I think that one of the major problems isn’t even the zombies as such, but the collapse of infrastructure that we rely on to maintain our current populations. Transportation and associated trade. Electrical power. Fuel. Fertilizer.

Like, even if you omitted zombies from the equation and took those away, the population that could be supported is probably a whole lot lower than the present population. Pre-industrial societies were not very populous compared to current ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrying_capacity

The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the environment’s maximal load,[clarification needed] which in population ecology corresponds to the population equilibrium, when the number of deaths in a population equals the number of births (as well as immigration and emigration)

Human carrying capacity is a function of how people live and the technology at their disposal. The two great economic revolutions that marked human history up to 1900—the agricultural and industrial revolutions—greatly increased the Earth’s human carrying capacity, allowing human population to grow from 5 to 10 million people in 10,000 BCE to 1.5 billion in 1900.[47] The immense technological improvements of the past 100 years—in applied chemistry, physics, computing, genetic engineering, and more—have further increased Earth’s human carrying capacity, at least in the short term. Without the Haber-Bosch process for fixing nitrogen, modern agriculture could not support 8 billion people.[48] Without the Green Revolution of the 1950s and 60s, famine might have culled large numbers of people in poorer countries during the last three decades of the twentieth century.[49]

Not with that attitude you wouldnt

This is the answer. Most people won’t survive the long term breakdown of society for long, and the “preppers” will probably be some of the first to go, as they will fight each other, become targets, and generally have a more antagonistic approach to survival. The people who stand the best chance will be the ones focused on collaboration and community building. But even then, surviving the initial collapse will be more about luck than intent.

Me either, but I’d have a great last several days on earth. Drugs, guns, and junk food.

Same. Tbh, I wouldn’t even want to survive. That’s a shit world in which to live.

… because what follows after is like the end of night out at a club when they turn the lights on.

I always loved that bit when I used to go to the clubs, because I was aces at swimming between all the drunks.

Not all us are helpless.

Infections are a real risk, yeah, but I’ve literally some antibiotics in my fridge, don’t even remember where from. Sure they’re expired and for specifically I think ear/nose/mouth infections, but they’d be of some help. Also I have the basics of mycology down, so making my own antibiotics wouldn’t be out of the question. Would it be risky, and entail lots of shitting my guts out? Probably. But if it was an apocalypse scenario and I had a bad infection, I’d take my chances. Penicillin is quite common.

I’ve also other medical supplies like large expensive-ish covers/pads for surgery wounds from my elbow surgery, they gave me extra ones as I had to keep it clean at home (and by extra I mean extra not ones I was supposed to use but in case I fucked it up etc) and general first aid kit ofc.

I’ve also 25 liters of fresh water, just in case, and a car with a full tank of gas, a freezer full of food, would last me months, plus the dry stuff in the pantry. Weapons, not really. Lots of knives ofc, not kitchen knives, but puukko, Finnish knives. From a pretty much pvp version that’s almost a small sword, to small whittling ones. (Got my first one at four from my grandpa, proper puukko from Lappi.) Got some mace, a foldable shovel that also functions as an ax. And a very small poundage bow. (You could perhaps hurt people with it with good arrows but honestly it’s a teenagers practice bow, more for the psychological factor I think.)

Besides all that, I also served a year in the military, where I went to officer training for supply logistics. Meaning everything you need to keep fighting fit, aside from medical assistance. Supplies, guns, bullets, clothing, water and especially food. So we were also taught how to slaughter and butcher various animals, and how to be relatively sure that what you’re eating and drinking isn’t going to kill you. (We also drilled a well in -20c by hand when the ground was literally frozen solid. Had to 6m deep iirc or was it even 8.) Also how warm you need to be, how much water you need daily. From all the basics from “don’t shit near where you make food” to more complex shit, like which bacteria live in which temp and what it takes to kill them.

So you know. You might let go, but I wouldn’t. I’m no prepper, and in fact find them rather comical. However I do live about 300km from the Russian border, so I don’t think any of this is in any way fantastical or even highly improbable.

I mean I don’t plan to crash a car when I’m in one, but I (almost) always use a seatbelt. Doesn’t mean I’m fantasising about crashes. But I have survived several though, so.

I think that in general, the problem with water barriers is that they work well on humans, who need to breathe. But, depending upon the type of zombie universe in question, zombies may not. They may be able to just walk along the bottom.

EDIT: And one other complication for the zombie apocalypse survivor who wants to set up near large, accessible sources of freshwater:

https://www.stratcom.mil/Portals/8/Documents/FOIA/CONPLAN_8888-11.pdf

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES STRATEGIC COMMAND

CDRUSTRATCOM CONPLAN 8888 "COUNTER-ZOMBIE DOMINANCE 30 APR 2011

b. (U) Operational COG #2: Potable water sources (PWS)

i. (U) Zombies do not drink water, but humans do. Humans typically cannot survive longer than 10 days without fresh water. Zombies will likely be drawn to potable water sources by the presence of human food sources that zombies prey on.

My biggest concern would be the zombies contaminating the water with whatever virus/poison/venom that makes zombies. Even if they’re visible, the moment they touch water, I’d already be scared to drink.

This is the most solid plan I’ve heard yet

What If zombies can swim?

I dunno, I’m pretty sure you’d only have to hold out for the few days it would take for the birds/ants/etc to eat through the major tendons on all the zombies, rendering them immobile, and then you’d be completely safe and the massive clean-up project could begin.

I actually live on the outskirts of a city, in the intersection of major motorways and a walking distance from the small but interactions airport we have. As in I regularly take walks which go within a stones throw of the airport area and I’ve been in the back buildings they have there, fucking around with old lockers and the airplane stairs they’d use to use and whatnot. (Free clay balls for my gardening hobby as well dumped in a pile there, clearly abandoned.)

And I’m pretty sure I could manage to get Cessna sized plane up, I’ve played enough simulators.

Everyone here is so negative about all of this. I’d have much better chances at a life worth living than I do in this bureaucratic hellscape. Not really, probably, because once the convenience of everything gets taken away, it seems way less fun. But yeah not everyone is in the same situation. One of the other commenters was a trucker in, I assume, the US. That’s a mobile apartment with torque enough to drive through any zombies. That guy isn’t stuck in a city.

Trash Can Man? Donald? Donald Merwin Elbert? Is THAT you?

Ok, he didn’t detonate them on purpose

Step 1: anxiously bite nails.
Step 2: infected hangnail.
Step 3: Die.

Rule 1: cardio

But what if the zombies were riding mopeds?

Everyone thinks they can go camping and fishing. You could only survive like that for a few days - most fisheries cant support thousands of people from the city.

But how many people die from the initial zombie attack + human infighting + how many people are physically fit enough to do this sort of thing to begin with? The longer you can hold out, the more the human population would decrease, and the easier this would get

You can easily go without food for a month. So. At least weeks. And if you play it right, with a few fish, some backpacker meals, a bag of rice, and seeds to start growing greens, beans, and corn, you’d be fine for a long time.

My goal is to be patient zero. The alpha zombie with the canonically massive hog.

Some of us have to die in the blast while taking a blast.

This is something that killed walking dead for me. There was a whole thing where they’re in the prison and the zombies outside manage to mass up enough that they break the fence. If they took shifts, 4 hrs a day with a spear and head stabbed the zombies they would never have gotten to a critical mass.

Infact, I did the math years ago for my ideal zombie escape zone. It would only take 8 people and a month to effectively eliminate the entire regional population if we move in 4 hour shifts. So baring the entire nearest metropolitan city showing up at once with a psychic level awareness of our presence and a deep need for revenge, all you really need is consistency and a schedule.