Grants Pass Anthology
Submission Guidelines The below online "near future" journal entry was written in May by a girl named Kayley. The protagonist of your story has either read the journal entry themselves or was told about the journal entry in passing. By the month of July, fourteen months later (IE: May 2010 to July 2011), civilized society as we know it, all over the world, had collapsed. The debate about whether or not global warming is "real" has ended: wild hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones rip over areas formerly untouched by these calamities. Countries find themselves victims of unseasonable storms, drought or torrential rain. Governments are hard pressed to control their populations, especially in the United States, as California was left in ruins from an earthquake that measured well over 9.0 on the richter scale During this, the plagues came. Three of them. Rumor has it that these were part of biological terrorist acts that went out of control. The first one is a drug resistant form of the Bubonic plague (AKA "the Black Death") that breaks out in Austin, USA; Paris, France and Tokyo, Japan. The second one is an airborn version of ebola hemorrhagic fever - nicknamed SVHF (Severe Viral Hemorrhagic Fever) - that breaks out in Sydney, Australia; Hollywood, USA; parts of South Africa and South America. The third is a form of the 'super flu' which seems to break out in every capital city of every member country of the United Nations. These diseases take days to kill, sometimes a week. Almost no one survives them once infected. By the end of July, 99.99% of the world's population is now dead. Assuming the population is still 6.6 billion (although in a few years it will be greater, but we'll ignore that for now), the number of survivors is 660,000. Try not to use exact figures, as the anthology is to be set in the future. However, this does show that around 1 in 10,000 people survive. I am looking for stories that start no earlier than July 1st after the collapse (IE: 14 months after Kayley's post and after the plagues have run themselves out) that involve dealing with the apocalypse and the thought of a possible haven in Grants Pass, Oregon. Your stories do not have to travel there but, the idea of Grants Pass as a possible haven for survivors, and the journal entry, must be one of the plot points. Please note, this is not a supernatural thriller. The end does not come because of nuclear war. There are no special powers, no mutations or the like. If unicorns or fairies show up in your story, it's because the protagonist is insane and this is made clear to the reader.
Submission Requirements
Journal Entry I'm not saying that end of the world is coming. I don't know if it will happen in my lifetime or if at all. But, as a writer, I often ask "What if..." What if something like Skippy the Super flu virus happens? What if something like "The Day After Tomorrow" happens? What if we are invaded or World War III happens? Better yet, what if, for some reason, the government and known society collapses due to a great loss of life and/or immense structural damage ... and I survive it? Then what? Well, my plan, as of now, is to meet Monte in Grants Pass. Why Grants Pass? Because I have dreamt of this several times. In my dreams, I've always ended up in Grants Pass and that's good enough for me. Why Monte? Because he is a good friend who indulges my whims when I present him with such mental exercises. Also, because he has become one of my dream symbols representing Survival. Just like the few times I have dreamt of Ice, he has represented Leadership and Yony has represented Desire. Recently, I mentioned this to Ice and invited him to meet us. If anyone is going to survive the end of the world, it would be him. Then, James jumped in and said it sounded like a plan and he would meet us there, hauling fuel. Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe I should just let others in on this plan. Obviously, not everyone who reads this would survive an apocalypse. Maybe I would not survive it. My want for immortality says I would but that's just me. In any case, if the apocalypse comes, meet us in Grants Pass. Think about what you would bring. Think about coming to be part of a surviving band of people from all walks of life. Sure, this is a silly mental exercise but there is no harm in thinking about it. How would I get there? Would I go by car, more secure and sheltered but braving the ruined roads? Motorcycle for the maneuverability? Bicycle for the lack of dependence on fuel and ability to easily bypass obstacles but more exposure and slower travel time? What would I bring with me? Fuel? Food? Water? Weapons? Probably all of the above. I think REI would be the first place I would raid. I think, I would try to get in contact with certain people by cell phone and by IM as long as electricity lasted. Mostly to see if they were still alive and coming. Of course, if the end of the world is like "The Stand" and Mother Abigail is saying we should come to Colorado, well, I guess Grants Pass would be the meeting and staging point for it. It is better to travel in groups, I think. Especially if you have both human and animal predators out there. You can't tell me that some survivor (probably male) wouldn't get it in their head to become some sort of warlord and try to take over their own little bit of land. You know it would happen. Personally, I'd rather band together with people I already know than some random tough guy who has figured out how to rule through strength and fear. Though, not that all warlords are bad. Generally, things go better when there is a clear leader in a group. Someone with the ability to make decisions in a minimum amount of time. But, it is how they come to these decisions and how they enforce them that makes a difference in the leadership of a group. Still, coming up with a way to protect and feed a group of people during and after some sort of apocalypse brings to mind some interesting ideas. Some of it goes back to my parents' lessons on wants versus needs. Needs would be paramount - food, shelter, protection. Wants would have to be indulged when it was possible and safe to do so. But, one person's need could be another person's want. It can be very subjective. That's where we come back to the importance of leadership. Someone must be the parent and the bad guy for your own good. Now, I'm randomly babbling. In a time of crisis, having a plan can make the difference between life and death. If an apocalypse comes and you survive, think of me then head to Grants Pass. Who knows who else might read and remember this. My whimsy could turn out to be very practical. |
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