The virus was swift and deadly.
After emerging near your home
in New York City, it spread.
First to London, then to Tokyo,
eventually wiping out more than
99% of the global population.
But you...
you were lucky.
You were one of the few thousand people
on Earth with immunity who survived.
So, now what?
Your first step is to stock up.
An average midsize supermarket
can sustain one person for about 55 years.
63, if you're cool with
eating the cat and dog food.
As you scan the aisles,
look for canned food,
some of which can last
for up to several decades,
and bottled water.
Because once the power grid goes down,
your municipal water supply will run dry
in a matter of weeks
or even days.
You'll also want to grab some superglue
in case you get injured.
It can easily seal wounds
in the absence of stitches.
And make sure to hit up hospitals,
pharmacies, and even vet offices
for antibiotics and pain killers.
Vets treat animals with many of the
same medicines that we use for humans,
such as the pain reliever hydrocodone
and the antibiotic doxycycline.
Once you're packed, you'll
want to hit the road.
Because without electricity
to cool the fuel
inside nuclear reactors,
pressure could build up
and cause the reactor's
containment building to fail.
Especially if it's old or
it was poorly maintained.
And that could release toxic radiation
within a 50-mile radius or greater.
And even if your city or town
isn't near one of these plants,
you'll still want to seek isolation.
Because in the aftermath
of the apocalypse,
there will be decaying corpses
strewn about the streets.
Oh, yeah. It's gonna stink.
But they'll also attract animal scavengers
and infectious bacteria
that could harm or kill you
if you get too close.
So, yeah, a country home
is looking pretty good right now.
Though it'll be tough to figure out
exactly where to settle.
You'll need to be close to fresh water
but also far away from major rivers,
because many dams could
eventually collapse
without anyone to maintain them.
You'll also want to be near fertile soil
so you can grow your own food
once your grocery supply runs out.
And, of course, you'll want
to be at least 50 miles
from a nuclear power plant.
So somewhere north of Edison, New Jersey,
would probably be a good bet.
After settling in, you'll need
a steady supply of drinking water.
So it's a good thing purifying
creek or lake water is surprisingly easy.
You can bring it to a boil,
fill up clear plastic water bottles
no larger than a liter
and stick them in direct sunlight
for at least six hours,
or add a few drops of a
5% liquid bleach solution
to a liter of water.
But farming your own food
would be a lot tougher.
If you're able to scavenge a gun
or a bow and arrow, you could hunt.
There are over 100,000 deer in New Jersey,
which is more than 11 per square mile.
And each one could keep you satisfied
(or, at least, alive)
for two weeks or more.
But wouldn't it be easier just to farm?
Assuming you could plant
the right crops, yes.
Corn, for example, might be everywhere.
But many modern varieties are hybrids
and often can't reproduce on their own,
so they won't grow from
one year to the next.
That's why you'll want to scavenge
seeds of heirloom crops,
which reproduce naturally.
Try searching small
farms, backyard gardens,
and garden centers for beans, potatoes,
and some kind of leafy green.
That way you'll have a supply
of protein, carbs, and lots of vitamins.
Now, with crops in the ground,
things will be looking up.
You know, relative to life
in post-apocalyptic times.
But you know what would make it better?
Electricity.
You could store perishable foods,
like the deer you killed.
Not to mention have light,
heat, running water,
and whatever else might help
you live more comfortably.
At first, you can
scavenge motor generators
from roadwork or construction sites
and siphon gasoline out of
abandoned cars to power them.
But eventually you'll want to nab
some solar panels along with big batteries
to store the power they produce.
Abandoned golf carts might
be a good place to look.
They're powered by deep-cycle
lead-acid batteries,
which you can discharge many times
without significantly
shortening their lifespan.
Aah. Now you can finally relax.
All that's left is
repopulating the planet.
