CONTRADICTIONS THAT CAN KILL
I recently reread Max Brooks’ 2003 book on Zombie preparedness, The Zombie Survival Guide, and I noticed a troubling contradiction worthy of report. Since I was working on a post related to urban threat subsistence, I was particularly interested in the advice Brooks gives about this specific landscape, and therein lies the problem.
On page 86, under the heading of General Rules, Brooks clearly states that high-population urban neighborhoods, with their tall fences and barred windows, make an excellent place to stage a defense. He even goes so far as to recommend that people in less dense outlying areas make their way into the city at the first sign of a 
Zombie infestation:
“…if the situation permits, head away from the suburbs and towards the inner city.”
However, just fourteen pages later, on 100, he writes that cities are a horrible place to be when faced with a credible Zombie threat:
“No matter what your chances for survival during an infestation, they will undoubtedly drop by 50, if not 75, percent when traversing and urban area.”
And again, on page 114:
“…areas of high population density should be avoided at all costs.”
In fairness to the author, the first quote is pulled from a section on defense, and the second and third are pulled from a section on escape. But to voluntarily put yourself in a defensive position that has the worst chances for eventual escape seems the height of insanity. To recommend others do so is irresponsible at best, and grossly negligent at worst.
What happens when you run out of food, or water? What happens when injured people in your secure city location begin to get sick, die, and turn into Zombies themselves? In a tight-packed urban area, with little ability to generate your own food, and no access to clean flowing water, escape will become a very real necessity soon enough. When that day comes, if you’re stuck in a sea of tens of thousands of undead it’ll be the last place you want to be.
Unquestionably, The Zombie Survival Guide is an extremely valuable resource, and anyone who is serious about Zombie preparedness should own a copy. On a personal note, I love the book. That said, no publication is perfect, and I have since found several other startling contradictions that call into question certain assertions that Brooks makes.
I’ll be covering more of these issues in future posts, so stay tuned.
Wouldn’t the best way to go about surviving is hide and fortify your house, or find a house that is more fortifiable than yours.
The town in World War Z that built walls around and their houses up on stilts had a good idea.
Temporary walls could be constructed of wreckage or deep pits while the main wall would be built. This is only a loose idea taken from the book. And of course, not all areas would be easy for this to be accomplished in.
Well, lets put it this way.
Surviving in a City ( when you know how / when / where ) is great.
All the supplies are around.
Building a defense in a city is great too, alot of buildings and alot of other Non-Zombie-Educated will serve of meal instead of you.
In the country side , they will gather up in a circle around fresh meat since its open places and you are easily seen.
So if you want to survive and let it die down.
City is a good place.
On the country side. not that much, everyone will gather at the same few places to gather food and all. So all the things you need to survive will be VERY limited.
I’d shelter myself in an well barricaded “Nuclear shelter” ( in the same style )
With alot of canned food and all the other stuff you need to survive.
( Do your research on those shelters they will tell you what you need and how to do it. there’s a lot of useful governmental guides from the old times when people were scared of imminent nuclear attacks. )
Hang Around for maybe a month. ( or more depending on how much time i’ll be able to read books , work out , watch movies over and over again . )
Then when most of the people got zombified and they started eating each other or just start to starve. and be slower And thinner in numbers i’ll go out with my machete , Hunting rifle , and Army Bag filled with food and bottled water. ( Boiled tap water , never know up to where the infection can go )
I’ll start scavenging for more books , food , etc. Then Go back to shelter.
repeat until its over.
Thats a great way to survive in the city.
Never take Stupid Risks.
And remember , Always keep ducktape around.
There’s always the running away option though , but everybody will be busy doing that so you risk to kill yourself that way.
And probably other people.
Gonzo-
I respectfully disagree with your logic on many accounts.
1) People = Zombies. So the longer you stay in the city all of those “non-zombie educated people” that serve as meals will become Zombies themselves. So every second you spend in a high density area your options become more and more limited.
2) Or, you will run into other people who have more weapons and numbers than you who will take your supplies and leave you to become a zombie. This is called fighting a war on two fronts – first front is the Zombies, second front is other people. Any student of history will tell you that fighting a war on two fronts is a poor strategy.
3) Boiling tap water isn’t good enough. Plus, when you run out, and have no ability to boil more, you’d be out of luck. Please see my post on Bleach for water purification.
4) You’re making a ton of assumptions in your plan – “they’ll starve, get weak, etc – and we all know what assumptions make.
Well , its “living” beings they can’t survive on nothing , Everything in nature ends up dying down.
The Nuclear Shelter seems a good way to survive in the middle of a city.
Since escaping ain’t the best idea in the first days.
Stay low and alone not to attract Bigger and meaner gangs.
If you would live in the Country id strongly discourage to Shelter.
This is the right place to run away to somewhere safer, prepared to what’s coming and where supplies won’t be something that you will lack.
Though i understand everything you are advancing .
btw – I wanted to add that I completely agree with you about not trying to escape the city right away. Everyone else will be doing the same, and it will be a recipe for certain death on the packed roads.
Friend of mine owns the book, but alas they are too far away for me to ask to borrow, but this review is pretty good. I actually read pieces of it and it’s a wonderfully written guide!
I plan on obtaining one of my own for future references.
I think this is a very good point to bring up. My zombie attack plan is to get to the Docks and take by force if necessary a Cruise ship. Military ship would not be easily taken. A cruise ship however is easily defended from outside attacks. Once the bridge is taken can be swept clean of any possible lurking ghouls or humans that threaten my families survival by getting in my way, hey its the apocalypse. It has desalination equipment hospital supplies and plenty of room, food supplies . The decks can be used to grow food and raise preferably Chickens or guinee pigs for protein.
Linking up with the large possible uninfected humans at sea would also be possible with quarantine protocol in place.
The flaw is that docks are in urban areas. What I would need is a anti land mine tank.