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Two Pennsylvania malls are apparently the best for surviving a zombie apocalypse

Just in case we find ourselves needing this type of information.

Ashley Johnson as Anna in the season finale of HBO’s “The Last of Us.” (HBO/TNS)
Ashley Johnson as Anna in the season finale of HBO’s “The Last of Us.” (HBO/TNS)Read more/ MCT

If a zombie outbreak à la The Last of Us ends up happening IRL, a new report says Erie’s Millcreek Mall is the best place to survive. The King of Prussia Mall also has good odds, apparently.

Or at least, that’s what data compiled by JeffBet — an online casino based in the United Kingdom — says. The company evaluated America’s 20 largest shopping malls based on eight pieces of criteria: demand, infection risk, shelter suitability, food provisions, weapon access, medicine access, mental stimulation, and chances of rescue.

The study was inspired by HBO’s smash hit, The Last of Us, based on the popular video game franchise. The TV show and video game center around a zombie infection forcing community members to find shelter wherever they could.

» READ MORE: ‘This makes me feel seen:’ ‘Sims’ update for trans players, 'The Last of Us' scenes mark latest win for LGBTQ gamers

Malls are a classic hiding spot in zombie and alien movies and TV shows, including The Last of Us, which centers an episode within an abandoned one. A study published in Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture, titled Zombies, Malls, and the Consumerism Debate focuses on it. Mall scenes in Netflix’s Stranger Things also became key in the show’s storyline.

“Given that a zombie outbreak could occur without any prior warning, highly-populated areas like shopping complexes and malls could see thousands of people scrambling to survive,” a statement from JeffBet said. “And it turns out that some malls in America are better-suited to survival than others.”

According to the final scores, Millcreek Mall would be the ideal place to land during a hypothetical zombie outbreak — so make that mental note now.

Key factors that play a role in the mall’s top ranking include the fact that it’s not highly visited compared to other malls and is in a more out of the way area. This could be bad news for a mall’s sales, but under the premise of a zombie apocalypse where you want to avoid infections, it’s a good thing.

Joe Bell, a spokesperson for the Cafaro Co. — the Ohio-based company that owns the Millcreek Mall — told GoErie that he doesn’t necessarily agree with all of JeffBet’s data.

“In the past 12 months, over 12 million people have visited,” he said. “I wouldn’t call that a low footfall.”

Still, Bell added that he was “proud and honored” by the mall’s No. 1 ranking and mused that the mall’s offerings, including two weapons stores, might have helped its score. “Those zombies won’t have a chance there.”

JeffBet said that the mall’s on-site pharmacy and its nearest hospital being about a 13-minute walk away gave visitors a “good chance of survival.”

Out of the casino’s top 10 malls for people to survive in, the King of Prussia Mall also faired well, ranking third place. The Lakewood Center in Lakewood, Calif., earned second.

The King of Prussia Mall’s best-scoring factor was for visitors’ high “chance of rescue,” though the report didn’t go into additional details.

New Jersey’s Westfield Garden State Plaza and American Dream mall also made the top 10, placing sixth and ninth, respectively.

For Pennsylvania, it checks out that multiple malls would make the top slots for zombie safety.

Monroeville’s Monroeville Mall is best recognized as the main filming location for the 1978 cult zombie horror film, Dawn of the Dead. The filming would take place inside the mall at night until dawn, after hours. In the movie, the mall is used to protect four human survivors from a zombie outbreak — sound familiar?

So now you know — not that we’re doing anything with that information. Hopefully.