I have no idea how I missed this, but apparently, the biblical Judgment Day (a.k.a. The Rapture) will occur on May 21, 2011. That’s right. The Rapture will happen THIS SATURDAY. The world will end (by fire) five months later, on October 21.
Well, according to some people. But that’s not the point.
By “little ones,” I mean kids. Though I suppose it can mean anything else that could be called a little one.
Obviously, survival is going to be a big deal after the apocalypse. If you don’t focus on your survival, you won’t survive.
Period. For some people, survival might come naturally. For others, it might take some training. Either way, it’s probably a good idea to train everybody in your group.
Even if you’ve got a good handle on finding food and water, you’re still going to need to know how to defend yourself. Having a stash of ninja throwing stars isn’t going to help you if you just keep dropping them on your foot while the other guys take off with your food.
Everyone’s going to need training. Even (especially?) the kids. This shouldn’t be a surprise; parents train their kids now, and the world hasn’t ended yet (well, not technically, anyway). Think about it: as a parent, you teach your kids when they’re young to not talk to strangers and to look both ways before crossing the street. What’s that, if not a form of survival training?
Sure, the circumstances will change once the world goes to That Place in a handbasket. But you’ll still need to teach your kids (and everyone else in your group) how to survive and how to defend themselves.
Have you seen the post-apocalyptic movie A Boy and His Dog[1. you should. at least check out this trailer.]? It was everything a wasteland movie should be and so much more.
Though the message of the movie might be confusing on the surface, the take away wasn’t about the sex, violence, fanatics or even the crazy disparate cultures that came out of the life after the apocalypse. The take away was about the value of the relationship between a boy and his dog. About what one or the other was willing to sacrifice for his companion.
Now, in the case of A Boy and His Dog, the boy has the advantage of (or delusions of — I’m fairly sure the dog actually speaks to him, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it…) a talking dog. His dog isn’t just company, he’s also an confidant and partner.
In the real world (after the apocalypse this should still be true), dogs don’t talk. However, they will still have many of the qualities we look for in friends, without many of the drawbacks.
Continue reading “The Apocalypse Is On, Do You Save The Dog?”
There’s no doubt that friendships and networks will be important in the post-apocalyptic world. After all, people will need to band together for protection and survival. While making friends with other survivors may not be a requirement, it’s probably a good idea. Since there’s safety in numbers, you never know when you’ll need someone to watch your back. And, you know, finding a survivor group to join will probably be easier if people in that group actually like you.
Continue reading “How to make friends and influence zombies”
Often we assume that after the apocalypse, we will be the good guys and everyone else will be the bad guys. But what about if we’re the good guys and the other guys are just misunderstood?
We’ve allowed the genies to become children’s playmates of choice [1. Aladdin] , encouraged the hero worship of killer robots [2. Terminators] and sat idly by at the romanticization of vampires [3. Too many to name] . All these creatures, once the stuff of nightmares, are now fodder for the diaries of adolescents.
What about the Zombies though? They remain the same shambling greedy shells of their former selves we’ve always viewed them as. We balk at the suggestion they may still have feelings and emotions.
But what about rights? As former human beings are they still entitled to some if not all of the rights they once were.
Should we consider them not villains but among the disabled?
Continue reading “Equal Rights After The Apocalypse: The Zombie Rights Campaign”
Preparing for the apocalypse is hard, thankless work.
Even when you’re the only one to reap the benefits. Free on smashwords.com, Hole by David Lovato is the account of one man at the end of the world being really bored. … Yeah, that’s about it.
Continue reading “Post-apocalyptic Reading Impressions: Hole by David Lovato”
During the apocalypse, you’ll have to consider how to protect your family.
This is especially true if you have children. The apocalypse is sure to be filled with chaos (not to mention things exploding and people shooting at each other), and protecting yourself—let alone your family—could be difficult or near impossible.
There will be tough competition for food, water, and shelter, so you’ll have to fight for basic necessities. You’ll probably also meet scary and terrible bad guys who are intent on killing you for being in the way, or eating you because you’re in the way and it happens to be lunchtime.
This doesn’t sound like a very good environment for children, now does it? I thought not.
But how can you guarantee protection and shelter, at least during the apocalypse and in its immediate aftermath? Well, you can’t (sorry). You might, however, have a better chance of having shelter and supplies if you build a bomb shelter and keep it well-stocked. Keep in mind, though, that a bomb shelter would have to be built before an apocalypse—as in, you’d have to start building now.
In child development, the time between infancy and kindergarten is one of the most important. During this time, children learn the basics, like the alphabet and numbers. It’s also when they learn basic (but important) life skills, like how to go to the bathroom in a place other than their pants.
This won’t change after the apocalypse. Those crucial early years will remain just as crucial, though the education system will probably change. I imagine it’d be a little tricky to send little Johnny off to school when he’s living the nomadic survivor lifestyle with the rest of his survivor group (or survivor band, or survivor tribe, or whatever you want to call it—personally, I like tribe).
Continue reading “Apocalypse preschool: Developing a survival-based curriculum”
Animals is a self-published short story by Lauren Shain-Raque that I found on smashwords.com by searching for “apocalypse”. The story follows Dania and Gil through some awkward interactions and deep revelations on the military base they and many others must live on to keep themselves safe from “Animals.”
Continue reading “Post-Apocalyptic Reading – Impressions: Animals by Lauren Shain-Raque”
Thinking about falling in love during and after the apocalypse may seem a little trivial, silly, or just plain wrong. But think about it: during times of extreme hardship and strife, human beings will generally either band together or try to kill each other. Since I have no doubt that anyone left alive after the end of world will try to kill anyone else left alive, I’d like to think that some people will team up and cooperate with others. (By “team up” I mean “actively not trying to kill.”)
At some point in time, people will pair up, fall in love, and perhaps even have a kid or two, all in the name of the survival of the human race. (This is, of course, assuming that people still have the ability to have kids.
If not, we’re all doomed anyway.)
