Charlie's Guide

Edged weapons made a big comeback in the Upheaval.  No joke about it.  I saw a number of people who were sporting machetes, billhooks, tree trimmers, and pruners.  

Trouble is, edged weapons are most effective against an adversary that feels pain, someone who can be put out of commission with a large, devastating cut.  

Zombies don't work that way.  You cut the bastard's arm off, and he's reaching for you with the other one.  Cut his leg in half, and he's still crawling to get you.  Sure, you could get both arms and legs off if you're really good, but the odds of that happening aren't realistic enough to try.

I like a good hand axe or tomahawk.  They're small, fast, and you can throw the things reasonably well if you practice.  Mine don't have a curved edge like normal ones.  Mine come to a wide point in the center, giving me a good point for penetration.  

Machetes are good for last ditch work, but you have to get really close to be effective.  Anything mounted to a pole os good for the outdoors, but inside you have a really big toothpick.

I've seen swords used, but the battle ready ones are few and far in between.  Anything stainless is useless.  John and Duncan have experimented with a couple from a store they found up north.  Duncan actually knew a lot about the things and kept John away from the junk.  Right now he's been practicing with what was called a hand and a half sword.

I'll let you know how that turns out.

Charlie out.

Tommy's Tips

One of the things we learned quickly when the Upheaval hit was value.  True, actual, value.  One the surface, you might think it would be a simple thing to define, but in the middle of the fight, it became something that took on real, fundemental meaning.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about values, those things we teach our kids about being right and wrong.  No, what I'm talking about is what something is worth.
In the first days of the Upheaval, people were grabbing as much money and valuables as they could, thinking they would be worth something in the future.  Trouble was, all that paper money was just that, paper.  I can't tell you how much of the stuff we used to use to start fires.  Coins were just about as useless, they had no real value beyond their metal content, and the real silver coins had been long gone even before the zombies came.
No, value came from usefullness.  A man with a hammer had something more valuable than a man with a gold brick.  I remember meeting a guy who showed me he was carrying a bunch of gold coins.  I asked him what he planned to do with it.  He said he would trade it for food and supplies.  I asked him why it was worth anything.  He thought I was crazy, but I had just simply moved on from old notions of value.  I did give him a pocketknife for a small disk of gold, though.  That shiny button did lure in a good number of fish, I have to say, so it did earn its keep.
Value changed in the Upheaval.  Old treasures like diamonds and emeralds were only worth what someone was willing to trade for them, and even then, it was just for fun. 
Side note:  John had a moment of brilliance once.  I mention it as once, we've been recovering from his other ideas since.  But he figured the best place to find tools for the new world was to look where they stored the tools from the old, old world.  We scoured antique shops for old hand tools and implements, things they had used before they had electricity and power motors.  These things, once we figured out how they worked and what they were for, were extremely valuable because they were useful.
Bottom line, don't waste your time trying to stuff the diamonds in your pocket.  You can't eat them and they don't really serve a purpose.  If you want to have them for later when things may get straightened out, that's okay, but there are long odds against you seeing it in your lifetime.

Later.

Duncan's Diary

I was really getting tired of this nonsense.  Every time I tried to get the zombies to do something, they messed up my plans and did something else.  I couldn't get them to line up nicely and die already, so I had to move to plan C.  I called over my friends and they came running, since their areas were being overrun.  We held a quick conference as we retreated, and I decided the best plan was to use the forest next to us, since the messy monsters were going to have a devil of a time gettiing to us. 
The forest edge by the road was actually a sheer wall that rose fifteen feet in the air.  The road had been cut into a hill and the erosion break had been there for a while.  The wall extended about a hundred feet in either direction from the highest point, and we could move relatively safely up there.  With the heavy forest at our backs, we didn't have to worry about any ghouls sneaking up on us while we killed their kin.  The hill was still very steep outside of the barrier, so it was almost as effective as a wall, and would slow down the Z's considerably.
I took the low point and the other two took the high and low points.  We waited for the zombies to catch up, and since they moved at various rates and had difficulty with the ditch, we managed to zip out and kill quite a few before the main horde came at us.  I stood on the wayy, holding a tree with my left hand while my right smashed down again and again.  The z's couldn't reach me, and the hill was too steep to flank me.  They just kept coming and coming.  After about ten minutes, I had to swtich hands, since my right was getting tired.
I looked over and saw the same thing happening on the other side.
After an hour, we smashed the last one and were able to free ourselves.  At last count we had killed over seventy zombies.  I'll call that a good start.

Charlie's Guide

Multiple attackers.  Sounds pretty scary, and most of the time it is.  Just when you think you've got the situation under control, another little zombie comes along and bites you in the ass.  Let's look at some options.
Suppose you're in the middle of a parking lot and six of them are coming at you from all sides.  What do you do?
Best course of action in this situation is to look for the biggest hole in their line and make a break for it.  What?  No fighting?  Exactly.  First rule in a zombie fight is to survive.  Don't be stupid and think you're invincible. 
What about two attackers and you have no room to run?  Better question.  In that case, use their clumsiness against them.  Move yourself so the zombies are lined up single file, then push them back.  They'll likely fall and you can kill as they get up.  Don't get grabbed and fall with them.  Then you're screwed.
What do you do against several zombies and there's no place to run?  If you're dumb enough to get into a situation like that, the best thing you can do is run to the nearest one and kill it as quickly as possible.  Use the body to knock down a couple of others and kill the next nearest.  Throw that one to knock down some more  and you've created some breathing room. 
Always keep moving, don't let them get fixed on you.  Get them to the ground and keep your feet.  You'll live longer.

Charlie out.

Tommy's Tips

     Exits.  Kind of a simple term, when you think about it.  Sounds neat when you roll it around on your tongue for a bit.  Conjures up a few images, probably the first being those old signs that used to light the way to egress.  But in a more practical sense, exits are fundamental to hunting zombies.
     The first thing you should think of when you arrive anywhere is "How will I get out if things head south?"  If you're entering a house, check and make sure the downstairs windows and doors are closed, but unlocked.  You don't want anyone coming in after you, but you certainly don't want to be delayed if you have to bug out in a hurry.
     For example.  Duncan and I were charged with house clearing near the old school where we first set up a community.  I headed in the first house and cleared the first floor, moved up to the second with Duncan behind me.  At the top of the stairs we found a family of six waiting for us, four of them teenagers and faster than normal.  As we bolted down the stairs to gain some room, we found a trio of zombies from the outside had come in the front door to see where we had vanished to.  We didn't have the  time to kill the ones on the ground before the ones on the second floor were attacking from the rear.
     Duncan actually used his head for a change and dove under the ktchen table, standing up with it on his head, and charging the group by the door.  The table knocked over the zombies and the two of us used the platform as a bridge to get the hell out of there just as the family came tumbling down the stairs.
     From that episode, we learned to have an exit always, whether it be a rope out a window, a busted door, anything.  When the Upheaval was still new, it was interesting to see how well trained we had all been.  Most people were reluctant to break a window, simple because they never would in their former lives.  it was a taboo we had to get over in a hurry.  John always said the big patio doors were the most fun, but it let the zombies out, too.
     Always know how to go back the way you came, and chalk the damn walls if you have to.  Office buildings are a pain to clear, we typically just set them on fire.  But they have nice central stairs which work really well as exits or funnels.  Get a group to follw you up the stairs, then set up a killing zone on the roof.  One at a time and your targets come to you.
     Always know where the exits are.  If you aren't sure, don't go in there.  You'd be amazed at how much trouble you can avoid by simply walking around the building.

Stay safe.

Charlie's Guide

One of the things I've seen cause trouble is the lack of basic weapons maintenance.  You trust these tools with your life, why would you let them get filled up with crud that might cause you to lose your life?

One time, when out on a scouting mission, I came across a zombie kill.  The guy had been attacked by what looked to be five or six zombies, depending on how you read the tracks.  Anyway, his weapon was still there, and after I pried the fingers from the gun, I saw it was loaded with a full mag, but the insides were so gunked up that the gun up and jammed when he needed it most.

You don't have to do anything serious, just run a patch down the barrel and wipe out the insides if you don't have time for a field strip.  But at some point you will have to clean the thing, or it will fail you.

Charlie out.

NEWS RELEASE

Well, the folks at Severed Press have released information for 2011, and the best news is that plans seem to be in progress for the release of the next book in the series White Flag of the Dead / Taking it Back.  In addition, I have it on good authority that the books will also be released on Kindle format as well!
Finally, plans are to maybe release the 3rd and 4th books in the series America the Dead and Soul of a Nation (That last title is a work in progress)

Talk to you!