Stop! Zombietime.

Since my responses on other message boards I frequent have been totally less than awesome, I thought I would put it to the minds hard at work (if, of course, you can spare the time!) to help me out a little. I have plenty of scene ideas for this zombie novel, but little to stitch it together, so I thought-- why not ask other people? (Brilliant, I know, you can use it next time you get stuck. Totally works.) 

So, Nanoers, let's have a conversation. Sit down. Let's have a chitchat. Are you comfortable? Awesome. Let's talk about zombies.

If a zombie outbreak did occur, where would you go? What would you do? How would you defend yourself and feed/clothe/etc? What sort of person would you want to have in your group, and what sort of person would be the last sort you would ever want? What professions would you want them/not want them to hold?

I think I'm setting this in London, even though I've never been there... Wife and I have done a whole lot of reading about London for our stuff. I like the idea of things being contained on a small island (thanks, 28 Days Later). Other than that... uhhhhh.

HELP.

Also: what sort of zombies would be coolest? Fast ones? Slow ones that come in inescapable hordes? Ones that quickly evolve? Ones that rise from the grave or ones that are the result of some kind of disease?

If you need a little authenticity, I have been to London (and lots of other places in England), though it's been a few years since I lived there.

As for what kind of zombies would be "cool" (ick!), I'm thinking the kind that rise from the grave if you're setting it in someplace long on history and and short on land. Some of the buildings I might think to run to just for the protection they'd offer (strong stone walls, good defensive location) would also be places where you'd find zombies popping out of unexpected, unmarked graves. Which provides the plot right there.

The rest of your questions I can't answer at this time of night. Maybe later. <yawn!> 

There are two books you may want to check out: World War Z. A book just about what you're doing. It's about what happened on Z Day... aka, the Zombie apocalypse. And "The Zombie Survival Guide." Basically tells you what guns are good, bad, and more bother than they are worth. Same with building types and it also goes into the types of undead a bit.

If a zombie outbreak did occur, where would you go? What would you do? How would you defend yourself and feed/clothe/etc? What sort of person would you want to have in your group, and what sort of person would be the last sort you would ever want? What professions would you want them/not want them to hold?

Also: what sort of zombies would be coolest? Fast ones? Slow ones that come in inescapable hordes? Ones that quickly evolve? Ones that rise from the grave or ones that are the result of some kind of disease?

I'd head for the hills. Zombies are going to be attracted to population centers. Head for the mountains, find a good spot and hole up. Build myself a little cabin, with good fire zones, and natural fortifications. Maybe in a box canyon, with a natural chokepoint to allow simpler defense. I would of course want to make sure it's not a flood zone, and a way to escape up the back of the canyon would be good, but it shouldn't be an easy route.

I'd prefer to be in as small a group as possible. No more than 4 or 5 people, and ideally they would have wilderness survival skills. Someone with tanning or weaving experience would be valuable as well, to help make raw supplies for clothing. Obviously, someone who can hunt, and someone who can cook would be valuable as well. And they should all be able to handle a gun, preferably a shotgun.

As for the 'coolness' of zombies, I'm going to speak as a viewer/reader here. Obviously if a zombie apocalypse actually happened, I would want the slowest dumbest zombies possible, so that they're easy to kill and avoid. But as a reader, I think fast zombies that can evolve, and probably ones caused by a disease of some kind, are the coolest. They offer the most challenges, and give you more capability to write interesting combat scenes. If all they do is shuffle at you, mumbling 'brains', it's pretty boring. If they can run, and are able to plot ambushes and coordinate their attacks... EEK. That would be tough to survive. Also... infectious zombie-ism? Nasty!

I agree with almost everything Utoxin said.  If the zombies were attracted to population centers and you ran for the hills, it would probably take them a while to get through the cities and come looking for you in the mountains.  I guess if you started your story some time after the Zombie Apocalypse, when they are just starting to troll the mountains for wildlife and other yummy things, it could work.

Also as a reader, I would want someone in the group who's .. easy to hate?  Some sort of internal conflict in the group is always interesting.  If all you're doing is trying to stay alive it gets boring after a while.  Someone who shakes things up in the group a lot makes it more interesting.

http://community.livejournal.com/zombie_survival/


That might help you

Build tiger trap pits around the outside of your base..

Might try raising maggots and other flesh/carrion eating creatures as ummm pets?

Electrify the moat.. mmmm soup's on gang!

Thanks, guys!

Nyuckles -- have read both books cover to cover. Am sort of known among my friends as the "zombie expert". This, however, totally comes into question when I have to prove my chops and write a novel about it all. 

These are wonderful suggestions and you guys rock! Thank you so much!

Dunno if this is helpful, but here's something on zombies from outside of Western Tradition; specifically Jiang Shi. Not exactly what you're writing about, but it might give you some ideas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Shi

There are several Zombie Survival wikis. My personal favorite is ZS (Zombie Squad) at http://zombiehunters.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Enjoy!