The following article has been generously contributed for your reading pleasure by Prepping to Survive.

What will be the most pressing issue for people after the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI)? The search for food to ease the hunger pangs in your stomach? Finding shelter for warmth and dryness during a bitterly cold night? The relentless pursuit of clean, potable water to rehydrate yourself?

For people living in densely populated areas of the country, such as the suburbs of Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, or most any of the cities in the NorthEastern U.S., the most immediate threat to their very existence will not come from lack of supplies. It will not come from diseases or waterborne illnesses like dysentery or cholera . It won’t even come from starvation.

The most frightening threat will come from other people.

Societal Breakdown

TEOTWAWKI will find many people taking extreme measures that they never thought themselves capable just to stay alive or put food in the mouths of their crying children. Some of these will be typical people like our neighbors who, when thrust unprepared into this new reality, turn to violence to satisfy their needs.

Others maybe criminals currently teetering on the edge of civility. They are opportunists who see societal breakdown as a chance to live without fear of retribution from the criminal justice system. With nothing to keep them in check, they’ll roam the countryside, taking what they wish while leaving a wide path of destruction in their wake.

Still others may be mentally ill. People who, until TEOTWAWKI, were successfully treating their illnesses with medication and therapy. The sudden lack of medicine combined with the harsh new world in which they find themselves may cause them to snap and behave irrationally violent.

The Zombie Apocalypse

In what is often referred to as the Zombie Apocalypse, violence and “survival of the fittest” will be taken to a new extreme. People will roam the nation’s cities, either alone or in gangs, committing acts of violence on a scale that is hard to comprehend.

The government will be quickly overwhelmed and powerless to protect its people. It will be soon be up to each individual, each family, each community to defend its own.

The term Zombies, Mutant Zombie Bikers, or the Living Dead, is frequently used to collectively refer to this group of people. They are, in essence, walking around already dead but just not aware of it yet. They have no hope. To them, it’s either take what they want and live an abundant if not horrific life, or die trying.

An Ounce Of Prevention

Armed with the knowledge that the most likely threat cannot be mitigated with more supplies or by better hunting and gathering, it’s not too late to prepare.

• Boost your own supplies. Make sure that you are preparing for an uncertain future by buying additional food, medicine, clothing, and hunting and fishing supplies. Don’t just concentrate on stockpiling supplies though; make sure you have a way to continually replenish those supplies. For example, don’t just buy bottled water; invest in ways to purify water.
• Recognize the threat. Knowing that a threat from a group of violent “zombies” exists in a post-TEOTWAWKI world helps to reduce the element of surprise and gives you a chance to prepare. Consider now what your options will be and take steps to get ready.
• Identify friends and like-minded people. Although the notion of getting back to nature and making a go of it alone sounds appealing, your chances of successfully defending your loved ones are greatly increased when you have a community of like-minded people with which to cooperate. Subtly seek out those people now.
• Learn to use a weapon. Whether hunting or defending yourself, familiarity with your weapon is crucial. In the excitement of the moment is no time to figure out how a weapon works. At best, you miss your shot. At worse, you injury yourself.

The Zombie Apocalypse is an ugly and unpleasant idea to ponder. But that doesn’t make it any less real or dramatic. In fact, just the opposite is true. Because the possibility is so alarming, we must think about it and do what we can to prevent being a victim if it does happen.

This article has been contributed by Prepping to Survive