Fear The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: The realistic ideal
By Liam O'Leary
In this week’s Fear The Walking Dead, Alicia told Charlie the harsh reality of the apocalypse, but also realized, that hope is a tough thing to kill.
I always like to try to be as realistic with you guys as I can about the zombie apocalypse. Should one ever happen, things will, quite frankly, turn to absolute shit…and that’s sugar-coating it.
That said, I am never one to believe in just throwing in the towel. It just goes against my stubborn nature to simply give up. I hate the idea of feeling like I could have done more, but didn’t.
So, this is where we find ourselves: Too realistic to pretend the apocalypse will be like a video game, too idealistic to let myself believe giving up is an option.
Where do we start to unwrap all of this? Well, I prefer to get the bad news out of the way, first.
I feel like the best place to start is with this bit of wisdom: If something can go wrong in a zombie apocalypse, you should expect that, sooner or later, it will.
As much as we may not like it, things go wrong. Whether that’s something catching you by surprise and derailing your plans, some noise that happens to draw the dead to you, or some catastrophe that makes your safe zone suddenly not so safe, things which are beyond your control will happen and, often, screw you over.
The best thing you can do for these problems? Try to recognize the potential of them and prepare. Preparation is half the step towards survival.
Next, don’t delude yourself: Things will not always go your way. There will be bumps in the road you’ll have to deal with on occasion. The sooner you accept this fact, the better off you’ll be.
If you assume there won’t be bumps in the road, that’s when you get yourself into trouble, because, when they do happen, you may not be mentally prepared to react. Survival can often depend on your ability to react when things unexpectedly go awry.
When you accept that everything won’t go right, you’ll be more prepared when it goes wrong.
Lastly, and this is the worst one of all, you need to be prepared — Mentally, physically, emotionally, logistically, etc. — to survive on your own.
Why? Because, as bleak of a prospect as it is, it’s also a realistic one: You might lose everyone. Your family, your friends, your group, everyone.
Will you? Not necessarily, but, you need to be ready for the possibility. Just as I said before, the more prepared you are that something could go wrong, the better prepared you’ll be if it does.
Of course, you shouldn’t go around assuming that such a disaster will, absolutely, happen, because that’s insane. That’s like assuming you will get struck by a dinosaur-killing asteroid. Crazy.
What you ought to do is learn to appreciate what you have, particularly in the apocalypse, whether that’s your sidearm, your base, your vehicle, or just your shoes. Remember how much worse things could be, and what you have suddenly seems like gold.
The thing you need to appreciate the most, however, are the people you have. The people you survive with are, most likely, the closest things you have to family (Assuming they aren’t your family). They’re the people who will risk their own necks to stop yours from getting eaten and maybe remind you that being alive is something worth fighting for, even you wouldn’t expect them to.
Lastly, since the reality of the apocalypse can be so damn grim, don’t forget to enjoy the little things, like, the smell of the ocean, a rainstorm breaking up a heatwave, the sound of birds (As opposed to zombies), and sharing time with the people in your group. If you ever need a reminder of why you keep going, taking a break from the chaos and smelling the roses can really help.
Realistically, a zombie apocalypse will not be a fun time, but, life, the act of being alive, is too precious to just give up on. Even if it may not be fun all the time, it’s so much better than the alternative.
This is why you follow…The Rules.
Fear The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Hope and help. dark. Next
And that’s our survival rule of the week!! Hopefully, it’ll help you 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!