Who's in Your Bunker?
Oct. 29th, 2011 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nyykiIn running into this post, (http://36pillars.com/2011/09/20/contagion-5-people-to-know/ ) I started thinking about who I'd want to know if we had a zombie apocalypse or other end of the world scenario. I'm limited to five people, so I have to be frugal.
1. Wal-mart General Manager: I'm going to go with the original author and say that a manager of a Wal-mart is my best option for supplies at first. However, I'm going to go with one of those super-Wal-marts that has a full grocery section. This one covers the pharmacist, too, as the manager would either have access to the pharmacy shelves or could get my crew to a place where I could get something to give me access to those shelves.
2. East Texas farmer: What's not to love in this? You have someone who knows how to grow food and harvest it. You also have someone who knows how to shoot and kill food. And it's someone with a place to go if it's a zombie apocalypse. (Why East Texas? two reasons -- wide variety of armed East Texans, and three million wild pigs who are omnivorous creatures and have no qualms about killing live or semi-live game if they can get their trotters onto it)
3. A Doctor, preferably one who spent time working in an ER: Take the veneer off our society by shutting down civilization and everything gets damaging really fast. Having someone who knows how to deal with that damage is a good thing so self-evident that this is probably one of the most common entries in all lists of this type.
4. Engineer: Things are going to break, and chances are good that Loews, Home Depot, Radio Shack, and Harbor Freight are going to be too busy to sell anyone repair parts. Having someone around who has a brain designed to fire with empassioned vigor the moment someone says, "You can't do that," is of immeasurable use.
5. Film prop fabricator: I know this one is an unusual option, but where else can I find someone who has skills in plumbing, electricity, wooden construction and shaping, metalworking, plastics fabrication, and possibly even explosives and is used to high chaos environments with highly variable timelines? Plus I already know someone like this who can also drive (and wreck, ever seen the movie The Fugitive) a train, used to be a sniper in the Rangers, and can also fight with a sword and shield.
I'd try to assemble this group with a compatible mix of genders and social traits, of course, for long term viability.
Oh, and what do I bring to the table to make it worth it to them to bring me along? Computer skills, cooking, (with a substantial recipe database) music skills for entertainment to bring some warmth to those evenings lit by the greenish glow of the plant life around us, and the ability to brew alcohol for relaxation and trade goods. So even blind I'm good to have around.
Where to go is another issue. If it's a zombie apocalypse I'm off to East Texas, as mentioned above. For an economic one it's the goal to get to the coast and find a secluded but not barren cay in the Caribbean. A Biblical style apocalypse would also send me to the islands, where hopefully the craziness will stick to population centers, and where it's very hard for horsemen to get there. (Those pesky horsemen, always making it rough for others) Ditto for a pandemic, with the addeded caveat that I'd make sure to take a lot of ammo and if possible some sholder fired rockets to keep the island safe from "plague rats." A Cold War style blow up sends me to Mammoth cave or Carlsbad with a lot of crank powered generators and grow lights.
So, who's in your bunker, and where is it?
1. Wal-mart General Manager: I'm going to go with the original author and say that a manager of a Wal-mart is my best option for supplies at first. However, I'm going to go with one of those super-Wal-marts that has a full grocery section. This one covers the pharmacist, too, as the manager would either have access to the pharmacy shelves or could get my crew to a place where I could get something to give me access to those shelves.
2. East Texas farmer: What's not to love in this? You have someone who knows how to grow food and harvest it. You also have someone who knows how to shoot and kill food. And it's someone with a place to go if it's a zombie apocalypse. (Why East Texas? two reasons -- wide variety of armed East Texans, and three million wild pigs who are omnivorous creatures and have no qualms about killing live or semi-live game if they can get their trotters onto it)
3. A Doctor, preferably one who spent time working in an ER: Take the veneer off our society by shutting down civilization and everything gets damaging really fast. Having someone who knows how to deal with that damage is a good thing so self-evident that this is probably one of the most common entries in all lists of this type.
4. Engineer: Things are going to break, and chances are good that Loews, Home Depot, Radio Shack, and Harbor Freight are going to be too busy to sell anyone repair parts. Having someone around who has a brain designed to fire with empassioned vigor the moment someone says, "You can't do that," is of immeasurable use.
5. Film prop fabricator: I know this one is an unusual option, but where else can I find someone who has skills in plumbing, electricity, wooden construction and shaping, metalworking, plastics fabrication, and possibly even explosives and is used to high chaos environments with highly variable timelines? Plus I already know someone like this who can also drive (and wreck, ever seen the movie The Fugitive) a train, used to be a sniper in the Rangers, and can also fight with a sword and shield.
I'd try to assemble this group with a compatible mix of genders and social traits, of course, for long term viability.
Oh, and what do I bring to the table to make it worth it to them to bring me along? Computer skills, cooking, (with a substantial recipe database) music skills for entertainment to bring some warmth to those evenings lit by the greenish glow of the plant life around us, and the ability to brew alcohol for relaxation and trade goods. So even blind I'm good to have around.
Where to go is another issue. If it's a zombie apocalypse I'm off to East Texas, as mentioned above. For an economic one it's the goal to get to the coast and find a secluded but not barren cay in the Caribbean. A Biblical style apocalypse would also send me to the islands, where hopefully the craziness will stick to population centers, and where it's very hard for horsemen to get there. (Those pesky horsemen, always making it rough for others) Ditto for a pandemic, with the addeded caveat that I'd make sure to take a lot of ammo and if possible some sholder fired rockets to keep the island safe from "plague rats." A Cold War style blow up sends me to Mammoth cave or Carlsbad with a lot of crank powered generators and grow lights.
So, who's in your bunker, and where is it?
