Episode 705: Choice Roulette

Photo of author

Dave

Published:
Updated:

Zombie Cliche Lookout: The Burden of Responsibility

Generally speaking, people generally want to be in charge. There are exceptions to this, of course, but I would say on the whole, most people think that they have pretty good ideas on how to do things and consider themselves capable of leadership. I know I do. Part of it is arrogance, surely, and part of it comes from the fact that it’s very easy to criticize the way things are currently going. The problem usually comes with the fact that most of us grossly underestimate the difficulties of the job of being in charge. The leader is ultimately responsible for the good of the group, and in a life-or-death situation, that’s an awesome responsibility. Throw some flesh-hungry zombies into the mix, and suddenly being in charge becomes a very intimidating prospect.

With all this in mind, it’s hardly surprising when a character in a zombie story struggles to make a decision that could put loved ones in jeopardy. This is even more true when that decision has no clear, safe answer.

About this Episode:

Poor Vicky is just cracking up; she’s simply not made for this kind of pressure. She might look like a weak person and character, but remember the trauma she’s gone through. Her husband was just killed, after all. It’s only natural that she wouldn’t be at the top of her game.

Discussion Question: The Obvious Question

Regular readers will likely see this question coming a mile away, but I’m going to go with it anyway. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being a little predictable, is there? The question, of course, is whether you consider yourself capable of leadership. What qualities do you possess that make you a good candidate for being in charge? Are there things about yourself that you think would be drawbacks? Do you think you could be a leader in a crisis situation?

20 thoughts on “Episode 705: Choice Roulette”

  1. I’m not sure they completely understand the risk of staying. The longer they stay, the riskier it is, until about the time when dehydration and hunger start becoming major issues in and of themselves. Then the risk factor changes drastically: Not only are they starving and dehydrated, they’ll start to tear each other apart, resulting in an inevitable nervous breakdown. Well, the adults most certainly, I think Vicky’s kids will play games and get really upset when the adults have a nervous breakdown.

    Vicky probably dimly realizes this is going to be a problem she’ll have to deal with sooner or later. So how is this going to be dealt with? Dave could, if he writes it correctly, get a ton of mileage out of this subplot, or zombies could break the walls down at any moment and storm the place, resulting in everyone being zombie food or a zombie.

    Going, therefore, over a longer time period, will present a lesser risk, because if they can get out of the house and away from the zombies, they will be able to at least reduce the numbers hanging around the door because some zombies are inevitably going to follow them, if not most or all of them.

    It will be interesting to see if Dave is going to just write this storyline into a dead-end, which seems more certain with each passing strip, or whether he’s going to pull a surprise out of the works, which could be anything, including an asteroid impact that wipes out a whole bunch of zombies and gives them enough time to escape to someplace better. 😀 Well, the asteroid impact will probably be highly unlikely.

    More likely, certainly, will be the fact that passers-by that aren’t zombies will notice something going on with the house, and hopefully mount a rescue effort. I would imagine some sort of crazed zealot turned leader will show up out of nowhere, defeat most or all of the zombies, and rescue them for his own twisted purposes! 😀

    Well, anyway, that’s one theory, there could be a whole bunch of possibilities in store for these people. Who knows for sure? 😀

    Question: Does Dave want input on which direction he should go in? Would he be against leaning towards going one route or the other with or without the consensus of commenters? 😀

    • Now I want an asteroid impact.

      • Let us not forget that they are currently locked in a basement (unless I missed something) which is probably the worst idea in this type of situation. Most likely no supplies, single point of entry and exit. The house was breached once already, who is to say the upper floors are not filled with zombies by now? Whatever they do, they have to get out of that basement to start with or at least get a clear assessment of the situation outside of that room in order to make an informed decision on their next move.

        • Vicky in the kids were sheltering there while Barb, Clark, and Ted did their thing. This is just their meeting place.

      • Who doesn’t?

        • Dinosaurs?

          That would be a grand finale for the BotD episode 1000.
          “Hey, what’s that blinding light outside?”
          Poof; the end.

        • I definitely want the comic to go out on a completely confusing note like that. When I’m gone, I want me readers to wonder if there was something seriously wrong with me.

        • Ha, you have been running a LEGO comic about Zombies for years, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

        • Can’t argue with that.

        • Yeah, what Dave really worries about is the crippling meth addiction his scriptwriter has. 😀

        • Script supervisor (i.e. continuity person).

        • Doh, well with the addiction she’s got scriptwriter is more her thing, anyway! 😀

        • Good point. I’m sure she’s aspiring to that someday.

    • Really good thoughts, BV. I have this storyline outlined, but not completely scripted yet.

  2. There don’t seem to be any visible typos for today! Well done, Dave! 😀

    • Yay!

  3. I guess I could be a good back up leader… You know when no one wants to be in charge… Everyone looking the one next to him… I could step up and get everybody involved. Now if someone feels he wants to take over… Be my guest LOL

    • This cracked me up. Nicely done, sir.

  4. Hmm, it’s a public holiday here in Australia (Queen’s Birthday) is the US on a public holiday, too? 😀

    • NVM – found Dave’s post a bit further down his blog. Computer issues can be a bugger to sort out, I’d rather fight 100 zombies than have to fix some of the more complicated computer issues! 😀