Zombie Cliche Lookout:
Let’s continue our discussion of professionals being forced into adjacent fields out of the necessity of living in a zombie survival situation for a bit, shall we? If a character has any sort of mechanical ability, this is going to be exploited to its maximum. This will become especially true when it comes to vehicles. People surviving zombies will need dependable vehicles, but they’re usually stuck with using whatever happens to be available. That means a lot of subpar options are pressed into service out of necessity, and many of those options won’t be operating terribly well.
That’s where our amatuer mechanics have to step in. When it comes to zombie survival, having a working car can often mean the difference between life and death. The obvious example here is fleeing a sizable horde of zombies, but there’s a bit more nuance to it. Getting supplies comes to mind. There’s only so much stuff people can cram into backpacks, and there’s only so large an area that can be reasonable cover. Cars are faster and can hold substantially more.
About this Episode:
I’m no car guy, myself. The most I’ve ever done with any of my vehicles is changed lights and swapped out batteries. Anything more complicated than that, I call my dad for some pointers, who usually tells me to go to a mechanic. Why? Because he really doesn’t know how to fix much these days, what with all these computers in cars.
Discussion Question: A Balanced Vehicle
We’ve talked before about “the best” vehicle for surviving the zombie apocalypse. I want to revisit that question, but with a bit of a twist. This time, you need to pick the best vehicle that would be fairly easily available, and that has as many of the following features as possible: high fuel economy, mechanical dependability, large cargo space, off-road capability, quiet running, easy and fast to get into and out of, provides protection against zombies, and anything else you can think of.
Basically, I want to eliminate unrealistic stuff from the discussion, as fun as all that usually is.
I usually do the typos first, but for a change, and because it’s the Festive Season, here’s a link I found to various forms of transportation that seems pretty straightforward and would be good to run a few pages off into a handbook for survivors that probably won’t have internet access:
http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/Transportation
😀
Wow, that’s pretty comprehensive.
Typo alerts: Zombie Cliche Lookout, first paragraph, fourth sentence: “People surviving zombie” zombie–>zombies 😉
Same section, second paragraph, last sentence: “There’s only so much stuff people can cram into backpacks, and there’s only so large and area that can reasonable cover. Cars are faster and can hold substantially more.” Change bolded section to “an area that can reasonably be covered” 😀
A few typos there, Dave! Season’s Greetings to you and your family, friends, and most especially the readers of this webcomic! 😀
Fixed all.
Well, actually that second typo should be in the second last sentence, but it’s highlighted correctly, nonetheless! 😀
Got it, thanks.
I don’t know if Dave’s already done a variation of this Discussion Question, but one popped into my head, if Dave should need one: The population of people on this planet is measured in the billions. Assuming that a zombie outbreak all starts from a single primary zombie infection in a fairly remote region, how quickly would you expect it to take over the entire planet’s human population if left unchecked? 😀
That’s a good one.
From one location..never
Even full planet coverage with slow zeds wouldn’t be an issue. I honestly believe it would only take a coupel of weeks to contain that problem.
Different story altogether for Fast, Fat, Toxic or other variations
Did you ever see that zombie plague simulator? Seems like there were a bunch of options like that you could tweak.
I think the best vehicle would be a modified Ford explorer truck. The incredibly high number of them in north america, and the reasonably good fuel efficiency, the comfort of the interior, the reasonable off-road capabilities and the stopping power of one (I have seen one plough through a brick wall on YouTube) would make it king after the armoured vehicles ran out of gas.
Car windows, on the other hand, are extremely breakable. If you hit it hard enough, it shatters into tiny cubes. This is to make car accidents safer, but with zombies flying over the hood, you might need to weld some metal bars over the glass, or at least some chicken wire.
This is my argument, feel free to accept it or discard the idea.
My big concern about the Explorer is how top heavy it is. Those things are among the easiest vehicles to roll on the road, at least the older ones were.
As far as the Question goes: Number 1 on my list is a Hummer (There’s a repair shop that always has one not far from me) Second would be a SUV and third an Astrovan.
You really surprised by with the Astrovan, although it makes a lot of sense as I think on it a bit.
As for the other discussion, I wholeheartedly agree with BrickThrone. Zombies from one area, if somewhat remote, would be easily contained by authorities, especially in a highly militarized country such as China or the United States. With all of the media surrounding zombies, and the mass hysteria it would induce if it went viral, all information about it would be clamped on pretty soon. Of course, I take solace in knowing that I would be in one of the teams sent by the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) to contain and destroy if the Canadian Military was not available. After the CDC created their plan for zombies, the Canadian Government created their own. You can find it online if you dig a little. Either way, vigilantes and thrill-seekers would decimate the zombies as well, unless they are fast, strong, smart or have specials such as in L4D, but the simple amount of soldiers, police and bullets would smash any amount of zombies.
I’m glad we got a Canadian response to this, since most people frame this question in regards to the US. Interesting to see a different perspective.
No but interested. Where can I find this thingy
I can’t seem to find the old one. It was a Flash applet, really simple graphics. It looks like someone made a fancy version of it that’s completely taken over.
I don’t know if Dave’s ever done reviews or appraisals of other sites, but maybe the zombie wikia site I linked to could be a good one? I don’t know, do you have to ask the site owner’s permission first? 😀
I think we saw a glimpse of government ineptitude with the Ebola scare this summer. First, there was an absolute refusal to institute any type of quarantine or travel ban from affected areas for people coming to the US. Second was the delayed reaction by the CDC and WH to any strong response to contain any outbreak in the US. The hospitals, being more driven by corporate profit margins than concern about patients, didn’t take any initiative to contain the virus until after the CDC guidelines came out. These points combined to give the strong impression that in a real epidemic, 99% of the population would be on their own. On top of that, when the military *was* deployed, they were sent overseas to the areas with the worst outbreak, and with questionable amounts of training and equipment to deal with a biological threat. And when the rumor mill is pumped with “news” from social media, folks might get even jumpier. (I know I saw at least one report on FB claiming that someone exhibiting Ebola-like symptoms had attacked someone else, biting and clawing that person. If *that* doesn’t sound like the beginning of almost every Zombie movie, I don’t know what is!)
Getting back to your original question, the easier vehicles to work on would be those most familiar to folks, which I think is almost anything that’s already got 20-30 years on it. While a pickup might be sexy, I think any panel van (even in minivan sizes) might meet most of your qualifications, for cargo room, fuel economy, range, and protection against Zeds (by having fewer windows than a regular van or SUV). There’ve been plenty of vans outfitted with off-road kits, so that aspect isn’t a problem. I’m sure you’ve seen the “A-Team” or the “Misery Machine.” https://circlelation.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/the-misery-machine/ Oh, my, somebody even made one with the “Friends” LEGOs! http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73733
You ought to show the group going back to the safe zone for the bodies of Shannon Lyle Karen Murphy’s cop friend and digging graves for them.
Going to be difficult to find a vehicle with NO computers or sophisticated electronics. I used to have a 1987 Chevy Blazer that still had electronic ignition, fuel injection, and a computer. Im guessing you would need to look at very early 80s or even late 70s for a totally electronics free passenger car.
If I were anywhere but the US I would choose one of those small, Japaneese made diesel pickups (Nissan and Toyota seem the most common) that you see everywhere but here. They are simple, tough, and very fuel efficient. But they are very rare in the US.
All that being said I guess I would go for commonality. A small pickup or SUV that has good fuel efficiency but is common enough that I should be able to scavenge parts if I need them. Something like a Chevy trailblazer or a jeep Cherokee. Automotive electronics are intimidating, but truth be told even the service technicians at the dealership just treat them like black boxes to be swapped out. I have replaced defective engine control computers before by just grabbing a junkyard unit and switching them out.