Dies the Fire

[heretic]

For those unfamiliar with the current trilogy by this name (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451459792/sr=8-1/qid=1153242836/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4876255-7678264?ie=UTF8), one day in April 1998 the Earth is surrounded by a field that dampens all artificial forms of energy transmission/storage and combustion to levels that make technology impossible (explosives only burn feebly, there is no way for gas pressure to get beyond a couple of atmospheres, electricity is completely gone, etc).

Needless to say, the results are not pleasant. Places in the First World with less than a 50% death rate are considered fortunate beyond belief, and 90-99% is considered normal. Cities... one major one (Singapore) managed to evacuate in a relatively orderly manner, most die in unpleasent ones and take good chunks of the land around them with.

Where were you all then?

What is your first move?

How hosed are you?

HTG

[Solaris]

We move to my parents' farm in north GA and grow food. That's after raiding Wal-Mart for guns to defend ourselves, and extra containers to get the gas we'd steal from teh gas station, to get there.

[jessecuster3]

We move to my parents' farm in north GA and grow food. That's after raiding Wal-Mart for guns to defend ourselves, and extra containers to get the gas we'd steal from teh gas station, to get there.

How are you going to drive with no electricity ? I am guessing this means no batteries either. Wal-Mart's doors are electric as well.

[Bouncing Boy]

We move to my parents' farm in north GA and grow food. That's after raiding Wal-Mart for guns to defend ourselves, and extra containers to get the gas we'd steal from teh gas station, to get there.

From the sound of it, you'd be better off raiding Wal-Mart for knives or bows and arrows. guns probably wouldn't work, or at least not as well as they do now. Maybe paintball guns and BB guns would work as they're based on compressed air (and those might not work as well either).

Gasoline probably wouldn't work that well either, so you'd pretty much have to walk to the farm. You should probably raid wal*mart for camping equipment canned food and a manual can opener as well as a backpack to carry it all in.

[Bouncing Boy]

How are you going to drive with no electricity ? I am guessing this means no batteries either. Wal-Mart's doors are electric as well.

They can be forced open though. and the doors are glass, so you could throw something heavy at them

[heretic]

We move to my parents' farm in north GA and grow food. That's after raiding Wal-Mart for guns to defend ourselves, and extra containers to get the gas we'd steal from teh gas station, to get there.
Of course the guns could be mildly useful bludgeons, but itis more trouble than it would be worth to push that car....

Gunpowder? Internal Combustion? Steam Engines of any use? Electricity in any harnessable form? All Gone.

HTG

[ocelotrevs]

We move to my parents' farm in north GA and grow food. That's after raiding Wal-Mart for guns to defend ourselves, and extra containers to get the gas we'd steal from teh gas station, to get there.
You wouldn't be able to drive, no combustion.

I'd be pretty screwed.

[Bouncing Boy]

Of course the guns could be mildly useful bludgeons, but itis more trouble than it would be worth to push that car....

Gunpowder? Internal Combustion? Steam Engines of any use? Electricity in any harnessable form? All Gone.

HTG
Would CO2 cartreges work? For paintball guns or BB guns?

For me...if I was in better shape, I would basically do as I described in the above post. Raid Wal*Mart for camping equipment, canned food (canned food that wouldn't need to be cooked of course), knives, etc. I'd probably steal a shopping cart too as it would make stuff easier to carry. I'd try to find my Mom and Step-Dad, we might be able to survive at their house, it has a yard that we could probaby plant vegatables in (I'd steal some veggi seeds from Walmart too). Am I right in thinking fires wouldn't burn at all either, so you wouldn't be able to cook anything?

[heretic]

Would CO2 cartreges work? For paintball guns or BB guns?No real luck there IIRC.

For me...if I was in better shape, I would basically do as I described in the above post. Raid Wal*Mart for camping equipment, canned food (canned food that wouldn't need to be cooked of course), knives, etc. I'd probably steal a shopping cart too as it would make stuff easier to carry. I'd try to find my Mom and Step-Dad, we might be able to survive at their house, it has a yard that we could probaby plant vegatables in (I'd steal some veggi seeds from Walmart too). Here is hoping not too many are headed in the same direction.... Am I right in thinking fires wouldn't burn at all either, so you wouldn't be able to cook anything?Oh fires work well enough (major problem after the planes start falling out of the sky around airports), just overly swift or intense (blast furnace level) combustion slows down to levels you do not want.

Link's in the initial post if you want to order it. Vol. 1 is out in paperback.

HTG

[Drew Van T.]

Needless to say, the results are not pleasant. Places in the First World with less than a 50% death rate are considered fortunate beyond belief, and 90-99% is considered normal. Cities... one major one (Singapore) managed to evacuate in a relatively orderly manner, most die in unpleasent ones and take good chunks of the land around them with.

This is a bit of an exaggeration. Even today, a huge chunk of the world's population gets by without electricity or running water. They live sober and relatively short lives, but barring droughts and famines of the scale seen in Bangladesh and Ethyopia, they get by.

Major cities and most of the West would be screwed, this is true. Your best move therefore would be to try and integrate into one of these agricultural societies whose way of life is unaffected by the upheaval.

[SOGG]

So basically physics stops working?

I'd try and figure out if I could access the speed force.

[heretic]

This is a bit of an exaggeration. Even today, a huge chunk of the world's population gets by without electricity or running water. They live sober and relatively short lives, but barring droughts and famines of the scale seen in Bangladesh and Ethyopia, they get by.I do agree that, away from the major cities reliant on imported food (and thus shedding ravening hordes) or farmlands overly reliant on modern irrigation, the disruption in the third world is minimal and overall bounceback is somewhat faster.

Of course it can be argued that such places were in bad shape to begin with.

Major cities and most of the West would be screwed, this is true. Your best move therefore would be to try and integrate into one of these agricultural societies whose way of life is unaffected by the upheaval.
Okay... how exactly to you plan to get there?

HTG

[heretic]

Double Post, sorry.

Although I do wonder why the Zombie thread is so much busier. Am I the only one that read those books?

HTG