Z is for Zombie

Let's set the stage:  On a normal Tuesday in the library, you open the library in a normal fashion.  All the computers are on, the servers are behaving themselves, and the staff is milling around talking instead of setting up for the day.  A group of patrons are at the door, waiting, some oddly pawing at the door...  Then, reports start coming from around the city that the dead have begun to rise.  A car crashes outside.  You notice one of the patrons outside is eating another patron.  The Internet goes down.  Panic ensues.  We have entered into a zombie apocalypse   

Let's see what we have to do to survive:

Stage 1:  Gather and build

Best case scenario, you have supplies on hand at the library:  food in the break room, first aid supplies in the supply closet, and a shotgun under the reference desk.  Gather these supplies into one defensible position, the higher the better.  Here's the sitch on our zombies:  these are the Romero classics.  Slow moving, brain eating, moaning walking dead.  They may move faster if they are freshly dead, but as muscles deteriorate so do their movements.  They are mindless animals with no thoughts other than to kill.  Remember, they are not dead until the brain is destroyed.

Remind you of someone trying to get in the computer lab that's full?

Stage 2:  Stay away from other people

In these cases, you may want your friends and family close.  Resist this notion.  Other people will get you killed, increasing more either the more skilled they are or the more you love them.  The more skilled a person is, the more likely you are either the lesson they have to learn by killing you when you go zombie or you are the comic relief.  The more you love someone, the more likely they are to turn zombie and make you learn a lesson.  Remember, if you are about to marry a Green Beret/Navy Seal/Eagle Scout, you are more likely to die and/or kill them.

One or both of them are dead in a zombie land.

Stage 3:  Get some entertainment

In this situation, after you have all the supplies for a few days and locked yourself away from everyone, the library is your best place to be.  Grab arm loads of your favorite books and hide yourself away.  Books are perfect for a zombie outbreak because they are a silent, portable, and can take you away from your problems.  Also, things like how-to survival guides can give you interesting ideas for when supplies start running low and how to fix any remaining technology.

Not exactly what we're talking about.

Stage 4:  Contact the outside world.

Yeah, you've cut of contact with loved ones, staff and patrons, but that does not mean there are not others out there who can help.  This is why you went as high up as possible.  And collected books.  Start signal fires or if you have one, start sending out radio signals.  Others may get you into trouble, but they may also have valuable information about what's going on in the world.  Just do not let them into your library fort until you are sure there is no problem.

More useful than you think.

Stage 5:  Waiting

There are only a few ways this apocalypse can end.  In most, you are dead.  If you are in the center of the outbreak, more than likely the government will drop a bomb or kill anyone within the area.  Or, zombies could break in and kill and/or turn you.  At best, the zombies are living dead which means without nutrition of the human brain they will slowly deteriorate and die again.  Then, you can walk outside again.  Just remember, random crazy folks may wish to take over your library for Twilight collection.

Do yourself a favor and go ahead and burn them now.