The Walking Dead Survival Rule Of The Week: The Friends Who Aren’t

Learn To Figure Out What Others Might Want From You

There’s something that I’d meant to say earlier and forgot to, but, I think it fits in here quite nicely: In hindsight, I think Eugene should have seen Lance Hornsby, and his desire to know Alexandria’s location, coming. Think about it: The Commonwealth has so large a population, they’re sending teams out to clear walkers to reclaim more of their city to repopulate it, they clearly need resources and space to expand with and into, so of course they’d want to know the location of any community with the capacity to communicate over the radio — If they could reach the Commonwealth, they must have some resources to exploit.

Sadly, Eugene was in fairly deep before the nature of Commonwealth’s problems became apparent, and by the point at which we left him, he was left with no other option but to comply with Hornsby’s request.

In order to avoid this problem, you need to learn to really read people you meet in the apocalypse, so that, if they’re not loyal, you can have some clue ahead of time, and not put too much sensitive information or valuables within reach of them.

You might think a potential backstabber wouldn’t reveal such things if they always intended to betray you, but, even if they don’t realize it, they can let slip what they’re after.

If, for example, your would-be betrayer is doing so out of jealousy, they may offhandedly remark how they’re amazed by your spot within the group or how they long to be in such a respected position someday, or how they wish they had a companion like yours. While not menacing or anything, it is a subtle indication of their envy, and perhaps, their real motivation for joining you.

Similarly, if you observe a member of your group who loses their mind over some perceived insult, or seethes for a long time about some minor embarrassment that everyone else forgot about long ago, may reveal the dangerous narcissist lurking in your midst.

The very nature of betrayal means the perpetrator isn’t going to telegraph it for you, but, if you look and listen carefully, you may be able to see the mask slip, and reveal the true face of your false friend.

And that’s our Walking Dead Survival Rule Of The Week! It’s bad enough to have friends become enemies in the zombie apocalypse, but, it’s a-whole-nother thing when you realize that that “friend” was never your friend at all, and only ever saw you as some kind of stepping stone or prey. If you want to be ready in case it turns out someone with you in the apocalypse is a certified backstabber, 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!