Over the past few weeks almost everyone has either seen or talked about the latest new zombie apocalypse hit show The Last of Us. Something unique about the zombies in The Last of Us is the way they were first infected and how the infection spreads. In the show a character explains what scientists believe caused the outbreak: a mutated fungus. The infected people in this show have mushrooms in various spots across their bodies, and eventually end up growing and stretching their mycelium roots. Due to global temperature changes, scientists determined that certain fungus substrates were able to adapt to increased temperatures to the point where it could live in a human body or control it.

So, what can we do if a zombie apocalypse like The Last of Us ends up happening right now? 

The first thing you need to do is try to relocate to a less population dense area, before going make sure you have some sort of physical map of the area you are now inhabiting. Your phone is no longer something to rely on for location; use it for communication, if at all. 

Next, gather all the food with a long shelf life in your house, (canned goods, grains, nuts) along with plenty of water if you can get any. Who knows how long you’re gonna be on the road, and if you don’t have access to a weapon capable of quickly ending an infected by stabbing the brain or shooting a projectile into the brain, I would advise you find one quickly. Not only will you have to potentially fight infected, but people and animals could also be a threat. Next thing to do is to find people you trust who have a similar ideology and group up with them. The larger the group, the better.

Now that I’ve listed some things to do during the apocalypse, what can you do before to keep you safe in the event of an outbreak? Your primary safeguard is small, local brands. Who knows where they are manufacturing the big-corporation produced goods and the regulations in them? Workers are most likely underpaid, given long hours with no medical help and unsafe working conditions. Anything could end up in a batch of thousands of bags of flour that end up across the world. 

Then again, you could simply breathe in a virus from an ancient icecap that melted due to climate change when walking to the bus. Remember, you are never safe.