Zombie Cliche Lookout: The Power of the Mob
One zombie, all on its own, isn’t much of a threat. They’re slow, uncoordinated, and lack the skill and dexterity to use tools (most of the time, anyway, let’s not talk about Land of the Dead). Indeed, all by itself, a zombie can be easily destroyed or avoided by almost anyone. The trouble, of course, is that zombies are very rarely seen on their own. Indeed, finding only a couple of zombies would be quite a good day for more survivors. That’s because zombies tend to clump together into hordes. Not because of any intelligence that informs them that they have a better chance together, or even out of some lizard-brained sense of instinct. No, they simply do it out of a common goal; when one zombie pursues some possible food, every other zombie nearby is going to follow suit.
This is where the zombies get truly dangerous for survivors, even those who have been able to barricade themselves inside somewhere secure. One way or another, the horde is going to force the survivors into taking chances. If the barricades hold up, their resources surely won’t, giving them the awful choice between trying to escape through the gaggle of zombies, and slowly starving to death. And, if the barricades fail, they have to try to fight their way out. The only real hope is staying out of sight and earshot, and hope someone else captures the zombies’ attention.
About this Episode:
I was going to cut back inside to show how the boarding up was going, but since this is my 600th episode, I figured I had to show some more of the zombies outside. There’s just something magical about a big pile of LEGO zombies that makes me smile.
Discussion Question: Dwindling Supplies
You manage to fight your way to the relative safety of an office building along with four other survivors. Thinking quickly, you pile up file cabinets, desks, and whatever else happens to by lying around in front of all the doors, ensuring the zombies can’t get to you. The only problem is that the utilities, including water, are out, and the only food and water in the office are from a small vending machine in the break room. You’re safe, but with four other people to feed and water, your supplies certainly won’t last long. Knowing that, do you try to hold out a little while to see if the zombies lose interest, or try to push through now while you’ve still got your strength?
Typo alerts: “staying out a sight” a–>of 😀
“you supplies certainly” you–>your 😉
Fixed both; thanks!
Congratulations on 600 episodes! 😀 How long ago was it you hit the big 500? 😉
We hit 500 last July.
Regarding the discussion question: If it’s a big office building in a city, one strategy definitely worth pursuing would be to move through the upper stories of the building and use the emergency stairwells they’ve almost certainly got in them to keep the zombies at bay while you look through the upper stories of the building for stuff that can be made into ropes to get to a different building or another exit that the zombies aren’t crowding around.
One key thing here to note is that it’s important to assess what you’re in: There’s this line in the Dr. Who series – the modern one with revisited characters, and K-9 gets a really good line in one of them: “We are in a car.” He says this because the Doctor is looking for a missile to use to break into a building, and K-9 of course being a logical robot dog, and loyal, simply points out the obvious. The Doctor, on the other hand, takes a moment or two to get it! 😀
In this example, I’m thinking of a small, single-story office space. No towers or adjoining suites.
I really need to start getting into Dr. Who.
I think I’ve got an interesting Discussion Question: Zombies of the Minecraft variety, often jump while trying to get at the player. But is this realistic in a zombie apocalypse scenario? What plausible explanation could there be for jumping kinds of zombies in an apocalypse scenario?
Might just use this, or some variation thereof.
Wow, time flies! Congrats on 600! Always the probablem with blocking the entrances. There may not be a way in, but there’s also no way out (unless the boss happens to have a helipad and a fully fueled helicopter waiting for him on his roof).
Thanks!
One thing about blocking entrances is that you usually don’t need to block slightly higher windows, or anything on the second (or higher) floor. Those are all potential escape routes.
Oh, the old fire escape trick. That’s one thing I forgot (unlike every single crime drama show that takes place in the city 😛 )
Hah, yessir.
I feel the discussion question is a gamble no matter what way you decide.
If you wait, you might just have even more zombies to try get through, they could bust in before you are ready, or they might get distracted and wander off.
If you go, you might just bust out into the mega horde that was close by, or maybe you get through the small amount that are currently there and get away unharmed.
All you can do is make a decision, commit to it and make sure you have back up ideas and adjust as required. Fate, luck, nature, karma, god, whatever you like to call it will dictate if you make it or not… and sometimes, there is no “right” decision and you’re stuffed no matter what.
That’s my 2c, sorry for the long post 🙂
No worries, Mad.., it’s always nice to see people put some real thought into these questions. And you’re absolutely right; it’s a gamble no matter what you do.
My primary job is at a water filtration plant. We have a couple buildings and on a typical day around 6-8 people working. If the zeds showed up while at work this would be my situation. There would be plenty of water to drink but food would not last more than a day. Since we could not count on help we would have to start hitting the surrounding houses for food and some other things we may need to long term.
This would give us some time to practice zeds elimination techniques and figuring out a long term plan like how to check on our families who would be anywhere from 5 to 25 miles away.
Man, there are a lot of interesting jobs in this group.