Spoiler alert!  Do not read on if you have not seen the 10/30/11 episode of The Walking Dead.

As I was watching The Walking Dead, I was struck by the situation on tonight's episode. Shane shot Otis in the leg, took his pack (not without losing some hair and getting scratched) and left him for the zombies so he could get away. A cop injured a man and left him as bait so he could get away, and I think it was probably more for Shane than for Carl.

In extreme situations, the author is saying, compassion breaks down and one's own life is worth saving, not the life of a companion or a friend or even a lover, but one's life. I wonder if Shane would have given up his life if he were running with Rick or even Laurie, whom he professed to love. I doubt it. Shane is a selfish individual and he would've killed Rick or Laurie so he could get away. Some people are like that, so willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone else so they can go on one more day or hour or moment. The time left isn't important. What's important is that they get to go on living, that they have one more chance to take another step even if it's their last.

In some ways, the survival instinct is a strong goad to self-preservation at any cost. I don't know what I would've done in the same situation, but I would probably take my own life after handing the bag to a stronger companion so someone else could be saved. I'm not afraid of dying. That doesn't mean I would throw away my life, but I know that I will go on in another life, preferably one free of zombies, and giving my life for someone else's would be a sacrifice I'd be willing to make. Does that mean I wouldn't fight until there was no other choice? Not at all. As Andrea on the show has proved, even though she wants to die, she will continue to fight to live.

It is fitting on this All Hallow's Eve that we remember the dead, not just the ones we know, but everyone who has given their life so others might live. The ones closest to us, the ones we still miss, are easy to remember, but the ones we don't know, the ones whose lives have been sacrificed for the greater good, those are the important ones. Their sacrifice for people they don't know, for an ideal, is something we all should remember and honor.

It's fun, and often scary, to watch shows like The Walking Dead, but even in that short format writers are trying to get a point across, the point that we are not alone and every action counts even when the only ones who see can no longer comprehend the meaning. Shane knew his cowardice and selfishness, but I doubt he knew even the depths to which he could sink in the world in which he now lives. If not, why eradicate the bald spot where Otis ripped the hairs out by the roots? To hide his guilt and his shame, both of which have been amply proved before this when he took up with Laurie after lying to her that Rick was dead.

Laurie bears some guilt for her actions, especially so soon after her husband is supposedly dead. She wasted no time in getting her clothes off and bedding down with Shane in the woods, at least taking the time to take off her husband's wedding ring before she gave herself up to lust. She said to a friend before the zombie apocalypse came down that she and Rick had married too young. I don't see that as an excuse, especially when the object of her lust is her husband's best friend and partner. That speaks of hidden desires and cheating in her heart before she cheated in fact. She may have felt betrayed when Rick walked into camp, but she should have felt guilty and contrite for her actions.

The Walking Dead brings up many issues, some brought on the apocalypse and others that hold true without the threat of zombies haunting every moment of the day. I highly recommend watching it and watching the hidden currents rise and fall as people redefine their lives and morality for another day.