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Let's face it, people are not happy with the government right now, it's too corrupt to survive much longer, it needs to take the natural course and die off to be replaced with temporary anarchy until new order that is uncorrupted can be found, unfortunately, the new order will inevitably corrupt and follow the same path, but that's not the topic.

This is a time of large distress, people will panic, the majority of people are comparable to cattle, without a leader sending them slowly to slaughter, they are lost. Because of this, there will be multiple congregations of people with different beliefs. This is a very explosive situation, because there will be fighting, it's best to study guerrilla warfare as soon as possible in preparation. The fact is, though government may fail, profit seeking organizations may not, so food might still be manufactured, but without regulations, prices will be too steep, so it would be better to farm the land.

You want to go where people aren't, and you should have a group of 10 survivors give or take. Not enough to make feeding a problem, just enough to handle a workload. Rural areas are good, a small island in a freshwater pond is best though, it's a water supply (I still recommend boiling) and you can fish for food. If the pond is surrounded by wooded area, even better, improvise traps to catch small game rather than waste ammo. Wooded areas will also provide hiding places and will keep your strong hold a bit less detectable.

For weaponry, anything that can be used effectively will do, I still wouldn't recommend a sword though, because it's unlikely that you will find one that isn't purely ornamental.

An underground base, do you have any idea how costly, time consuming, and supply consuming that would be, that just was not a good idea.

You could take advantage of this by having your small group/pack/tribe start a religion based on the Restoring of science and the pursuit of human physical and mental improvements via genetic science. The sheep would follow the wolf pack and together they can feast on the cows >.>

stay close to the outside though, you never know how much of the mountain one beam is holding up. and if you were caught in a "seismic bump" you'd probably be screwed.

I agree for the most part except only a group of 3 or more when s**t goes down [as it will] you do not need lose ends but I do understand the need as well. For a location I prefer nomad its less dangerous and there are more resources availbe long term [based on suberban and city settings which is most common case]

That is true but if you decide to stay in one location then even in a small group you have every damn person in the area to worry about longterm

Who says the government remnants aren't still hanging out there and willing to shoot you if you approach?

I say avoid all man-made roads as much as possible as the idea of the highwayman is still very-much used in the modern day and undoubtably there will be a woman on the side of the road holding a bloody bundle in her arms wailing, but when you approach to take a look at her bloodied legs and dead infant, her family leaps up out of the drainage ditch, shoots your a** and takes your s**t.
Drive to a place you KNOW you can live, preferrably near water you know isn't saturated with human waste/pesticide runoff, avoiding all major/commonly traversed roads, and then hunker down. Clean water is a must. Chickens require very little labor and alot of food if you know how to take care of them right. Keep a stock of hardy, low maintenance plant seeds that are disease resistance. And having a few dependable guns and a way to make bullets (which really ain't hard, just expensive, and since there's a gov. breakdown it ain't like you can order metals off ebay. maybe salvage if you're brave enough to go to the cities.) is a plus.
By the way, if you can start a large clan or gang in the city, and can secure some decent urban soil, go ahead, but you have to think, there are ALREADY gangs in the city, they WILL stick together, and they WILL use force to control resources you may want to buy. Plus, if you've even thought of starting a gang, there's another one thinking of taking out their competition. That means you. : )