The following research has been carried out to promote the UK release of baby-shower zombie shocker LA Contagion, out now on VOD courtesy of Grimm Entertainment. The infographics have been calculated using research into population density, closest water sources, traffic and congestion rates, access to medical, numbers of hardware and hunting stores and other site-specific advantages.
Best Places in the UK to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse
#1 Portsea Island
Portsea Island is part of Portsmouth on the South Coast. If you could close off the three bridges, this seems like the ideal area to survive the horde. Control zombie capacity within a sufficiently urbanised area to sustain a healthy community. With six hardware stores on the island there are plenty of resources to make an island fortress, plus Queen Alexandra hospital is just a 5 minute raid away on the mainland.
#2 Bakewell
With a population of under four thousand (and mainly retirees), can you think of a better place to sit out the Armageddon than the home of the famous Bakewell tart factory. There's Newholme hospital just a four-minute car journey away but you can always just burgle the retirees who will no doubt have plenty of useful meds to hand. Old people zombies will likely not pose much of a threat, particularly if their dentures fall out. Oh! and there's the Buxton water springs just a little deeper into the Peak District too.
#3 Conwy
Wales would probably do pretty well with all its sheep, fresh water sources and mountains. Conwy itself boasts a castle within a walled city so, yeah! Only one hospital but it also has an underwater tunnel if you need more convincing. It's population is about 120,000 and presumed friendly so don't expect too much trouble looting in the six hardware stores. There are estuary and river networks through the town and in case somebody called dibs on Conwy castle, there's always Caernarfon down the road.
#4 Barrow-in-Furness
A sleepy, seaside town like Barrow-in-Furness could make the perfect location to fight off the zombie hordes. Two hospitals, two medical centres, seven hardware stores and two hunting outlets sounds like a fair distribution for the 70,000-strong population. Then there's Walney Island to hide out on with only one access bridge in and out and it's own nature reserve to grow crops and preserve wildlife. Let's not forget it's only a half an hour drive to the Lake District too. Pure survivor bliss.
#5 Chester
With a walled city and the River Dee running straight through, the Liverpudlian neighbours seem well equipped for the end of days. There's also 12 hardware stores and two gun retailers as well as the famous Chester Zoo if you get peckish for something exotic, assuming that the infection doesn't make the exotic peckish for something that tastes like you.
#6 Middlesborough
As far as it goes for cities in a crisis, the Boro is pretty stacked. With a population of only 150,000, five hospitals and seven medical centres, you can assume they won't be completely overrun. You're close to the sea, have good connection to fresh river sources and the North York Moors if you need to escape the urban landscape. Best of all you have sixteen hardware stores and six gun stores to turn the Riverside into your own fortress with an emergency "escape to the sea" or "up river to Pennines" plan.
#7 Edinburgh
Pretty built up with bad congestion but we'd fancy our chances over the cobbled streets and up and down those steep hills. The sea is right there as well as the Isle of May. There's a castle of course and sixteen hardware stores. If there's a British capital to get stuck in, it's this one.
#8 Scarborough
With a pretty sparse population, its own Castle on a spit of land overlooking the sea and within jogging distance of the North York Moors, we could think of worse places to get trapped. It's a small seaside town centre with eight hardware stores, a hospital and two medical centres. Bingo!
#9 York
Another castle (formerly a prison) within a walled city. There's only one hospital in town and four hardware stores but plenty of gun shops for a small city. Watch out for the students either alive or undead but luckily there are plenty of medieval weaponry museums to find your perfect arsenal.
#10 South Shields
Knowing the people of South Shields, this is probably already going to be one of the most resilient areas to an outbreak. The Tyneside running through is a great connective route back up to Newcastle and beyond. Shields town centre boasts five hardware stores and there's a golf course full of clubs to beat the undead to a pulp with. Then of course there are the coastal caves, like the Grotto, to burrow away in.
#11 Pembrokeshire
Don't expect Wolf's Castle to be much of a defence but otherwise any more but with such a sparse population and plenty of natural water sources, Pembrokeshire would be an ideal hideout. With good transport you could hoard supplies from the three hospitals, ten hardware stores and three hunting outlets and then go colonise one of the islands off shore.
#12 New Forest
The expansive New Forest is full of wild horses to ride once the petrol runs dry as well as natural springs and plenty of agriculture. Should you need to outwit any pesky brain-eaters, just lead them into one of the many bogs!
#13 Brighton
Only one gun retailer but they're right next to the pier. This pier is well equipped too, with three restaurants and plenty of shops, there is likely to be plenty of provisions already on the pier. All you need to do then is destroy the connection to land. Four hospitals are located within the city too so not only will you be fed and entertained on the pier but you have plenty of options should one of your band fall feverish.
Worst Places in the UK to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse
#1 London
Face it, if you live in the capital you're pretty fucked. With population density hitting over 15,000 people living per kilometre squared in areas like Islington and Shepherd's Bush, the threat of being overrun by the hordes is overwhelming. Only when you get to the outskirts of Greater London do you start finding natural, clean sources of water. If you want to drink out of the Thames, be my guest. So if the zombies don't get ya, the dysentery will. Also, considering the population is over 8 million, there are only ten mega-hospitals in the capital which will likely be hives for contagion. Although you the local gangsters might find their hands on guns pretty easily, there are actually only 5 licensed firearms dealers in Greater London.
#2 Belfast
With the worst congestion in the UK, Belfast would be a nightmare to escape from. The Peace Lines could work for or against you in the capital depending on whether you're trapped on the right side of the wall. Although the George Best airport and Harbour are viable escape routes, you can bet your stockpiled canned goods that every other living citizen will have the same idea in mind. The locals are a hardy bunch though so we expect that they'll know exactly where the 4 hospitals, 12 hardware shops and 3 licensed hunting outlets are to ensure they're prepared for Judgement Day.
#3 Blackpool
Could there be anything more frightening than the rowdy stag and hen parties of Blackpool contending with an outbreak? If it's Romero's Land of the Dead zombies you're up against, you can expect the bright lights of the fairground to draw them en masse. The hospital however is only a 15 minute run from Blackpool tower and pier so our best bet would be to hole up there and pray.
#4 Coventry
With a traffic system as perplexing as the wall-climbing zombies in the Day of the Dead remake, Coventry is not too well equipped for a societal meltdown. Only two hospitals and three medical centres and a sizeable population of about a third of a million, not to mention the influx of bodies from rural areas, a land-lock and poor canal networks means that IKEA is probably your safest option. But first you have to navigate the IKEA map! Good luck Cov.!
#5 Birmingham
The Midlands generally doesn't feel like it would be the safest place to weather out the apocalypse. With the second largest population in the UK, Birmingham comes with plenty of hardware stores (30) and gun retailers (10). Being a major connection route through the centre of the country, Birmingham will likely be overrun by people travelling to their loved ones. In the bid for survival it looks like zombies may not be the only thing to worry about once people get their hands on guns and hammers.
#6 Southampton
The docks and airport could make Southampton a fair place to be but let's remember that those ancient city walls have long since crumbled and there is a distinct lack of hardware stores in the city centre, only one hospital and no hunting shops until you get to the city limits. Good luck looting West Quay but we prefer our chances in the New Forest.
#7 Leeds
It may be the home of ASDA head offices but there's none in sight. There are only two major supermarkets in the city centre and you can bet it won't take long for the open air market foods to perish. Albeit the city has a strong canal network which opens you up to escape but should you need to bolster up your barge, you'll find that most of the 37 hardware stores are actually found in neighbouring city Bradford. Failing that, there is apparently a tunnel network under the Town Hall.
#8 Minehead
Readers with families will know that Minehead is one of the homes to the national get away resort: Butlins. Is there anything worse than a zombie clown? Or zombie kids for that matter? Make a break for it to Exmoor National Park or die...
#9 Oxford
So imagine you have to defend Hogwarts against zombies, that's what this would be like. You'd never know which corner to turn around. The college corridors that were the inspiration for the boy-wizard franchise would become your tomb. Plus they're all listed buildings so if you damage anything and then eventually the government takes control of the zombie outbreak, you're gonna get so sued! There's only one major hospital, 9 hardware stores and a relatively flat landscape meaning that yes you'll be able to see the undead swarming from all directions but you have no advantage of being faster uphill than the walkers. Good luck on your bike you boffin!
#10 Leicester
The people of Leicester might stand a pretty good chance. They've got the River Soar and three major hospitals however a scary amount of gun shops: 7 for a population of 300,000. It's likely people might get a little trigger happy in the frenzy so just hope that you don't get in someone's view while you're waking up otherwise they might mistake you for the recently deceased.
#11 Borehamwood
Best known as the location of Elstree studios and incidentally: the Big Brother House. Nobody wants any zombies flicking on the TV and finding out where you are so avoid this scenario at all costs. Besides, we've all seen Dead Set, Davina McCall is a mean-ass zombie. If the zombies don't kill you, the drama will.
#12 Bath
Bath was once a walled city but those walls aren't looking too strong now either. Most of the major resources like hospitals, medical centres and hardware stores are located in Bristol and the one-way system is hell too! Also, there is an exorbitant number of gun stores: ten in such a small city. We can only assume that this is due in part to the swathes of bourgeoisie living in the area, like Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage. Why all the guns? To defend themselves against the peasants. Zombie or not, you're in trouble.
#13 Bournemouth
Yeah sure, run for the pier. Maybe you're thinking of making good on the Home Guard's plan to blow up the pier to prevent the Nazis from landing. Go for it but it isn't exactly Brighton pier; you've got a run down restaurant and theatre and a zip line for jollies back to the mainland. Across Bournemouth and Poole though, there are 23 hardware stores and over 9 medical centres, along with the second largest natural harbour in the world. So okay, maybe you've got a fighting chance. Then again maybe the golden beaches and fireworks displays will only draw the deadites closer. As for water sources, you've got the salty salty sea, the contaminated Bourne stream or you're looking at making a break for the River Stour in the New Forest
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Now you know where you can survive in the UK, see how not to survive in LA in LA Contagion. Why not check out Grimm Entertainment's release L.A. Contagion out on VOD in the UK now. Find it on iTunes, SkyStore, Amazon or Microsoft. See the trailer below:
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