BACKGROUND

It began in January, 2020. A new virus from Asia, called by the more racist among us the 'Kung Flue'. The rest of the world knew it as Covid-19. Regardless of what it was called, this new virus was air born, highly contagious and very, very deadly.

By February it was serious, with thousands around the world dying daily. By March that number was in the hundreds of thousands, and rising steadily, forcing a worldwide 'Lockdown'.

Everything closed except for the absolute essentials: food stores, police stations and hospitals. People stayed at home glued to their TV's, computers and Smart Phones --- and what they saw was the 'darker side' of humanity beginning to show its ugly face.

People panicked, began hoarding food, water, guns and, of all things, toilet paper! Tempers flared and riots broke out. Some people took to the streets, some people took up arms and everywhere The Virus raged, spreading like an invisible cloud of death that encompassed the entire globe.

Different governments tried different things; rules about 'social distancing', sizes of gatherings and the necessity to wear a medical mask in public. Some of these things worked, and some didn't. Some leaders 'rose to the occasion' and some sadly did not. Some people thought it all a 'hoax' or 'fake news', propagated from the radical 'other side'. The Right blamed the Left, the Left blamed the Right, and The Virus still raged on, killing everyone it could --- especially the poor, the old and the sick.

By April of 2020 the hospitals were over-run and portable morgues were needed in all major cities of the world. Mass graves were dug and the bodies bulldozed in, sprinkled with lime and hasty prayers, then quickly covered up.

By Summer the supply lines of food and other necessities broke down completely. The cargo ships stayed in port, the eighteen wheelers no longer rolled and the shelves in stores once full were now empty --- and all over the globe people began to starve.

The 'free food lines' of the Spring faded away with the falling of the Autumn leaves and by the coming of the first snow the world had lost over a hundred million souls. By the time New Years rolled around that number was closing in on a billion.

Some countries panicked, some passed stricter laws --- and some sought to settle old scores. Insults were hurled, threats were made, tempers rose and some missiles were launched. Suddenly Chaos ruled the world and through it all Covid- and its variant offsprings still marched merrily along, picking up speed as they went!

By the middle of 2021 all modern communications, governments and institutions had failed. Civil wars had broken out all over, local warlords replaced elected officials and the remnants of armies turned on the ones they had sworn to protect.

By the beginning of 2022 the world had lost over half its population and had entered a 'Modern Dark Age'; a time where 'might made right' and the strong prayed on the weak.

By 2023 the shocked, scattered survivors --- somewhere between 20 and 30 per-cent of the world's pre-Covid population --- were living in a strange mixture of the long gone 'Wild West' and the bizarre, dystopian world of 'Mad Max'. (Which might be 'kind of fun' to fanaticize about if you are young, self-absorbed and spend a lot of time playing video-games in your mom's basement --- but it's another thing altogether to actually 'live it'!)

Most big cities were burnt out places of atrocities and sudden death and the suburbs surrounding them were not much better. Only out in the country did people stand a chance to truly survive. Only in the small towns, villages, farms and ranches did people manage to hold on to some remnants of 'civilized behaviour'.

As one crusty old farmer told the few friends she still had left alive: "Electricity n' flush toilets may be dead and gone, but by God a person can still act neighbourly!"

This is a tale about a number of good people who tried to do just that --- though, as you can guess, it was somewhat of an 'uphill battle'.

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