The Walking Dead: Survival Rule Of The Week
By Liam O'Leary
We’ve reached the end of this season of The Walking Dead, but, not before it provided us with one of the most important lessons on how to survive.
Last night, we watched the Season 6 finale of The Walking Dead, and, got introduced to one of its most infamous villains, Negan. Negan and his massive army stood as a glaring reminder of one the most important rules for surviving the zombie apocalypse, one which no real survivor should be without…
Rule #35: Zombies aren’t the only things out there.
Now, while it’s obviously a zombie apocalypse, as in “The apocalypse was brought about by zombies“, that doesn’t mean that the threats you’ll face in it are exclusively zombies. There’s all sorts of other things out there that can kill you: Natural disasters, weather, disease, fire, animals, and crumbling infrastructure; all of them can do you in in a number of different ways.
Of course, I’m not here to talk about natural disasters, weather, disease, fire, animals, or crumbling infrastructure. No, I’m here to talk about what is, easily, the most dangerous threat of them all…people.
And, while there were lots of people I could name specifically, let’s not kid ourselves, the only person I need to name as an example is Negan.
What makes Negan so dangerous, more so than perhaps any other threat The Group’s faced up to this point, honestly, is his charisma.
Sure, The Governor and Gareth had their charm and could lead large groups, but, Negan leads an army. What’s more, so far as we can tell, The Saviors are very much aware of what Negan does, unlike the Woodburians, and they go out and actively pursue other people, unlike the Termites.
Now, when I say Negan’s charisma is what makes him a threat, what I mean is, unlike The Governor, who felt he needed to lie about or omit the more violent things he did, and find excuses to justify them, Negan has no such problem.
Negan is plainly honest with his subordinates about what he does and what he’s having them do. This allows him to lead this massive army in part because they have no illusions about what they’re doing , and therefore, won’t rebel for being deceived. This, when combined with his charisma, allows him to command this massive army to do whatever evil bidding he desires with little to no protest or questioning!
Speaking of that massive army, the fact it is so massive and is so loyal, allows Negan to do things neither The Governor nor Gareth could dream of doing!
It’s what allows him to control a large swath of the Virginia (West Virginia?), large enough that he can block every road from Alexandria to The Hilltop, and large enough that they can go and terrorize any and all other communities in the area!
Which brings me back to my point: While zombies are obviously a threat, people do things zombies can’t do. Zombies can’t plan, zombies can’t organize, zombies can’t use tools or weapons, zombies can’t lay traps, and zombies can’t outsmart you. People, on the other hand, CAN.
In a zombie apocalypse, while zombies obviously, are a major threat, you always have the ability to think your way around them or through them.
People, on the other hand, you may not. You always have to be on your toes because, at any given time, you could run into another group of people who are more numerous, better armed, better prepared, and more intelligent, than you. The sooner you understand this, the better prepared you’ll be when bad neighbors (Inevitably) come knocking.
Always be ready. Always be prepared. Always think ahead. And always…follow THE RULES.
And that is our lesson for today. If you like this and want to find out more rules to survive the zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can get it on Kindle here and on iTunes here!