We take our job seriously here at
The End Is Nigh and as such all us regular contributors have sworn a solemn oath to make sure we're as prepared as we can possibly be for every eventuality. Armageddon is not an easy thing to ready yourself for of course, not least because no-one can be 100% certain in what form The End will come. It can sometimes be hard to find time for pondering Eschatological matters in amongst all the day to day stuff like staring blankly at a computer screen, buying milk and arguing with pets but, luckily for me, there is a fair bit of cross cultural Apocalypticism going on these days which makes it a whole lot easier to trick yourself into doing "research".
Max Brooks'
The Zombie Survival Guide - Complete Protection from the Living Dead was originally published back in 2003 and combines traditional survivalism with Romero inspired undead shenanigans.
From Wikipedia:The first chapter is entitled The Undead: Myths and Realities. It lays down the specific ground rules that are referenced repeatedly in the book. The most important of these describes "Solanum", the fictional virus that creates a zombie, along with details on how it is spread (such as through an open wound, when coming in contact with infected blood), treatment of the infected (suicide or amputation) and the abilities and behavioral patterns of the Undead.
The second chapter, Weapons and Combat Techniques, discusses the weapons at the reader's disposal and weighs them against the various threats that may be faced during confrontations with the undead. The book recommends the M1 Carbine and a machete, as portrayed on the cover of the book.
The third chapter, On the Defense, focuses on how to turn your home into a base where you could stay for weeks and where to go if you run out of supplies or the undead overrun your home.
The fourth chapter, entitled On the Run, discusses the rules and necessities of traveling through zombie-infested territory. It also discusses types of terrain and the pros and cons of vehicles.
While chapters three and four emphasize avoiding zombies, chapter five, On the Attack, specifically deals with engaging ghouls to ensure their destruction. It discusses the proper strategies and tools to eradicate the Living Dead from your area.
The sixth chapter, "Living in an Undead World" looks at survival during a doomsday scenario, a Class-4 outbreak would see zombies becoming the dominant species on Earth. Advice in this section is adapted from previous sections; recommendations for surviving a siege is repeated, though altered for relevancy to the long-term entrenchment a Class-4 outbreak represents. Discusses potential places to make your new home and what to do and what to watch out for once you have your corner of civilization set up.
The Steampunk's Guide to the Apocalypse (available to buy
HERE for $5 or to download for free
HERE) was written and published by
SteamPunk Magazine founder and contributing editor Magpie Killjoy in 2007. In Magpie's own words the book "
covers most of the essentials that a SteamPunk will need when they recreate their lives and societies in the shell of our soon-to-be-ruinous civilization" but, whether you are a SteamPunk or not, the Guide is chocked full of useful, practical and fascinating information.
Chapter One: Whither & Weather - covers shelter and choosing where to live in a post Apocalyptic scenerio factoring in availability of materials, "
social considerations" and so on.
Chapter Two: The Accumulation, Filtration,and Storage of Water - is pretty self explanatory but increadibly informative.
Chapter Three: Assessing the Bounty of Nature and Ruin - "
I mean not to mince Words. The greatest source of Resources available after a societal Collapse will not be our dear, over-taxed Earth. It will be our existing and immediately antiquated Institutions. Everything will be available. The Following are simply some Examples of where to look."
Chapter Four: Scoundrels, and Defense there from - deals not only with weaponry but also semaphore, morse code, syphers and so on.
Chapter Five: A brief Introduction to Contagion - "
Long now have we adapted our Bodies to a Life devoid of Contamination, and it is quite possible that we have grown soft therefrom. Dependant upon Antibiotics instead of Antibodies, Sanitation and Health will be of no small Importance in the Decades to come, are we to survive."
The book concludes with two appendices
Appendix A: Survival Scenarios and
Appendix B: Further Reading, the latter of which is a veritable goldmine of survivalist material in and of itself.
A neat little bonus is that these two books actually compliment each other very nicely, much of the material contained in one being lacking from the other. So, should the undead suddenly rise up and start feasting on the flesh of the living, you'll find me in a remote, south-facing, fortified compound wearing my bowler and blasting off zombie heads with a homemade blackpowder blunderbuss. To be perfectly honest, I'm quite looking forward to it.
- John Reppion
