It's happened! The undead have risen and as more of us die, more of them appear. That crazy neighbour with the doomsday shelter doesn't seem so crazy now does he? Bet you wish you went to his meetings.

These zombies are like walking dead zombies (you become one when you die regardless of bite) but they're fast. We have discussed the best the most effective weapon but what is the most effective strategy to survive this apocalypse? Here are the rules;

  • The strategy has to provide safety for the survivor. Enough that they feel that they can survive while using it.
  • The strategy has to provide them with at least enough food and water to survive.
  • The strategy has to work(both physically and mentally) for a family of 5.
  • The strategy has to be able to last for many years.

closed as too broad by Renan, user535733, Gryphon - Reinstate Monica, kingledion, elemtilas Sep 15 '18 at 15:22


  • $\begingroup$ fishing boat? with a few landings? $\endgroup$ – sdrawkcabdear Jan 8 '16 at 23:59
  • $\begingroup$ Do the zombies rot into non-function? Over how long of a period of time? $\endgroup$ – Bankuei Jan 9 '16 at 6:13
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Related: worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/28053/… $\endgroup$ – Pedro Jan 9 '16 at 14:41
  • $\begingroup$ How long does it take for a dead body to come back as a zombie? This could be a problem if someone dies at night in your shelter when everyone is at sleep... $\endgroup$ – Marcus Bitzl Jan 9 '16 at 16:11

As Aify said, the solution is to put to sea. However solar powered electric boats are like hens teeth in the real world.

From my point of view, fill a bag with food, water and vitamin tablets (I do have these for my sins). Grab one of the kayaks from the garage, jump on the river at the bottom of the hill. There are at least half a dozen portages between here and the Thames but I'll have to take my chances on those. If necessary I could hold out for a couple of days on the reservoir the river opens on to about a mile away. Once on the Thames I'm looking for a large yacht of some sort. Preferably a catamaran (this is London after all) but there's guaranteed to be something suitable near the docklands. If nothing else an old coastal barge will do and there are plenty of them up and down the river.

You won't need to put far out to sea, even mid river will do as long as low tide won't make it walkable. The Thames already has suitable fishing and as industry slows down it can only become cleaner and the fishing better.

Long term problems: Scurvy, cabin fever, trying to get far enough away from every other Tom, Dick and Harry with the same idea so you can get some decent fishing in.

Advantages: You don't have to wait until you retire to spend the rest of your life fishing by the sea.

Long term survival: Water is the key, then vitamins. You might have to do a few coastal raids to get stores but if you grabbed a big enough boat and found sheltered water you should be able to set up a vegetable garden on board. If you're lucky, the boat's life raft will contain a selection of water purification systems and basic fishing equipment along with flares etc. If you're less lucky then you can build a solar still easily enough (if you can't do this sort of thing you're going to die anyway, there's no point prolonging the agony), and stay close to the coast to gather rainwater.

  • $\begingroup$ Good news: there is a way to distill fresh water from sea water provided you have a sheet of plastic and a water tight bin to stretch it across, a small weight, then a smaller container to collect. The sea water evaporates in the warmer confines of the bin, the condensation collects on the plastic sheet and drips towards the weight, then down into your collection container. It's slow, but possible. $\endgroup$ – Draco18s Jan 11 '16 at 16:25
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, that's a solar still. You may have a chance of surviving (see last paragraph) ;) $\endgroup$ – Separatrix Jan 11 '16 at 16:28
  • $\begingroup$ Ah, I missed that in my skim. :) $\endgroup$ – Draco18s Jan 11 '16 at 16:29

Get your ass on a Solar Powered Electric Yacht equipped with fishing implements.

A Solar Powered Electric Yacht on the sea could potentially last years in the open waters assuming optimal conditions and assuming that you took on a crew with enough people to manage the ship. The sun will power your engines, allowing you to stay mobile, and it will also power your stoves, heating, and other luxury items, allowing you to stay comfortable while safe on the seas.

Seasickness? Irrelevant, just pick a yacht big enough that it stays steady unless it's really stormy outside. After all, the bigger the boat the steadier.

Food? Water? No problem, put those fishing implements to use and rake in some seafood. Cook the seafood on the stoves you have. Out of fresh water? All you need to do is desalinate the seawater by boiling it out using said stove.

No Vitamins? No problem! A yacht has plenty of room to store years worth of vitamin pills (that you should probably stock up on before hand). Plus, the sun is free Vitamin D.

Seriously though. This is the one of the best solutions. Zombies can't swim, meaning being on the ocean is perfect. Even if they COULD swim, I highly doubt they could climb up the curved, slippery sides of your huge yacht.

  • $\begingroup$ But what if they need to resupply, where do they go? There is a hole in your answer, I don't want it to sink.. $\endgroup$ – Kit Jan 9 '16 at 0:56
  • $\begingroup$ What's wrong with a sailing boat? Why does it have to be so complicated? $\endgroup$ – Separatrix Jan 9 '16 at 11:39
  • $\begingroup$ The issue I see with this is that ships usually need lots of maintenance. Seawater is very corrosive and so, after some time you begin repainting the ship / repairing engines / etc. (of course we see nothing of this in the movies showing us people having fun with yachts) $\endgroup$ – SJuan76 Jan 9 '16 at 12:02
  • $\begingroup$ @Kit actually, based on my answer, there is no need to resupply. What would they possibly need to resupply with that they can't either a) fish up, or b) find amongst the horribly polluted ocean wreckage? $\endgroup$ – Aify Jan 16 '16 at 5:46
  • $\begingroup$ @SJuan76 maintenance is already covered in my answer, in the first paragraph, first sentence. "assuming you took on a crew with enough people to manage to ship", which includes people to fix the ship should it be required. $\endgroup$ – Aify Jan 16 '16 at 5:47

Okay, my last answer didn't go over very well, so here is a more serious attempt.

I still think that escape from any population density has to be job one. Almost equal to it, is gathering weapons. Long term planning (which in a zombie apocolypse is anything beyond the current hour), you will want to acquire clean water, food, vitamin suppliments and toilet paper.

We are dealing with fast zombies, so range weapons are a better choice than the up-close and personal options. A rifle trumps a bow which trumps a handgun, with most other choices such as knives, swords, baseball-bats and golf-clubs, trailing far behind. With slow zombies, the knives, swords and sporting goods are superior because they don't depend on consumable ammunitions.

Fast zombies are also why escape trumps well-armed and well-stocked.

The details of your escape will depend on where you are, how close your family members are and how much you love them. I'll assume that your beloved family are all with you when the chaos begins because all the other options lead to a quick but noble death.

If you live in...

A City : get to a skyscraper, take the elevator to the top floor and pull the hold lever so that elevator stays with you on the top floor. Then use the stairs to explore the adjacent floors, gathering anything that can serve as a weapon, food supplies and things to put water in. While the plumbing still works, fill everything that can hold water. Then board up the stairwell entrance and wait.

Suburbs : get in your SUV and head towards the wilderness. When you reach the traffic jams, switch into 4 wheel drive, leave the road and continue your escape. When you haven't seen another car for five minutes, then congratulations, you have escaped. Figure out where you are and start looking for weapons, food and water.

Farmland : You lucky dog! You are already escaped! You are also probably already armed and you make your own food. Stock pile some food, fortify your water supply and start pounding your plow-blades back into swords.

Everyone Else : Find a big spool of heavy wire and build yourself a giant hampster ball. Then grab a canteen and a backpack full of food and casually walk out of civilization.

personal zombie defenses

  • $\begingroup$ What if a zombie pushes your hamster ball and you fall over? You will be up against the edge of it where the zombie can reach through and scratch or bite you. Plus, a lot of zombies could stop you from moving or even break it open. Is this product zombie approved? $\endgroup$ – John Locke Sep 15 '18 at 21:12

Shipping containers.

One container is a zombie proof house. Four containers has a courtyard. More containers gives you a zombie proof fence to grow crops.

Shipping containers can be packed up to eight high fully loaded. They can be packed into a variety of ways as well as any structure can be disassembled and reassembled. They are tough, waterproof, zombie proof, last for many many years and can be found almost anywhere. They are also bullet proof against most small caliber weapons should you have to hold off raiders

Personally I'd start building a fort or even a castle type structure over a well or bore so I'd have protected land to grow crops and a protected water supply. Add some solar cells on the roof and some wind turbines and you have power.

Best thing is it's also scale-able as you add more containers from a small family to a virtual city.

  • $\begingroup$ Shifting shipping containers would require quite a bit of fuel and heavy equipment. $\endgroup$ – apaul Mar 29 '17 at 15:03
