Fear The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Friends make things better

If there’s one thing I realized watching Sunday’s Fear The Walking Dead, it’s that, if you stick by each other, friends make a zombie apocalypse better.

Sunday’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead was kind of funny. Watching Al and Isabelle try to make their way through the Texas wilderness to get fuel for Isabelle’s helicopter and bring it back sort of reminded me of a “partners-who-don’t-get-along” movie, like The Defiant Ones or Fled.

Isabelle threatened to kill Al if she didn’t relinquish her tape proving Isabelle and her partner, Beckett’s existence, and Al hid the tape so if Isabelle did kill her, she’d likely never find it before The Helicopter Group liquidated her, yet, despite this…philosophical impasse, they became friends (To say the least).

And, you know what? It kind of reminded me of just how important it is to have friends in a zombie apocalypse.

Why? Well, first things first, if you’re by yourself, you’re pretty stuck trying to have eyes in the back of your head, because you’ve got no one watching your back other than yourself. If you get in trouble, you better be able to get yourself out of it.

If you got a buddy with you, though, that means you have someone who can cover your blindspots when fighting zombies or hostiles and (Hopefully) help get you out of most jams you may find yourself in. It’s so much nicer than having to do everything alone.

That said, just because you do have a friend with you doesn’t mean everything will be a cakewalk.

We’re all people, after all, and…people can crack. Honestly, I can’t imagine too many people who won’t have at least a little bit of a hard time watching the world go to hell, losing loved ones when that happens, oh, and of course, watching people just randomly start eating each other.

Those kinds of things can mess with people; Some may take longer than others, or it may be different things, but, whatever the case may be, the things you’ll see in a zombie apocalypse can mess with you, badly.

It’s up to you to keep an eye out to make sure your friend isn’t losing their grip. Whenever you come upon some horror you haven’t seen before, take a second to check in with them and make sure they’re okay. If they need help, try to talk them through it if you can. Sometimes, just knowing that there’s someone out there who’s got their back, can help bring someone back from the edge of the cliff.

One thing you should not do is just bail on your friend, especially if they need your help. Now, I know that there may prove to be certain situations where you have no choice, but, if you can help your friend and you choose instead to abandon them…you’ve become a That Guy, one of those selfish asses who just does whatever benefits them right at that moment, regardless of the consequences.

You know what happens to That Guys? They wind up dying alone because they abandoned the one person who was trying to keep them alive, and they ended up with no one to help them when they need it.

Always stick by your friends as long as you possibly can. Remember that.

You should also take time to appreciate your friend (Or friends, I know I’ve been talking about having only one, but, you could apply all of these to a group, too). Let them know, somehow, that they’re important to you. I said earlier that, sometimes, just knowing a person’s got your back can be extremely helpful in coping with the stress of a zombie apocalypse; This is much the same. It can help keep your friend from being the one who does the abandoning if they know they mean more to you than a security system. Appreciate your friends, so long as you have them.

I say that because, quite frankly…you don’t know how long you’ll have them for.

People die in a zombie apocalypse, that’s just how it is, and you never really know when your friend might just get killed by zombies, or hostiles, or…alligators, or whatever. Once that happens, survival becomes a hell of a lot more difficult, as you now have to always watch your own back for zombies, deal with hostiles alone, and have to get yourself out of any jam you might get into, even if it looks physically impossible to do yourself.

With that in mind, as valuable as having a friend is, both of you should make sure that you’re capable of surviving on your own just in case you have to. You both need to know that, if the worst happened to one of you, that the other would be able to carry on. Nothing makes one appreciate someone more than knowing just how miserable they’re existence would become without that other person.

Surviving a zombie apocalypse is tough, but, it becomes easier to handle when you’ve got someone backing you up. If you’re lucky enough to have a friend to survive alongside in the apocalypse, appreciate them, watch out for them, and never abandon them. They may be the only friend you get and, once they’re gone, surviving a zombie apocalypse becomes a very bleak prospect, indeed.

And that’s our Survival Rule Of The Week! Hopefully, you’ve gained a little insight into all the various things you’ll need to look out for and do. 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 also get it at Amazon here, on iTunes here!