The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Take care of yourself

Seeing everyone on edge and pushed to their limits in this week’s Walking Dead reveals just how important taking care of yourself in a zombie apocalypse is.

The latest episode of The Walking Dead was great, not least of which because it showed, collectively, a very real problem that will exist in a zombie apocalypse, fatigue, and myriad issues tied to it. We saw how running yourself ragged, already a bad idea, can make survival in a zombie apocalypse so much more difficult because of how doing so can impair our ability to think and act when we need it the most.

This week, we’ll see some of the little things we start to neglect when stretched too far and how they can become huge problems, and, by the end, hopefully, you’ll realize why it’s so important to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally.

One of the first little things we start to neglect when we’re fatigued is, well, the little things. When you’re alert, you notice the details of things around you: The who, the what, the how many, etc.

However, as you drag on, some of those details get overlooked, and that can cause you to have problems you wouldn’t have had had you paid more attention.

Look at Aaron, for example: After interrupting Negan (Who was about to make a critical observation about a walker that just attacked him), Aaron got tackled by a walker covered in plants. While Aaron killed the walker, he also wound up partially blinded.

You see, had Aaron been paying more attention to the walker that attacked Negan, and Negan’s reaction to it, he might have noticed Negan pause to examine his arm immediately after dealing with a plant-covered walker, and noticed a moment later that a walker covered in the exact same plants was coming towards him. He then would have been more cautious, and avoided blinding himself.

You see, you need to pay attention to what’s going on around you, not just the action, but everything. Be mindful of your terrain and what’s living in it, because, it’s the things you overlook that can often be your undoing.

Next…can we just talk about Carol for a minute?

I mean, I know Carol’s had a rough go of things, especially lately, what with losing Henry, ending her marriage of six years to Ezekiel, and everything else she’s lost before The Saviors were defeated, but…man, is she not handling it well lately.

Something you couldn’t help but notice in this week’s Walking Dead was Carol’s sudden reliance on wake-up pills to keep herself going, apparently for days on end.

You also couldn’t help but notice the side effects she was dealing with: Blackouts where she had no recollection of what happened during them, false memories, and hallucinations.

So, just so we’re all clear, let’s get this out of the way right now: If you should ever find yourself in a zombie apocalypse, there is almost no circumstance where a controlled substance (stimulants, depressants including boozes, etc.) will benefit you. If it screws around with your brain in any way, even if it has short-term benefits, it will ruin you in the long run, because, the effects it has on your brain will either plunge you into suicidal behavior or leave you so incoherent or detached from reality that you become easy prey for zombies!

Of course, Carol, in the midst of a confused state, also decided that, upon seeing a Whisperer, strolled carelessly into said Whisperer’s trap, nearly got eaten by walkers, and got injured trying to cut herself free.

This is Carol we’re talking about here, remember, not some idiot in a slasher movie who decides to search for their missing friends in the dark, creepy basement, and yet, here…she might as well have been.

If you really want to do yourself a favor in the apocalypse, think before doing anything. If something seems fishy to you, or makes you think “Man, this would be a great place for an ambush.” chances are, you’re right, and you should avoid whatever that is, lest you walk into a trap or a dead end, or something else that could easily get you killed.

Of course, Carol’s not the only person who’s been having a rough go of things: Siddiq hasn’t quite been the same since watching ten people, including several friends, get decapitated by Alpha; The horrific experience not surprisingly leaving him with PTSD.

You’d think Siddiq, a guy who’d lost his family to the outbreak, and saw Carl get bitten trying to help him would be pretty used to seeing awful things by now, but, as his troubles this season have made clear: No one is immune to trauma. Often times, it’s the ones who try to put the bravest face on things who suffer the worst, because they may be suffering in silence while the trauma haunts them.

If the apocalypse has caused you some trauma, it’s best not to let it fester, but, try as best as you can to tackle it. If you simply try to bottle it up, it’s not like it goes away, it just gets worse until the day comes when you crack, something you simply can’t afford to do when there’s zombies around every corner.

And, sadly, that’s a major part of the problem, and why so many of the things I’ve mentioned can happen in the first place: There will be zombies around every corner.

You need to recognize that, in a zombie apocalypse, it’s entirely possible you’re gonna have to be in for the long haul. The zombie apocalypse could last years, and, in a smaller scale, you may have to deal with large swaths of zombies for hours or maybe even days at a time. You can’t just expect it be over in a flash, or give up when that expectation is, inevitably, proven wrong. You need to train yourself to endure, for as long as you possibly can.

Having said that, we also need to realize our limitations. We can not go without food. We can not go without water. We can not go without sleep.

Yes, you, technically, can do those things, but, doing so WILL kill you, so…I would advise against it.

You need to learn to work within the limitations we all have if you want to survive. We can all stretch our personal limitations with time, effort, and dedication, but, ultimately, we all hit the wall.

Why? Simple: We’re only human.

We need to accept our limitations as humans and not attempt to push them, because, ultimately, we’ll fail. We have to realize that we can’t bypass our limitations, and, instead, try to deal with them by taking care of ourselves as best as we can so that we can put our full capacity to surviving, instead of dragging ourselves to the ends of our rope.

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!