Small Bases

A home is in fact, one of the most preferable options in defending yourself from a zombie outbreak according to The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Zombie. Residential dwellings are rarely complex or alien; one can easily figure out where everything is: entrances, windows, supplies, etc. This makes it much easier to escape, navigate, or defend if needed. However, one may encounter several problems during one's stay.

A home, like any other shelter or fortress, has only so much food. Depending on what kind of area the home is located, different opportunities/problems can come up. If you are in a residential suburban area it may be easier to escape or hide in because of the large backyards and passageways between properties. Fences easy for some survivors to jump over may cut off the pursuit of small numbers of zombies.

How to Secure A Home
The first thing you will want to do is destroy the staircase to the second floor and to get a ladder. If you do not have a demolition expert on your team, do not attempt to use explosives. Instead, use a sledgehammer and slowly demolish the staircase. Once that is done, replace the stairs with ladders. The second floor will be your fallback position.

If your house does not have a staircase, your main area should be the basement, but your first priority is barricading all windows and doors, with the front door locked and lightly barricaded (assuming it is sturdy). Blocked windows not only keep zombies out, but more importantly may prevent zombies from being aware of your existence. Zombies use all senses, and will shamble past all part of the house's exterior, so consider the upstairs a quiet zone, and the basement as the only regular noise volume zone. And stay away from the windows, even if they are well barricaded.

If your house has neither a second floor, nor a basement (which is uncommon), one may have a difficult time finding room for supplies or holding off a siege. While Barricading is still a must, one is urged to consider the home a more temporary location, one that should only be used for a short time span (or if the group believes the outbreak has peaked will soon be contained).

If time, resources, manpower, and the threat level of zombies are low enough that it is practical, fortification of your property with a perimeter wall (architect, masons, engineers, or the like are probably required to do an adequate job) can greatly. If you are ever under attack by more ghouls than your lookout can handle, retreat to the second floor. Get your group to snipe the zombies from up there (they will never reach you there).

Food and Water
If the outbreak is noticed early, fill up bathtubs, sinks and buckets with water before the utility companies drops power. Keep tarps and extra buckets and jugs on hand to catch water from the houses gutters, keep water purification methods on hand also to make sure the water collected is potable.
Organize your food according to what needs to be consumed early to avoid spoilage. Organize search parties for supplies once things have settled down.

The typical farmhouse is a solitary building, often surrounded by fields of crops or livestock, and relatively far from major population centers. Some farms do have high fences built around the perimeter. Also farmhouses with a large open surrounding area can be a snipers dream location. A farmhouse can be secured with relative ease and often with a great deal of discretion (important if the people securing the building do not wish to attract other survivors).

Concerns regarding the farmhouse as a base include the distance from any other hiding places, the lack of a proper perimeter fence, and the lack of supplies readily available within walking distance. Thus a farmhouse, if properly constructed and secured, can be a viable alternative to venturing into a town or village hoping to find a secure building. Farmhouses near wooded areas or areas with rolling terrain. These areas provide their own unique advantages and disadvantages. Proceed with caution.

Firearms and Ammunition stores are very common in many parts of the United States (notably less common in most other countries), especially in the South, the Midwest, and more mountainous or forrested states. During a zombie emergency, these resources will be heavily sought after. Depending many factors, this could provide a survivor troupe with the guns they will need to survive, or a sudden stop into a virtual deathtrap (of zombie or human adversaries). As with many buildings, it's usability as a long-term fortification may vary wildly. Generally speaking, retail storefronts of all types tend to be very low rated for the sort of structural integrity and command viewpoint needed to hole up against the zombie plague. It is worth mentioning that gun stores, frequently built and owned by persons of a more survival minded mindset, may be reinforced or oversupplied in ways that the common shopkeeper would strike many as financially excessive before the breakdown of order.

A visit to a firearms store would not only have to contend with the swarms of infected/undead, but also the considerably more challenging horde of desparate people wanting access to their supplies (or the owner holing up to defend their cache). Likewise, the constant commotion would likely make the whole area a denser hunting and breeding ground for zombies. All in all, a trip to a gun store at many phases of the outbreak are very high on both risk and reward. Options should be weighed carefully on a case by case basis, and advance info, or scouting of the area may be crucial. If at all possible, procurement of a a secret personal stockpile of both guns, ammo, and other tools and accessories before/in case of a zombie outbreak is the best option.

Strategic Usage
The inside of a gun store Plentiful Supply of weapons and ammunition. If one has access/permission to use it, it can be a great resource for a safezone.

Disadvantages
They do not contain much food beyond vending machines and whatever is left in a possible employee fridge. They typically are not built well as a defensable location and should be looted rather than used as refuge, unless you are in Tennessee where it is the law that all privately owned gun shops must have permanant bars placed over their windows and doors. Check your local laws for the security requirements of local gun stores. Also looters would try to get in there.
Lastly, if already in use as a base, it is a very difficult building to assault, break into, or persuade one's own entry, as its occupants will likely have already seen the worst in humanity before your arrival, and will be extra defensive

One possible alternate between survival without a base and having one is a mobile base. Mobile bases can be made out of many vehicles with and sometimes without modification. It provides the bonus of being able to take the whole base when needing to evacuate, from zombies or other causes. If some people would decide to survive as nomads they would proabably use mobile bases. Still there are very large drawbacks. Fuel is not easily found in undead world. Because of that, driving the base should be kept minimal. Other drawback is that engines can break down.

Choices of Mobile Base
Buses
Buses are designed to transport people and that is what you are doing. They are powerful enough to batter through obstructions. They can be armoured, which is known as a Battle Bus. Unfortunately, buses have high fuel consumption and are hard to manoeuver.

Helicopters
Proabably one of the worst chose for a mobile base. Although it can fly quickly out of infested area, its drawbacks of fuel consumption, noise and the simple danger of brakedown in flight completly discount it

Large Ships
A easily defendable base as if the ship is zombie-free already, zombies will find it impossible to climb in. Also the sea is a good foodsource. However it has drawbacks. They spend a lot of fuel and the ocean can be a dangerous place. Storms will force ships to stay docked and even there they can damage and sink the ship. They will also be hard to dodge without modern weather services. At last skerrys, and in some parts of the world; seamines, can be a very serious threat

Submarine
With the proper knowledge a modern nuclear submarine could be a good base. Having power supplies for years and being able to dodge storms by going underwater. Food might be a problem but some simple fishing gear might very well be used when at surface. However if an accident or brakedown happens it can be catastrophic. A leak in the reactor is a very large threat. If something breaks at critical places, the base should be evacuated.

Zeppelins (balloons/blimps)
In all likelihood the only truly effective airborne base due to the ultra-low fuel requirements and the lack of necessity to land at all, the Zeppelin could be claimed to have all the advantages of an inviolable seaborne fortress with none of the problems of finding enough food as one could supposdly set up a temporary tether above any town, village or city and pick up as much loot as those on board were able to carry before moving on again, unmolested by zombies below. Sadly, this almost-ideal setup is limited by the fact that the number of operational zeppelins in the world that are large enough to be used as an actual base can be easily counted on the fingers of one hand. Also they leak gas and without replacing it the blimp would hold for weeks or maybe even days.

Trains
Trains can be one of the best potential mobile bases that exist, if only semi-mobile. Assuming (should be consulted before attempting) that the train in question has an internal power source, shutting down a well-stocked subway atop an elevated track in a city can often present a strong defensive position, already being on a difficult-to-access area, and being able to move if absolutely necessary. Similarly, 'parking' a long-distance train in a nonpopulated area can quite often provide passengers/survivors with a safe zone largely free of zombies. Supplies are an issue, but either stockpiling beforehand or maintaining the ability to move between (preferably instead of cities) towns to resupply can make this strategy work if the tracks stay clear and intact. That being said, that's a big 'if.' As they travel on rails, equipment, supplies and knowledge to repair them should be at hand.

Wagons and carts
Large wagons and carts, drawn by animals such as horses, oxes or other can be a very good choice. Not needing any fuel except grass or other plants they will have greater range than many other vehicles/mobile bases. Also being very simple, they can easily be fixed. If built out of hard materials in the right way they can even provide good defense against zombies.

Lighthouses, years ago, were built to stand up during the many storms, having to be built so close to the coast. They are isolated and built like medieval towers, which means that they are perfect fortress like structures which can hold off the undead. Also, being build close to cliffs, off the mainland or along narrow stretches of land means that holding off the approaching Zs will be easy. Many lighthouses also have windows which can be removed to create sniping positions and many have a spiral staircase, making it easy to hold off the undead should they break through. During the medieval wars, an attacking army was at a disadvantage fighting up spiral staircases.
Another bonus is lighthouses are close to the sea, which means that fishing is possible. Also, many older lighthouses were built to house people, mainly one or more lighthouse keepers and a family or two. Island Lighthouses can also be found on large plots of lands, making it possible to farm crops and raise animals.

There are many disadvantages with lighthouses. First, there are not many old lighthouses nower days, having been replaced with modern, smaller ones which only need a computer to run it. Lighthouses also do not have a large food store, and even those with some are very small. Some of the island lighthouses are lucky to have a farm with them but not all are supplied nower days. Fresh water is also a concern, unless there is a well, water tank or some means to create distilled water. Being close to the sea means constant danger of not only the undead getting washed up on the doorstep or banging at the door, but the constant danger of storms, rough seas and strong winds. This can also bring sickness from the cold and wet enviroment. Fishing can also be difficult, since many lighthouses are built by rocky shores.


The United Kindom is one of the few exeptions to this rule, and there a few very isloated lighthouses that are only accesible via a helecopter or through the time of day with a low tide, these lighthouses have enough food and water to supply a single person for many months incase of problems with the helipad. Some may have a reliable supply of water depending on how important they are in the 21st century, meaning that they have access to an underground well less than a mile from the lighthouse itself, or a water purification system using sea water and a heating system. Even if they seem to rely on electricity, they have a back up generator that uses gasoline. Choosing to use one of these lighthouses is a more of a stop gap measure rather than practical choice for survival.

It is a common enough occurance to see motorcyclist sheltering under overpasses during unexpected rainstorms. The reasons for sheltering under a bridge is pretty obvious, it is the most convenient place to get out of the rain. But one of the best places to take shelter from zombies is above an overpass. Even with no modification, an overpass distinctly limits the directions that zombies may approach from, but with some work and dynamite or cement saws, a team of survivors can easily make an overpass into a place of safety. Most bridges in the United States are held by the pillars alone. Because no structral support comes from the decking, parts can be removed without compromising the integrity of the structure at large.

Advantages
Any bridge can be used, but obviously longer/larger bridges will hold more people. The jersey barriers on the sides will offers protection from gunfire and from falling off.
Abandoned Vehicles left on an overpass can be used for improvised walls to control anything that moves across the overpass.

The decking will support the weight of one or more recreational vehicles or mobile
By destroying the regions highlighted, access becomes limited to whatever bridges or ladders you decide you need. Either can easily be removed to further limit access. homes. Before one destroys both sides of the decking, park on the opposite end in hopes of protecting it from shrapnel. Use shaped charges on the decking, or heat the concrete with a fire, then pour cold water on the super heated section to break the concrete into chunks. Proceed to smash the weakened concrete with sledgehammers or similar objects.

Disadvantages
There are downsides to using an overpass as a base. During the mass evacutation, most overpasses will be filled with vehicles as people try to escape. This can lead to panicked people en masse, or lots of abandoned cars that can restrict your safety. There is also the chance that the overpass is destroyed in hopes to slow the infected, so many may be bombed if servicing an evacuation route. There are millions of the bridges in America though, so if one destroys one in the process of reconditioning it or if it is unusable due to parked traffic, it may be best to simply find another one.
Overpasses are often very exposed to the elements of wind, rain and snow. The elements can also degrade the overpass over time, especially if you have already begun the process by making a base out of it, so without mantainance, it may collapse.

Zombies will likely swarm underneath, meaning that you may have found a place to hold out, but you have no way of getting supplies or even escaping as hundreds or thousands of zombies swarm underneath.

Towers are ideal for life in a zombie apocalypse on several counts:
They are elevated and stand in open areas, which makes them perfect for long distance identification, communication and sniping. Platforms easily can be built on the already existing braces that run parelel to the ground. The frame of the tower is very well suited to rigging tarps for roof and siding. Towers also run in rows, opening the posibility of sister colonies.

And, if the zombie threat is overcome power line crews will ride along the lines checking the lines to assess if the towers can be brought back to normal functionality. Any survivors living in the towers will be found.

Because towers are grounded, they operate as lightning rods.

However, there are some disadvantages as well:

While elevated, and therefore giving a great vantage point, by the same token they are also exposed. If it's zombies that spot you, and if that attracts other zombies, before you know it you could have an entire horde milling about below, effectively beseiging you until you run out of food and water, or slip. If it's raiders that find you, the structure provides no shelter from bullets. Even if you construct a bullet-proof side and floor, again you could be beseiged and essentially starved into submission. Less patient raiders may simply collapse the tower, or shoot you like fish in a barrell.

Furthermore, while towers are grounded, as the electricity travels to find ground, it will try to find the path of least resistance. If you are touching a metal brace and a metal wall (or water during those storms), setting up shop in one of these towers may be the last thing you do.

Advantages
Fortifications for a cave are fairly simple. If there is only one way into the cave, just block off the entrance with walls, allowing enough room to get in and out for a human, such as a ledge to climb over (as most zombies lack climbing abilities). Caves can also be a source of fresh water which, when boiled, can provide your group with a source for months to come. Caves are also found a far distance away from cities, so the number of zombies nearby may not be a giant horde.
Most caves in the United Kingdom already have a working walkway system, so that if you are unsure of a second entrance, you can always follow the walkways to know. Choose the caves that are tourist attractions to be sure of stability and likelihood of medical supplies and rock stability to be absolutely sure about the area.

Disadvantages
Caves can damp, dark places, which can lead to diseases and infections. Cave-ins can also threaten your group, either in cutting off passages or burying you alive. Being stuck in a cave for long periods of time can also cause depression. A lack of oxygen is also a high concern.
If there are many entry points to the cave, the chances are it will be impossible to block them all off and prevent zombies from entering. Zombies who make in it can easily swarm your group as caves can be cramped places as well, limiting your chances of escape.

Supplies will also run low and if there is a horde of zombies outside, you may starve to death. Certain minerals in the water may prevent it from being drinkable no matter if it is boiled or not. (Depending on the area itself)

Not all entrances have been found in the cave. So it's best to limit the area you plan to live in, which can lead to a dead end in a few cases.

A pawn shop is a good place to make a base due to it already having several tools and items that can help a survivor however depending how long it has been since the apocalypse began to the day a survivor finds a pawn shop most of the equipment could already have been taken by other survivors but if you are lucky the pawn shop will not have been looted however it will have to be barricaded well if other survivors arrive after the pawn shop is turned into a base for other survivors and will try to get in however they can.

Advantages
A pawn shop will have equipment for survivors to use.

Disadvantages
A pawn shop will have been looted if other survivors have already broken into the pawn shop and will have taken the equipment.
Most pawn shops have only one floor making escape from zombies very hard.