It is 1978 ...

[CountryGent]

Jimmy Carter is in office, Stagflation is in full swing, the fashion is ghastly, 8-track cassettes are the "streaming media" available, disco music is everywhere, and if all that wasn't bad enough, there is a shortage of space in hell and the dead are walking the Earth!

The genesis of this silliness is I have an "Internet friend" that I met through a horror films related site. He is interested in, and by that I mean probably too much so, the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead. Though, admittedly, it is one of my favorites too. Anyway, the other day we chatted for the first time in a while and he mentioned the beginnings of an anthology of stories set in the world of the aforementioned film. He asked if I would like to write one. I normally would, because I do love writing, and it is a pretty neat idea, but I am simply too slammed with real life to do so. So, I had to politely decline.

Since then, however, I have been thinking about what I'd arm my protagonists, and human antagonists, with in a fictional America circa 1978. Which leads me to the question: what would you arm your characters with?

Enjoy.

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[41mag]

Glycerine based slickum so they couldn't lurch around with any traction & constricting elastomer gel to thwart their struggles to stand up. Just to begin.

 

[Camelfilter]

 

[Andy54Hawken]

A nice JM marked , pre-safety 336 Carbine in .30-30...
In fact that might good for any given year...
Andy

 

[OldBroad44]

Jimmy Carter is in office, Stagflation is in full swing, the fashion is ghastly, 8-track cassettes are the "streaming media" available, disco music is everywhere, and if all that wasn't bad enough, there is a shortage of space in hell and the dead are walking the Earth!

The genesis of this silliness is I have an "Internet friend" that I met through a horror films related site. He is interested in, and by that I mean probably too much so, the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead. Though, admittedly, it is one of my favorites too. Anyway, the other day we chatted for the first time in a while and he mentioned the beginnings of an anthology of stories set in the world of the aforementioned film. He asked if I would like to write one. I normally would, because I do love writing, and it is a pretty neat idea, but I am simply too slammed with real life to do so. So, I had to politely decline.

Since then, however, I have been thinking about what I'd arm my protagonists, and human antagonists, with in a fictional America circa 1978. Which leads me to the question: what would you arm your characters with?

Enjoy.

I can remember what I had in the Carter era, as I had real insecurity about his getting us attacked through his being so naive and our suffering a first strike and the start of WWIII.

At the time I had a Security 6 snubby, a Security 6 6-inch, a Ruger Redhawk 7.5-inch .44mag, a Ruger ss Mark II 5.5-inch bull barrel .22 Target, an old .22 Hi Standard target pistol with long barrel and adjustible weights, a Winchester 30 30, and a Remington 870 12-guage Wingmaster.

But I have no idea what it takes to stop something already dead. Just how substantial are these dead? Are they whispy like a ghost? If so, what about a vacuum cleaner?

 

[Stomper]

Mjölnir.... because zombies make it PERSONAL!!

 

[41mag]

Phase 2 I'd unleash my squad of special trained attack honey badgers who feed only on rotting flesh.

Phase 3 I'd activate my special genetically programmed 30 pound dread cats with carbide/titanium claw inserts that attack anything that can not whistle or sing the proper code phrase, returning them to slumber.

A special canister/home of incredibly voracious bacterial strain that cleans up clusters of 'living flesh' pooled about the playing field would seek to return to their little cannister-haven once they had fed for the activity period.

[ETA: "living-DEAD flesh" in the spec above.]

 

[JRuby]

FALs and hi powers and some shotguns.

 

[No_Regerts]

Some of those Stevens single shot shotguns.

 

[H2O MAN]

In '78 I had a Bushmaster Arm pistol. That and an M14 would be great.

 

[3MTA3]

In 1978 every pickup truck had a rear window rack with a lever action 30-30. Handguns were mostly revolvers in 22 38 or 44 calibers.

If I knew I was going zombie hunting those days it would have been a Savage 99 in 308, a Redhawk 44 mag, and a Mossberg 500 12 gauge.

 

[OldBroad44]

Rotting flesh? To my gardener's ear, it sounds like the problem is compost refusing to act like compost. I'd go out to the garden with my big peasant hoe with the long handle and sharp 2-pound head. When the dead came after me I'd lop off their legs with the hoe. Then run over them and chew them up and bury them with the rototiller. It's called sheet composting.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

If there were such a thing as Zombies...seeing as how they are dead...and dead things rot and fall apart...
It might be a good plan to hide in place , fortify up and just wait it out....
I think I would fear looters and folks not constrained by any law other than what they make more than Zombies...
I get that the above plan , sure isn't exciting enough for a book or movie...but it does make survival more possible....
Andy

 

[Caveman Jim]

Jimmy Carter is in office, Stagflation is in full swing, the fashion is ghastly, 8-track cassettes are the "streaming media" available, disco music is everywhere, and if all that wasn't bad enough, there is a shortage of space in hell and the dead are walking the Earth!

The genesis of this silliness is I have an "Internet friend" that I met through a horror films related site. He is interested in, and by that I mean probably too much so, the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead. Though, admittedly, it is one of my favorites too. Anyway, the other day we chatted for the first time in a while and he mentioned the beginnings of an anthology of stories set in the world of the aforementioned film. He asked if I would like to write one. I normally would, because I do love writing, and it is a pretty neat idea, but I am simply too slammed with real life to do so. So, I had to politely decline.

Since then, however, I have been thinking about what I'd arm my protagonists, and human antagonists, with in a fictional America circa 1978. Which leads me to the question: what would you arm your characters with?

Enjoy.

A tank because that's what I was regularly working on in the motor pool out in Colorado back then and there was no shortage of zombies around the Colorado Springs area especially in Manitou Springs...

 

[Caveman Jim]

If there were such a thing as Zombies...seeing as how they are dead...and dead things rot and fall apart...
It might be a good plan to hide in place , fortify up and just wait it out....
I think I would fear looters and folks not constrained by any law other than what they make more than Zombies...
I get that the above plan , sure isn't exciting enough for a book or movie...but it does make survival more possible....
Andy

True that Andy, the living zombies would be the major problem because they are looking to kill those who have survival rations and take stuff that people left behind.

 

[cigars]

In 78 I was enjoying quite the blizzard in NY. The week following it, I made $$$ shoveling snow.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Oh man I remember the Great Blizzard of '78 ....the water mains froze , then burst on my street...man that was a mess.
Andy

 

[cigars]

Oh man I remember the Great Blizzard of '78 ....the water mains froze , then burst on my street...man that was a mess.
Andy

It was a week before the snow plows made it to my neighborhood. Back then they would have snow plows on garbage trucks to aid the city and county plows. You would always see about every other plow roll a window down and chuck an empty beer bottle out as it went along. School was out for over two weeks. Good times.

 

[41mag]

Here's a civilian update of a similar Project1978 of which you speak OP:


A raccoon on the east side of Central Park West. Brigitte Stelzer
More On:

More than two dozen Central Park raccoons have died in an ongoing viral outbreak that causes "zombie" behavior in the critters, authorities determined.

 

[RicInOR]

you'll have a pretty good sound track for '78


The Top 5 albums that year.