Zarmageddon - Urban Survival Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

By Simeon Gregory

Zarmageddon - Urban Survival Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse-

First off, by reading this guide, you’re already fighting the battle against zombies. Knowledge is power and we plan to educate your brain, not eat it.

This is a guide and is to be used as such. I’m going to be honest and say that over half of what you learn will come from actual experience during the zombie apocalypse and not from any book or guide. You are the key to your own survival; I just intend to help you get there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simeon Gregory
• Release date: Oct 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781536592832

Book preview

Phases of Zarmageddon

All phases will progress quickly. This first week will feel like a lifetime. Prepare yourself now, not later.

Unfortunately, rescue is not one of the phases. You must learn to survive on your own.

Phase 0: Infection

Phase 1: Outbreak

Phase 2: Human Horde

Phase 3: Survive

Phase 0: Infection (Pre-Zombie)

Chances are you will not have any warning of the impending zombie apocalypse. There are many variables that determine when the zombies will reach you but, rest assured, they will reach you. You could be asleep dreaming of puppies and dancing in the clouds when the shit hits the fan or you may be wide awake at a party drinking your favorite beverage with your thumb up your butt. No one knows when or where it will happen but, when it does, you better be ready to do what is necessary to survive. Running like a bitch is not a bad thing in this guide; in fact, cardio and running like hell is recommended in a lot of circumstances. Sometimes I run from my own shadow and pretend it’s a zombie shadow. I can never shake it, but it kicks my ass into training.

Just like when a disease or outbreak happens now, officials try to piece together clues to determine where and how it started. This varies, of course, depending on the country you’re in.

In order for the zombie virus or source to go global, it needs to start off small enough so that it is easy to miss to allow an initial incubation period. This gives it time to make its way everywhere. A very lengthy and stealth incubation would also allow it to go global.

In the United States, we have 50 states and 50 state health departments. That’s one for each state for those who need the math breakdown. Each one operates differently with different protocols and procedures. The United States is not necessarily the best at being disease detectives, but one thing that helps the cause is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Each state health department that is involved in the case collects information and relays it to the CDC. They basically act as a mothership for information and lab testing while working with local officials to find out just what the hell is going on.

This is how the invasion might go proceed if we base it on a present-day outbreak with an incubation period.

1. Crazy old Maurice from down the block goes into the hospital one day complaining of diarrhea, cramps, vomiting and loss of muscle control.

2. This goes routinely and unnoticed until a couple of dozen people in the same area go into the hospital within hours of each other with the same symptoms.

3. Officials begin to take notice and what was once small and easy to miss gets very serious very fast.

4. At this point, officials are trying to create a profile to identify the case and all similar cases.

5. Sick and healthy people alike are asked a series of questions about where they’ve been, what they’ve eaten, etc.

6. With data collected, officials begin to target specific areas where they think the infection came from. They try to find similarities between the sick people. Did pre-zombie Martha and pre-zombie Bob both eat at McDonalds recently?

7. Officials go to possible sources of the outbreak and investigate. Shipment records are requested if it is a place of business. This can take anywhere from days to weeks.

8. From this point on, the search narrows to include the inspection of records, warehouses, packaging, etc., all with the hope of finding the source. This can be anything from an infected animal or human to mutated Nazi experiments to bad lettuce. This requires a lot of work and even more luck to find the exact source.

Before we even get to this point, and actually well before it, it is already too late. The CDC will simply not be able to coordinate and act fast enough. This is not like a case of E. coli that spreads through a food source. It is far more mobile and vicious. Depending on the source of the outbreak, it may have multiple ways of infecting the populace, including through food, water, a human bite, bodily fluids or a freaky airborne transmission.

In 2006, it took the CDC and two state health departments six days to trace and identify the source of an E. coli outbreak. This is actually quick when it comes to fully tracing a source of a disease. Unfortunately, it is six days too late by zombie standards. In just six days, the virus can spread to thousands of people who will then unknowingly infect thousands more.

A new strain of E. coli called O104:H4 recently made its first appearance. A German man went to the hospital on May 18, 2011 complaining of common inflammatory bowel symptoms. It turned out he was infected with a new and deadly form of E. coli. Within weeks, the infection spread to a dozen countries, infecting over 2,600 people. As of this writing, not even four weeks later, it has become a global concern.

I cannot stress enough how dangerous and at what speed a more aggressive virus or source could devastate the world.

While the health department and the CDC are running around blind, the permanent damage has already been done. There is no going back to normal; things are forever changed.

You may never know the source of the outbreak or how it started even if you are alive after the initial phase. I can’t promise that you will find the answers you’re looking for when it happens, but I can help increase your odds of survival. 

Phase 1: Outbreak (First 72 Hours)

The fight or flight response boils down to the brain having two different solutions to an issue of survival. This response is made very quickly and demands a lot of energy from our brain and body. Not only do people fight or flee, but some freeze up and do nothing. These powerful instincts affect whether we live or die and even affect the life or death of others.

Our environment can change the way we think and even shape our moral judgments. You may think differently under certain circumstances than you would during a normal, everyday activity. You don’t know what you’re capable of until that moment strikes.

More often than not, a person will save a group of people if it means one person will die in the process rather than letting that one person live and the group die. But, if the scenario slightly changes, it can change that person’s response or thought processes. For example, now in order for that group of people to live, you have to physically push one person out of the way into certain death. It kind of puts things in a different perspective.

Would you kill an innocent person to save your family? Most of us would. Would you kill your baby to save your entire family’s life including the baby and yourself? Most of us would not.

Things happen fast when you’re in fight or flight mode. Moral judgment gets clouded. Your brain calculates the odds. A lot goes on that you’re normally unaware of.

A mess of things will go down during the initial 72 hours after infection. This is one of the most important phases to pay attention to and your survival depends it. Unfortunately, a lot of good people will die during this time period. Some will die due to bad luck, to not being prepared, to making the wrong decisions or just because their time was up. Being unprepared should not be on your list. By reading this guide, you have no excuses.

The zombies are here, so let’s get this apocalypse started!

First Hour: Act to Survive

Wherever you are and regardless of what you’re doing when the shit hits the fan, get to a nearby Safe Haven as soon as possible. You must act quickly and try not to panic. If your family is already at a Safe Haven, you have much less to worry about. Your family and friends should already have a primary and secondary meeting location in case of an emergency. Plan ahead. Your cell phone will be completely jammed by all the people trying to make calls. Forget about the police department, the fire department and emergency medical services. They will all be shut down due to lack of communication and the overwhelming chaos.

You must also know if any members of your family need to be picked up. Retrieving people is risky right now, but with kids this is usually not an option and you will have to rescue them. This gives you even less time to deal with the approaching Zarmageddon. You have no idea just how chaotic it will get here shortly.

You also want to stay off the road as much as possible during the initial 48 hours. The more time spent on the streets increases your chance of death minute by minute. Many people from towns and cities will be speeding, panicking, looting, killing, running and flooding the exits to get away. The odds of making it out of town are slim to none, regardless of whether you’re on foot or in a vehicle. Don’t take the risk.

Reminder: Looting stores, especially gun shops, is a bad idea within the first 48 hours. Why? Everyone and their next-door neighbor’s second cousin are thinking the same thing. You don’t know their intentions or what they are capable of doing in circumstances such as these. A person that has never committed a single crime in their life could wound or kill you for supplies. Those supplies may mean the survival of their family and shooting you is a price they’re willing to pay. Not to mention the onslaught of the undead barreling toward the activity is something you should try to avoid. All the more reason to prepare and have your shit together now, not later.

For various reasons, many people will try to flee immediately. They hope that infection is isolated to just their area and they have a need to retreat to a lesser threat. Resist this urge at all costs. It will feel like hell and you will want to escape it like a burning building. Think fast, but clearly, and prepare yourself for rougher times ahead.

So you’re still looking to skip town on Z-Day? Good luck. The roads will be a living hell. You might be able escape in certain vehicles, but I would not recommend it. Motorcycles & 4-wheelers are an option, but you’re very vulnerable out in the open and are not able to carry much, not to mention that people with families cannot go this route. Large vehicles are an option after the first 48 hours, but you will not be able to move much on the first couple of days.

If you’re single or don’t have any kids or loved ones in town, then escape may still be on your mind. At this point, I might not be able to talk you out of it, so instead of shutting you out, I will help guide you through the smoke.

Avoid all major venues and highly populated areas, such as, but not limited to, hospitals, airports, stadiums, heavy traffic spots and main streets, movie theatres, churches (if it’s Sunday), malls, gun shops, shopping centers, grocery stores, bus stations, large ports, main freeway and highway exits, parking lots, parking garages, courthouses, places of business, hotels, motels, fast food restaurants (which are typically near traffic) and any other place of large congregation.

That doesn’t leave much room for error and the odds of surviving the escape are against you, but you’re crazy anyway, so what do you care? Or you may be one of the few who have made the choice to get out of dodge because all of your other plans went to hell and up in flames. All of your Safe Havens may have been destroyed or overrun by the enemy. The area may be uninhabitable and just plain rundown or burned to the motherfuckin’ ground. Either way, the same goal has been set: You must escape and live to fight another day.

I hope you’re fast and light on your feet, because that is most likely the only way out of this shithole. Keep your wits about you, though; you may need them. You may even have to take the long way around certain areas just to avoid close encounters. Remember that heavily populated areas and close-encounter situations are your enemy right now. If you can avoid those, you will increase your odds of avoiding large groups of sheep people and brain gobblers. They are, in fact, also your enemy right now. Remember how I said to avoid main streets? Well, still follow this piece of advice, but also stay away from narrow alleyways and other places that could get you ambushed. Your route will differ from everyone else who is reading this, also. There are so many variables in any given situation that you will have to weigh the consequences and possible outcomes on the fly. There’s a sense of power that comes with trying to survive. Your senses will heighten and you will feel more alive than you have in a long time. However, you will be scared shitless at the same time.

Know your surroundings and escape routes. You should have this mapped out on paper or so well engraved into your mind that it is like navigating in your own backyard. This is not a normal uprising in which you’re told to run to a hotel or to a police station. The only good advice to take away from that type of situation is that they will tell you to run until you reach a side road. This is called situational awareness. Know it, learn it and prepare for it now. From a side road you can further think and try to navigate safely over the next hurdle.

Herd behavior also explains and supports a lot of what I suggest regarding how dangerous it is outside in the beginning. Herding brings a sense of false security for some. Under conditions of panic, many species, including humans and mice, have been observed performing this behavior.

Studies have shown that when panicked individuals are confined to a room with two exits that are equal and the same distance apart, almost everyone will go for the same exit while only a few will take the other. Many real life situations have proven this, as well.

Date: February 20, 2003

Place: The Station West Warwick, Rhode Island

Dead: 100+

Injured: 200+

A fire occurred while the band Great White played at a nightclub in Rhode Island. Pyrotechnics were the cause of the fire that set the flammable sound insulation ablaze.

Panic and attempts at escape do not mix well. Even if you’re not the one panicking, others around you make it life-threatening. Individuals move faster and think less clearly during this time. Communication goes out the window and everything becomes physical. People, vehicles and other objects form obstacles. Herd behavior makes people copy others and overlook more reasonable alternatives.

We tend to focus on only one thing during chaos and nothing else. This is just the way the mind works. Knowing your surrounding area will help you overcome the confusion and help you focus on surviving.

Date: November 23, 1994  Place: Nagpur, India  Dead: 114  Injured: 500+

Known as the Gowari Stampede, police were trying to disperse about 50,000 protestors