Episode 786: Hurry Up and Wait

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Dave

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Zombie Cliche Lookout: Licking Wounds

Even in the zombie apocalypse, you can only push people so far. Sure, the zombies are going to get rid of a lot of the weakness modern civilization has engendered in us, but people will still have their limitations. If they overextend themselves, they’ll break. And in the middle of a zombie outbreak, that breakdown means they get killed, and likely bring a few others down with them.

That’s why it’s so important to be able to take a step back and recover. Survivors need to heal their wounds, get caught up on a little bit of sleep, and hopefully fill their belles on a consistent basis. It might only take a few minutes, or several months. Either way they take a breather, or break down and get eaten.

About this Episode:

I’m about six foot two, so I’m quite a bit taller than the average refrigerator. I picture Cheryl being a bit shorter than that, but not tiny by any means. But, man, that fridge just towers over her. It makes me wonder how many cubic feet are available within.

Discussion Question: Your Breaking Point

In your best judgement, how far into the zombie apocalypse would you be able to make it before needing some sort of safe place to hole up for a while. By which I mean from the initial excitement of the first zombie attack. Assume that, wherever you’re reading this right now is where you are when the zeds show up and start eating people. You get way safe, but have to flee from your home. Now you’re on the run with extremely limited supplies. How long do you think you could make it? Me? I’m thinking maybe a couple of days. I don’t do well when I lose sleep.

21 thoughts on “Episode 786: Hurry Up and Wait”

  1. Typo alert: “Either way they either take a breather, or break down and get eaten.” One “either” is redundant in this sentence, Dave’s choice of which one! 😀

    Also, there is no mouseover text for this comic! 😀

    • Fixed both. Thanks.

  2. They were, last I saw, bringing in the supplies and had people out to get medical aid for Murphy’s wound. So, was there a plan beyond the supplies and medical aid? I mean, other than “survive the zombie horde just waiting to chew ass” kind of plan, that is! 😀

    • Come to think of it, I think they were going to secure the log cabin as a base camp. That’s sort of a plan, right? 😀

      • Yes. I remember they were gonna break into the shed for supplies or something. I’d love to see Dave build a fortified cabin set! Get some barbed wire on the fences! Some boarded up windows. That’d be wicked cool! 😀
        Do it! Do it! Do it!

        • Hah! I don’t know if they’ve scavenged any barbed wire.

  3. Stood next to my (pretty big) fridge, and it was about an inch or two taller than me. And thats a Big fridge. And im average height. And I would think this old cabin would have a pretty small fridge. Doubt it would have an 8-footer. Lol! So, maybe BOTD is set in a hobbit universe. 😉 That’s the only reasonable conclusion. 🙂

    • Agreed. The only reasonable conclusion.

      • I got this. This is a hunting cabin, you need a place to store the game once it’s cleaned. So, it’s a freezer where you can fit a full sized adult deer.

        • That’s it! They probably picked it up from a restaurant that was going out of business.

        • Not sure if any of you hunt but you don’t just clean game animals and pop them in the freezer. It’s a bit more complicated than that. Fish on the other hand you can clean and freeze. If they have salmon in the area you would definitely need a fridge that big.

        • Not a hunter here, but yeah, I would assume you would at least quarter the animal before storing it. I think Greg is just being funny (and succeeding).

  4. I’d probably need a break right away. Gather my thoughts. But after that, as long as I could find enough food to survive. I could probably go on for a while. Kind of, on auto pilot. So that could go on for a month, maybe more. Spending the nights in safe buildings, of course. Either that, or I’ll be trying to find a place immediately.

    It all depends on if I’m alone, or travelling with other people. If I’m alone. Then nothing really matters, and I can just keep going wherever I want. Seems dumb to settle down alone.

    If I’m with just one or two other people. We’d probably just keep on moving. But we’d be keeping an eye out for a good place to live.

    But if you’ve got a good amount of people with ya, then you gotta get your shit together. People need order. And what better way to bring order, than finding a safe place to call home.

    It also depends on if you’ve got a place in mind. Somewhere you gotta get to. A mission is a good way to get you off your ass. 😉 It’ll keep you moving.
    And you’ll settle down when you get there. 🙂

    • “If I’m alone. Then nothing really matters, and I can just keep going wherever I want. Seems dumb to settle down alone. ”

      The counter-point to this is you’d be expending more energy getting things done, and probably getting less rest with no one to watch your back.

      What’s the saying? If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

      • Me, I’m a bit more weird than other people (hence the nick “Wacky”). The moment the group I’m in holds up somewhere, the first thing I’d do after we deemed it secure is take a nap. I know the importance of sleep and have tried to always make sure I’ve gotten the recommended eight and a half hours the American Sleep Institute says I should have.

        I’ve slept in loud conditions before and in uncomfortable ones. People around me would think I’m weird, but the moment something happened I’d be up and atom, ready to go.

        • Not a damn thing wrong with getting sleep. I know I don’t function as well when I don’t get enough sleep. In my safe life that doesn’t matter so much. In a survival situation? Yeah, that’s a whole other story.

      • True. 🙂

  5. We haven’t got a plan so nothing can go wrong!
    – Spike Milligan

    Except Murphy does have a plan, to rest up and prepare before they proceed. I just always liked that quote.

    So I’d probably want to find somewhere fairly quickly, to have a chance to come up with a plan.

    • I’d be the same way. I’m not a shoot from the hip kind of guy.

      • Also a good plan, aimed fire is more accurate. 😉

  6. We’re in Ventura, just outside the evacuation zone for the Thomas Fire. We got out this morning with our laptops, some clothes (laundry was just done, so we grabbed the clean hampers), and our emergency bag. Let me tell you, caffeine on top of full adrenaline burst feels awful.

    We then went to work and are now at a friend’s place 15 miles away. It’s been just over 12 hours and we’re already exhausted. I can’t imagine if we had to keep moving, fighting zombies, fortifying our position, etc.