The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Surviving The City

If there are “safe zones” in arenas, malls or stadiums, DON’T GO.

When there have been natural disasters in places like New Orleans, it’s been fairly common for the government to temporarily house people in the nearest stadium or arena, largely because the fields or floors are big enough to accommodate many refugees. The arenas/stadiums themselves have the facilities to feed them with their food storage rooms and concession stands. I don’t know if the government would house people in a mall, but I imagine, depending on the circumstances, and if the mall had enough room, this could be set up as a “safe zone.”

Whatever the case may be, if the government decides to do this sort of thing in a zombie apocalypse, it will almost certainly be a terrible idea.

Firstly, let’s just address the fact that the government probably won’t know what they’re dealing with in the first place, meaning they won’t know how to handle it.

Secondly, such “safe zones” are designed to be temporary. The government isn’t planning on turning the fields into farmland to try to grow food for the refugees over the long haul, which is fine…until the dead start to surround the place and the people trapped inside can’t escape. Even if no one is infected, and the dead can’t get in, you’re not going to have much in the way of long-term prospects, as they will just wait you out.

And, thirdly, if the government doesn’t know what they’re dealing with, the chances that they won’t bring someone into the “safe zone” who’s been bitten is fairly small, as they’ll just assume it’s a small wound, and not pay it any mind after patching the person up. As we know, that mistake will prove costly, as those bitten people eventually turn and destroy the “safe zone” from the inside out.

As it pertains to Boston, specifically, having been to Fenway and The Garden, I can tell you that trying to escape either of them if they filled with zombies, would be a nightmare — Fenway might be a little better, with its multiple entrances and exits on its sides, but, I wouldn’t consider either a place I’d want to run through trying to escape the dead.