Walking Dead infects Wolverines, devastates fans with gruesome deaths
April 8, 2016
Danger is all around, you haven’t showered in years, and the walkers are everywhere. The zombie apocalypse is upon us! Are you ready?
No, it hasn’t started just yet–unless you watch The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead isn’t just a Sunday night TV show, it’s also a guide that teaches us how to survive the apocalypse. “You’ve got to make sure you have the right group,” freshman Nadaja Burnett said. It’s important to “take care of yourself and take care of your people.”
“It’s taught me a lot and made me want to make emergency kits,” science teacher Matt Johnson said.
For many who already watch the show, it’s hard to understand why people wouldn’t watch this amazing show. While non-fans say it’s “just another zombie show,” The Walking Dead is “a really great human story, and to watch the arc of the story is really interesting,” Johnson said.
Fans know the way to add to their group is to hook them on the stories of the survivors. “It‘s about the story of the people, and that’s how I try to get people to watch it,” health and dance teacher Kauri Martin said.
The show has infected its fan base so strongly that the deaths of beloved characters brings chaos. In more recent seasons, fans have watched the group grow but shrink at the same time with the loss of main characters like Shane, Lori, and Tyrese, but at the same time gaining new anti-heros like Father Gabriel. 
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Because viewers identify so strongly with their favorite characters, it makes it easier for them to imagine what they would do if the zombie apocalypse actually happened. “If I was in that situation, I would be very hesitant to trust anyone,” Martin said.
In each season, The Walking Dead has shocked and stunned its fan base by killing main characters suddenly. Walking Dead graphic novel creator Robert Kirkman frequently reminds fans in interviews that “No one is safe,” which he has proved countless times with the death of fan favorites.
While fans online frequently say that if Daryl dies, they’ll riot, everyone who watches has their own characters whose death would be devastating. “If Michonne died, I would be very upset,” Burnett said. Burnett dressed as the katana-wielding heroine for “TV Character Day” during Homecoming week.
While fans now have a long wait until the start of season seven to find out if their favorite characters survived their first encounter with new villain Negan, AMC is providing some relief the form of the spin-off series Fear The Walking Dead, which begins its second season this Sunday night at 9pm. “I’m excited to see what happens in Fear the Walking Dead,” Johnson added.
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