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APOCALYPSE BASICS

Before you start working on the zombie apocalypse survival projects in this book, I want to show you exactly what kind of undead you’ll be dealing with and share some tips about how to survive in a zombie-infested world.

Of course, you’ll need parts to make your projects. Fortunately, one of the few benefits of a postapocalyptic world is that there’s plenty of scrap material to scavenge! So in this chapter, I also include a guide to finding the parts you’ll need.

But first, let’s look at the background of zombies.

ZOMBIES

I find that people tend to consider themselves either zombie lovers or zombieindifferent. Since you’re reading this book, there is a good chance you’re a zombie lover like me.

The appeal of zombies lies both with the zombies themselves and in the postapocalyptic scenario that the survivors face. You could likely defeat a single, slow zombie quite easily: a baseball bat to the head should do the trick nicely. But in numbers, zombies become a serious threat.

If you look up “Zombie” in Wikipedia, you’ll find two entries: “Zombie (fictional)” and, rather worryingly, just “Zombie.” The nonfictional zombie is, according to Haitian folklore, a corpse that can be raised by magic to do its master’s bidding. These folklore zombies are never going to be present in significant numbers to cause the sort of apocalypse portrayed in popular culture. For a situation where most of the human race has died or been turned into a zombie, we need some fictional zombies.

TYPES OF ZOMBIES

Fictional zombies have roots in 19th-century fiction, with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but they became prominent in modern times through movies such as Night of the Living Dead (Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1: Zombies from Night of the Living Dead

The zombies depicted in Night of the Living Dead are classic slow zombies. Slow zombies shuffle around as if in a daze, searching for human flesh to eat. Interestingly, the zombies in this movie are able to use tools, breaking windows with rocks and bashing doors with hefty sticks. Most zombies lose this skill in later film and TV depictions. The portrayal of slow zombies may have reached its cultural zenith with the hit TV show The Walking Dead.

Slow zombies are the most common fictional zombies, and this book focuses on the threats they pose. There are, however, many other types of zombies, as different filmmakers have sought to put their own imprint on the concept. Table 1-1 lists some of the most important modern zombie portrayals along with some features of each type of zombie.

Table 1-1: FICTIONAL ZOMBIE VARIETIES

All zombie types have a number of factors in common. Chief among these is a desire for human flesh. Another, almost universal, truth is that the only sure way to kill a zombie is severe head trauma. Decapitation is highly effective.

ARE ZOMBIES REALLY DEAD?

One important question is whether a person has to be dead in order to qualify as a zombie. In some films, such as World War Z, the zombies are not dead but rather living humans who have been mentally altered by a virus or other parasite. Some would argue that such creatures are, strictly speaking, not zombies at all.

The terminology of death is also tricky with zombies. If a zombie is already dead, how can you kill it again? Although the zombie is a person who has died, has the process of zombification actually brought the person back to life? In that case, zombies could certainly be killed for a second time. However, we often define death as occurring when the heart stops, and zombies’ circulatory systems are clearly not functional, as illustrated by their relative immunity to being shot anywhere but in the head.

If zombies are still dead, then it seems wrong to speak of killing them, but until popular culture invents a new word, it’ll have to do. In this book, I am going to use the phrase killing zombies—while possibly inaccurate, it is not ambiguous.

HOW LONG WILL THE ZOMBIES BE AROUND?

Just how long could a zombie apocalypse last before the zombies disappear? This depends, of course, on the rate at which new zombies are created and the rate of zombie death. The curves for human and zombie populations can be plotted along a horizontal axis that shows the passage of time and a vertical axis that shows the population in billions (Figure 1-2).

Figure 1-2: Human/zombie population curves over time

As the outbreak starts, the human population will plummet as the zombie population increases rapidly due to zombification. However, since many humans will be eaten rather than turned, the zombie population will not reach the preapocalypse human level. How much it rises will depend on the zombified-to-eaten ratio, as well as death rates for both zombies and humans.

After reaching a peak, the zombie population will then start to decline. That’s because as the human population declines, the surviving humans will be those best equipped to survive. (Perhaps they read this book!) The human population will also become more spread out, making it harder for zombies to find people. Eventually, the population of humans will stabilize at a low level.

Zombies, on the other hand, are unlikely to survive well over the long run. Judging by their hunger for human flesh, they need to eat to survive, although just how this works without a fully functioning digestive system is a mystery. In any case, since they don’t photosynthesize, their energy must come from somewhere, and human flesh is the most likely source. But as humans learn to survive, the zombie population will struggle to find food. And since zombies are essentially slow-moving piles of rotting flesh, they’re a carrion eater’s equivalent of a takeout dinner. If we added population curves to the graph for crows, foxes, wild dogs, and other such animals, we would probably find a massive spike in their populations as they cleaned up the mess in pretty short order. Thus, humans who fight back and plenty of natural predators will put downward pressure on the zombie population.

It also seems extremely unlikely that zombies will breed (something that really doesn’t bear thinking about). Therefore, after a while all the zombies will be gone, and humans, who will breed, will start to rebuild civilization.

So, this is your chance. Being in possession of this book should seriously increase your chances of surviving and, hence, reproducing!

POSTAPOCALYPSE SURVIVAL 101

Aside from the emotional tension of the zombie threat, one of the most interesting ideas explored in many zombie films is how the human survivors of a zombie apocalypse will cope.

When the zombie apocalypse comes, you’ll need to be prepared. This book will serve as your survival guide.

HOME

Where you live will be critical to your chances of survival. Most suburban homes will not survive an attack from a determined group of zombies intent on chowing down. If you’re in such a location, you should probably find a new base pretty early on.

Make sure your new home is easy to defend. Many consider a boat the best place to live (zombies are really bad at swimming!), but this isn’t practical if you live a long way from open water. Also, living on a boat presents its own difficulties, including storms and a constant need for fuel unless it’s under sail. You will also have to venture onto land to stock up on supplies, but supply runs will be necessary no matter where you live.

A boat is advantageous because it opens up the possibility of finding a zombie-free island where a community could be established. This is definitely an option to work toward. In fact, assuming you survive the first few days, working your way toward the coast or the shore of a large lake in a series of hops is probably a wise strategy. A long drive could, in theory, take you from anywhere in the country to the coast, but in all likelihood, the roads will be jammed with abandoned cars following desperate attempts to avoid the contagion. So, travel is likely to be slow and dangerous, menaced by the everpresent zombies and possibly other survivors.

If you live somewhere where it gets cold in winter, then you might want to consider getting somewhere warmer. Cold weather means that you’ll need to consume more calories and find some shelter with heating that isn’t too drafty. The only likely way to heat your abode is by burning wood, which you’ll have to go out and gather. On the other hand, an ax is an effective weapon for decapitating zombies.

If you know how to fly a light aircraft, then this is a great way to avoid both zombies and ground obstacles. You may find that your destination airstrip is not clear, and many fields will revert to scrubland without human cultivation, so take some exploratory trips before you commit yourself to soaring past the point of no return.

WATER

The survival expert Cody Lundin has something called the Rule of Threes. This can be paraphrased as follows:

• You can live 3 minutes without air.

• You can live 3 hours without shelter (in extreme temperatures).

• You can live 3 days without water.

• You can live 3 weeks without food.

Air shouldn’t be a problem and, assuming that the apocalypse takes place during a clement patch of weather, neither should shelter. So apart from avoiding being eaten, your main priority has to be finding potable water and other things to drink. The public water supply is unlikely to keep going if the pumps that pressurize it lose power. Therefore, if possible, find a location with its own well or other freshwater reservoir. Bottled and canned drinks should also be in great supply, as there won’t be many people putting their change into vending machines.

FOOD AND FUEL

Farming can take years to become well established enough to feed a small group of people, so growing your own organic veggies is a goal for the future, when it’s time to rebuild society. With fewer people around, however, there will be plenty of canned food to find—enough to last almost indefinitely. Scavenge cans of food and other nonperishable edibles from homes and supermarkets.

The projects in this book concentrate on electricity. Not just any electricity but electricity stored in batteries. This is fine for lighting, alarms, and communications, but when it comes to heating and cooking, it is not feasible to use electricity without a serious solar panel array and some heavy-duty equipment. When you’re in the mood for hot food then, gas-powered heaters and camp stoves are much more realistic alternatives. Be sure to use them safely!

A barbecue grill is another option for cooking your food and will happily burn charcoal or wood.

ZOMBIE KILLING

By far the best strategy when dealing with zombies is to avoid attracting their attention whenever possible. Try to be quiet and move stealthily as you scout new places, and avoid going anywhere where you might get trapped, including buildings or rooms with only one door as well as blind alleys.

Eventually, you will have to fight a zombie, so make sure that you are always armed. Guns are not necessarily the best option. They make a lot of noise, and they have to be reloaded. Also, to take down a zombie with a bullet, you need to shoot it in the head, and they won’t normally stand still while you take aim.

An ax, baseball bat, or sword can be more effective. This was demonstrated in the “Zombie Special” episode of Mythbusters, where it was scientifically proven, to a high standard, that you can kill far more zombies per minute with an ax than with a gun. The relative merits of various weapons are listed in Table 1-2.

Table 1-2: WEAPON PROS AND CONS

In fact, different weapons will come into their own in different situations, and ultimately your zombie-killing instrument comes down to personal choice. I favor the often neglected iron bar as my weapon of choice. Half-Life players will be well aware of the effectiveness of this weapon.

Regardless of what you pack, fighting zombies is extremely risky. Setting traps to kill zombies from a distance is much better than taking them on at close range. A pit with bait hung over the opening will often be sufficient to induce zombie after zombie to fall down the hole. A mine shaft is ideal for this, as any hole you dig is unlikely to be deep enough to keep the zombies from climbing back out over each other as it fills up.

Thinning out the zombie population in your area will help to reduce the chance of zombies attacking in unmanageable numbers, and it’s the socially responsible thing to do for any other survivors that might be in the area. It’s the postapocalyptic equivalent of cleaning up after your dog.

When your zombie situation gets more hectic, have a supply of Molotov cocktails (homemade incendiary bombs using bottles and often gasoline) on hand to hurl at zombies from a safe distance. Other projectiles, such as grenades, can also be effective if you can get your hands on them.

DRESSING TO KILL

Whether fighting zombies or trying to escape them, it’s important to dress well. That is, no long hair or loose clothing. Once a zombie gets hold of you, it will drag you inexorably toward its mouth until you get into biting range. In other words, wear the kind of clothes you would around machines in a workshop: no long hair to grab and definitely no neckties.

Armor can be improvised. Something as simple as thick cord around your forearms can prevent a bite from penetrating the skin. But don’t forget to balance mobility with protection. A medieval suit of armor might provide good protection for a time, but it will slow you down significantly (Figure 1-3). It’s hard to put up much of a fight when you can’t get away!

Figure 1-3: A heavy suit of armor can decrease your mobility.

You should also think carefully about the dangers of becoming infected from blood spatter when killing zombies. Try to breathe through your nose while fighting or even wear a face mask.

STAYING HEALTHY

Healthcare in a postapocalyptic world is a pretty do-it-yourself affair. You’ll be lucky to find a medic in your group, as medical staff will have been very much in the thick of it during the initial outbreak and therefore quite unlikely to have survived.

This means that you need to keep yourself healthy. Getting enough exercise is not going to be a problem. Just staying alive, without all the modern conveniences that we take for granted, takes quite a lot of effort. However, you need to stay well to survive, and that includes paying special attention to any minor injuries. All cuts and open wounds must immediately be dressed with antiseptic and covered with a bandage or dressing. You should also keep a stock of antibiotics. If you can’t get your physician to prescribe them now, then raiding a hospital or pharmacy will be a priority once the zombie apocalypse starts.

Boil any drinking water not from a sealed bottle, and don’t eat anything likely to give you food poisoning.

If you are nearsighted, then a spare pair of glasses is an essential item. Not being able to see well could easily be fatal in this new world.

BE PREPARED

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts probably already have a special badge for zombie fighting; if not, they will after the apocalypse! In any case, their motto is a good one: be prepared. Always think ahead, adopting the astronaut mentality of anticipating the next thing that could kill you as well as the thing after that (if you have time). Rehearse scenarios in your head continually to minimize the chances of disaster when something takes you by surprise.

Keep a go bag. This small backpack should be kept close at all times so that you can grab it and run at a moment’s notice. It should contain just enough to keep you alive for a few days. A backpack leaves your hands free for fighting. A good contents list for the backpack might look like this:

• Bottled water

• High-energy food such as chocolate and cookies

• Multipurpose pocket knife

• Thermal blanket

• Flashlight

• Spare weapon

Wherever you are, always make sure that there is more than one way to get away. You need a front door and a back door. No matter how impenetrable you think your base is, there is always the possibility that the worst will happen, so have an escape route.

OTHER SURVIVORS

Teaming up with other survivors can be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the more people, the more food and drink you need. On the other hand, if you can run faster than the others in your group, then you can get away while the zombies are eating them.

There are, of course, other advantages to teaming up. For one thing, there’s the comfort of being with other humans. Also, you can keep watch in shifts, and if your team has diverse sets of skills, you can benefit from the expertise of others. Sadly for the old and weak, there is little advantage to their presence over and above being a culinary diversion for zombies, unless they can provide practical skills, wisdom, or leadership.

There is also the possibility that others will be so concerned about their own survival that they will take things from you that they covet. Taking and betraying happen in the best of times, let alone during a zombie apocalypse, so choose your friends wisely. As long as there is mutual advantage in staying together, the group will hold. Generally, the longer you stay together, the more group loyalty will develop as friendships strengthen.

PARTS FOR PROJECTS

This is a project book, so you are going to need parts. Fortunately, a lot of useful material will be littering the streets and roads.

CARS

Car batteries are particularly useful. In fact, cars are full of useful things that can be repurposed (Figure 1-4).

• Horns that can be used as alarms or zombie distractors (see Chapters 4 and 9)

• Alternators for making generators (see Chapter 2)

• 12V light bulbs for illumination and to serve as indicators

• Assorted switches

• Relays for automated switching

• Miles and miles of copper wire

Figure 1-4: Cars are full of useful stuff!

Of course, removing the parts from a car out in the open is risky. Have all the tools you need with you and work quickly. If you break into a car, the alarm may sound. It’s much better to use a car whose doors are already open.

An alternative to taking things off a car is to just visit an auto parts store or auto mechanic. In fact, if you are trying out some of these projects preapocalypse, then visiting a junkyard or auto shop is your best option.

BRICK-AND-MORTAR PARTS STORES

Your hometown probably has a Fry’s or some other store from which it is possible to buy (or postapocalypse, take) electronics components. In the UK, Maplin fills a similar niche. While you won’t build much from scratch in this book—instead, you’ll learn to reuse everyday household items whenever possible—you can get a few really useful things at such stores:

• Walkie-talkies

• Batteries

• Solar panels

• Tools

• Prototyping platforms, such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi controllers (See “Electronic Modules” on page 17.)

Of course, preapocalypse, you could also just order most materials on the Internet. (Then, you’ll even be prepared with a stockpile; imagine the bartering possibilities!) See Appendix A for a detailed breakdown of the electronic parts you’ll need for this book and where to buy them.

PROJECT CONSTRUCTION

The projects in this book are mostly concerned with the use of electronics in some way. They’re all described step-by-step, and no electronics expertise is required. You’ll find detailed lists of the supplies you need to make a project within the project itself, and you’ll need just a few basic tools, including a soldering iron.

SOLDERING

You use a soldering iron to melt solder, which is used to join wires together or attach components to a circuit board. The basic principal is that you touch the hot tip of the iron to the solder, without burning yourself. During the apocalypse, burn medication will be hard to come by, so take care.

There is, of course, the problem that we might not have a supply of electricity to power the soldering iron. Fortunately, several types of cordless soldering irons are available. There are butane gas–powered irons, as well as irons that are battery powered. You can even repurpose a hot plate or a toaster oven to solder components to circuit boards.

In Appendix B, you will find a beginner’s guide to soldering. Trust me: if you can use a knife and fork, you can solder.

MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION

You’ll want to put the contraptions you make in this book into boxes or affix them to walls, so it will be helpful to get hold of a drill as well as screws, nuts, bolts, and metal brackets. General construction tools such as a hacksaw, files, and a vise will come in very handy for fashioning supports and fixings from scrap metal or lumber. The more tools you can lay your hands on, the better. They can always double as weapons.

ELECTRONIC MODULES

Wherever possible, the projects in this book use ready-made modules to simplify the build. Two such modules are the Arduino (Figure 1-5) and Raspberry Pi (Figure 1-6). You will find a guide to the Raspberry Pi in Chapter 5 and an Arduino primer in Appendix C.

Figure 1-5: An Arduino microcontroller board

Figure 1-6: A Raspberry Pi single-board computer

The Arduino is a microcontroller board widely used by makers and artists. It’s simple to use and can be programmed to read sensors and control outputs. For example, in Chapter 2, you will use it to make a battery monitor, and in Chapter 9, you’ll use it to control an LED flashlight to make an automatic Morse code beacon.

The Raspberry Pi is a much more sophisticated device. It is a low-power computer running the Linux operating system. You can connect a keyboard, mouse, and a TV to it and turn it into a control center for your base. Being low power, it is much more suitable to run on batteries than a laptop computer would be.

If you are new to programming, don’t worry: all the program code for the projects that use Raspberry Pi and Arduino is available for download from http://nostarch.com/zombies/. You may want to download the code to a pen drive now, just in case.

In the next chapter, I will start with the basics of sorting out the electrical power that you will need for most projects. Having electricity available will make life easier in other ways, too, such as by providing lighting, so let’s get started!