28 Days Later - Death of a Nation
- Thread starter kspence92
- Start date
Auld Lang Syne
The predictable spread of the virus had almost led to the remnants of the government becoming complacent when plotting where to defend and where they thought the virus would strike next. It was always known the virus would spread fastest in urban areas, and that rural areas would fare best. Thats why the sudden outbreak in Scotland took the government by surprise.
It wasnt massive hoards of infected rampaging across Hadrians Wall that would spread the virus into Scotland, but rather, a single crow that had been feating upon the corpse of an infected just north of Newcastle.
Rage did not affect birds, or any non humans/non primates for that matter, but they still acted as carriers in some cases.
The crow was flying over Glasgow, Scotland exactly three weeks to the day the outbreak first began when a 10 year old boy shot at it with a BB gun, to relieve the bordom from the cesession of TV and radio broadcasting in Scotland only days previous.
The birds body tumbled as it fell from the sky, and hit a middled aged woman in the face, in what was nothing more than a freak accident. But thats all it took, one drop of the crows blood entering her mouth.
It took a few seconds for the shock of the bird hitting her to settle in, and by the time that happened, a burning sensation was tearing through her body, contorting and twisting violently as she screamed and doubled over on the pavement much to the horror of bystanders, who knew exactly what was happening.
16 seconds later she had turned and mass panic had began on Oswalt Street in Glasgow city center as hundreds of people fled the scene, dozens dying the stampede that followed.
Glasgow's armed response units and public order police were on the scene in minutes, and were doing all they could to hold back the tide of infection, but the virus spread, as it had in ever other engagement the security forces had faced since day 1.
Twenty minutes later, Tony Blair and his cabinet were informed via telephone call that the infection had somehow broken out in Glasgow, and that hundreds of people had become casualties and that law and order was desintigrating rapidly as the population of Glasgow fled in terror.
Chaos reigned in the city of some 600,000 people. Nobody had expected the infection to hit Glasgow, and certainly not so soon. All major roads were jammed with cars, vans, trucks, buses, basically anything with wheels. The deathtoll was rising constantly by the minute as the infected rampaged accross Britain's third largest city, although by then the most populous place in country after London and Birmingham were abandoned. In the chaotic and rushed attempts at evacuating Glasgow, staff at hospitals and nursing homes were forced to make an extremely difficult choice. Abandon their patients that could not be moved, or mercy kill them. Dozens of patients in Glasgow's hospitals and nursing homes were overdosed on medicines that day to prevent them from horrendous deaths at the hands of the infected.
Within eight hours, Scottish regiments of the British army and police forces from other areas of Scotland had failed to contain the outbreak, and most of Glasgow was a bloodbath, with tens of thousands dead or infected.
On the night of 24 May, with Glasgow having entirely fallen to infection only hours earlier, and the infection rapidly spreading towards Edinburgh and Fife, the government convinced NATO to allow them to flee Scotland via a Royal Air Force helicopter, allowing the no fly zone a one hour lift. They left at 11:30 PM from Edinburgh, with all remaining members of the British Cabinet aboard. They landed in Belfast, Northern Ireland soon after, where they established a new capital from where to govern what remained of the country, which by then was not much. The remaining members of the Royal Family holding out in Balmoral Castle evacuated to Canada an hour or so later, a few chose live in Belfast and some went to Australia.
Although broadcasting had ceased, some newspapers continued to print, and a very few landlines remained operational in some areas. Word got around quick that the government had abandoned the country, and it became clear that all hope was lost for Great Britain.
The next day, the power grid in Scotland failed for one last time, and did not come back on, and water supplies in most of southern and central Scotland were failing also. Society was crumbling, piece by piece.
Over the next few days, the breakdown in communications ruined any chance that the remaining military and police forces had in regaining control, or even holding onto what they had, facing both the increasing numbers of infected, as well as dwindling stocks of food, medical supplies and ammuntion, as well as accomodation for the thousands of refugees from England and southern and central Scotland.
The Forth Road and Rail Bridges over the River Forth were destroyed by retreating remnants of the Black Watch regiment as they withdrew from Edinburgh, as the city and its famous castle's defences crumbled. The decision to demolish the bridges bought a few hours, maybe a day, but the end still came for the Scottish nation as Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Dundee, and then Perth, Fort William and Aberdeen all were overwhelmed by the infected.
28 days after the outbreak, almost all of Great Britain had been infected or abandoned, although some areas in the Scottish Highlands survived relatively intact due to their georgraphic isolation. At least 14,000 people survived in isolated towns and villages in the north.
As of 2 June 2002, four weeks after the outbreak, the United Kingdom of Great Britain effectively ceased to exist as a nationstate. With the exception of Northern Ireland and some islands around the mainland, the UK was no more.
After being coronated in Belfast on 3 June 2002, King Charles III, formerly Charles, Prince of Wales, made a heartfelt speech that was broadcast around the world and into refugee camps all over Europe housing British refugees. He appealed to the surviving citizens to stand united in grief, and in strength, and assured Britons and they would once again return home, once the scourge had been swept away.
It wasnt massive hoards of infected rampaging across Hadrians Wall that would spread the virus into Scotland, but rather, a single crow that had been feating upon the corpse of an infected just north of Newcastle.
Rage did not affect birds, or any non humans/non primates for that matter, but they still acted as carriers in some cases.
The crow was flying over Glasgow, Scotland exactly three weeks to the day the outbreak first began when a 10 year old boy shot at it with a BB gun, to relieve the bordom from the cesession of TV and radio broadcasting in Scotland only days previous.
The birds body tumbled as it fell from the sky, and hit a middled aged woman in the face, in what was nothing more than a freak accident. But thats all it took, one drop of the crows blood entering her mouth.
It took a few seconds for the shock of the bird hitting her to settle in, and by the time that happened, a burning sensation was tearing through her body, contorting and twisting violently as she screamed and doubled over on the pavement much to the horror of bystanders, who knew exactly what was happening.
16 seconds later she had turned and mass panic had began on Oswalt Street in Glasgow city center as hundreds of people fled the scene, dozens dying the stampede that followed.
Glasgow's armed response units and public order police were on the scene in minutes, and were doing all they could to hold back the tide of infection, but the virus spread, as it had in ever other engagement the security forces had faced since day 1.
Twenty minutes later, Tony Blair and his cabinet were informed via telephone call that the infection had somehow broken out in Glasgow, and that hundreds of people had become casualties and that law and order was desintigrating rapidly as the population of Glasgow fled in terror.
Chaos reigned in the city of some 600,000 people. Nobody had expected the infection to hit Glasgow, and certainly not so soon. All major roads were jammed with cars, vans, trucks, buses, basically anything with wheels. The deathtoll was rising constantly by the minute as the infected rampaged accross Britain's third largest city, although by then the most populous place in country after London and Birmingham were abandoned. In the chaotic and rushed attempts at evacuating Glasgow, staff at hospitals and nursing homes were forced to make an extremely difficult choice. Abandon their patients that could not be moved, or mercy kill them. Dozens of patients in Glasgow's hospitals and nursing homes were overdosed on medicines that day to prevent them from horrendous deaths at the hands of the infected.
Within eight hours, Scottish regiments of the British army and police forces from other areas of Scotland had failed to contain the outbreak, and most of Glasgow was a bloodbath, with tens of thousands dead or infected.
On the night of 24 May, with Glasgow having entirely fallen to infection only hours earlier, and the infection rapidly spreading towards Edinburgh and Fife, the government convinced NATO to allow them to flee Scotland via a Royal Air Force helicopter, allowing the no fly zone a one hour lift. They left at 11:30 PM from Edinburgh, with all remaining members of the British Cabinet aboard. They landed in Belfast, Northern Ireland soon after, where they established a new capital from where to govern what remained of the country, which by then was not much. The remaining members of the Royal Family holding out in Balmoral Castle evacuated to Canada an hour or so later, a few chose live in Belfast and some went to Australia.
Although broadcasting had ceased, some newspapers continued to print, and a very few landlines remained operational in some areas. Word got around quick that the government had abandoned the country, and it became clear that all hope was lost for Great Britain.
The next day, the power grid in Scotland failed for one last time, and did not come back on, and water supplies in most of southern and central Scotland were failing also. Society was crumbling, piece by piece.
Over the next few days, the breakdown in communications ruined any chance that the remaining military and police forces had in regaining control, or even holding onto what they had, facing both the increasing numbers of infected, as well as dwindling stocks of food, medical supplies and ammuntion, as well as accomodation for the thousands of refugees from England and southern and central Scotland.
The Forth Road and Rail Bridges over the River Forth were destroyed by retreating remnants of the Black Watch regiment as they withdrew from Edinburgh, as the city and its famous castle's defences crumbled. The decision to demolish the bridges bought a few hours, maybe a day, but the end still came for the Scottish nation as Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Dundee, and then Perth, Fort William and Aberdeen all were overwhelmed by the infected.
28 days after the outbreak, almost all of Great Britain had been infected or abandoned, although some areas in the Scottish Highlands survived relatively intact due to their georgraphic isolation. At least 14,000 people survived in isolated towns and villages in the north.
As of 2 June 2002, four weeks after the outbreak, the United Kingdom of Great Britain effectively ceased to exist as a nationstate. With the exception of Northern Ireland and some islands around the mainland, the UK was no more.
After being coronated in Belfast on 3 June 2002, King Charles III, formerly Charles, Prince of Wales, made a heartfelt speech that was broadcast around the world and into refugee camps all over Europe housing British refugees. He appealed to the surviving citizens to stand united in grief, and in strength, and assured Britons and they would once again return home, once the scourge had been swept away.
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JSmith
Banned
How many survived in the South like charcters in the two movies? REALLY looking forward to the peroid between 28 Days and 28 Weeks.
JSmith
Banned
Linky to a thread where you can discuss where you were during the Rage years.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=152473
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=152473
In the far south of England, around 10 to 15,000 people survived in a giant refugee camp in the Dartmore National Park, although hundreds would die of starvation and disease in the weeks before NATO arrived. Most people in south and central England would have either been killed or have fled due to the higher population density, places such as Northern England, the Scottish Highlands and North Wales as well as the various small islands around the UK would host thousands of survivors.
Thats something im not sure about, as there is not really much, if any mention of Scotland in the movies at all, im just assuming that less densely populated areas will be able to weather the outbreak slightly better.
I know in the comics there are groups of survivors in the Highlands, as far north as Inverness.
Next update will focus on the refugee situation in Europe and political situation arising in Northern Ireland between loyalists and republicans as the troubles threaten to reignite.
Attempts to bringing Britains nuclear power plants under control to prevent another Chernobyl style incident.
The rescue of a certain trio of survivors who had quite a story to tell...
And of course NATO clear up of the mainland and plans eventual resettlement of London and other areas.
Attempts to bringing Britains nuclear power plants under control to prevent another Chernobyl style incident.
The rescue of a certain trio of survivors who had quite a story to tell...
And of course NATO clear up of the mainland and plans eventual resettlement of London and other areas.
I am a Biology Enthusiast, I can tell you that there is nothing I know that can do it, I have heard Rabies and Ebola suggested, but I believe nothing could cause a hoard of zombies especially with 34 second incubation period, Ebola is bad but the things is you would turn into a pile of rotting flesh quickly.
JSmith
Banned
Great-just what I was hoping for
Im sure you will deal with more about the international situation as well?One would think in such a time of crisis old hatreds could be put aside for the greater good. Yeah, look at history and see how many times _that_ happened...
Thanks for the maps. Many of the names are familiar but you really need a map to see what's going on if you're not familiar with the geography.
Devastation
The exact death toll caused by the epidemic will most likely never be known, but the UN's best estimates have a deathtoll of 54 million people. Only three million had escaped Britain.
The world was in a state of shock as the events transpired, but as the broadcasts from the UK ceased and contact with the island lost, news stories turned to other things, such as the economic downturn in Europe, which was threatening to spread to the US and Asia.
Charities were set up in many countries to help those refugee's who had managed to get out, with donations of money, as well as blankets, bottled water and clothes flooding into refugee camps from generous citizens.
The massive influx of refugee's into Northern Ireland, mainly from Scotland and North West England, had placed strain on Northern Ireland's resources, and caused some resentment amongst die hard nationalists, who saw it as an attempted colonisation of Ireland. There were a few protests and riots in Belfast and Portadown, although nobody was killed and only some minor injuries. A car bomb was defused outside the Bangor refugee camp before it could explode.
For the most part, Northern Ireland, including a large number of nationalists who wanted reunification with the Irish Republic, were sympatheic to the plight of the refugees, with many welcoming them into their homes when the camps began overflowing.
The economic situation in Northern Ireland was also rather grim, with the British pound having become near worthless by the second week of the epidemic, many shops and indivduals unoffically began using the Euro that their southern neighbour was using.
Mainland had gone dark. Communications had entirely ceased, and satelite imagery showed nothing but miles and miles of desolate landscape, decaying bodies, crashed and abandoned vehicles and deserted towns and cities. The island of Great Britain, had lost the "Great" part of the title.
The number of survivors on the island after the government fled and the last military remants in Scotland were overrun fell significantly, not just due to the infected, but as groups of survivors fought amongst themselves for resourses, such as fuel, food, clean water and basic medical supplies.
Six weeks after the outbreak started, there were an estimated 25,000 survivors all around the UK, with thousands more survivors having died in the previous couple of weeks from starvation and disease, as well as the infected.
Worried about nuclear meltdown at Britians plants, several special forces teams, mostly French and American, were dispatched by helicopter to secure the UK's ten nuclear power plants, four of which had not been shut down as the staff had abandoned the facilities in the early days during the mass panic.
The special ops teams escorted nuclear specialists who shut down the plants safley. The teams remained behind to guard the plants from any would be infliltators who would want to sneak into the UK and steal the materials for selling on the black market or building terrorists weapons with.
With all of the UK's plants shut down, the world, and in particular Britains neighbours, were able to breath a sigh of relief.
Most of the teams did not encounter the infected and the few that did noticed that most of the infected individuals were dying from starvation, and unable to even attack, leading to specualtion the infected did not eat their victims.
By the end of week 6, most of the infected were dead or dying from starvation or exposure, or in some cases blood loss due to vomiting blood.
NATO began to draw up plans for mopping up some areas of the UK and reestablishing order. After that, the refugee crisis across Europe would be alleviated by repatriating thousands of refugee's.
Sites included for resettlement were as follows :
.Folkstone, England
.Dover, England
.London, England
.Portsmouth, England
.St Andrews, Scotland
.Fort William, Scotland
.Angelsey, Wales
Folkstone, Dover and Portsmouth were chosen for their proximity to mainland Europe, with Fort William and St Andews chosen for their relatively small size allowing for easier clearing up operations. Angelsey was chosen as it would be easy for repatriation of Welsh refugees in Ireland.
London was chosen as a purely symbolic gesture, to show the British people that their nation could rise again.
The world was in a state of shock as the events transpired, but as the broadcasts from the UK ceased and contact with the island lost, news stories turned to other things, such as the economic downturn in Europe, which was threatening to spread to the US and Asia.
Charities were set up in many countries to help those refugee's who had managed to get out, with donations of money, as well as blankets, bottled water and clothes flooding into refugee camps from generous citizens.
The massive influx of refugee's into Northern Ireland, mainly from Scotland and North West England, had placed strain on Northern Ireland's resources, and caused some resentment amongst die hard nationalists, who saw it as an attempted colonisation of Ireland. There were a few protests and riots in Belfast and Portadown, although nobody was killed and only some minor injuries. A car bomb was defused outside the Bangor refugee camp before it could explode.
For the most part, Northern Ireland, including a large number of nationalists who wanted reunification with the Irish Republic, were sympatheic to the plight of the refugees, with many welcoming them into their homes when the camps began overflowing.
The economic situation in Northern Ireland was also rather grim, with the British pound having become near worthless by the second week of the epidemic, many shops and indivduals unoffically began using the Euro that their southern neighbour was using.
Mainland had gone dark. Communications had entirely ceased, and satelite imagery showed nothing but miles and miles of desolate landscape, decaying bodies, crashed and abandoned vehicles and deserted towns and cities. The island of Great Britain, had lost the "Great" part of the title.
The number of survivors on the island after the government fled and the last military remants in Scotland were overrun fell significantly, not just due to the infected, but as groups of survivors fought amongst themselves for resourses, such as fuel, food, clean water and basic medical supplies.
Six weeks after the outbreak started, there were an estimated 25,000 survivors all around the UK, with thousands more survivors having died in the previous couple of weeks from starvation and disease, as well as the infected.
Worried about nuclear meltdown at Britians plants, several special forces teams, mostly French and American, were dispatched by helicopter to secure the UK's ten nuclear power plants, four of which had not been shut down as the staff had abandoned the facilities in the early days during the mass panic.
The special ops teams escorted nuclear specialists who shut down the plants safley. The teams remained behind to guard the plants from any would be infliltators who would want to sneak into the UK and steal the materials for selling on the black market or building terrorists weapons with.
With all of the UK's plants shut down, the world, and in particular Britains neighbours, were able to breath a sigh of relief.
Most of the teams did not encounter the infected and the few that did noticed that most of the infected individuals were dying from starvation, and unable to even attack, leading to specualtion the infected did not eat their victims.
By the end of week 6, most of the infected were dead or dying from starvation or exposure, or in some cases blood loss due to vomiting blood.
NATO began to draw up plans for mopping up some areas of the UK and reestablishing order. After that, the refugee crisis across Europe would be alleviated by repatriating thousands of refugee's.
Sites included for resettlement were as follows :
.Folkstone, England
.Dover, England
.London, England
.Portsmouth, England
.St Andrews, Scotland
.Fort William, Scotland
.Angelsey, Wales
Folkstone, Dover and Portsmouth were chosen for their proximity to mainland Europe, with Fort William and St Andews chosen for their relatively small size allowing for easier clearing up operations. Angelsey was chosen as it would be easy for repatriation of Welsh refugees in Ireland.
London was chosen as a purely symbolic gesture, to show the British people that their nation could rise again.
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Aftermath
When Tony Blair resigned his from the office of Prime Minister on 15 June, he did so a near broken man, and was bordering on alchoholism, only his wife and kids kept him from completley going off the rails.
Riddled with guilt for failing to prevent the destruction of his nation, the pressure was too much, and upon his resignation, handed power over to Chanceller of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. After a period of severe depression, Blair would eventually pull himself out of it and write his memoirs in 2005.
The British Government, or what remained of it, came under significant influence from both the governments of the Republic of Ireland, and the United States, and although puppet government would be an extreme term, it wasnt far from it either, and the UK government was willing to comply, what else could they do ? The British army was almost non existant except a battalion of soldiers in Northern Ireland and a companies worth in the Isle of Wight and Isle of Man respectively along with a small hold out at Fort George in Scotland. The RAF had survived to a degree by flying some of its plane to friendly countries, as was the case with some Royal Navy ships, but most of those had run dry of fuel, or their crews had deserted to go and find surviving family members.
About eight weeks after the outbreak, three survivors were found by a patrolling Finnish Air Force jet north west of Manchester, and shortly after picked up by helicopter and taken to a German refugee camp. There names, Jim, Selena and Hannah, the first survivors that had been found for over two weeks.
Having been in temperary quarantine and been given a good wash, and a decent meal, they were then questioned as to their ordeal. They relayed the events about what happened at the mansion near Manchester, and death of the soldiers.
What happened next may have come as a shock, as Jim was arrested by the authorities on suspicion of murder, the British embassy in Berlin argued that since British authorites still survived, even to a small degree, that all laws in the UK pre infection must still be upheld.
But as their ordeal made it to the newspapers, and subsequently headlines around the world, pressure on both the British and German authorities resulted in all three being freed to go, and subsequently get housed in Hamburg, where Jim got work as a builder, Selena as a chemist and Hannah found new friends and a boyfriend at the British Refugee School.
The Irish Times
4 July 2002
Dublin man wakes from coma
in London hospital
AFTER outbreak .
Many tragic things have occurred in what was once Great Britain in the past weeks, but what could be more tragic than waking up in a deserted hospital after coming out of a coma, to discover that the entire city of London is abandoned and that civilisation as you know it has been destroyed ?
Thats what happend with Jim McDougal from Dublin, who had been living in London for the past eight years and had suffered a serious injury after a car accident the day before the outbreak, and woke up 28 days later, to a city abandoned to the infected.
Its been reported that Fox corporation are considering turning the story of Jim and two other survivors he met into a movie titled "28 Days Later", something that has been strongly criticised as "ill timed and insensitive" by survivor communities and the British government alike.
Full story on page 1 and 2
Riddled with guilt for failing to prevent the destruction of his nation, the pressure was too much, and upon his resignation, handed power over to Chanceller of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. After a period of severe depression, Blair would eventually pull himself out of it and write his memoirs in 2005.
The British Government, or what remained of it, came under significant influence from both the governments of the Republic of Ireland, and the United States, and although puppet government would be an extreme term, it wasnt far from it either, and the UK government was willing to comply, what else could they do ? The British army was almost non existant except a battalion of soldiers in Northern Ireland and a companies worth in the Isle of Wight and Isle of Man respectively along with a small hold out at Fort George in Scotland. The RAF had survived to a degree by flying some of its plane to friendly countries, as was the case with some Royal Navy ships, but most of those had run dry of fuel, or their crews had deserted to go and find surviving family members.
About eight weeks after the outbreak, three survivors were found by a patrolling Finnish Air Force jet north west of Manchester, and shortly after picked up by helicopter and taken to a German refugee camp. There names, Jim, Selena and Hannah, the first survivors that had been found for over two weeks.
Having been in temperary quarantine and been given a good wash, and a decent meal, they were then questioned as to their ordeal. They relayed the events about what happened at the mansion near Manchester, and death of the soldiers.
What happened next may have come as a shock, as Jim was arrested by the authorities on suspicion of murder, the British embassy in Berlin argued that since British authorites still survived, even to a small degree, that all laws in the UK pre infection must still be upheld.
But as their ordeal made it to the newspapers, and subsequently headlines around the world, pressure on both the British and German authorities resulted in all three being freed to go, and subsequently get housed in Hamburg, where Jim got work as a builder, Selena as a chemist and Hannah found new friends and a boyfriend at the British Refugee School.
The Irish Times
4 July 2002
Dublin man wakes from coma
in London hospital
AFTER outbreak .
Many tragic things have occurred in what was once Great Britain in the past weeks, but what could be more tragic than waking up in a deserted hospital after coming out of a coma, to discover that the entire city of London is abandoned and that civilisation as you know it has been destroyed ?
Thats what happend with Jim McDougal from Dublin, who had been living in London for the past eight years and had suffered a serious injury after a car accident the day before the outbreak, and woke up 28 days later, to a city abandoned to the infected.
Its been reported that Fox corporation are considering turning the story of Jim and two other survivors he met into a movie titled "28 Days Later", something that has been strongly criticised as "ill timed and insensitive" by survivor communities and the British government alike.
Full story on page 1 and 2
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One gets the impression that the procecution of Jim was more than a little politically movtivated. Good to hear he was vindicated and that all three did well in Germany. And of course one wonders if a post-mortem courtmartial for the Major occurred...
Eagerly looking forward to more (depressing as it is).
Eagerly looking forward to more (depressing as it is).