After emerging near your home

in New York City, it spread.

First to London, then to Tokyo,

eventually wiping out more than

99% of the global population.

But you...

you were lucky.

You were one of the few thousand people

on Earth with immunity who survived.

So, now what?

Your first step is to stock up.

An average midsize supermarket

can sustain one person for about 55 years.

63, if you're cool with eating the cat and dog food.

As you scan the aisles, look for canned food,

some of which can last for up to several decades,

and bottled water.

Because once the power grid goes down,

your municipal water supply will run dry

in a matter of weeks

or even days.

You'll also want to grab some superglue

in case you get injured.

It can easily seal wounds in the absence of stitches.

And make sure to hit up hospitals,

pharmacies, and even vet offices

for antibiotics and pain killers.

Vets treat animals with many of the

same medicines that we use for humans,

such as the pain reliever hydrocodone

and the antibiotic doxycycline.

Once you're packed, you'll want to hit the road.

Because without electricity to cool the fuel

inside nuclear reactors, pressure could build up

and cause the reactor's containment building to fail.

Especially if it's old or it was poorly maintained.

And that could release toxic radiation

within a 50-mile radius or greater.

And even if your city or town

isn't near one of these plants,

you'll still want to seek isolation.

Because in the aftermath of the apocalypse,

there will be decaying corpses strewn about the streets.

Oh, yeah. It's gonna stink.

But they'll also attract animal scavengers

and infectious bacteria that could harm or kill you

if you get too close.

So, yeah, a country home

is looking pretty good right now.

Though it'll be tough to figure out

exactly where to settle.

You'll need to be close to fresh water

but also far away from major rivers,

because many dams could eventually collapse

without anyone to maintain them.

You'll also want to be near fertile soil

so you can grow your own food

once your grocery supply runs out.

And, of course, you'll want to be at least 50 miles

from a nuclear power plant.

So somewhere north of Edison, New Jersey,

would probably be a good bet.

After settling in, you'll need

a steady supply of drinking water.

So it's a good thing purifying

creek or lake water is surprisingly easy.

You can bring it to a boil,

fill up clear plastic water bottles

no larger than a liter

and stick them in direct sunlight

for at least six hours,

or add a few drops of a 5% liquid bleach solution

to a liter of water.

But farming your own food would be a lot tougher.

If you're able to scavenge a gun

or a bow and arrow, you could hunt.

There are over 100,000 deer in New Jersey,

which is more than 11 per square mile.

And each one could keep you satisfied

(or, at least, alive) for two weeks or more.

But wouldn't it be easier just to farm?

Assuming you could plant the right crops, yes.

Corn, for example, might be everywhere.

But many modern varieties are hybrids

and often can't reproduce on their own,

so they won't grow from one year to the next.

That's why you'll want to scavenge

seeds of heirloom crops, which reproduce naturally.

Try searching small farms, backyard gardens,

and garden centers for beans, potatoes,

and some kind of leafy green.

That way you'll have a supply

of protein, carbs, and lots of vitamins.

Now, with crops in the ground,

things will be looking up.

You know, relative to life in post-apocalyptic times.

But you know what would make it better?

Electricity.

You could store perishable foods,

like the deer you killed.

Not to mention have light, heat, running water,

and whatever else might help you live more comfortably.

At first, you can scavenge motor generators

from roadwork or construction sites

and siphon gasoline out of

abandoned cars to power them.

But eventually you'll want to nab

some solar panels along with big batteries

to store the power they produce.

Abandoned golf carts might be a good place to look.

They're powered by deep-cycle lead-acid batteries,

which you can discharge many times

without significantly shortening their lifespan.

Aah. Now you can finally relax.

All that's left is repopulating the planet.