The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Become adaptable

The current villains on The Walking Dead, The Whisperers, are nothing if not adaptable, and, to survive a zombie apocalypse, that what you NEED to become.

If there’s one thing that can be said about The Whisperers, it’s that they’re really good at adapting to the zombie apocalypse, like, wicked good. In fact, they’re adapting game is so strong that they take to wearing the skins of walkers so that they can go unnoticed by both the dead and the living. If that isn’t adapting, I don’t know what is.

As odd as it is to say, there are aspects of The Whisperers that one could learn some strong lessons from if one wanted to survive.

The first? Learn about what you’re walking into.

The zombie apocalypse is going to be a harsh, unforgiving world, with death around every corner, and nothing handed to you. You need to realize that, once zombies start taking over, what I just described is what the world is going to become.

On the flip side, realize that there won’t be any more casual trips to the grocery store; Sure, the store might still be there, but, there will be nothing casual about having to sneak in to avoid zombies, or not get into a battle with another group over what little food is left.

The days when you could just sit around, playing video games and not having to worry about anything will be long gone, replaced by constantly having to find food, water, shelter, and protection from the dead.

In short: The old world will be gone. Accept it. The sooner you do, the sooner you can start dealing with the new one left in its place.

The second lesson to learn? Become self-reliant.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You need to know how to survive by yourself.

Sure, there’s a very good chance that you’ll be part of a group in the apocalypse, and that’s fine, but, what happens if…you lose that group? What if you get separated? What if they all die?

That is a very real possibility in a zombie apocalypse, and you need to be ready in case that happens. You need to be prepared to do everything you need to do in order to stay alive; That means keeping yourself fed, and, that means keeping yourself safe, however you go about doing that.

If you can’t rely on yourself, you can’t rely on anything.

Speaking of which, a key part of “keeping yourself safe” in the apocalypse is knowing how to do it. There’s going to be lots of things out to kill you in the apocalypse, and most of them are going to be walking corpses. You need to know that you can fight them when the time comes that you inevitably have to do it. Learn how to use weapons; Hell, if you have the opportunity, learn martial arts, anything that ensures your attempts to defend yourself won’t devolve into just flailing your arms like a drunken octopus.

You have to learn to fight your own battles, because…you’ll have a lot of them.

Oh, and don’t forget that whole “Keeping yourself fed” thing, either.

As I alluded to earlier, getting food won’t be a simple trip to the supermarket anymore, it’s going to, at least require braving a zombie-infested store to try to find whatever’s still edible, and, at most, require either hunting, fishing, or raising your own food, a tall order for someone not familiar with any of those things.

But, you’re going to have to get out of your comfort zone if you want to survive, in fact, “comfort” is likely the last thing you’re going to have in a zombie apocalypse. Don’t like dealing with smelly, slimy fish? Too bad. If that’s what’s available, you eat it. Don’t want to hurt cuddly woodland creatures? Too bad. If doing so is the difference between eating and starving, guess what? Growing vegetables or raising chickens too tough? Too bad. You’ll have to learn if you want to eat, won’t you? Comfort takes a back seat to survival, I’m afraid.

The final lesson to learn from The Whisperers? To survive the apocalypse, adapt…or die.

It’s harsh, but, so is the world.

If you can’t adapt to the zombie apocalypse, it will consume you, literally and figuratively.

You have to learn to deal with the brutal nature of the world in the apocalypse. You have to put out of mind any ideas of the world going back to how it was and learn to do what it takes to survive in the world as it is. This is why you learn to fight, this is why you learn to hunt, this is why you learn to fish, this is why you do all of the things I mentioned: To adapt and survive.

And this is why you follow…The Rules!

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!