Dawn of the Dead (2004) 15 years after the outbreak...

I was wondering if the mall had cinder blocks. But it would take skill to accurately aim on the head. The problem with using TVs and stereos is that the mall only has a limited supply of those and it won't really thin the horde's numbers.

There might be a few in storage but not many, the same for bricks. The things you really need for dropping simply aren't available at a mall, you need something like a home improvement store with all sorts of nasty stuff. But there won't be things like guns there. Something like the Mart of Walls would have an outdoor section plus guns and ammo, that would be a great place to hole up plus there would be a fair amount of food as well.
 
Only if everyone was a Terminator.
It assumes everyone is an action movie badass when they're just a bunch of people from the suburbs. Most of them probably have no combat experience, let alone the strength and stamina needed to fight tens of thousands of zombies.
 
[snip]Most of them probably have no combat experience, let alone the strength and stamina needed to fight tens of thousands of zombies.

This exactly, unless there are dozens of people available to switch every 10 minutes or so this simply will not work. Even then one slip and the zombies will swarm over you like the tide...
 
It assumes everyone is an action movie badass when they're just a bunch of people from the suburbs. Most of them probably have no combat experience, let alone the strength and stamina needed to fight tens of thousands of zombies.
Pretty much. They did pretty well as it was in the film, and in a situation like that one mistake and the zombies overrun the mall - as we in fact saw.
 
It assumes everyone is an action movie badass when they're just a bunch of people from the suburbs. Most of them probably have no combat experience, let alone the strength and stamina needed to fight tens of thousands of zombies.
Hence why I laugh every time I heard gamers think they are prepared for a zombie apocalypse when majority of them have not fired a gun (much less score a headshot, very difficult for the untrained individual), seen blood and gore, trained on outdoor survival skills, and would break under pressure.
Only if everyone was a Terminator.
I did postulate once on what would happen if humans used cyborgs and unmanned vehicles like UGVs or quad rotors against zombies. The end result would be a sure victory for the robots/drones because zombies would ignore them since they are not flesh. The zombies would be easy targets for drone warfare.
 
[Snip]I did postulate once on what would happen if humans used cyborgs and unmanned vehicles like UGVs or quad rotors against zombies. The end result would be a sure victory for the robots/drones because zombies would ignore them since they are not flesh. The zombies would be easy targets for drone warfare.

And if they ignore dogs I see the dog mine coming back into vogue...
 
Hence why I laugh every time I heard gamers think they are prepared for a zombie apocalypse when majority of them have not fired a gun (much less score a headshot, very difficult for the untrained individual), seen blood and gore, trained on outdoor survival skills, and would break under pressure.

Plus have 0% survival skills - surviving without electricity, potable water and no grocery stores around is not as easy as it sounds...
 
Especially when the modern American citizen is so used to electricity, running water, Amazon Prime being delivered on the same day, gaming, internet, and such, expect the majority to take time to adjust to post-apocalyptic age. Even if Amazon Prime, Netflix, Uber, and the others were not around in 2004, we could still use the same example to see how majority of the American public, the Western world, and the developing nations have become reliant on these modern-day marvels.
 
[snip]Especially when the modern American citizen is so used to electricity, running water, Amazon Prime being delivered on the same day, gaming, internet, and such, expect the majority to take time to adjust to post-apocalyptic age.
And the zombies will ensure there will NOT be enough time...
 
And the zombies will ensure there will NOT be enough time...
Also worth considering our characters in the film are ordinary folks without survival training. So far it was only Kenneth (a former Marine and a cop) and Andy who were somehow proficient in handling firearms while mall cops CJ, Bart, and Terry and Andre the street thug had some experience. It hits hard that DOTD just showed how truly unprepared the average citizen is when the real disaster strikes.
 
In terms of sociology and anthropology, the zombie pandemic of 2004 would be another defining moment of the Millennials (1983-1997) just like 9/11 was three years prior. The eldest millennials would be 21 years old while the youngest one would be 7 or turning 7 years old. Gen Z would be a fitting name for those born 1998-2009 (equivalent to the Zoomer Generation of OTL) and Z could stand for zombie. The eldest would be around 6 years old while the youngest ones would be infants who may end up as zombabies. Just imagine being a 90s kid and having your childhood robbed by the zombie apocalypse. So instead of those cool stuff that happened in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Millennials here would adapt a survivalist attitude. I would feel bad for those Zoomers born after May 7, 2004 as they would essentially grow up in a post-apocalyptic world similar to those nuclear war scenarios, minus the radiation of course. By the time the Generation Alpha would be born from 2010-2020s, the survivalist attitude would be passed on to them.
 
In terms of sociology and anthropology, the zombie pandemic of 2004 would be another defining moment of the Millennials (1983-1997) just like 9/11 was three years prior. The eldest millennials would be 21 years old while the youngest one would be 7 or turning 7 years old. Gen Z would be a fitting name for those born 1998-2009 (equivalent to the Zoomer Generation of OTL) and Z could stand for zombie. The eldest would be around 6 years old while the youngest ones would be infants who may end up as zombabies. Just imagine being a 90s kid and having your childhood robbed by the zombie apocalypse. So instead of those cool stuff that happened in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Millennials here would adapt a survivalist attitude. I would feel bad for those Zoomers born after May 7, 2004 as they would essentially grow up in a post-apocalyptic world similar to those nuclear war scenarios, minus the radiation of course. By the time the Generation Alpha would be born from 2010-2020s, the survivalist attitude would be passed on to them.
I would have been five when the apocalypse hit, so if I lived, I would have had a seriously screwed-up childhood. Goodbye school, hello survivalism.
 
I would have been five when the apocalypse hit, so if I lived, I would have had a seriously screwed-up childhood. Goodbye school, hello survivalism.
I would have been seven turning eight. Kids my age would probably miss the times of watching endless cartoons and anime on Cartoon Network or playing their Gameboys. We would not get the teenhood of YouTube classics (niggahiga, Ray Willian Johnson, Pewdiepie, Smosh, College Humor to name a few), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, 9GAG memes, and the 2010s music. As we enter our teens and adulthood, we would look back on what-if the zombies never showed up. Many of our childhood friends at school would have been killed or turned into a Reanimated Life Form. Girls would not be crushing over the handsome dude in the hallway. In fact, they would be thought on how to grow crops or milk cows while boys would have the protector role. The 2010s and the 2020s would not look like what it is today.
 
I would have been seven turning eight. Kids my age would probably miss the times of watching endless cartoons and anime on Cartoon Network or playing their Gameboys. We would not get the teenhood of YouTube classics (niggahiga, Ray Willian Johnson, Pewdiepie, Smosh, College Humor to name a few), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, 9GAG memes, and the 2010s music. As we enter our teens and adulthood, we would look back on what-if the zombies never showed up. Many of our childhood friends at school would have been killed or turned into a Reanimated Life Form. Girls would not be crushing over the handsome dude in the hallway. In fact, they would be thought on how to grow crops or milk cows while boys would have the protector role. The 2010s and the 2020s would not look like what it is today.
It would be an absolutely miserable TL to live in.
 
It would be an absolutely miserable TL to live in.
So we got one decade - the 2000s - ended prematurely because of a zombie apocalypse. The years from 2005-2009 would be known as the missing years. Perhaps the Lost Decade that was the 2000s would extend all the way to the 2010s and the 2020s. According to @eltf177, so much knowledge has been lost as libraries burned and universities became abandoned. Imagine in the alternate 2021 but survivors are living in pre-1900 conditions. Fuel for vehicles and aircraft are conserved. Ammo is crude. Medicine is back to using herbal treatments. There won't be iPhones and WiFi. The Zombie Pandemic of 2004 resulted in a New Dark Age.
 
You've hit it on the head, Gillian1220.

Also no computers. Planes and helicopters pretty much grounded due to lack of fuel, spare parts and pilots plus deterioration of runways. Infrastructure (roads, bridges, water towers and lines, sewer systems, etc) will be crumbling. No power except for portable generators and fuel for those will be in short supply. Ammo will be in short supply, communities will salvage shells and repack (with all the inherent dangers that involves). Bows and crossbows will become the preferred hunting tools and I see the return of the muzzle-loading smoothbore. Trains will be stalled as there is no track maintenance. Due to zombies communities will become isolated and news of the outside will be unavailable.

Unattended natural gas plants will explode due to lack of maintenance. I hope nuclear reactors get shut down before being abandoned or the risk of Chernobyl looms. Any fires will burn out of control so many cities and towns will become charred rubble before long. Dams will eventually collapse but hopefully many years from now.

Life will NOT be pretty...
 
You've hit it on the head, Gillian1220.

Also no computers. Planes and helicopters pretty much grounded due to lack of fuel, spare parts and pilots plus deterioration of runways. Infrastructure (roads, bridges, water towers and lines, sewer systems, etc) will be crumbling. No power except for portable generators and fuel for those will be in short supply. Ammo will be in short supply, communities will salvage shells and repack (with all the inherent dangers that involves). Bows and crossbows will become the preferred hunting tools and I see the return of the muzzle-loading smoothbore. Trains will be stalled as there is no track maintenance. Due to zombies communities will become isolated and news of the outside will be unavailable.

Unattended natural gas plants will explode due to lack of maintenance. I hope nuclear reactors get shut down before being abandoned or the risk of Chernobyl looms. Any fires will burn out of control so many cities and towns will become charred rubble before long. Dams will eventually collapse but hopefully many years from now.

Life will NOT be pretty...
Just like in The Walking Dead comic and TV show, most surviving communities resorted using horses while cars are used sparingly.

Power could come in the form of water, kinetic energy, the sun, and wind. But it will be crude levels only enough to power light bulbs and crude heating apparatuses.

Ammo would be crude as well. I was told from a gun enthusiast friend here in the Philippines that ABSOLUTELY, NEVER EVER reuse old shell casings to recycle ammo due to the dangers imposed. You are correct that bows, crossbows, marble guns, improvised zip guns, and muzzle loaders will make a comeback. Marble guns and improvised zip guns are fair easy to make. It's common hobby here in the Philippines and in Vietnam. Even kids know how to make it because all it needs is PVC pipes, wood, wires, a container to load ethanol for the propellant, and a metal pellet. The downside is reloading is a bitch because it can only fire one round just like a musket.

@CJD did mention back then about the fall of nuclear power plants so at least parts of the continental United States and Europe would suffer worse than Chernobyl and Fukushima. Meanwhile, the Three Gorges Dam in China would have long collapsed.

The world would probably be in this Dark Age for a century or so.
 
Who do you guys think that helicopter was the survivors saw in the roof of the mall? I have my doubts those were VIPs seen in the intro as D.C. is far from Wisconsin.
 
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