Please welcome Susan Kelley to Write with Fey! She knows about my fascination with disaster and has provided an intriguing article for us about how a pandemic could end the world.
Take it away, Susan!
The World Falls Apart
In my latest series, Survivors of the Apocalypse, humanity in on the brink of extinction after a pandemic sweeps the world and kills millions. How would the collapse of civilization occur and what would the impact be on the handful of survivors?
In
this futuristic world, scientists believe they’ve found a universal vaccine
that will make an end to the diseases that have plagued mankind since the
beginning of time. This isn’t something very far outside of reality. Legions of
scientists work on creating yearly flu vaccines and part of their work is to
someday create a vaccine that will work against any mutation of the flu.
2018
marks one hundred years since the worst flu pandemic in the world’s history.
Around 50 million people died. Looking at how people are more mobile and how
many more of us there are, can you imagine the numbers is such a virulent
strain hit us today. Before you think our modern medicine would prevent that,
keep in mind that an estimated 300,000 to 700,000 people die from the flu every
year. Last year’s flu vaccine only protected one in four people who received.
To read more about the search for a universal vaccine, here is one of many articles about it.
In my
fictional setting, the universal vaccines backfires and disaster results. Imagine
how civilization would crumble and implode. A lot of people get very sick, and
the medical resources are overwhelmed. Some of the sick would be essential
services like healthcare workers and police officers. Civil unrest would
follow. As more people succumb, families fall apart, media falls silent, and
infrastructure collapses. No phones, no electricity, and then no clean water.
Governments
first thoughts might be that an enemy have used a biological weapon. Before the
truth is known, a short devastating nuclear war could occur. Untended nuclear
and chemical plants would eventually dump their poisons into the environment.
Scientists that might have stopped the problem fall to the plague before they
are successful. The world of mankind is over.
Except
there will always be people who fall through the cracks and don’t get the
newest vaccine. There are people who are for whatever genetic reasons are
immune to the disease. And therein lies the hope for humanity’s survival, and
the framework for my series.
Add in
one protected biodome city, completely cutoff from the rest of the world, and
you have enough people to give mankind a chance. Maybe.
Exile’s Savage Lady: Book #3 in Survivors of the Apocalypse, is the final book as a few
brave people risk everything to bring the cure to everyone. Robin Linden was
saved by the Gibbs family when the city exiled him to die outside the dome. The
cure exists, but those in the city don’t know. Robin can’t let those inside
starve as their resources fail, and he’s willing to sacrifice himself to save
them. Kerry Gibbs doesn’t understand what makes the stoic city man tick, but
she’s not going to let him get away before she finds out why she finds him so
attractive. If that means following inside the city, she’s not afraid of
anything. But the more she gets to know Robin and what motivates him, she fears
for the first time. They may be able to save the city, but she’ll lose the man
she loves.
BIO: Susan
Kelley lives in a large country home in Pennsylvania where she and her husband
have raised six children. After many years as a high school teacher, she
retired to write full time. She loves dystopia, space adventures, superheroes,
but especially everyday heroes.
Find Her:
QUESTIONS: Do
you get your flu shot every year? Have you ever been really sick with the flu?
Do you think the world will end with a big bang or a long moan?
Yeah, that is sure all it would take and everything would come crashing down. And there will always be someone immune to whatever it is. I'd be the one to skip the vaccine until I saw it tested on thousands on others first lol Plague will be what gets us. Aliens could come a close 2nd.
ReplyDeleteHopefully something that devastating doesn't befall us.
ReplyDeleteI've never gotten a flu shot and I almost never get the flu. Maybe I'd be one of the lucky ones?
Thanks for having my, Chrys. Pat, I would hesitate on getting such a shot too. Alex, I don't get the flu either, but last year I got my first flu shot because I watching my granddaughter and didn't want to chance giving her something.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Susan! You worked with one of my favorite themes wonderfully.
DeleteCongrats on release. Thought provoking post too.
ReplyDeleteThank for stopping by Juneta. I really learned a lot in my research that is disturbing.
DeleteIt's always a bit scary to think of that happening in my lifetime. Of course, I'd probably be one of the first to die, so I wouldn't really have to worry. >.>
ReplyDeleteLOL, Patricia. It might be terrible to be one of the few to survive and all your family and friends don't.
DeleteI read a fiction book a few years back (can't remember the name) that was about a pandemic after a bird flu hit the world. It was scary in that no one wanted to help anyone because they were afraid of getting sick and how stores jacked up prices and only wanted cash for simple items if you could even find them at the store because no deliveries were being made. The family in the store, three survived, the dad didn't, but they had to forge ahead once it was deemed safe to be back out again. I would hope to be one of the first to go, LOL, not to have to deal with trying to survive.
ReplyDeleteI'm hit and miss on the flu shot. Some years I get it, some years I don't get the shot. Didn't get the flu until last year and I'm sure it was because grandson in day care got it and then exposed every one else. This year we are all getting the flu shot :) Funny thing is I got sick but not to the point I had to miss work, just lots of coughing and tiredness. It took me a few days to realize I had the flu, but then took about 2 weeks to fully recover.
betty
Last year's flu was a bad one and it did seem to hold on forever once you had it. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteThis series of books looks really interesting. The apocalypse theme is compelling and definitely a possibility in our world. Store water. That's my advice haha. Thanks for introducing Susan Kelley here, Chrys. Congratulations on your third book in the series, Susan. It's great to meet you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping in, Lisa. Water would be a big thing if we lost power for an extended time.
DeleteThought the post wonderful Chrys. I have been a follower of Susan's for quite a while and think her writing is awesome.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your book by the way Chrys, I know it will do well.
Take care and have a wonderful weekend.
Yvonne.
Thanks for stopping by, Yvonne. I always appreciate your positive words.
DeleteThank you, Yvonne!
DeleteHi Chrys ... Susan's book sounds very interesting ... and yes I'm sure some will survive - the thing with us today is ... do we know enough craft skills to help ourselves when whatever disaster overcomes us ... I definitely don't think I do. Clever idea for a book - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThat is such a great point, Hilary. I'm not sure how many us could survive without our modern conveniences.
DeleteIt would be a really scary scenario. I remember an Anne McCaffrey Pern story when a pandemic almost wiped out everyone.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I ever read that Pern story. There were so many though. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteThe Influenza Epidemic shows just how devastating the flu can be. I get my shots every year:)
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Mark. Most insurances cover the shots, but still people don't get them.
DeleteNo, I don't get a flu shot every year. But I do know someone who passed away this year due to flu complications.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear that, Liz. Last year's flu was known to be dangerous for everyone, not just the young or old.
DeleteI like those book covers, and the story sounds interesting too! I got my first flu shot this year, and it was the first year I didn't get the flu; I always got sick at least once or twice a year before. One year I had the flu and couldn't stop coughing for more than a month; it got to the point that people pulled away from me if I went to a store or somewhere else because I kept coughing. I had to get an inhaler from the doctor just so I could breathe.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend last year who had that terrible cough for a month after getting the flu. She had to go back to the doctor again and again.
DeleteFlu shots and plenty of Vitamin D. Looking at the new viruses, like Ebola, and how some countries are experimenting with them, your scenario is a very scary possibility.
ReplyDeleteYou make one of the points I made in my story. The pandemic was caused by people doing experiments.
DeleteSince I have asthma, I need to take my flu shot every year. The universal vaccine sounds like a great idea, almost too good to be true. So it is not surprising that in the fictional story, the failure of such a vaccine brings trouble.
ReplyDeleteGetting the flu when you have asthma would be very scary, Cynthia. We can only hope a good vaccine is found someday. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteWhat a great twist in the plot of a disaster book, 'he universal vaccines backfires and disaster results'. I've yest to see this scenario in a story so well done to Susan and best wishes for a smashing success.
ReplyDeleteI read one series with this scenario several years ago. It was set in England, and did a great job of exploring how people would react. It's a great plot idea.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good storyline and plot.
ReplyDeleteIt's scary how quickly civilisation could fall! I'd really not be cut out to survive - in a movie, my character would be out before the opening credits finished ;-)
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Susan! I do get a flu shot every year. I had a great immune system when I was young, but now that I'm older, not so much. I do think mankind will fall with a long moan, but I also think there are those who will fall between the cracks and carry on.
ReplyDelete