Family

In the story "Danger Word" we see how the idea of family can become a source of conflict in apocalyptic times. When we think of family, we think of people who are there to protect you and give you some sense of assurance. Grandpa Joe, relying on what little information he has regarding the zombies, is trying to protect his grandson from harm. But Grandpa Joe is not beyond killing family if it means he or his grandson are in danger. When we see that Grandpa Joe killed his own daughter who became a zombie, we see that he is willing to kill, but he is able to because he doesn't believe that the zombie is his daughter anymore. Even when she calls him "daddy", he doesn't believe its her anymore since he thinks that zombies cannot articulate words. But its in that disbelief that we can get a sense that he may have wanted to hesitate in killing her, I think. In the end when Joe becomes a zombie and his grandson hears him say the danger word, I wonder whether the grandson would trust his grandfather after hearing that word. Although grandpa is a zombie now, he could still be a source that the little boy wants to believe in and trust. We do not know the outcome the boy faces, but I wonder whether he would have been able to overcome killing his zombie grandpa, just as his grandpa was able to kill his zombie mother.