The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Don’t Give Up On People
By Liam O'Leary
The Walking Dead’s season finale showed people can (And will) be untrustworthy in a zombie apocalypse. But, we also saw you can’t give up on them, either.
This Sunday’s Walking Dead season seven finale was so big that I thought it deserved two survival rules this week!
Yesterday, we focused on The Scavengers betraying Alexandria and discussed watching your back and being careful who you trust. Today, however, we’re going to go in the opposite direction and discuss not giving up on otherwise good people in a zombie apocalypse.
First and foremost, we need to discuss why we might consider writing off people in a zombie apocalypse…
They May Be Too Far Gone
Sadly, it won’t be unusual for people, even good people, to go crazy in a zombie apocalypse; All the death, carnage, chaos, potentially losing loved ones, and the strain of survival can push anyone over the edge.
Let’s take Morgan, for example. After losing his wife and son, Morgan snapped, killing just about everyone and everything that crossed his path. That was, until he met Dr. Eastman.
However, even then, Morgan’s self-control was tenuous, often struggling to contain his murderous rage. That control was compromised when his student, Benjamin, was killed.
The next day, after an exchange with The Saviors, Morgan, right in front of The Kingdom and The Saviors, strangled Richard with his bare hands, much to The Kingdom’s horror. After burying Richard, Morgan declared his mission to slaughter as many Saviors as he could, alone.
If you were Ezekiel, or anyone else from The Kingdom, it might have been tough to believe that the Morgan you once knew was still there.
Of course, if The Kingdom had simply gone with that assumption and written Morgan off, they would have been making a terrible mistake…
You Must Try To Reach Them
If
a friend appears to have gone off the deep end, you
can’t
just assume that, and leave them to wallow in madness until they die. You have to
try
to reach them.
Will it be easy? Not necessarily. In fact, it’s entirely possible that they may, in fact, be too far gone.
However, you need to at least attempt to reach them. So long as they’re not a raving psycho, somewhere within this person is the good man or woman you knew. If there’s even a hint that there is some semblance of reason within them, you have to make the effort to reach it.
The Morgan Carol and Ezekiel had seen was the worst either had ever seen him. He had already killed Richard, and was intent on going on a rampage on The Saviors, throwing aside his desire not to kill. Yet, both of them knew that within Morgan beat the heart of a man who wanted peace and to turn away from violence. The two appealed to the man that they knew Morgan could still be, with Ezekiel even asking him if he sought kill every last bit of the man he once was.
After listening to Ezekiel and Carol, appealing to his better nature (And, frankly, some plain old sound logic), Morgan agreed to help them as they marched to, ultimately, save Alexandria.
Though, the potential for instability isn’t the only reason you might consider giving up on someone…
They’re Cowards
With millions of zombies all over the place, and, potentially, large gatherings of hostiles, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that otherwise good people will make decisions, including bad or otherwise selfish ones, out of fear.
A person who’s afraid may abandon people in need in the face of a large herd of zombies; Or, in the case of Eugene, decide to join a hostile group in the hope of ensuring their own safety.
The problem with people who are cowards, is that, they can’t be counted on. A person who is controlled by fear is just that: Controlled by it. A coward can be frozen in place just as easily as they can run for the hills; In either case, whoever relies on them for help is in deep trouble.
Worse still, a person that afraid can be bullied or intimidated into compliance by thugs or hostiles. Once again, whoever is relying on this person is in for a world of trouble.
All of that said, just because someone is a chickenshit, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should give up on them…
Cowardice Isn’t Terminal
The one great thing about cowardice is that it doesn’t have to be terminal. It can be cured.
Fixing someone’s cowardice isn’t easy. Chances are, whatever they’re afraid of (Death, for example!) is reasonable. Who wants to get eaten by zombies? Or murdered by thugs or psychos? Not many, I imagine.
But, if the person in question is an otherwise good person — Helps others, contributes where they can, isn’t a soulless killer…the usual — you can appeal to their good nature to attempt to get them past their fears.
Or, they can find themselves in a circumstance where they have no choice but to confront their fears head on, to help someone they care about. One would hope it doesn’t come to that, but, in some cases, being forced to be brave may be the only way for them to conquer their cowardice.
In any event, if they are, in fact, a good person, these situations will appeal to that inherent good within them. The truly brave person is the one who is afraid, yet still acts.
You see, in a zombie apocalypse, we will meet all sorts of people in our shared struggle to survive. While they may leave you questioning their reliability, good people will be a precious commodity in a zombie apocalypse. You can’t afford to cast aside ones who may be more affected by its horrors than you.
So long as you know that a person is good, don’t give up on them. They are worth fighting for.
This is how we survive. This is why we follow…The Rules.
Next: The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Watch Your Back
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!