Living Arrangements In The Zombie Apocalypse

Stupid title, I know.  But, where are you going to be when the zombies are upon us?  Do you have a stockpile of food, water, medical supplies, weapons, and a suicide plan if it all goes bad?  I mean, you  don’t want to “live” like that if they bite you right?  I certainly don’t, but I’d sure want to consider that kind of thing.  Stomping around with a vacuous gaze, munching on the neighbors.  Nah.  That’s not for me.  Interesting though.  I like zombie movies, not because I like the gruesome horror of it all, but because such a situation where all infrastructure breaks down and people are forced to care for themselves and each others, create the conditions for interesting human behavior to occur.

No, I don’t foresee the dead becoming animate and feasting on the living.  I doubt any military research facility is working on a “Rage Virus” that causes mammals to become ravenous monsters, tearing each other apart.  None of the typical zombie scenarios are likely and I certainly don’t want them to be.  But, then again, why not play it on the safe side, eh?

This is all very tongue in cheek.  I do have a point here.  To waste your time.  Gotcha!  NO, really.  I have a point.  Even though none of us are going to live through a zombie apocalypse, there are plenty of scenarios in which the fabric of society could break down and you are, as George Carlin said “SOL and JWF.  Shit out of luck and jolly well fucked”.  Asteroid/comet impact, solar storm, nuclear war, plague, supervolcano eruption, to name a few.  Then there’s the possibility of of societal breakdown due to a minor event because of an already weakened infrastructure, lack of emergency preparedness and the irrationality of the existing institutions attempting to maintain control over a frightened public.

So, there are a lot of reasons to live light, be prepared, know myself, enjoy seeing the world, develop personally, and if the day comes where I think I might die, well…  at least I tried to fill everyday with as much experience and beauty that I could muster.  Why zombies then?  Because survival is survival no matter which scenario I’m talking about.  Only the details are different.  When I go off and live an “abnormal lifestyle” such as living in a motor home at 27 years old with no specific goals other than personal growth and experience, folks are bound to ask “why?”.  Telling them I want to live small, with less and be mobile in case any one of those disasters occur, and I get labelled as being paranoid.  On the other hand, if I say I’m preparing for the zombie apocalypse I either get labeled as insane and they go away, or they become intrigued in which case, I just gained a friend.  SImple as that.  I don’t know about you, but my favorite Walking Dead character was Dale with his motor home.  That guy was prepared.  🙂

-M.C. Pletcher