[Zombody]

The following location is home to a group of my relatives, and is very close to my current location. It is a London suburb, not a great distance away from London's Thames, which you will notice at the top of one of the maps. It wouldn't be the ideal location in a zombie apocalypse, but during the initial phase of chaos and everybody trying to get further away from the city, I'd consider taking refuge in this location for at least a short period of time. Having lived in the area, I also know it quite well (it's not a nice place, to be honest).

As you will see, the area has four primary directions.

- To the north is a fenced off, dead-end road, beyond which is a small field. The small field holds a leisure centre, next to which is a set of local stores and a train station.
- To the south is the longest of the road's, which curves off at the end into a crossroad.
- To the east, next to the area of grass, are train tracks.
- To the west is a road leading to a whole bunch of other roads.

Let's say we're in a zombie apocalypse, order has collapsed, and we're stuck in this particular location. Although it's not the best location, I think it has some positive areas. I think the two roads leading away from the area could be sealed off at the tips with vehicles and other junk. The small area of grass has a direct view down one of the roads, meaning some sort of tower could be built for look-out and security purposes. The route to the north could be used to reach and scavenge the nearby areas, while the train tracks could be used as (hopefully) a more discreet way of getting around to other areas. Considering services would have stopped, relatively quiet vehicles could be used on the tracks. There is also a medical building nearby, likely to be carrying supplies. I can also tell you that following the tracks south leads to some interesting locations. Every brief trip along those tracks just so happens to pass areas of open land, such as golf courses, forests, fields, and so forth. Not only that, the further you go, the bigger these areas become until the tracks eventually lead into nothing but open land. However, it would be a slow process.

What is your take on this location? Would you sit around and give it a chance or do you think it is nothing but a death wish?

[Faran Brigo]

It all sounded average until you brought up the medical centre, that pushed it right into bad territory. I think that would be a place to, if you had to, lay low for awhile and get out as soon as you can do it safely (relatively speaking).

See, in any situation where there's lots of wounded (natural disaster, industrial accident, etc.), hospitals get crowded. In this case, crowded with zombies or soon-to-be zombies. The roads look wide enough that any serious effort to close them up is going to draw attention to the place.

Now, I can't tell from the pictures if the whole neighborhood you propose to block off is walled except for the two roads, but if it's not, you have a lot of places to inspect and guard for potential breakthroughs. Depending on your manpower, you might actually be better off going less ambitious, like connecting the second floors in the buildings through mouseholes (with sledgehammers) and blocking off access to the ground floor by blocking most of the ground level entrances. Even all of them if you can use boards or a ladder from one of the second floor windows.

[Zombody]

I can't say that I'm a stranger to the fact that hospitals would become a nightmare, but each hospital here seems to be very close to another one, so they're hard to avoid. In this case, the 'medical building' I mentioned isn't a hospital, but just a place for people to see doctors, order prescriptions, etc. In a crisis, maybe they'd open it up to a few more people, but it's nothing like a hospital. That said, the nearest hospital is less than two miles north of the place I mentioned. In any case, this could never be a long term option, considering it borders the city, but may be useful in the initial stage of chaos when the roads are blocked and everybody is trying to get away.

Interestingly enough, the most dangerous route from this location is also the shortest route, which may or may not be a logical option. Heading north means moving closer to the city, but if somebody could reach the Thames and locate a boat, they'd be very lucky. From the location I have provided, routes to the Thames are between 4.5 miles to 9.0 miles. However, it would be a hell of a risk, and would probably be more like a bad movie. You'd actually make it through hell, reach the Thames, and find that the last boat just so happens to be destroyed. At that point, you look across the river to see the city (and your demise), and there's probably no going back.

[massacre07]

Wow your options are limited, I can definitely say I wouldn't like to be in your position. I guess if I had to though I would stay put, start knocking holes in the dividing walls of all the units in my row. Board up the windows and doors on the ground floor and dig in like a tick. I think as long as you could stay quiet, definitely no firearms, you could stay alive for a while, and if you can occupy several of those units you won't be on top of all of the other survivors in your group and that could ease stress.

Actually looking back at your aerials I would occupy the last two rows units at the north end of the street on the right as well as the yards behind them. This would give you ample space, land for farming, quick access to the rail tracks and an easily defended corner.

[Vorpal]

One thing i'm wondering about is, with people trying to leave the area, will there be any cars left to use for implementing your plan? I agree with the earlier suggestion of being less ambitious. Secure a smaller area first and go from there. There's also the problem of neighbours. You mentioned that it isn't a nice place, so there is no idea whether they'll cooperate, do nothing, or be a detriment.

[Faran Brigo]

massacre07, on 04 June 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

Actually looking back at your aerials I would occupy the last two rows units at the north end of the street on the right as well as the yards behind them. This would give you ample space, land for farming, quick access to the rail tracks and an easily defended corner.

I thought Zombody wasn't planning on staying long enough to farm food here. This is a suburb, is staying here for months a good plan?

...I'm honestly asking, I got no knowledge about British geodemographics and urban planning.

[Vorpal]

If things go with little to no problems, it might be a decent place to stay. It would take a lot of time and work to bring it to that point though.

[Zombody]

Faran Brigo, on 10 June 2012 - 12:05 AM, said:

massacre07, on 04 June 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

Actually looking back at your aerials I would occupy the last two rows units at the north end of the street on the right as well as the yards behind them. This would give you ample space, land for farming, quick access to the rail tracks and an easily defended corner.

I thought Zombody wasn't planning on staying long enough to farm food here. This is a suburb, is staying here for months a good plan?

...I'm honestly asking, I got no knowledge about British geodemographics and urban planning.

I would assume that most of the residents would leave, but despite taking their vehicles with them, I trust that enough objects could be gathered to create reasonable barricades. Fortunately, as this area is sealed off to some extent, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to perform certain tasks without drawing too much attention. That said, Faran brought back a vital point, which is the fact that I would not consider staying in this area for too long. All of the areas around me have more negative points than positive points, so I'm merely trying to consider my best option for a short period of time. Having said that, an apocalypse could strike without warning, and I could be miles away from this area for all I know.

[Faran Brigo]

In that case I think it depends on how long you're planning on staying there. If you're thinking about laying low until the panic dies down, it seems counterproductive to me to go through the effort to build barricades to block off streets. More importantly, the barricade itself would be (to looters) a large beacon signaling there's people behind it, and where there's people there's supplies, or prey for other unsavory acts (rape, murder, slavery, whathaveyou).

What would be desirable in that situation I believe, would be low visibility. Concealment as opposed to fortification. Once the panic dies down and the most probable threat are scattered or small clusters of zombies, then you can make a break for a more desirable/defensible location.

[Vorpal]

If it isn't long term, then there isn't a point to prep it so far.

What are the negative points around the area?

[Faran Brigo]

Vorpal, on 11 June 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

If it isn't long term, then there isn't a point to prep it so far.

How long is "long term"? Because if I were staying there for about a month while the panic dies down, I might not go all the way to barricades on the streets, but at least I'd like to have a decent defensive position and a fallback point, that requires at least some degree of preparation.

[Vorpal]

Long term would be a more permanent stay. One month's stay would probably need no more than securing your building. The more area you try to secure takes up more time, so if a whole block was attempted, by the time it was done you're probably ready to set off to where ever the more permanent place will be.  

[massacre07]

Vorpal, on 15 June 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Long term would be a more permanent stay. One month's stay would probably need no more than securing your building. The more area you try to secure takes up more time, so if a whole block was attempted, by the time it was done you're probably ready to set off to where ever the more permanent place will be.  

Thats my point as well, if you're going to be there long term you could actually turn that corner into a not bad stronghold but if you're going to only stay for a couple of weeks while you scavenged the area then moved on there is really no point in fortifying more than a couple of two story homes.

In areas like these I think the odds of finding a working vehicle is going to be high, residential areas are where people live, not everyone will go to the hospital and in dense urban areas the disease will spread quickly. If someone is willing/able to siphon gas from other tanks I am willing to bet that you could get quite a bit of fuel as well - but do remember - gas goes bad. All that being said I would never plan to stay long term in an environment like that. The further away from areas with high population density the better.

[daewoo]

I can't believe how fast i found your place and i've never even been to the UK! Well given all that info you gave me I suppose it wasn't much of a challenge...

I did some poking around in the area with Google Streetview and I immediately spot a major problem: the area cannot be secured.
The Northern "boundary" looks like a chainlink fence. it will not hold against zombies or humans.
There is a wall along the railroad tracks but it seems to be made of wood, it will not do much to stop people or zombies.
All the walls between people's houses are made of wood. they will do little to slow a mob of zombies
without a means to quickly build a barrier around the area this place is no better than any other area. it is not safe from zombies or civil unrest.

well one plus is all the homes are made of brick & mortar, suppose if you used the houses you'd have a nice fortress...
Brookehowse Rd, Overdown Rd and Farmstead Rd surround a triangular shaped block of homes. i you were to brick up all the windows of the houses facing the road and weld/cement all the entry doors shut, and build brick or concrete walls between the gaps of homes (wooden walls are not secure) you'd have yourself a nioce fortress. but that can take days or even weeks by yourself, without 10-15 helpers it would not be practical make the place into a secure fortress.

I think you need to find a new place...

[Zombody]

zephyr, on 30 June 2012 - 02:45 AM, said:

I think you need to find a new place...

You're absolutely right. I had different reasons for choosing this location, but I am beginning to see that I'd be better off heading in a different direction. I have another location in mind, which, again, isn't entirely spectacular, but I'm trying to consider the fact that I'd probably only make a few miles when hitting the road in the initial stages of a disaster. In any case, I'd like to think it's better than my initial selection.

The new choice is another residential area, which is reached by coming away from main roads. It's actually a very quiet area because there is nothing much of interest there in the way of shops, services, etc. Don't get me wrong, those things are necessary, but if they're there, they've probably been looted, anyway. So, during the day, people are away from the area for everything from work to shopping, though that's not to say all stores are miles away. But if you were to keep on moving south, it wouldn't take too long to a reach a great deal of open land. There is also a large space of open land, including an athletics ground, to the near east. Directly to the west is an area of green with very small access points. It could easily be secured. I wouldn't even rule out the option of using for traps, luring in anything you don't want lurking around, not that I want to underestimate my enemy. The gardens (or yards) of the houses are surrounded by other houses. You could knock down fences and have some useful spaces. While crime isn't exactly an issue in the area, generally speaking, some of the houses have garages or sections of the house with low rooftops, providing simple access to anybody with a ladder or the ability to climb. Sure, that also means that the wrong people can access these places, but I don't expect this area to draw much attention (even though it's often wise to expect the unexpected).

One of the main reasons for me coming to this area is the same as in the first case, except this time there is more logic involved. Assuming relatives would even be there, it's a good place to meet with family members, only in this case they're mechanics, carpenters, electricians, and so forth. There are a hell of a lot of useful tools at hand, and a lot of experience in different areas of work. It's also a central point between other family members, so a good place to gather should they all want to come together, and then other choices could then be made.