How to Survive the Annual Purge

One day, you return home from a long day of work. Suddenly, alarms start blaring. The streets are filled with people wearing helmets, wielding heavy weapons, and holding chainsaws to try to cut through their neighbor’s fences. An announcement is delivered over every possible speaker system: “Hello fellow citizens, the Purge has officially begun. As a reminder, all crimes will be legal for the next 24 hours, so choose your next move wisely.” Here are some tips in order to survive:

1. Preparation is key to survival. If you do not prepare correctly, you will almost certainly die. 
   1. Stock canned goods to prevent starving
   2. Make sure all your weapons are ready in case someone enters
   3. Build a big, big, wall around your house to act as a first line of defense against any attack. 
2. Lock the door. Do not let anyone in at all. They will attempt to kill you. Also, you should hermetically seal all windows to prevent toxic gas from entering. Use a plant in order to get oxygen. 
3. Play defensively. Do not attempt to attack other people unless you are certain that they are out to get you. 
4. Obtain as many weapons as possible. If you can’t get your hands on a gun, a knife will suffice. This is an example of a way to utilize these weapons aside from just killing people:
   1. Using a string, a pulley, and a knife, you can set up a rudimentary tripwire trap that will have someone fall and a knife fall right on their head. Just make sure it’s oriented correctly so it doesn’t bounce off. 
5. Try to build a tank as soon as you can. You have 2 options of when to build it: before or during the purge. If you attempt to build it before the purge, it will be quite expensive. If you attempt to do it during the purge, try your best to do it as early as possible as people will have likely obtained a lot of the useful materials to build it. It will require these materials:
   1. 1. Steel plates – harvestable from car hoods and other parts as well as other vehicles in general and miscellaneous furniture
      2. Steel rods – Similar in source to plates
      3. Superglue – just rob a store
      4. A spring or car piston – springs can be found in slinkies; a car piston is preferable and is found in a car.
      5. Ammunition – soda bottles + Mentos will do the trick
      6. An engine – again, just disassemble a car.
      7. Hinges to open and close hatches – can be easily made using LEGO Technic pieces. 
      8. Rubber 
      9. A lever and winch – this can be found in many mechanical supply stores
      10. Bike chain
      11. Nails and Screws – go to a hardware store
      12. A large pipe – ideally just above the width of a 2 liter soda bottle
      13. Tin cans
      14. Plastic wrap
      15. Steering wheel, gas pedal, and brakes – just disassemble a car
      16. Here are some unrequired materials but said materials may be useful too:
          • Books
          • Paper
          • Bottles
          • Sand
          • Sandbags
          • Cardboard sheets
          • Balsa wood
          • Lubricant
      17. Tools (note that these tools can be used in combat except for the sander as it is the least effective):
          • Hammer
          • Sander
          • Wrench
          • Chainsaw
          • Screwdriver
          • Hot glue gun
6. The tank construction itself follows these steps:
   1. Use steel rods to outline a tank that should contain a hull about your height (including the height of the tracks) and a turret (about half your height)
   2. Place the turret on the hull, then use the bike chain and shorter metal rods to allow the turret to rotate.
   3. Install the main cannon. Glue it in place on the front of the turret.
   4. Add a small half-tube in order to hold the ammunition before firing.
   5. Add a firing release mechanism that essentially consists of a compressed spring and some form of cover (e.g. circular piece of metal) in front of the round, so when you pull the trigger, it causes the round to be fired.
   6. Coat the inside of the gun with plastic wrap and lubricant. 
   7. Put the steel plates over the rods.
   8. To make the tracks, mold the rubber into a patterned track shape in order to withstand the terrain, and put the cans into the rubber lengthwise, with the bottom of the can facing inwards. Adding lubricant will help. 
   9. Install the engine in the rear of the hull. In case someone attempts to fire at your tank from the rear, they will likely hit the rear of the hull, and the engine block will absorb most of the damage. 
   10. Install a driving system by modifying the front wheel and adding an axle to the steering wheel, attaching both ends to each other. This way, you can effectively steer the tank. The gas pedal and brake should be attached to the engine to allow you to move. 
   11. Add the other optional items to the armor to give further protection. There are many options, but they generally range from soft materials with cushioning power to harder materials that act as a raw wall. 
   12. Options for softer materials include mattresses, bouncy castles, pillows, and cushions
   13. Options for harder materials include steel, electronic devices, hardwood(look for Australian Bulocke), 
7. The tank will require immense amounts of power and ammunition, so you might have to often exit it to obtain said ammunition and power. One solution is to use solar panels and gasoline for fuel and Coca-Cola– and Mentos-propelled ammunition. Make sure you add some form of an explosive payload. 
   1. This tank will make you fully invincible to most small arms and fragmentation based weapons. 
   2. A manual generator may also work but make sure you allow yourself enough energy to actually operate the tank. 
8. Another option is to simply stay in the air the entire time, which is an option if you can manage to steal a helicopter or airplane because there are no laws. This list below will highlight how to choose:
   1. Do you favor speed or maneuverability? If speed, choose a fixed wing plane. If maneuverability, choose a helicopter. 
   2. Do you need to be able to land anywhere at any time? Pick a helicopter if yes. 
   3. Do you have little experience in flying? If yes, pick a fixed-wing aircraft. 
   4. Do you want to utilize weapons and attack from above? If yes, pick a fixed-wing aircraft or an attack helicopter; If no, pick one that lacks weapons or remove the weapons off military aircraft for future use. 
   5. Or you can use a hot air balloon, but make sure you have a quick and easy way down. 
9. Arrange your house defense in this shape:

    10. To ensure survival in case the government itself shuts down during the purge, you should ideally create a survival base that is shaped like this:

    11. Use these keys so that they will be shown for a picosecond, 4 of them will each flash for one picosecond, randomly shuffled and all turned to 1 random color of the colors below, and only if you get the specific order of those keys you will unlock your front door. 

1. 1. The way the keys work is that they emit a specific infrared frequency to a sensor on the door, and then the door will check that frequency. If it matches, then the door opens. If not, a giant hole opens up and all the keys are sucked in and reshuffled. 
   2. To make sure you don’t get locked out, wear a contact lens that contains a small module allowing you to see infrared rays. All the other keys will not emit infrared. 

Happy building and good luck!