• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

The Walking dead

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I was pretty clearly tongue in cheek when I suggested ending the series peacefully on an island. But I do want characters to make reasonable decisions. I've turned off many movies that turned me off because of implausible characters. One of the things I like about Walking Dead is that people respond to the challenges in different ways due to their experience and personality. Going to DC is just nuts, nearly as bad as believing that some guy could reverse all of this by himself.

Well, actually DC could be a solid and very smart idea. First, a few facts about the "walkers".

1. They aren't smart, they can't strategize; they will mindlessly walk forward, even onto spikes or spinning blades that are quite obvious, in search of food.
2. They aren't strong enough to break solid stone; even in large groups a thick stone wall is a great defense.
3. They can't jump or climb, the effort is simply too complex for their brains to coordinate.

From here, let's look at the pros and cons.
Pros
1. Stone Buildings As anyone who has been to DC can tell you, there's a lot of stone and brick buildings, sure there are still windows, but you can board or barricade those up on the first floor and be fine. A lot of buildings are also surrounded by stone and metal walls; barricade the gates and put up spike walls and you can hold a building quite well against a zombie horde. As a bonus, many houses are right next to each other, knock out a wall in the upper floors and you can connect multiple houses with one entrance and brick over the rest.

2. There Could Be People! Perhaps a remnant of the US government that is benevolent, or a group of friendly (not Terminus friendly!) survivors that have set up some defenses exist there. DC would be a natural place for people to go to.

3. A River Runs Through it Technically two rivers run through DC, but I liked the title of this one better. The Potomac and the Anacostia would provide relatively clean drinking water for survivors in DC.

4. Mazelike Streets As anyone driving DC can tell you, DC can be a confusing maze of streets and alleys, particularly in certain neighborhoods. It would be pretty easy to set up ambushes and choke points, both for the living and the dead.

5. Mild Climate Relatively speaking, DC has a fairly mild climate. It can get a little hot and muggy in the summer, but nothing like Georgia and while it might get some snow, it doesn't get plastered like the north east.

6. Guns and Tanks There's a lot of military tech near the nation's capital, powerful vehicles, guns and ammunition are all relatively close by. The abundance of security forces, both national and private, also mean lots of small arms and ammunition as well.

Cons
1. It Could Be Swarmed Atlanta was home to massive hordes of zombies at the start of the series, if the horde of zombies haven't dispersed the way Atlanta's has, the group could walk into a major problem.

2. There Are People! Either a dictatorship formed from the remnants of the US government or a bunch of survivors have taken DC and they are hostile to Rick and company for whatever reason. With the local firepower and home field advantage, they'd be a stiff challenge for the group.

3. It's a Crater DC is bombed out, or the air and water poisoned, by attempts to eliminate the zombies. There's no shelter, no food or no clean water for the group to utilize.

Look at the cons and you see, well those aren't much different than any other set of cons in the world of the Walking Dead. Even the prison and Woodbury had hordes of undead that would show up from time to time and swarm them, and obviously the group has gone to several places that are either filled with hostile people (Terminus and Woodbury) or false hopes (CDC or Richmond). Without any direct knowledge of the comic books, I'd guess that the group won't even make it to DC, so it's sort of a moot point; but DC is a pretty strong candidate as a fairly defensible place.
 
I'm thinking anywhere in a hurricane zone, especially the islands, that have all those stilts houses would be better. The seafood and fish is a plus. Lack of fresh water would be a con.
 
Holy crap. That's way to much analysis for a semi toasted Sunday night viewing.Group good. Walkers bad.Other groups bad.My brain hurts.;)
 
I'm impressed and amazed at your analysis. It's certainly more than I would do. But I break it down simpler: Con: Potentially 700,000 zombies and bad guys. Pro: None that balances that.
 
Holy crap. That's way to much analysis for a semi toasted Sunday night viewing.Group good. Walkers bad.Other groups bad.My brain hurts.;)

I have family and friends in the DC area, I visit once or twice a year, so that was all off the top of my head, about 10, 15 minutes tops. I think about this sort of stuff from time to time, it's how my brain works.
 
Just having fun.I think about this stuff too . I've always wondered about an island,but if they weren't smart enough to lose that 30 year old winnebago with a bad radiator hose for two seasons they probably won't figure that out.Besides no walkers or other threats no show.
 
We are all engaging in theory about fiction, so it's all in fun. And I think that if person wanted to write fiction, he should critique other fiction. I don't think the island would have to be the end. (Though they do have to end somewhere) Twice before they thought they might have found security: the farm and the prison. Each time they continued to face internal and external stress. There would be challenges on the way to the island, walkers to clear, food water and shelter to obtain, gangs to fight off. In fact, I'm thinking of moving to an island.
Oh wait, I live on one.
 
I was thinking about something like Rattlesnake Island on lake Erie.It's about 85 acres with a harbor ,two landing strips and all the amenities; living quarters ,golf course the whole deal.It' s privately owned with only 65 members .Shouldn't be hard to clear and it's only accessible by that harbor or those landing strips. Should be easy to defend.There's got to to be hundreds if not thousands of places like that.That's what I would be looking for.
 
Honestly, Id be headed towards the coast. Walkers cant swim. You find yourself a nice peninsula and you have water for your barrier on three sides, meaning you only have to worry about barricading one. Or you find and offshore island...Now you are sleeping easy. As for food/water, they seem to get easy access to many supplies, bc they have an infant who hasnt passed away with the absence of a nursing female, and she requires a great deal. Therefore, an easy pot still would give them access to salt free water, giving that the ocean is their water source. Food-wise, there is fish. Plenty of it. Im surprised there isnt more wildlife. Given the number of deer taken in my state alone to keep the population of deer stable (and its not, it keeps growing), there should be animals running a muck. There is no more hunters, and the few surviving groups that are still around sure arent making the dent that a civilized population was. Taking into account that walkers get their hands on a few, there would still be a massive amount of wildlife. Their #1 predator has basically been wiped off the map... It makes for a good show though.

Conclusion: Get to a body of water. You can get a boat and row out at night to sleep peacefully if you dont find an island. Plenty of food, and water if you work for it.
 
Honestly, Id be headed towards the coast. Walkers cant swim. You find yourself a nice peninsula and you have water for your barrier on three sides, meaning you only have to worry about barricading one. Or you find and offshore island...Now you are sleeping easy. As for food/water, they seem to get easy access to many supplies, bc they have an infant who hasnt passed away with the absence of a nursing female, and she requires a great deal. Therefore, an easy pot still would give them access to salt free water, giving that the ocean is their water source. Food-wise, there is fish. Plenty of it. Im surprised there isnt more wildlife. Given the number of deer taken in my state alone to keep the population of deer stable (and its not, it keeps growing), there should be animals running a muck. There is no more hunters, and the few surviving groups that are still around sure arent making the dent that a civilized population was. Taking into account that walkers get their hands on a few, there would still be a massive amount of wildlife. Their #1 predator has basically been wiped off the map... It makes for a good show though.

Conclusion: Get to a body of water. You can get a boat and row out at night to sleep peacefully if you dont find an island. Plenty of food, and water if you work for it.

That's a point about the animals. I'm sure a lot of us have seen deer and turkey along the interstates. Add to that, raccoons, opossums and other root in your garbage animals. They'd be having a field day.

I don't think Rick's group is searching for a place to settle. They're searching for answers. That's the show- find out what happened.
 
Honestly, Id be headed towards the coast. Walkers cant swim. You find yourself a nice peninsula and you have water for your barrier on three sides, meaning you only have to worry about barricading one. Or you find and offshore island...Now you are sleeping easy....

Depending on your dogma, they don't need to breath - so many bodies of water would be filled with rotting zombies walking around the bottom. With an island or shore that had a gentle slope, they could just walk underwater and right up on the beach. Now something like a supertanker or aircraft carrier could be set in deep water and be pretty hard to overrun. Weather becomes biggest consideration.
 
No kidding...this week on the walking dead 22 minutes of fluff and 38 minutes of commercial. If you tuned in to see any protagonist, story line, or action you've picked the wrong show.


Half of last full season(not the first half of this season) was the same. Honestly I'm beginning to feel like they are getting one over on me...milking my eyes for ad revenue and giving me nothing for it.

There's always Better Call Saul?

I know what you mean about it being slow, but it's one of those things where the parts are more than the sum of the whole...at least that's what I keep telling myself.
 
Conclusion: Get to a body of water. You can get a boat and row out at night to sleep peacefully if you dont find an island. Plenty of food, and water if you work for it.

Islands are not safe (not to mention once your there you can't leave)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Depending on your dogma, they don't need to breath - so many bodies of water would be filled with rotting zombies walking around the bottom. With an island or shore that had a gentle slope, they could just walk underwater and right up on the beach. Now something like a supertanker or aircraft carrier could be set in deep water and be pretty hard to overrun. Weather becomes biggest consideration.

Negative. With the force of currents and the fact that most walkers are missing a portion of their body, meaning reduced mass, they would not be able to walk the floor of the ocean, or continental shelf at least. They would be swept all over the place. And they dont express a fight or flight response, so its not like they are going to actively try and fight the current.
 
There's always Better Call Saul?

I know what you mean about it being slow, but it's one of those things where the parts are more than the sum of the whole...at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Ive been watching BCS...It's pretty damn good so far, especially for a spin off.

Honestly walking dead used to be a show the wife and I liked to watch together and it is increasingly becoming a show that she watches...while I am there.
 
I don't think the prison was a bad idea. That prison was. I know of plenty of prisons in NY state alone that are surrounded by tall concrete walls. Just imagine Leavenworth?
 
Ive been watching BCS...It's pretty damn good so far, especially for a spin off.

Honestly walking dead used to be a show the wife and I liked to watch together and it is increasingly becoming a show that she watches...while I am there.

I watched Fraiser only because I loved Cheers so much, and really Fraiser wasn't that good, but ya BCS doesn't seem like a 3 legged dog.
 
DC might be a good option eventually, but I think it is too soon. I would imagine any highly populated place (populated with by people or walkers) would be unsanitary to the point it would be deadly, thus keeping a new supply of skin eaters to deal with. What would survivors do with their trash, dead people and dead zombies? Just pile it in the streets? Burning would be an option, but the constant smell of burning flesh doesn't sound appealing, and the act of doing it means you probably have to leave the confines of your secure area exposing you to danger. What do you do with sewage? Surely the treatment plant and plumbing isn't functional.

After a few years when all the Lurkers have fallen off cliffs or impaled themselves DC might be a place to repopulate. In the meantime,I'd lean toward an island. Living inside of a fortress like a Prison or Military base would feel like living in a Prison...or Military base. Gulf Coast islands get a ton of rain, it should be easy enough to collect and store. Also, as someone else posted you could fairly easily distill salt water. Many Gulf Coast islands aren't heavily populated (even unpopulated) making clearing them relatively easy. Also, as someone else posted you could fairly easily distill salt water. Preserve fish/meat with the salt. I would lean toward an island with a bridge. Knock out 3-4 foot span that the biters would fall through, but is easy for an able bodies person to cross...or maybe a drawbridge. Plenty of seabirds(and their eggs) fish, even deer on barrier islands. Oysters are plentiful and don't put up much of a fight. Most importantly barrier islands should be relatively clean. Trash, sewage, dead people and meatbags could be dumped in the Gulf(easy there Greenies, its a survival situation) Also on the coast you typically get a steady supply of "trash" washing ashore...bottles, nets, rope, string would become a necessity.

The only problem I see with a barrier island is questionable soil quality...it might be hard to grow food. But I don't see that being easy in a major metropolitan area either. Can't grow corn on asphalt.
 
Oh crap did I misread what he said?

Did he mean untimely demise ala the show, or in real life.

If it was real life, dude I'm sorry.

Hahaha no, his character's untimely demise, not my brother's.

His death is actually presumed because it wasn't explicitly shown. The character he played was supposed to be Eric. Apparently in the comic books, his character sneaks off to take a leak in the woods when the black lady (Michonne?) sneaks up behind him and cuts his head in half with a sword. In the show, he presumably died in a scene that was filmed but ended up getting cut.

I've actually never really watched the show. Those are the facts as best I can remember my brother telling me. There were some preliminary plans to bring him and some others back for the next season (they were told to leave their schedules open), but the writers took a different turn and his character was left dead.

This is him: http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_(TV_Series)_Gallery
 
Ahh, so he was one of the Waterbury-ites, correct?
Funny, did any of the people who came back with Rick and the gang ever become regulars? I remember there were a bunch of people welcomed in, and then they vanished.
 
Ahh, so he was one of the Waterbury-ites, correct?
Funny, did any of the people who came back with Rick and the gang ever become regulars? I remember there were a bunch of people welcomed in, and then they vanished.

only Tyreese & Sasha (don't think she's in the main credits, still just a guest star); all the rest were lost in the battle at the prison or the aftermath

think there was a bus accident which killed a lot of them.

any other survivors must have been dinner in Terminus, because the current group are the only ones who made it to the church, then through Atlanta

except for Bob & Beth
 
Ahh, so he was one of the Waterbury-ites, correct?
Funny, did any of the people who came back with Rick and the gang ever become regulars? I remember there were a bunch of people welcomed in, and then they vanished.

Michonne technically "started" in Woodbury. But if you mean people that came back with them on the bus, that would be (at this point) only Sasha. Tyrese is dead, and his girlfriend (can't remember her name) got barbecued in the first episode of the next season.
 
Back
Top