How would you go about surviving the apocalypse?
End of the world scenarios are a popular one for writers to explore. In the Thanet Creative: Writers (facebook group), we’ve been looking at the topic of how to go about surviving the apocalypse.
It all kicked off when I posted this request for ideas:
Any advice, writer to writer, for how you would go about surviving the apocalypse (or at least the complete collapse of civilisation following the death of most other people).
Questions for the end of the world
Food questions
One obvious question for long-term, post civilisation, survival is food. Getting it, keeping it, and eating it.
- Where will you obtain food?
- Can you grow your own?
- How long will prepackaged foods last?
- How and where would you store your food supplies?
- What food technologies (drying, canning, preserving, etc.) do you need to salvage?
Security questions
Then comes the issue of security. If you survived then others probably will too. Without rule of law or any form of police or army, how do you stay safe?
- Which buildings and locations would make for a good base of operations?
- How would you power your home?
- Heating – in the winter how will you heat your home?
- What level of security would you need in this Mad Max world?
- What size of location or building can a lone person or small group hope to defend?
Technology questions
Communication and asking for help could also be an issue.
- How much of the Internet would survive?
- Where can you find long-range radio transmitters?
- What power sources are there?
- Are there any low-tech solutions you could use?
- What things that we rely on would we suddenly be without?
Health questions
Now that civilisation has fallen, how do you deal with health issues? Could simple things become deadly (like a bout of diarrhoea, for example).
- How long do medicines last and what do you do when they run out?
- What happens if you or a member of your group breaks a bone?
- Will the sudden presence of a lot of bodies pose health risks?
- How do you avoid disease?
- Where can you learn medical and first aid skills after the end?
Other questions
- Can you rebuild society?
- What new dangers can you expect?
- How can survivors develop trust with each other?
- Will how the end came impact your choices for survival?
- Is simply surviving the apocalypse enough?
Over to you
As writers, what advice would you share? Which questions do you feel you could answer and which questions should I have asked (but didn’t)?
In the comments (or with your own blog post if you like) please tell us how you would do surviving the apocalypse.