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.
