Zombie Cliche Lookout: Misconstrued Warning
Living in the zombie apocalypse would be enough to make even the most self-confident among us paranoid. Any way you slice it, there’s a lot of things to worry about. Zombies, obviously, are a big one. But there’s the ever-present threat of running out of food or water, getting sick or injured without adequate medical care, losing a loved one, running into hostile survivors. The list could go on and on. If you were smart, you’d be awfully careful about where you went and who you associated with. You never know when you’ll need to make a quick escape, or if that person you’re palling around with isn’t quite as friendly as they’d led you to believe.
Of course, some people would take this too far. They’d see threats everywhere they looked, and make their situation worse for themselves. Their over-developed sense of caution and self-preservation would cost them potential friends, and lead them away from caches of supplies of safe houses. Everything would look scary, and they’d never get a moment’s peace. Sounds pretty exhausting to me.
About this Episode:
I don’t know if it came through or not, but I wanted Sam’s last statement to have a bit of an undertone to it. After all, he knows all about bad people. He was just kidnapped by one and held against his will. Emma, of course, doesn’t see it that way, but you never know if she’ll read between the lines and figure out what Sam is hinting at.
Discussion Question: Acceptable Risk
When it comes to survival situations, zombie or otherwise, you will occasionally have to take on a bit of risk if you want to make progress, but you also have to be careful not to go too far. The question is, where do you draw the line? How big do the potential rewards need to be for you to gamble your life, especially when not gambling is another potential threat as the survival timeline stretches on.
Typo alert, and it’s kind of iffy at best, so if Dave can explain it I’ll let it lie. 😀 Zombie cliche lookout, first paragraph last sentence: leave–>lead
If I was left (leave) to believe what I wanted, I’d form my own assumptions about someone else. But if I was led to believe Dave was a good and kind person that could be what sort of person he wants me to think he is if he’s projecting that in his actions and arguments. 😀
Also, Dave, when you correct this one, look up the correct tense in a dictionary, it could be lead or led, different tenses apply depending on what you mean here. 😉
Another typo, in the hover test it should be “I don’t understand” rather than “I don’t understant”.
Awesome typo with in a typo correction, text*.
Just spotted yet another typo in the hover text (actually, mouseover text): Dave used “Is is” instead of “is it”. 😀
I don’t usually check those unless there’s some reason to, or the rare no-text comic! 😀
Fixed those both too. Thanks guys.
It should be “led”, past tense. That was an odd typo.
There area bad people out there and there are zombies out there, too, that will happily munch on said bad people. I think Sam’s forgetting that she already has figured out what he’s trying to say and isn’t really going to change her opinion towards anything positive between her and Sam! 😀
*There are, sorry 🙂
She may not change her mind, but at the same time, being alone is tough. Is it better to be with someone you don’t like rather than being by yourself?
Now why would Sam be caring for this girl? And why would he want to hint at the fact that he thinks she and all her killed (!) relatives were ‘bad’ people? That leads to nothing and could only make matters worse.
Just take some stuff and leave before she changes her mind, she clearly doesn’t trust Sam and why would he put any more energy in trying to help her?
That’s because he’s not implying that her relatives are bad people, which they aren’t. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when zombie Abe got up to look for some food.
I have a discussion question for Dave, and it’s a really good one, thanks to F.L.: How similar would you expect a real zombie apocalypse situation to be like fictional writings and TV shows portray it to be? 😀
Dave. if you do use this question, please remember to credit F.L. for the inspiration for it! 😀
I think I’m going to use this for tomorrow’s discussion question.
As far as why he’d care about her, I would say that he feels bad for her. She didn’t do anything to him directly, and she really believes her father was doing the right thing.
How you ended last time did seem like a threat to me. One acceptable risk is getting the zeds to follow you to save another person that’s important to you. You may die, but in your final moments you would know it was to save the ones you love. Now doing this for a total stranger is crossing the line. If you escape the zeds after you, that person could kill you and take your stuff, so I draw the line for that kind of sacrifice at family and friends.
Yeah, I think you could read that either way.
A properly acceptable risk that could mean life or death could be summed up into Spocks dying words.
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.”
If you have a chance to find the cure, save a hundred orphans, and you must risk your life to do so? Chances are you will chicken out. I know Im no poster child of confidence and selflessness, but I still could throw caution to the wind and leap.
On a side note, Im excited that the storyline is leaving the church, perhaps we will see some new characters soon 😉
Well quoted, sir.
We are indeed leaving the church. I’m wrapping up this arc on Friday.
When it comes to taking risks in zombie apocalypse stories, one thing that always confuses me is how easily safe towns are established. Some people turn roll into town, high walls go up, and someone calls themselves leader. This would not happen in a real situation like this.
In The Walking Dead, the Woodbury walls are made up of hundreds of heavy-duty tyres.
1. Where did they get all those tyres
2. That’s got to be a lot stronger than the fences at the prison
Also, I got a new profile picture now. What do you think?
Dig the profile picture.
Excellent point about the “safe town”. Those tires are specialty items.
In the third image. Shouldn’t it be me and my friends? you can’t say I don’t mean I.
Yeah, that’s a good call.
I’ve a theory about this (well yeah just a theory…) that I think might apply to Z apocalypse. IMO the earlier in ZA you manage to stick with other people the better are your chances as they might not feel paranoid about other humans so fast (while dealing with first hours Z).
Paranoia will increase with time as the other survivors will become the main threat after a few days (the urge for finding food, weapons,meds…). Once suspicion has become a way of life you’d better already be with some people you started surviving with…
Beef Thief symbol looks good.
Acceptable Risk applies to everything from zeds in the street to crossing a street to get a coke. Balancing risk and reward is a skill many do not seem to learn.
In this situation rational thought may not be high on either of Sam or Emmas’ lists. Sam is suffering from massive guilt over his wife and child and now Abe and his boys. Emma is just starting the grief process. Both are trying to adjust to a new radically different world with the zeds.
Acceptable risk? A just-cooked gourmet pizza for me.