Grab your weapons, find your friends and get to your base. It’s zombie-hunting time!
That thing you’ve been daydreaming about for years is finally happening. Where’s the best place to survive?
Is this something that might happen one day? And does humanity stand a chance?
So, what exactly should you do if your neighbor suddenly turns into a zombie? First, pack the basics. A water bottle, essential medicine, and a first aid kit will all be all key to your survival. Oh, and a baseball bat wouldn’t hurt either, in case you run into any undead.
Now if you’re in a city, get the *bleep* out of there. Seriously. A research team out of Cornell University figures that in the event of a zombie outbreak, New York City would be completely infected in less than 24 hours.
Other large, densely populated cities around the world would quickly follow suit. If the zombies don’t bite you, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll bite the dust from the mass hysteria happening all around you.
Okay since we can’t hide out in cities, where should we be hiding?
The best way to avoid a zombie apocalypse would be to head for the water and find a boat. If Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s that zombies are terrible swimmers; and traveling on the water will be far less busy than anywhere else.
While you’re making your way toward the water, only stop at places with higher elevations. Rooftops and lookout towers are your best bet as they’d be relatively easy to defend.
And remember to be as quick as possible, because in just 100 days 99% of the world’s population would succumb to the zombie apocalypse. That’s according to a prediction from the University of Leicester in England.
Using the SIR model, which calculates the spread of contagious diseases, the study predicted that, after just 100 days, only 273 humans would be alive on planet Earth. They predict the zombie population would quickly outnumber the people who were alive, resulting in a snowball effect — quickly adding more zombies while taking away the surviving humans. But let’s say those 100 days haven’t passed yet. Once you get your boat, where should you be headed?
Well, it’s probably not on your bucket list, but if you do want to survive the zombie apocalypse, North Korea might be the best place to do it. It all has to do with the military.
North Korea has 47 armed military personnel per 1,000 citizens. In comparison, the United States has only 4 military personnel per 1,000 citizens.
Sure the U.S. has way more guns, but that doesn’t mean everyone knows how to use them. In a high-stress scenario, with zombies chasing you from every direction, there’s bound to be misfires and tons of friendly fire.
So, that’s what to do in the event of a zombie apocalypse, but we should consider if a scenario like this is even possible. Could we see zombie-like creatures walking around one day?
Well, we already have them in nature. Insects can be infected with a parasitic fungus known as Cordyceps. The infection essentially hijacks the insect’s brain and even controls them after they die.
Cordyceps have been known to destroy entire colonies of ants. If humans were to be somehow infected by a similar, airborne disease, it wouldn’t be long until we see these things everywhere.
Relax, something like this isn’t likely to happen. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be talking about it. A lot of these zombie survival studies can be applied to the world we know today, just with other diseases.
They show just how a city, country or entire world can be easily wiped out by a disease if not prepared. So maybe having your zombie survival strategy all planned out isn’t a bad thing.
Plus, we need you to survive if a mess like this ever does happen. If you didn’t, who would be here to enjoy WHAT IF?
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Sources
- “Zombie Apocalypse Would Wipe Out Humankind In Just 100 Days, Students Calculate — University Of Leicester”. 2019. www2.le.ac.uk. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “The Equations Behind Epidemics”. Byrne, Michael, 2014. Motherboard. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “You Can Run, You Can Hide” 2019. arxiv.org. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “Zombie Outbreak? Statistical Mechanics Reveal The Ideal Hideout”. 1425. Eurekalert!. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “If The Zombie Apocalypse Happens, Scientists Say You Should Head For The Hills”. Loria, Kevin, 2017. The Independent. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “Zombie-Town USA”. 2019. mattbierbaum.github.io. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “What Would Really Happen In A Hollywood-Style Zombie Apocalypse?”. 2019. Stuff. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “Could A Zombie Apocalypse Really Happen? | Mysterious Universe”. 2018. Mysterious Universe. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “Cordyceps Brain Infection”. 2019. The Last Of Us Wiki. Accessed May 3 2019.
- “How Long Can A Person Survive Without Water?”. Science, Live. 2017. Live Science. Accessed May 3 2019.