There was a mighty storm today. Rain blew sideways, trees danced their happy dance, patio furniture fell over dead. The power went out, came back, went out again, then came back once more.
What didn't come back was the internet. I was in the middle of something online, and had nothing else to do, so after waiting an appropriate length of time for the internet to return I set out to the good Starbucks.
There were several traffic lights out of commission. Some flashed yellow, some were out entirely. Major intersections had a police presence to avoid catastrophe, but the minor intersections managed well enough without color-based guidance. If a traffic light is out or flashing red, you treat it as a 4-way stop (like there's a stop sign for each direction). People stopped, waited, and went according to their turns. Nobody had to tell them to do anything, nobody went into a hot panic. It was like a shared consciousness. Blue car got to the intersection first, I stop, he goes, I go, the next person goes.
Perhaps there is hope for humanity. We like to pretend that without somebody to tell us what to do we will slip into a sort of dawn-of-man, anarchistic, stay-away-from-my-sheep mentality. It's nice to know that, where motor vehicles are involved at least, we can fend for ourselves.
Hopefully, when the zombies come, we will be better prepared than movies insinuate. If we can deal with inoperative traffic signals, maybe we can deal with the flesh eaters without mass havoc.
That's the hope I cling to when I check the locks on my zombie shelter weekly, restock the food and water supplies monthly, and dry-fire each of my collection of assault weapons.
I have an unconfirmed but seemingly valid suspicion that I would be quite delicious, so I have to be vigilant. Perhaps moreso than others.
When they come, the traffic lights wont work. There won't be power and our water system will be compromised instantly. Can we survivors handle ourselves as well as with just the lack of traffic signals? I hope so. I hope for the sake of our species.
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