Preparation. Every living human who wants to ensure that both they and their race survive the impending onslaught need to understand the overwhelming urgency inherent in that one simple word. Preparation is much more than an act, much more than a series of plans - it is a mantra. Few understand the import of using this ideal as the central driving force behind anti-zombie research and strategizing better than the "industry" leaders at zombiedefense.org. From our early days as a grassroots organization working on a shoestring budget all the way up to the present day, we have always placed the creation of a preparedness mindset at the crux of all of our efforts. The organization's deep understanding of the importance of readiness is even visible in zombiedefense.org's mission statement: To prepare every able-minded human to best overcome and outlast any and all threats presented by the walking dead.
They are coming. This is all but a universally accepted certainty. The staff at zombiedefense.org realizes that there are other choices available in the marketplace of ideas who are offering their own specific mental framework to survive in a world overrun by zombies. We are humbled and honored by any individual who chooses our guidelines and strategies as the ones that they wish to emulate when the dark dawn finally rises. Our methods have been rigorously tested, our theories have undergone extensive peer review and we truly believe that our record and reputation speaks volumes. When that day comes and necessity demands that theory give way to actual practice, we feel that those individuals who have put their trust in us will be rewarded. Beyond mere survival, zombiedefense.org's methods have been crafted to instruct as to how one can actually thrive.
Formative Years and Early Developments
The seeds for what would eventually grow into zombiedefense.org's mission and research techniques were laid in a somewhat unassuming fashion in May of 1997. The southern college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was largely quiet and uneventful as a majority of the students (and, therefore, the town's population) had gone elsewhere for the summer. This sort of idyllic state proved to be the perfect testing ground for five individuals who would later end up being some of zombiedefense.org's founding fathers. Three of these individuals, Robert J. Bingham, Shaun K. Whitney (before his ordination) and Drew Mendenhall, had events surrounding them that brought their collective attention to bear on the true threat posed to humanity by a zombie epidemic. These three turned their attention to the problem and immediately set forth to offer what assistance that they could to make sure that they and their surrounding neighbors were both educated and safe from the plague's potential onset. This was the birth of the brazenly titled "World Zombie Defense Headquarters" (hereinafter referred to as the "WZDH").
Nestled in the cramped quarters that made up their first compound, lovingly titled by the founders as Stratford Hills, the research was compiled in a fast and furious fashion. Bingham, Rev. Whitney and Drew Mendenhall worked with an obsessive vigor and their passion for zombie defense soon brought them into direct contact with like-minded folks. With the addition of Ruffin Adamson, Samuel Redford and Field Agent 1397 (a.k.a. Field Agent 1397) to the group there was little left to do except expound upon their assembled theories and strategies. One of the first significant treatises to come from the collective was the seminal "ZD White Paper #6 - When Friend Becomes Foe." Improvising through imperfect testing equipment and seeking inspiration wherever they could find it, these five men brought forth a number of techniques and implements still used by preparedness experts to this day, such as: triple-alpha search and recon formations, the Brannock device, and the torque-twister's last resort gambit. Proud of their fledgling accomplishments and feeling as if they had truly done something good for society, they created a sign proclaiming their location as the "World Zombie Defense Headquarters" and hung it high outside the door as an indication to the uninitiated as to where they could come to learn and train.
While many of the aforementioned developments and techniques have proven to be vital to the modern development of anti-zombie studies, the creation of the Zombie Pop Quiz has been one of the WZDH's longest lasting contributions. Originally deemed Research Item 26F, the Zombie Pop Quiz has proven itself to be one of the best self-directed preparedness exercises that any aspiring zombie defender can use in an effort to bolster their own awareness and methods. (For those unfamiliar with the Zombie Pop Quiz, please refer to the "Clinical Research" section of this site for information as to how the Quiz runs, what skills it hones and how one can conduct their own Quizzes.)
Despite having a somewhat quiet (at least publically) first few formative months, it did not take long for resistance from those oblivious to the omnipresent threat to surface and try to stop the WZDH from spreading their message. Clearly responding with the bigotry and zeal that taints those who refuse to acknowledge beliefs alien to their own, some of the WZDH's immediate neighbors felt threatened and decided to act to shut down their crucial activities. Using a potent mix of strong arm tactics which bordered on vandalism and a strong dose of corporate intimidation, these locals brought an end to the group's outward preparedness efforts and prevented them from freely advertising their courses, wares and seminars to the casual passer-by. Even in the face of such brazen disregard for the future and safety of humanity, the five stalwart founders of the WZDH turned their focus towards continuing their desperately needed work, only this time doing so out of the public eye. Their focused research continued over the following years, eventually taking form as zombiedefense.org.
Current Research and Facilities
Despite the overall cold felt all along the eastern seaboard during the winter of 1998, conditions were icier still for the WZDH. Having been forced to bow to local pressures that publicly prevented them from both displaying their research as well as providing assistance to those in need of zombie preparedness exercises, the staff redirected their efforts on assembling an accomplished body of research on the undead. While times at first were bleak, they were far from desolate. The initial efforts and accomplishments of the WZDH were so revolutionary that sharp new talent was attracted into the fold. This influx of manpower, ideas and industriousness reinvigorated everyone affiliated with the cause. It was around this time that the WZDH formally changed their name to Zombie Defense (which, in turn, later morphed one more time into the group's adoption of zombiedefense.org as their primary means of extending their message and their outreach) and tightly refined their mission statement into the one still used to this day. It did not take long for the collective to again enter a stretch of high productivity.
While all of the members of the original core that formed the WZDH were quite busy during this time, Shaun Whitney took the opportunity presented by this refocusing to address his own spiritual crisis through temporarily devoting his full attention towards being ordained. This exercise was not entirely personally centered - Whitney correctly predicted the gradual increase in the political influence of Christian fundamentalists into the machinations of United States policy making. His ordination was in part an effort to favorably position the zombiedefense.org team in line so as to tap into federal faith-based initiative monies to help support their research. His efforts were successful in part.
Through Mendenhall and Redford's dedicated fundraising efforts and the unexpected gift of considerable seed money from two prominent anonymous donors, the group was soon able to create a modest endowment to perpetually fund their operations. One of the organization's first steps was to construct a permanent research facility. In 2003 the time came for them to turn this dream into reality. True to their formative roots, zombiedefense.org decided to continue to call North Carolina home when breaking ground. Their sprawling state-of-the-art research campus in the Piedmont region's foothills serves as an outpost and central research clearinghouse for their numerous internationally-based field agents. With such a powerful tool at their disposal, zombiedefense.org has poised itself as the worldwide leader in all aspects of zombie preparedness protection.
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