Episode 276: A Gift Horse

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Dave

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Zombie Cliche Lookout: Complaining

It doesn’t matter how nice something is, certain people will still find a way to complain about it. An isolated hunting cabin, for instance, would probably make for a pretty good shelter in the zombie apocalypse. Not only is it a shelter that offers certain security, but being out in the middle of the woods means there should be significantly few zombies than in town. Of course, the fact that it’s missing a few modern amenities would be enough to bother certain parties.

About this Episode:

Wow, it’s been a while since we’ve seen these guys, hasn’t it? I like to try to finish out each set of characters’ arc before moving on, but that meant getting back to my my guys took a good deal of time.

Of course the delay in returning to these characters had another benefit to me: it let me jump ahead in time somewhat, so that they are already arriving at their location. There are quite a few people here now, and only the one vehicle. Now in the real world that many people could cram into a Land Rover, but in LEGO® form that gets a little more difficult. Greg (Yatkuu) put together a little comic to demonstrate:

How Greg imagines the characters arriving at the cabin

This looks about right to me. LEGO® vehicles are always insanely out of scale.

Discussion Question: A Bug Out Location

As I show in today’s comic, I think a cabin in the woods would be a pretty sweet place to escape to in the zombie apocalypse, at least in the short term (getting food might be challenging long term, since the woods would likely be too dense for much argiculture, and other survivors would likely hunt down the available game in short order). When the shit hits the fan, where do you plan to bug out to?

55 thoughts on “Episode 276: A Gift Horse”

  1. Like I always stated in previous comics, my grandfathers hacienda. It is around 40 km from town and 10 from a newly built prison. As in the Walking Dead ( comic edition ) 3 sets of fences. It is made to fit around 400 prisoners so it makes it a quick place for a clean up. The hscienda has 50 heads of cattle and from those 50, 10 give milk. This leaves 40 for beef and leather. Now if the question of water comes along, there is a reasonable sized creek that cuts right in the middle which offers nice clean water.
    If shit hits the fan in the hacienda, well prison life sounds way more appealing than roaming around for god knows how long.
    Good thing is that there are no cold winters here, either it is raining or it is f***ing hot as the sun. If some one goes out and about on saying , ” Well, what about disease transmitted by Mosquitos and stuff?”. Even though this IS Central America, the area is too hot and dry enough that mosquitos are only a problem at early morning and late night. ( 9:00 PM and 5:00-7:00 AM ) this makes it easier to control bites and other possible disease. Only thing that could be a challenge would be ticks. Ticks in CA are not like those in the US or North America. The generally don’t carry disease unless they stocked on a dead corpse and then transferred to a live one. Also the infamous grasshopper. That fellow is practically indestructible. Only way to kill it is with a projectile at high speeds or a blending machine. They destroy crops and if they don’t find food, feed in small animals. So there is my plan for a SHTF scenario.

    • With the cattle, does your family breed as well? A herd would be pretty nice to have.

      • My grandfather does. I sometimes help around with feeding them and milking them, never have I skinned one but my mother has so meat is pretty secured.

        • That’s pretty sweet, Phantom.

  2. Don’t have a place to bug out to. As I said last update, I’d probably try to lay low in my house for a time and only move when things have settled down a bit.

    • Nothing wrong with bugging in, Bob.

  3. If Stew’s thinking that taking a crap may be hazardous with zombies roaming around outside, he may just be right! Otherwise, he’s probably overreacting! 😀

    • He’s a teenager, so it could be both.

      • The term “both” is a contradiction in terms, both to teenagers, and when describing them! 😉

        • Hah

  4. To be honest I don’t have a bug out location. I don’t believe there will be very many places that will be too exceptionally safe. I can only think of people that will have already either taken up residency, or the area might be too close to a largely populated area.

    There are though, a few people I know that I could possibly see about bugging out too. A lot of thought is still going into what I would do in the situation. I have a perfectly large knowledge base of things needed (skills included) that make a group or civilization thrive.

    But I don’t think that’s quite bugging out, I’ll most likely be aiming to where the rumors or winds point me. Until further understanding or otherwise anyways.

    • You’re pretty well setup to bug in though, right?

      • I could bug in, but I live 1 mile away from I-40 which gets a lot of traffic, and I live right on a high way.

        There’s an water shelf below the whole community here, and the grounds are rather fertile. But the location is bad over all and would most likely cause problems.

        There’s a gas refinery plant (I think it is) not to far from my house which I haven’t quite taken too much of a gander at. As well about 5-10 miles away lives a drug lord (though mind you I live in a community full of elderly, middle age, or parrents.. Very very very small area though). I’m not too scared of any drug problems, or people who might be doing them.. Mainly because 3 of my good friends are all pot heads that associate well with the guy. Then there’s the corrupt police force in Weleetka, and the KKK commonly has meetings in Henryetta. Where I live could be either a death trap, or a really safe place to live. But the odds while measured in ratios is really scary.

    • Well! Correction.. I do have a friend I was in good communication with and we did have plenty of plans as to me bugging out, and him bugging in. Starting something up, but then I kinda lost all communication to him almost instantly.

      • That’s no good. If you can’t communicate before things go to hell, then chances are you things won’t improve when they do.

  5. Its good to see my favorite charecter, Stewert, back.

    • I think a lot of other people will be happy to see Murphy back as well.

    • probably, it seems like im the only one who like stewart.

      • Based on that survey I did at the beginning of the year, Stewart is pretty divisive. A lot of people loved him, and a lot of people hated him.

  6. To be frank, I am not prepared to bug out, unless it’s to my old stomping grounds in the Sonoran Desert. The desert’s not really part of my long-term plans.

    The reason that I am not prepared to bug out is that I have not made preparations for a bug out. I am leery of any king of squatting in a survival situation. If you have plans to squat someplace, say on federal park land, for instance, bet money that someone else has the same plan. What if there are already people there when you get there? What if another party comes along and wants to kick you off? You can’t make an ethical or legal argument that you have a right to be there when everyone knows you’re squatting.

    That leaves places you have a legal right to occupy, whether owned or leased. There may still be violence, but likely less than squatting on choice pieces of federal or state land.

    I don’t have a place in the country yet; so my plans for now are to bug in until the situation changes. If it were something as mundane as a zombie apocalypse that concerned me, I would be well prepared. Unfortunately what I think is really coming will make Dawn or the Dead look like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

    In sum, have a good BOV. Have supplies cached both at your BOL and along the route (water, fuel, etc.). Don’t tell anyone what you have in your “hunting cabin” or “vacation house”. As far as everyone else knows, it’s empty in the off season. Remember the First Rule of Survival Club: You don’t talk about Survival Club.

    • In the event of a zombie apocalypse, I’d agree… you couldn’t and probably shouldn’t rely on a long term place to hole up. 1) Yes, relentless zombies. 2) No matter how well stocked, limited supplies that do eventually run out. 3) There are people, there will always be people who in the events of disasters and a great social upheaval who will drop any pretenses of civilized behavior, it would become a free for all and you’d have those who think they can take whatever they want because they can and have the power to take it from you.

      I’ve also heard of one case here in the Northwest, where a family had a cabin in the woods for summer vacation. They went out one year expecting to vacation and the entire building had been completely removed and was gone. Yes. Stolen.

      • “there will always be people who in the events of disasters and a great social upheaval who will drop any pretenses of civilized behavior, it would become a free for all and you’d have those who think they can take whatever they want because they can and have the power to take it from you.”

        Exactly right Fox. Far more dangerous than the zeds.

      • Again, I am not worried about a zombie apocalypse, but something much, much worse. To me, there are two situations that are not sustainable. The first is living like a gypsy. Eventually one needs to settle down and think about providing for the family. The second is chaos. It can’t last. People like order. Whatever law that comes to replace what fell apart will get around to taking care of the reivers, marauders, and MZB’s before too long.

    • I’m waiting on owning that remote land too. It’s a goal for both the wife and I, although she is demanding some sort of water. I have to talk her into a pond, since she’s dead set on a lake or river, both of which mean more people.

      • A well would be fine, as long as it’s not so deep that you couldn’t pump the water off-grid (PV, wind, etc.).

        • Very true. From my understanding, most places in Michigan seems to have a fairly high water table, so that would generally not be too big of a concern, but it’s definitely something to bear in mind.

  7. Zombie pentaly #1 upper cutting.

    • Eh?

  8. still, i live around in a farmland area, and im planning to bug out in my tents, but only 5 people at the most isnt a good community, saftey in numbers, if i can get through the winter, ill just plant some seeds, and ill be good. theres even running water fountains up at my church where im staying, what else could you ask for?

    • It takes quite a while for seeds to turn into food, especially enough food to sustain five people. And that’s assuming they sprout and you can keep the varmints away. What do you do in the meantime?

      • im just thinking about driving my truck into the nearby Macey’s. then raid a lot of the stuff that i can save for another time, (chips,Oreo’s,etc.) too bad that the hostles ran out of buissneses, now the apocolaypse will be a ton harder to survive in. but yes, growing my own food is a pretty smart thing to do, even if it wont plant for at least 2 weeeks.

        • Raiding is a big no-no here. It’s illegal. We’re talking about preparation, preparing to steal doesn’t cut it.

        • true… still without twinkies, were skrewed

    • Hope that’s not a stake property you’re planning on bugging out to, AC. Because I promise everyone else in the stake has the same idea…

      The balance, in my estimation, is having enough people to watch your six and help with the tasks, but not so many that it overwhelms resources. It also needs to be defensible, close enough to neighbors that they can help, but far enough away that you can’t see it from a major road, especially highways and interstates. When the people start fleeing the cities, they will descend on your family farm like a pack of locusts. They’ll rob and steal you blind, and likely think they’re entitled to it.

      If I had my druthers, I would be more than one tank of gas away from any major city at least. Being more than a tank of gas from any interstate or major freeway would be even better.

      • how about this Bo, i could also go to the hill air force base 30 minutes away, or i could fill my 12 seater truck with supplies, lock the door, and pour out the gas tank, then everyone would (maybe) stay away from me, and my 3-5 other compainons.

        • or like Oregon said, you could lock yourself up in a jail of some sort, and no one could get into your own personal cell, (well especially not zombies, not because of that well.)

        • Sounds like a waste of gas. Plus, what’s stopping them from just shooting you?

          As far as the jail goes, I wouldn’t. If the place gets packed in, you’re stuck there until you starve to death.

        • should i just take over the macey’s then? its doesn’t quite sound like stealing

        • i could still go to the hill air force base though.

        • When it hits the fan, the military installations will be locked tighter than Uncle Scrooge’s coin purse. NO one is getting in or out once they lock down. You’d have a BIT better luck getting onto Camp Williams, since they contract out their security; but Hill? You do know that they occasionally store nuclear weapons there, right? Trying to sneak on sounds like a death wish.

  9. AC, this isn’t the place to link to random zombie videos. Please stay on topic.

    • k

  10. Plan A: Stay in the house and fortify.
    Plan B: Low security prison near here (far away from people).
    Plan C: Camp in the woods (not the best option).
    Long term plan: Buy acreage and setup a bare bones homestead in the middle of ‘nowhere’. It’ll probably be done when I’m 80.

    • I love plan c. I have similar thoughts (and probably a similar timeline).

  11. Well, I bought a house, and became a parent a few years ago…. since then I have been working on it to make sure “home base” is as solid as it can get, so if/when some major event comes along we are best prepared… for example, we have removed a lot of the trees and other plants that were existing and have planted trees and plants that produce things – fruit, nuts etc. We have also pulled up half the paved area up the back and turned it into a massive very healthy vege garden… so the sustinence production line is getting there.
    Next thoughts are to get the place powered “off the grid”, solar/wind power those sort of things. Biggest issue I would have would be water, so am also looking at water tanks etc… although we do have some streams nearby.

    I’m not preparing for an apocalypse persay, more just making sure in a major event I’ll be able to keep myself and family ticking along without an urgent need for help.

    In saying that… the major event/apocalypse might take out “home base” or we might be out and can’t get home etc etc… so need to put some thought into that side of things.

    • Just had a thought… came up when I was thining about solar power being dependent on the sun shining bright enough…

      We are all assuming one pretty massive thing here… and that is that we are going to be able to grow stuff at all. If there is global nuclear winter for example, what then? I know this is covered a bit in Max Brooks World War Z, with the surviving population lighting fires, along with some actual nuke launches… has an impact on what could be grown.

      Dave, I think you’d better go with your wifes idea and get a place by the lake and suss out aquaculture set ups 🙂

      • Yeah.. Solar panels, brightness.. Sadly enough, wind power is so expensive with very little bang for it’s buck, there’s little as to keeping energy around.

        As for plants growing, like the vaults in the FO series (I know, real world survival with games? Crazy, but hear me out!). The grew them underground with artificial lighting, water, and in certain vaults they even genetically mutated them. My point is that perhaps if there was a way to sustain power, and I’m sure there is, then one could maintain a garden.

        One generator idea I was thinking of, and wish was used by more people is the bicycle powered. Using that as a steady supply and having multiple people with in the shelter to keep the whole place running. Having 24/7 shifts on the bike(s). Not only is it good jazzercise to keep fit in a tight area, but it’s also a dependable source of energy that will only run out when everyone gets lazy.

        Though I have considered the faults of this, because humans require at least 1200 (BO correct me if I’m wrong, please) calories a day to survive. If people are burning away all of those calories as soon as they get them it could result in unhealthy weight loss. Thought you might have power and food you’d be starving and eventually with out power. It’s a complicated circle that’s for sure.

        What about farm animals underground? Could a cow handle living under the earth? I’d like to think so with adaptation, but it’d be one hell of a thing. Chickens are easy to keep…

        Tsk, tsk… Sooo many questions that no one has been able to answer for me just yet. I’ve also wondered if humans can adapt to radiation. Looking at the animals of Chernobyl they have not only changed, but have become more immune to it over generations. Evolution is a wonderful thing not to admit that radiation has it’s ways with changing cells at accelerated speeds (deer found in the area have really weird horn altercations).

        • I’m not Bo, but I’ll correct you anyway. It’s closer to twice that, and even that’s highly variable. I remember reading once about how an arctic (antarctic?) expedition planned for 5000 calories a day to compensate for exertion and the cold, and it still wasn’t enough. Even eating that much, they were horribly emaciated by the time they returned.

          Using a bike as your primary electric source is a no-starter. It’ll only generate a small amount of power, nowhere near enough to grow food for the people running it. May I ask exactly what’s wrong with other forms of power generation?

      • Hah, I’m sure she’ll be glad to know you support her plan.

    • “I’m not preparing for an apocalypse persay, more just making sure in a major event I’ll be able to keep myself and family ticking along without an urgent need for help. ”

      I think this is a healthy attitude. Seeing these people on shows like Doomsday Preppers who are expecting a very specific scenario seem like they’re setting themselves up for problems.

  12. my zombie survival kit has about 5 days rations, not a lot of water, but it will last me.

    • AC, could you list me the 3’s of Survival? Rather handy to know.

      • Starting with “Three seconds without ammunition” 😉

        • 3 minutes = Air/breath, 3 hours = injury/major wounds (at max that is), 3 day = water, 3 weeks = food, 3 months = human contact.

          I’m missing 2 I believe.

  13. Looks a sturdy enough place. I just hope they’re smart when they barricade those windows. One thing I’m particular about is that a barricade shouldn’t completely isolate you from the outside, or else they can just starve you out. You want to be able to shoot out, or in the case of zombies, stab out with a spear. If they can’t get to you but you can get to them, you could handle thousands of them if you need to.