Leaders or Vampires

Today fellow survivors I will tell you a story. This story is about a strange young man who knew he was somehow different from the masses. He was never accepting what he did was good enough and pushed himself for better. He was never accepting society was good enough and searched tirelessly for alternatives, for anything that wasn't within his realm of experience. This is when he uncovered the undead. At first just something curious, somewhat romantic, new and exciting: he studied everything but of particular interest were zombies and vampires.

Though some would say this was a morbid past time he became obsessed with zombies. Wondering where the myths came from and marvelling at the symbol yet never ending symbology surrounding them. A symbology that crossed over in importance but not meaning with many other undead. While zombies were the symbol of inevitable death, vampires were the symbol of never-ending life. One completely natural, the other completely impossible.

I will discuss what came of the young boys zombie interested near the end but first go in depth about one particular part of his vampire research, the extent of which could not be covered in a single post. Understand this boy was different, he would walk into a room and immediately change the feeling in the room depending on his mood. The number of people in the room didn't matter, 1 or 500 he could control the aura everyone felt. Control might be the wrong word because he didn't yet know how to control his own moods at that age but regardless whatever he felt or deeply wanted everyone else to feel, they would. The boy was often alone and enjoyed his own company more then any other but found he could not stand to be alone. He constantly searched for companionship and to physically be near others. This was because he could feed off their energy, he could feel what they felt, he could energize himself by draining them. Leaving the encounter stronger, more mentally alert and ready to take on the world while the other person or people would be left tired, weak and sad. These examples along with others, a natural dislike of the light for instance, or the amount of times he had been in situations he should have died but somehow his body didn't give up; fueled the boy in his search of the supernatural. The stories of vampire couldn't be true but there had to be truth in them. Suddenly he was approached.

One night the boy opened his e-mail like he did every night and there was a message from a girl he had never met and would never meet to his knowledge. She told him he was a vampire and gave him groups to research. He looked at the groups and saw nothing less then cults who worshiped "vampires" but they defined vampires differently then one would think of them. To these cults a vampire drank the life energy out of other people, just like the stories, had incredible powers (some the stories didn't even mention), but the big difference was these vampires didn't drink blood, they literally drank energy. One group dedicated itself to the research of this and how the original transcriptions in other languages the word blood is actually life. So when vampires drank, they drank life, not necessarily blood. These cults believed a vampire was a normal human who simply had this ability and could perform great feats through mental willpower. The cults said few people knew if they were a vampire but those who knew the signs could pick them out. And the boy had to admit he matched all the signs he could find mention of. He e-mailed the girl back for more information, she told him where to meet her and those who might become his guides. She mentioned that she hoped he might pick her.

The boy went to the meeting and found one of the strangest events he had ever encountered. While he came half full of wonder and half expecting a bunch of goth kids he was not prepared for what he was in store. Dozens of people dressed in the most elegant and at the same time the most sexually arousing clothing he'd ever seen. And they were beautiful. The ages ranged from as young as fifteen (or maybe younger) to early fifties at his best guess. Instantly you could see two classes of people in the room, those who were and those who weren't. The ones who were floated about as smoothly as if every step was taken to music, even though the only sound was of these people talking. They also dominated almost all of the speech, pausing only long enough for those around them to ask a question or make a compliment. And those around them? They were the others, they followed almost part bent over, obviously willing to kiss the ground at the command of one of the ones who were. They hung on every word said and jumped to every sight whim. But the thing that the boy noticed most, the moment he walked in, nothing changed. The room carried on as if he wasn't even there. Not a single person's aura shifted and no energy came to or left him.

He stood for a long time it seemed, days for all he knew, just watching. As he watched it seemed some of the ones who were had favorites among those who weren't. They got no less attention from the others but one would always be closest, one would always be running to get drinks or food or whatever, one would also be the ONLY one to ever touch the one who was. And the ones who didn't have favorites? They could only be described as having the time of their lives, like a beautiful woman with so many suitors trying to gain her hand. In fact that is exactly as the boy describes it. But it was men and women with men and women suitors. Finally (though it may have only been seconds) a woman walked up to him followed by her group and started speaking to him. The boy had never felt like this before, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and easily ten years his senior, he felt like he wanted to be with her always, like she wanted to be with him, but at the same time his entire being told the boy that he was stronger then her. And as if she could read his thoughts the woman told him that he was one of the ones who was. The boy learned many things that night, some of which still haunt him but two things fought in his mind as he walked home with a list of e-mails, phone numbers and (probably fake he thought) names. One thing was that those who were, had everything. Whatever they wanted, they never had to work and they never had to strive, they simply had to make their wishes known. And the other thing was that each of the ones who were choose a partner to feed from, and would feed from that man or woman until he (or she) become nothing, simply broken and useless with no hope, will, energy or life left. This could take weeks or it could take years but it always happened and the one who was simply moved on to play with others and choose a new partner. Voluntary slavery. To use another person like that was wrong, it was evil, these people were the monsters they claimed to be and the worst part of it was, they accepted it.

The boy never e-mailed any of the e-mails, never called any of the numbers and never looked up any of the names. He turned his back on them because the chance to live an easy life and learn to harness this "power" was not worth making a slave out of another human being.

I tell you this story because the boy eventually learned to control his moods, control his energy and thus control the energy of the people around him. He began using this knowledge to try and better people instead of letting his own sorrow destroy those he wanted to be close to. Eventually he began bringing out the best in people and people actually wanted to be with him just so they could feel good and they couldn't explain why. Neither could he until even later. He eventually learned about leadership. What he had was not a supernatural power it was simply leadership. By the way he held himself and the energy he carried he could influence others, he was a natural leader but as he learned leadership can be both positive or negative.  Negative leaders can cause much more damage then if there was no leader at all but a good leader can make a group of people into an invincible team. The cults were simply people who had become such powerful leaders that they could use that leadership to sway the weak willed into doing anything and then they used that sway for their own gain. Leadership is not a position, rank or political standing. Leadership is the willpower and understanding to influence other people. Leadership comes naturally to some people and must be learned by others. And it is true most people will never reach the kind of leadership to influence 500 people or to make someone dedicate their entire life energy to you, but that does not mean it doesn't exist. Like with all things the levels of leadership are different for every person and if a person has just enough leadership to lead a group of a dozen people to safety and survival, then I'd say that person has just enough leadership to really be worth something: or to cause the deaths of those people, leadership is also a responsibility and one that can ever be taken lightly. Which is also why it needs to be taught and learnt by those who do use it for self-improvement, for enriching lives and ultimately after the fall, for surviving. Instead of being taught by those who would use it to create slaves.

The other research of the boy, the research that led to such a large interest in zombies. He eventually came across enough evidence that he could no longer doubt their existence so combined with zombies represented in society and ow culture and people reflected them, the study of zombies became one of the boy's passions and eventually led to him starting a blog dedicated to them.

Stay vigilant, may you never join a cult, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Morale and interaction

Hello follow survivors, this post will cover a number of topics regarding morale so strap in and put your thinking caps on.

First we start by mentioning games, which serve a number of purposes after the fall. The number one reason for games is to occupy your mind. The long term effects of boredom can be devastating.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bored--find-something-to-live-for

This article is one of many that can be found  describing the effects of boredom. The most interesting thing mentioned here is this, "This heightened appreciation of self and immediate surroundings also lies at the heart of mindfulness." Now when could one be bored during the zombie apocalypse one might think. After all you will appreciate your surroundings a lot more. But boredom also has to do with growing tired of repetitive tasks, lack of entertainment and a number of other things which will still effect a person even when the undead have taken the world.

In an ideal situation you will be bored a lot. If you’ve done your job and are in a safe location your contact with the undead should be at a minimum leaving a lot of time in your hands. There are many ways to use this time. Here are a few: Building/setting/checking traps, Farming/gardening, Caring for animals, Prepping food, Searching for supplies, Training/practicing, Exercise.

These are just a few of the ways to pass the time and they should all be done regularly but you will still manage to find time in which your mind needs to refresh. These tasks are quite mundane and after doing them for even a short period anyone will begin to grow tired of them. One way to refresh the mind can be in the form of talking with other survivors but that brings about its own problems. Social interaction in the post-apocalypse can be strange and foreign. After all many of the things we talk about everyday will seem very minor compared to the daily fight for your life. You will also find that you are forced to be with people by circumstance who you may never have interacted with in our world.

But these are not as large of obstacles as you may think. You can still talk about the past as you would talk about it now. The main difference is to be aware that it is in fact the past and your new life doesn’t have to be horrible but may seem as such when compared to the past. For this reason I would still suggest staying away from the topic unless all survivors involved are fully settled and accepting of the new life they lead.

Some things to think about your new life are: no longer having to pay insurance, no more bosses or managers, not having to pay for anything really, learning new things like the barter system, fewer hate crimes, new social order, no traffic laws, never having to pay for parking. The list of things better about the apocalypse are almost numberless though they appear small. It will be in this time that the people who can appreciate the small things in life will serve a better chance of making it in the long run. It is so easy to lose hope in our world as it is, once most of the world is dead hope and happiness will be hard to find but rest assured it is there! Being able to find the joy in the small things will help you stay in high spirits which is one of the most important parts of surviving any battle, any military mind, sports fan, soldier or player can tell you that most of the battle is in the mind, if morale is low chances of winning drop to zero but if morale is high every movement and task seems easier. This fact is so true it even affects our relationships and chances of success when dating or doing daily tasks like laundry and cooking: which will still exist after the fall.

So as long as people are able to live in the current world and not lose hope then talking about the past can be both therapeutic and entertaining. Another caution though is to let go of judgments passed on past lives. It is good to know a person’s skill set from before but their “social rank” no longer applies. A homeless person will have a completely different skill set then a lawyer and it will not matter how much money either one has after the fall. Each person must be judged solely on their merits. Not on how much of the idea of money they possess.

To understand this, understand that money is only an idea. Money is the idea that the whole world agrees how much wealth a person has. If the whole world decides that money is no longer worth anything then those people who are rich and powerful suddenly lose all status. In the end knowledge and training, skills and materials will become what is truly of worth and value: money will be an idea without a purpose or meaning therefore no longer giving those who have it power.

The more people to talk with the more there will be to talk about and more opinions to bounce ideas off of and topics to talk about. This however can also be a downfall of many groups. So many opinions and especially too many leaders in a group will lead to group separations or worse, groups staying together and eventually destroy themselves. Never be afraid to split ways with the people you are with. This will in fact increase your chances of survival as you will have multiple groups with good relations too each other and you can potentially  get help from if you are ever in need and manage to find them. Smaller groups are also easier to hide from hordes or belligerent raiders.

As you discover these other survivors who you never would have known otherwise you will be able to share completely different viewpoints and experiences. Don’t be afraid of this. Learn to accept each person’s opinion as valid and every idea as a possibility. But also beware of people who will try to use you and give nothing back or who lack moral fiber. In the final days any person will be welcome from the loneliness but every person becomes a potential enemy just as much as a potential ally.

If you yourself are a leader you should find people who will follow you and have skills you can use examples might include: soldiers, firefighters, sports players, construction workers, mechanics, handy men, Scout leaders, cooks, drivers, hospital staff, university teachers, technicians, entertainers.

If you are a follower you will need to search for a leader who will keep you alive. You are likely to find leaders among the following groups: police, criminals, hospital staff, writers. Leaders are hard to find, they can be found in any group as any person can be a strong leader, they are often the people who in the real world stick up for themselves and the people around them. They are the people who rock the boat OR make the boat run smoothly. Leader are not the type of people you want following you but they can make very valuable allies and if you are not a leader or an extremely talented survival expert, your best chances of survival are finding a leader to join with and having skills that leader can use.

Being alone is another option but requires a great deal of skill, combat ability and luck. Everyone will have to spend times alone and in these times the weak will die and the true survivors will be left to fight on. But the time alone can be minimized by finding a good leader or being a good leader.

Having people around also offers the ability to play more complex games. As I mentioned, games can be a valuable asset in fighting off morale, fear and in being prepared. There are many zombie games available which keep the player in the mindset of surviving and thriving in a world covered by undead. Obviously these games are not completely representative of the true apocalypse but they can offer suggestions, ideas and allows the players to play test scenarios which may come up in the real world.

Films are also a good source of preparation. The opportunity to watch films may not come up often as time passes after the fall, nor should time be wasted in front of a television BUT nothing will boost morale quicker than a movie night after a long time away from them. And many zombie movies offer different view points on the undead. Views which you can either confirm or deny based on your real life experiences. A film may also provide ideas or tips on defending against the undead or destroying the undead. It may bring up things you never thought to ask yourself about. This is especially important before the apocalypse, to be prepared for as many potential situations as possible. It is not yet known how the virus spreads except via liquid transfer with an infected. Thus the many outbreaks around the world are unexplained as to how they first come about. Many films offer suggestions on how the virus transfers besides direct contact and thus provide ideas of things to avoid or protect yourself against.

I hope this article helped with suggestions about morale and its importance. Also giving some brief insight into interaction with other survivors.

Until next time, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate,
Mike D.