you are supporting 5 more people on a daily basis. Now your once 2.5 year stockpile is cut in half again. You now have a 1.25 year stockpile. You have a total of 15 people now that increases the risk of injury or sickness which can burn through your medical supplies very quickly.

Number 2: You turn them away stating that you can’t support them anymore. This is going to seem like an impossible situation especially the better you know them, but you know that you already have 10 mouths to feed and keep safe.

Regardless of the choice you made, this will not be the only time you will ever have to make this choice. As unprepared, or under prepared people use up their limited supplies they will be searching for more. They will ask everyone they come in contact with for anything they can spare. Think about what you can truly spare.

There is no more food being mass produced, no more bandages, no more clean bottled water, no more Amazon, no more Walmart, and no more things we take for granted now. You have your supplies and whatever you can produce.

If you elect to bring more people in under your wing, you will use your supplies at a greater rate. You will however have more people to help you in creating a community.

They can help you in farming, hunting, scavenging, and protecting your community. You will have to make some tough decisions as time progresses. What do you do if you run out of some supplies, food, water, medical supplies, or bullets?

Do you send residents away or make everyone suffer? How do you deal with unruly residents? How do you protect everyone? How do you deal with your own community residents when they turn into zombies?

On the other hand if you elect to not help people you will run into problems as well. At first when you turn someone away they will most likely accept your decision and walk away.

As they start to starve and get sick from lack of supplies, they will be back demanding supplies. Turning them away again can lead to violent behavior. They will do whatever it takes to get to your supplies.  Does this sound like a zombie to you?

So now that you know zombies are out there now and most people will become them when SHTF, how do you prepare for them?

The funny part is some of the stuff you do to prepare for these zombies is the same to prepare for the brain-eating zombies. So you are covered on both fronts. Check out these 8 steps. These are a very brief outline. I don’t want to go in depth on prepping. That is a whole bunch of other articles.

  1. Plan: You need to plan on what to do when SHTF. Without a plan, you will be a zombie till you figure out what to do.
  2. Prepare: Gather the supplies you need to survive and thrive.
  3. Educate: Learn how to use your supplies and how to live off the land.
  4. Practice: Practicing goes hand in hand with education. Practice what you have learned and know.
  5. Fortify: Your home is your castle. If you are at your BOL this is your new home treat it as such. Whether SHTF or everyday, if you don’t take the necessary steps to protect it, then all you hard work goes down the drain.
  6. Survive: This may sound silly to add as a step, but it is one of the most important. To survive you will be forced to make decisions that you will have to live with. If you make the wrong one, you could be sentencing someone to death. This could be your family, or a stranger.
  7. Conceal: As you prep, it gets exciting. You want to show everyone your supplies. You show it to everyone. Now when SHTF all these people remember you have the stuff they need. They can’t go buy it like you did and suggested they do as well so they try to forcefully take it.
  8. Act: When it is time, act. Don’t hesitate to use force to keep your group safe.

Several Types of Zombies

When SHTF you can expect to see several different types of zombies, even though they are different they all have one common goal…survive. Remember when your supplies run out you might become a zombie as well.

The loaners: These will be individuals or small families, 1-10 people. They will be looking to stay off the radar of larger or more threatening groups. They have one goal and that is to get enough supplies to survive.

They will most likely try to loot small amounts of food and other supplies at a time to prevent alerting others of their activities.

They will do most of their looting and gathering at night trying to avoid being spotted. They will most likely go on foot and keep their “footprint” very small.

They will most likely not try to forcefully take items at first. Time will only tell, as they get hungrier. They will however defend what little they have to the death. They will move camps/locations often as they do not want to be spotted and will follow where the resources take them.

The small groups: Theses are larger families or groups of friends, 11-40 people. They will still be trying to live off the radar, but with more people that becomes a challenge.

They will require more resources, as they’re more mouths to feed. They will be able to send out multi-person scouting and looting parties.

Since there is strength in numbers, they will be more adventurous in how and when they loot and gather. They might still be reluctant to forcefully take items from larger groups. They will focus on smaller targets. They will defend what they have to the death. They will be more established but will still need to relocate as the need sees fit.

The medium sized group: These will be neighbors, friends, families, and even some strangers, 41-100 people. This group will not be able to live under the radar based off their size. They will have to gather/loot almost daily to gather the supplies to stay alive.

hey will send out several looting parties with several people in each. They will use vehicles to carry the amount of supplies needed. They will also have a wide area they must gather from.

Chances are they will be very dangerous if they cross you. They will prey on small groups and even other medium sized groups to get what they need.

These groups are like a gang of Zombies. They won’t have a problem using force because they feel numbers are on their side. Their camp/location will be stationary for the most part as they are too large to quickly move everyone and everything.

The large groups/communities: These will be a combination of many people, 101+ people. They will be known to surrounding groups. They will be known for using force to get their way and supplies.

They will stockpile everything. They will not only take what they need. They have large numbers of people and will use that intimidation to get their way. They will think of themselves as the new leaders in the surrounding areas.

As their numbers grow, they will get more powerful and even try to run entire towns and cities. People will flock to them for supplies and join their cause; otherwise they will starve to death.

As long as they are able to provide supplies to their members they will be loyal to the leaders. They will be heavily armed and dangerous to outsiders. They will have lots of vehicles and will be armored.

They may even have military hardware, such as vehicles, weapons, tanks, and possibly helicopters. They will clear entire blocks of houses in a matter of hours. They will not care who or what is blocking them.

They will not stop till everything has been checked. This group will not move location nor will they desire too. They will use their supplies they gather to keep their people in line. You will see violent demonstrations to people that do not live by their rules.

How to Deal with Zombies Today

Remember a lot of people don’t see the need to prep. They laugh and think we are crazy for prepping. These people are the first ones to turn into zombies and come after what you have.

When people laugh at me wanting to help them get prepared I don’t waste my breath. They have been programmed to believe the government will step in and help them regardless of the issues out there. But don’t underestimate people’s drive to survive because they are unprepared.

They may not have prepared but are still very dangerous when backed into a corner and if they know you have what they need to survive you can bet they will be by to visit you.

Sometimes you come across a future zombie that wants to prevent him or her from becoming one. When people are inspired and want more information I will direct them to the appropriate resources, but they never find out the full effect of my preparedness.

I want everyone out there to prep so I won’t have to deal with him or her as a zombie in the future, but the truth is many people don’t see the need for it or feel there is a need for it.

Keep your plans to yourself and only the people you trust with your life. If you can’t add more people to your plan, don’t include them in the knowledge of its existence. This includes family.

Unfortunately you can’t save everyone out there. You will get yourself killed if you try to save them all. One of the toughest decisions you will ever make is turning away family because if you don’t you and your group will die. This is why it is important to have a plan. Zombies come in all shapes and sizes.

How to Avoid Becoming a Zombie

You now know that even prepared people can become zombies if and when they run out of supplies. Don’t be caught in this situation. Use your plan you have created.

Don’t allow your resources to be spread thin by adding to many people.  I you decide to grow your group, make sure the people you let in are ones that are going to help you build. Sometimes bringing in the wrong person can ruin everything you have built.

Don’t under prep. This doesn’t mean you have to continue to spend your money on more stuff. The best resource you can gather is virtually free is knowledge. It is everywhere and the more you learn today, the better off you will be when SHTF.

Following this info won’t guarantee you safety, but they will certainly help you in your battle against zombies now and when SHTF. You have a lot more control of what happens when SHTF then you may think. What you do now will determine how you do then.

2 thoughts on “Setting Things Straight About Zombies”

  1. One more thing is when a few come seeking to share what they think you have, you really don’t know if they are a few or an advance scouting party who would return and rob you blind. I think it is best to keep your prepping activities to yourself! If you want to be prepared to accept other family/friends then the job of prepping must quietly fall to you only. It is far better to share how to prep but I’m not sure how to do that without exposing your own goals? Thoughts?

  2. Too many people hear ‘survival group’ and think ‘commune’. The reality is that most of us will be forced into uneasy alliances.
    Your weapons may all be ‘legal’, but you don’t want to be known as ‘the guy guy’. Same thing with other preps. People won’t come asking.
    It’s pretty well accepted that during a life-threatening crisis, most people will steal life sustaining essentials (an iphone is NOT one of them) within 3 days and kill for them within a week.
    Picture the people ‘demonstrating’ (rioting) in various cities lately. Their basic needs were still being met. Some of them probably hit the drive-thru on the way to the ‘protest’. What will they be like after missing two consecutive meals? Few Americans have actually known profound hunger. Our ‘poor’ are the most obese segment of our society.

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