"If society restarted, what would you do?
A massive natural disaster has killed off 95% of the world's population and decimated our cities. There are supplies left in stores, warehouses, etc that didn't get completely destroyed, but they are limited. There are no residual diseases etc for you to worry about. You've survived the disaster along with a few friends and family, they have elected you as their leader, and now it is up to you to move on. What would you do and how would you do it? Here is a list of questions to guide your answer... don't just list individual responses to each question, but try to include as much of the information asked for as possible:
- What kind of people would you seek out to group up with, if any?
- What are your overall goals?
- Are you peaceful or militant. If peaceful, how do you deal with other militant groups?
- Where would you try to make your home, or would you stay mobile?
- What political structure would you set up, both for long and short term?
- Would you enforce your political structure on other groups. If so, how?
- What strategies would you employ to maintain a stable supply of food and other essentials?
- Would you keep to yourself with your basic group, or seek out other groups?
- What would be your top priorities for systems to restore to society?"
The content below contains strong language. Reader discretion is advised.
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The Day the World Went Away
.:: CHAPTER 1: CONFLICT ::.
"No."
A scowl found its way onto my friend's face. It had been a long day, and it wasn't about to get any shorter.
"What do you mean, 'no'? We'll die out here, damnit. They've got what we need. We need to take it."
My head shook as he continued. This was starting to get irksome.
"I said no. Just because society's gone it doesn't mean we have to start acting like barbarians. This isn't Lord of the Flies. If you recall correctly that book was written as an allegory, to teach you something. Savagery begets savagery, and then everyone loses. We're both educated men. Start using your goddamn brain for a minute and think about what you're asking us to do."
The rest of the group got to their feet at this. Arguments erupted all around. As conflicting ideals rubbed uncomfortably against everyone's hunger and pain.
"And who fucking elected you king!?"
"We all did, dumbass."
"Well maybe it's time for a change in leadership around here. We're all going to die!"
"He's right, you idiot! He's the only one of this planet who still gives a shit, and you're trying to turn us into common thugs!"
"Don't I get a say in this? Huh? You all shot down my idea. We could start over."
"Oh can it. We don't need pipe dreams."
The emotion was overwhelming. I watched as tempers flared; as friends clawed at each others throats in desperation. It was almost too much to bear. The voices echoed inside my skull, like angels and devils having an all-out war on my tired shoulders. I slowly fell back against the wall, sliding down toward the cold ground as my hands rose to meet my tired eyes. The conflict continued to escalate around me. Voices grew louder and louder. It was probably only a few minutes, but it felts like hours -- hours of crushing despair and hopelessness.
But from this despair grew a rage. A righteous flame of anger burst through the hopelessness. It was a flame of diligence; a flame of strength; a flame of purpose.
"ENOUGH!"
Each voice in the small barn was immediately silenced as the ungodly roar rose from my throat. I shot to my feet.
"Look at yourselves! Look at what you've become! We were close, once. We relied on each other. We have to do that now, more than ever. And I swear to whatever god you choose to believe in that I will do whatever it takes to keep morality alive. Haven't you ever wanted to be a hero? Haven't you ever wanted to do what's right, despite any and all adversity? Well now's your chance. We can have peace. We can rebuild. And I promise you that any progress we make will be reversed tenfold for every act of barbarism we resort to. If given the choice between death and savagery, I choose death."
Tears welled up in the eyes of some. Anger in the eyes of others. I met their stares with a steeled resolve and murder in mine. I hated having this power, being the one they looked to, but in order to do what is right, one must make sacrifices. For now, I would have to rule with an iron fist. It was our only chance for that fist to contain food, later.
"I know you're all tired. I know you're all hungry. I understand your pain. For everyone and everything you've lost, we've all lost the same." I point out of the barn door toward the small group at the bottom of the hill. They were building shelters among the rubble of the burnt-out village below. "They, too, have felt this lost. At least we're able. We are strong of mind, body, and spirit. You saw the looks in their eyes. They feared us. They feared this world. They have to work ten times harder than us to stop themselves from crying themselves to sleep at night. And why?" I moved my finger from the door back to my friend. "Because of people like you. People who want to take, just because they can. We're not an easy target, but they are, and they know it."
The silence was thick and heavy in the small barn. Everyone, including me, was almost too tired to stand. Suddenly, one of the group's eyes widened. "Dom, close the door."
Suddenly, I was confused. "What...?"
"Dom, close the door. Look." She pointed.
I looked out of the barn door. Outside the village, a truck approached. It was pretty far off, but even from this distance it was easy to see the bodies roped to the chassis. They were bandits.
I immediately walked to the wall and pulled my hatchet from its hanger.
"Are you insane? What the flying fuck are you getting at?"
"I have to warn them."
"You'll die, you dumb son of a bitch. I sure as hell am NOT going to go down with you."
"I didn't ask you to. But I'm going down there. I said it before, and I meant it. I will not stand for savagery. Not while there's hope."
Two of my companions moved to grab their equipment. The rest stood motionless.
"Fine, go kill yourselves, but don't expect us to be here when you get back."
I stopped and directed my firey glare upon the speaker. "I expect you to do what is right." I turned back and patted my friends on their shoulders as we exited the barn. "Don't let them see you."
The door creaked shut behind me. I didn't even look back.
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.:: CHAPTER 2: SAVAGES ::.
"Hehe, look at that. Not a single one tried to run this time."
The bandits descended on the camp from all sides. There were seven or eight of them, all looking as if they had come straight from a horror film. They were covered with chains and blood, and held gruesome weapons. They appeared to be built for fear, rather than combat, but I was sure they could kill all the same. The looks in their eyes begged the small group to resist. Begged to violence.
"Please, take what you want, but leave us alone. We haven't done anything..."
"Oh, but you have precious." The beast that seemed to lead the pack stepped forward and lorded over the cowering woman. She held two children against her breast, trying to protect them as best she could against what was sure to follow. "You survived. Only we're allowed to survive. How's the saying go..." He pointed at one of his cohorts and snapped.
"Some men just want to watch the world burn." He smirked as he said it.
"Well guess what princess. There's plenty of world left, and I gotta say, my need ain't quite scratch yet.
The seven bandits were all licking their lips in anticipation. The children let out a small whimper.
"Oh don't worry, we won't let you die. Not at first..." His sickening smile widened as tears began to roll down the faces of all of those in the small band. His five cohorts laughed and started moving in closer.
Suddenly a crack rang out in the small village. The five remaining bandits all readied their weapons as they looked toward the spot where their sixth had stood just a moment before. A quiet "Shit!" was heard through the bush.
"What the fuck!"
My friend stood and started backing away, his makeshift garrote dripping in blood. He'd been a little too hasty in dispatching his target. The crack was his neck snapping.
"Someone kill that bastard!" Two of the beasts gave chase as he ran, screaming in rage at the loss of their comrade.
This was only chance.
The leader turned toward the poor, confused group in the center of the clearing. "You'll fucking pay for that, bitch."
"No, please..."
I interrupted her as I leaped from my hiding place over the body of the first bandit and buried my hatchet into the skull of the fourth. As I did so, my other friend put his knife into the back of the fifth. The leader let out a growl of rage and rushed forward, raising his spiked club.
It was chaos.
The woman in the center let out a shriek and threw herself over the children, now crying pitifully. I managed to tackle the leader just before his club came down upon her. It lodged itself into my leg, instead, as my left hand closed around the bandit's throat. My friend immediately ran after the two who had fled.
The bandit and I struggled and rolled in the clearing. His fist rose and fell repeatedly as he brought it to bear against me while I maneuvered to reduce their impact and kept mine firmly closed around his windpipe. With a surge of power I forced my hand closed further. I felt the bandit's windpipe close with it, crushed by my utter desperation. We struggled for time immemorial, it seemed, but eventually the bandit fought back less and less, and then stopped.
I rolled off of the corpse and pried his weapon from my leg. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off I began to realize just how much pain I was in. The sharp, jagged spiked in the piece of wood had torn through my flesh, straight to the bone. It took every remaining bit of my strength not to scream in agony. I had to be strong. After wiping the tears from my eyes, I slowly stood, tearing off a piece of fabric to wrap around my wound.
My friends re-entered the clearing as I tied the knot, hoping it would be enough to keep me from bleeding to death. "Everyone alive?"
"Well, everyone on our side." They moved forward. "Are you guys alright?"
The woman, the two children, and the two men of the group we had just saved stood slowly, but said nothing. They had fear in their eyes. In their minds, nobody could be trusted. The whole world had gone crazy.
"Well ok then..."
"Yeah, don't thank us or anything."
"Guys, come on." I limped over to them. "It's been a long day."
"That's true. Hey, any idea how much gas is left in that truck? It could be useful."
"Assuming you're cool with the accessories."
"I never said we'd take it as is. Obviously we need to clean it off a bit first."
"A bit? Look at that thing..."
"Um..."
We became silent as a timid voice cut through the din. We looked over to see the group quickly avert their eyes. It was quiet for a long time. Nobody really knew what to say. It was one of the children who spoke first.
"Thank you for saving us."
I looked at my companions. They were just as taken aback as I was. They shrugged. I handed them my hatchet and walked over to the little girl. I knelt before her and removed my hat.
"You are most welcome, madame." I wiped off my hand and held it out. "I'm Dom."
She timidly shook it. "My mommy told me not to talk to strangers..."
I smiled as I stood. "Your mommy is very clever." I directed my gaze at the woman. She seemed to be the leader of the group, as the men hadn't said a word since this ordeal began. "Look, we'll get rid of the bodies if you want to stay here. I can't promise it'll be safe, but you've already started building here. No point in starting over somewhere else."
"Look, we appreciate what you've done, we really do, but we have nothing to give you. We're barely scraping by as it is and --"
"It's ok, I understand. We didn't come down here to extort you. I'm just trying to keep a little bit of good alive."
"But, you killed those men--"
I glared as I interrupted. "I killed no men today. Those things were monsters. Perhaps men, once, but not so anymore. I will sleep soundly tonight with their blood on my hands."
The silence returned.
"Awkward..."
My friend's comment snapped me back to reality. They went to check out the truck as I turned back to the woman.
"Anyway, I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I'm not trying to take anything from you. The rest of my group is up on the hill there, in the barn. You've made it quite clear that you have nothing that you can give up, and I will honour that."
The woman bowed her head, as if in shame.
The silence started to drown me again. I stood there a few moments longer, then left them standing there. The conversation clearly wasn't going anywhere. I figured I'd make myself useful. I stood at the edge of the clearing and looked down at the body of one of the bandits.
"I suppose we should find a place for you then..."
--------------------------------------------
.:: CHAPTER 3: PAUSES ::.
"Well you look like shit."
"Yeah, no thanks to you."
The silence was tangible once again.
"I'm not liking the awkward pauses. Somebody say something, damnit."
"Well... we just... and you..."
"Forget about it. It's over. We have some surviving to do." I winced a little as a sharp pain shot up my leg. "Look, those bandits had a truck. It was... Well it was nasty as fuck, but we cleaned it off as best we could, and there were supplies in it. And fuel. Seats eight with relative comfort. We could leave here. Find a place to start over."
"And what about the people down there? What are they going to give us?"
"What do you think they gave us? More freaking awkward silence. It's been that kind of a day."
"Dude, chill."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna go guard the truck. Now that we've got it I don't want some punk stealing it on us."
Another shot of pain brought me to the floor. I sat back against the wall of the small barn.
"Dom, are you OK?"
"Well, not really. I took a pretty good hit. I probably got something pretty nasty from it, too. But there's nothing we can do about it."
"You need to rest."
"There will be time enough for that later. For now, we need to make a decision. We could move on, find another place, or we could hole up here -- make it our home. Either way, we should make a choice and stick with it. We have to start making our own food, because I can assure you what we've got won't last very long."
"Do you ever stop? Seriously, you've got a hole in your leg. That's a pretty good excuse to STOP thinking and start... I dunno, screaming, or sleeping, or do something other than formulate a plan."
I struggled to my feet. "You put your faith in me. All of you did. I won't stop until I've honoured that trust."
I took a full minute to look around at the group before me. I looked each of them in the eye, shared a connection with every scared child hiding behind my companions' steely resolve.
"Like I said. We've got a choice. We. You chose me to lead you, but we have to work together. It's time to start discussing our future."
--------------------------------------------
.:: FIN ::.
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