The Walking Dead survival rule of the week: Appearances are deceiving

In the world of Walking Dead, safety is just a word

As I hinted at just a bit ago, when Connie and Virgil fled the ferals, they took shelter in a nearby farmhouse, only to discover that it was a massive trap.

With hidden tunnels behind the walls, ventilation shafts that could easily fit people crawling through them, and shifting walls that could be used to cut off one member of “the prey.” The only way that house could be any less safe was if Jigsaw designed it!

This is something you’ll need to learn and never forget in the zombie apocalypse: Safety is just a word. It isn’t a real thing.

I don’t want people to be paranoid, but I do want them to be alert. For example, the reason I said “never forget” is because the longer you are in the apocalypse, and the more used to zombies you become, the more likely you are to start thinking that you’re safe in circumstances that you wouldn’t be when the zombie outbreak began. You’re more likely to think “That’s nothing I can’t handle“, which might be true if you were taking it seriously. But, if you’re already brushing off whatever it is that got your attention, instead of dealing with it, that thing can easily start to balloon on you while you look away, only for it to quickly get out of hand.

Even if you’re not being woefully flippant about potential threats, the deceptive idea of “safety” can still creep in and make you more vulnerable than you need to be.

Just look at Virgil. With the tricks he pulled on Michonne at Bloodsworth Island, you’d think that he’d be wary of things not being as benign as they appeared, yet, he assumed that the ferals’ house was “safe”, despite not even searching the completely. The man didn’t even look in the basement! Maybe, if he had, he would have spotted the human bones strewn all over the floor!

If there’s one lesson to be learned from this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, I hope it’s this: Until you know — Not think, KNOW — that a place is devoid of threats or hazards, it is NOT SAFE.

Safety…is just a word.

And that’s our Walking Dead Survival Rule Of The Week! While zombies may be pretty obvious, when it comes to everything else in a zombie apocalypse, from people to houses, appearances can be deceiving. If you want to make sure you aren’t deceived when the apocalypse hits, 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!