[Previously: Part 1, Part 2, General thoughts, Timeline]
[Where's part 3? Well I'll get around to writing it at some point, it involves discussion of what to do moving forward, and meeting the people who live in the subway tunnels. Also, possibly, rat burgers.]
[This takes place in an abandoned subway station, looking through the bars that have been installed to restrict access to the tunnels.]
Bella: Are you thinking what I'm
thinking?
Me: That depends on what you're
thinking.
Bella: Don't be a smartass.
Me: I'm not Edward, I can't read minds.
Bella: Edward couldn't read minds if
you gave footnotes, endnotes, cultural commentary and a running
gloss, I don't care what his powerset says.
Me: What are you thinking?
Bella: I asked first.
Me: I'm thinking that if we could open
these tunnels we could use the subway system as a way to get around
the city avoiding the checkpoints above and allowing us to move a lot
of people without having to turn the truck into a taxi service.
Bella: And once we got the people here
this should be easily defensible because it's only accessible via
other tunnels, all of them encased in concrete. No windows or doors
or soft wooden walls for zombies to break through.
Me: And all we'd need to do to expand
is press forward to the next station and guard a few more tunnels.
Bella: And all we'd need to do to fall
back is abandon it and station guards at the tunnel we fell back
through, no risky moving in the open through uncertain territory.
Me: But I worry about water and food.
Water is siphoned off of the city's supply. In the event of a major
outbreak can we count on the city's supply to stay flowing?
Bella: No idea, but we could look into
that.
Me: And on the food side...
Bella: You're worried that New York
City is going to run out rats?
Me: Maybe.
Bella: When has the city ever been
without rats?
Me: But if the rats start nomming on
zombies, and then the people eat the rats... what becomes of the
people?
*pause*
Bella: We need a vaccine.
Me: Yeah, but where?
*pause*
Bella: You keep saying you know this
story. Who can help us?
Me: The story isn't supposed to contain
a zombie plague.
Bella: But it is supposed to contain a
plague.
Me: X-51 is the organization that actually does
the work of manufacturing a cure, but that's to a nanotechnology
based virus and the equipment for that won't be online until next
year. I don't know if they can help us with the zombies now.
Bella: We're headed out there anyway,
we could ask.
I'm not big on zombie apocalypse fiction, but I am enjoying yours. It's the wonderfully sensible protagonists, I think.
ReplyDeleteI'm always a bit wary of metafiction such as the Thursday Next series - I think it's the extremes of cruelty implied by voluntarily putting actual people into some stories, which authors rarely tackle because hey, cool ideas - but I like the way you're handling it here.
ReplyDeleteAs for zombie apocalyptes... the bit I find narratively interesting is the initial outbreak and the destruction (or otherwise) of society, not the holing up somewhere with people shouting at each other or the rebuilding afterwards. If I ever write a story of this sort, that's where it's going to happen - maybe with an ambulance crew.