Large Bases

Description
Malls are vast large open buildings spread across most of the United States. They are built with a large variety of shops and restaurants which can suit a small group of survivors for a limited time. Larger groups require more food. The types of provisions can differ depending on the mall. The food court can offer a large amount of food, but without refrigeration, much of it can spoil before use. With the great abundance of salt packets, it wouldn't be impossible to salt and cure meats. Although it would be best if someone in the group has prior knowledge, otherwise you can ruin usable food. Weapons can be found at the guard station in a mall. This will most likely be less than lethal weapons such as pepper spray and batons. Which can be helpful against humans but would be mostly useless on zombies. Walkie-Talkie radios can be found which can prove a much more valuable resource. In a zombie apocalypse, information can prove more vital than weapons. A lookout on the roof that can radio in incoming bandits instead of yelling can allow you to prepare your defenses much more quickly.

Pros
Sturdier store gates can make for a good last defense in case you get overrun,but they need to be maintained or they will rust.
Supplies for a couple of months.
Different escape vehicles may be available.
Many fall backs.
Doors are easy to fortifiy

Cons
Can be large enough for zombies to be hiding anywhere. (This can be overcome if you plan on staying for a while, by days of searching)
Unsustainable Resources
Many entrance points to be concerned with if your party wishes to access the main corridors.
Large and difficult to hold.

Cruise ships have many different assets:
In the ocean (Zombies do not swim)
Very good visibillity
Carries insanely large amounts of food, water supplies, etc.
Fair potential weaponry (fire axes, heavy tools, other improvisational weaponry, etc.)
The nautical experience necessary to steer and maintain a cruise ship is admiteddly rare. However, if it can be found, it is potentially possible to steer the ship near potential resupply points, such as abandoned docks and harbors, or deserted islands.
A potential drawback is that a cruise ship with a large number of people on it prior to formal physical inspection will likely have several infected on it that have been hiding their symptoms prior to total transformation. Another drawback is that the tremendous amount of specialized fuel that a cruise ship requires to travel. Not that a stagnant cruise ship is useless as a shelter by any means, but if one gets stranded hundreds of miles out in the ocean, it can be a death sentance directly unrelated to zombies. A crew with a great knowledge of these ships, or general nautical travel is advised before attempting to utilize a cruise ship in the face of a zombie outbreak.

Vacation resorts are massive recreational facilities. Most rooms are luxurious and are supplied, but not very well. Also, due to the location, some vacation resorts are exceptional places to fish. On top of all that, vacation resorts are great for morale, as the are motivating, inspirational, peaceful, and designed to be a beautiful experience.

Pros
Island resorts are extremely isolated and well supplied.
They lift one's spirits and boost morale.
May have multiple forms of water transport.
Have multiple means of radio communications.

Cons
They are very hard to secure.
They require a hefty collaboration/manpower.
Food found when the place is secured can be depleted quickly depending on number of people inside.

As far as base choices go, hospitals and clinics are by far the worst.
Large numbers of people, including the newly infected, will converge on health-care centers, as will the zombies following them. In fact, a hospital is going to be the most likely source of an outbreak during a Zombie apocalypse scenario as the infected die in the ER and reanimate in the morgue to the surprise of the unfortunate coroners. Infections would spread quickly, hospital staff would be overrun as would feeble patients, many of whom will be left in their beds as the infection spreads, subsequently being devoured and infected themselves, and the facility would quickly be overwhelmed by the undead. If it is at all possible, avoid areas near hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and nursing homes.

If escape is not possible, attempt to barricade off a wing or floor rather than attempt to hold the entire facility. Stockpiles of food and weapons should be built up and medical supplies should be limited to bandages and painkillers, as attempting to cure or treat zombie bites and scratches would be a futile waste of effort. Additional supplies that may come in handy are plaster mix for broken limbs, splints, and stitching thread. Even though these would serve as long term solutions for serious injuries, it is important to remember that you may need every survivor in your barricade.

Prisons are excellent places to barricade yourself in. Already built like a fortress, with fences and strong, stone walls around the entire compound, sniper towers, an infirmary, an armory, a well stocked kitchen meant to feed an entire prison worth of criminals, and a series of mazes and steel doors that you can fall back to in case the zombies manage to get past your defenses, all make it a prime choice.
There are two problems when you hole up in a prison: First, it will literally become your own prison (though this is always the case when you barricade yourself somewhere), and the fact that it may still house criminals when you first barricade yourself in there (let's face it, the government is not going to release the inmates, even if they'll starve). If this is the case, you have three options: Release them, and have extra defenders under the new threat that they may result to their old ways; keep them in their cells and still feed them, which loses you supplies and only gains you a clear conscious, or kill them by shooting them or just leaving them in their cells and let them starve, which loses you extra defenders, but also the task of disposing their bodies (so they don't rot and become disease and bacteria breeders).

The cells pose an interesting line of defense. In case the prison becomes completely overrun, you should have several cells filled with supplies ahead of time, that way you and the survivors can stay away out of the reach of the zombies while shooting them. They can also used to store individual zombies to be studied, since knowledge will always be man's greatest weapon. Or, if any survivors or criminals get out of hand, you can always use the cells for what they were designed for; keeping rampant people who can get others killed where they can't do harm. Entire cell blocks can be sealed off, and as long as the zombies don't have multiple entry points around the complex, you can easily quarantine whole sections off.

Older prisons are more ideal than newer ones, due to the fact that more recently built prisons have only electrified fences, razor wire, and sniper towers to prevent inmates from escaping. While this may work at halting a few dozen zombies, a few hundred will easily topple the chain link fences in no time. The solid stone walls of older prisons provide a far better physical barrier against huge swarms of the living dead, provided they have regular maintenance.

Most prisons have rehabilitation programs, and as such most prisons will have libraries full of books on practical and technical skills, such as machining, carpentry and agriculture, which you are going to need for a prolonged siege and in the aftermath.

Morale is a problem that you are going to have to find a creative solution to. While this is the case with most bases, it applies even more so to prisons, since they are depressing environments designed specifically to break a man's spirit and hopfully deter them from future crimes once their sentence is over. This means you'll have to find ways to keep yourself and the other survivors entertained and distracted from the fact that they're essentially in jail. Use movies, books, any entertainment you can find, even organize talent shows if possible, no matter how bad the acts are, anything at all to keep yourselves from going insane.

Prisons nowadays only contain non-lethal equipment and riot gear to prevent convicts from obtaining lethal weapons and to subdue riots without death. Obtaining your own firearms is a must.

Advantages
Defenses
Some schools are fitted with gates and perimeter fences to prevent children getting out, but could keep zombies out. Due to height differences, high schools will naturally have higher fences and gates, so they are preferred.

Supplies
Objects such as desks and chairs make excellent barricades. Many schools contain vending machines that dispense things like soda, water, and snack foods. A school's cafeteria can allow temporary food, but conversion of the school's sport field into a farm will allow a long term food source. A school will regularly have a nurse's office which contains basic medical equipment. The library can also provide a source of entertainment for survivors. Class items like scissors and gym equipment can assist in defending from attacks.

Teachers and Students
If you can get there before the zombies and in class time, a school can have a lot of manpower. Teachers may have skills that can assist your refuge, though Agriculture teachers are more useful than English teachers.

Disadvantages
In disasters, people will go look for their family members. This can lead to traffic jams and can lead zombies to the school. Infected people and eventually zombies will come to the schools, overrunning them. If the zombies have been in the school's area for days, or even hours you will likely find the school surrounded by a horde of undead. In more modern schools, doors will have glass in them and rooms will have large windows, easily allowing zombies or bandits to break in. Many schools have artificial turf fields, which means that food will be able to be grown in a farm. Schools also only offer a limited supply of food and before the apocalypse resupplied every day. Many schools also get food from businesses like pizza shops, further lowering the amount of food in the building.

Islands, a great place for a small colony. But you don't know if the virus is there too. You can easily fish, with the right know-how, but there's no telling if the fish are infected from any possible zombies in the water. Water is obviously abundant, as long as you distill it. Make sure the island is close to land, so you can get supplies as needed.
However, if you wipe out any zombies there, you will have almost no threat from the undead horde.

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages, usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory. Castles were places of protection from an invading enemy, a place of retreat. This is the purpose behind such stereotypical castle features as portcullises, battlements and drawbridges. It has so many solid physical barriers, they make for an almost ideal zombie defence base.
However, citizens of the United States and Canada can discount this option altogether (and don't bother with the Disney castles either). Since the founding of both these countries, the rise of firearm warfare made traditional defences like castles obsolete, so they are in short supply, though there are several.
One should also know the fundamental difference between a castle and a palace. A castle is a fortress, with large physical barriers designed to keep out hordes of enemy soldiers; A palace is little more than a fancy home, with large open windows and doors, simple iron bar fences, and open verandas purly for aesthetic purposes. Hiding from a zombie horde inside a palace will get you and yours killed faster than you can say "Let them eat flesh!" In the novel World War Z, there is a great contrast depicted: Windsor Castle became the most successful fortress in England during the zombie war, if not Europe; In stark contrast to this is France's Palace of Versailles, upon the ashes of which the French put their national monument.

One should also know the condition of the castle you plan to inhabit, since many have been neglected, damaged, or altered to increase their aesthetic value once the rules of European warfare changed from melee combat to firearms. Also, as with any base, you'll have far more threats than simply the undead to worry about. Food, water, ammo, medicine, morale, illness, and insurrection are all major problems you'll likely have to deal with during the long haul. If you're in a castle above the snow line, than take the opportunity to use the winter months to raid the surrounding countryside for supplies, check your defense from the outside, and even bash the heads of your attackers while they're frozen solid.

The castle is a great options for survivors, or those trying to survive, in Europe, especially England and Scotland, and to a larger extent, Wales. Wales is often called "the castle capital of the world". It has 100 castles which still stand. The English Heritage and the Natural Trust both maintain historic buildings such as castles. If you can get to a restored castle, do so but be careful as most castles were destroyed during and after the English civil war, though this only applies to England. It's likely they'll have some food supplies (albeit not enough for a siege ironically) so bring your own. Also bring your own weapons; the weapons the previous defenders used will be located in the museum, often some distance away. Ranged weapons are preferable, although they'll most likely be makeshift although local police do have small stocks of firearms but nowhere near the quantity of a gunstore in the USA.

Barns are a type of base, that act like an extension of a Farm House, or a standing base by itself. Barns are typically spacious and depending on the type of Barn it is it may have loads of food stock, tools, livestock and most of all shelter for a medium sized group of people. Barns have the advantages of being secluded and surrounded by field or woodland. Barns also are very tall giving the inhabitants a lookout point. Barns are typically sturdy if recenlty build and usually have two levels or some sort of loft. The land around a barn is an excellent resource, especially out in the country, typically there is a fresh water sorce and depending on which season you use it in, fresh crops and stored goods by the hundreds.

Advantages and Disadvantages
As said before barns have a premium location for peacful encampment, they can shelter several people and witstand some of the toughest of weathers. They often have some sort of baricade material such as wood, metal fencing, hay bales or tractors. They sometimes have vehicles needed for hasty escape if worse comes to worst such as slow moving vehicles with tractors to carry passengers. Barns depending on their venue may be a decent distance from a town or village ideal for initial scavenging. Also due to the profuse amount of land or live stock you could live on a farm indefinatley so long as you can keep up with the harvests and feeding. Also considering the type of barn you inhabit there may be a variety of extrenous options.

- Pole Barns
Pole barns are typically used for storage space for people living in a semi country area, in some cases they can be turned into a living space, and although compact, will most likely have enough living space for about 5 surviors. In Pole Barns, food stock can be kept high by the former owners with tools, non perishibles and weapons in high supply. Unfortunatley due to their compact size fighting inside may become difficult, and after power goes out, the generator runs out of fuel or if the well system stops working, life will suddenly become a lot harder. And just like all barns, pole barns can fluxuate wildly in temperature.

- Farm Barns
Your run of the mill type of barn, typically much more spacious and can hold a variety of things, most likely have a near by silo or stable filled with animals and crops ready for the table. These types of Barns can have all sorts of animals such as chickens, cows, horses, goats, pigs and llama. All of which can be used for transportation, food or waste disposal. Depending on the quality and size a Barn can support up to a small colony of people about 10-15 in size. This barn will most likely have materials for barricades such as fencing, wood and wire. But this type of Barn is especially prone to out door temperature, because not only due to the plank thin barriers from the cold or sweltering heat, but also because of plank decay, making the barn weak and possibly collapse.

- Sheds
Not typically refered to as a barn, but older ones are often shapped like and act like a miniature one. They can can also have two levels of purpose depending on what the size and can easily shelter two or three people. If the shed was built on a homespun farm, then there may be chickens laying eggs nearby. Sheds typically will have the widest variety of makeshift melee weapons from hedge clippers and pitch forks, to slege hammers and shovels. Shed's may also hold fuel bottles, or stored bycicles ready for quick travel and escape. If they aren't plastic, sheds may be almost impenetrable from the outdoors, and can have large doors with locks that can easily keep you protected, or another prisoner. However, unless maintained properly, sheds can easily topple in bad weather, or from decay. Sheds do not most likely have any food about them unless it is homemade preserves or fodder. Again sheds are easily prone to cold or hot weather temperature on the inside, and typically do not have blankets or proper ventilation. Not only that, but they often lack windows or extrenuous light sources such as a small window, and are often completely dark during the day. And rarely do sheds have anything that can be used from baracades other than a riding lawnmower or something of the sort.

Notable Information
They are somewhat self-sufficient fortresses.
A fuel reserve.
MRE rations (Meals Ready to Eat).
Training facilities.
Machine shops.
Independent power grids.
Communication capabilities.
Some solid physical defenses.
Medical supplies designed to treat military-grade wounds

However, the main reason the masses flee to military bases are weapons and protection. A Military Base is going to be staffed with a full army of trained specialists who know how to handle a disaster scenario. However, this does not necessarily mean that they know how to deal with the undead. Bear in mind that horror films like 28 Days Later or Day of the Dead show military figures go insane- the mental stability of these trained specialists may vary from completely cool and calm to berserk, trigger-happy and sex-addicted. When arriving at the military base, be careful how you approach, as the military may mistake you for a zombie or "rioter", while keeping alert for anyone else trying to enter. Keep in mind most US military bases are highly populated because of soldiers families.

Many people will swarm to military bases, seeking protection. Although a sound idea, swarms of people can quickly consume the base's resources. An infected individual or a horde of undead lead by this rush can quickly overwhelm most standard military bases. In games, it is not by mistake that many bases are occupied by zombies. This will make getting supplies or making this your refuge very difficult.

Keep in mind that U.S. military bases of the present day are designed according to the most current threats. Most bases have a chain link fence to keep unauthorized personnel from entering have gaps to allow for vehicular traffic. The primary purpose to the base's defensive posture is to defend against a small number of infiltrators and not an opposing army. With that being said, there are locations on every base that are designed for physical security and can be easily modified as a hold out against the undead.

Airports are not advised as a refuge from a zombie apocalypse. The main drawback to using an airport as a base is that the open layout can be difficult to secure. There are many spaces where undead could be lurking undetected. Also, most modern airports have large glass windows, which would only serve to display the tasty food trapped inside (that being you and/or any other survivors with you) to the ravenous hordes outside clamoring for your flesh.

Another reason for not choosing the Airport as a base is due to the likelihood that it was one of the first hot zones of the infection; as the throng of people seeking safe refuge will naturally see the planes as a last resort to stay alive - even if they have to storm the runways, and cling to landing gear of departing flights. Because of the size of an airport, and the number of victims likely to have fallen there, it will also be one of the most difficult to clear areas of the recovery (if a recovery is in the future) (problems with an airport during an infection have been told in a scene during 28 days later. What happened was there was a single infected in a large crowd that went unnoticed and was able to infect most of the crowd in a matter of seconds)

The obvious benefit of airports is that if a party can secure an aircraft, and has the know how to prepare it and fly it out, then they could fly to safety. Smaller, lesser known airports and airstrips might have the same capability, with less zombies in the area. Regardless, whether early or late in a large outbreak, airports are one of the most perilous and least defensible areas one can come across.

Refugee Camps could be made from broken down buildings or abandoned military bases and facilities. Refugee Camps with high chances of surviving should have walls built around and guard towers to take out zombies.

During the intial stages of a zombie contagion, government agencies (such as the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA) along with the military may well set up camps in areas relatively free of undead. Ideal locations would be military bases and posts since soldiers can be deployed quickly to secure the perimeter. The drawback is, other than massive military bases, most are small and do not have the infrastructure to hold large numbers of people. Also, contrary to popular belief, many military installations do not have walls or fences of any kind. Only security areas are walled off.

Prisons are also ideal locations since they are very secure, but again, their drawback is their size and lack of infrastructre for large amounts of people. Also, the question arises what to do with the prisoners already contained there.

If a city is relatively zombie free, then that major population center could be a good area for refugees since it already has the infrastructure to support masses of people. The drawback to this is that a huge mass of people would probably attract hordes of zombies, and there would be a timelag before military units could get in a secure areas. This was evidenced in The Walking Dead comic and TV series as the government tried to set up a major refugee center in Atlanta, but was quickly overrun by the zombie horde.

Basic Camps
Similar to Shanty Towns, they are made out of scrap materials and are not always adequately supplied. These are usually made by survivors looking for a place to call home. These are only supplied with what survivors bring with them. Defending them would be the most important job, as they would lack anything beyond small arms and improvised defences.
They may have little to no Judicial system.
These can contain...
Markets
Medical Clinics
Armories
Common Rooms
Jails
Gardening Building

Government Camps
These are well funded and supplied camps deployed by the military and government to take in people.
They are usually under a military system of law.
These can contain...
Hospitals
Markets
Homes
Military Depots and Armories
Grocery Stores
Jails
Courts
Communication Systems
Transportation

NOTE: Government Camps in a modern, non-zombie outbreak, circumstances tend to be overcrowded and become breeding grounds for infectious diseases other than some kind of zombie virus.

Shanty towns (also known as Hoovervilles and Squatter settlements) are likely to be very helpful in an apocalyptic scernario because you can often add on to them, because they're made up of proably very common materials in a outbreak like scrap metal, plywood, and plastics. When making a Shanty town survivors should take into account:
Is the terrain too hilly or too far below sea level? If so do not build on these. It would be best to build on a flat plain where you can have a 360 degree view of the landscape.
Is the area likely habited by bandits,raiders,or infected? If so do not build because you probably won't have time to set up.
Keep this in mind and you can have a Shanty town set up in no time, usually Shanty towns don't have walls, but in a outbreak scenario you should build walls to keep people out.

Pros
Can be a great permanent settlement, if defeneded properly.
Materials required are easy to find.
Easy to build, you don't need to be an Architect to build one.
Can add on things very easily like towers or add on to buildings.
If you need to move, as stated before you can find the buliding elements easily or just move all the bulidings.

Cons
If not built properly it's as useful as a jammed gun in a firefight.
Not very good for keeping the elements out.
They can be taken over easily if not on constant watch.
They do not have electricity, sanitation or other things so keep that in mind.
Get very cold in the winter.
These materials arent very tough so be careful if fighting erupts inside.

A factory is huge enough for a large group of survivors to (depending on what kind of factory it is) fortify the factory however only a section of the factory is recomended to secure if there are zombies in the factory then you will have to take them out with melee weapons due to some factories increasing the sound of gun fire and some factories depending on where the factory is located will have plenty of escape routes (for example if the only way to the factory is by bridge then the factory will have access to the sewers.)

Advantages
A factory on an island will have access to the sewers.
A factory has plenty of things to use to fortify it.
May contain machinery and equipment that will be useful to your survival. Such as a factory that produces solar panels, bullets, weapons or other things of that nature.

Disadvantages
If the factory is surrounded it will be hard to use an escape route
Bandits will raid the factory.
Survivors may have already looted the factory.
Will not contain much space for people to live in. They are not Warehouses (large open spaces) they are factories originally used to manufacture a product so will be built with the main intent of that product.