Seven Deadly Sins of The Zombie Apocalypse: Wrath

You’d be right to be angry in a zombie apocalypse:Everything’s gone to Hell. But, don’t let it control you. The hottest fires first consume themselves.

I often find myself angry at things: How long it takes me to come up with ideas for what to write, Roger Goddell…and I’m sure some other things.

However, I also learned a long time ago that I can’t allow my anger to get the best of me. If I did, God only knows what kind of trouble that would cause. With that in mind, I thought today would be a great day to discuss…

Wrath

Wrath is characterized by anger in excess. Once you’ve reached this level of vexation, hatred and violence usually follow suit. Pretty standard.

In a zombie apocalypse, anger has its place. It doesn’t necessarily hurt to have that little extra adrenaline when fighting for your life against the undead. Even having a grudge against a hostile may help you to press on to rid you and your group of that threat.

However, wrath can also be the harbinger of one’s downfall. A person who’s too angry may come into situations against zombies or hostiles unable to think clearly. Doing things without thinking clearly is how people get themselves killed.

Need an example? Let’s look at Beth.

Emily Kinney as Beth Greene, Cullen Moss as Officer Gorman, The Walking Dead — AMC /

As Season Four of The Walking Dead wore on, Beth was kidnapped and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

There, Beth was met by Lt. Dawn Lerner and her team of Atlanta cops, Dr. Steven Edwards, and the survivors they managed.

Of course, their style of management seemed a lot like servitude, and Lt. Lerner’s cops weren’t as model as one might hope, with at least one being a tyrannical bully, and another being a flat-out rapist.

While Beth was able to handle this (Much to her credit), what she couldn’t tolerate was Lerner and Dr. Edwards’ habit of manipulating her to serve their own ends.

After believing she’d reached some kind of understanding with Lerner, Beth was incensed to hear Dawn demand Noah stay at the hospital as a condition of letting Beth and Carol free from her dominion.

Christine Woods as Lt. Dawn Lerner, Tyler James Williams as Noah, Emily Kinney as Beth Greene, The Walking Dead — AMC /

At that moment, Beth learned that all the progress, all the rapport she seemed to have built with Dawn…wasn’t real. It was just another manipulation by a woman desperate to maintain her political position.

This, after being forced to kill three people, two of which after being manipulated by someone else, was too much for Beth.

After saying good-bye to Noah, Beth intended to leave Dawn with a memento, to thank her for the lesson she taught. After staring Dawn down, Beth stabbed her in the shoulder with a pair of scissors.

…Sadly, it was Beth who ended up getting the worse end of that memento.

Christine Woods as Lt. Dawn Lerner, Emily Kinney as Beth Greene, The Walking Dead — AMC /

Dawn’s body tightened up upon being stabbed, causing her finger to squeeze the trigger of her gun, putting a bullet through Beth’s head, killing her instantly.

Had Beth not been so angry, she would have thought her actions through, reconsidered, and survived. Unfortunately, Beth was so enraged, she never even bothered to notice that Dawn’s gun was in her hand or thought of what it might do.

All she had to do was think, but, you can’t do that when blinded by rage.

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead — AMC /

I couldn’t touch upon this topic without addressing the bearded elephant in the room: Rick.

The whole reason why Dawn was able to demand Noah in the first place was because Rick had killed one of her officers, returning with two instead of three.

Of course, Rick killed the officer in question, Bob Lamson, because, frankly, he’d had enough. After losing his wife, his mentor, his home, having his, Daryl’s, Michonne’s, and Carl’s lives threatened by The Claimers, having the entire group threatened by the Termites, and losing Bob, Rick had had enough.

When Lamson attempted to escape from The Group, Rick was not having it. He chased Lamson down with his own car, hit him with it, and then gunned him down. Rick had reached boiling point, and Officer Lamson (And by extension, Beth) paid the price.

I initially wanted to use this to discuss The Governor, but, thinking about made me realize: When people are consumed by wrath, it is usually they themselves who suffer the most.

“But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” — Romans 2:5

Do you want to learn more of how to survive a zombie apocalypse (That isn’t quite so biblical)? 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!

Home/The Walking Dead