Disaster, Social Breakdown

Things are bad, They don’t tell you. You have to see it for yourself, hear and smell— They’re just bland about it. Call it the Urban Collapse—then it’s nobody’s fault, it’s just a phenomenon. Paris. Or Rotterdam. Or New York or Moscow for that matter—I believe they’re just as bad but there’s no way to go and look. It’s everywhere, not just us. Suburban streets with dead bodies! I’d never have believed—till I came down here last week— As society broke down, people tore each other apart. We did not realize what we were capable of. The apocalypse did not just destroy the world: it destroyed our humanity. The world was littered with naked and bloody corpses. Cities covered in dried blood, the corpses long having been taken for food. Dismembered corpses are hung on walls, as warnings to travelers.

Perhaps the greatest danger is humanity itself. When resources run short, whether food, land or water, people kill to get them. And killing breeds killing. In a world where anyone might shoot you, you must have a gun. When you encounter a stranger, the safest thing to do is shoot first. After all, resources are scarce, and they may have things you need.

As food grows scarce, too, cannibalism becomes practical. Dead bodies are, after all, an abundant source of meat. Another practical solution is slavery. Since farming, travel and fighting take work, why not force others to work for you?