The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: The many faces of evil

2) Digging for sensitive information posed as innocent questions.

There’s sketchy people in the world at this very moment who try to get access to other people’s personal information (Address, credit card or bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.) for the purpose of stealing identities or leeching off their money, well, there’ll be people doing largely the same thing in a zombie apocalypse.

Of course, with money having little to no meaning in a zombie-filled world, people will instead phish for other vital information: Your base’s location, your defenses, the size of your group, what weapons you might have, and if your group has women or children.

The smart hostile won’t angrily bark questions about these things at you, no, they’ll rely on the old axiom “You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar” and, instead, pass their interrogation off as simple “getting to know you” questions between survivors.

For an example of this, think back to Dave and Tony, the first true hostiles Rick’s group was introduced to back in Season Two of The Walking Dead.

Dave, while passing his questions off as innocent, was, in fact, hoping to find out where Hershel’s farm was, how big the group was, and whether or not their group had any women. Luckily, Rick, Glenn, and Hershel realized why Dave and Tony were so curious, and lied to them, until Rick saw an opportunity and eliminated them.

Frankly…that’s a smart plan. If you meet any strangers in a zombie apocalypse, do not tell them anything about where you might be camped, how big of a group you have, what your defenses might be, or whether you have women or children in your group unless you are certain that either A) They’re trustworthy, of B) You can handle whatever they throw at you.

As the old saying goes: “Discretion is the better part of valor.”