Consider that the racial tensions that were involved, consider things can get very ugly against Asian-Americans, who will be blamed for the virus, Latino/ Chicano for allegedly spreading the virus, and African-Americans for being part of a "New World Order"..
Of course my kind has to get the short(est) end of the stick(I'm a black teen).
Since Solanum was dubbed as the "African Rabies" since it was first publicly known in South Africa, we might see hate mobs attack those areas. The Solanum virus originated from China but the CCP covered it up.
and don't forget the Anti-Semites who will say "This virus is part of a Jewish Plot"
Especially the alt-right and trailer park militias.
 
I'm not entirely sure if I'd survive. I would have been twelve years old when the Great Panic started. Abilene (Texas, not Kansas) is a smaller city, and there's an Air Force base nearby, so my family might have lasted long enough to be evacuated. It depends on when the virus reached West Texas.
 
I'm not entirely sure if I'd survive. I would have been twelve years old when the Great Panic started. Abilene (Texas, not Kansas) is a smaller city, and there's an Air Force base nearby, so my family might have lasted long enough to be evacuated. It depends on when the virus reached West Texas.
Texas may have been breached but I'm sure the gun owners there would have made sure the zombies pay every inch. Remember there are more guns in Texas than the population of the state.
 
I have noticed three more military PODs here:
  • The F-14 Tomcat is still in service at the time when the U.S. government retreated behind the rockies (2013). In OTL, the F-14 was retired in December 2006. Since the novel was published in 2006, there was no way Max Brooks could have known that the F-14 would be retired on the same year.
  • The USS Saratoga (CV-60) is also still active by the 2010s, evident by it being the site of the Honolulu Conference. In OTL, it was decommissioned in 1994 and remained in dock in Newport, Rhode Island. Scrapping only took place in 2014 and was only completed on March 31, 2019. Perhaps here, the Sara never got decommissioned, or was recommissioned at some point just like the Iowa-class battleships in the 1980s.
  • The U.S. Army's Land Warrior goes ahead as evident it being issued to the standard soldier. Same case with the F-14 retirement wherein Max Brooks would have never known it would be cancelled in 2007 and restarted in 2008.
 
  • The USS Saratoga (CV-60) is also still active by the 2010s, evident by it being the site of the Honolulu Conference. In OTL, it was decommissioned in 1994 and remained in dock in Newport, Rhode Island. Scrapping only took place in 2014 and was only completed on March 31, 2019. Perhaps here, the Sara never got decommissioned, or was recommissioned at some point just like the Iowa-class battleships in the 1980s.
Considering the Great Panic took place in 2013, I would say that they put it out to sea then.
 
Considering the Great Panic took place in 2013, I would say that they put it out to sea then.
Or that USS Saratoga was never decommissioned to begin with. In OTL, remember the Kitty Hawk CVs still remained in service in the 2000s. With McCain as president, he probably fulfills his dream of a "stronger" U.S. Navy with more carriers.

If we go by OTL, the Sara would remain abandoned in Newport, Rhode Island.
 
I have noticed three more military PODs here:
  • The F-14 Tomcat is still in service at the time when the U.S. government retreated behind the rockies (2013). In OTL, the F-14 was retired in December 2006. Since the novel was published in 2006, there was no way Max Brooks could have known that the F-14 would be retired on the same year.
  • The USS Saratoga (CV-60) is also still active by the 2010s, evident by it being the site of the Honolulu Conference. In OTL, it was decommissioned in 1994 and remained in dock in Newport, Rhode Island. Scrapping only took place in 2014 and was only completed on March 31, 2019. Perhaps here, the Sara never got decommissioned, or was recommissioned at some point just like the Iowa-class battleships in the 1980s.
  • The U.S. Army's Land Warrior goes ahead as evident it being issued to the standard soldier. Same case with the F-14 retirement wherein Max Brooks would have never known it would be cancelled in 2007 and restarted in 2008.
US Armed Forces is a little bit more powerful than its OTL counterpart but still got wrecked by those zeks. I guess they did not created CONPLAN 8888 (I guess if it is created, it is ineffective)
 
US Armed Forces is a little bit more powerful than its OTL counterpart but still got wrecked by those zeks. I guess they did not created CONPLAN 8888 (I guess if it is created, it is ineffective)
I guess another POD here is CONPLAN 8888 is not created. In OTL, it was created in 2011 following Osama bin-Laden's death.
 
Definitely not. Now this makes me wonder before the North Koreans disappeared into those tunnels, did a big military parade occur?
I will say I always did questioned the book on how the heck did the North Koreans pull a vanishing act and leave the borders completely undefended and bare.

But it was a story about Zombies literally coming back from the dead so the bar was already set low for my suspension of disbelief.

Story wise (IMO) they definitely did have one last parade before bunkering up to doom.
 
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I will say I always did questioned the book on how the heck did the North Koreans pull a vanishing act and leave the borders completely undefended and bare.

But it was a story about Zombies literally coming back from the dead so the bar was already set low for my suspension of disbelief.

Story wise they definitely did have one last parade before bunkering up to doom.
I just reread the chapter. There was no large military parade. It was just "sudden" disappearances. First, Pyongyang got depopulated and so were the labor camps. It was just down to a few hundred humans spotted by satellites. Then a few days later, the surface of North Korea was devoid of any living humans. The North Korean border guards in the JSA went back to the bunkers, turned off the lights, and never went back out.
 
I will say I always did questioned the book on how the heck did the North Koreans pull a vanishing act and leave the borders completely undefended and bare.
One of the most baffling questions to me. That would require a ton of resources in order to do that and North Korea doesn't have enough. It makes me think that they encountered a solanum infectee during the cold war and decided to create massive bunkers to survive it (once a global outbreak occurs) and used its rivalry with RoK to cover it.
 
One of the most baffling questions to me. That would require a ton of resources in order to do that and North Korea doesn't have enough. It makes me think that they encountered a solanum infectee during the cold war and decided to create massive bunkers to survive it (once a global outbreak occurs) and used its rivalry with RoK to cover it.
That is likely. I'm thinking North Korea received data from the Soviets and the Chinese. Remember that the Soviets were able to capture the data of Operation Cherry Blossom from Unit 731 during August Storm. They then passed it on the data of the research to the PRC (evidenced by how China tried to experiment on zombies and dump it on flooded towns) and possibly the North Koreans.

Regardless, we all know communist technology from North Korea isn't the best of standards. Those rusty doors in those bunker tunnels would eventually give way to age and pressure, thus releasing 23 million zombies and ready to kick-off Z-War Two.
 
I feel like the Great Panic may have been way more complicated than the book illustrates. Like, after the journalist reveals the truth about Phalanx, there'd be this period of uncertainty. People would start noticing that cases were increasing, and start questioning health officials for answers. Perhaps a week after this uncertainty, health officials and news outlets would confirm the rumors about the Solanum virus and Phalanx's ineffectiveness. Society wouldn't erupt into rioting right away, there'd be this rising fear. People would flock to the stores for supplies, but stores would be relatively calm until lines get so long that some people rush out with carts full of stolen goods. Fights would break out inside stores over canned foods. Hospitals would be locked down as they fill up with Solanum victims. This is when the actual panic would break out, ATMs being broken open, businesses shutting down, people chucking molotovs and so on. Don't forget, the Great Panic is also the point where major urban areas are overrun. Hospitals are completely overwhelmed and hordes of zombies break out, spreading throughout the city and infecting rioters. Maybe around late July, there'd be this period where major cities (e.g. New York) are overrun.

Then comes the Battle of Yonkers.

That's my perspective, anyways. The book mainly focuses on the aftermath and recovery more than the initial panic and urban outbreaks.
 
Consider that September 2013 is a major problem, especially if you use The Last of Us (HBO-TV). Jakarta and its outbreak would certainly mess things up further...
 
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