Our world has never been more interconnected, and with about 100,000 flights a day moving
people from continent to continent, it's easier than ever for things like diseases to spread.
During the black plague the most hard-hit areas of europe were the busy urban centers,
full of residents intermingling with visitors from strange lands, while the rural parts
of Europe were relatively safe from pandemic.
In today's world however not even the most rural areas of our world are safe anymore
should a global pandemic hit, and if that pandemic happens to be a zombie apocalypse,
it's safe to say that no one, anywhere is safe anymore.
Hello and welcome to another Challenge episode of The Infographics Show- today we're going
to show you how to survive a zombie apocalypse.
Deep in the jungles of South America, a scientist is studying a family of fungi from the genus
Ophiocordyceps.
Known as the zombie ant fungi, these fungi infect the brains of ants and hijack their
nervous system to force them to climb up higher in vegetation.
Once sufficiently high up, the ant dies and spores burst out of the zombified ant to rain
down on its brethren below, therefore continuing its life cycle.
It's a terrifying prospect, and as the scientist turns in for the night he feels a bit ill.
The next day his symptoms become worse and he is flown back to the US for treatment at
a hospital.
Whatever is making the scientist ill is progressing rapidly, shutting down the parts of his brain
responsible for higher thinking.
Days later, the scientist is under careful observation as he's become prone to mindless
violent rages, and suddenly he pulls against his restraints in yet another attack of uncontrollable
fury.
Deep inside the scientist's brain are Ophiocordyceps spores- while mammals are typically immune
to the fungus, a freak evolutionary glitch has caused the fungus to attack human brain
cells in the same way it attacks the nervous system of an ant.
The zombie spores have overridden many of the brain's higher functions, including the
natural inhibition our brains place on our muscles so that we don't overstrain ourselves.
With a savage roar, the scientist tears free of his restraints, his strength magnified
by his brain's inability to regulate his muscles against over-exertion and self-harm.
The security staff immediately leap onto the enraged scientist, but as more and more personnel
pile onto the unnaturally strong and aggressive scientist, small packet of spores that have
grown just under his skin suddenly burst, releasing Ophiocordyceps spores into the air.
With a groan the scientist dies, and the security staff coughs involuntarily as they are enveloped
by the cloud of spores.
Sound far-fetched?
It is, but what's important to remember is that far-fetched doesn't mean impossible in
nature.
Evolution is a process that is fueled by random mutation and genetic 'mistakes', which time
leads species down divergent paths.
The previous scenario may be far-fetched indeed, but you should be aware that it is by no means
impossible that a fungus which previously relied on ants to propagate itself could one
day via random mutation attack human brains.
So let's say that we all lost the evolutionary lottery and a deadly fungus which zombifies
its victims has adapted to infect human brains- how in the world are you going to survive
it?
First you're going to have to establish some priorities and split them up into near-term
survival and long-term survival.
We'll start with everything you need for near-term survival first.
Your immediate concern is obviously going to be to get to a safe area- this means leaving
city centers.
For the first time in human history more people live in urban centers than in rural areas,
and this has led to the greatest change in the human condition since the advent of agriculture.
We are now having to learn how to live together in giant melting pots of different ideas,
creeds, and races, and cooperate for the common good.
While previously you could live in a small town with few foreigners and even fewer people
who thought differently than you, nowadays most of us wake up in bustling cities full
of millions of people who could be nothing like us.
As our recent history has shown, this has been a bit of a challenging situation for
us to adapt to as a species.
Today that melting pot of humanity is your worst nightmare, because every city is going
to turn into a giant zombie buffet, and your highest priority is to avoid being the main
course.
The first thing you need to do is identify an escape route out of your city, and gather
a basic survival kit that you can carry on your back.
Taking a car is likely not going to get you very far as traffic backs up in the mad rush
out of the cities, so be sure to travel light enough that you can ditch your vehicle and
proceed on foot if you have to.
In your survival kit you're going to want non-perishable food items, enough for at least
a week.
You're going to be scavenging for the first few months, and luckily our consumer culture
leaves plenty of great scavenging options for the average person.
Also to your advantage is the fact that the number of people still alive is going to drop
pretty precipitously in the first week of the zombie apocalypse, so sharing will quickly
become less and less of an issue.
Things like canned foods are great items to be picking up, as are pasta that can be made
with some boiling water over a campfire.
Don't overlook your basic dietary needs though and be sure you grab nuts if you can as well,
your diet is going to become very nutritionally deficient and nuts are full of vitamins and
minerals that you might be lacking if all you do is load up on Chef Boyardee cans.
Picking up a few cases of multivitamins is a good idea too- with our modern diets multivitamins
are largely useless placebos for most people, a fact that the nutritional supplement companies
literally bank on, but with your diet becoming severely restricted in the coming weeks, you
will actually be in need of a nutritional boost.
If you can get them though, then by far the best food items to get your hands on are going
to be military MREs, or Meal-Ready-to-Eat.
These meals are specifically designed to cover the nutritional needs of an adult human engaged
in very strenuous physical exercise.
Jam packed with vitamins, minerals, and calories, MREs are the perfect survival meal, and over
the years have even become somewhat palatable!
Along with food you're going to want to make sure you carry with you a few gallons of water,
refilling every chance you get.
In most places bottled water shouldn't be difficult to find, and depending on what type
of energy your city uses you might even have tap water available for a few weeks to months.
Areas serviced by nuclear power plants for example could expect to still have power available
for months, possibly even years barring any natural disasters.
You're also going to want to make sure you can get clean drinking water from the environment
though, and a trip to any military surplus store is bound to fetch you plenty of options
from sanitizing pills to straws with filters built in.
Worse come to worse though, you can always make a homemade filter using rocks, sand,
and some charcoal.
Simply cut a small hole at the bottom of a plastic bag, and then stack the following
in layers at the bottom of the bag: rocks, sand, charcoal, sand, rocks.
The water will filter through the layers of rock, sand, and charcoal and come out relatively
clean through the bottom hole.
It's not perfect though so be smart about where you get your water from, avoid stagnant,
or still water at all costs.
Odds are though that your delicate little First World digestive tract is going to take
time to adjust to not drinking fluoridated and filtered city tap water, so expect to
get sick and to get sick often.
Diarrhea will be a constant threat, so be sure you continue hydrating yourself- diarrhea
can be surprisingly lethal in survival situations simply because it voids the body of great
quantities of water.
Remember, you can live for weeks without food, but only about three days without water.
Next you're going to want to think about self-defense, but don't go running to your local gun store
just yet.
In a zombie apocalypse do you really think you're going to be the only person to get
that brilliant idea?
Best to avoid gun stores full of angry and scared looters, and instead for the time being
grab something at hand from around the house.
A baseball bat will do, along with a good, stout kitchen knife for getting up close and
personal.
Eventually you're going to want to get your hands on some firearms of course, but wait
until you come across one in your travels in a more rural area, or simply loot one from
the dead.
Rushing off to your local gun store at the first sign of trouble is only going to be
a great way to get your head blown off by the gun store owner, or any of the hundreds
of people who all had the same idea you did.
Once you're able to get your hands on a firearm though, carefully consider exactly what type
of weapon you want to carry with you.
You're going to be traveling on foot, and firearms along with their associated ammunition
can really weigh you down- so forget any video game fantasies of carrying an arsenal of weapons
on your back.
You're going to want the right tools for the job, or at least to match your environment.
Always try and keep a handgun on your person at all times as a backup weapon, 9 millimeter
side arms are easy to use, have low recoil, and are perfect for both gun newbies and experienced
shooters.
If you find yourself in an urban environment, arm yourself with a good 12 gauge shotgun.
Its low spread makes it effective at moderate distances, and yet doesn't require much accurate
shooting to put a target down.
Its incredible stopping power will ensure any charging zombies are neutralized in one
blast, something which will be vital if you're fighting in close quarters against one or
more hostile zombies.
If you find yourself in wide open spaces such as the wilderness though, you're largely going
to want to avoid a fight, but when it comes for you you're going to want long-range accuracy
so you can drop any approaching zombies long before they get to you.
A standard .308 hunting rifle is a great choice, and as one of the most popular cartridges
in America, you're bound to come across plenty of ammo and replacement rifles if need be.
You might be thinking to yourself that the more firepower the better, and generally this
is tough to argue against.
But remember- the zombies outnumber you by a lot, you're not going to want to be doing
much fighting and want to instead stay light on your feet.
Also, despite what hollywood would have you believe, headshots are not vital to stopping
a zombie in its tracks.
If you shatter a zombie's spine with a well-placed 9mm round that zombie is going to crumple
like a stack of sad pancakes.
Undead or not, everything that walks, runs, or crawls relies on a skeletal system to support
itself.
A zombie that can't stand up is just as good as a zombie that's dead.
So you've got your food, some self-defense tools, and water taken care of- now it's time
to start thinking about long-term survival.
At first as you flee the city it would be a good idea to identify if possible any Federal
Emergency Response zones- these are areas specifically designated by the federal government
as response zones for staging any rescue or disaster relief efforts, and are typically
located in geologically stable mass transportation hubs near major cities.
If you live in Los Angeles, your nearest FER is going to be Bob Hope Airport in Burbank,
though for most other places around the country they tend to be at or near military bases.
One of these safe areas is going to be a great place to make your first pit stop to, as there
will be military and federal personnel there that can offer temporary safety and supplies.
However, beware the growing numbers of people who are going to be attracted to these beacons
of safety, because not only are they going to be attracting an even greater number of
hungry zombies, but they will quickly overwhelm and exhaust all available supplies.
You want to make sure you get there first, get some critical survival supplies, and then
make your way to safety elsewhere.
But where exactly do you go when the world is under zombie attack?
That's actually pretty simple, and it boggles our minds here at The Infographics Show how
no television shows, movies, or comic books have ever figured it out.
Just go north, as far north as you can possibly get.
But why north?
Well, here's where we have an experiment for you.
Go ahead and buy a fresh steak from your local supermarket, then bring it home and pop it
into the freezer for an hour.
After that hour is up, we want you to take that steak out of the freezer and try to bend
it.
We think some of you see where we're going with this already.
Exposed flesh does very poorly in bitterly cold temperatures, and dead, frozen flesh
is not going to be doing much of anything except freezing solid.
As soon as the first snowfall hits, zombies trying to follow survivors up north into the
cold weather are going to start becoming immobilized popsicles, and then survival becomes a simple
matter of not freezing to death yourself.
No need to fear zombies who literally can't move anymore- we wonder how short The Walking
Dead would have been if all the characters had just moved to Montana.
Once the zombies are frozen stiff it's a simple matter of waiting until springtime.
If you've ever seen what happens to rotten meat after a long time then you know that
dead meat plus moisture typically leads to a mushy, smelly mess.
But what if the zombies are not undead, but still alive like in our opening scenario?
Well, in that case then all you have to really do is spend a few years up north where zombies
who aren't smart enough to put on parkas are going to freeze to death.
In time you'll be able to lead humanity back into the warmer climates to reclaim civilization
for the survivors- but don't expect some epic showdown against hordes of zombies.
Fact is, most zombies will be long dead before you mount any sizable resistance, and the
killers will be: wild animals.
When you think about it humans are terribly designed for battling it out with wild animals-
we don't have claws or sharp teeth and we're not particularly strong or fast, in fact we're
really only a threat versus ourselves.
Over time wild animals such as wolves, coyotes, bears, cougars, and the like are going to
gorge themselves on all the walking meat, which won't be able to do much to protect
itself from an animal attack.
Zombies, like primitive humans, are going to be sitting smack-dab at the bottom of the
food chain, so in truth a zombie apocalypse would probably be better known as a revenge
of the animals.
How would you survive a zombie apocalypse?
Let us know in the comments!
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