alexleefitz:

Saying that you really want a zombie apocalypse to occur is like saying, “Yes, I want a traumatic and devastating event that will inevitably kill most of my friends and family to occur because I think it will be cool to shoot things for a while before I ultimately succumb to death in the worst way possible as civilization burns around me.” 

Don’t wish for it. But be prepared just in case. There’s nothing glorious about this.

As one could conclude from Rules 1 and 2, surviving a zombie apocalypse will ultimately require more intelligence and cunning than brute strength and accuracy (though brute strength and accuracy are certainly handy assets to turn the tides). We’ve discussed plans and hiding techniques already, so now let’s discuss a few ways that your wit will give you the upper hand when interacting with infected and other survivors.

1) Look, Over There!

Yes, it’s the most cliched idea since letting the cat out of the bag became better than sliced bread. But some things are cliched for a reason. 

When you are in combat with a survivor or zombie, and they lose sight of you, always survey your surroundings or your supplies for something you can afford to throw. A brick, a rock, a gun magazine if you’re desperate, basically anything that you can accurately chuck in such a way that the enemy does not see it, but hears it when it lands in a location that is in a different direction than you. If the zombies are as logic-less as they’re thought to be, this will obviously be much easier to pull on them, but do not rule it out when fighting a survivor; just be more careful.

2) Down, but Not Out of Ammo (against Survivors only)

Requirements: Two guns, good memory, and some acting skills

Most effective against one enemy

You should always, ALWAYS know how many bullets you have in a clip and how many you’ve fired, but this comes especially in handy if you’re behind cover and you have a second gun. Try to kill your enemy with your first clip, but if you’re low, fire the rest of your bullets and quickly return to your cover. Hold your second gun in your other hand, position your other gun out of cover, and pull the trigger. There should be a quite prominent ‘click!’ing noise. At this point, drop the gun, and mutter something like ‘shit!’ for good measure. Get the second gun in your shooting hand, let your enemy advance on you, likely moving out into the open at fast speed, and take him/her out before they realize they can realize you tricked them.

Note: Other survivors may try to use this on you, so stay one step ahead. If you hear that ‘click!’, pretend to rush out, then quickly pull back behind cover. If they were bluffing, you literally just dodged a bullet. If not, it should be safe to advance… but you can never be too careful.

3) Know Your Enemy (concerning survivors)

Think about what other people would do, before you decide what you’d do. If a building looks like a perfect hiding spot, it means that either somebody is already using it, or somebody will try to use it when you’re inside it. If you have the time and materials, take care in finding LTD’s that are prepared for zombies, but look insignificant to survivors (and zombies, hopefully). Or, if the geography of your area permits, find a building with large, flat, empty terrain surrounding it, and if people try to take your fort, snipe the bastards. And once again, Observe Everything. If you see survivors in the area, but don’t have a safe/clear shot at them, see how organized they are, what weapons and supplies they have, follow them long enough to see what they’re using as a base, and how supplied/defensible it is. From there you can decide to ambush them and take their supplies, or move on knowing where they are and where they will be moving from. This way you can get a better scope of how to continue to move through your area undetected, and continue to survive.

4) Do Not Become the Hunted

 You know how our basic plan at this point concerning survivors is to kill, steal from, or avoid them at all costs? Well, never forget that all those survivors have the same plan for you, should they ever catch a glimpse of you. And if an enemy spots you that you cannot see, you are as good as dead. But you cannot stay in your LTD, or even your FD forever, no matter how good of a hiding spot it is. You’ll need to resupply, possibly make repairs to your current building of residence, maybe scavenge for medicine or bandages to tend to any of your team members who may be sick or wounded. 

So, how can you move around in a city, without ever being spotted? Well, sadly, there’s no strategy that can really guarantee that you’ll remain undetected, unless you’re lucky enough to live near some natural or man-made environment that would allow you to do so. The best you can do is be aware, not make foolish mistakes, and make your movements wisely.

Firstly, never stop moving when you are in the open, even if you are sure that nobody else is around. Stationary targets become sniper fodder.

Speaking of snipers, avoid large, flat, empty terrain, unless you have a vehicle, exceptional camouflage, or some other protection that would allow you to move safely (keep that in mind if you intend to take my suggestion in section 3 about finding a building in the middle of large, flat, empty terrain). Same applies for walking in narrow alleys between tall buildings: avoid it unless you’re prepared for it.

Keep a sharp eye. For footprints that seem to be from uninfected feet, for tire tracks, for empty shells, for houses that seem to have been occupied recently, for manmade fires, for clean water sources, for stocked supermarkets, and for dead bodies. The first five of these are signs that survivors have been there recently; they tell you to tread carefully, or retreat and move on to another town. The last three are things that attract other survivors, and those are extremely dangerous. Clean water sources and edible food will be hard to come by, and dead bodies will reliably have ammunition and other supplies that can’t be reliably found anywhere else. Basically, you need all of these things, just like everyone else does, and you have to go to these places and get what you need before somebody else can kill you for it. Again, there is no guaranteed strategy regarding this. The best I can offer is to know your exit plan, so you can grab your water/food/supplies and go. Assume you are being followed, and take an unpredictable path, zigzagging as you run, using buildings that you know are safe as cover, anything to make sure that nobody will get a bead on you with a gun, from any direction.

As an extra note: when in a firefight, always consider that you are dealing with more enemies than are visible to you. Always check your corners, always communicate with the rest of your teammates to fully grasp the scope of your conflict, and NEVER believe that any form of cover will protect you for long, or you’ll end up with a knife in your back as you’re preparing to shoot the person in front of you.

Hope you find these helpful, more will be on the way.

Hey, guys. So, I know that I promised to post my daily exercise routines. And I know I have not done that for about a week. This is because I’ve been having some back problems that are physically hindering and are making everyone tell me that I can’t do anything physically strenuous. I’ve been to the doctor, it wasn’t exactly helpful, so now I’m going to try one or two other things on my quest to make my back permanently better. If I find this solution, or if I find out I’m stuck with this for the rest of my life and I just have to work around it, you will be getting regular exercise posts again. Wish me luck, and Happy Survival!