Being taken seriously?

So it's May 21st and if you are reading this then you were not taken in the rapture. I'm sorry. Time to move on to more pressing matters. Like preparation.

That is what the Centre for Disease Control wants us all to do at least. The first thing to do is create a list of supplies in case of emergencies. The list provided by the CDC is a great one put together by professionals. But it could use improvement. There are a few things to add to it for survival in the most dire of cases, a zombie outbreak.

• Pre-cut boards for windows and doorways. The quicker barricades can be up and running the more time can be spend on other areas.
• Rifles and side-arms for each person.
• Ammo (500 rounds minimum per firearm)
• Hand-to-hand weapons for each person.
• Tools for boarding up windows. Hammers, power drills, screws and nails.
• Quick-cement. Can be used on weakened walls, barricades and to fill in windows on the first floor.

Creating the emergency plans mentioned are also very important. Having your family all know who to contact and where to go in any situation is vitally important. Children should know where to go and have a list of people to try to contact should their parents be turned or separated. The family should also have a meeting place should they have to abandon a safe house. A separation from physical possessions should be established and every thing categorized into weather it would be needed or not once the home is compromised.

The most important part of surviving is the first few days. In those first few days roughly 80% of the population will be lost and the only thing that will make a difference between being among those and the initial survivors will be preparation. The true survivors will need more to continue and things will get harder but in the beginning it will just be simple emergency prep. Many people approach me and say I will be the one they call on when after the fall. While this does make me feel good it also shows the unpreparedness of these people. Another survivor recently told me that he tells these people if they do come to his house they will meet the business end of a rifle. While this might be a little extreme imagine if all my "friends" who have said this at one point show up at my door. I am prepared to take care of my family and a few more people, not a hundred. As time progresses that could change but in the first few days it will just be about protecting my family. And it is each person's responsibility to do that for himself, that is the power of being prepared and the realness of it. If you have to rely on going to someone else "if" an emergency happens then you are not prepared and probably count yourself among that 80%.

Stay prepared, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.