Xena
Apparently, I need to have a turn at this or Lloyd will keep pestering me. Since I don’t want to go through the hassle of wasting a bullet and finding a new partner, I’ll give some advice if you find yourself in my world. There better be some guns, fuel, food, or ammo in this for me because this feels like a waste of time.
- Don’t try to be nice unless it can get you what you want. Nearly everyone is a predator out here and those who aren’t are fooling themselves. Fine, I guess kids are still innocent and some people have managed to retain their morals while carving out some kind of life. Still, you shouldn’t let your guard down.
- Guns are useful, but bullets aren’t as easy to come by until you build up a decent reputation. That or you go around robbing people, but that can result in you earning less than you use. Now, I’m a big fan of killing from far away, but you can’t ignore the fact that a knife or some type of close range weapon is important. Not to mention people tend to overlook these if you carry a few guns. Even if they do a pat down that will inevitably cost them several fingers.
- Picky eaters don’t last very long. You eat what you can find, hunt, or trade for, which is usually nothing like you’re used to. On the plus side, a decade into the Shattered States, most of us don’t remember the old foods. You might stumble onto something that was smuggled into the country, but those are only good for a momentary sense of nostalgia. Not worth whining about the taste of some odd stew or going out of your way for the stuff.
- Close relationships are bittersweet. People die out here, but humans still need to connect with others. It stops us from falling entirely into insanity and becoming less than human. Still, you need to always prepare yourself for a loss. Not much time for mourning around here.
- Traveling isn’t really recommended unless you have a death wish, no place to call home, or work makes you nomadic. There are plenty of cities and towns that you can settle into, but entering the wilderness is just asking for trouble. I’m saying this knowing that nobody ever listens to this advice for very long. It’s like people are drawn into getting themselves killed.
- I seem to be coming off as negative here, which is only because I’d rather warn people than sugarcoat the truth. A positive thing is that it helps to learn some kind of trade to earn food, clothes, and shelter. You can go into gardening for flowers or vegetables. I know many become seamstresses and mechanics. As odd as it sounds, you can become whatever you want to be in the Shattered States since there’s no social structure to keep you in a box.
- Final piece of advice: Never fuck with my jeep.
If you are looking for horror fiction that is chock-full to the brim with werewolves and zombies, I’m probably not your man. I write horror (amongst other things) that people can (hopefully) relate to. If pressed, I would say I write horror that takes the ordinary and mundane and makes it extraordinary and fantastic. I want to write about people like you and me that are dragged towards the edges of their reality and shown what lies just beyond.
