The popularity of Zombie Apocalypse discussion has me in mind of a favorite childhood daydream of mine: how you would cope with finding yourself one of the few survivors of a global catastrophe, i.e., alone in an empty world.
Such scenarios- in which the Earth's human population is drastically reduced in a short span, but usually in a manner which does not immediately destroy the environment or infrastructure- is a theme I find very interesting. Many writers have used it; John Wyndham in Day of the Triffids, John Christopher in Empty World and Death of Grass, George R. Stewart in Earth Abides, Terry Nation in The Survivors, Craig Harrison in The Quiet Earth, to name just a few.
So let's postulate that you are one of the few survivors of a global epidemic which has wiped out roughly 99.9% of Earth's human population. There are probably other survivors, but you don't know who or where they are. What will you do? How will you cope? Will you plan for your own long-term survival, or just take the opportunity to drive a sports car down the highway and fire automatic weapons in the air? My thoughts follow.
Such scenarios- in which the Earth's human population is drastically reduced in a short span, but usually in a manner which does not immediately destroy the environment or infrastructure- is a theme I find very interesting. Many writers have used it; John Wyndham in Day of the Triffids, John Christopher in Empty World and Death of Grass, George R. Stewart in Earth Abides, Terry Nation in The Survivors, Craig Harrison in The Quiet Earth, to name just a few.
So let's postulate that you are one of the few survivors of a global epidemic which has wiped out roughly 99.9% of Earth's human population. There are probably other survivors, but you don't know who or where they are. What will you do? How will you cope? Will you plan for your own long-term survival, or just take the opportunity to drive a sports car down the highway and fire automatic weapons in the air? My thoughts follow.
