The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: THAT Guy
By Liam O'Leary
On this week’s episode of The Walking Dead. We got a great example of the kinds of people you CAN trust…and the kind you CAN’T.
Navigating who you can and can’t trust is always difficult. It becomes even more difficult when misplaced trust can get you killed or eaten alive. In a zombie apocalypse, being able to tell who’s trustworthy can be a matter of life and death.
The people you can trust are the ones who are willing to risk their health and safety to help others. These are people who’ve clearly not forgotten what it is to be human, and still care about people beyond just themselves.
The zombie apocalypse can also surprise you, as people you might never have thought had such compassion, empathy, and humanity prove that they have these qualities in abundance. …Sometimes, they prove they have even more than people you’d expect such qualities from.
Of course, on the other hand, we have those who you can’t trust, which brings me to my point…
Rule #191: Don’t be “That Guy”.
Now, those of you who are familiar with me know that the term “That Guy” is a favorite of mine. I often use it to describe particularly despicable characters on The Walking Dead, most often *Glares* Martin, my mortal nemesis.
But, when originally writing The Rules, I had a slightly different definition, that being a person who is so utterly self-serving, that he or she will sell allies, friends, even family, up the river to save their own skin, even to their own detriment.
To be honest, I’d never truly seen someone who matched my original definition perfectly until I watched this week’s The Walking Dead. The person in question: Gregory.
Holy crap, what a snake in the grass.
When I say Gregory matches the definition perfectly, I’m not kidding: He schemed to rat out Sasha and a pregnant Maggie to Simon in hopes of saving himself. Truly, a hero amongst men.
…Oh, wait.
Of course, the point of today’s rule is to explain why you shouldn’t be a “That Guy”.
Well, let’s just get right to brass tax: What, exactly, did Gregory think Simon would do to him if he discovered he’d been harboring Sasha and Maggie?
Give him a reward? Tell Negan to give him a break for a little while? Leave The Hilltop alone?
HA!!!
The Saviors tried to kill him when he was complying with their demands! If they were willing to try that beforehand, chances are good that revealing he’d been harboring Sasha and Maggie (And lying about it) would only guarantee him a date with Lucille!!!
THIS is why you shouldn’t be “That Guy”: Because, having that sort of excessive selfishness is NOT a guarantee of survival. Selling out allies only guarantees that they’ll die, not that you’ll live. While doing so might ingratiate you to a hostile, you have just as much of a chance of it irritating them, and convincing them that you’re not worth keeping alive, either.
Furthermore, as seen on Sunday’s Walking Dead, if you’re in a group, selling out allies does you no favors. If your group know or even think you can’t be trusted, whatever position you have in the group will vaporize, no matter how high it might be.
A group that doesn’t trust you will come to see you as expendable. This means that your efforts to save your own in skin will, in fact, make you more likely to die. A person the group sees as expendable is the first one left behind when the undead come knocking.
Speaking of which, that might be the best reason why being “That Guy” isn’t sound strategy in a zombie apocalypse.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how valuable it is to have friends; To have an extra set of eyes and hands watching your back when dealing with the dead.
THIS is why you shouldn’t be “That Guy”: Because, having that sort of excessive selfishness is NOT a guarantee of survival. Selling out allies only guarantees that they’ll die, not that you’ll live.
Well, think of this: If you’ve sold out all your friends/allies, and there’s a herd of zombies…who’ll help you? Who’ll make sure a zombie doesn’t sneak up behind you while you’re fighting off the ones in front of you?
Basically: Who’s gonna save your ass?
Answer: NOBODY. NOBODY is gonna help you. NOBODY is gonna watch your back. NOBODY is gonna save you.
When you’re so selfish that you’ll sell out anyone in the zombie apocalypse to save your ass, you’ll find it’s a very lonely world, and one you’re not going to last long in.
This is why you follow The Rules.
Next: The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Acceptance
And that’s our survival rule of the week!! Hopefully, it will help you should you ever need it and give you that mental edge that will prove so crucial once the dead start eating everyone.
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!