Nuclear WAR - like... right now?

[4too]

After The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

After The Light At The End Of The Tunnel


Flash.

According to the dictates of my demographic profile,
my genus species will already be in my parents basement.

Flash.

Why I am not in the basement of the modest urban structure,
whose mortgage interest I am entitled as a tax deduction,
I know not.

Flash.

It must be April for all the half windows are open, to change out the winter's musty air.
This is a new 15 inch monitor, and the AMD 550 works fine after flashing the socket 7 mb bios.

Flash.

It must be April, and I have enough hard drive space to do the humungous install
of this new game, the last of it's kind on the shelf. Fallout. It must be April 1998.

Flash.

My g-ge-gen- generation when we asked about shelter,
were told to duck and cover under our desks.
Windowless central halls were only for the reality of hurricane drill.

My g-ge-gen- generation in the coastal towns,
and all the minor military ground zeros
were comforted by the concept that no shelter could be deep enough
we would all be dead in the first ...

Flash.

My g-ge-gen- generation was oiled with the promise of a painless big bang.
Dying in fear and pain, only the whisper of pre atomic whimpers.

Flash.


It must be April, 1998, and my player character is wounded and entering Shady Sands.
The late afternoon sun filters into, not my basement, my ... grand parent's basement in ...

It must be April, 1998, and my player character is talking to this perky townie named Tandy.
A voice from above says to be ready to come upstairs for dinner soon.
Not the voice of the reigning step mother, the voice last heard and buried in ...

... April 1974.

Flash.

It must be April, 1998, and my player character is killing rats *again* in this abandoned vault.
The late afternoon sun filters into, not my basement, my grand parent's basement in ... Kansas.
Must find a spot to save game, will go upstairs soon.



4too

 

[.ICBM.]

Now lets see here: I will probably survive the first missile strikes on my country since I am far away from Amsterdamn or The Hague. The city I live in is really not worth bombing, or someone at the 'red button' is being a prick. However, now I think of it, my country sits right between the US and Russia, so if those two are shooting down each other's ICBM's in midair, wouldn't it rain nuclear fragments all over the place?

* I know the bombs have fallen and it is time to get out of the city before the riots and looting start. I will first get my father's black Landrover Defender, which is very close to a Hummer's coolness, has massive tires for offroad duty and the occasional zomb...err highwaymen/vampire diabetics. Furthermore, since a Landrover is practically indestructible, spare parts are available. Also important, I can mount an 50. machinegun on the roof if I can get my hands on that.

* Next concern, to be able to get anything in the new world I need guns.. A major drawback is that my country's civilians don't have the same amount of weaponry in possession as the US, or most other countries. Looting army stockpiles is to dangerous and the lone gunshop is probably looting clean by the owner himself. My dad has however a very large call. breach loaded signal flare gun which would scare most people to death (well, until they realize I have only one shot before I have to reload).

Next, food, fuel ans supplies. I will only use the flaregun when people try to stop me from getting supplies, or depending on the person, kill people to get there weapons. First on my list will be fuel, and lots of it. How I will get large quantities I'm not to sure, but I fill the car + trailer with jugs and tanks, fuel them up and store them temporarily outside of the city. Next on the list is food and water, Witch consist simply of loading up the car and trailer with canned food. I will grab anything that if usable for a longer period of time and load the car+trailer before the crowds switch on there brains.

* Secure a safe location to hole up. This is the tricky one, it must be safe from fallout, storm and nuclear winter resistant, easy defendable from raiders, secluded from the masses of hungry, and later cannibalistic humans. A solution might be a large motorized ship, like a small ferry. A big plus is the ability to just drive the supplies on the cardeck. However the fuel consumption will be a problem, where to get large quantities? Another option is the use of multiple sailing vessels. The majority of my family are seagoing people with own bulld catamarans and trimarans. They are not fuel dependent, but are much more vulnerable to attack and cannot hold a lot of supplies. Whatever the choice, a suitable destination must be found. Away from radiated winds, and the possibility of nuclear winter(s) (Australia, New Zealand?)

The key to all of this is speed, get in motion before the crowd does, and the police/army who foolishly try to contain the public for the old world with law and justice will never return. Now I am reading this, I cannot do all of this alone, I need at least 2 ppl to divide the workload. One goes after food, the other water, and me fuel+tools. And we need a signal like 'Alas, babylon where a simple codeword is used to let the others know the shit is starting and we need to take preparation immediately.

And, who will I take with me..? That is quite an interesting, and potentially very nasty question. Friends? Family? Others? That is worth another topic imho.

 

[Chacotay]

The thing about fallout is that it's not the demon people make it out to be - as long as you can keep it out of your house, it doesn't do anything.

Sure, it's a bitch to keep out, but it can be done (masking tape over the windows... plastic sheets... etc.)

Oh, and no... I didn't get this knowledge from "Jericho", although that was pretty cool.

 

[.ICBM.]

You can very well keep it out of your house, but what about crops or any other food source that people need? Sure, greenhouses would keep the dust out, but that is going to be a little difficult when a few million people have the same idea.. The fallout may wash away to sea, but then the marine life will become radiated as well, and I doubt you can safely eat radiated fish.

The short term effects on humans are not that bad, but what about the longer term effects of widespread radiation particles on the ecosystem we depend on (even without nuclear winter)? We can measure and identify radiated areas, but animal and plants do not, they happily eat radiated plants. The effects of the Chernobyl explosion proved to be not that bad to animal and plant life, but that was an localized incident. A world wide nuclear catastrophe may have quite a different outcome.

 

[Chacotay]

It all depends on the half life of the particles in question (and therefor, the weapon/s used).

According to the wiki:

"Fallout radiation decays exponentially relatively quickly with time. Most areas become fairly safe for travel and decontamination after three to five weeks."

But your point still remains valid. I wouldn't be drinking the milk of any cows exposed, nor meat from exposed animals. Certain crops may be fine as long as you wash them off (if they're ripe, they won't draw in any more water, so they won't become radioactive).

 

[.ICBM.]

Funny, today I read in a newspaper that the Global Seed Fault in Svalbard (Spitsbergen) is completed and is taking in the 4,5 million seed-samples, containing 500 seeds per sample. Interesting that this facility is build with the afterthought of war or disastrous climate change, but what will happen after an nuclear war? I doubt that countries will politely wait in line to get there hands on those seeds, I expect they would rather destroy it then let the 'enemy' get there hand on it. Never the less, I am pleased that at least some people saw the need to build this facility, like a man in the video (see below) said; "we want to preserve all these seeds for the use of possible future generations. What god has created, we should not be allowed to destroy."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OPhiDKXHzIU

 

[Hyperactive]

Now I am reading this, I cannot do all of this alone, I need at least 2 {It's "people". You can write legibly. Don't bother crying about it.} to divide the workload. .

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