Maybe a blog about zombies isn’t the best place to talk about equality, current events, or anything in between. But the genre has always been one with a pulse of social commentary. Human on human violence is a depraved part of any zombie narrative but it’s also somewhat of a daily occurrence.

There’s this wound between people of the “civilized” world that we pretend doesn’t exist. In times of struggle or after the apocalypse there is a kill or be killed mentality preceding every page of a story that pushes people to do horrible things to one another in the name of survival. I’m confident that any zombie story that showed people meeting in times of turmoil and only getting along wouldn’t be enjoyed by its intended audience nor would it be true to life.

We know it’s better to take care of one another, especially in times of insanity, but we’re more compelled by people acting against one another to care. Every day American’s kill one another as part of some twisted agenda to keep some idea of freedom safe. It’s hard to wrap your head around in the real world because we’re supposed to have rules. But truth is, we’re steeped in this idea that “survival of the fittest” is the only thing that matters in a world without structure.

But even within structure we’re met with our own worst intentions. It’s in our individualistic nature to think we’re right, that we’re more fit to live than someone else, and the apocalypse is fiction’s most interesting lens on this dynamic. Let’s take The Walking Dead as a case study, because it deals with both person on person violence, and a “better world.”

So spoilers ahead for those of you who haven’t read the first arc of The Walking Dead.

It’s no secret that Rick Grimes and his survivors have met their fair share of human filth. The series established humans as the greatest hazard to humankind by the end of the first arc. The dynamic between Rick and Shane was recognizably similar to how our world works now. Two men with different ideals on the same thing. Torn over a women, sure. But torn over ideals.

Neither man could recognize the threats of the outside world to both of them and thus spent more time and energy on battling one another. This doesn’t feel like a logical gap because people fight every day. We like to think that society is the only thing that keeps us from killing one another, but in the world of the post-apocalypse society is more important than ever. Keeping people alive should be paramount. But for whatever reason – we put different values on human life and everyone shrugs and agrees to go along with the wild new status quo of a world with zombies.

When we feel threatened there’s no telling what we’ll do to protect the ones we love, our ideals, and the world. In the world of zombies, these actions feel even more important than ever. Nothing is scared outside of life, but truth be told life is always in short supply. It should be coveted and celebrated.

If we can learn anything from fiction it’s that we accomplish much more when we work together. Not everyone will agree, but killing someone over a single difference is far too regressive for a species as evolved as us. Yet, we’re still out there on the streets consuming one another faster than any other threat in the civilized world. It’s as if we’re the zombies. The drones who wait in line for the next Apple product, and the people who consume more than they create. It’s this reflection that we often acknowledge as a suspension of disbelief in the zombie genre.

However, it just serves as a macro lens on how people treat one another in times of perceived crisis. We already live in a world where people kill each other every day. Our fiction should be a safe place that can show us the depths of human depravity, and teach us something about the equality we all share, through death.

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This Zomblog will run every Monday and Friday until I run out of things to say about zombies. 

Until then check out Double Take’s blog – Double Take Universe to keep up to date on the incredible comics that will be coming your way in September. And head over to their Kickstarter to secure yourself the full ten launch issues. Which just went over 10k and has only a few days left to go! So please get out there and support good comics!