Commune Series

For dinosaurs, it was a big rock. For humans: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). When the Earth is hit by the greatest CME in recorded history (several times larger than the Carrington Event of 1859), the combined societies of the planet's most developed nations struggle to adapt to a life thrust back into the Dark Ages. In the United States, the military scrambles to speed the nation's recovery on multiple fronts including putting down riots, establishing relief camps, delivering medical aid, and bringing communication and travel back on line. Just as a real foothold is established in retaking the skies (utilizing existing commercial aircraft supplemented by military resources and ground control systems), a mysterious virus takes hold of the population, spreading globally over the very flight routes that the survivors fought so hard to rebuild.

The survivors have come to settle in the mountains of Wyoming, fighting day in and day out to establish a home for themselves in a near-empty world. Things are good at first; scavenging is a workable, short-term solution that seems to be providing all they need. But they know that it’s only a matter of time before the food runs out. They need to scramble to find a sustainable solution before the clock stops, and for a little handful of people up in the mountains, the odds don’t seem very favorable.

Having been bolstered with the supplies sufficient to carry them through the winter, the survivors of the Jackson commune must now hunker down and endure the bitter Wyoming snows, while to the south, factions are beginning to form, coalescing from the ashes of the dead world.

The philosopher asks: "Faced with the mutually exclusive choice between moral principle and the survival of your family, which is the correct path?" Philosophers love to pose such questions, and in the day-to-day struggle, such thinkers rarely attain to a level of relevance rivaling that of the simple hunger pang. Their careful considerations dissipate under the leveled gun. We do not feel their disapproving gaze when The Others draw near. When the world sends doom, the survivors do not hesitate. The survivors do what is necessary.

Books and Bug are polar opposites, despite their friendship. Rumors on the road speak of a hospital in Washing D.C. Leading a small group of survivors, including pregnant women, the two travel in earnest to provide the soon-to-be mothers a safe place to deliver. Bug–a natural, charismatic leader–refuses to leave anyone behind while Books–a pragmatic social outsider–wishes not to be responsible for the safety of others. Together, they're exactly what this group needs to survive. But DC isn't exactly the safe haven they hoped for.

In the process of searching for Pinch, a long-lost mythic figure who has attained a talismanic status, Gibs has resorted to making a living doing contract work with his friend Alan, the young man who followed him out of the Wyoming commune. Hired by a family as escorts on a cross-country trip to Texas, they are ambushed by a group of raiders. The family is captured, children and all, and Gibs and Alan are left behind with only some pistols, a handful of bullets between them, and no food or water to speak of.

Books has settled the Smoky Mountains following the events of the Territory Wars. His freehold doesn't have much worth trading that neighboring settlements need, but he and many other inhabitants don't necessarily consider this a bad thing. The low economic desirability of their freehold is what has allowed them to avoid fighting.