We don't have a completely thought out plan, it's more of a “While I’m thinking about it, this would be a good idea INZ.” If we don't have a lot of people that want to group together, we'd hole up in our house. If we DID have people we'd head to Menards/ Lowes. Lowes is closer but Menards is more out of town. Since I'm pretty much writing the latter, I'll elaborate on the house.
We live on the top half of a duplex. There is a basement and an attic. There are two sets of stairs, one inside and the back stairs which are outside. There are 11 windows altogether. (Just in the upstairs. There are a few in the front stair well and some downstairs but I don't know how many.) Depending on the seriousness of the initial outbreak, and where we are at the time, we'd go stock up on everything we can. We'd load up on lasting food, tools, and weaponry. We'd get lumber, chicken wire, and some cinder blocks if possible too. For weaponry, we'd want rifles and some handguns. Lots of ammunition to have stored too. Right now we only have one good bow and a quiver of arrows, a dull sword and machete, and various knives. We'd grab a sharpener, more blades, and other camping type stuff.
We would probably knock the back stairs down so nothing could gain access to that door or window. We'd use a rope ladder if we needed to get out and about. All of the windows would be chicken wired and boarded up- first story on the outside and in, top on the inside. We might get a couple sliding metal doors for some of the windows, so we can see out if we need to. The front door would be a little trickier. What we want to do is make our stairwell disappear, but if we join forces with our neighbor, we'd just make the front door unusable. We'd use cinder blocks to build a wall starting at the staircase if she didn't want to. Ergo, disappearing staircase.
We'd like to have a big guard dog too, but it would be difficult since we don't have a yard and we're on 2nd story. Plus we'd have to train it to not bark. If we could get my dog back, that would be great, but it won't happen. Having a dog would help with a few different things. The first being protection while raiding. The first bit after the outbreak is going to be chaotic. People won't act like they should and they will be fighting for the same things as us. Having a dog will help deter them from attacking us while we're out and about. The second thing it would be useful for is alerting us to anything that's near the house. Animals have amazing senses and an undead person walking around would probably freak it out.
After we get supplies and fortify the house, we'll just hunker down for awhile. Wait for everything to be less crazy. Then we'd go out and stock up more. We aren't sure what we'd do for a long term plan, haven't really thought it out that much. I'd want to make sure my family is safe, which would be harder than checking on his since mine are 8 plus hours away.
Another idea we had was to go and rent a BIG uhaul truck. Dunno if it would work as well, safety wise, but it would be easy to stock and move in. Gas would be an issue, but we could also just park somewhere and stay for bits at a time. We haven't thought much on the idea, but it is another possibility. Two people could live comfortably in the back of one for some time. We could drive to the different stores we were going to raid and could get more that way. Just another idea!
Some of the issues I am seeing in your plan, is the lack of current supplies right now. Most of your plan entails "getting" this and that to board up or build walls or making metal doors. If you do not have these supplies already in hand, your plan falls apart very quickly.
I would recommend figuring out what you would do if it all hit the fan tomorrow. What do you have on hand right now to protect yourself and your friends and family? Instead of building a wall with cinder blocks, do you have a large set of drawers you could put into the stairs to act as a blockade? Do you have a rope ladder ready to go? How are you going to tear down the outside stairs?
A mobile unit to drive around in has its pros and cons, in my mind. In the back of a UHAUL, you have no way to see the outside of your truck without opening it. If you and your buddy are sleeping in it and open the door in the morning, you might open the door to a small horde standing there looking at you. Can you lock a UHAUL truck from the inside? I think it can only be locked down from the outside, making your sleeping quarters very unsafe.
On the other hand, many people would like to have the ability to drive off and get away at a moments notice. The alrge storage area would be good for having all your stuff in one place.
On Z-Day, the first thing I am going to do is scream like a little girl. Once that's out, I will be ready to function.
Time and time again the ZPI community has pulled apart why we shouldn't use a major outlet center. simply search for Menards in the search function and you will see years of discussion.
You should seriously consider the fact that you may not get this stuff as the outbreak happens. Many of times has stores sold out on the basics from a simple hurricane warning, let alone when the hurricane is actually approaching.
Every place has its natural disasters, stock up now on the necessities. People rely on modern convienience way to much and when disaster is on its way or even upon them, they are caught out. This is why so many people end up in disaster centers even when their residence is fine.
Riots, looting, marshal law, curfews, etc may be initiated or start immediately, how would you approach this?
Do you own a rope ladder or enough rope to make one?
Remember if you cannot get all the heavy and awkward supplies into a vehicle you can simple you furniture and fixtures to barricade your home.
Talk with your neighbour now about disaster management, you may be surprised that you are already included in theirs or they have a collection of survival gear and stocked food already.
My neighbour goes to her sons house in emergencies, my rear neighbour bunks down with his family and we keep in contact via two way or Bluetooth. He owns / lives in the corner store and runs generators but frequently runs out of gas after the first four days of no power, so I share mine while he shares his ice. All it takes is a quick conversation.
I hated giving up pets. Hopefully you can work something out.
Are you aware of your families plans and are they aware of your disaster plans?
Is there a particular reason you are staying in the city limits?
How will you handle hostile humans?
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I would also like to point out that Driving a uhaul is a little difficult under normal conditions for most joe schmoes off the street, throw in the walking dead, the ammount of noise it makes, the fact that if you get a flat tire your basically done unless you have specialized quipment, and abandoned cars and that thing is going to quickly become more of a hindrince then an asset
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Yeah. I know there's a lot of flaws. We don't have things stocked up at all because we just moved. We are working it into our budget so we can start stockpiling some things. Got some food stuffs last week!
We'd stay in city limits for the first part because it'd be chaotic. Plus.. we don't know where to go. We don't know the surrounding area... or anyone out there.
I'll talk to the neighbor next time we run into each other. Our schedules are way different so we rarely see each other.
Thanks for your comments!
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