What would you do?

You are enjoying the nice weather on a fine spring morning when you see one of your neighbors walking in your direction down the middle of the street. Upon closer inspection you see that his shirt is torn and bloody and the leash that is normally connected to his yipping rat dog is dragging behind him. He is shuffling, slowly and unsteadily, right towards you. Another neighbor appears, oblivious to anything that could be a threat, and walks towards her mailbox. Neighbor One changes course but not speed, and is moments away from taking a chunk out of Neighbor Two.

The authorities have not acknowledged even the possibility of a zombie threat at either the national or local level, but you are prepared.

Would you shoot Neighbor One?

Shoot? Why not use hedge clippers and take a little off the top?

Sorry but if I have not seen a feeding frenzy yet , I am inclined to set back an watch the meal unfold. After the deed is done, I would walk up to both meal attendees, and put 2 22LR round in each of their heads. With that done I would gather up my necessities, grab the woman, and head for unspecified cabin in the hills. Obviously with my girl tucked away someplace safe the possibly of reclaiming the street and the country would begin.

According to the hand book 22LR is ideal for cleaning up close and personal.

Rule #1: Cardio

Rule #5, no attachments.
Calmly walk back inside, gather gear, go to woods and notify essential personnel.
I know that last step may seem like a contradiction, but to properly secure and defend any strongpoint requires more than one individual.
The neighbor lady gets no help from me unless I am indebted to her, or she is a potential ally.

I'm with Bear that you have to wait until your lady neighbor is bit before engaging the original target. I might even call 911 to get the authorities on scene and grab my camera to film it.

If it's a limited outbreak I'd be risking my chance to take out a zombie, but if you shoot preemptively you run the risk of incarceration. Very few street cops (and even fewer police administrators) are prepared to accept even the possibility of any sort of zombie uprising (or anything else undead, shape shifting or paranormal) an you're going to get arrested for killing your neighbor.

In the first days the jails will become death traps. Someone will come in bit...

PJ

Probably not because in our state/country I'd probably still be thrown in jail for not having just cause of self defense


Although I do like Arnoth's reply the best and I'd probably go with a similar route to what bear and arnoth said.


And Paul, EXCELLENT idea for a video game or airsoft event lol... Zombie Prison! Cell mates become zombie baits.


We should be discussing our plan of action to work together as a team to form a survival community.

Step 1. Communication
-- We need a code word to signal each other that the outbreak has occurred and to gather belonging and family members to head to designated area without notifying or alarming others.
Any ideas?

How about a code phrase "It hit the fan."

I, being a law enforcement officer, would agree with PJ. You usually don't go into a situation thinking "Might this be a Zombie uprising?"

I have seen people who have been bit by others, and at those times I am thinking "Biter may be going to jail." (Dependent on a whole host of circumstances). Zombies dont tend to cross my mind. Chances are not only could a person who had been bit be taken to jail, but the original biter may be incarcerated.

Jail would be one place to avoid like the plauge. (haha)

I would have to observe the event, contact local law enforcement, explain what I observed and that there may be a medical issue involving the biter and hope proper action is taken to avoid a full fledged outbreak.

Lucky for me CCW is something I can do w/o a permit and if I had seen an event like that you can guaranty I would be carrying.

On a related side note does anyone know someone who makes chain mail?

Mike Hickey would be my first phone call on chain mail. Unfortunately, he's not on the boards much and not sure if he wants his phone number out on the web. I'll mention it next time we talk, but he's fairly active on facebook so you may want to try that.

Someone should be working on a bite-proof Kevlar weave.

PJ

I can't imagine the chain mail would be cheap. The Kevlar weave would be nice, lighter and you could have pockets for strike plates. (Plus I might be able to use uniform allowance to purchase it, just have to sell it to my boss.)

Isn't kevlar already bite-proof ? I know that it isn't knife proof, but teeth aren't as sharp as knives are. BUT on the other hand you do have someone that is bound and determined to get through to your flesh no matter what, so I guess instead of bite-proof how about zombie proof ?

I think it depends on how the layers are made. There are two parts to a bite, the incision from the teeth, and the crushing from the pressure. The material used to orient the fibers/layers is a moisture barrier in a ballistic vest. It would need to act in the same way to keep "saliva" out.

With zombies I'm more concerned about the incision/puncture, as that's where the virus is spread. If you can keep the penetration from happening I think you could survive a bit of crushing damage.

PJ

I think shooting the potential zombie would be a damn waste, reason being, this is one of the few chances you may get to study their behavior/attack pattern close-up without needing to make some brain-slushies out of them. I'd watch intently, phone in-hand should it turn out to be a real person and not a zombie (darn...) to call 911, and take mental notes of everything it does - using a camera or notepad if available. After the zombie did its business, I'd either wait for it to leave or quietly dispatch it (shooting in Suburbia probably wouldn't be the best idea, as it would be tough to justify plugging Joe Shmoe with a slug and claiming he was a zombie) then take forensic photographs of the victim, identifying unique markings that would make it easier to identify future instances of biting, along with any other side effects the victim may be experiencing if she is going to turn. Then, dispatch the victim to insure it's one less walker on the streets and begin my preparations. Sorry, neighbor lady, you lived a good life, and i got living to do yet.