This is a true survival method that will actually keep you alive and not screwed in the end.

Step 1: What Will Be Discussed in This Instructable...

We will be going over the necessary steps that must be taken to survive.

So lets set the mood...

Step 2: The Mood...

So you wake up and go about your normal routine without even stopping to think about anything: smack the clock to shut the dang thing up, get up, go to the bathroom, take a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed and get downstairs. Something is different for some reason. Everything seems so aerially quiet. Still you go pore yourself a cup of coffee and take a quick seat to watch the news...
You’re struck dead by what you are seeing. Limbless bodies, wrangled with broken bones and missing pieces of flesh filling that of a city street, breaking into stores and houses without concern. The news lady finally comes on: "this is live from downtown Manhattan; I repeat this is live and going down right now. It appears that a viral infection has struck and is spreading quickly. we don't have much info on it but we can tell you the virus seems to have some affect on the human body, killing the host and reanimating it within hours.... this truly will be a test of humanity.....I'm sorry. it is advised that you stay indoors, lock all doers and windows and close and blinds. We will keep you informed with any updates that might arise."
Then it hits you: you only live about 5 hours away from Manhattan. you start to freak out a little but you quickly grab a hold of yourself, or at least you try. Your head starts to fill with questions. What's going on right now? Why is this happening? What am I supposed to do? How can I make it out of this alive? ... Is this the end?

Now that the mood has been set, these are the steps that would for sure ensure your survival.

Step 3: The Main Focuse of This Instructable...

The main point that will be discussed here will be...

1. Initial reaction
2. Collecting supplies
+survival kit
+weapons
+food
3. Gathering others/ finding a stronghold
+pros and cons of certain places
+safe zones
4. Fortification/ establishment of a secure base.
5. Longterm survival

(any others that I might not get to please do comment an I will surely add)

Step 4: Initial Reaction...

Ok so you just found out what's going on.
You're freaking out, don't have any clue what to do or where to start and you can't even see yourself making it out the door.

Well first thing is first. Calm down ok. That's right, for now just sit and take a breather. it sounds dumb I know but right now the whole world is coming to a bit of slow and painful end and the worst thing that you could be doing is joining in on the chaos so just sit and take a bit of a breather. The straighter minded you are the easier and quicker it will be to get somewhere safe.

Ok now that you are at least somewhat calm you should actually listen to the news lady (and believe me this will probably be the one and only time you will) and go lock all your doors and windows, shut your blinds and keep all noise to a minimum. If you don't have blinds or shades or shutters than try to cover up as much of the window as possible with anything that you can. Right now it's the most crucial thing you can do. The longer they don't know you're in there means the more time you have to collect goods. And don't worry about them coming in through the door or sneaking in through a window, the walking dead have no ability to do even the simplest of tasks.

Now that you have done these crucial steps it is time to collect some supplies.

Step 5: Collecting Supplies...

Now that you have done as much as you can to keep yourself as safe as possible it is time to collect supplies. We will begin with your survival kit first

Survival kit:
This should be small, no bigger than a briefcase but still not sacrificing on amount and usability of items. It should have the following in it
+ Lighter, matches, flint and steel
+ Candles, flashlight
+ Batteries any size, but try to keep it as light as possible
+ A good knife. If it says made in china it’s probably not good. Look for the type of steel the blade consists of and do a little research on it to learn its properties to find the knife that fits you.
+ Rope
+ String, a basic sewing kit if you have one
+ Lightweight kitchen wear. Bowls, silver wear. Try to find stuff you could use for more than one purpose. A pair of metal cups could be used as both a place to cook your food as well as serve as a drinking container
+ A compass. This is a must have no matter what
+ A reasonable set of maps
+ Fishing lines and hooks
+ Maybe something to keep you calm like an mp3 player or book. Maybe even a small bag of candy.
+ An emergency radio. One that doesn’t need batteries but has a crank on the side. Some even come with cables that attach to an outlet and enable you to charge your music devise or cell phone.
+ Some zip lock bags for what ever might need storage
+ A magnified glass and a signal mirror

This should be a good set of supplies for right now.

Now comes one of the more needed parts of the supplies list: the weapons.

Weapons:
Your main choice for a primary weapon should be if at all possible a semi auto hunting rifle or other hunting rifle. Unlike the movies depiction of the shotgun being the all time zombie killing weapon it actually has several disadvantages. Shorter range, heavier ammo, less ammo per clip, depending on style and unless you are and expert marksman, far less accurate. Still the shotgun is a much better weapon as compared to an assault rifles or machine gun. The disadvantages those weapons have are high ammo wasters, very loud, harder to find ammo for and much bigger.
Now that we have main weapons your side arm should be something you can rely on. It doesn’t have to be a large caliber either. (This goes for rifles also) a .22 can pierce the skull of a human from closer ranges and then rattles around inside the head and shreds the brain thus being an affective weapon to a certain degree. Still a .45 works beautifully.
Now that we have side arms relatively covered we shall move onto melee weapons. These are the ones you want to pay most attention to. You don’t just want a weapon that can take out a zombie if all else fails, you want something that serves more than one purpose. A crow bar is your best option for a melee style weapon. One because it can break a skull with ease and destroy a brain without any hard movement, it doesn’t have an edge that you need to sharpen, and it can break through glass and pry open locks and doors. Next in line would have to be a machete. Try to again get one that serves more than one purpose. Gerber makes a machete that have a saw on its spine and it is made of 420 high carbon steel which is good. Then of course we have axes whish again can kill a zombie easily and can be used to break through doers and windows and chop wood for fires. The katana, again fell victim to movies and video games, and is actually not very good other than chopping off some zombie heads.

Now we shall discuss food
Food:
This should consist of non perishables. What’s a non perishable you may say, well it’s anything that won’t decay in a short matter of time but actually last quite a while. These would ideally consist of items like ramon noodles, dried fruits, pudding even. Anything in a can will last a long time just make sure it is securely sealed. MREs are a great choice, I have eaten several my self on back packing trips and sometimes just for the hell of it. There really not as bad as you might think and I’m only sixteen. Plus there really cheap, if you buy them in bulk. I can go to my local army surplus store and buy about 25 for only $65.00. Also you can even go with powdered goods like protein shakes and other freeze dried items. Also other think like cliff bars and most grains are great choices too.

Ok now we shall go over clothing:
Clothing: your attire should consist of tight fitting clothing. Underamor and nock off brands are the best things to have. Tight fitting jeans would be nice because of there wear-and-tear ability but they are relatively slightly heavy and may restrict movement. Tight fitting t-shirts work also along with "wife beaters". Now you are probably wondering "how could I even think running out into this new zombie infested world with all this thin light weight clothing on. If I get bitten I’m screwed." well don’t be getting all worried there are options for armor. I’m not saying go grab a full set off "ye old time" armor. That is the worst idea you could think to do. sure you would be a basic tank if you had the real stuff but you would be slow moving, easily herd from all the clanging, and unable to move if you fell over. I suggest motocross biking armor like the stuff seen below. Reasonably light weight and easier movement than that of a full scale metal suite. Also shin guards are great they can also serve as fore arm guards as well. Basically if you go to paintball sites or stores you can find very cool armor that is light weight and perfect for the zombie uprising. They make neck guards and leg guards as well.

Now its time to go over transportation:
transportation: you are probably think the best thing to do is to get in your car and run as many of those sons a guns down as you can and just try to find somewhere safe. Well... you get the safe place part right. The worst thing you can do after packing is getting in the car and driving till you think you have found a safe place. Your car is loud and will lead a huge trail for zombie’s right to your so called fortress. You have to stop and think of the closest place possible that could serve as a base or safe point. Try and make this a place that is within walking or biking distance. Or if you think you have a quiet enough car, like an electric or hybrid than you could use that.
Now that we have gone over transportation lets try to put together an army and establish a base of operations.

Step 6: Gathering Others/ Finding a Stronghold...

Ok now that we have learned the basics for supplies we need to go over whom we can bring with us and where we are going to go when or if they arrive.

Building your army: when doing this you need to consider the following: Who is the most important to me? How far away do they live? Do they have any particular skills that make them more valuable? Are they able to get where I am and are they sick? And other questions like these. I understand some of these are pretty hard questions, especially when you thought you were just going to call up all of your family and friends and invite them over for a pleasant zombie survival day. Well you need to strongly think about all the questions. 1 who is most important to you? Well that would be family and friends for sure. Now consider this, how far away are they? If your girl friend lives an hour away well than you don’t want to be sitting there for an hour while you could be getting a head start on your evac. Limit your loved ones (as hard as that might seem or be at the given time) to a maximum half hour away from your house. Anyone you can reach or get a hold of in this range you should invite as fast as possible. If they don’t pick up the phone after twice, three times max you should consider them dead or close to. Don’t be a hero and endanger yourself and others trying to get over to someone’s house because they mean so much to you. They could be infected and you could have fallen clean into a trap and endangered your whole group. Now that you have contacted the ones within the half hour mark consider anyone with skills like an electrician, blacksmith, carpenter, medic, engineer, and martial artist, also anyone that may be a bit weird or have a creative mind. Yes that sounds dumb but they don’t think like others and are great at coming up with plans and are usually unaffected by what is going on around them as easily as say a straight minded scientist. Any other creative and skilled trades people should be considered and if valuable enough should try to be contacted, instead though tell them to meet you at where you are going and not your house this will ensure that you get out as soon as possible.

Now we should cover strong holds or bases to consider.

Base: think of it like this if and when you do gather your group where should you go. You can’t exactly board up your house with a possible 20 other people in it. There would be no room for anyone to move around and people would start to go crazy. Think of the safest most secluded place you know. If you live in the middle of damn near no where than just sitting it out inside your house would probably not be such a bad idea. You probably know how to do just about all that you need to survive and don’t really have anyone close that lives around you. Any other case though the ideal place would be somewhere high up like in a mountainous area above the snow line. Still not everyone has these options. Here are some suggestions.
+ A near by school
+ A secluded house in the woods that has been abandon for some time
+ An old underground bunker or storage seller (the most ideal)
+ A large house with stone walls and few windows
+ Any relatively good sized building that has thick walls and is easily fortified. When choosing this building think about the following. dose it have large windows, how many entrances/ exits are there, is it easy to fortify, dose it supply my group with enough room and protection, dose it have generators or dose it have some other alternative source of energy, dose it have any useful supplies that may be valuable to our survival. These are all important questions to ask your self when coming up with a hold up.
Now other places should be avoided. When considering a places to stay away from think of the most important places in your city/ town. Town hall, your local high school, a church or even the police and or fire station would be a great place to stay away from because they are considered hot spots for people to show up at. Also other places like big chain supermarkets or stores like Wal-Mart and Costco would be great places to stay away from because you probably won’t be the only one running around trying to gather supplies and find somewhere safe to stay. There will be other people looting and trying to find stuff or a place to hold up in. if you come into contact with another group at your location, try to work things out without violence. You will find that people will be much more willing to join than to cause trouble in the beginning. They just want to get somewhere safe.
Now that we know some pros and cons of some of the places I should also tell you not to listen to the news when they say go to the designated safe zones. These will be the hotspots for future groups of zombies to attack. Plus if the infection is in the camp itself, it will spread faster than you could react.

Now that we have gone over those I would just like to tell you my plan as of so far. I have narrowed down my select group of people and I live no more than a few hundred yards from a middle school. All the people I have chosen are actually friends and family but still they have skills and other useful thing that make the ones I have chosen very valuable to have with me. Plus the middle is not really a main hot spot for activity. It has large stone/ brick walls, bullet proof double pain half inch glass windows that are easily coverable with papers or desks, not to mention the big safe steel doors that line the building and the surveillance system. All of which make it a relatively easily spot to convert into a bunker/ safe house.

Now I will tell you how to fortify and or get your base up and running.

Step 7: Fortification/ Establishment of a Secure Base...

Now that you have a good group of people and you have found shelter we need to get this place as secure as possible. It should be like a castle after were done

Security: the first thing to do is to lock at doors and if the windows open then shut them and lock them. This is the easiest thing and quickest thing to do right off the bat. Next if you plan to make this your new home for a long period of time, you should consider blocking off all windows and any places that let something from the outside see that you’re in there. This can be accomplished by anything as simple as taping paper up in front as to not let anything see all the way to something like boarding up the windows to even painting them or spray painting them. Now that nothing can see you and all doors are locked it is going to be a good idea to set up in fortifications in front of all doors. Stack anything you can in front, about 15 to 20 feet away, and build something kind of like a small wall. it should be about up to your belt line and at the two ends it should have two sentries, or small towers about as tall if not even a tad bit taller than yourself. It should be almost completely encased accept for a few small windows as to allow guns and other weapons to unleash heck if needed. Now as for the whole shape of the barricade it should look like a crescent moon with the two ends of the barricade closest to the walls on either side of the door and the middle farther way. You can see a simple example in the diagram I have drawn. Its simple I know. If the door is small or is like a back door it doesn’t need to be as heavily guarded just make sure you have done all you can to make sure nothing can through that door. We want to make sure anything that enter or exits your new home goes straight through the main doors and only the main doors. There actually is a reason for the shape of this buy the way. It funnels them in to a central point and, the picture dose a bad example of showing it but it should be 15- 20 away from it all them way around not just at the middle. With everything equal distance away you can ensure that everyone on the barricade at that point is equally safe.

Now that we have done a good job fortifying, the hardest part is over.

Now we have to keep the base up and operational. How do we do this you ask, well you should be glad you have me. Now it is time to use the other recourses of this amazing site that is instructables. It will help you along in basically anything you might need. Planting veggies and fruits to grow to be a self sustaining group. How to make or build alternative energies to keep the lights on. How to make clothes or recycle certain things all of which should be looked up and saved. Anything else that you might be able to find that you believe would be useful when the dead come back will more than likely serve a simple task at some point in your groups establishment.

Step 8: Longterm Survival...

Once we have set up a secure garden and have a steady supply of energy we should now look into what may happen if you decide to stay long term. Still to keep your colony operational you must keep a steady stream of power, food and authority flowing through your colony. You must not take advantage of anything that you have been given or take. the most important thing to do is to make sure that everyone lives and if you lose your head and start to turn into a dictator or loose your mind and go crazy, you could leave your whole colony in a big heap of trouble and that what we don't need. Now that you have survived a few months or even longer you have to add in the fact that you can't just go out any more with a few people in a small scouting team with your guns at hand (just to add since I forgot to, a scouting team should consist of no more than about five people. You should have set area you are going to do your looting in. Try and limit it to about a square quarter mile. You may also want to observe when the most zombie activity takes place: morning day night. It is unknown whether the dead rely heavily on sight or herring or smell. Just watch when they become most vulnerable and take advantage of this. You should carry more than enough ammo for each person to lay waist to at least a hundred zombies. The less people you have the more dangerous it will become but the faster traveling will become. Still remember the buddy system at all times. Everyone should be assigned a buddy. Who ever it is it doesn't really matter as long as you fully trust this person with your life. What ever you do or where ever you go that person follows no more than two steps behind. If two people plan to go out scouting/ looting four people better leave. This will ensure the safety of you and the others you are with.). You have to add in the factor of others out there. Chances are there will be other groups within maybe a 10 mile radius if you happen to run into them make sure you keep a good distance maybe yell from a ways and as long as they don't shoot back there may be some ability to talk things out. Maybe gain a fellow survivors colony to call your ally. You could keep in contact and share resources and thus grow as a whole. Still there are the ones that do shoot back. They have no care for anything they just want to go around and loot and steal and don't have any respect for others they may think of you as an enemy and want to steal what you have on you. They won’t take prisoners. Do avoid at all costs. It you find yourself in a sticky situation try to find a place to hide or if fight ensues than find the highest ground and bunker down stay low and remember these guys aren't zombies and do feel pain so unloading may not be a bad idea. If you nick them in the arm they feel it and will more than likely go down giving you enough time to get off some shots. If you find you have the upper hand try intimidation. If you have a good size thing of cover try firing off a few rounds then moving without being seen quickly somewhere new and fire off a few more rounds than move back to your first spot. Here is a rough picture. I know it’s bad.
Now I will give hypothetical job listings and names, all of which I have come up with on my own to serve a relatively different purpose. These are only my ideas and are totally up for analysis and change at your own free will. I will also give names of weapons that I give to each class. It is almost like an RPG. None the less all these are jobs that should be done anyways.

Ones: these would be the youngest and would do the basic chores, pick up toy/ garbage, small cleaning chore like washing the table.
Twos: these would be the eight to nine year olds. They would have more responsibility and would most likely do more cleans like sweeping and moping and other simple tasks
Threes: these would be ten to eleven year olds. They would do such chores like washing the dishes and washing clothing.
Spawn: this would be the twelve year olds. They would no longer be involved in chores for the colony. They would basically be responsible for themselves. They would become what I call a "dogface" and basically begin training in a fighting/ recon/ or looting type field. This can go for both boys and girls if they so happen to choose otherwise they become a pure or a normal colony person who would be trained in a separate field that would aid that of a skilled trades person.

"Dogface" fields:
Dogface: this would basically be the first step to becoming one of the other titles. They would be given a mentored and would be taught thing by him. To begin he would learn thing like how to clean and care for his new masters guns, melee type weapon, and clothing and or armor. He would take care of these tasks for the first year teaching him discipline and while this is going on he may be taught martial arts of the masters choosing. Then when the dogface reaches the age of 14 he/she would be given a simple gun and armor to take care of him/her self. All while he/she still stays under the care of his master and doing more intense training. When the dogface finally reaches the age of 15 he/she will graduate to a new job title.

Dogface titles:
Hunter: hunters would actually have more than one purpose. They would be the one that not only go out and hunt for food, but they would also be the ones to do a small portion of the looting. They would most likely use some sort of hunter rifle but they may also use bows or other hunting weapons.

Hawker: hawkers are properly label for being the main suppliers of loot. They would be the ones who do the major portion of the looting and are great at quick mechanic work in the field. They may be able to repair and or build small radio towers and easily fix any other problems in the field. They would most likely use some form of an sub machine gun or small rifle, while mainly using pistols with great accuracy.

Slayer: these are more of the BA's of the group. They ware the ones who are out in the field most of the time slaying the undead. They don’t really need great accuracy or great gun handling skills because there job is mainly just to stop the things from moving. Shotguns, assault rifles, and or light machine guns may be used with this job title.

Gravedigger: grave diggers are the killer for sure. After the slayers are done shooting hundreds of rounds and crippling the bad boys, grave diggers come up with amazing swiftness and take care of the rest, killing the brain. After this they then make large piles of the dead and burn them in a safe clean matter, in large holes in the ground.

Insidious ones: the quickest, lightest and most accurate of the group along with being the most secretive. They are the snipers of the group and tend to follow the main killing squad and come in when need or when called upon. They act upon request from base leaders and are some of the rarest to be chosen during the title giving process. The use long range sniper rifles and are masters at melee or close range combat.

Champions: these are the heavy defense of the group. They are usually larger more muscular people and take care of any task no matter what. They can take damage and are also the medics in the field. With expert care and the unchanging ability to kill they are a major part of the squad. They would most likely use semi auto rifles and larger shotgun along with special weapon like rocket launchers(if the need arises)

Sentry: these are the most well rounded or the entire group. They are the main guards at the base and have skill with all weapons and close combat weapons. They protect the base while everyone else is out in the field. They no how to react to just about any situation with ease. They may use almost any rifle and or melee type weapon.

All of these jobs require a year of preparation to fully become. When the dogface training in there job field reaches the age of 16 he/she is then sent out on his/her first mission. An evaluation then takes place from the other squad members and then they will decide weather or not he has graduated or not, at which point he/she becomes part of a new squad joining others his or her age.

Step 9: Congrates....

Congrats, you survived to see another day. I hope it feels good and I hope I help you to get there.

Ok I hope that at least some of this helps you out in your quest of survival, or if you just a zombie enthusiast I hope it gave you something to thin about. Please do comment on it and give me ideas to add to it. I want to here if I have done a reasonable job creating this and am glad to add or get rid of the stuff that doesnt really need to be there. Thanks again and happy ZOMBIE HUNTING!!!