The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: The Survivable City Myth

How to find food in an apocalypse?

5) How would cities get food in a zombie apocalypse?

I know that cities like Columbus, and its food industry, were mentioned in which cities would survive a zombie outbreak and why, but there are two things you have to remember:

1. Such stores of food can only sustain a city if the people of the city can get to them. Even if people can, who’s to say who might be in control of the food by the time they get to it? If criminals or some kind of megalomaniac has control over access to food, suddenly, it can’t be assumed that every survivor will get enough food to sustain themselves. Access to that food will become a conduit to power, and one such unsavory character will not be happy to share.
2. What about cities without a large food-packing industry? Where the hell would they get food? You could argue that they’d get food from the surrounding countryside, but if they’re doing that, they’re not surviving in the city, now, are they?

How would nearly any city be able to sustain itself long-term? Even if enough survivors coalesced together to consider the city “surviving,” how would they feed themselves if they were stuck in the city? I’m assuming that these survivors will remain in the city and that there will be a large number of zombies there also. I find myself questioning how on earth a relatively large number of city-dwellers would survive for months if their city doesn’t have a large food-packing industry in it the way Columbus does?

If we’re talking a few hundred people (Never mind more), are they going around scrounging from any remaining supermarkets, gas stations, convenience stores, and vending machines for the probably meager amount of food that they’ll still have? How would you feed that many people? Sure, at the very beginning, you’ll still have the perishable stuff to eat, assuming you can get to it, but after a few weeks, that stuff’s going to rot and won’t be enough to sustain a population several hundred strong.

Once again, you could assume they’re growing their own food, but how many of those people will know how to do that? Furthermore, how would they have the means to actually do that on the scale needed to feed several hundred people in a city? Unless they were near a park or a section of the city with a lot of green space, where will they find the space to grow enough food for everyone without having to go through a gauntlet of zombies just to get to their own food?

I honestly don’t know. Maybe a few cities might have these criteria at their disposal, but how many? And, even if they did, would they have anyone in them with the knowledge and skills necessary to utilize them?

I just don’t think so.

I firmly believe that people can survive a zombie apocalypse, but a city? I simply do not think that a large enough portion of any large city can survive in the sense that the people living in it believe that the city “made it” through the outbreak. I’m even willing to believe that several hundred, maybe even several thousand, could survive, but only as scattered pockets. They would be unaware that the other groups are still alive. In a situation like that, I doubt any of those survivors would think that the city survived; they might assume they’re not completely alone, but thinking the city survived? No.

To me, the idea of any city surviving a zombie apocalypse…is just a myth.

What I hope I’ve done today is make you think about the biggest problems you’ll face in the cities in a zombie apocalypse so that you can devise your own strategies for how to deal with them or maybe even avoid them entirely. I don’t want people to think that the zombie apocalypse is a death sentence for them, but I also don’t want people thinking that they’re definitely going to make it because they live in this city or that city. Frankly, I think cities are all deathtraps in a zombie apocalypse, and you’re the best bet to not get caught in one is to make sure you’re not in one when the dead start rising. If you like this and want something else to help you survive the zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can also get it at Amazon here, on iTunes here!