Fear The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: The human rot
By Liam O'Leary
Fear The Walking Dead has shown us that, just as a zombie apocalypse can bring out the good in people, like any crisis, it can bring out THE WORST in people.
To be honest, guys, as I write this, I’m in kind of a bad mood, which is convenient for me. I’m kind of at a point where people just seem to be getting worse and worse, and I find it repugnant. This is convenient because this week, we’re discussing how the zombie apocalypse can bring out the worst in people, or, what I’m referring to, as human rot.
Why? Who knows? There’s lots of reasons. But, regardless, it remains a fact that, in the worst of times, the worst people and the worst of people come out. A zombie apocalypse will be no exception.
In fact, considering the nature of a zombie apocalypse, having those people (And those aspects of people) come out will make the zombie apocalypse even worse, as Fear The Walking Dead has shown us.
A great example of this is one Mr. Dante Esquivel. Dante was the mayor of Tijuana prior to the outbreak and the fact he’s a slimy politician is evident the moment we’re introduced to him.
As Strand makes his way to the Gonzalez Dam looking for Dante, he sees a long line of people forking over supplies for water. As Strand tries to tell the guards he’s there to see Dante, they beat him up.
What does all of this have to do with Dante? It shows that, even in a zombie apocalypse, politicians like him will find ways to exert power over people. They will find ways to profit from other’s misery, and use force to ensure their dominion.
Furthermore, it shows that people like Dante — People whose need to exert control borders on megalomaniacal — will do anything to achieve or maintain power.
For example: Consider the pains Dante went through just to apprehend someone “stealing” a relative trickle of water from him. He literally sent armed patrols to catch someone who was lucky they could fill one gallon of water. Why? Because he couldn’t tolerate the idea of people getting water without giving him some kind of payment or tribute.
…And that’s not even taking into account all the infected he had piled up at the bottom of the dam. We’re supposed to believe all of them were cartel thugs? Somehow…I don’t think so. My guess: Many of them were either people he didn’t like beforehand (Like Strand), or, people who he deemed as “Stealing” from him. Great guy, that Dante.
Of course, politicians and that ilk won’t be the only human rot you’ll encounter.
Sadly, a zombie apocalypse will allow all manner of psychos and sociopaths to live out their fantasies unchecked. Reed, who we met in Season Two, is the personification of this.
Why do I say that? Well, think about this: Reed, being out and about and part of his brother’s crew meant that whatever evil he might have been doing before the outbreak had gone under the radar. He wasn’t in jail, nor did he show any signs of the likely affects he would have suffered being in one, from, you know, being in a small, enclosed place with a likely growing number of undead.
My point? We learned that Reed had killed a indeterminate number of people since the outbreak began. He might have done this before the outbreak as well, but, as I already established, if so, it went unnoticed.
Once the zombie apocalypse is in full swing, people like him don’t really have to hide anymore. With no one to really stop them, sociopaths like Reed can kill indiscriminately, any time they please.
What makes this so dangerous (And circles back to my theme this week) is that people you thought you knew before the outbreak, once it hits, may turn out to be just like Reed. For all you know, an acquaintance, a neighbor, even a friend may turn out to have a dark portion of their personality that fear of being caught might have kept hidden. With no law to punish them now, you may get a rude awakening, as this violent side of them is now free to run wild. Sometimes, the rot is hiding just beneath the skin.
What may be the worst human rot in a zombie apocalypse, however, may come right at the beginning.
When the outbreak begins to spiral out of control, authorities will be stretched thin trying to contain it.
It won’t take long before malcontents see this as an opportunity. Thugs will strike the first blow, destroying homes and businesses. Thieves and looters, being opportunists, will follow them, looking to rob the buildings before they go up in flames. Lastly, extremists and gangsters will use the chaos as an excuse to attack people they dislike.
Of course, the real rot won’t come from those people. They’re already out there. The real rot will come from the otherwise normal people who will merrily join in.
Sadly, “mob mentality” is a legitimate phenomena, when people act differently in a large group than they would alone. This is where someone’s true character comes out. You will see people who wouldn’t dare commits acts of vandalism or violence when alone, destroy businesses, homes, and attack (If not outright kill) people because they will be in a crowd, and know that they can’t get caught.
This is where you can really see what I mean by “human rot”. While other people are being eaten alive, these malcontents will be destroying people’s businesses and home and attacking them, either for relatively petty reasons, or just to satiate their lust for violence. They will use the chaos of the zombie outbreak to revel in destruction, not realizing that they’re only making things easier for the dead to take over.
In a zombie apocalypse, we’ll have a lot of things to contend with in our attempts to survive.
While zombies will be the most numerous problem, they won’t be the worst. The worst problem will be people.
Why? Well, when things go bad, some people rise to the occasion, others just reveal how despicable they really are.
Megalomaniacs, psychos, looters, thugs, killers, extremists, and leeches will all come out of the woodwork. They will use the chaos for their advantage and as an excuse to commit violence. You need to be wary of these people, who’ll only threaten your survival, and be wary of becoming like them; It will only guarantee that someone else tries to stop you from threatening their survival in kind.
Sometimes…people just suck.
Next: Fear The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: The best in us
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!