Would You Save Someone?

[Kurokami]

This post is a little hard to explain, although the question itself is very simple.

I am writing a zombie apocalypse story focusing on two characters, one male one female, both friends since primary school. The basis of the story is that there is a zombie apocalypse and both of their families are turned, but they are not. The boy's first instinct upon learning of this danger is to rush to her house and save her, before they try to escape the country. It was based on an odd thought I had while watching Zombieland, and because my parents were in Spain, I wondered if there was anyone else I would actively try and save in the event of a zombie apocalypse. There was, my best friend, a girl I've known since primary school.

So while this could apply to any sort of disaster scenario, I thought that with the mild resurgence of zombie apocalypse threads, I would try this one, which has never been done before. (Search bar approved, yay!)

The question then, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, assuming your immediate family were either out of the country or already dead (or in some other way far out of your immediate ability to save) is there anyone who you would rush to try and keep alive, no matter the consequences?

The person I care most deeply for at the moment is about a 9 hour drive away, does that count, or should it be practical? If practicality is taken into account I would probably go to save either my best friend and his girlfriend or another good friend since if there'd be one guy who'd survive, it'd probably be him.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Big Snip

The person I care most deeply for at the moment is about a 9 hour drive away, does that count, or should it be practical? If practicality is taken into account I would probably go to save either my best friend and his girlfriend or another good friend since if there'd be one guy who'd survive, it'd probably be him.

Okay. Didn't think of this one. From my perspective, I have access to a car, and my friend lives a two minute drive down the road, so saving her would be a matter of reaching her before she got bit, but your approach would have to be a little harder. I suppose though, if you would do anything to get to them, then this is fine to comment on, because it does add that little extra bit of hardship.

Hey, if there is a zombie apocalypse and you survive, make sure to let us know if you did get to them.

Also, from the perspective of the story I'm writing, the Girl wants to go and save her boyfriend, and that quest takes up most of the second act, so I guess it's even fine within the context of the story I'm lifting this from.

 

[DarkPanda XIII]

I hate people enough to where I would have almost said 'I would leave everybody else except for my buds', but really, I'm the type of guy that would see somebody in trouble and defend them. Sad part is that I'd probably get eaten, but hey, I tried.

 

[Galebaby]

I'd try to meet up with my Z-Day buddies and then we'd all move as a team to pick up our respective loved ones.

No less than six no more than twelve though. Keep it short. Keep it simple.

 

[SloshedUberman]

My friends all live in about a two mile radius in a town of about 1000, so I don't think it would be a really big deal
Plus more people=better chance of survival

 

[Kurokami]

Big Snip

The person I care most deeply for at the moment is about a 9 hour drive away, does that count, or should it be practical? If practicality is taken into account I would probably go to save either my best friend and his girlfriend or another good friend since if there'd be one guy who'd survive, it'd probably be him.

Okay. Didn't think of this one. From my perspective, I have access to a car, and my friend lives a two minute drive down the road, so saving her would be a matter of reaching her before she got bit, but your approach would have to be a little harder. I suppose though, if you would do anything to get to them, then this is fine to comment on, because it does add that little extra bit of hardship.

Hey, if there is a zombie apocalypse and you survive, make sure to let us know if you did get to them.

Also, from the perspective of the story I'm writing, the Girl wants to go and save her boyfriend, and that quest takes up most of the second act, so I guess it's even fine within the context of the story I'm lifting this from.

Well it becomes an issue of either she'd have been bitten or moved around which is a bit more difficult than just going through the hassle/risk of getting to her. To be completely frank though, I think I'd save everyone I can from my close friends. Power in numbers and god knows I don't want to end up insane.

Just as a side note, that story sounds very promising, what are you making it for? Fun? An assignment? Or actually looking to get it published?

 

[The Anhk24]

knowing that most of my friends have "zombie plans" and will probably be able to handle themselves, id help the few friends i have who wouldn't have a plan or be able to fight zombies

 

[Veleste]

Most of my friends live in the same apartment complex so I'd head straight there. I'd also fight through hell and back to keep the love of my life safe of course. That being said, I'm a lover, not a fighter, probably a suicide mission

 

[CoverYourHead]

Anyone that would help me survive.

Strength in numbers is important when you're at war with 99% of the ex-human race, after all.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Grab my zombie survival guide and try and get to some of my friends before its too late.

 

[Queen Michael]

My best friend. She's worth saving.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Depends on my chances I guess. I would for close friends, but also for a stranger if I've a relatively good chance of saving them/making it out alive. The main answer being however much my my conscience allows.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Big Snip

Small Snip

Another Big Snip

Well it becomes an issue of either she'd have been bitten or moved around which is a bit more difficult than just going through the hassle/risk of getting to her. To be completely frank though, I think I'd save everyone I can from my close friends. Power in numbers and god knows I don't want to end up insane.

Just as a side note, that story sounds very promising, what are you making it for? Fun? An assignment? Or actually looking to get it published?

I have to say I'm honestly surprised by how many people have responded saying they would save anyone. I would have thought everyone would go all 'Rar, emotionless, don't care, let them burn.'

The story is right now being written as a side project for my usual story work (I write a lot of novels and short stories with the aim of getting published, this one is kind of backburner)

I'm not really sure though. I'd like it to get published, because I'd like all my work to get published, but the more I write of it the less it feels like a novel. It feels much more to me like it should be a film or comic book, because there's very little dialogue, and very little direct action (of the fighting or running away kind); so it really depends on the setting to drive it and define it, and I keep running into walls about description which shows enough but doesn't tell too much or too little.

Maybe I'll try adapting it for comic and a screenplay, then see what happens. Like I say though, it is only a side project for now.

 

[WolfThomas]

Yes...eventually, I mean I would try to call my family, make sure they go somewhere safe, the town they're in is a lot safer than mine. But I wouldn't drop everything and race towards them.

My initial plan would be to ride out the first week or so of panic, fill the bath tubs with water, barricade the building and stay quiet. Then when every bodies not shooting each other by accident and crashing cars, I would drive my hopefully un-crashed into car back home, I drive the back roads normally so I shouldn't be held up.

That said I have no idea how I'd react if say someone was outside my building on the roof of a car or I heard a radio distress nearby.

 

[madrick11]

I would most likely attempt to save my family first, and whether that fails or succeeds, I would then try to save my closest friends and find a place to bunker down for a while.

 

[Lt.Snuffles]

I would probably call my friends etc to check that they are ok, before running away.

 

[Kurokami]

I have to say I'm honestly surprised by how many people have responded saying they would save anyone. I would have thought everyone would go all 'Rar, emotionless, don't care, let them burn.'

The story is right now being written as a side project for my usual story work (I write a lot of novels and short stories with the aim of getting published, this one is kind of backburner)

I'm not really sure though. I'd like it to get published, because I'd like all my work to get published, but the more I write of it the less it feels like a novel. It feels much more to me like it should be a film or comic book, because there's very little dialogue, and very little direct action (of the fighting or running away kind); so it really depends on the setting to drive it and define it, and I keep running into walls about description which shows enough but doesn't tell too much or too little.

Maybe I'll try adapting it for comic and a screenplay, then see what happens. Like I say though, it is only a side project for now.

If you ever want some feed back I'm sure you'll find lots of 'able readers' on here, I'd personally be quite happy to read it in my spare time but then there's obvious issues in dispensing your unpublished works around (mainly copy write in case of thieves).

When writing I get blanks all the times, mainly due to searching for the perfect words and phrases to describe a situation. Worst part is when you read over it again and decide its no longer what you want.

I agree that a comic or film often sound more appealing, particularly to writers as the story plays through their minds so they know how they'd caption it given the resources, but well done narratives and descriptions can be just as good as you have access to vagueness the reader can fill to his liking. In the zombie apocalypse story for example, each reader I'm sure would be placing themselves in the characters' shoes, something which isn't as readily available in a movie as we don't all look like Jake Gyllenhaal. (first name to come to mind, I've no idea why)

 

[DividedUnity]

Id save my closest friends but then again they live really far away so id need to drive quite a bit.

 

[Luke5515]

I promised my cousin and he promised me. Zombie apocylypse, we save each other. Then get weapons.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Snip Again.

If you ever want some feed back I'm sure you'll find lots of 'able readers' on here, I'd personally be quite happy to read it in my spare time but then there's obvious issues in dispensing your unpublished works around (mainly copy write in case of thieves).

When writing I get blanks all the times, mainly due to searching for the perfect words and phrases to describe a situation. Worst part is when you read over it again and decide its no longer what you want.

I agree that a comic or film often sound more appealing, particularly to writers as the story plays through their minds so they know how they'd caption it given the resources, but well done narratives and descriptions can be just as good as you have access to vagueness the reader can fill to his liking. In the zombie apocalypse story for example, each reader I'm sure would be placing themselves in the characters' shoes, something which isn't as readily available in a movie as we don't all look like Jake Gyllenhaal. (first name to come to mind, I've no idea why)

See, for me a lot of it comes from how I envisage the story in my own head (duh.) For example, I'm writing a fantasy series right now which I am totally enamoured of, because I do think it's some of my best work. The trick is, whenever I try and think of the story, although I can visualise the characters, what I can visualise even more is the perfect turn of phrase for me to describe them (for me of course, someone else might think the phrase I've used is useless.)

This story though, and also any superhero stories I write every so often, I can never think of the right thing to say, but I can see very clearly still frames which sum up the story in a perfect snapshot (whether I could draw these snapshot images is another issue.) For exmaple, one of the pre-production extracts I wrote for this story was a 1000 word shot of the Girl in a corner at night, rain coming down, clutching a loaded revolver while she hears zombies moving in the night and then hears two shots from the area where the Boy went to get food. It took me 1000 words to describe all that in the detail I needed, and in my head I was able to see perhaps four panels of a comic book that summed up the entire detail perfectly, and with more scope of emotion, because describing the facial expressions is always a major writing no no, but drawing them is very powerful.

Like I said, I'm thinking on it and trying to sketch out some of my initial concepts. One way or the other, I'll try and get them up here when they're done, just to get feedback. Should I PM you when I finally get round to it? (I should mention I'm also coming up on exam period, so probably the earliest I'll get some serious work in on this is in about 5 weeks.)