Zombie Outbreak - where to hide?

[Jim Hague]

Feeling shock doesn't kill you. Its the fact that shock turns certain organs to liquid (your brain, liver and lungs specifically), the typical zombie is slain by trauma to the head. HE and AP shells actually do liquify flesh in a very significant radius. A .50 cal machine gun bullet can take your arm off, even if it misses. This isn't even beginning to describe what modern weapons can do.

Felling shock most certainly can kill you, at least according to my former military medic friends. That's why it's so important to treat it. And rip a zombie's arm off? So? Doesn't feel it, no blood loss, no massive tissue trauma it cares about...you have to keep firing, and that wastes ammo. Meanwhile they just...keep...coming. AP puts holes in things, not liquefy; it's a sabot, typically. HE does concussive but little heat damage. Neither is really effective against a soft target.

You are argueing that high density concentrations of zombies will kill off the military. Civilians? In the big cities? yep, the zombies would be to dense and the civilians to poorly armed. In small towns? There are enough guns and ammo to pick off the shambling dead and render their lesser numbers moot. The military would be able to handle the large crowds in the cities with ease.

Living in one of the states with the highest density of guns to people, I can state flatly this is complete bull. Owning a gun does not equate in any way to knowing how to use it, and knowing how to use it doesn't mean you can get the vital shot. Further, people are reluctant to shoot Mom or Gramps or Li'L susie, slavering flesh-eater or not.

As for the military handling large crowds...ahh, no. They're meant to fight wars (hence the designation 'warfighter') not handle crowd control.

Could someone page the author of Year of the Zombie? His expertise is sorely needed here, and he's the closest thing to a bona fide expert as ENWorld is going to get...

 

[Nadaka]

AP = Anti-Personnel

Shock = Hydrostatic shock, not the medical condition of nervous system failure due stress.

Handling Large Crowds != UN peacekeeping, I mean killing them with extreme prejudice.

It looks like we have some ambiguity of terms here.

 

[Jim Hague]

AP = Anti-Personnel

AP = Armor-piercing; standard nomenclature. Not anti-personnel. Ammo used against soft targets is typically referred to as 'ball' or 'jacketed'. The M2HB is not used in an anti-personnel role; it's overkill. Nor are tank cannons.

 

[Nadaka]

I am referring to AP artillery and gun shells, large fragmenting rounds. Ideally with multiple sub munitions.

 

[Celebrim]

AP = Armor-piercing; standard nomenclature. Not anti-personnel. Ammo used against soft targets is typically referred to as 'ball' or 'jacketed'.

Military small caliber ammo, sure. Large caliber anti-personal weapons typically are listed as APERS or Canister.

The M2HB is not used in an anti-personnel role; it's overkill.

Huh? Fires the same ammo as the Barrett .50, only more rounds to a trigger pull so you don't have to be quite as accurate. Very useful when shooting at a target with cover. I've heard you can even hook a scope on top the deuce and use it like a sniper rifle.

Nor are tank cannons.

Huh? In what world?

Lookup the M1028 shell. Been available for a few years now. Sees alot of use. They also used to make a beehive round. The IDF still uses them, and I think they are still stocked in 105mm.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

The M2HB is not used in an anti-personnel role; it's overkill. Nor are tank cannons.

1. The Ma Duece is absolutely used in an anti-personnel role, of course it's also good for anything up to lightly armored vehicles and slow, low-flying aircraft.

2. Tank main guns are also used in anti-personnel roles that's what they invented cannister rounds for. I preferred the old 105 flechette round, you could wipe out half a platoon with a single round if they'd bunch up you. But considering the main theaters are in areas with sturdier housing in general I can see why they've switched to cannister.

ANSWERING CELEBRIM: Yes you can scope the Duece, that came before any of the .50BMG rifles. And with a well set sand-bagged tripod, they were pretty effective too made kills out to beyond 2000 meters including the famous Halfcock shot that held the record for a while. Large caliber is generally labeled APERS, cannister is just one type of APERS.

 

[Rabelais]

Everythings just fine as long as you don't need to go back to the ammo dump to get more ammo. When zombies attack there's no front line! That means that Bob Ammomaker and his bowling league buddies done got et by the zombies. Al Truckdriver didn't make the shipment to the Army Corps Ammo Dump, because he done got et at the truck stop. Billy Bob down in J-4/Logistics can't push the paper across the desk. And all those Lovely Light Armored Vehicles with the 20 mike chain guns come to a screeching halt.

You know what doesn't work when the Zombies come?

Just In Time shipping/inventory control

But Rabelais... don't you know that they keep massive ammounts of that stuff just laying about? Sure they do... which suits you just fine as long as you can get the stuff from point A to point B... Again though, the dead out number the living. They sneak into the ammo dump and knock over the kerosene lamp then BOOM!!! no more ammo dump.

I know it's the 21st century, I know that Ammo just doesn't esplode.. but these are Zombie attacks. Kerosene Lanterns----> Ammo Dump---> massive exlplosion. It's like Physics or something

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Nobody has mentioned it so far so I thought I would just add that the Zombie Defense Website linked to on page 1 is absolutely hilarious!

Olaf the Stout

 

[D.Shaffer]

Not familiar with that example. I'm not certain I would call it "archetypical" these days. Either way, I say it is a problematic genre-crossing, and should be treated as such, rather than the norm.

...The Dead cycle of movies more or less DEFINED the genre of Zombie movies. With a couple exceptions, any zombie based media out there uses the same tropes as the dead cycle.

Zombies are the walking dead. They dont feel pain or anything beyond a need to devour the living. Nothing except destruction of the head will kill them. Those are the genre defining rules. Anything beyond that (Ex: 24 Days and its 'Rage' zombies) is an exception to the classic zombie scenario.

 

[Piratecat]

<--Not angry.

You would be if a zombie just ate your wife. And not in a sexy way, either.

Mmmm, brains!