Fear The Walking Dead Survival Rule: Our Best Strength/Weakness

Our Connections To Each Other Is Our Strength.

While the people we’re close to in a zombie apocalypse can be exploited, I’m inclined to believe that the opposite is worse. Take Terminus, for example.

Terminus, as most of you probably know, had a very specific diet, namely cannibalism. They did this primarily to travelers they invited in, but also members of their own group who died of causes that wouldn’t make the rest of the group sick by eating them (For example, Gareth’s brother was being carved up for consumption before Carol attacked the community), this served them…well…I guess…insomuch as it provided them with food where they weren’t skilled enough hunters to get it otherwise.

There was one problem, though: The mere fact that they were cannibals meant that they were all perpetually unattached to one another (Obviously, it’s a lot tougher to eat someone if you care about them). The hard pragmatists out there may not see a problem with this until you remember what happened as Carol attacked Terminus: As things fell apart, people left each other to die, not even helping their associates back onto their feet to escape walkers, despite easily being capable. In short order, the whole community unraveled, not simply because of their walls being breached and walkers flooding in but also because none of the residents of Terminus cared enough about one another to muster a counterattack or even a coordinated evacuation.

There will almost certainly be people, maybe even groups of people, in the apocalypse who will see emotional attachment as some kind of weakness. Still, if you’re a group that doesn’t have it, then you’re little better than a pack of rabid dogs, simply waiting for the first sign of weakness to abandon or pounce upon each other. If a group can’t trust each other or don’t care about one another, what incentive do they have to stick together?

Conversely, if your group does care about one another, then if a member is in danger, the rest of you can rally together to help them. Similarly, if faced with a significant threat, like a herd of zombies or a mob of hostiles, the group will pull together to defeat them. This willingness to unite in the face of a common enemy is, and always has been, one of humanity’s greatest strengths. If your group chooses to abandon that, don’t count on lasting too long.