Bandits

From Zombiepedia

Bandits are people who attack other survivors to steal food, water and other valuable things during a zombie apocalypse. They will most commonly use guns, but they can also be seen with melee or improvised weapons. They usually work in groups and will trap and kill survivors for their supplies. During extended outbreaks, most bandits commonly get overwhelmed by the massive amount of infected zombies or disband due to infighting, disease, or lack of supplies and shelter. Other names for them are-Raiders, Scavengers, Thieves, Pirates (this mainly applies to those on large bodies of water), Hoodlums, Riff-Raff, Zombie Food, etc.

[edit] What to do when encountering bandits

Since they are both armed and usually in groups, bandits should be avoided at all costs, but if you are spotted, go on the offensive. If you are lucky, they will only have close quarters weapons and you can take them out from afar. If they are armed with guns as well, try to sneak up on them and shoot to injure. If you can hurt them, they will most likely stumble off. If they keep fighting, shoot to cripple, leaving them to die at the hands of the undead. If a bandit scouting party finds your compound, make sure you kill every single one, no ifs, ands, or buts. If just one gets back to the other bandits, you and your friends' safety is severely compromised. A smart group of bandits, once they discover your safe haven, send a scout to pose as a person in need of help and shelter from zombies. See how many are in your group, what provisions you have and what kind of resistance his group would encounter when they make the move on your compound. It's hard to really spot these kind of bandits, so just keep your eyes and ears open to newcomers. Also, if your base has Zombie Dud Weapons (i.e. the large high-firepower kind of weapons that work poorly against the undead) like RPG's, miniguns, or artillery cannons, keep them on the base in stategically visable locations with no chance of them stealing it. Any bandit, no matter how large his group, is going to seriously reconsider attacking you if there is the posibility of him having to face down a tank.