Zombie Cliche Lookout: Other Predators
If there’s one central tenet of zombie stories, it’s that zombies are neither the only monsters, nor the most dangerous (and also, destroy the brain). The honor of the most dangerous enemy falls, as always, to the living. Zombies are certainly dangerous, especially in numbers, but they lack the deliberate evil that living people can bring to the table. Of course, they’re clumsy and stupid, and completely unable to use tools. More so, they also lack motivation, cunning, and tact.
Zombies simply cannot be truly evil. For as awful as they are, they do so out of nothing more than instinct. Lions aren’t evil for killing and eating antelope; they’re simply exhibiting their nature. People, on the other hand, have an incredible talent for intentional evil on scales both miniscule and grand.
About this Episode:
This one is reaching back a little ways. If you recall, Inez attacked Lou when he held Brent and Murphy at gunpoint. After that, he was supposedly killed by zombies while Inez was supposed to be getting him to the safety of the car. She seemed to have her reasons, but we never got the chance to explore it. Well, we’ve got the chance now!
Discussion Question: What About Lou?
We don’t know a lot about Lou. He held our characters at gunpoint, and seemed a bit cagey, but he might well have had his reasons. Now we know that there were bodies behind his store, which gives us a bit more information, but not much. So you know what time it is. That’s right, it’s time for rampant speculation!
So what’s the deal with Lou? Was he a dangerous madman, or simply someone forced to do things to stay alive? Were those bodies zombies, or victims? Speculate on, you crazy kids.
Although we are generally presented with preppers as reasonable people some of them are quite paranoid. During normal times this is not much of a problem but when the “dream comes true” and you are now in the the apocalypse then yourr paranoia will go full bore and the slightest misperceived actions and bullets fly.
I think Lou was just crazy and looking out only for himself.
The thing about preppers is that they’re just like everyone else. There are good ones and bad ones. Rational preppers and paranoid preppers. They’re a segment of the population, just like any other group.
Good thoughts here, sir.
Yeah that whole dead body thing seems pretty sketch. . . . . I’d have to side with Inez on this one.
Oh, like we don’t all have a pile of dead bodies hidden behind our place of work.
Oh… I’ve said too much.
LIKED
hah!
Let me guess, she happened to discover her smartphone in her pocket, and wants to share some pics she took on it? 😀 Or, more likely, she kept it intentionally for just such an occasion! 😀
As to Lou’s motives, well, he could plead temporary insanity, if he were still alive! 😀 Surviving in a zombie apocalypse doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll hold yourself together! If you see dead people come back to life and start eating people would you be able to hold it together, especially if, like Lou, you’re a paranoid type of person? 😀
That’s an excellent point, BV. I really doubt many of us have the mental fortitude to just shrug something like that off, no matter how many zombie flicks we’ve seen.
One minor typo in the first paragraph of this episode: “fall, as always” fall–>falls 😀
Fixed!
It’s obvious, people…
Lou didn’t get that stash by himself. He lured people in with the promise of trade or goods and then he killed them for their supplies. The dead bodies probably helped form a good defense, too. The zombies smell them and think, “Not food” and leave Lou alone.
See, obvious. 😀
It’s interesting you think Dave’s zombies only eat living people, not dead people. Question to Dave: Do they? 😀
Ah, good point, BV. My zombies eat only the living.
So how far does that extend? Borderline case: A zombie is chasing someone but they have a heart failure that causes a severe cerebral infarction, due to being chased. This immediately kills them, before the zombie gets to bite them. Does the zombie still want to chow down on it’s prey, or does it suddenly give up, upon seeing that the living person is suddenly a corpse?
That’s where it gets a little weird. I don’t think zombies are smart enough to easily tell whether the person is still alive or not, so I’d say they would lose interest in the body once the temperature drops closer to the ambient temperature of the area. Zombie’s like hot meals.
Its the age old cold food vs hot food debate
So in other words, the freshness of the meat is what matters to them?
Also, Dave, you should totally get around to making comics that give your characters some insight into your zombies at some point in the future. Not necessarily correct insight, but something they can learn from, at any rate! 😉
I like these theories, Kim, especially that second one.
Thanks! I love that it sparked such a great discussion!