After looking at the above picture while thinking up ideas for a zombie apocalypse campaign, the inspiration to create a sort of fortress situated in a tall building came to me. Should enough people participate, I can start mapping out the "fortress" floor by floor.
Now, this particular building is in Kazakhstan, but any place near a river should do nicely. The entire survivor group would consist of no more than ten people. Most of them would be broadly skilled, though an engineer, medic and pair of close-quarters-combat specialists (for the stairs) in particular is optimal. Lastly, assume the surrounding city is devoid of other survivors.
Assuming you manage to successfully barricade the first floor and have your choice of supplies to store on the various levels, what would you choose? This includes food, hygienic products, weapons + ammunition, medicine, electronics...whatever is vital to you. Are hydroponic gardens viable?
Also, concerning water: the pipes will soon give out. Once taking it from the faucets becomes impossible, and your stores run down, is there an effective method to collect / draw it from the surroundings (I am aware climate will play a part)? Will the typical methods to generate power (solar, wind power, hydroelectricity) be worth considering?
Finally, for now, I was thinking that if the roof was large enough, you could keep a passenger helicopter up there for emergencies. If that was unfeasible, then hang gliders for all. Of course having a destination in mind is important too.
This new forum is terrible. Try again Wizards ----Narukagami
Let see assuming that as you say we can have anything Food: Mostly TV dinners (assuming refrigeration is available) or mostly no shelf life or at least very long shelf life foods, such as trail mixes and anything foil sealed, if there are no refrigerators. Gotta have plenty of Pepsi and Cuervo obviously plenty of disposable utinsels and paper/plastic plates and bowls, as well as wet wipes and hand sanitizer (If the water is at a premium or requires an armed expedition to the river to retrieve, then it is far to precious to use to wash dishes, or hands with.), and a large supply of water purifiers (Pur, iodine tablets ect.) for the inevitable decline of the tower's water supply. As to power most likely gas powered generators, placed somewhere were they are least likely kill all of us. and the kind that you hook to an exorcise bike as back ups, assuming one of the other survivors knew how to build them and the river was close enough to the tower I would also have a hydroelectric generator, but it would not be the primary as it would be to vulnerable. As to weapons a healthy mix of pump, double barrel, and Full auto shotguns loaded with Frag-12 and 3.5in ultra mag shells, Milkor Revolving chamber Grenade launchers loaded with standard and beehive shells, ZM-LR300 Assault rifles loaded with Armor piercing Incendiary 5.56 rounds, as well as M1A rifles with hi-Shok ammunition and at the low-tech end .45-70 lever action rifles with 405 grain rounds (that's what I keep in mine). As to base defense Mk19 Auto 40's, H&k MG42 MMG's and 5.56 mini guns. Sidearms would be mostly Sig and H&K .45 automatics.
Basement: Wells are installed, and the tunnles well locked off, but contrary to popular belief, zombies do not know how to open a man hole. Roof: the slope of the roof makes it perfect for gathering rain water, mostly pure, it is put thru a few filters made of gravel to a basin in the middle of the building. Windows: solar pannels are much more useful, some are electricity producing to a large suply of batteries. others are just tanks of water that boil to pump water up to the top floors, where the drinking water is stored. Penthouse:other than the drinking water tanks are sniper riffles and maybe a few rockets, to assist runners outside and maybe get some deer for food.
Floors 1-5: Trapland From the lobby to the fifth floor would be an elaborate series of traps, mainly spike pits and the like with the key areas condoned off with broken Coke machines and welded steel plates. That way the occupants of the Tower could get to the key systems down there, like the building's security setup, any possible backup generator, or maybe even a subway station. With the exception of a staircase at a service entrance with heavy steel door and security lock, every way up the tower from Trapland would be welded shut. The primary purpose of Trapland, aside from minor entertainment, is to free up a decent part of the surrounding street so that other survivors could make it to the tower.
Floors 7 - 12: Secondary Storage / Alternate Trapland At these floors would be a lot of newly emptied offices which now serve as storage space for various supplies an equipment. From what I can tell of that picture, around those levels is a parking garage or something (somewhat obscured by a raised sidewalk), so an alternate exit to the roof helicopter would be built there.
Floors 13 - 23: Primary Living Area There's no way that ten people could take up this much room. However room would be provided for any survivors that could make their way to the tower and get to the service entrance. Room would also be available for various indoor recreational pursuits, as well as areas that could be freed up to expand the Workshops or Hydroponics areas.
Floors 34 - 36: Workshops Areas for welding, carpentry, cooking, and various trades I haven't thought of at the moment would be provided here.
Floors 37 - 42: Hydroponics Any and all available hydroponic plants would be grown here. Actually getting the soil and lamps up here would be a task possible only by the use of a few raids and a cargo elevator, but otherwise it could probably be done. When the pipes give out, any and all collected rainwater would be routed to this area and stored in large tanks.
Floors 43 - 48: Auxiliary Storage / Granary On the off chance the Hydroponic area provides a surplus harvest, it would be stored on these floors, as well as any other raided food supplies and ammunition. Needless to say, it'd be heavily guarded.
Floors 49 - 57: Secondary Living Area Mainly intended as a pause before the last resort of taking the helicopter. Anyone who works in the Communications or Granary areas are welcome to stay here on a permanent basis. The terraces on this level would be used as secondary plant growing areas, as well as places to grow flowers.
Floors 58 - 63: Empty Space I dunno. This space would be left alone or emptied in case something really needed to get done here. Fixing the helicopter for instance.
Floors 64 - 66: Communications Controlling the radio antennae on the roof which would be broadcasting all hours of the day leading survivors to this location. If i'm horribly mistaken and those aren't radio antennae on the roof of that tower, a HAM radio tower would be placed up there as well as solar panels and wind turbines to help power the building.
Now if only I knew anything about the specifics of water filtration and hydroponics and such...
Excellent reference drawing, nclanceman. I'll be going back to it once I stop working on specific supplies.
This post is dedicated to weaponry: from carried by all, to the most exotic saved for dire circumstances.
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Carried at all times -> Each member will be equipped with a KA-BAR or KM2000 knife as their backup melee weapon. They will also be equipped with a Glock 17 or H&K USP chambered in .45 ACP. If the zombies have unusually thick skin or bone, then armor piercing rounds will be standard.
Chokepoints -> These will be used in the defense of the stairwells and other narrow points of access in case of a breach. Emphasis is on high damage in a small area or rapid fire with "light" rounds.
Submachine gun: H&K MP5 (any version with Single shot, Burst and Autofire)
I considered a Thompson .45 with 100 round drums, but the next weapon should do the job nicely.
Squad Automatic Weapon: FN Minimi Para (for easier carrying)
Fifth to tenth level marksmen and snipers -> Be it boredom, observation or thinning the herd when necessary, a pair of marksmen/snipers will use these levels to put their shooting to good use. Bolt-action rifles will be used for solo targets, whereas semi-automatic rifles will be used when time is of the essence.
Bolt-action rifles: Any L96A1 chambered in .338 Lapua or M24 Sniper Weapon System
Semi-automatic rifles: G3SG/1 or M21 Sniper Weapon System
Also assume each rifle has the most advanced optics available, including night time scopes and bipods. If you're going for the best, a rangefinder + stockpile of match grade ammunition is even better.
Long range and heavy weapons -> There might be a time when you either need to take something out at extreme distances, or blow away a large group. The following are chosen for their excellence in these roles.
Semi-automatic rifles: Barret M82A2 (useful for distant zombies or targets that require the extra punch)
Machine guns: M2HB (have one set up on a cleared out level with sandbags and two set up along the barricades outside)
Grenade launcher: Mark 19 (inaccurate, and loud, but keeping a few on the lower levels to clear a path leading to the entrance wouldn't be a bad idea) and MGL Mk 1 (if you're on the move and have to stall rushing zombies, this is great for causing a pile-up)
Mines: Claymores and M16-mines (as someone suggested, you might as well flag them. I doubt most zombies can read )
I couldn't think of any rocket-launchers that would be useful in this scenario. I also thought of having a Stinger MANPAD on hand, but how often will you be meeting resistance from the air?
Armor -> Usually, simple fatigues in urban patterns will do (if nothing but to boost morale). Thick civilian clothing is a good choice as well. If you're worried about raiders, then Interceptor body armor should do the job against them.
Any suggestions? Feel free to comment or critique! After weapons will be food and medicine.
This new forum is terrible. Try again Wizards ----Narukagami
Everyone in The Tower is going to need a varied diet, so there will be a mixture of canned food, dry (non-perishable) food and little MREs. Reason being? MREs aren't very good for people with daily activities that include little movement.
And of course, bowls, plates, knives, forks, spoons and a few can openers. I would recommend a healthy stockpile of disposable wares, as you don't want to devote too much of the water to washing dishes .
I might have missed some more essentials, but nutritionally this covers Vitamin C, Vitamin D, folic acid sodium and iodine: bad things to have a lack of. In particular, what vegetable and fruit seeds are worth saving for hydroponic gardening?
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Medical Supplies
While a surgeon or medic won't usually be on hand, the below will still be useful for any injuries or ailments received when out on a supply run. If the zombie "infection" is similar to most versions, then the only cure for a bite is death.
Kits ->
First aid (some contents are perishable, such as the ointments, so renew/toss when needed), suture, latex gloves (used when handling badly mangled zombie bodies), respirator masks.
I'd also place some form of 5.56 NATO assault rifle at the Chokepoints. Using an M16A4, SIG 550, or H&K G36 in those places wouldn't be that out of place, especially if you already have a FN Minimi there. While they'd be kind of a pain indoors, these same people would probably be the ones in the raiding parties, so weapons familiarity is pretty important.
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I'd invest in permanent dishes. Sure, washing them would be a pain, but with disposables you'd run into the problem of where to put the garbage.
How exactly to maintain the greywater would be a good question for later...
I think it would be a good idea to have a fence around the Tower. A first line of defense for the Tower and it gives room for any vehicles, unless theres a parking garage under the Tower, and have room for any future needs that could be too big for a floor in the Tower.
. I'll be going back to it once I stop working on specific supplies.
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