Flashlight. Pack a mini-flashlight with extra batteries. Affix a red or blue lens if you have one; red or blue light is difficult for observers (snipers, mobs) to see at night.
Small compass and a detailed map of the city. Be sure to mark the embassy and helicopter landing zones on the map.
Knife. Include a small pocketknife.
Fire-starting tool. Carry storm-safe matches or a lighter in a waterproof bag. Pack small baggies of dryer lint, which is light and highly flammable.
Black garbage bags. Use these for emergency shelter and camouflage.
Water and food. Carry at least two quarts of water per person. Bring only high-energy or instant foods. Do not eat unless you have water.
Conceal on your person, in a multipocket neck pouch, the following items:
Money. Take $25 in single U.S. dollars and all of your local currency, and divide it among your pouch and pockets. This will serve as bribe money for checkpoints. Dole it out in heaps until it appears you have no more. Do not offer your papers. Carry more money in your neck pouch, but keep the bulk of your cash in your socks, crotch, or ankle pouch.
Passport. Place a full photocopy of your passport in the main section of the pouch for easy access. Keep your original passport in a separate section. Show the copy to locals who demand it. Never give up the original.
Official documents. Visas, phone numbers, proof of citizenship, birth certificates, and so on should be kept with your original passport.
Soft earplugs. Helicopters are very noisy, and earplugs are useful when you want to sleep in a battle zone.
NUCLEAR EVENT
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HOW TO SURVIVE NUCLEAR FALLOUT
1 Put distance between yourself and the blast site.
Radioactivity diminishes significantly with physical protection, time, and distance from the epicenter of the explosion. For a five-megaton weapon detonated at 2,000 feet (an average weapon yield and detonation altitude), move at least 20 miles away for safety. Travel in a crosswind direction (not with or against the wind) as quickly as possible. Drive a car with the windows rolled up. If no car is available, ride a bike or run.
2 Find shelter.
Any material will at least partially block radioactive particles. However, dense materials like lead, concrete, and steel are more effective than porous materials like wood, tile, drywall, and insulation of equal thickness. If you cannot get into a designated fallout shelter, move to the basement of a building made of stone or concrete, preferably with few windows. The deeper the basement, the more protection you’ll have from radioactive particles.
Radiation Exposure Risks
EVENT RADIATION DOSE (IN MILLIREMS)
sleeping beside another person 2 for eight hours 2
five-hour transatlantic fight 3
chest X-ray 3.2
full-body airport scan 8
barium enema 54
radon in the home 200 a year
bone scan 440
whole body CT scan 1,000
The average person receives about 360 millirems a year just from natural background radiation.
A dose of 1,250 millirems is required to raise one’s risk for contracting cancer by a factor of 1 in 1,000.
A lethal dose is in the area of 450,000 to 600,000 millirems, when the entire body is exposed.
3 Gather water.
The existing water in a basement water tank should be safe to drink, as is water in pipes. However, if dams and water treatment plants become contaminated, new water entering the system may be dangerous. Stored bottled water is safe, provided the water does not come into contact with the outside of the bottle, which may be covered with radioactive particles.
4 Gather food.
Packaged foods and those that can be peeled or shelled—and that are already in the house—are safe to eat, provided that the packages, peels, or shells are rinsed thoroughly with clean water to eliminate radioactive alpha and beta particles. Canned goods are also safe, as long as the cans are washed with clean water and food does not come into contact with the can’s exterior. Avoid foods from opened packages, even if the packages have been resealed with tape or clips.
5 Wash your hands before eating and drinking.
Using soap and clean water, wash your hands (and under your fingernails) thoroughly before handling food. Radioactive particles traveling on dust can be transferred to food easily. Once ingested, these may settle in bone marrow and internal organs, causing long-term illness.
6 Stay in your shelter.
Without a radiation rate meter, you will not know when it is safe to leave your shelter. If you have access to a battery-powered radio, listen for news and monitor emergency announcements regarding the safety of your location. Cellular and wired telephones may not work, and even satellite phones may suffer from severe interference. If available, use a CB or shortwave radio to communicate with others until telephone service is restored.
WARNING!
A radiation suit will prevent you from tracking radioactive particles into the shelter (as long as you remove the suit upon entering) but will not offer protection from fallout.
HOW TO IMPROVISE A NUCLEAR FALLOUT SHELTER
1 Move a large, sturdy table or workbench into a window-less corner of the basement.
The table or bench must have enough room under it to shelter you and your family. If you are sheltering more than a couple of family members, or if you do not have a strong table or workbench, take a thick solid door or doors off their hinges and place on top of dressers, bookcases, trunks, etc.
2 Pile shielding materials on and around table.
The denser the shielding materials, the more protection they will provide. Use books, magazines, boxes filled with soil or sand, stacks of firewood or lumber, appliances, concrete blocks, bricks, full water containers, and boxes and pillowcases full of anything that has mass and can absorb and deflect gamma particles. Leave gaps for air.
3 Stock up on water.
Gather sufficient liquid to allow each person one quart each day for two weeks. Store in containers with tight-fitting lids.
10 Things to Know About Radiation
People who live at higher elevations are exposed to higher levels of cosmic radiation.
As many as 8,000 people died in the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl accident and its cleanup; an estimated 4.9 million people, however, were exposed to radiation.
The March 28, 1979, Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in the United States has never been found to have any negative effects on public health.
A car or building will provide some level of radiation protection.
Radioactive alpha particles can be blocked with a sheet of paper.
Radioactive neutrons can travel long distances in the air but can be blocked with water or concrete.
Half of all people with cancer are treated with radiation.
There is no effective treatment for radiation sickness.
The most radioactive foodstuff in the world is Brazil nuts, which have radium concentrations 1,000 times higher than that of most foods.
The Capitol building in Washington, D.C., has an extremely high level of background radiation, because of the uranium content in its granite walls.
Nail pieces of wood across basement windows, then pile dirt outside to cover the glass.
4 Gather food.
Canned foods or foods in sealed packages that do not require refrigeration are best. Make sure to bring a can opener and a pair of sturdy scissors for opening cans and packages.
5 Put a radio in the shelter.
In case of disaster, listen to the radio to find out when it is safe to move around. Also take extra batteries into the shelter.
6 Cover basement windows.
Nail pieces of wood across windows to prevent breakage, then pile sandbags or shovel earth outside any basement windows and entrances.
7 Seal yourself in.
Climb under the table, pull shielding material around
the open space you crawled through, and turn on the radio to await further instructions.
ZOMBIES
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HOW TO SURVIVE A ZOMBIE ATTACK
First 24 Hours
1 Evaluate means of escape.
Access to a vehicle, and the type of vehicle available, will dictate the amount of survival supplies you will be able to bring. If you do not have access to a car or truck, pack lightly so that you will be able to move quickly until you can locate an operating vehicle. Look for humans in operating vehicles or a car in which the human occupants have been killed but the keys are still inside.
2 Gather immediately available survival materials.
Food: Gather nonperishable foodstuffs as well as perishable food that you will be able to eat before spoilage sets in.
Communication: Take radios, mobile phones, laptop computers, and batteries.
Clothing: Pack layers sufficient for sleeping in cold weather, at least one extra pair of shoes or boots, and items that may offer physical protection, such as sports pads or helmets.
First aid supplies: Empty the contents of your medicine cabinet into a bag and take it with you.
Weapons: Gun use may be limited by your supply of ammunition, but don’t leave these deadly weapons behind. Include long-handled bladed tools or weapons, such as axes or shovels, that may be used to kill zombies while affording you distance of reach. Bludgeoning items, such as baseball bats, will also come in handy. Power tools are useful only if they have a battery charge or fuel; they also tend to be heavy, and the weight may not be worth carrying.
Fuel: Kerosene, gasoline, lighter fluid, lighters, and matches will all be valuable for light and heat; they are also indispensable as additional weapons against zombies, which are flammable and fearful of fire.
Water: A heavy but vital survival supply; bring as much as you can manage without slowing yourself down, especially if you’re traveling on foot.
3 Gather more supplies.
The days immediately following zombie infection will be when supplies are most plentiful—before further infestation complicates access, other human survivors obtain the goods, or they are destroyed (by uncontrolled fires, for example). Obtain more or improved supplies in the above categories from stores or abandoned residences close to your immediate location.
Cover your face to avoid internalizing any zombie gore.
4 Consider including others in your survival plans. Incorporating other uninfected humans can offer increased security in numbers, but these additional people will also increase the rate at which you consume supplies. Unless their own supplies supplement yours, or their zombie-fighting abilities seem dynamic, ask yourself this question: Are they slowing me down?
5 Trust no one.
Watch for signs of infection when encountering human survivors: open wounds, bite marks, aggressive confusion, inability to articulate thoughts, and spastic movements are all warning signs of zombification. Flee from or destroy the infected individual by removing its head or critically damaging the brain with a blade, bullet, or blunt trauma. Uninfected human survivors may in fact be seeking to obtain your survival supplies for themselves.
6 Avoid splatter.
Do not internalize any matter—blood, flesh, or brains—from a zombie. When destroying zombies, be certain that no gore comes into contact with your eyes, nose, mouth, inner ears, or open wounds. Such contact will result in zombification.
7 Get out of town.
Opt for less-populated routes out of the city to minimize contact with zombie hordes. Do not stop to comfort any weeping children or helpless wounded, since such isolated figures bear a high chance of being zombies trying to trick you.
8 Seek out less densely inhabited areas.
Drive as far as possible, as quickly as possible.
First Week
1 Find a safe haven.
Seek out a place to make a secure camp. A city setting is less than ideal; it is easy to be trapped by a horde in an apartment building or in a maze of city streets. A rural area is safer but may take you too far from contact with other survivors. Drive to a suburb, where you can find a single-family home on about a quarter acre of land. This allows the benefit of an enclosed structure with room to maneuver, as well as a wide vista from which you can spot approaching zombie hordes.
2 Make your haven habitable.
Perform a meticulous sweep, with a gun leveled in front of you, to ensure that your new home is free of zombies. Wearing heavy gloves and a mask, remove rotting corpses, being sure to dispose of them far from water sources. If the water taps are working, collect as much water as possible in clean containers, in case the water source later malfunctions. Raid the kitchen, storeroom, and garage for useful supplies. Carefully catalog what you now own.
3 Secure the perimeter.
Nail wood paneling around all windows, lock all doors, and push heavy furniture behind those that swing in. Push a refrigerator or other extremely heavy object over the trapdoor to the basement, and set a trap of protruding spikes beneath the door from the attic. Outside, use your ax to chop down any trees that could obscure your view of oncoming hordes. Working as quickly as possible to minimize your time outdoors, dig a system of deep trenches across the lawn. Light a fire in the fireplace so that anyone or anything entering via the chimney will fall into the open flame.
4 Set traps.
Zombies are not sophisticated hunters and can be duped into their own destruction with simple traps. Make a recording of talking human voices, and bury it in the bushes to draw the zombies into your field of vision; then open fire on them from a second-story window. Use department store mannequins as decoys to draw the zombies into the trench system you dig in the lawn. Sever the chain of the automatic garage door and rig it to crash down onto zombies entering the garage. Hang a net full of bowling balls over the front door so that a zombie forcing its way in will trigger the balls to rain down and crush its head.
5 Remain vigilant.
Perform daily perimeter checks, peeking out of windows and emerging onto the roof to check for oncoming hordes. Rig walkie-talkies or an old baby safety monitor to alert you to an onslaught. Place a gun under your pillow or clutch it in your hand while sleeping. Do not drink alcohol or become otherwise impaired in any way. Do not relax for even one second.
6 Consume carefully.
Limit food and drink consumption to only the bare caloric minimum so that supplies hold out as long as possible.
7 Remain clued-in.
Build a ham radio to maintain communication with other survivors. Monitor the progress of the infestation, waiting to see if it is improving or worsening and whether the putrefying hordes are approaching your sanctum.
8 Add to supplies.
When absolutely necessary, venture forth to find more food, water, and first aid supplies. When traveling in zombie-infested countryside, keep off main routes of transportation, and always travel with several weapons on your person and at the ready. Be prepared to use your weapons against zombies or other noninfected humans who challenge you for your food.
9 Be ready to go.
Keep your essential equipment packed and ready, in a room just off the garage, so that it can be thrown in the trunk at a moment’s notice. Leave the car facing out toward the driveway, with the keys in the ignition. The moment it seems you are in danger of being overrun by the horde, floor the accelerator, smash through the garage door, and mow through the pack of zombies, all the while firing your gun through the windshield.
Long Term
1 Put down roots.
Slowly transform your improvised safe haven into a home. Pin up tattered photographs of deceased or zombified friends and loved ones; build permanent structures, such as a gravel driveway, reinforced well, and sanitary outdoor toilet.
2 Teach yourself skills.
Raid abandoned libraries and bookstores to study rainwater filtration, carpentry, car repair, waterborne illness prevention, and oth
er skills you will need to survive long term in a postapocalyptic nightmarescape. Practice martial arts, riflery, horseback riding, and wilderness survival. Learn how to hunt and field-butcher animals and to cook over an open flame.
3 Seek out fellow survivors.
Broadcast your location on a ham radio or over wireless networks. Over time, the survival equation will tip in favor of groups of humans, rather than individuals, as long as the group is vigilant about protecting the perimeter of its location. Share responsibilities, such as cooking, wound dressing, and zombie killing.
4 Ruthlessly purge infected members of the community.
Make solemn agreements with every member of the group to kill them should they become infected and for them to do the same to you. Doing so will ease everyone’s conscience and ensure that there will be no fatal hesitation when the crucial moment comes.
5 Destroy corpses.
If fellow survivors are bitten and must be killed, quickly destroy their bodies before they can return to life. Wearing a mask and gloves, douse each corpse in kerosene and set it on fire.
6 Plant crops.
Most animal life will have disappeared in the zombie plague, but the soil will still yield fruit-bearing trees and vegetables. Defend the perimeter of your fields from zombie invasion until harvest season, and send out harvesters in well-armed teams of two: one to bring in crops, the other to defend against attack. Focus on planting turnips, potatoes, and other root vegetables that can stored for a long time, should a crop have to be destroyed or abandoned. Make fruits into preserves so they will last longer.
Ultimate Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook Page 41