What to do in case of lycanthropic outbreak?

[Sebiale]

Not a question I see often.

What is your plan in case of an outbreak of lycanthropy in a part of the world?
Carbon copy of your zombie plan? Are any parts different?

Assume lycanthropes in this case are a permanent change into a bipedal therian wolf form. Superior physical abilties, impaired mental facilities, think more like animals than humans. Transmission of the virus is through either a bite, mixed blood, or sexually transmitted (for peace of mind, assume sex is with an infected who has not yet fully transformed >.>)

[PariahPoet]

Rub raw steaks all over my body, set up a lawn chair and wait.

[JoshuaMadoc]

Think of a way to NOT commit suicide.

[Figarou]

Rub raw steaks all over my body, set up a lawn chair and wait.

The flys will get to you before the lycans do.

[Berserker]

Assuming I'm not a brilliant geneticist with a fortess-like home who can create either a cure or a way to control myself as a werewolf, I'd probably be screwed.

[Wingman]

Well, I do believe my plan is more or less chronicled in the film 300, save that we Spartans desire silver blades, and hafts of mighty oak. The last anyone sees of me will likely be after my silver sword bends into uselessness, and I'm reduced to using my teeth to tear out werewolf throats.

[Set]

Not a question I see often.
(for peace of mind, assume sex is with an infected who has not yet fully transformed >.>)

Butbutbut...it's more fun the other way.

[Sevena]

i dont think anything in the zombie plan would apply in this situation. i think the movie 28 Days later is more closely related to this outbreak.personally i cant think of a plan,but it would be related to kitetsu's .the debate would be , would i rather kill myself or be torn to pieces,because they will sniff you out, sooner or later.so i think in the end id end up being torn to pieces and if by some luck im not,(they just bite me and leave) well then i quess i become the beast.

[Berserker]

There is a similar situation in my story, where a large portion of people worldwide transform into ravenous unintelligent werebeasts.

The main difference between these creatures and zombies, is that the werebeasts move to wherever there's food. Zombies kind of hang around shuffling about and moaning; they have no "will" to survive and their tendency to eat people is only an aspect of their virus-like nature. So while you can technically hole up in a city surrounded by zombies and survive as long as they don't notice you, the same isn't the case for werewolves. They are actively searching for a meal, and they can smell live meat from a mile away. They know how to climb stairs and open doors, and they will find you.

In areas where the Ravenous roam the woods, every colony of survivors--human or not--plays out like Beowulf, except there are dozens of Grendels instead of just one.

To survive in lieu of being one of the intelligent werewolves who can fight off an attack, the key is to become almost like a nomad, moving to areas without prey (i.e. other people) that the Ravenous have abandoned. You're not going to randomly open a closet and get a werewolf in your face, so if keep your wits about you, survival is relatively easy.

[alphanubilus]

Sorry folks, I would probably be the one who unleashes the lycanthropic plague...(no pun intended). I swear it was an accident...

[JoshuaMadoc]

You know, I almost forgot, someone forgot to mention the idea of reasoning with said infectees lest they think they're the real Red Talons and unleash separatist hyperbole in the form of maulings.

That or talking religiously devout infectees out of suicide by form of righteous pimp smack.

[Shadow Wulf]

Well, I do believe my plan is more or less chronicled in the film 300, save that we Spartans desire silver blades, and hafts of mighty oak. The last anyone sees of me will likely be after my silver sword bends into uselessness, and I'm reduced to using my teeth to tear out werewolf throats.

THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAA!!!!

[Sheba]

Rub raw steaks all over my body, set up a lawn chair and wait.

Or get a shirt that says Bite Me! PLZ

[Shadow Wulf]

Rub raw steaks all over my body, set up a lawn chair and wait.

Or get a shirt that says Bite Me! PLZ

Thats what I would do, plus add big signs and GPS beacons to show where I'm at. "Werewolf Fanatic on Exit 4 on 3 miles down on your right".

[Terastas]

Well. . . My zombie survival plan was basically to load up on canned goods and other living essentials, then jump onto a boat and wait it out.

Chances are that I wouldn't bother to wait and see what kind of outbreak it is -- I'm not going to stop and ask an infected if he's a werewolf or a zombie -- that's how you get infected yourself. So I'd get out to the boat, then I'd try to see what the infected are like with binoculars, the cabin radio, anything that might already be on the boat or that I could afford to take with me.

My general assumption about zombies is that they can't swim, so I wouldn't care what kind of boat I was in in the event of a zombie outbreak. If it looked like they were werewolves, however, I'd try to discretely relocate myself to a boat with a motor if I wasn't in one already, that way if any of them did try to swim out to me (which I'm sure they could), I could get the hell out of there before they reach me.

Once in a motorboat, then I'd try to communicate with the werewolves from a safe distance, ideally from as far away as possible. If I was in a fishing vessel, for example, it should have a radio that I could use to call out -- that'd be my first choice for contact, not just for the distance factor but also because I could theoretically use it without actually indicating where I'm calling from. If somebody actually picks up another CB -- even if all they do is bark at me -- that could be enough to convince me to at least come in closer to the shore for a better look.

Basically, if whatever is out there is smart enough to actually try and convince me that it's safe to return to shore, that would quell the great majority of my fears about becoming a werewolf myself.

I basically figure that, with six billion human beings on the planet, there's no way there could ever possibly be just one survivor. That said, the infection could only sustain if the infected were capable of functioning on the same societal level that we do. If they are that capable, becoming one myself probably wouldn't be that much of a problem. And if they aren't, they'll either starve themselves to death looking for prey, kill each other once they've got nothing else to kill, or the most likely case, get wiped out by a regrouped and better prepared military. Either way, it will either be something I can live with or something that will eventually expire.

[Aki]

Get the f*** out to sea with some fishing gear.

Staying on land is kind of a bad idea at this point.

Though I think that like zombie apocalypses, in this situation the military would eventually win. You are, after all, pitting something of less-than-human intellect with no tools and naught but it's physical advantages against a military-industrial complex with tons of highly trained soldiers, assault rifles, grenades, napalm, tanks, etc.

The intial outbreak would be bad, yeah, but once it's known enough to be fought? The hammer gets brought down, hard.

[Berserker]

Get the f*** out to sea with some fishing gear.

Staying on land is kind of a bad idea at this point.

Though I think that like zombie apocalypses, in this situation the military would eventually win. You are, after all, pitting something of less-than-human intellect with no tools and naught but it's physical advantages against a military-industrial complex with tons of highly trained soldiers, assault rifles, grenades, napalm, tanks, etc.

The intial outbreak would be bad, yeah, but once it's known enough to be fought? The hammer gets brought down, hard.

Have you read World War Z? It goes into detail about how (hypothetically) the military gets its a** kicked precisely because they're using technology and tactics which worked great in the last war, but not great in the current one, i.e. against zombies.

[Terastas]

The national guard ("weekend soldiers" as they're called in GTA: San Andreas) would probably get their asses whupped, but a truly capable military should know how to analyze the situation and know how to adjust their tactics and better equip themselves accordingly. Unless it was an airborne pathogen like the ones in Left 4 Dead or I Am Legend, the military should have the capacity to prevent any further infections, to regroup and ultimately wipe them out.

And honestly, I seriously doubt their battle tactics would involve "the bomb." I'd make plans to get the hell out of the city anyway, but I wouldn't expect to die if I didn't.

[Silent Hunter]

Have you read World War Z? It goes into detail about how (hypothetically) the military gets its a** kicked precisely because they're using technology and tactics which worked great in the last war, but not great in the current one, i.e. against zombies.

The military there had to be seriously retarded in terms of intellgence and ability in order for the story to go like the athor wanted to. The said author, like many failed to research into the military enough and therefore made them like idiots. Thw Battle of Yonkers would of never have gone like it would of in the book if it were a real world military in charge.

I am sorry to rain on your parade but World War Z is a horrible example of how military power and ability.

I do not doubt that it would take time to adjust but not long. Besides that zombies are not that hard to topple compared to the threat we have here.

Anyway, being these are werewolves and not zombies, we have some advantags and disadvantages. Disadvantage wise, we now have superbeasts running around and a lot of them at that. Werewolves will have endurance, strength and speed as well as a wolf like intellgence which is far far more useful then being brain dead. Werewolves will be hunting humans down like deer and would be able to overwhelm many in a short space of time. On to top of that some more insane inderviduals would go to them and would risk spreading this outbreak around. On top of that, you can't just wait them out like zombies. These creatures will mean to survive.

Advantage wise, being werewolves, they are living creatures and will have at least some sense of self preservation. This means werewolves walking on the sea floor, rushing us and various other tactics zombies could get away with wont apply here. Another thing at our advantage is that werewolves have hightened sences and therefore, screwing with such sences is childs play. A simple pepper spray could disable a werewolf easily and imagine if you dropped major irritant chemicals over whole infected areas? Follow up with a nice amount of napalm bombing and you can kill hundreds. On top of that, if the military can get it's act together on an even larger scale, it can go ariel wolf hunting in a sense. These are animals we are talking about. Animals can be scared, manipulated and stopped. If these weres don't have regen, it gets even more one sided.

Anyway what I would do? I would try and get to an airbase. There are several near here and they are probably quite safe. I lack any form of real guns but I'd try and get some ranged weaponary. Hopefully I would go early enough to stop the initial traffic jams and waves of people stuck. If I can get to a base in time I may have a chance. I may be rejected as well. It all depends. Keeping werewolves back could be a matter of scaring them off, be it with via or loud noises though. This could be used too if I was forced to bunker. This is a very tough call.

[Terastas]

Anyway what I would do? I would try and get to an airbase. There are several near here and they are probably quite safe.

Where exactly is this "near here" that you're talking about?

Umm. . . No, don't answer that if you don't want to. But I think it's worth pointing out that different people have different options. I live in what is quite literally a coastal community, but I imagine anybody in Arizona or Nevada would read my survival strategy and go "Gee, good for you [expletive]!"

Arizona and Nevada meanwhile have two advantages over New Englanders like me; a much better road system (seriously, the roads in Mass look like a Nintendo racetrack), and a much stronger military presence. So while I would expect the airports and the garrisons here to have attracted large crowds and been overrun, out there it may be the best option available.

It sounds like both of us have the same general idea though: get out in a vehicle where the infected can't reach us and find a safe place to go from there later; I'd try to rendezvous with a larger craft if my supplies ran low or I got tired of waiting, and somebody that got airborne in a plane could get on the radio for directions to a safe zone.

Back on the military. . . Yeah, World War Z's primary goal was to establish the zombie apocalypse setting and wrote the military into it as an afterthought. The initial assault would likely get overrun, though mostly because it would be unprepared police and national guardsmen that didn't even believe the initial reports about the outbreak. Chances are that once the severity of the infection was known, however, the response would be brutally effective.

Using the 28 Days Later zombies (which were the fast-moving, quick-infecting types), the fact that it took the combined EU military forces roughly two months to move back into England was mostly do to their decision not to gamble with any more human lives, to keep England quarantined off from the rest of the world and just let the infected starve to death.

Meanwhile, Operation Desert Storm, an organized military campaign against a fully capable, fully human military, was over in less than a month. An organized, well-equipped military with no restrictive red tape and a mentally deficient enemy, I think would be done in half that time.

[Aki]

Have you read World War Z? It goes into detail about how (hypothetically) the military gets its a** kicked precisely because they're using technology and tactics which worked great in the last war, but not great in the current one, i.e. against zombies.

It relies heavily on Author Fiat.

The notion that the American Military, of any military would fail to bring sufficient ammunition is ludicrous. We're the guys known for unbelievable overkill, after all.

And frankly, a zombie horde of that magnitude could have been destroyed in an manner that was both easy and impressive: Get a fleet on M1 Abrams. Gas them up. Chew the undead buggers up with your treads. CRUSH SMASH DESTROY. Or arm everyone with f*** flamethrowers. "Burning zombies are bad" won't even matter - military flamethrowers don't set stuff on fire, they incinerate. As in "your muscle turns to char in under three seconds" kind of incineration.

And, finally, Brooks' re-taking is ....outlandish in the extreme. They revive a heavy battle rifle the US hasn't used in a long while that had a caliber that isn't even very common anymore. You could have kept the M4's and m16's and done the same damn thing - with a lighter rifle. And these people, with their heavy, wooden-furnished rifles, manage to get head shots 100% of time - so much so that if anyone, ever missed, they're told to sit down by a nurse or something.

Which is ridiculous. Trained police and soldiers can't get head shots most of the time - it's a small target that moves a lot. They'd miss a lot more than he seems to think they would.

tl;dr, Max Brooks fails at military and firearms knowledge. His book, while entertaining, has a lot of holes.

[RedEye]

Ahhh... People...

The specifications did say "impaired mental facilities", which would probably take all the fun out of it since you wouldn't realize you were achieving your lifelong ambitions.
In fact, you might not notice anything had changed, other than none of your clothes fit and your feet still hurt.
And you had this facination involving sniffing fire hydrants to see if any friends were in town.

Without the ability to fully apprecitate your new lupine status in life, I suspect it would be rather boring.
Especially the fire hydrant part...

[Terastas]

Ahhh... People...

The specifications did say "impaired mental facilities", which would probably take all the fun out of it since you wouldn't realize you were achieving your lifelong ambitions.
In fact, you might not notice anything had changed, other than none of your clothes fit and your feet still hurt.
And you had this facination involving sniffing fire hydrants to see if any friends were in town.

Without the ability to fully apprecitate your new lupine status in life, I suspect it would be rather boring.
Especially the fire hydrant part...

*nods* This is why I specified that I'd radio to the mainland and see what happens gradually during a lycanthropic outbreak. I'd be skeptical of claims from both sides -- both the therians that line up to get bitten without knowing what it is, and the cowboy scumbags that bought all their zombie/werewolf hunting accessories in advance -- I'd leave both of them to their fates and get the hell out to sea.
So if they really do have impaired mental facilities, I suspect none of them will be responding to my radio broadcasts.

[Figarou]

*nods* This is why I specified that I'd radio to the mainland and see what happens gradually during a lycanthropic outbreak. I'd be skeptical of claims from both sides -- both the therians that line up to get bitten without knowing what it is, and the cowboy scumbags that bought all their zombie/werewolf hunting accessories in advance -- I'd leave both of them to their fates and get the hell out to sea.
So if they really do have impaired mental facilities, I suspect none of them will be responding to my radio broadcasts.

It wouldn't be so easy to escape this lycan outbreak if it happened on a spaceship in deep space.

Watch the Pandorum trailer. You'll know what I'm talking about.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/pandorum/

[Set]

It wouldn't be so easy to escape this lycan outbreak if it happened on a spaceship in deep space.

Er...what, exactly, is difficult about shoving someone out of an airlock?