One person I’d definitely want to have in a Zpoc survivors’ group? Someone who’s survived at least one patch of Hard Luck – something awful happening to them that was not their fault.
Because that way at least one person in the group wouldn’t be utterly mentally paralyzed. A lot of survival has nothing to do with physical resources of food, water and shelter, and everything to do with how fast you can mentally react. And unless you’re a crazy medical researcher, an insane necromancer, or the hapless Guy Who Pushed the Schmuck Bait Button, getting caught in a Zombie Apocalypse is the ultimate not my fault.
Which means a lot of people who might otherwise survive will be taken out because they simply can’t process the utter unfairness the world has shoved in their faces. “Bad things don’t happen to good people” is a common background assumption, and, well… doesn’t get much worse than rampaging zombies.
Someone who’s had hard luck? Will probably still be in shock. Because Zombies. What. But they stand a better chance of shaking loose from the shock and doing something to survive.
So instead of “What are these bloody moaning hordes-” *Killed Mid-Sentence*
You’d have, “…Oh. Great. Zombies. Because the universe obviously didn’t hate me enough already.” *Sighs, gets out axe/crowbar/bat’leth.* “Okay, where’s my bug-out bag….”
Crossover Queen's Creative Chaos 
… Zuko wouldn’t even need time to blink before haring off, grabbing the nearest portable ally while setting off a nice big wall of flame to cover everyone’s retreat, would he?
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Maybe time to blink. Once. Because zombies. (Who isn’t going to blink at zombies?) But after that?
Actually, I suspect he’d be more likely to use targeted fire-blasts to the head than a big wall of flame. After all, fire only discourages people who can feel pain. Zombies, not so much. They’d keep coming and they’d be on fire.
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I feel like, based on the Tatterdemalion fics and Embers, you have mixed thoughts on whether or not military experience is a boon when trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. Because COL Hughes absolutely flips out (it’s honestly the closest thing to zombie apocalypse you’ve- no, I’m wrong, you write zombie-ish (but not explicitly zombie) stuff all the time.), and it’s stated that it’s because he IS such a strait-laced officer, while the strikers do pretty well adapting. So I’ve gotten the sense that you feel like it requires more flexibility of mind.
Personally, I think part of that may well be in the inherent differences between the enlisted soldier and the officer- an officer MUST sit down and try to consider long-term affects/strategies and how actions may play out, while an enlisted soldier (like the strikers of Tatterdemalion seem to be- based on the fact that you have them led by a sergeant) just gets to kill it dead. Very like the shinigami you’ve developed.
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I agree; there are two very different mindsets involved. And over the long term, in a zpoc, an officer’s training would be all kinds of helpful in planning strategic raids, resupplying, and eventually wiping out the zombie menace.
The key words there being “long term”. In the short term – which is what most zpocs focus on, especially in the beginning – people don’t have time to think. They’re responding from adrenaline, which means they act according to their habits and training. An officer, as you say, is trying to strategize; only the strategies and tactics they’re familiar with are for dealing with other humans. Not zombies. Zombies aren’t going to break, they aren’t going to try something clever, they aren’t going to be dissuaded by taking wounded. They just keep coming until they’re (re)dead.
Which is why in the short term, yes, the enlisted types are more likely to survive. “Keep hitting it until it stops hitting me.” With zombies, that can work.
Thanks for the comment! That’s exactly what I wanted to get across. 🙂
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