Teens prepare for zombie apocalypse

Thirteen-year-old Riley Siesa plans to lock himself in a Wal-Mart.

Well, that’s if he ever lives to a see a zombie apocalypse.

“It’s the best place to lock yourself inside,” he said, explaining there are a variety of supplies there, from food to weapons to entertainment. “I could last a long time — as long as no one turns on me.”

With zombies invading popular culture, and TV shows like “The Walking Dead” spurring a strong following, more and more people are considering how they would survive a zombie apocalypse. And that was exactly the topic of conversation for approximately 30 teens — and even some of their parents — at the Dalton-Whitfield County Library on Thursday.

The library sponsors free events for teens each Thursday at 3 p.m. to help give them something to do during the summer. Upcoming programs include topics such as robotics, computer programming and a murder mystery.

Jessica Miles, assistant director of library services, said the programs are designed to help give teens a social outlet and to allow them to explore areas of interest.

Though discussing how to survive a zombie apocalypse might not initially seem like it would benefit teens, the teens on Thursday were learning how to debate, work as a team, problem solve and use critical thinking skills.

Pam Craig brought her children Gracie and Atticus because Gracie is especially into zombies. Gracie has Asperger syndrome, which is a high functioning form of autism that can inhibit social interaction.

The event gave Gracie a way to interact with people who have similar interests.

“It’s just for fun,” Craig said. “I don’t think any of them believe there will really be any zombies.”

And without the zombies, the teens are simply learning survival skills, such as how to find food, she said.

Riley said he doesn’t believe there will be a literal zombie apocalypse with the undead coming out of the ground. But he said something similar could really happen, such as a virus outbreak.

“It’s already happening with people on meth,” he said.

Andrew Bazan, who just turned 18, said he thinks it’s possible to encounter a similar situation in the event of chemical contamination.

The two led their team in a discussion of survival by evaluating barricading themselves in a prison. Another team made the decision to fly — one of the team members said he could fly a plane — to Alaska where zombies couldn’t survive in the frigid temperatures.

“Zombies would freeze before they would find a human,” said Jacob Lowery, 11.