28 Days Later - Death of a Nation

Well it looks like the UK is effectively being quarantined by the international community over the new Covid strain spreading rapidly thorough London and south east England. The Netherlands and Belgium have banned all travel from the UK and it seems France is about to do the same .

There was also somewhat chaotic scenes last night as thousands of people rushed to get the last trains out of London before the city enters Tier 4 restrictions. I could imagine the London train stations might have looked a bit like this during the timeline I've written.

Real life is a bit crazy.
I imagine it was a bit more... hysterical in the world of 28DL.

Like those accounts of German soldiers trying to cling to the last planes out of Stalingrad hysterical.
 
Thing to remember is Lakenheath is not exactly right next door to Cambridge, by the time a 'riot' come close to the base it is clearly not a just a civil problem, it is a pathogen or drug outbreak- the shear numbers of infected would clearly indicate it is not a riot or a civil disterbance, but something far deadiler. The base would move into alert status, folk would be recalled, arms passed out.

map-cambridge-1c5a278c3e79657aa6e57a8c29161daddd048140.jpg


The Lakenheath base is admittedly sprawling, but the fences are 8-10ft high with razor wire- sure the Ragers will try and get over it regardless of the threat to themselves or the injuries, but I suspect by then the base is on full alert and orders are to shoot to kill, esp once the first few get back up.

In the prep time, people, stuff, will be being evacuated or made secure.

Not saying no bases fall, not saying they cannot be overwhelmed, but I am sure bases outside the initial zone would have a chance to fight back and defend. Once the threat is clear, then the bases in the west an north will be locked down and/or moved out. The bunkers or buildings that can be made secure will be etc.

Bigger worry is not the Ragers in come ways, but the panicking civilians looking for solutions.
 
Bigger worry is not the Ragers in come ways, but the panicking civilians looking for solutions.
There was the line in the movie about not being able to know who was Infected and who wasn't. It sounds like the soldiers who survived did it by opening up on anything that moved.
 

MaxGerke01

Banned
There was the line in the movie about not being able to know who was Infected and who wasn't. It sounds like the soldiers who survived did it by opening up on anything that moved.
That is what we saw the American military do in Operation Code Red in 28 Weeks Later...
 

MaxGerke01

Banned
Exactly. I was thinking about the British and American troops in the UK who might have survived the outbreak, like the marauders in the movie.
It would be true if the outbreak happens in a densely populated urban area and there simply isnt enough time to distinguish between the Infected and the victims. Cynics would say just shoot the ones who are chasing the others but thats easier said than done in a crowded and completely chaotic scene...
 
It would be true if the outbreak happens in a densely populated urban area and there simply isnt enough time to distinguish between the Infected and the victims. Cynics would say just shoot the ones who are chasing the others but thats easier said than done in a crowded and completely chaotic scene...

Hard to do with rifles (especially in the middle of a crowded tight packed urban city or falling base) pretty much impossible in any urban environment to do with anything heavier. Pretty much impossible to do in those circumstances with things like artillery, tanks, air bombing, mortars, machine guns, or chemical weapons.

Honestly I see the majority of countries militaries adopting much much much looser collateral damage policies as part of their rage containment plan's after the Fall of Britain. Probably something along the lines of "Better to kill a thousand to stop the epidemic then lose millions upon millions if it spreads".

I could see a lot of countries adopting whole scale usage of chemical weapons. Basically require or incentivize the construction of bomb shelters in people's homes, businesses, and public spaces that are fortified and supplied with weaponry and a emergency supply of food and water. Also either require or heavily incentivize the public to own and carry emergency gas masks/NBC suits and maintain emergency stockpiles in public places (Sort of like fire extinguisher's I suppose. Have them publicly marked and appearing frequently). As part of the Rage containment plan adopt a "Code Red Scenario" ordering civilians to put on their gas masks/NBC suits and fort up in whatever shelter or safe place they can. Then drop a fuck ton of chemical weapons on whatever cities or towns are experiencing infections to burn it out. With Civilians forted up in safe places the military/security forces/police adopt free fire policies with pretty much everything running around on the street's considered to be infected.

Instead of the type of large poorly defending shelters (as we see in 28 Weeks Later) have the policy for there to be a bunch of much smaller Panic room type deals which can just be fortified small rooms with a couple people in each one. Perhaps have public street's lined with numerous "Porta Potty" type concrete shelters. Also obviously homes and businesses will either naturally or be encouraged to adopt much stronger doors and windows capable of being successfully quickly blocked or reinforcing. Might not stop a huge horde indefinitely but it will slow them down and make it so that each new infection takes much longer.

You'll definitely have severe collateral and civilian damage but I think most countries will consider that preferable to going the same way Britain did in TL.
 
Hard to do with rifles (especially in the middle of a crowded tight packed urban city or falling base) pretty much impossible in any urban environment to do with anything heavier. Pretty much impossible to do in those circumstances with things like artillery, tanks, air bombing, mortars, machine guns, or chemical weapons.

Honestly I see the majority of countries militaries adopting much much much looser collateral damage policies as part of their rage containment plan's after the Fall of Britain. Probably something along the lines of "Better to kill a thousand to stop the epidemic then lose millions upon millions if it spreads".

I could see a lot of countries adopting whole scale usage of chemical weapons. Basically require or incentivize the construction of bomb shelters in people's homes, businesses, and public spaces that are fortified and supplied with weaponry and a emergency supply of food and water. Also either require or heavily incentivize the public to own and carry emergency gas masks/NBC suits and maintain emergency stockpiles in public places (Sort of like fire extinguisher's I suppose. Have them publicly marked and appearing frequently). As part of the Rage containment plan adopt a "Code Red Scenario" ordering civilians to put on their gas masks/NBC suits and fort up in whatever shelter or safe place they can. Then drop a fuck ton of chemical weapons on whatever cities or towns are experiencing infections to burn it out. With Civilians forted up in safe places the military/security forces/police adopt free fire policies with pretty much everything running around on the street's considered to be infected.

Instead of the type of large poorly defending shelters (as we see in 28 Weeks Later) have the policy for there to be a bunch of much smaller Panic room type deals which can just be fortified small rooms with a couple people in each one. Perhaps have public street's lined with numerous "Porta Potty" type concrete shelters. Also obviously homes and businesses will either naturally or be encouraged to adopt much stronger doors and windows capable of being successfully quickly blocked or reinforcing. Might not stop a huge horde indefinitely but it will slow them down and make it so that each new infection takes much longer.

You'll definitely have severe collateral and civilian damage but I think most countries will consider that preferable to going the same way Britain did in TL.
The rest of the world will become even more paranoid than it already was after 9/11. The one good point to this siege mentality is that public health would be vastly improved.
 
The rest of the world will become even more paranoid than it already was after 9/11. The one good point to this siege mentality is that public health would be vastly improved.
Worldwide siege mentality. Things like international trade and travel will be restricted and watched much more tightly. Things like border fortifications and fortifications around towns and cities will become the norm. Conscription into the armed forces or at least massive mandatory enlisting in part time armed militia/paramilitary groups of various types will become the norm in almost every country. Much higher defense spending everywhere.

The restrictions on global trade and travel will combined with the almost instant loss of the UK (And London as a banking and financial center) will combined with things like much higher defense spending mean you're probably looking at at least a great depression 2.0
 
I just realized that at the POD of the outbreak (first week of May 2002), the U.S. and the Philippines were having the largest Balikatan exercises. One of these was unfortunate incident in which an F-5 of the Philippine Air Force crashed, killing the pilot and causing the remaining Cold War-era fleet to be retired.

So as the outbreak in the UK occurs while these exercises are ongoing with the AFP and the U.S. Marines, I would like to think some of the PH-US exercises would include how to respond to a rage outbreak.

Photos from Balikatan 2002/2003:
 
One thing that the Rage outbreak will contribute to--an increase in gun ownership in the US...

And that's all I'll say about that...
 

chankljp

Donor
One thing that the Rage outbreak will contribute to--an increase in gun ownership in the US...

And that's all I'll say about that...
I can totally see gun rights advocates in the US saying something along the lines of: 'If people were allowed to privately own guns in the UK, the Rage outbreak could have been easily nipped in the bud by having just a SINGLE security guard at the Cambridge lab being armed!'

I was reminded of post I once saw on another forum that I will be quoting, it is not related to "28 Days Later", but I do think that it applies to the situation perfectly:

'The primary industry's in the US around this time would most likely be guns, bulletproof bibles, and of course SUV's. Think of it as the constant cycle of American preparation after disasters. After Katrina everybody in Texas bought canned food and flood insurance, after 9-11 we bought Gas Masks and Duct Tape, after Obama got elected everyone has been buying all the guns and ammunition they can find. To this day a large percentage of Americans are still buying all this crap. The point is that when the American people are in a constant state of distress, they take capitalism by the arm and spend money on a way to alleviate their nerves. [...]If you do not know what lengths the American people will go to for the safety of their family and property...'

In the case of the 28 Days Later universe, the United States would have just witnessed helplessly on TV a close ally that the country has close cultural, political, and economic ties to literally getting almost wiped out within a single month, a country that many people would have either personally visited, knew someone from, or is at least somewhat intimately familiar with. I fully expect not just gun ownership, but full-scale zombie apocalypse style doomsdays prepping will be in fashion for at least until the mid-2010s.
 
I can totally see gun rights advocates in the US saying something along the lines of: 'If people were allowed to privately own guns in the UK, the Rage outbreak could have been easily nipped in the bud by having just a SINGLE security guard at the Cambridge lab being armed!'

I was reminded of post I once saw on another forum that I will be quoting, it is not related to "28 Days Later", but I do think that it applies to the situation perfectly:

'The primary industry's in the US around this time would most likely be guns, bulletproof bibles, and of course SUV's. Think of it as the constant cycle of American preparation after disasters. After Katrina everybody in Texas bought canned food and flood insurance, after 9-11 we bought Gas Masks and Duct Tape, after Obama got elected everyone has been buying all the guns and ammunition they can find. To this day a large percentage of Americans are still buying all this crap. The point is that when the American people are in a constant state of distress, they take capitalism by the arm and spend money on a way to alleviate their nerves. [...]If you do not know what lengths the American people will go to for the safety of their family and property...'

In the case of the 28 Days Later universe, the United States would have just witnessed helplessly on TV a close ally that the country has close cultural, political, and economic ties to literally getting almost wiped out within a single month, a country that many people would have either personally visited, knew someone from, or is at least somewhat intimately familiar with. I fully expect not just gun ownership, but full-scale zombie apocalypse style doomsdays prepping will be in fashion for at least until the mid-2010s.

You're being way too limited. Gun laws will be incredibly relaxed in pretty much every nation. We're talking at least say Texas rules. It might actually become mandatory in some countries. Things like say marksmanship training and fire arm training might be mandatory in a lot of middle schools, high schools. and colleges.

Also very very likely are the formation of mandatory part time militia's for everyone between say 16 and 60. Everyone has to undergo at least a couple days of basic training, have a firearm ready, and do a certain amount of drill and patrol work per week. That will be incredibly common in a lot of countries.

Things like preparedness training/drills will also become mandatory in a lot of countries. Many will require people to receive some training with and carry gas masks and NBC suits at all times. Gas Masks, NBC suits, and the anti nerve agent syringes will also probably be regularly positioned in highly visible public areas (Think Fire Extinguishers). Building codes in many countries will become stricter and focused on defense. It will most likely become mandatory for new homes and apartment buildings to include some sort of basic panic room or rooms depending on it's size.

It's a completely different world.
 
I fully expect not just gun ownership, but full-scale zombie apocalypse style doomsdays prepping will be in fashion for at least until the mid-2010s.
Depending on exactly what happens after the outbreak, prepping could stay in vogue up until the present day. The Fall of Britain would mean a global recession worse than 2009, so that would only contribute to the general feeling of paranoia. There would probably be religious revivals as well for good measure.
 
Depending on exactly what happens after the outbreak, prepping could stay in vogue up until the present day. The Fall of Britain would mean a global recession worse than 2009, so that would only contribute to the general feeling of paranoia. There would probably be religious revivals as well for good measure.
Safe to say the 2008 economic recession happens earlier by 6 years. Britain taken out of the picture is basically like the Fall of Rome but in contemporary times.
 
The loss of the UK is an even bigger when you think this is not a protracted shut down like otl COVID, it’s almost a switch on/off over the course of 4 weeks, there is no time for the Markets, trade routes, airlines to prepare.

Europe has a massive refugee crisis, trading data is locked up, stuff is not getting moved around the world. It’s an Armageddon for world trade worse than a nuke on New York or London.

It’s one of the reasons I do not like the sequel and European outbreak. The fall of the UK alone is worth more exploration not just spreading more horror.
 
It’s one of the reasons I do not like the sequel and European outbreak. The fall of the UK alone is worth more exploration not just spreading more horror.
Honestly, I've just decided to ignore the sequel altogether.

I mean, there's only two Terminator films and three Indiana Jones films, after all.
 
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