The Walking Dead, Survival Rule of the Week: Together, we’re stronger

The Walking Dead – final season

Divided and conquered.

After reuniting with Carol, Maggie recounted to her old friend how her son, Hershel, had been snatched away from her by Commonwealth troopers before she herself was whisked away into one of their transport trucks. After listening to Maggie’s story, Carol came to a realization: By operating as society had before the outbreak, the Commonwealth had successfully cut most of the Virginia survivors off from one another. Carol recalled how she rarely ever saw Daryl and that it was as though they were in separate worlds. As she pointed out: They had been divided, and that division allowed Pamela Milton to gain a victory.

People are often at their weakest when an outside force divides them because, by being separated, they are more susceptible to being picked off, and in turn, making whoever is left weaker by having fewer allies to turn to when their turn to get picked off comes.

Being divided by herds of zombies can sometimes be unavoidable, as they can be so numerous, but this can sometimes be balanced out by your allies potentially breaking off some part of those herds and driving them away, effectively reversing the whole “divide and conquer” thing on the dead.

On the other hand, being divided by the living can be avoided if you’re wary of it. You need to learn to be tuned in to attempts by hostiles to separate you and your group. In a battle, it may be somewhat obvious — Diversions, distractions, wedge attacks, flanks, explosions, etc. but attempts to divide outside of battle are far more insidious and need sharp eyes and ears to detect. Watch for attempts to pit you and your group against one another or to create circumstances that result in distance between you. These may appear incidental or benign because, in this field, the smart hostiles don’t come across as such until it’s too late. If you see something that looks like it might result in separating or isolating you from your group, beware: It might be more malicious than you think.

In a zombie apocalypse, united, we stand but divided, we’re conquered.