post-apocalyptic story ideas needed

[kcsunshine]

The Colony is actually one of my inspirations. another is the BBC show Survivors. i love both, but they are centered around urban/industrial areas and i just kept feeling like so much was missing. i mean, in that sitituation, wouldn't you immediately head for farms?

no quarantine area, at least at the moment. the electricity is out at first, but they are going to build a windmill to get some basic electrical things running agian, like the fridge and maybe the stove. being a farm, i'm thinking it will have a well but i've got to look into the logistics of how a well pump really works (no electricity could make it an issue at first). there will be a lake on the property and a river nearby. they have access to your garden variety farm guns and a reasonable amount of ammo. i'm thinking that they might come across a more safisticated gun collection to satisfy the soldiers security requirements.

They could use a hand pump for their well.

 

[bibliophile birds]

One of my all-time favorite reads was "The Handmaid's Tale", where it was never quite clear what actually happened to that society (Gilead, if I recall), & the narrator divulges only small bits & pieces throughout the book.

ah, one of my favorite books too. so depressing but so beautifully written. dystopian fiction is one of my favorite genres and really the only "science fiction" i like. The Hunger Games series that's so popular right now is a spectacular addition.

 

[bibliophile birds]

They could use a hand pump for their well.

i've been looking at the specifics for hand pumps and windmills. my parents have a hand pump in the garage that is all that remains of the original homestead (the house my great-grandfather was born in). the house burned down when he was a child, and another that was built there after that burned in the 60s, but the hand pump worked like a dream until my brother broke something on it a few years ago. it's fixable, but no one's gotten around to it yet.

from what i've been reading, a hand pump is probably going to be their short term solution. windmills seem to be a pretty easy thing to set up, but converting an electric pump to windmill operation is tricky. so the hand pump may be the solution at first, with the windmill later powering a small, self contained power grid (which would power the electric pump) or they may just have to dig a new well to run specifically off the windmill.

 

[bibliophile birds]

if you found yourself in this type of collapse scenario (assuming that you weren't already pretty SS), what items would you rush out to scavenge? i feel like i'm hitting the big ticket items but missing a lot of things.

i'm trying to compartmentalize my thinking. so i start looking at various stores and what they would have that i would want. like, if i was at a now abandoned Home Depot, i'd be stocking up on lumber and nails and screws, but do you think you'd bother with windows? or would you just hope that they were still around if you ever needed them down the line?

do you think people would be heading over to the local bed store and getting mattresses? i'm thinking that in a mass illness and death situation, a lot of "soft surfaces" would need to be burned, right?

would you grab every bottle of bleach or box of baking soda you came across or would you find other ways of cleaning and baking?

i've already got a scene planned where they scavenge at a mall and come across a Williams-Sonoma where they can get every kitcheny gadget and cookery piece you could ever dream about. it's making ME drool just thinking about it- oh what i wouldn't give for a kitchen full of Le Creuset! what items would be a must?

so think big and try to imagine that you're in a situation where you not only have to think about long term survival and sustainability but also where price is no object and you can actually "splurge" on big ticket items (because they are fabulously well made, not just because they are pretty).

eta: you've also got to think that this is basically for a whole community, not just a family. so, where a family could probably get away with mixing everything by hand, wouldn't a community need something more like a professional mixer?

 

[kcsunshine]

You'd best start your scavenging at the local hardware or farm supply store. You're gonna need seeds for planting, feed for animals, heavy duty clothes and shoes, fels naptha for making laundry soap. I wouldn't worry about things like windows unless you have someone creative enough to want to make cold frames for planting. After all, when they get SS enough to branch out on their own, there are abandoned farm houses they could use to set up their other households.

 

[bibliophile birds]

After all, when they get SS enough to branch out on their own, there are abandoned farm houses they could use to set up their other households.

see, that's exactly what i didn't think about. i thought about scavenging in the abandoned homes for food but NOT windows! perfect. i really didn't want to waste the space in the truck for a bunch of windows.

they are basically going to clear out the whole feed store and i'm running on the assumption that her parents were just getting geared up for planting so they already had seeds, of the heirloom variety, of course.

how long are most industrial animal feeds good for? i'm thinking 3 months, but that's based on my non-processed organic feed. i want them to get away from bagged stuff pretty fast but i don't want it to seem fake: i mean, if TSHTF, a little GMO corn in your chicken feed probably isn't going to matter all that much to you. but sustainability and overall animal health would...

 

[Wifezilla]

I have been giving some thought to something a bit off the beaten path so to speak. In a SHTF situation, what would happen with the addicts? Those addicted to alcohol, illegal drugs, prescription pain killers?

Some would get a new lease on life if they could not continue their habit and made it through withdrawal. Some would die due to extreme withdrawal reaction. Others, having an unlimited supply, would OD. You would also have people who got clean for a while (due to lack of availability) but then they stumble on drugs or booze and have temptation staring them right back in the face again. Lying cheating, stealing to continue a habit. Someone maybe drinking the vodka that was needed to sterilize a wound...

You may have those who are on pain killers committing suicide because they can no longer take the pain without their drugs. Maybe some, after going through withdrawal, discovering it was the pain killers themselves making them intolerant to pain and making them weaker and sicker in the first place...

Interesting possibilities.

 

[bibliophile birds]

very interesting possibilities. if i was going to take a larger scale look at this scenario those would be really intriguing avenues to explore. who knows, my scope my broaden as the writing stage goes on.

your post did make me think about something i read on a survivalist thread about the things you should stockpile after TSHTF. one of the things was cigarettes and alcohol. their argument was that these things, like food, would instantly become hot trading items.

even though i smoke and occasionally drink, there's something really off-putting about the idea of stockpiling cigarettes for trading with desperate people later. i mean, i get it, but i just don't know if it's something i would want to do. i'd probably see the collapse of society as a perfect way to finally kick the habit.

alcohol makes more sense since, as you said, you can sterilize with it and it can even be used to run machinery in a pinch. and who really wants to face the collapse of the modern world without a little social lubricant?

 

[freemotion]

You could have your young characters struggle and figure things out for a while, then find an older person who also survived somehow (maybe already living off-grid) who has skills/knowledge that they can tap into. Someone who needs their youthful strength and can offer know-how so they end up with a symbiotic relationship, seemingly the older person is dead-weight at first, then and invaluable asset when they open their eyes a bit and realize the value of knowledge of the old ways. You could get some interesting things into the story that would otherwise be unrealistic for them to figure out on their own in such a short time. Also a lesson in the value of age and experience, something that most young people nowadays do not value. Watch a season of "Survivor" on tv and you'll see what I mean! :/

I love talking to the old farts in my life. And I AM the old fart to others in my life!

 

[bibliophile birds]

that's a good idea Free. maybe some old broad living out on her own somewhere who's hardly even realized the change. my greatgrandfather was still tending his 2 acre garden all by himself until he was in his 90s. he gave away most of what he raised since it was much more than he needed for himself, but the habit of working the land was one he couldn't kick.

a wise old granny could be just the ticket!