In The Walking Dead once zombies enter the picture things go crazy
If you’ve seen enough of The Walking Dead (Or Fear The Walking Dead, for that matter…), you’ve seen two things: 1) The zombie apocalypse makes things crazy. And 2) It makes people crazy. Go ahead and tell me that the fall of L.A. in season one of Fear or half of the hostiles Rick’s group’s dealt with over the years weren’t, in some way, crazy. You can’t…because (In the words of Joe from The Claimers) “That, right there…is a lie.”
With craziness being something you’re just going to have to deal with in a zombie apocalypse, I figured that, this week, I should try to tackle some of the things you’ll have to do in order to deal with not only the craziness, but, the people who are being crazy, too.
Hopefully, my lessons can help you deal with the chaos the apocalypse is going to create — The violence, uncertainty, and hardships you’ll suddenly face — and also the mental humps you’ll have to get over in order to deal with that chaos, because, as we’ll see, that’s important, too.
1) If you’ve waited until the chaos arrives to prepare, you’re already too late.
I feel like this one doesn’t need that much explaining, but, since I know you don’t just want one sentence, please indulge me whilst I elaborate.
When the zombie apocalypse (And the inevitable chaos it will bring) arrives, you need to be ready for it. You need to be able to look outside your window, see the mayhem going on, and know that it is not catching you off guard.
The reason I say this is because, once the apocalypse hits (Depending on where you are relative to where the chaos is), you’re not really going to have much time to get ready to deal with it. Zombies and hostiles will soon start flooding everywhere like a plague of rats, and, if they’re in your area, forget not having “much time”, you’re not going to have any time to prepare for them.
So, as I said at the beginning, if you’ve waited until the chaos arrives to prepare for it, you’re already too late.
Now, as to how to prepare, well…let’s just talk about that, shall we?
2) Get close to your neighbors, now. They may be the only allies you have.
It seems like, these days, people aren’t as close to their neighbors as they were in decades past. Now, the cause of this could be any number of things, and anything I say on that topic would just be idle speculation on my part, however, regardless of the reason, if you want to be ready for the zombie apocalypse, and the hostiles it’s likely to bring with it, it would probably be a good idea to get better acquainted with your neighbors now while you have the chance.
The reason I say this is because, the closer you are with your neighbors, the more likely you all are to stick together when things break down; Friends are much more likely to stand up for one another than a bunch of strangers are.
If a bunch of hostiles roll up on your neighborhood looking to ransack it, they might think twice if everyone in that neighborhood stands together and lets those hostile know they will defend themselves, and that’s far more likely to happen if everyone knows each other.
Additionally, if your family or friends (People whom you might try to come together with in the apocalypse) all live far away from you, your neighbors might be the closest people to you, both literally and figuratively.
If I were you, I would try to bridge the gap with those people in my neighborhood now, so that, even if all of you have no one else to turn to, you can all rely on each other.
3) Learn to grow/raise/hunt/catch/make your own food.
Something we saw earlier this year when a certain disease came along and kind of sent everyone into a tailspin was that, in certain situations, supply chains have a tendency to get disrupted. A zombie apocalypse will be one such situation.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense, I mean…why would any trucker go to a place where they’re not sure they’ll get out alive from either being swarmed by zombies, or attacked by hostiles? Frankly…they wouldn’t.
Where does that leave you? Well, after maybe a few weeks, it leaves you hungry. After a little while of that, it leaves you dead.
Luckily, that doesn’t need to be your fate, not if you’re thoroughly prepared, that is.
In this case, being prepared means knowing how to grow or raise your own food, it means knowing how to catch, hunt down, gut, and clean that food, and it means knowing how to take the edible things around you and making them in other edible things.
You see, I’ve learned that, once you get past the repugnant cesspool parts of the internet, it is actually a wonderful source of information! A couple of weeks ago, I found a video on how to harvest and prepare chocolate, for example. I never would have known where to even look for that information before the internet.
And, to you, I propose looking up videos on how to properly grow crops and vegetables, how to raise things like rabbits and fowl, and how to gut and clean animals you might hunt or any fish you might catch, this way, once the apocalypse causes the supply chain to grind to a halt, you, your family, your group, etc. don’t go hungry in a few weeks.
4) Have a backup plan for getting out of dodge.
Even if you and your entire neighborhood are prepared for the zombie apocalypse, the sheer number of zombies (Or hostiles) might just be too much for all of you to face up to. In that case, the best suggestion I can make is having a plan for getting out of there, though, if I may say so, chances are, if you’re planning on leaving after the chaos has hit, you may be too late. Just saying.
Regardless, the fact remains that you need a clear plan for escaping your area in case things get to be too much, this isn’t simply fleeing, but, having an idea of where you’re going to go and how you’re going to get there. Either one is kind of useless without the other.
You need to know where all of you are going to regroup, and what routes you’re going to take to get there. Now, depending on where you are when the apocalypse hits will tell you how easy or difficult that’s going to be, but, since I imagine a city to be far more difficult, I would suggest that, if you’re leaving one, taking the major highway routes out might not be such a great idea, as there will almost certainly be hundreds of thousands of people who have the same idea.
Whatever you do, or wherever you go, the important thing is to have your plan (And, preferably, a backup plan) ready well ahead of the apocalypse, so that you’re wasting as little time as possible before implementing it. Now, I’ll grant, there’s always the chance that a plan goes awry, but, it’s better to have that plan in advance than to spend time trying to figure one out while the place you live in goes into total chaos around you.
5) Learn as much as you can so you can be self-sufficient.
Like I mentioned earlier, once the apocalypse hits, a lot of the things we take for granted kind of go out the window.
We’ll have to learn to grow, raise, hunt for, and prepare our own food, but…that’s just the beginning. Who’s going to help you repair your house if you don’t know anyone who can do it? Who’s going to fix your car? Who’s going to do any of the things you need?
Well, in the absence of anyone else who can do it, I guess the answer…is you.
If you find yourself in a zombie apocalypse, and society has completely imploded, you need to know that, even without other people to help you, you can do whatever you need to do to survive.
You should know how to do at least basic repairs on essential parts of your house and its infrastructure. You should know some basics about fixing problems in your car. You should know basics about treating at least minor injuries or illnesses. You should know how to survive.
Once again, the internet is a great resource, where you can find video tutorials by professionals showing you at least some of these skills, and you would be smart to watch them however many times you need to learn whatever it is you need to learn.
You are responsible for your survival. No one else can do it for you. Speaking of which…
6) Get weapons, and learn how to use them.
Let me ask you something: What are you going to do in a zombie apocalypse?
This might sound like a simple question, there’s more to it than “Try to get somewhere safe” or something like that. Think about it: There will be, at least, hundreds of zombies, and (At least in the beginning) there may be just as many hostiles. What are you going to do?
If you don’t know how to defend yourself, the answer is going to be “Not much”.
Perhaps more important than anything else in a zombie apocalypse is having the means and the knowledge to be able to defend yourself and the people you care about from whatever may attack. Simply trying to fight zombies or hostiles with your bare hands will, almost certainly, not be a very good idea, especially against the dead, who’ll just as soon bite your hand as be affected by any punches you throw.
The solution is having some kind of weapon (Or weapons) to defend yourself with. Luckily, just about anything can be used as a weapon. If you go to a hardware store, spend more than two minutes in the tool or gardening sections, and I’ll guarantee you’ve probably found at least eight or nine things that can be used as a weapon, and we aren’t even counting stores that sell the other kind of hardware.
Of course, that solution is not nearly so effective if you have no idea how to use it properly. Flailing your arms around like Kermit The Frog won’t be a very good strategy for fighting zombies, even if those arms are wielding machetes.
So, my advice to you is get weapons (Guns are especially useful) right now while they’re readily available, and, while there’s time to do so, learn how to use them. I can not understate just how valuable that knowledge will be. The difference between having the means and knowledge to defend yourself when the apocalypse hits and not having those things, is like night and day. Having them means you have a huge chance to survive, not having them means…you don’t.
7) You will not be spared.
Since I’m in an inquisitive mood, let me ask you something else: Do you think that, when the zombie apocalypse hits, it will just…pass you by? Do you think you’ll get lucky? Do you think you’ll be spared?
Why? No one is that lucky. And, who, exactly, will just…leave you alone? The zombies? To the dead, there is no this group or that group, no “good” people or “bad” people, they don’t have “sides”, to them, everyone, EVERYONE, is food. If you think that they won’t come after you, you’re delusional.
What about the hostiles? Do you think they will spare you?
…Why? What reason would they have to do that? Once the apocalypse hits, no one is going to come around to stop them, at that point, they could do whatever they wanted to whomever they wanted. If you think complying with them will help, again, you’re deluding yourself. Complying with hostiles is like betraying your own group to help another one attacking you: The hostiles have no loyalty to you, and no reason to uphold any sort of bargain, be it spoken or unspoken. Complying with them just makes it easier for them.
The only thing that can spare you from the wrath of either the living or the dead is you. You have to be willing to fight for your life and every important thing in it. If you aren’t willing to defend yourself, no one else is likely to do it for you.
This is why I’ve been driving this point home so much. Because, at the end of the day, your life is in your hands. If you let someone else take it from you without a fight, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Do not think that zombies or hostiles will spare you. To them, you’re prey; Nothing more, nothing less.
Chaos will follow the outset of a zombie apocalypse like thunder after the lightning. If you aren’t ready for it physically and mentally, you will not survive.
And those are our Survival Rule(s) Of The Week! Hopefully, opened your eyes to the reality you’re going to face once the apocalypse hits and got you thinking about how to prepare. If you like this and want to find out more tips 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!