Watching the characters transition from the world they knew to the world they will know is fascinating. I have found the patience to wait for it to slowly unfold.
Some, like Nick, the drug addict, have made it. Madison, who can organize a Monopoly game when a short time earlier she was forced to bash her principal's skull to a pulp with a fire extinguisher, is probably there too.
Ditto for the patriarch of the Latino family, who seems to be quite at home with the concept of the living dead. I'm fairly certain that his wife is going to be doing the zombie shuffle very soon. Could be that he also sees that coming.
Others, including Travis, are not quite there. He can bid his zombie neighbor, Susan, a cheery “good morning,” even as he is digging a grave for another neighbor had just his head blown off. Never mind that he discovered the neighbor in his living room, eating a poor dog he had killed.
Putting out the garbage seemed like another act of denial. Never mind that the can contents included the blood-soaked blanket with which he had shrouded his dead neighbor.
I was also surprised when the National Guard appeared. After the opening riot scene and the lights going out, I thought chaos had permanently descended on LA.