In today's news...

[ToxicShock]

Re: In today's news...

I would, but, ya know, anonymous and whatnot

... Personally, I'd work on a starting location to fortify first. Then you work outward from that area, not just grab and go.

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: In today's news...

So more reports of people biting other people's faces and then some mysterious rash shows up in schools.

THEY'RE HERE

 

[Nunu]

Re: In today's news...

Dun dun dun!!!

 

[super_slicer]

Re: In today's news...

Gotta say I'm pretty set for any zombie apocalypse type event. Rural area, any towns nearby are relatively low pop, guns in almost every home because of our hunting traditions, so unless someone care about happens to get out a message for help I'm riding through it pretty much unscathed.

Unfortunately I'm power hungry, so I'll be hitting up the naval division armory a couple towns over once I've got my neighbors illegal weapons stash, picking up any survivors I deem fit along the way in the bus that's up behind my house (If they're not in good health or have a weak mental state/condition [i.e. dipshit girl from dawn of the dead] they can fuck off and die), once I've got enough good people and equipped them it's off to the national guard armory an hour away.

From there it's anybodies game, probably cleanse one of the small towns nearby and fortify it, then search for survivors, when found they'll be given the choice of working with us of their own free will, or being enslaved! Hell, some of them won't even be given the former choice. Once other towns have been founded, slaves will be traded for supplies at my discretion.

The only problem I see with this plan is that the women here aren't up to my standards, soooooo? I guess I'd have to send hunting parties out looking for beautiful sex slaves for me...


Wow this got out of hand very fast. Over the course of a few paragraphs I've become the merciless dictator of a town supported by slavery. Perhaps it's a good thing that the military is much more effective in real life than in movies.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: In today's news...

Yeah... remind me to stay away from your area...

Why do these conversations always turn into how badly we can fuck other people over and delight in our own survival while we leave others bleeding in the streets?

Also find it amusing that people just assume the military will fall instantly, and that raiding their armouries is as simple as walking straight in and taking whatever we wish.

 

[robdelobe]

Re: In today's news...

Don't worry, the internet has done the thinking for us:

You must be registered to see the links

 

[super_slicer]

Re: In today's news...

Well, the first armory I mentioned has never had a single soldier/vehicle posted outside regularly in the 20 years I've been driving past it (once in a very long time, like once a year, I'll see a vehicle inside the gates). And the second armory is nestled in the worst possible place to try to protect anything ever. Nestled among buildings taller than itself with many short alleyways that have a ton of twists and turns. Also haven't seen any sign of anyone actually being there ever, but I don't see it as much since it's an hour away.

But that's just in my case. Though by the same logic I would also say that the installations probably hold nothing of real value, still would like to root around inside them!

As for the assumption that the military would fall easily, it's a combination of two factors as I see it.

First, most intelligent people see bureaucracy as needlessly convoluted and idiotic. When dealing with a situation that you'd have to see to believe, the guys at the top wouldn't believe that it was zombies until it was too late for them to make well informed decisions and issue the proper orders. Meaning the guys that are actually doing the fighting would be screwed tactically. (since you know, gotta do what the guys in charge say, remember this is just a theory of why other people think that way, I'm sure a zombie outbreak would be put to a stop before the public knew what's going on personally)

And second, we don't SEE alot of troops walking around. So we assume that they aren't there. And we are in part correct, we don't keep the entire military force of our country on alert and patrolling our streets constantly. That would be completely absurd, but that means it's going to take time to get them geared up and shipped to wherever the outbreak is. Once it has been confirmed that is, which increases the time that it takes for those troops to get to shooting zombies. So given that amount of time the 'horde' could be massive enough that the forces provided wouldn't be enough to stop it. And if they don't turn tail they're just going to add to the problem.

TL;DR Slow response time and idiots in charge are what I think are the reasons people feel the military wouldn't be able to handle a zombie outbreak.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: In today's news...

I remember many times having to be able to deploy within 24 hours of receiving a phone call many times, sometimes sooner, sometimes as long as three days. I was never able to travel more than 3 hours away from the military base I was stationed at at any time without direct permission. A military vanguard can be deployed rather quickly. Like, within hours. Local Police even quicker, and if the States is anything like Canada, than any city must have a Tactical Police Unit that will be able to deploy just behind street level officers.

Now we've just seen a street level officer take out one guy without being eaten, so if they see this going on whole scale, they can react accordingly as well. And Tactical Police Units are rather well armed (assault rifles, SMGs, snipers, etc.) and very well trained, those guys, whether SWAT, TRU, ERT or some other name, they know the business of putting bullets down range and saving people.

And frankly, pretty much every pair of boots on the ground knows what a zombie is. They'll know how to react even if generals don't, and I know during my deployment, my company commander made most decisions on platoon movements and such. Generals only put us in a district. Soldiers know how to react to a given situation, and officers on the ground can move their platoon and react to a given situation, and Majors with their companies, and Lt Col's with their brigades... really the people at the tippy top don't decide how the man on the ground will actually put a bullet into someone's eye socket. Real military operations do not work like RTS games. Basically even if the people at the top most levels of command can not grasp that a zombie apocalypse is upon them, the guy's on the ground will still be able to fight back due to the one ROE that goes into any deployment: "Self Defense". Even the UN troops would be able to shoot a man trying to eat them.

Also military armouries still can't just be strolled into. At least not the ones I know of. The only one that would actually be easy to break into is empty most of the time (I've worked in it a few times being the Ammunition NCO for a few ranges), they others have rather thick doors, walls, and alarms that would just bring hordes of zombies down upon you. Or other looters... or remaining military going to rearm.

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: In today's news...

You must be registered to see the links

I say we just burn Quarantine Florida and burn it to the ground. The State's a three hour drive below me and I'm starting to freak the fuck out

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: In today's news...

Putting aside all the other relevant factors of military vs zombies, I've always liked to use this as an example of which comes out on top.

What would you rather have trying to break down your door trying to end you out of either...
A) Five zombies
B) A squad of 5 professional soldiers

Or, if you imagine yourself to be part of a squad of 5 professional soldiers, which of the following threats would you rather be tasked to deal with...
A) 1000 zombies
B) 1000 opposing professional soldiers

No contest.

 

[Newbie]

Re: In today's news...

I say we just burn Quarantine Florida and burn it to the ground. The State's a three hour drive below me and I'm starting to freak the fuck out

=(

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: In today's news...

=(

Uh... Love you, mean it?

 

[Termite]

Re: In today's news...

=(

=(

 

[Hopeyouguess62]

Re: In today's news...

Well, the first armory I mentioned has never had a single soldier/vehicle posted outside regularly in the 20 years I've been driving past it (once in a very long time, like once a year, I'll see a vehicle inside the gates).

TL;DR Slow response time and idiots in charge are what I think are the reasons people feel the military wouldn't be able to handle a zombie outbreak.

Hi. I'm one of the idiots.

I have three simple words for you: "entry control point." The moment you step into a military installation, or try to, an armed guard (who is not alone) will check your identification. I can't picture a zombie producing a valid military ID and getting cleared through the gate. This alone would alert us to the presence of a zombie intrusion. We've also got roving security, camera security and a host of other little surprises that keep us fully informed. Satellites aren't just for phones and television and internet services.

As for surviving an attack... I work on a warship. 90% of our ships are ready to get underway within the hour, at most, without recalling a single sailor. Again, I won't go into details... but in an imminent threat, whether natural or decidedly unnatural, we'd be gone before the zombies knew we existed.

Putting aside all the other relevant factors of military vs zombies, I've always liked to use this as an example of which comes out on top.

What would you rather have trying to break down your door trying to end you out of either...
A) Five zombies
B) A squad of 5 professional soldiers

Or, if you imagine yourself to be part of a squad of 5 professional soldiers, which of the following threats would you rather be tasked to deal with...
A) 1000 zombies
B) 1000 opposing professional soldiers

No contest.

I'm sure you mean no disrespect, but I would like to point out here that the military does not consist of "squads of professional soldiers." Some of us are sailors ("squids") and some of us are marines ("jarheads"), and while we respect our "ground-pounders" we do not like to be confused with them. Some of us drive ships, some of us fly planes, some of us laze targets and some of us push pencils. My particular branch specializes in putting "warheads on foreheads." I'll take on your thousand soldiers or thousand zombies with a good warship, any day.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: In today's news...

I think you're missing Squid's point a bit there Hope.

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: In today's news...

I'm sure you mean no disrespect, but I would like to point out here that the military does not consist of "squads of professional soldiers." Some of us are sailors ("squids") and some of us are marines ("jarheads"), and while we respect our "ground-pounders" we do not like to be confused with them. Some of us drive ships, some of us fly planes, some of us laze targets and some of us push pencils. My particular branch specializes in putting "warheads on foreheads." I'll take on your thousand soldiers or thousand zombies with a good warship, any day.

Huh? I never said anything implying either way or made any mention of the different branches of the military. Certainly didn't mean any disrespect. I'm not sure how you actually read any in that. >_>

You can replace "professional soldier" with "trained person with gun" if you like. My point was simply that a few people with guns and their brains still intact vs an army of brain dead meatbags really isn't much of a contest, and I know which one I'd consider more dangerous. I did actually consider adding in scenario options for zombies "trying" to fly helicopters or man a ship vs trained airforce/navy crews, but it felt rather redundant to even bother mentioning by the time I got to it. But yeah, just to add to it then, any number of zombies vs warship.

Even less of a contest than before.

 

[ToxicShock]

Re: In today's news...

I say we quarantine Florida by just physically removing it from the continental united states, mainly by burning and destroying an arc surrounding it that will hopefully include states like Alabama and North Carolina.

In more shocking news, strange as hell, but not necessarily zombie-ish, look what I found in the paper today!

 

[Hopeyouguess62]

Re: In today's news...

Huh? I never said anything implying either way or made any mention of the different branches of the military. Certainly didn't mean any disrespect. I'm not sure how you actually read any in that. >_>

You can replace "professional soldier" with "trained person with gun" if you like. My point was simply that a few people with guns and their brains still intact vs an army of brain dead meatbags really isn't much of a contest, and I know which one I'd consider more dangerous. I did actually consider adding in scenario options for zombies "trying" to fly helicopters or man a ship vs trained airforce/navy crews, but it felt rather redundant to even bother mentioning by the time I got to it. But yeah, just to add to it then, any number of zombies vs warship.

Even less of a contest than before.

Maybe I worded my response too strongly... we military folks tend to do that. Try calling a Chief or Sergeant, "sir," sometime and you'll see an even stronger reaction. Anyway, sorry if I offended. I was more trying to expand upon the point you were making... that despite the possibility of the spread of a "zombie virus," the military would likely kick their asses back into the grave.

I will say... the geographical location of most of these occurrences gives unprecedented credence to the phrase, "The South Shall Rise Again!!"

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: In today's news...

No offence taken. I was/am just confused at what was read as disrespectful. I read over my post again some ten times trying to imagine it from different viewpoints or in different tones to make sure I hadn't unintentionally said something strange. I get jittery when I think I've cocked something up.

Anyway, as always with the zombie thing, the only real threat is in the form of an airborne or very easily spread virus. But even then we have contained and controlled some really nasty viruses in the past just fine, so there's no real reason it couldn't be contained just the same. Most zombie movies and the like portray a situation where entire towns will fall to the zombie threat seemingly without anyone realising what's going on or reacting. Yet in the news stories posted just here, we've had reports about schools where in the strangest thing that happened was "an unexplained rash". When unexplained rashes are able to make the news, then unexplained zombie themed deaths and population wipeouts haven't got a chance in hell in going under the radar.

 

[Newbie]

Re: In today's news...