Season one, Episode Sixteen, “Infected”

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason one, Episode Sixteen, “Infected”

The old man pushed himself to a sitting position, his back against the far wall of the pit.  He reflexively clutched at his shoulder and massaged the side that had taken the brunt of the impact. He could hear the steady drip of water falling from the cliff face and the wind pushing dead leaves around up above.  

He slowly lifted his gaze to the surface level to assess the real enigma: the woman.

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Hello, my Apocalypse surviving friends. How are we doing this week? Are you managing to stay one step ahead of the evil undead as civilization crumbles around you? If so, in the immortal words of Bill Murray, “So – you got that going for you.”

This week, 16 chapters in, we finally bring our two protagonists together. The old man and Janet. I was going to title the chapter “Meet Cute” as a satire on all the Hallmark movies ever made.  You know the one’s…Somewhere in act one the slightly attractive woman who has had to go back to Christmas Valley because her family’s cupcake business is in danger of being taken over by an evil developer and her father is sick? Anyhow, somewhere in act one she stumbles into traffic and almost gets run over by a slightly attractive man who she immediately hates, but you can tell there’s a spark there?

Yeah, except in my meet cute she wants to bash his head in. Spoiler alert, I’m not a big fan of shoehorning romantic subplots into science fiction. I don’t see these two ever having that kind of relationship but I’m willing to write it if you want! It would be a challenge.

A couple of questions and announcements for you. First, I have set up a Facebook group for this show and I will start populating it with these outros and a whatnot. The link to find it is OldManApocalypse – all one word. https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypse It’s a private group so I have to accept you, I think, but if I set it to public it just gets too spammy.

Go out and join up so we can trade stories and I can get some feedback. My first order of business is to post some fan art that my buddy Dave’s daughter drew for us. I think she did a pretty good job. Take a look and tell me what you think.

So, I had a question, did any of you get lost in the timeline here? Meaning, I left the cliff-hanger in episode 13 where the old man gets pushed into the pit. Then I dropped back for two episodes to fill us in on what Janet’s been up too. Then I brought the timeline back together at the pit. Did I lose you? I had one of my readers get confused. Go to the Facebook group and tell me if I lost you.

Also, over the last two weeks I figured out how to manage the integration of Acast and Patreon. I set it up so I can create bonus episodes and if you are a Patron you get them exclusively. I have already dropped one bonus episode from another apocalypse universe I play in called “The Dead Frontier”, and I’m dropping a reading of a early Vonnegut story “2 B R 0 2 B” which is in the public domain. I’m going to keep creating these bonus episodes for patrons so go to the patreon page, sign up as a member and get the extra, good stuff.

This week I’m going to refer you to a Apocalypse movie from 1962 called “Day of the Triffids”. Based on a novel of the same name by James Wyndam from 1951. It was very big in the UK. It was remade and modernized in 2009 as a BBC series with among others Eddie Izzard and Vanessa Redgrave. You can see both versions for free on YouTube.

I remember seeing this as a kid on one of the B-movie Horror and science fiction shows I liked and it always stuck with me. It’s basically a zombie apocalypse but instead of zombies there are carnivorous plants walking around England. In the original novel the plants were created by the Soviets and kept in thrall because they produced Oil.  In the 2009 version the Soviets are replaced by mindless corporations. 

The interesting twist in this movie is that there is meteor shower that makes 90% of the population go blind. You get this interesting apocalypse with wandering killer plants and disabled people. 

This move had some of the classic apocalypse tropes that you will recognize in more modern tales. The first one being the ‘waking up in the hospital and everything has gone to shit’ trope. This is where the protagonist has been unconscious or otherwise waylaid in a hsptial bed and misses the events at the opening of the apocalypse. Think Walking Dead and 28 Days Later the awesome 2002 Danny Boyle zombie film – both referenced this device from Triffids. 

Another device here is the ‘hey we survived the apocalypse let’s have an orgy!” trope. I don’t think I’ve watched or read an apocalypse treatment that doesn’t’ have a scene where the survivors figure the best response to the apocalypse is to have a big party/orgy. Usually, it’s the army guys. I guess that says something g about human nature because I can totally see that being a response. 

Another theme pioneered here is the uprising of a abused sub-class to overthrow their masters. In this case it’s the plants who turn against their masters. But, this is a deeper theme, and especially in 1962 England, where there was real fear of the peoples the British Empire had colonized turning around and taking over. 

Anyhow, I’d recommend ay and all of the Trifid pieces with a bottle of beer, a bag of salty snacks and a comfy couch on a rainy afternoon.

Those are my thoughts for the week. Remember to like us, leave a review, forward to your friends and enemies. Go forth and join the ‘new’ Facebook group so we can trade ideas. 

And above all, Keep Surviving. 

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