The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Dealing with bad people

Zombies will always be a threat, but, as seen in this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, you need to learn how to deal with hostiles and bad people.

If there’s one thing The Walking Dead has always done a good job of, it is presenting the living as just as much of a threat as (If not more than) the dead. From Dave and Tony, to Shane, to the Governor, to Terminus, to the Saviors, and now to the Whisperers, the show has done a very good job of making we the audience realize the myriad ways that people can pose a threat to one’s survival in a zombie apocalypse.

So, with that in mind, this week, I thought I’d focus on showing you what makes some bad people (Whether they’re full-blown hostiles, or just jerks you’re stuck having to deal with) tick, and, hopefully, some ways of dealing with them.

Let’s start simple with the jerks you may find yourself stuck dealing with in the apocalypse; Since you may not necessarily be able to pick who you end up surviving alongside, you could easily wind up stuck with some real douchebags.

You see, there’s a bit of wisdom my dad taught me: “An a-hole is an a-hole is an a-hole. Anyone can be one.” My dad’s point was that no one is immune from being an a-hole simply because they’re this, that, or the other thing, and, if you got someone who attempts to convince you that they can’t be an a-hole because they’re this, that, or the other thing, that’s how you know…they’re an a-hole.

And, naturally, if you meet a person who is an a-hole, chances are that they’ll try to get under your skin. It’s typical behavior. That said, if they’re doing that, it’s because they want to get under your skin, they want a reaction, either because it amuses them, or to try to intimidate you. Don’t let them.

I know it’s cliché, but, I’ve seen it so many times: Once you stop reacting the way they want, they either get bored, or, they cross into territory that warrants having to defend yourself, but also, territory most groups probably won’t tolerate. Since you need to know how to defend yourself against hostiles anyway, you ought to know how to stop someone trying to intimidate you, too.

Now, let’s talk about more serious threats, shall we?

First of all, never assume that hostiles are stupid. If they’ve managed to avoid getting eaten long enough to pose a threat to you, they’re probably pretty intelligent.

You need assume that your enemies are planning some way of attacking you, and that they may even be watching you and plan for as many eventualities as you can reasonably think of. Will there be problems? Probably, but, it’s better to assume your enemies are smart and be wrong, than to assume they’re stupid and be wrong; The former has its problems (Which I’ll address shortly), but, the latter may straight-up get you killed.

Now, while assuming your enemies are plotting something or watching you is certainly better than just assuming they’re idiots, it has its drawbacks, too.

Firstly, if you let your imagination run wild on you, it may cause you to get paranoid, assuming every little thing that goes wrong was caused by the hostiles you’re dealing with.

Secondly, smart hostiles may, in fact, rely on this, and attempt to sow chaos or fear by causing relatively small problems here and there, hoping to force you into submission or to exhaust yourself, and be unable (Or unwilling) to carry on the fight.

The reason a hostile would do this is that, if they can convince you to give up, you’ve done half their work for them.

In many instances, hostiles are bullies, attempting to use intimidation and psychological warfare to get what they want, whether that’s supplies, territory, people, or simply submission.

Especially smart ones, however, may also try a little trick where they may, after launching attacks of one sort or another, turn around and act like they’re doing you a favor by not destroying you, in exchange for a concession or two. It’s a trap.

Chances are, whatever that concession will be, will make you and your group weaker in some fashion. That is the game. By acting like they’re being lenient or reasonable, they can slowly whittle you down to a point where, all of a sudden, they don’t feel like they need to ask for concessions anymore, because, you no longer have the strength to stop them, even if you wanted to! If you give a bully an inch, they’ll take a mile.

If you find yourself dealing with a hostile who is threatening violence unless you comply with their demands (Especially if they’ve already been violent with you before), your only recourse may be to fight them off.

Generally, bullies see attempts to compromise or negotiate as a sign that you are afraid to fight them, this convinces them that they have the advantage, and continue with what they’ve been doing, the only way to break this cycle, is to convince them that you are not weak, by meeting them with force.

You have to hit them and hit them hard and let them know in no uncertain terms that you will do whatever it takes to beat them. It’s the only way.

There always are, always have been, and always will be bad people in the world, and, chances are, they’ll only get worse in a zombie apocalypse. There will always be douchebags that you need to deal with, and, being that you’ll be in survival situation, there will probably be hostiles to deal with, too.

Never let them get under your skin, never assume they’re stupid, never let them intimidate you, never give in, and always be ready to fight.

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!