Here’s How Australia Would Fare In A Zombie Apocalypse

Quite often, when the zombie apocalypse occurs, it begins in the United States of America. Fans of this genre — be it literature, movies, or television — immediately presume the outbreak will begin there and spread to the rest of the world. Automatically, people assume there will be a stockpiling of weapons along with food while they wait it out and hope to survive against the undead.

But, what would happen if the zombie apocalypse started in Australia?

Not only is this country huge and, relatively, underpopulated, it is a country with very few guns. While its isolation could help it, the lack of weapons that could be used against the undead is minimal.

So, which major city in Australia would be the best place to live in to survive a zombie apocalypse?

According to new research out of the University of Melbourne’s Center for Disaster Management and Public Safety, the best major city to be in Australia is Darwin. This is thanks to its isolation and a higher instance of citizens bearing arms. Along with a strong sense of community, this is the best major city to be in when disaster strikes.

Of course, as Gizmodo points out, this research has been commissioned by Xbox Australia ahead of the release of its latest zombie apocalypse game that has just been released, State of Decay 2. However, this doesn’t mean it isn’t based on actual research that people should be advised to follow should the zombie apocalypse start in Australia.

The study included “the potential rate of zombie infection, situational analysis of the infection’s origin, how the disease would spread, how residents claim they would act, and how well each city would defend themselves against the walking dead and geographical location.”

While isolation seems to be a huge help when it comes to controlling the outbreak, some isolated cities are better than others are when it comes to an outbreak. While Darwin wins in the “Zombie Survival Index” rankings, Perth, surprisingly, is one of the least safe major cities in Australia to be in should the zombie apocalypse occur, according to this study.

In Darwin, it was discovered that 50 percent of residents there would help out a neighbor. Whereas, in Perth, they would be more likely to sacrifice a neighbor than help them out.

But, what about the other major cities in Australia? According to the study, Melbourne will do much better over Sydney and Brisbane thanks to the fact Melbournites are more friendly and — once again — more likely to help others at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. While Hobart, in Tasmania, is isolated, this city didn’t make the top of the list. Finally, Adelaide contains the most amount of people who think they wouldn’t survive a zombie apocalypse. So, it seems a person’s attitude to their own survival can actually help or hinder their survival rate.

Along with Australia, the University of Melbourne’s Center for Disaster Management and Public Safety also included New Zealand in their ZSI rankings. While Queenstown was the second best to live in Australia and New Zealand in order to survive the zombie apocalypse, the other major city involved in the study, Auckland, didn’t do well at all. One of the main factors for this was its proximity to ports and these are listed as a huge way to pass on infection and create vulnerability.

Ultimately, while many zombie apocalypse movies, books, and TV shows tend to show a society that becomes more aggressive to those around them with a “kill or be killed” mentality, in the start, survival seemed to be better stacked when you are in a community that will help others rather than hide it out alone and put themselves first.