Merriweather asks: What would be the best place in North America to begin rebuilding society after most of the population AND zombies had been wiped out? I would think temperatures, rainfall, land fertility, fresh water, and possible natural disasters would all need to be assessed. Materials (steel, glass, cloth, etc) would be in abundance via scavenging in most places so that’s less of an issue. Right now I’m thinking the San Diego area of California but would like to hear other possible locations.

Many have planned for the zombie apocalypse; What weapons should I use, what food should I have, and what music should I put on my iPod as I smash zombies? Each to their own, but the correct answer to the last question is Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi. But I digress. What many have not prepared for is “What do we do after?”. If your answer is, I’ll just live off the land, i.e.. forage for all your food….good luck with that. For long-term zombie survival, food will be a huge issue, feeding an increasing number of survivors will require us to go back to some sort of farming.

For many survivors, there may not be an option of travel after the Zombie Apocalypse. You must make due with what you have locally. You must be aware of what is possible to farm in your area due to your climate. As many are aware, there are certains requirements we need to thrive: food, water, shelter, safety. Food and water will be the focus of this article, as once that need is met, it would allow the other needs to be obtained. But let’s just assume that we can travel. Where do we go? Being a biologist, I focused on three factors: arable land, temperature, and precipitation.

If we look back at our own history as Americans, we find that as we colonized, we stuck to major water resources. If you look at a map now, all majors cities are near some water resource, be it a lake, river or coast. For our founders, this resources was used not only for drinking but irrigation of cropland. However, after the Zombie Apocalypse, this water could be fouled and be unusable for drinking water. We would most likely have to rely on rainfall for our drinking needs until we could be sure the water was safe for for drinking, or we could purify it to be drinkable. So water is a must, not only surface water but also rain fall. So where do we find water, rainfall, good temperatures and arable: Mississippi River Basin.

For my money, I would make my way to somewhere near the Mississippi River, probably somewhere around Arkansas to Tennessee. This puts me far enough away from the coast so I don’t have to sweat hurricanes. Why this area for zombie survival? Along the Mississippi River lies great farmland. As the river ebbs and flows, it bring with it nutrients. When flooding occurs, those nutrients replenish the soil making it some of the best farmland in the world.

This area also gets a fair amount of rainfall, which can be used for drinking or for your crops. Rainfall will not just be important in this area, but in the areas around it. If you get rain in nearby areas, this will constantly replenish those water systems that flow back into the Mississippi. So you have to consider the larger area for rainfall and how it affects your environment.

If I could go further South, I would. I would do this simply because the growing season is longer the further you go. But with that shift come the issues of rainfall and hurricanes. I feel like this area is a happy medium; not so far North that I freeze, and not so far South that I burn up during the summers. I looked at some recent data of temperatures and changes over the past few decades. In this area, it appears to fluctuates less than the rest of the United States.

If I am thinking long-term, I want an area that is somewhat resistant to climate change. Although, once the human population declines, Mother Nature will reclaim the earth, so that may not be that big of an issue. This area is defined as a temperate area, which means four seasons with relatively mild temperatures year around. The growing season is great, and in some cases you might get away with growing certain foods year around.

So there you have it. If I can make, I’m headed to the Mississippi River for my long-term zombie survival plan. I also hear there is some great moonshine in those areas. I take that as an added bonus!

Where would you go? Where do you think is a better place? Leave your comments below, maybe I have the wrong idea; us zombie preppers gotta stick together.