The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Your Apocalypse Family

The Walking Dead trust the judgment of your group

During his captivity at the Reapers’ hands, Daryl realized that Frost, one of the few remaining Wardens still alive, had also been captured during the attack on Maggie’s team.

Daryl, having already told his ex-girlfriend, Leah, that he had only been traveling with Maggie’s group out of necessity and that he didn’t really know them, knew that Frost’s presence could not only blow his cover but get both of them killed. While Frost tried to talk to him as if things were normal, Daryl maintained his cover, acting as if Frost was a relative stranger and lamenting ever joining with them, subtly letting Frost know he was running a cover. For his part, Frost eventually caught on to Daryl’s hints and played along, trusting that Daryl had some kind of plan. The last we saw, Frost was still alive to see another day.

I’ve said many a time how important trust is in a zombie apocalypse — Without it, a group can not truly function — and, in an ideal situation, that trust needs to be implicit: You need to know that you can trust the judgment of the other members of your group and that they have your best interests at heart.

This is where the “family” thing comes in. You won’t get that sort of implicit trust with a bunch of strangers — For all you know, each one may be looking to sell out the next — but, once you and the rest of your group treat each other like family, you can come to have that level of trust where even if you don’t exactly know what another group member is planning, you can know that it’s with your preservation at heart.