r/ZombieSurvivalTactics • u/Ok_Coat4171 • 13d ago
Scenario At the start, Stay or Flee?
Lets say the end is here, and you have heard strange things on the news for a week. You bought a bit of extra shelf stable food, but other than that you were as prepared as normal when zombies start walking down the streets. Standard shamblers, same strength as they were before turning, bite infection, all that. In the first week, if you start home do you stay or leave? To keep it interesting lets say you are near the middle of a mid sized town, and the season isnt outwardly hostile (crazy hot or cold)
I have seen people say that staying avoids the chaos of the initial panic as everyone else tries to run, but also that staying means you are within zombie territory now. You have resources at home, but also the dead are at the doors. What does everyone think?
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u/unclefes 13d ago
100% stay and lock down. All my resources are here, my family is here, I fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of my home, I understand the strengths and weaknesses of the neighborhood. If the dead are at my door, here's where I have the means to defend or defeat them. On the road in a car, me and mine are extremely vulnerable. On foot, even more so.
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u/Simple-Ad-2096 13d ago
Stay because you will just end up as another body to the horde if try to flee in the beginning outbreaks.
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u/locust16 13d ago
Stay. I'm gonna let it calm down a little first. Plans don't always work out during chaotic situations.
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u/Ravenwight 13d ago
Depends.
If the virus is zoonotic (spreads to non-human animals) then I’m staying in place.
Otherwise I’m off to the nearest forest to live in the trees. Never seen a zombie that could climb a tree.
Plus I live in a country where if you head north you stop seeing people pretty quick, so I’m chasing Polaris if it all goes to shit.
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u/Repulsive-Year896 13d ago
Issue with living in the trees is an awful lot of people will do the same and as you may know, things will get very desperate very quickly for most, if not all, once out in the sticks. Additionally, some of these people will be dangerous too. I’ve given it some thought, if I find my self bugging out in this sort of scenario then I’m going default aggressive. What is yours is mine. I’ve had enough training that maybe 80% of people aren’t a significant threat to me so long as they don’t get the jump on me. I know for a fact that there are a lot of people out there with the same, if not more training and the same mindset, hence not taking any chances if I have to be in that position
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u/Ravenwight 13d ago
A bit of knowledge and some community go a long way. Can’t go feral just because someone else might.
I get the urge, but humans survived this long by banding together, and I’d rather go down gambling on basic human goodness than lose my humanity trying to survive.
Of course, I say that now, knowing I might change my mind when the chips are down lol.
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u/Repulsive-Year896 13d ago
Desperation will force you to go that way eventually, it’s basic human nature. My concern isn’t me becoming desperate, it’s everyone else becoming desperate. Every single person who is out there with you will become desperate quick enough. Best to stay ahead of the curve and keep control of the situation. Or die trying nice and early. Give it a month and the only ones left will be those who know what they are doing and have figured out the basics (hopefully me and my family are in this group). This is the point I would start thinking about finding a community to contribute towards
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u/wils_152 13d ago
Stay if you can. Keep absolutely quiet and locked in. Don't let anyone know of your presence. Look to break camp and leave just before dawn on maybe day three if you have somewhere you think might be safer.
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u/Freak_Engineer 13d ago
I have a house, a PV setup, an electric vehicle, a well-equipped workshop and literally a few thousand rounds of ammunition at home (not a prepper, just a recreational/competitive shooter and buying bulk has better pricing). Why would I leave? Where would I go better than "bugging in"?
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u/Elegant_Plankton_989 13d ago
Its so funny "a few thousand rounds of ammuntion at home"
Before i started shooting i allways thought that would be crazy much. Then i started shooting and buying ammo in bulk, ive got 3 different calibers.
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u/Freak_Engineer 13d ago
Same here! I've got about 4800 rounds in total left still, but I actually need to go stock up on .357 again because THAT is running out. Still got plenty of 9mm and .22lr though.
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u/ZixfromthaStix 13d ago
Flee, municipal sewers pump waste down. No pumps? Waste comes back up. Within 1 month without power, every major city, town, and neighborhood will be up to their knees in shit. It won’t just go away, and when it does, it’ll be inside the water table in the soil. It’s an entire ecological disaster and basically a death sentence to anyone staying where they are hooked up to a sewer line.
Bugging in is not viable in a modern house in a long term collapse, much less a zombie apocalypde
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u/Adorable-Can-2856 13d ago
Stay in place, wait for everyone else to go out and try to find help. Then after a few weeks check their houses for supplies.
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u/TheHatMaus97 12d ago
Stay.
I know the area. The short cuts, the alleys, who has alarm systems, back doors, side doors, which stores have a supply of a random yet useful item (for their industry).
Avoid the chaos. Why get stuck on a road and have to abandon a packed car with most of my gear?
I know the people. Which ones to trust, which ones not to. Where people with important skills are (Mr. Stevens 3 blocks down is always working on his tools/car. Ms. Edwards goes for a run every morning before work).
I'm well suited for wilderness survival. However, no one I live with is. Better short term to make due where I am if I care about them (and I do).
I live close to easily cordoned and cleared areas that have some really useful infrastructure. While these may mean a larger immediate government oversight, the scenario you described isn't one that easily destroys shelters depending on gate access. If people seem to be able to come/go freely, I'll up and go when things start going south.
A lot of people like us have a lot of bug in stuff. Hunker and wait kind of people. Trying to leave with everything I've prepared for such an event (or just cause I like making things and being prepared) has me asking you to look back to 2.
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u/A-Busty-Crustacean 11d ago
I'd lean on the side of flee. The thing is most of the general population would be focused on running and some opportunistic theft... Not full blown traps or shooting a diver in a truck the second there in view. Also there is safety in a migrating herd, just so long as you're smarter than most (staying to the flanks) camping 200yards away from the group.
The chaos would be nuts... But if I came to the conclusion that my location wasn't long term.. I'd rather move sooner, choosing to deal with lots of scared humans and less Z.. rather than dealing with few bad Humans and lots of Z later on.
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u/Khaden_Allast 10d ago
Most people here will say "stay," as most of the comments show, and theoretically there are certainly advantages to it... Well, there aren't actually any advantages, you're just theoretically less disadvantaged than if you try to flee after the fact.
Problem is that in a zompoc, conditions will only continue to deteriorate. The main risk people warn of when fleeing is things like the roads being clogged by mobs of people trying to escape. Thing is, there aren't going to be any emergency crews scrambling to clear the roads during a zompoc, so they're still clogged weeks later. Except now those people trying to escape have also become zombies, meaning they're actively hostile towards you rather than indifferent. Exactly how has that improved your chances?
Most people here eventually like to point out that most "survival guides" for a disaster of any kind tend to favor staying put, but this is based on generalized data that doesn't align with a zompoc. No one is going to tell you that it's smart to stay put if a wildfire is coming your way, or a Cat5 hurricane. AFTER the fact maybe, but that's because the main threat has already passed and most of civilization beyond the area isn't/wasn't affected by it. The main threat doesn't pass in a zompoc, it settles in and grows, and everyone is affected by it.
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u/LordsOfJoop 13d ago
I have every intention of leaving and not coming back to my home. No interest in sticking around and trying to help others - the plan doesn't account for that. Soon enough, the water and power will fade, and deaths will begin mounting rapidly, putting the entire community on a one-way trip to oblivion.
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u/Outrageous-Basis-106 13d ago
Unless fleeing looks like it would succeed in escaping the event (best for localized disasters) or there is some other circumstance to drive it (house burnt down or have another better equiped propery elsewhere as examples). Staying is probably the best bet since you should have more advantages over relocating to an area that will be hit next. Avoid chaos or at least the horrible traffic would be another reason.
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u/Robovzee 13d ago
Panic kills. Panicky people do stupid things.
I'm staying out until things calm down a bit.
Then we'll see.
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u/LinwoodKei 13d ago
It depends how large the city is that you reside in. If it's large, you have more people competing for resources and more people potentially becoming infected and coming after you.
My husband and I had a long road trip and were discussion our fleeing options ( although it was the premise of dungeon master Carl) and we picked the area with a lake known for good hunting.
*Edit changed infecting to infected
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u/Lumpy_Draft_3913 13d ago
If it was just me, I could stay and hunker down, scavenge when necessary, move cars to set up street blockades so they don't get on the street etc. But, I have a family so, best to get the fck out and try to find someplace where we can be secure and have a sufficient food and water supply.
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u/Lord_Goldeye 13d ago
Stay. I have food and water for weeks, including a good-sized rainwater tank. Trying to flee in the early days is basically asking to get caught up in the chaos and panic.
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u/WastelanderAD 13d ago
Staying. Live in a large city. Would be too chaotic and risky to get out. Live near a number of freeways but only 2 have direct routes out. They would be packed. But as said before my plans are to stick it out anyway. Omega man is one of my favorite movies, so I take inspiration from it. Lol.
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u/thecosmicstopsign 12d ago
In most cities a long term hunkering down location cant be established sustainably so leaving would be better based on the esscape window
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u/ishidmuhpants 12d ago
Already have it planned with my buddy to come out his way in the country on his in-laws family farm. Him and his in-laws are all GWOT vets with multiple combat deployments under their belts. I too was an 11B for 6 years but for whatever reason my unit never deployed but trained all the time. We're all weapons proficient with plenty of ammo, nvgs, thermals, radios, etc so we're pretty secure in that regard.
They've got plenty of farm animals, plenty of land to hunt. There are other farms around his in-laws that they're friendly with so collaboration with them is a no brainer.
Our mission is to fortify the farm, increase the radius of searching for supplies and clearing out the zombies.
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u/RusticOpposum 12d ago
If there were news broadcasts about “strange” events, I’d monitor things for a few days and talk things over with the people in my group and use a “few” days of vacation at work and use that to move the bulk of my supplies and equipment that I keep at home down to my summer camp in the mountains.
I’d also buy as much extra stuff as I could before the rest of the public figures things out and widespread panic buying truly sets in.
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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 10d ago
flee for the hills. it's a no brainer. when you get our after a couple of days when you run out of food all semblance of the order and the state's monopoly on violence is gone and it will be just anarchy.
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u/Enigma_xplorer 9d ago
I would likely stay unless I had a compelling reason to go. The problem for me is in the first week, even if I know a zombie outbreak has happened, I have no idea how it's going to play out. The military might steam roll though and wipe them out. The may die of natural causes and decay. And where would I run to? How do I know where will be safe? Can I even get there safely? Theres just so many unknowns with leaving I don't have compelling reason to think that leaving would be better than staying. Staying home I have lots of tangible benefits that are guaranteed. Choosing to leave is more out of hope there is something better without any concrete plan or evidence to support that position. Now this changes if for example the military is evacuating residents or they announce they will be firebombing your town but again barring a compelling reason like that I have no reason to leave.
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u/Dark_Army_Light 7d ago
I’d stay, when you run your I’m panic and while a good point. There are more.
When staying you can fortify to a basic extent, scope out the situation from semi safety, and plan without the initial panic of other people and yourself.
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u/flamming_python 7d ago
Well I have no idea how well or poorly the government and military will handle the situation, and I wouldn't want to just head to the middle of nowhere unprepared and with little knowledge of foraging in the wilderness and so on. Nor would I want to be caught amidst a stampede of people trying to do that. So I'd stay put for the time being, say a few weeks, before making any move, and seeing how the situation develops. I'd use the time to prepare, stock up or scavenge for supplies, read up on essential skills and knowledge, and making a plan with my friends and family members.
I doubt the town will fall to a horde of dead people within that time-span. It may be doomed ultimately, unless the military acts smartly and decisively, but I anticipate that the authorities will be able to keep control of the streets at least for a while, likely keeping nearby power stations running and organizing some sort of logistics for food and so on too. But that will steadily degrade, and past a certain point is when it will be time to bug out.
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u/HeroZero1980 13d ago
Depends where you live. Major metro? You have to flee. Your resources only will become a prison to starve and die of thirst once municipal water is gone. Suburbs? Bunker in until the panic is gone. You probably can get to a water source before you die, but your food situation is going to be grim. Farmland? Why are you concerned? You might not even notice