Toledo Water Crisis: Zombie Escape Plan

I keep having this recurring nightmare as I watch myself in 3rd person. I am running through a neighborhood street, dodging in and out of abandoned houses. It took me a while to realize what it was I was searching for. I keep looking behind me, as if my life is in danger, and I look down and realize I have a blade by my side. This isn’t just some little knife – It is a samurai sword.  I arrive in a house, scuffling through the drawers frantically. I am finding cans of food, but it isn’t what I am looking for. Finally, I find a brown paper bag – I tear it open and uncover…

Coffee

I can see the excitement on my face just long enough before a Zombie rips through and is frantically trying to make me a meal.

Then, without notice, I wake up.
(For Walking Dead Fans: I feel like Rick did when he FIRST awoke in the hospital – Stunned)

ALWAYS CAFFEINATED… ALWAYS PREPARED…

Maybe I am exaggerating this a little (or a lot)– For nearly a month, I binge watched The Walking Dead while working on Mission Arabica development. The two made for some amazing dreams, often filled with both coffee and funny thoughts like the best escape routes and sniper positions should zombies attack, etc.

I would never worry about dreaming about coffee (100% normal 😉 ), but I had begun to wonder if I was overthinking this whole “Zombie” thing. Maybe The Walking Dead had gotten a little bit too into my head? Was I trying to be too much like Daryl or Rick?

 

But right when I started to question my sanity, just yesterday my hometown (Toledo, OH) developed a contaminated water supply due to farm fertilizer run off into Lake Erie.  This is currently leaving half a million people without access to drinkable water.

I talked to Chris yesterday morning and he had already waited in long lines to get rations of water. In typical Chris fashion, one of the first things he jokingly said to me was, “I can’t even make coffee now!”

THE RELAPSE

Then it hit me.  This could be it

I could already see a series of headline events unfolding:

“Drinking contaminated water supply results in zombie like conditions”

“No cure available”

“Martial law declared to fight against hordes of walkers”

“Coffee outlawed to prevent further spread of walker disease”

Whoa… it would be bad enough with a zombie apocalypse, but no coffee?! This could get way more serious than we ever imagined.

What if the walkers broke containment and spread their disease all the way from Ohio and south to Florida.  Living in Tennessee, I would be right in the heart of this thing.

For the good of my family and the sake of my coffee addiction we have to be prepared.

THE ZOMBIE ESCAPE PLAN

So I have put together a list of important items to keep in mind.

1. In this situation, the walkers headed south (probably for warmer weather) so we need to get north… really REALLY far north.

2. We must go to Adam’s
-Adam is in Iron River, MI and (about as far north as you can get)
-He is close to Lake Superior which is so clear it is said you can drink right from it
–Most importantly, he has access to Mission Arabica’s coffee supply over (750 lbs) and roaster.

3. There is safety in numbers, we need to recruit a team dedicated to life, liberty, and the pursuit of great coffee.

4. On our way north, we will meet up with family and friends in Toledo (if they haven’t already succumbed to the horde) and continue north. Godspeed Chris – hold on buddy.

5. Once arriving in Iron River (if we ever make it that far), we will need to start building up defenses and collecting supplies for their never ending winter.

6. Drink coffee and live

It may not be a perfect plan, but it’s the best I’ve come up with so far.

So what next?

So with that in mind, I think there are a few important takeaways from this:

1. Join us… we cannot guarantee your survival, but we can guarantee you some great coffee.

2. Stock up on provisions.  We have already put together a travel friendly, zombie proof coffee pack that will increase your resistance to the horde. You can pick it up here.

3. Share this with your friends – there is safety in numbers – and tell us in the comments what your zombie escape plans are!
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Together we will survive.

Together we will prevail.

Together we will drink great coffee – Life Changing Coffee.

Tell us what YOU would do if your city was attacked? What is YOUR escape plan?