Zombie Cliche Lookout: Checking Things Out
When I write the zombie cliche lookout, I often do so from a general “survival” perspective. That said, not all survival situations are created equal, and when you throw zombies into the mix things tend to get a little more complicated. Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I love the genre: it takes the already interesting survival story mechanic and adds an additional element of horror. Characters can’t simply balance their resources and wait for rescue. Odds are, rescue simply isn’t coming. If they want to live, they’re going to need to take care of themselves.
But those zombies present a challenge. In order to secure supplies and shelter, characters are almost certainly going to have to interact with the zeds in some capacity. That might mean fighting them, distracting them, sneaking by them, or finding ways to avoid them altogether. Either way, making an informed decision on how to approach the zombie problem is likely going to start with some limited intelligence work.
About this Episode:
I’m going to be honest, I’ve been looking for an excuse to use this episode title for quite a while. Reconnoiter is just a cool word, and one that you don’t hear very often at all. I recall reading it here and there, but the first time I really noticed it was while watching the HBO series Deadwood, which is my favorite TV show. For those who haven’t seen it, Deadwood used tons of antiquated words in dialog, along with copious profanity, to create a unique language for its characters. Damn good show. Watch it if you haven’t.
Discussion Question: What to Watch For
Building on the zombie cliche lookout above, let’s say you’re in charge of gathering information on the zombie horde in your path. What sort of things are you going to be looking for? What are warning signs? What can your group take advantage of?
Typo alerts:
“and adds an addition element of horror” addition–>additional 😉
“In order the secure supplies and shelter” the–>to 😀
“That might might fighting them” Remove second “might”; replace with “mean” 😀
“making and informed decision” and–>an 😉
“charge of gather information” gather–>gathering 😀
Typo alert in mouseover text: 1st my–>me 😀
Wow, six typos, Dave! You were doing well up until this point! 😀 But don’t despair some of them are a funny read! 😉
Holy crap, what a mess! Fixed all.
I also have a Discussion question, well, not really a discussion question, more of a “Top 10” list:
What are the top ten things you’re least likely want to get from the food section of the supermarket in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and why? Example: Curried ingredients would definitely be high on the list of ingredients not to get, for myself, because I’m going to be the person in some group that doesn’t like that kind of food, because my intestinal tract has issues dealing with that kind of food.
What kind of food do you want to avoid or leave behind for others with a stronger stomach?
Hrm, caught my own typo: replace “you’re” with “you’d be”, if you do decide to use that question, Dave! 😉
Nice once. Fixed the typo and added to Monday’s episode.
I guess I’d want to know how many Z are ahead, what is their direction, stuff like that. In order to adapt the best way. As you said, sneak, fight, distract, go back,…
Something is telling that this recon mission isn’t going to be pretty…
You never know, maybe the zombies got bored and wandered off?
S.A.L.U.T.E. which is recon slang for the basics of reporting on the enemy. Size, Activity, Location, Uniform, Time, Equipment.
Now size or number of zeds, what they are doing, where they are and what time you saw them are important the other two are important too.
Uniform or what they are wearing can give you some clues such as are they all wearing a uniform from a large manufacturing company which is several miles away can tell you movement and spread. Are there large numbers in police and firefighter uniforms? First responders are gone. Also if you are dealing with Black Tide zeds and not Romero zeds then you know who is who.
While most of the genre has zeds attacking like rapid dogs there are numerous examples of zeds using items. The original Romero zeds used a rock to smash a window, tried to fire a gun, and in the last one gain intelligence and use a lot of things to attack.
Briefing concluded.
Equipment
Nice!
Quick question: what are black tide zeds?
Isn’t there a truck with supplies still parked right outside of the house?
I don’t think that’s something the characters in the comic would forget all about
As of yet I think that this is my favourite Bricks of the Dead story arc 🙂
There is a truck with some supplies, however it has been shot up by those escaped prisoners.
There’s actually two trucks outside, the one the prisoners used probably hasn’t been shot up and also is likely to have some supplies! 😀
I don’t believe I showed how the prisoners arrived, did I?
Man, I’ve been doing this comic too long.
Well you showed they had a truck they were bringing in supplies with early on, whilst they were out raiding near where Murphy was, and that’s good enough for me! 😀
I might check later on, if I get enough time, what the actual comics show! 😀 It’d be easier, though, if the Archives link was usable and visible! 😉
Wow. I totally forgot about that. I’m going to have to take a trip down memory lane here soon.
If you happen to spot the episode before I do, don’t be shy!
http://bricksofthedead.com/comic/episode-328-something-completely-different/
Nice! Thank you, sir.
Yes indeed, and back in Episode 328 you were worried we’d forgotten about the van! 😀 Fortunately, commenters are like elephants – we never forget! 😉 Someone even said when the prisoner’s van made the first appearance in-strip, in, in Episode 328’s comments section: That episode was 44! 😀
I definitely hope you’ve still got the original van around, and together! 😉 If you haven’t may I suggest diverting to another storyline temporarily? I don’t mind at all! 😀
Well hell. Yeah, I hope I have that van sitting around somewhere.
Also, in case you were wondering what van Gene and co. were in, that one appears in Episode 334! 😀
If you happen not to have the exact same vans but can get reasonable facsimiles (copies) that convey the original spirit of the original vans adequately, then by all means use those. I don’t mind as long as they’re reasonably good replicas. 😉
You could also use the trope that people will steal anything that can be made mobile, and are really quick to steal the vans that were outside, especially if they’re in a zombie apocalypse scenario! 😉
It will be interesting to see how you tackle this, personally I’d favor greatly that you have the original vans around somewhere. But hey, sometimes life gives you lemons, so you have to make lemonade, as the saying goes. So if you have to make lemonade, make sure it’s not too sugary! 😉
Wow, I need to start taking notes here.
Hopefully with something more organized than the default program that comes with Windows 10, called Notepad! 😀 I mean, it’s okay for small amounts of text but not for taking notes on a regular basis! 😉