Zombie Cliche Lookout: They Didn’t Make It
Once again, this trope exists far beyond just the zombie survival subgenre. In fact, it really seems to show up most often in war stories. You know what I’m talking about. A soldier returns to his platoon after going on another mission, or perhaps recovering in a field hospital. He’s overjoyed to be among his old friends again, but notices that a lot has changed since he was around last. There are a few new faces, and some old friends aren’t around anymore. Eventually, he can’t hold it in any longer and has to ask: what happened to so and so? Oh, they didn’t make it. Next stop: survival guilt.
About this Episode:
It’s been quite a while since Sam was with the rest of our characters. Quite a while indeed. So long, in fact, that I had to go back and re-read quite a few comics to make sure that I was remembering things correctly. For instance, I wasn’t quite sure whether Sam was around when Shannon was bitten and killed. I didn’t think he was (he wasn’t), but it would have been awfully embarrassing to write the next few episodes under that assumption, and then turn out to be wrong. Not that I don’t make plenty of mistakes in this strip, but that would be a tough one to live down.
Other News:
I have to apologize for not participating in the comments as much as I usually do. Work has been incredibly busy for me lately, and I haven’t had a lot of free time. Hopefully, things settle back down soon. In the meantime, please don’t take offense.
Discussion Question: Biggest Changes
Let’s assume that Sam manages to get through everything, and is reunited with his old friends back at the cabin in the woods. What do you think the biggest change is going to be for him? What’s going to be the hardest thing for him to get used to?
The only thing I have to say about the comments is that Monday’s get replied to whilst Wednesday’s do not. If you have any way to make it so that you can consistently write replies to comments on Wednesday I would ask that you do so.
Apart from that, it’s all good, just do try to catch up on any meaningful comments if there are any you really want to reply to. 😀
I mean, be the replies be on Wednesday or any other day after Wednesday, if that isn’t clearly implied. 😀
Looking at things from Sam’s point of view, it may possibly be that Murphy had to shoot Shannon. I don’t know if he knows this yet, but it does seem like his time at the fire truck didn’t have any background noises that sounded like gunshots, so he’s likely to both be confronted with this information and have to understand the implications the group decision had on them all, simultaneously. Whether Cheryl is going to tell him this herself or leave it up to another member of the original group is still not clear.
And yes I’m aware that the gunshots his “rescuers” fired on the zombies to kill them were off-screen, but they would have been a lot closer than the gunshot Murphy was firing. I’d expect that the gunshot Murphy fired was a lot more distant than his “rescuers’ were.
One day I should go back to the beginning of this comic… Can’t remember how Shannon died… I hardly remember Murphy being injured (not sure how BTW).
BrickVoid, maybe you can do a “previously, on Bricks of the Dead”section so lazy readers like me can keep up with important stuff 😉
Actually, I’d really rather Dave did it himself! *wink*
I think he considered it not long ago.
I’m really looking forward to Sam and Murphy getting reunited… If I remember correctly, they were not getting along so well, now that water has gone under the bridge, Murphy getting injured, Sam becoming a helluva survivor…
I’d love to see Sam to give in to some feeling of power over the group he is about to reunite with.
About the unanswered comments… No harm done!
“Sam becoming a helluva survivor” – Dave, are you taking notes? This right here sums Sam up pretty well! Good job, pi3rk! 😀
I think the choices Sam has made, good or bad, has helped turn, nay, mold him into a zombie killing survialist. He will be more determined, more calm, more focused in the face of dangers up ahead.
And then promptly step on a nail covered in zombie juices, get infected, and die.
…
You know…it could happen…
Nah, I think Sam will step into a plot hole filled with zombies and never be seen or heard from ever again! 😀