Cyrano de Hero
12-20-2006, 10:40 PM
I stole this from another forum I read from time to time, so I can't take all the credit for this. I've changed it a little, though. Anyway, here we go:
You wake up one morning and everyone is gone. Just gone. No bodies, no traces, no explanations. Cars are crashed in the middle of the streets, their drivers vanished. Storefronts are unlocked and abandoned. The TV is full of static, the phone lines are dead and the internet is hasn't been updated in many hours. Eventually the power fails.
And the sky grows red. It begins with a soft orange hue, like a warm summer evening, but soon gives way to dark crimson clouds. And yet the wind is silent. In the dead, eerie calm, your muscles tense, your eyes grow alert. Every creak, every falling leaf is an approaching enemy. Society has come to a complete standstill, a terrifying snapshot of the world that once was.
Night falls. You take refuge in a random suburbian duplex, a place a small family once called home. You lock all the doors and bar all the windows. With some broken furniture you build a small fire, cook some canned beans and try to wait out the night with a shotgun in your lap.
The next day is no different.
Really think about this for a moment. Let the unreal horror and hell that this would be sink into your mind. Think of the worst feeling of panic and uncertainty you've ever felt and apply it to this situation.
For the sake of more discussion, let's throw in a few factors:
-Animals and plants are still alive. You need some way to feed yourself, and canned foods only last for so long...
-You don't know for certain if there are other humans still alive, or if you're truly the only person left on Earth.
-Something actively caused this to happen, and you alone were somehow spared. Was this an act of God, man, alien, or something else?
-Electrical power fails after a few days, but such things like cars and batteries are still useable. Keep in mind, though, that travelling would be dangerous because there's nobody to help you if you run out of gas, a battery goes dead, or something goes wrong with your vehicle.
-You wake up where you're currently living. So, if you live in England, that's where you'll start. I live in the United States, so here I am.
So, what would you do? How long would you last before your mind deteriorates?
I think my first reaction would be sheer panic. For the first few hours, I would be running around frantically trying to find my parents, friends and screaming my voice out. After the reality begins to permeate into my brain, I would probably start finding food. I'd get my vehicle, get a bunch of canisters and spill the fuel tanks from other cars into them. Then I'd go back home- I guess anywhere would do at this point- and start getting some plans together.
I'd eventually consider where to start looking for people and a possible explanation. The most obvious place, I think, would be to go to the nation's capital. I'd get my dog in the car, pack a bunch of food, and hit the road. I would think that most of the vehicles on the road are useless, but they would have gas in them that I could use. I'd probably run to the car dealership and get a brand new vehicle for reliability purposes.
Would I survive long enough to reach Washington D.C.? Would my mind hold out? I'd like to think that as long as I have my dog to keep me somewhat sane, I could go on for a few years.
If the capitol failed to yield any results, then my next destination would be Vatican City. After all, maybe it was an act of God? Maybe the hidden archives would hold an explanation? Crossing the Atlantic would probably take my life, though...
Well, that's enough for now. What would you do?
You wake up one morning and everyone is gone. Just gone. No bodies, no traces, no explanations. Cars are crashed in the middle of the streets, their drivers vanished. Storefronts are unlocked and abandoned. The TV is full of static, the phone lines are dead and the internet is hasn't been updated in many hours. Eventually the power fails.
And the sky grows red. It begins with a soft orange hue, like a warm summer evening, but soon gives way to dark crimson clouds. And yet the wind is silent. In the dead, eerie calm, your muscles tense, your eyes grow alert. Every creak, every falling leaf is an approaching enemy. Society has come to a complete standstill, a terrifying snapshot of the world that once was.
Night falls. You take refuge in a random suburbian duplex, a place a small family once called home. You lock all the doors and bar all the windows. With some broken furniture you build a small fire, cook some canned beans and try to wait out the night with a shotgun in your lap.
The next day is no different.
Really think about this for a moment. Let the unreal horror and hell that this would be sink into your mind. Think of the worst feeling of panic and uncertainty you've ever felt and apply it to this situation.
For the sake of more discussion, let's throw in a few factors:
-Animals and plants are still alive. You need some way to feed yourself, and canned foods only last for so long...
-You don't know for certain if there are other humans still alive, or if you're truly the only person left on Earth.
-Something actively caused this to happen, and you alone were somehow spared. Was this an act of God, man, alien, or something else?
-Electrical power fails after a few days, but such things like cars and batteries are still useable. Keep in mind, though, that travelling would be dangerous because there's nobody to help you if you run out of gas, a battery goes dead, or something goes wrong with your vehicle.
-You wake up where you're currently living. So, if you live in England, that's where you'll start. I live in the United States, so here I am.
So, what would you do? How long would you last before your mind deteriorates?
I think my first reaction would be sheer panic. For the first few hours, I would be running around frantically trying to find my parents, friends and screaming my voice out. After the reality begins to permeate into my brain, I would probably start finding food. I'd get my vehicle, get a bunch of canisters and spill the fuel tanks from other cars into them. Then I'd go back home- I guess anywhere would do at this point- and start getting some plans together.
I'd eventually consider where to start looking for people and a possible explanation. The most obvious place, I think, would be to go to the nation's capital. I'd get my dog in the car, pack a bunch of food, and hit the road. I would think that most of the vehicles on the road are useless, but they would have gas in them that I could use. I'd probably run to the car dealership and get a brand new vehicle for reliability purposes.
Would I survive long enough to reach Washington D.C.? Would my mind hold out? I'd like to think that as long as I have my dog to keep me somewhat sane, I could go on for a few years.
If the capitol failed to yield any results, then my next destination would be Vatican City. After all, maybe it was an act of God? Maybe the hidden archives would hold an explanation? Crossing the Atlantic would probably take my life, though...
Well, that's enough for now. What would you do?