Something akin to a zombie outbreak is feasible. (But about as feasible as something like the Black Plague happening again).
Look at the link in the OP and think Resi Evil 4 or Left 4 Dead.
I've been thinking about this situation a lot lately. Lurking this and Eor's thread for ideas.
After researching (IE Reading a manga called 'High School of the Dead'), a lot of what we need to do depends on the capabilities of the army/police force.
Provided that the army/authorities have the foresight to secure the most important resources (water purification, electricity and Communications) there's a pretty good chance that you could survive.
If we're talking undead zombies, then I wouldn't think they could run, or even have much control over their ability to walk, let alone attempt to run. I would be more fearful of something like a parasite (like the one described in that cracked article that exists in half of all humans, and can take control of rats).
If the authorities cannot manage to get it together enough to secure electricity and water at the very least, then we'll all be in the ****. Living in Australia would make it even harder for someone like me where we have extremely strict laws on guns, and you don't see gun shops very often at all.
Everyone says they'd hole up in a place like walmart. The problem with that idea is that everyone else will be thinking the exact same thing. I hope none of you have forgotten what happened when Katrina hit New Orleans. People are crazy, pannicky people.
If a Zombie stumbled into my room, and I only noticed it then, first I'd have to assume I was by myself (I doubt my parents would miss a zombie waltzing in). Fortunately in my house, most of the windows don't have fly screens (Cheap builders >.>). So I'd most likely bail out the window and make a break for it.
But okay, let me make one assumption. Lets assume that it does something like wander all the way around the back and starts banging at my window. Lets make another assumption, and I see that he/she should clearly be dead (brains hanging out or whatever). I'd probably close the blinds and call my parents.
But let's assume that I cannot contact my immediate family. Then I'd be looking for news reports on the net/tv and would probably find reports of strange attacks amounting, and I'd come to the conclusion that the outbreak was upon us.
I'd take a bag and probably quietly start packing. A few sets of clothes, canned food, utensils, a water proof flashlight, whatever medical supplies I could find. I'd dress light, but fully covered (I need to get cargo pants, I only have Jeans), and a hoodie.
Finally, for weaponry I'd only really have what I can find in the kitchen and in the laundry. When I leave I could probably make a dash for my dad's tools sitting just outside the back door. He's a panel beater, so he has a lot of handy tools lying around. I'd probably want to pack a screw driver or two anyway.
Now before I said I could assume that everyone would probably head for the mall. So if I wanted to find my friends, I'd have to head there and figure it out.
Now we have cars. Several in fact. My dad's a panel beater after all. So I'd probably be able to get a set of keys for one of the cars. But that's not always the case. Actually two of the cars sitting outside aren't in a drivable condition. Let's assume my dad's taken the only drivable car and I have to walk.
From where I live, I have probably three or four routes to get out of my street and on the road towards anywhere. I can leave my street and head either left or right, it's a circuit that ends on the main road at either end. Going to the left would be the quickest by far. There's also the Golf Course to the left of my house, which I could hop a fence or two to get into, which might be an even safer way onto the main road.
The main road in my town, Helensvale, is a long, two way drive called 'Discovery Drive'. Jogging, you could probably get from one end to the other in about half and hour to 40 minutes. I live halfway down this road, so I have a few options. At one end of the road is the High School I both graduated at, and now work at as an IT helpdesk worker. Directly across from where I'd come out onto Discovery Drive is the Primary school I graduated from, and a small collection of shops including a convenience store, hair dresser, real estate, computer store and repair shop and a medical center.
At the very opposite end of this road is a Westfield Shopping Mall, a petrol station and another smaller shopping mall. As well as another medical center, pharmacy and the like.
The first thing I'd do is head over to the convenience store. I have plenty of money, and maybe by this time business could still be operating, despite what's been happening all over. If the store's been abandoned, it would probably also be locked up. I have no doubt that zombies could be crawling the streets, but there'd also be a few people like me getting about, and we'd all probably want to get in for supplies. The biggest concern I would have is that breaking in would set off an alarm, and probably attract a horde of zombies, so I would only risk it if it was already broken into.
Heck, I probably wouldn't approach if there were too many people.
That's the problem with trying to hide in a school. They'd probably set off alarms to go into lockdown, and then zombies would be drawn to them.
No, I'd probably have to head for Westfield mall.
I'd book it as fast as I could, hopefully meeting people along the way to keep safe, and make it there. I would assume that the place would be abuzz with people all worried and scared. I'd try and assess the situation, see if I can find people who might know if the authorities are coming to either evacuate us or protect us.
I'd also look around for people I know. As in the people who I know would stick with me. I know a couple of people who live near me that play smash with me, and I'd probably prefer to stick with them over anyone else (Barring my family of course). Or anyone with a car.
I'd try and find maps, some markers and binoculars. I'd take those items and head as high up as I can. Get out onto the roof of the mall and use my binoculars to scope out all the possible ways away from the mall, and mark the safest routes on said map.
The problem is, is that you don't know if the military is just going to roll in and set up base camp at your mall. They might rolled by the zombies, they might not have enough resources to protect us sufficiently.
The nearest police station is in Coomera, which would be a 4 hour jog/20-25 minute drive in the other direction, or we could risk a train ride. Their cop shop would probably want to try and protect people in their immediate area, so I couldn't assume support from a majority of them.
Right across from westfield though is a fire station, so they might be of some help, but again, it's not a hugely sufficient force.
No, if even ONE zombie got in, people would panic and a chain reaction could happen, people could start breaking down barricades to get out, only to let a mass wave of them in. Hell people could be bitten and infected as we stayed INSIDE the mall, and turn and start infecting others.
There'd be waaay too many people, and if even one of them was infected, I'd be booking right out of there before anything happened. I'd take a group of maybe four-five people I knew who lived locally and get out of there within a few hours and head back into town, find a house that sat between the main road and the golf course, and just wait it out.
We'd barricade everything. In fact, we'd probably take hammers and nails from Westfield and boarder ourselves up. Then we'd wait it out. I'd probably have taken my mobile internet and laptop with me, so I'd be able to keep up to date with what's happening. I'd even turn on the TV in a room with no windows with the volume so low you'd have to be right next to it and watch for updates.
The radio would probably be an even better option, as local radio stations would probably be employed to keep track of the movements of authorities, and call out to people in hiding to come to designated pickup spots for protection by the army.
I guess assuming that the army was coming, we'd then have to make a dash for the extraction point, wherever it may be. A car would be easy, but on foot would be tough going, especially if it's days before the army calls in.
In a place as sporadic as Australia it might be hard to rely on the army to mobilize everywhere, so we'd have to prepare to dig deep and settle in for a long haul. Research ways to prolong the life of food, pray that the water resources are being secured, as well as electricity.
We'd also have to wait out the days in as quiet a way as possible. We wouldn't want to attract other survivors to us, or the zombies for that matter. AND mostly importantly, we'd have to find ways to arm ourselves.
I could go on forever about it I think. Thinking about what we'd do for water, securing extra food and whatnot. I've tried to think about this in such a way that it accounts for things going wrong.
Everybody says they're going to hole up inside a mall, but, I don't think it's quite that simple at all. Unless there's only a few people there, I wouldn't stick around. If there was only a few people, I think we'd be able to barricade it off and hole up.
lol, what a long post.
