Episode 199: Let’s Roll

Photo of author

Dave

Published:
Updated:

Zombie Cliché Lookout: Let’s Roll

There are two basic types of zombie stories: siege stories, and road stories. In the former, the characters pile into some sort of structure, setup defenses, and see how long they can hold up. The zombies show up and it’s a battle between the seemingly unstoppable army of the walking dead, and the survivors barricaded inside with limited weapons and supplies. In the latter, the survivors are on the move, driving/walking/riding from one place to another, never sticking around too long and trying to avoid swarms of the dead. Our nomadic survivors will loot and pillage for supplies, counting on mobility to keep the safe from the zombies.

Of course, in ongoing stories, you often have to transition between the two. Sometimes the characters dig in and try to hold of the zeds, and sometimes they keep on the move. And sometimes they have to move between digging in and bugging out, and that generally involved grabbing everything of value and hauling ass to the nearest vehicle, hoping that it can both hold everyone and will start without issue.

Discussion Question: Bug In or Bug Out?

When the zombies show up, what’s your plan? Are you going to barricade your home and hold out there, or are you going to hit the road? Or are you going to hit the road until you make it to your designated Alamo location?

Personally, I live in the suburbs, in a fairly densely populated area outside Detroit. When the zombies show up, I’m grabbing the family and we’re heading to my parents’ house, some four hours away and in the middle of nowhere.

About this Episode:

You know how I usually make a mistake, and then totally miss it until one of your guys points it out? Well not this time. I completely reshot this episode when I realized that the street baseplate way facing the wrong direction (the street was running right into the side of the cafe).  So I reshot, and edited, and realize that you can only actually see the street in two panels, and you have to sort of be looking for it.

Other News: Support The Winchester

Remember Yatkuu’s incredible rendering of The Winchester Tavern from Shaun of the Dead? Well he’s now setup a whole site just to support the creation. Check it out, support it, and you’ll even get an awesome freebie for your trouble.

47 thoughts on “Episode 199: Let’s Roll”

  1. I live 5 minutes from the mountains in Colorado. So I’d grab my supplys and head for the hills. There are some canyons 10 min away and would be easy to fortify.

    • Access to food and water?

      • I think that’s the big catch. Lots of folks talk about how they’re going to head off into the middle of nowhere and fortify a cabin or something, but I often wonder how many of them have ever gone for longer than three days without access to a grocery store, running water, and the power grid.

        Not getting eaten by zombies is great, but dying of starvation or exposure still sucks.

        • And as an out-of-shape city boy, I can tell you I’d be going stir crazy after missing a meal, let alone a couple.

        • And if the grocery store is closed, or the water or the power are cut? You’re in the same boat, but with a boatload more zombies to worry about. I’d probably head out of town, but stay close enough that we could make salvage trips if we needed to.

  2. I wonder how many people there actually are in the back of the ambulance? 😀 That’s a nice use of a limited number of panels to indicate that ambulance fits more than would really go in there! 😀

    And the zed who finally has been taken out no longer has any food worries! 😀

    • Believe it or not, they all fit. Probably not comfortably, but they did fit.

      • I hope you took the roof of the ambulance off and got a pic! 😀 And was it with accessories too? 😀

        • I didn’t photograph them all in there, but you can see three of the four in the last shot; the other EMT is just out of frame.

          I didn’t put the accessories in there because I was moving things around a lot and didn’t want them showing through the windows or something. There was room, surprisingly.

  3. I would plan to do a combination of the two. Depending on the circumstances. If I was hit with a massive horde… I’d hole up for a siege. If there was an opportunity, I’d be on the road, moving ahead of the zombie horde.

    Ideally, I’d hope to last long enough to get to a place where I could do a hole up and have permanent defenses.

    It would all depend on the circumstances. I wouldn’t want to get boxed in.

    • I wouldn’t want to get boxed in either. On the other hand, life on the road would be tough.

  4. I’d barricade myself in until the power and water gets cut off, then I’d flee to wherever.

    • That’s why I’m fleeing to the country. I need have my parents put in some solar cells or something though, so we can still have power and water.

  5. It’s from the bottom of my bed with a cold that I thank you Dave for posting the link to my site! Your timing is perfect, the Winchester project just passed 1500 supporters and we got today our first official comment from LEGO – and it’s a positive one!! Woooohooo!!

    • Fantastic milestone, Yatkuu! Hopefully it continues apace.

  6. On the road… Forever moving ~ I’m big on doing the nomadic thing.

    • If I was a single guy without a family I’d probably feel the same way.

      • I’ve never had the “zombie talk” with my family. (Crap, dibs on that short story!)

        I can’t figure if it’d be my inlaws or my parents’ house. Both are rural, but both are a little closer to other people than I’d like. Getting to my inlaws’ place could be tricky anyhow – they’re past the local First Nation reserve, and it’s just a single road through there. And the fencing’s not great. At least my folks have access to a decently-fenced compound… unless zombies know how to belly-slide at a few points.

        But yeesh, roughing it with toddlers… The amount of raisins and diapers one would need!

        • That actually sounds like a hell of a good idea for a short story.

          I feel your pain on that last sentiment. We ran out of Cheerios recently. Unpleasant.

        • I’ll do some plotting and brainstorming while walking the line today. Let’s see how well the vocal notes on the B’berry work…

  7. Hole up. Ix love next to a lot of wooden boards and a big warehouse. My friends can hunt.o can see. My family and I can work. Everyone can forage. Most of all, we live in the middle of nowhere

    • Living in the middle of nowhere would be a huge, huge advantage.

  8. Stand fast at home, secure the location. Though it might depend on the nature of the zombie outbreak; if there’s literally endless numbers of them, then it’s time to hit the road.

    • In an endless zombie scenario, I don’t think there’s any good choice.

  9. I would probably end up nomadic. I can see the value of both, but moving just has an appeal to me, even if it is to stay away from zombies.

    • There’s definitely some advantages to being on the move. Avoidance being near the top of the list.

  10. Plan
    1) go to my cadet detachment. there are some niiiice handguns and semi auto rifles there take 1 rifle, 2 handgun, a 12 guage over and under double barrel and a light machinegun and enough ammunition to last us a while (5.56 and 9mm).
    2) head down the road, go into local surplus, well fitting second hand (laready worn in) Boots, MRE’s and BDU’s as they’re comfy on long walks (Trust me I know, 28 hour hike) and a army backpack.
    3) head to the tesco’s next door, take whatevers left, food and water, and mabey a few treats :3
    4) Apocamod my dad’s van, get my girlfriend, and find a convoy heading for atlanta (LOL walking dead reference) Oh and actually not to atlanta, just wherever is safe.

    • Are you in the ROTC or something similar, Noble?

  11. I live in a damn cul de sac in the ‘burbs north of Seattle. So this would be an immediate either/or and if you blink, the decision is made for you.

    1. If at home at the outbreak, we’d hole up and wait for the first wave of madness to transpire. Which means, the culling of all those neighbors out pruning their begonias & fertilizing the lawn.

    2. If we survive the 1st stage of madness, we’d become semi-nomadic. When we leave, I know that the gun shops and major markets would be looted en mass; and we all know that anywhere en mass is a zee magnet. I think I would try for the local REI and outdoor sports stores first. Food, shelter, et al there. We’re a family of hikers & campers (went snow camping for our honeymoon) and my wife & I have have military backgrounds, so living in the outdoor and “roughing it,” at least initially, would be ok. We got most of the outdoor equipment we need, but the sports stores would have the sports food & drink supplements, endurance gels, the nasty granola bars that people whine about, etc; as well as the warm, light clothing. My guess is that initially, people will want canned & bottled goods, hence heading to the markets.

    3. There are a handful of people I’d try to see if they’re still alive. Yep, I’m the guy driving to the home of someone while everyone is driving away from the area. Would only take one other person with me for the S&R trips.

    4. Eventually, we’d leave the city and head to the mountains. Don’t forget the “101 Hikes” books! we have hundreds of miles of trails in the Cascades, with lots of cabins, look-outs & ranger offices. Weather would dictate which one to head first, if the Zee Poc happens in Winter, then we’re really, really screwed. People in the Northwest can’t seem to drive in the slush or snow, so the roads would be blocked by the crazy driving accidents.

    5. When approaching (or leaving) our Seasonal Settlement one of the things I keep thinking of is to find the schools, large churches, malls, etc. on the opposite part of town & set up car horns & car alarm The hope is to attract & assess numbers (hordes? herds? trickle? lingerers?). Hopefully. some of these places can become temporary pens. Think about it, your average Costco store has large volume space, but very few entrances. If we can Herd ‘n Confine (a la Hershel), then we may have some temporary breathing space. I would try to leave a sign with something like, “Lottsa Z’s inside, do not open!”

    6. No matter where we went, the general rule would be, “Never go anywhere alone!” Even to go use the restroom. In the ZeePoc, privacy = death.

    7. In terms of group size, safety is not always better in numbers. A group any larger than say 12-15 will become a liability within time. And, if the group turns out nutty & conflicted, me & mine will bug out as soon as possible. I’ve had a couple of friends throughout the years like Shane whom I had to “divorce” simply because they were too toxic.

    • Very well thought out, Luis. Us suburbanites are going to be in a tight spot.

  12. Initially bunker down on the farm but as it’s next to a motorway I’d have the car ready to go at a moments notice

    • just showing off my avatar (sorry for spam) (hope this works)

      • why

        • Why what now?

  13. Ok here goes i would start out by hunkering down on the farm then if need be I’d keep the car ready to go at a moments notice as my farm is next to a motorway 🙂 My avatar worked 😀

    • Sounds like a solid plan. Living on a farm would be pretty damn useful.

  14. I’d hole up in my apartment. I live right around the corner from a Wal Mart and a Kroger, so I’m good on food, and the building I’m in is easily defensible.

    • What happens when the grid goes down? You’d lose water and power. I can’t imagine living in an apartment without water and power.

  15. Just wondering… is that a different gurney or is the zombie gone?

    Btw – it took me a minute to figure it out but I love the camera for the news guy. I thought it was a boombox at first which would totally kick ass. lol

    • Same gurney and zombie. I wanted it to look like it was pushed out of the way to make room for the ambulance.

      Hah, it does sort of look like a boombox. It’s one of two standardish LEGO video cameras. The other looks like a film stock camera, which is why I didn’t want to use it.

      • Oh! It’s flipped over! duh!

        Not you I promise. I’m runnng a but slow this morning. lol

  16. Nice one……ambulances……the new clown car! (you can get 20 people in that) 🙂

    I’m more of a “dig in” mindset, about 10 miles from where I stay is Blackness Castle (was used for scenes in the film Doomsday). It’s close enough to a major city for supply runs but easily defensible from wandering zeds from aforesaid major city.

    Getting to and then into the place initially would be the hairy part! 🙂

  17. Im real excited to finally see Inez and the cameraman looks cool too xD

  18. let the girl with the brown hair live, the guy with the skull on his shirt and the medic guy live

  19. is dat inez the reporter?

    • Sure is!

  20. (now to change her character bio) jk