The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Trust

Surviving a zombie apocalypse requires lots of things, but, as Tara tried to explain on Sunday’s The Walking Dead, one of the biggest is TRUST.

A few weeks ago, I extolled the virtues of having friends and allies in a zombie apocalypse. This was, largely, to deal with the massive number of zombies you’re likely to encounter.

Having friends gives you the means to combat the undead as well as the hostile living much more effectively than you can alone. One of the greatest weapons we have is strength in numbers.

Of course, this doesn’t just happen. A group of people don’t just randomly come together and form a cohesive unit automatically. In order to utilize the power of being in a group, that group requires trust.

Why You Need It

Well…this is an easy one. As I’m sure I’ve said before, once the zombie apocalypse starts, the vermin come out of the woodwork.

People looting for the sake of it, thugs, rapists, murderers, all of this ilk make their presence known as law and order crumble. Worse still, people who once kept their dark sides hidden reveal their true selves once they believe they’re free from consequences.

It won’t take long for people like this to coalesce under their shared goals of pillage and plunder; They’ll know that, together, they’re more likely to go unchallenged, where individually, they may get themselves killed.

Obviously, as these sorts of lowlifes form gangs, the best way to combat them is to find other people who don’t want to engage in rampant barbarism and send the thugs packing.

But, like I said…

It WON’T Be Easy

Trust is tough enough to come by normally, it becomes even more difficult when misplaced trust can get you killed.

I mentioned last week about “THAT Guy”s — people who are selfish to the point of self-destruction —  but, they’re not alone. As time wears on, hostiles will become clever, and mask their vile intent behind sympathetic faces, offers of assistance, or fevered cries for help.

We’ve seen it several times already in The Walking Dead: First, with the requests for food and shelter from Dave and Tony, then the friendly facade of The Governor, and finally, the offer of sanctuary from Terminus. All of them had masks which belied their true sinister nature, and, knowing people are capable of this sort of deceit makes trusting people extremely difficult once the dead rise.

But…

Trust IS Possible

While trusting others is tough in a zombie apocalypse, it is possible.

How? Well, often times, the person asking for the trust has to make the effort to earn it. With people unsure whether you will stab them in the back or not, you need to prove to them that you want to help.

I imagine that the most likely avenue of gaining trust will force you to make some kind of sacrifice or take some kind of serious risk to aid the person/people you’re appealing to. A person is far more likely to trust someone who’s willing to risk their life to help those they are asking the trust of then someone who isn’t.

This can work in reverse, too.

In a zombie apocalypse, where brutality and murder will, sadly, probably be the norm, those who show mercy are far more likely to be trustworthy than those who don’t.

Simply put: It’s easy to take a life in a zombie apocalypse, but, when it could so easily bite them, it becomes something special when a person chooses to spare a life.

Regardless of how you feel about it, trust is a necessity in a zombie apocalypse. Without it, we’re sitting ducks, forced to take on the hordes of undead and armies of hostiles alone.

Trust is the key to forming strong, cohesive groups, who can come together to defeat whatever manner of threats face them in the zombie apocalypse.

It isn’t easy, but, with some effort, it is possible. And, once good people come together in great enough numbers, there is little that can stop them. United, we stand. Divided, we fall.

This is why you follow…The Rules.

Next: The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: THAT Guy

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!