I know there are a lot of guides to help you save your own skin. That is fine and dandy, but there are also a lot of us out here that need to protect a whole family. In my case, I have a wife, six boys, and a mother-in-law. (OK well, the mother-in-law may be on her own.) I have a unique situation. I have lot of kids, all of which are boys. I am going to write this guide based on my own preparations, which may not apply at all to you, some to you, or completely to you. Either way, take what you can from it and ditch the rest.

I also have the added issue that my two oldest boys (Age 16 and 17) do not live with me. They live with their biological Father an hour and a half a way. I have raised the boys right though, and they too are preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse in their own towns. It makes a father proud.

Due to these circumstances, I have devised the following plans.

Emergency Plan Alpha

Alpha is the state of immediate crisis. This is the point you first hear the news on the TV that all hell has broken loose, or you see it for yourself outside that the Zeds ain’t stayin’ dead.

Step One - Fortify:

First, We will grab all the occupants of my home and shove them into my bedroom. I have measured my king-size bed and when placed on it's side, it fits over the only windows in that room covering them perfectly.

My wife will be responsible for grabbing the food from the pantry (Do NOT forget the can opener – a manual one, not electric!). She will grab non-perishables first and if time, start grabbing the perishables next.

While she is doing that I am blocking off the room’s window with the bed, secure the bed with two bookcases, and secure those with the large dresser. Nothing is getting in through that window.

My eight year old will be responsible for filling the Master Suit bath tub with water. Fresh water is going to come in short supply eventually, and I want us to have drinking water. His brothers (Ages 7, 6, 4) will hide in the walk-in closet with Grandma.

If there is time, I will go outside and first move the Vans in front of the windows, so that the sliding doors have just enough room to open next to the bedroom window. The second van I will place in the same way but in front of the living room windows. This has two advantages. 1) It blocks the windows making it harder for Zeds to get to them, and 2) It gives me an escape route when the time comes to abandon Site Alpha.

While outside, I will also hit the storage shed that has all my gardening equipment. Shovels, hoes, spades, and axes – All will be wielded against the Walking Dead on Z-Day. My home does not currently have any firearms, so I will be improvising. If I can not get to the shed or outside, we will make do with the various items around the house. Brooms, mops, and lots of knives can be made into spears and long-distance hackers with duct tape. Duct Tape is your friend on Z-Day.

Once everyone and everything is in the Bedroom, I have a second dresser and LOT of heavy boxes in my bedroom to block the only door into the room. We are now fortified - with TV, radio, cell phones, LAN lines, and Internet Access. As long as electricity holds we will have access to the outside world for a day or so.

Step Two – Dig In:

After the outbreak, we are set to stay alive in the bedroom for up to two weeks. We have enough food, and certainly enough water. I have to trust that the older two boys are implementing the same fortifications in their own home as they have been taught to do.

I want to give the world a few days to a few weeks to get the panic out of their system. The first few days after Z-Day is going to be a riotous crisis. People will be running screaming, Zombies will be pulling people down and increasing their hordes, and worst of all the police and National Guardsmen will be uncertain who to fire on, and who to protect. In moments of panic, I am afraid that large groups on the Non-infected will be gunned down by those not ready to deal with the horror of a Zombie Apocalypse. I have no desire to be out on the streets during these times.

After two weeks, my sons and I have in place the next Plan.

Emergency Plan Beta

Beta is designed to get us out of the house, and to a more secure and protected environment. We have all agreed on a storage facility not far from the teenager’s location. This facility has high chain link fences, a password protected front gate, and more importantly – fortifiable buildings.

The storage facility we have picked out is not just buildings with garage doors on the outside. These buildings have interior hallways guarded by steel doors that lock from the inside. They remain unlocked so that individuals can visit their inside storage lockers day or night. They should be unlocked after Z-Day as well.

The greatest advantage of this location is that I can actually prepare now. We are going to get a storage room ourselves in one of these interior hallways. Both the teens and my wife and I will have access to the location. Inside, we will begin stocking up with weapons (Again, not firearms – I will stock it with machetes, swords, quarter staffs, and various other bladed weapons and gardening equipment). The storage room will also be filled with non-perishables, as well as seeds and gardening needs. There will also be an ample supply of bottled water. I am seriously considering stocking up on lots of containers of gasoline as well.

We will also have no problem opening up everyone else’s storage rooms in the building. It is amazing what people will store and some of it will be quite useful. I expect to find a large amount of furniture, which is perfect for barricading. This storage facility also lets people store cars and vehicles inside the fenced compound. There are RVs, boats, trucks, vans, buses, even an antique ambulance currently parked there. I do not think transportation will be an issue when we decide to leave the Beta location.

Beta is our meeting point, and the boys will make their way there after two weeks or sooner if supplies run out. The eldest has a pick up, and he has been given strict warnings not to leave his brother behind, and not to make his brother ride in the bed in the back (Oi Vey).

They also have started informing their closest friends on how to set up their own Alpha Site. They will all be given the location of the Beta Site once they show they are committed to cause, so that by the time everyone who survived arrives, I should have a small army. If the chain fence (With barbed wire on top) holds, then we can begin planting the seeds in makeshift gardens around the compound.

One of the things I like about my Beta Site, is that it has a clear view of Interstate 70. This is a major artery road that goes across the entire country. I should be able to monitor traffic flow, if any, from there. It is important to note what kind of traffic is using the road. Are their troop movements? Are their solitary vans and cars? Nothing at all? Or worse yet, are hordes of zombies wandering up and down the freeway?

Emergency Plan Cappa

Plan Cappa is all about finding a more permanent location. I have several sites in mind for this, ranging from islands in the Great Lakes to an old fort that withstood the British in the war of 1812. Both sites offer ample protection and lots of room for agriculture. Other possibilities I have heard range from Maximum Security prisons to ranches on isolated areas in the Mid-West or in Canada. Cappa is still my question mark site, and I may end up with several possibilities. If I set myself down to one location and then find it is occupied by unfriendlies when I get there, my family and I are screwed. I need to have a flexible final plan that allows for changes on the fly. Where ever we decide on, it will not be too far from our Beta location. I do not want to travel more than a few states in any direction if I can help it. Fuel is too precious and the longer we are on the road, the more danger we are in.

Once we have determined the proper time to leave Beta, we will start loading up the vehicles for the trip. The stronger trucks and buses will take the lead, followed by smaller cars unable to handle pushing vehicles out of the way. This is another reason for not wanting to travel too far, as we will already be slowed down by abandoned vehicles as it is.

Cappa location is going to be the spot to start over. It is going to be the place where we can start a new community and live our lives as best we can. I should have a sizable group by that time, and that adds up to lots of hands for labor to build. It also means a lot of mouths to feed.

Non-perishable foods will eventually run low, but by then I hope we have a decent garden growing at Cappa. If we are close enough to fresh water, fishing will become a primary food source as well. The buses and trucks used to transport us become rolling barricades at Cappa that can be turned on their sides once in position. Any remaining fuel will be conserved for future use.

Life with a family in a Zombie Apocalypse will not be easy, and will not be comfortable. But if we work together and plan ahead, my family will survive.

Will yours?