Where should you live in a zombie apocalypse?
As with most things, location is everything, and not all communities
on The Walking Dead are created equal. Here is a ranking of each one from worst to best.
Huge points get taken off for this community because they don't allow themselves to settle down.
This faction decided early on that they didn't want to bother with hanging onto the world
that was. Instead, they decide to cede control of the planet to the zombies by living among them.
Rather than build walls to keep the walkers out, they wear cured-flesh masks that allow them to
blend in with the dead, even strategically herding them for their benefit at times.
Part of their philosophy is that humanity needs to get back to its more animalistic roots. Therefore,
they operate on a societal basis of hierarchy,
with an Alpha leading their every move and making all their decisions.
Although they successfully eliminate walkers as a threat to their daily lives,
it just doesn't feel like a great way to live. The worst part is that a Whisperer is always at the
mercy of their Alpha. If Alpha decides the herd is moving one way, that's the way they're going.
If Alpha decides to start a war with well-armed humans, they're going to war. In short, there's
not much difference between a Whisperer and a regular zombie other than, technically, freedom.
"We are the walking dead."
This is a great example of something that
sounds terrific on paper being absolutely awful in practice.
At the onset of the apocalypse, a handful of police officers in Atlanta manage to maintain
their rank in society amongst a hospital skeleton crew as the city falls into anarchy. Their leader,
Dawn Lerner, has the respect of her fellow officers due to her rank,
which means increasingly less with each passing, lawless day.
Eventually, supplies dwindle and Dawn implements a system of taking survivors in for medical
treatment, only to force them to pay off the debt they've incurred for being saved.
Unable to keep the tense community afloat, Dawn resorts to more hostile measures,
basically enslaving anyone that the police find. In a world where humanity is scarce and
decisions are being made on a life-or-death level, having to defer to the judgment
and power of a former law enforcement officer just sounds like a nightmare.
For Dawn and her citizens, life becomes about serving a singular goal — keeping her
in power. That seems like a great deal for Dawn, less so for everyone else.
Woodbury gets credit for being one of the first safe havens built from the ground up
after the onset of the apocalypse. Early on in the show's timeline,
The Governor leads a small group of people to clear out, fortify and make the town somewhat
self-sustaining at a time when most other people were wandering the woods.
Under The Governor's leadership, they even manage to plant crops and get the power back
on so that some small slice of normal life was restored to a little more than 70 people.
However, although comfortable, the residents of Woodbury are completely
unaware of the day-to-day danger they face — mostly from their insane leader.
"I'm sorry, it's just this place… I can't stay here."
"Why?" "The Governor. He is not what he seems to be."
The viewers know The Governor to be a heinous individual capable of horrific crimes.
However, the average person who sees tomatoes growing in their neighborhood
probably isn't looking too closely at where the latest shipment of supplies came from.
This ignorance comes to a head during the war with Rick Grimes' group in the prison.
The citizens of Woodbury think themselves the good guys when they launch their attack,
but some of the survivors of the battle are cut down by The Governor himself.
Not exactly a community where you can depend on your leader.
Once you survive the apocalypse, the question becomes what kind of day-to-day
life is acceptable for you to survive in? For the members of The Scavengers,
the answer to that question has a pretty low bar.
While the people around them are clearing out prisons, factories and small towns,
a woman calling herself Jadis decides to claim a junkyard.
On paper, it sounds bad. However, if you're looking to survive, it provides security as
well as resources like scrap metal and even some food. Meanwhile, Jadis' policy of rarely
risking her people's lives or even revealing their presence to the world means that they
avoid conflict while living in relative comfort with plenty of essential supplies.
Eventually, though, the war in the area becomes so large that Jadis and her people fall into the
hands of The Saviors. Until then, however, Jadis has a resource-heavy community full of
loyal people who stayed out of sight and therefore out of mind. They were even making groovy artwork
and adopting weird eccentricities like only speaking in broken English. These are things
that people have the luxury to experiment with once safety isn't really a concern.
Speaking of odd diction choices in the apocalypse,
The Kingdom takes the cake by forcing its most loyal members to adopt a Renaissance
Fair style of English as they pledge fealty to their founder and king, Ezekiel.
"What do you think of the Kingdom? What do you think of the king?"
While having to perform a character as family members die and society crumbles
all around you is challenging to say the least, The Kingdom is one of the nicer places to live.
Early in the apocalypse, Ezekiel sees potential in an abandoned school and fortifies it as a
place to build a community. Unfortunately, it isn't around a lot of natural resources,
nor is it in the most defensible spot. However, that doesn't stop him from putting in the work
and turning it into a self-sustaining safe haven. Unfortunately, his hold on
The Kingdom is interrupted by The Saviors coming in and demanding a piece of the pie.
It doesn't take long before the resources and good nature of The Kingdom and its
citizens dwindle. While the community gets credit for changing with the times,
the fact is that Ezekiel invests long term in a place with a short expiration date.
The Prison may seem like a great place to live,
and Rick and his group of survivors do their best to make it one for a long time. However,
the logistics of maintaining a prison are a constant struggle.
For one, the place was designed to be maintained by a large staff of guards, cooks, administrators,
and more. When in doubt, prison labor filled in the gaps. When the survivors arrive, it's up to
a little more than a dozen people to manage a massive facility. While blocking off a section
of the prison is easy enough, they are constantly plagued by walkers getting past the gates.
Meanwhile, its curbside appeal makes it a constant target for attacks,
which is ultimately how the prison falls. In a desperate world, having something as shiny and
secure as a prison is too often an invitation for outsiders to take what isn't theirs.
A place can be as safe as possible from walkers, but as the show constantly reminds its audience,
human beings are the real threat in this world.
The community of Oceanside is created after another settlement
falls to the ruthless tactics of the Savior Simon.
After suffering a defeat that sees every male member of their society executed,
the women and children flee to re-establish themselves elsewhere.
They become the first group on this list to utilize their natural geography
by putting the ocean at their back to prevent walkers coming at them from every side.
They decide that sharing what they have with the world is no longer an
option because someone like Simon will eventually strong arm their way into taking it.
As a result, they spend most of their time doing the bare minimum to survive
while getting rid of anyone that might make their presence known to the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, their main concern is staying hidden, which prevents them from really building
the Oceanside community into something grand until after Rick's war with Negan. Even then,
resources are scarce and Oceanside becomes little
more than a stopping point for people to travel to more secure locations.
However, the community gets a lot of credit for being naturally
fortified from the water as well as standing tall in the face of defeat.
Oceanside also gets top marks for its resilience and tactical position.
Fortified walls, an endless supply of fighters, resources,
and a somewhat merit-based economy. If that sounds like a good time,
The Sanctuary might be up your alley. Of course, it's not all sunshine and lollipops.
Members of The Sanctuary are asked to join an incredibly
unforgiving cult that promises safety in exchange for entering a debt system
similar to that of Grady Memorial Hospital. If you decide that you're not happy with the deal,
you can always run. However, Negan and The Saviors are powerful enough to collect on their debts.
Unfortunately, all it takes is a run-in with Rick Grimes for everything to crumble. The problem with
ruling by fear is that, once you encounter someone that isn't afraid to take a few hits, you can't
just take your ball and go home. Negan understands that, which is why he wages total war on Rick and
his alliance of communities. He knows that there is no way to continue ruling by force if there is
an equally powerful civilization in the area with a more enlightened view on corporal punishment.
Similar to The Sanctuary, Terminus is a large,
brick facility that is easily fortified and manned by people to ensure the dead stayed out.
Its people don't even need to risk venturing out into the world for supplies. Everything they
need in terms of weapons, equipment and, yes, food, is delivered right to their front door.
After resorting to cannibalism following a horrific attack, leader Gareth advertises Terminus
as a safe haven for survivors. That's just the sales pitch, however. Anyone who makes it to
Terminus has to give up their gear before getting made into a feast for real Terminus residents.
Gareth builds a society that is sustainable and secure. However, the cost of entry is becoming a
straight up cannibal. One can only survive so long on morally questionable societal means,
but Gareth manages to make it last for a surprisingly long time.
This safe haven has literally everything. Alexandria is a
community that was converted from an upscale suburban neighborhood
originally designed for sustainability. Once the apocalypse hits, a professor of architecture
redesigns and fortifies the walls to ensure that both people and walkers can't get in.
There's enough space and empty houses for people to really set down some roots,
knowing that they don't have to worry about the wasteland outside.
Plus, its location near a mall means years of guaranteed supplies before needing to look
elsewhere. In short, Alexandria ticks off all the boxes of both safety and comfort. However,
being comfortable and safe isn't always the best thing for people in an apocalypse.
Similar to the prison, when you have something that looks this great to a desperate outsider,
it will forever be a target. Since settling down in Alexandria, its citizens have done
nothing but fight the outside world to varying degrees of success. Still,
if you like a lot of danger and excitement in your life, Alexandria might be the place for you.
It may not be the flashiest, it may not be the most comfortable,
but it's definitely survived and thrived more than any other community with more potential.
The Hilltop starts out as a historic museum house in Virginia before
the apocalypse turns it into a safe zone. When the military abandons it,
the survivors decide it's the perfect place to build a stronghold.
Its location in the wilderness means that large invasions by walkers aren't likely
and easy to see coming if the impossible does occur. Survivors can't really sneak up
on the place and if they did, they'd have large walls and guards with weapons to contend with.
The community is even self-sustaining, with fertile ground and dependable crops without
the need to venture outside. However, the true strength of The Hilltop is in its leadership.
For all his flaws, Gregory was the exact person Hilltop needed to establish and
secure the safe haven. However, when he proves ineffective as a wartime leader,
the people are lucky enough to see Maggie take charge.
When all else is failing around them, The Hilltop digs in and manage to survive
while other, more seemingly secure and stocked communities
fall like dominoes. Not only is it a well-built place to live, but it's led
by people who are just hardened enough to keep it safe without resorting to drastic measures.
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