Zombie Cliche Lookout: The Hard Way
I’ve stated more than once that one of my favorite tropes of the zombie genre is when characters board up whatever shelter they’ve found themselves in. I don’t know why, but the idea of turning a normal home into a half-assed fortress is interesting to me, especially when those fortifications are doomed to fail, as they generally are in a zombie story.
One thing that I rarely see addressed in this trope, however, is just how difficult it would make things for people trying to come and go from the house when it comes time to gather supplies, do some scouting, or search for other survivors. Sometimes we’re shown a clever point of ingress that the zombies can’t make use of due to their poor dexterity, but it’s generally ignored.
About this Episode:
Every time I pull out this set of Ted and Vicky’s bedroom, I start to speculate about who sits on what side of the bed. They both get lamps, but one person has a simple coffee cup, the other has a large bottle that looks very much like it should been filled with liquor, possibly whiskey. So the question remains: who drinks themselves to sleep every night?
Other News:
Next Tuesday is Independence Day here in the US. Normally I’d take a day off for that (probably Monday), but I feel like I’ve taken quite a few of those lately, so I’ve got a comic scheduled. Yay!
Discussion Question: Security and Convenience
Let’s say you have to secure your house for the zombie apocalypse, but that you also want to be able to come and go with minimal inconvenience. What’s your plan? Oh, and try to give a rough understanding of your home’s layout so we can get a better sense of what you mean.
I’m especially interested in those who live in apartments and duplexes where they only control a portion of the building they’re inhabiting.
Lol! Ted is a little wacky. So, at first, I’d think it’d be him. But Vicky is the one who’s had to deal with him for years. So I’m thinking it’s Vicky! 🙂 😉 Haha!
I tend to agree!
🎵We’ve got a comic on the 4th! A comic on the 4th!🎵
🎵Got a comic on the 4th! A comic on the 4th🎵
Much rejoicing.
Garage door|front door|windows|Higher windows|
| | | |
| | | |
| Door Door
| | |
|_______Door|_____Windows_____door_______________|
«Gate | deck |#
# |______|#
# fenced in yard #
# Gate
########## Fence ###########
Id probably board up everything but the back doors to the fenced in yard. I think thatd be a safe area with multiple exits. And if the fence is down,id see it from the windows. I have really thick,solid,and strong doors. So I might not have to board them up that much. And,for the front door, you have to go up some steps to a little area that could only fit like 6 zombies. So hopefully they can’t get very many of them pushing on the door.
Oh no. That did not work. Lol! That would be a weird looking house! Haha!
I’ll describe my house.
On the West side of my house. I have the front door ,a garage door,and some windows. Id probably board all those up.
On the North side,we have another door. Id probably board that up too.
And on the east side,there are doors going out to a fenced in yard. There is a deck also. There are two fence gates. One north, one south. That is where id exit the house. Past the fence is a Huge yard. So you can see everything thats coming. And maybe, in the apocalypse, I could fence in the whole yard,and have a nice little camp. 🙂
There are also fenced in baseball and football fields to the north and east of my yard. So if I could connect them. It would be EPIC! 😀
Im in a pretty small town too. Like 800 people. We could just wall of the whole town! 😀 Most of the people are like in their 80s or 90s. So…yeah…idk.
Drinking coffee at night would tend to keep you awake because that’s what coffee does. Beer on the other hand dulls the senses and lets you sleep. Since Vicky’s got to look after the kids, she probably wouldn’t want to be an alcoholic in front of them. I would therefore speculate that Vicky sleeps on the side of the bed with the coffee cup so she can get up and tend to the problems young kids tend to experience at night. Ted on the other hand has to put up with his coworkers at work, and when he gets home he wants a nip of alcohol in order to forget them for a while. 😀
Lol! Could be! 🙂
What if Ted doesn’t sleep there at all?What if they’ve been having problems, And he’s been sleeping on the couch?
Barb did that as gracefully as I would.
This is not a compliment.
Depends entirely on the amount of time I THINK I have before the zombies show.
Less assume for this arguement that I have 24 hours. For my home (I live with my parents) I’d move the fridge to the top floor. It’d be hard and take several hours with just my mom and me doing it. My father has IBM (I can’t spell the full name, but it’s basically muscular distrify for the limbs) so he can’t help us. But he does have an electric lift for each level of the house.
We’d move all food stuffs and take up the hot plate along with some tubs and cleaning supplies. The home has a single floor generator, but for the ground floor. Next thing is to run extension cords (of which we have many due to my dad being a ham operator) and have those on the top floor. We’ll put duct tap over them so a zombie doesn’t accidently not one or more out.
Then firearms with all the ammo and my dad’s ham stuff upstairs for protection and external communication.
Lastly, I’d take the gas cans up there (might come in handy–either then or later) along with the smaller, portable generator. Once that’s all done, I take out all the steps on the stairs with a hammer/axe/whatever. Thanks to the chair lift my dad has along the rail, we can move up and down at easy from floor to floor, and no one can go up.
We’d be out of the zombies’ reach and have all the supplies we need for at least a week, along with a safe means to keep them from spoiling…
…that’s of course, as long as I have the full 24 hours… 🙁
Honestly I’ve been hooked on this “tiny house” show, I think that could be the best home defense method. Build whatever you want with materials you want, sun roof the hauling vehicle, mini ladder from second story area that can be pushed out/in to the sun roof. Take everything with you.
Go wherever you want.
Those are neat up until the point you’re sick–then getting up and downstairs becomes difficult if not dangerous.
So, we’re back in the house LOL. I guess you love the colors of the inside really a lot!
Soft landing for Barb. Good start!