The Last of Us & The Zombie Survival Guide

Such an amazing game! I finished it a while back and now I'm almost done with the game a second time, on the Survivor difficulty, trying to collect everything. It's such a surprise to see how much I have missed on my second run (and I thought I was thorough my first time around). Survivor, in short, is a rage-quit festival. Be prepared to die. Like, a lot. It's a miracle I've come so far on so little (I'm at the Fireflies laboratory), and once this adventure's over, I'll probably jump over to the Wii and replay Zelda's Twilight Princess and play Skyward Sword for the first time (I can hear your exasperations already :P). 

Enduring the harrowing dangers of The Last of Us's post-apocalyptic world has got me reflecting about my physical abilities, firearms experiences, and wilderness survival training. Or rather the lack thereof. If the end of the world as we know it ended today (here's hoping it doesn't), I don't think I'd have what it takes to survive. My chances would be astronomically low. Of course, nobody can really prepare for the end of the modern world, but some chance of survival is much better than not having any at all. 

And that's where Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide comes in. Half-humorous and half-serious (in my humble opinion), it provides an overview of effective combat tactics for fighting or running away from the walking dead, assessing one's environment/situation, and even providing suggestions to the most ideal weaponry/armor of any class (short-range/long-range/silent/hand-to-hand, etc.) It's quite in-depth, but not overwhelmingly so. I've been taking extensive notes (hi-lighting, underlining, and even writing) all over the book, and from all of these marks I'm making, it's helping me forge out an ideal plan of attack - my weapon of choice, what to stock up on, learning new skills (especially ones I should know by now!), and motivating me to be more shape (fear of death is a great motivator!). Reading the book and taking notes is giving me inspiration to learn more skills and try new experiences, all the while giving me some hope that I won't be the first to die. As you can see, I've been taking the book quite seriously, perhaps more than I should, but I'm not bothered by it - the note-taking process is preparing me for the upcoming school fall semester!