Its shortly after the rise, society is falling into chaos but some basic infrastructure (power, water, etc) is still functioning but there's no telling how long that will last. Your group had stumbled onto an almost fully intact Wal-mart super center, untouched by looters. Even the lights, freezers, etc, are still working and aside from a couple of former employees, now undead, its clear of immediate dangers. What do you with it? Loot and leave? Bunker down? Something else?

If it's an almost fully intact store, it's got way more than you can possibly loot and carry off; in favor of fortifying it, it probably doesn't have very many entrances to block (loading dock, fire exits are probably secure enough; it's the main front entrance with its glass doors that would be a problem). The survivors would need an escape plan for when it finally gets surrounded by a very large crowd of zombies; some vehicle that can make it through crowds of zombies, preferably with a lot of supplies, and some means of distracting most of them.

The major drawback to staying there is that other survivors are going to try to take it away and ruin it for everyone (e.g., the prison in Walking Dead). The major drawback to leaving is, where are you going to settle down? Or just keep moving for the indefinite future? (If you expect the zombies to eventually decay to survivable levels, that might not be a bad idea.) If there's a more secure and low-key location within a reasonable distance, it might be worth transporting supplies from the store to that location.

Staying with a plan to leave or transporting supplies elsewhere leads to questions of prioritizing what to take; weapons, food, fuel and batteries, tools, etc.

A logistics center or supply warehouse might be a better place; it may be fenced in with vehicles there, and it would likely be farther away but still at the juncture of various highways. (Is the super center at the edge of a large population center, or located between various towns?)

In my area at least I'd bet there are a good number of survival minded folks who've already drawn up organized plans of what they'll do at the first hint of widespread trouble. I'd expect anything like a Walmart... and regional supply centers for sure... to be a combat zone within an hour of the first inklings. These guys already have the guns and ammo and vehicles chosen for imaginary disasters and wars. They chatter amongst themselves about the variables incessantly.
I'm guessing zombies would be the least of my worries in a zombie apocalypse.

Quote from: Simlasa;819306I'm guessing zombies would be the least of my worries in a zombie apocalypse.

Judging from some of the conversations I've seen, this is true for most people.

Very true to the genre though.

Another consideration is how things fell apart, or at least how quickly.

If there's an almost intact large store with functioning utilities, then people weren't panicking and hording as deliveries stopped happening. So probably any random house (if it's not full of zombies) will still have supplies of non-perishable food; roads will be relatively clear; gas can be siphoned from lots of neatly parked cars. The significance of a given store becomes much less.

Conversely, if the infrastructure stopped being maintained and the mass of people hunkered down to consume all remaining supplies, or jammed all roads in an attempt to flee the disaster, but eventually all became zombies, then supplies are probably a major consideration. But you probably wouldn't find an almost intact store.

What type of Zombie?
Can living people become Zombies or is it only dead people?  If a living person is bit or comes into contact, can they get infected and "turn"?

If there was an intact Wall-Mart, I'd try to move as many large vehicles as possible in front of those windows and then permanently disable them (and drain all the gas), use the pallet-lifters to move empty aisle racks in front of those windows on the inside, then secure the doors.  Ideally, you'd want to make it damn near impossible to get in or out any of the entrances.  Then you make some escape ladders up on the roof you can deploy and just hunker down making sure you have 24 hour sniper coverage on the roof.  Any human approaches, make sure you get them close enough, then kill them all.  By the time the next group comes around, the bodies will look like dead zombies.  If a too-large group to kill comes in, show them video of all the supplies surrounded on all sides with flammable and toxic chemicals and tell them if they try to take the place, there will be nothing left...or they can trade if they have anything worthwhile.  They'll probably want food, so make sure what you give them is poisoned or preferably drugged with shit from the pharmacy.  The idea is, like always, to kill the men and take the women.

Or, if you don't want to experience the inhuman life of a brutal warlord in a new savage dark age, find the first gun you can and eat it.

The Dawn of the dead movie made in the 70s has a storyline pretty much that exactly matches the OP's post.
You should watch that for inspiration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_the_Dead

Mm, I was thinking along the same lines as Simlasa.  A Wal-Mart just has too many things survivors need and want, and the more rural your area, the more critical it is to get to it.  Beyond that, if the lights and freezers are still working, then the place still has power.  Too many things that's essential for -- power tools, medical care, machinery.

And it's freaking indefensible, except by a force large enough to drain it dry too quickly.  

Although ... that might make an interesting scenario: the seat of the County Warlord's power is the Wal-Mart.

In any event, if I was a PC in a post-apoc scenario, our goal would be to hit that Wal-Mart first and foremost, each PC driving a separate pickup truck.  We'd load up as much as we could, as fast as we could, and drive off.

The Dead in this scenario are faster are about as fast as normal, have high animal intelligence and retain vestiges of memory and instincts from the living days (can open door, use simple tools, know the windows are weak points, etc) and take head shots to quickly take down. They consume flesh and their bites are very septic. People injured usually quickly develop massive lethal infections. Anyone that dies with their head/CNS intact rises as one of them in a few moments (as quickly as 2 minutes). \

Would be cool if a large group fortified the Super Walmart and then ran missions to distribute the food and supplies to those in need.  I generally like people coming together in disasters instead of everyone going for each other's throats.

Quote from: Simlasa;819306In my area at least I'd bet there are a good number of survival minded folks who've already drawn up organized plans of what they'll do at the first hint of widespread trouble. I'd expect anything like a Walmart... and regional supply centers for sure... to be a combat zone within an hour of the first inklings. These guys already have the guns and ammo and vehicles chosen for imaginary disasters and wars. They chatter amongst themselves about the variables incessantly.
I'm guessing zombies would be the least of my worries in a zombie apocalypse.

I'm with Simlasa, in our small town we have a dude that drives around in a huce Chevy "dually" (4 wheels on the rear axle) and a surplus Army MedVac truck unit dropped into the bed along with bar lights and wench, etc. The signs on his truck read "zombie apocalypse rescue unit"  Even I have an official "zombie hunting license" on my truck (actually issued by one of the local city governments). But then again we live not far from some of the locales on "The Walking Dead".

So as Simlasa noted, we have already been over the survival strategies.... the Wal-mart is out.

If you  saw the place when we had 6 inches of snow a couple of weeks ago you would understand why. I wouldn't go near it without a gas tanker and a Bic lighter.

And the "Dawn of the Dead" remake with Ving Rhames and Sarah Polly.... spot on here. Somebody is going to mess up and let one in, then you gotta go...

Quote from: RunningLaser;819382Would be cool if a large group fortified the Super Walmart and then ran missions to distribute the food and supplies to those in need.  I generally like people coming together in disasters instead of everyone going for each other's throats.

I agree. I would be extremely suspicious about why it wasn't looted, but I would try to fortify it. Most large commercial buildings can easily be fortified to hold off an arbitrary number of

In general, the common problem that I have with zombie movies is that zombies are unintelligent - and opposing them should really be an issue of safety engineering, not of action-packed fighting.

I think there can be some interesting scenarios set within a zombie apocalypse, but fighting zombies is uninteresting to me.

I'd be ten times more worried about living humans than about zombies.  Making one of those places defensible against people with access to explosives, incendiaries, heavy trucks and guns is just flat out impossible, and the riches of a Wal-Mart to a bunch of panicked humans would be just too great to walk away from.

I agree with Ravenswing. It would be better to gut the store of valuables and then leave for a safer location in the wilderness.

Quote from: Nexus;819301almost fully intact Wal-mart ...aside from a couple of former employees, now undead...

Those are some ridiculously loyal minimum-wage employees right there...