Writing Apocalypse and Survival
Page 10
— JOHN RUSSO, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
There’s lots of scene setting here to drive home the rural isolation. We know there won’t be any help coming when something goes wrong… Anyway, after some sibling drama, Johnny and Barbara lay their wreath, then the villain appears… the first of many, only Johnny and Barbara don’t recognize the danger they’re in.
In the distance, a strange moving shadow appeared, almost as a huddled figure moving among the graves.
Johnny and Barbara dismiss the “strange moving shadow” as the caretaker, and go on arguing. About the past. About the present. And soon, none of it matters, because the man is there, and he’s not the caretaker at all. He’s a walking corpse!
And suddenly, the man grabbed Barbara around the throat and was choking her and ripping at her clothes.
Johnny comes to his sister’s defense, but only succeeds in getting himself killed. Barbara runs off in a panic, pursued by the shambling zombie. She locks herself in an isolated farmhouse that becomes surrounded by the living dead!
Although Barbara doesn’t die, she does descend into a near useless, semi-catatonic state. The real hero, Ben, shows up and sets about trying to save them both. It’s up to him to explain what’s going on and the nature of the enemy—as well as how to destroy them. That’s important.
Johnny and Barbara are victims. Victims don’t understand what’s going on at first, and that’s as it should be. This sets the stage for the hero to come in and look like he knows what’s going on and what to do.
If you’d like to study more on the subject of throwaway victims, I recommend reading the Novelist’s Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes by Raymond Obstfeld (chapter 10).
WHAT DO THEY KNOW BEFORE THE ATTACK?
In a pre-apocalypse situation, the characters will have no information and therefore no idea how to deal with that first zombie. Make the reader feel the character's fear, confusion, and anger. Make the first zombie attack not so much about physical violence, but emotional violence.
The first attack should completely terrify the character, ripping them out of their comfort zone and providing a taste of the horror to come. With later attacks, you can let the gut-ripping begin. Remember, if you go over-the-top too early, you have nowhere to go later. Don't set yourself up for failure. Deliver the gore the fans expect, but delay gratification as long as possible. That makes the gore more special, more horrifying than if you just serve it up as an “all you can eat” buffet.
During the apocalypse, the characters will have some information, but still may not believe the dead are coming back to life or that the government won't somehow save the day. They are still tied to the old ways of thinking, to their old lives. They must wrestle with that even as they struggle to adapt to the rapidly changing (and worsening) situation. They must learn the old rules don't apply anymore, and let that be as painful a lesson as possible.
Even in a post-apocalypse world, don't underestimate the power of a good scare. Characters used to dealing with zombies can still be surprised by encountering them in an unexpected situation. They can still be terrified, you just have to try harder.
QUICK ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE PLOT IDEAS
Stumped? Here's some ideas to get your juices flowing:
✓ A mysterious illness falls over a rural town; the people who die from the virus don't turn into zombies, but the ones who got sick and survived do!
✓ A conspiracy-loving hero begins to see signs of the zombie apocalypse and a government cover-up. He tries to warn the world but no one listens.
✓ Government troops quarantine a town infected with the zombie virus. They claim they are there to help, but they are really conducting a secret weapons test.
✓ Bodies are found partially eaten, but no one believes the town drunk that a “zombie” did it.
✓ Soldiers lost in the desert are stalked by zombies created by a chemical weapons.
✓ A mad scientist devises an experiment to bring his dead friend/family/lover back to life. An unexpected side effect is the reanimated person is an asymptomatic carrier of the zombie virus.
✓ The military reanimates the dead as super-soldier bio-weapons. They retain their memories and organize an escape that spreads the infection.
✓ A human lures a zombie horde to seek revenge on the group that kicked him out of his own shelter.
✓ Heirs invited to the reading of a will at a secluded country estate are slowly dying. A greedy murderer wants the fortune all for himself, but every person he kills becomes a zombie. Think Agatha Christie's 10 Little Indians (1943) meets Burial Ground (1981).
As you can see, there are all kinds of ways to personalize your apocalypse story. Taking hit films or genres and mixing them with zombies is a good way to do it. That's where “zom-rom-coms” like Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) came from. Even Star Wars novels jumped on the zombie train with Joe Schreiber's Death Troopers and Red Harvest. See? Zombies can boldly go anywhere you want.
Another idea to elevate your story and make it “high concept” in Hollywood terms is to do something new and different with zombies. A recent example is Cooties (2014), which takes place in an elementary school where only the kids turn into zombies. Zombie children are rare but not new. It's the school setting that makes it different. Other zombie kid flicks include Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) and its 2012 remake, Come Out and Play, as well as The Children (1980), Stephen King's Pet Sematary (1989), and Wicked Little Things (2006).
THE FOREIGN ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Almost every zombie movie has been set in the US or UK. But what would the apocalypse look like in a different country, specifically in the early stages?
In What We Become (2015), we see how Denmark falls. The Grapes of Death (1978) and The Night Eats the World (2018) show zombies in France. Burial Ground (1981) takes place in Italy at an Etruscan villa and adjacent monastery.
In The Dead (2010), we see how the virus affects Africa. And in the sequel, The Dead 2 (2013), we watch it spread across India, which is also the backdrop for Go Goa Gone (2013). Train to Busan (2016) and its animated prequel, Seoul Station (2016), show a fast-moving zombie apocalypse in Korea. Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay (1991), Junk (2000), Versus (2000), and Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies (2001) all have wildly different takes on zombies in Japan.
Older films like Zombi 2 (aka Zombie, 1979) show flesh-eating zombies on a Caribbean island, while Zombi 3 (1988) and Zombies: The Beginning (2007) take place in the Philippines. The jungles of Papua, New Guinea are the location of Hell of the Living Dead (1980, aka Night of the Zombies, Zombie Creeping Flesh).
Exotic locations can add a fun flavor to your story, making even simple interactions complicated if your characters are unfamiliar with the local customs, language, and area.
THE EARLY OR CONTAINED APOCALYPSE
Not every zombie story has to be about a major apocalypse, or at least not a world-wide one. 28 Days Later (2002) and its sequel, 28 Weeks Later (2007), initially only had their “Rage” virus affect the UK. I know some horror fans might want to correct me here that the “Infected” from these films are still alive, not undead. And you're right, but they look and act like zombies, so that's good enough for me.
You can narrow down the affected area of your apocalypse as much as you want, from the world to a country, a state or province, a city, a small town, even a rural area. Look to films like The Andromeda Strain (1971), The Crazies (1973/2010), Outbreak (1995), [REC] (2007), Quarantine (2008), What We Become (2015), and series like The Strain (TV, 2014-2017) and Cordon (TV, 2016) for examples of how federal, state, and local government deal with a small-scale quarantine situation. Everything they do will be focused on containment, while those trapped inside will be focused on breaking out before they get infected too.
The plot templates still apply, but you now have a bit more wiggle room. Forces of law and order still exist. You even have a chance for a happy ending, if that's what yo
u desire. Whatever caused the outbreak could still come back, as it did in 28 Weeks Later, when the UK quarantine was lifted and they tried to rebuild the shattered country. This led to new infections and this time, the Rage virus leapt past the borders to infect other countries.
NON-APOCALYPSE ZOMBIE PLOTS
Most of the ideas in this book center on traditional flesh-eating zombie plots in a contemporary setting with an accompanying apocalypse of one magnitude or another. But what if that's not the story you want to tell? What if you're using Voodoo or Demonic Zombies? What if they don't have an infectious bite?
That doesn't mean you can't use The Road plot, but it needs tweaking (see below). The Siege plot, however, can work pretty much “as is.” Again, you get a bit more wiggle room because the forces of law and order still exist. But what if the evil wizard controlling the zombies is also the mayor? Or in some other position of power? He could be a ruthless industrialist intent on turning the local population into undead slave labor. He could be a mad scientist running zombie mind control experiments out of his clinic.
The point is, the early or small-scale apocalypse and the non-apocalypse plots are almost always a mystery or thriller plot first and a survival horror Siege second.
What's the difference between mysteries and thrillers? In a mystery, the characters might know what's going on but they don't who's responsible. This is a proactive plot where the villain reacts to the actions of the characters. In a thriller, the characters know (or think they know) what's going on and who's responsible. Thrillers are a reactive plot driven by the actions of the villain; the characters in it are stalked, chased, threatened, and worse by the villain.
To put it another way, the characters control the direction of the mystery, and the thriller controls the direction of the characters. It's important to get that right.
Murder on the Orient Express (1974) is a mystery. The Bourne Identity (2002) is a thriller. Want to add zombies to them? Watch Horror Express (1972) for a weird murder mystery with zombies on a train. For a zombified Jason Bourne movie, simply have him doing covert ops during the apocalypse and/or replace his normal enemies with trained undead or mutant assassins. It would then become much more like the Resident Evil film series (2002-2016).
With a limited or non-existent apocalypse, there is simply more time for characters to wander around looking for clues or to convince the authorities of the danger. There is still some sense of “safety” and hope for survival. Only when the forces of law and order have been fully compromised or destroyed does The Siege plot begin.
Alternately, once the shelter is rendered non-viable and the local area unsafe, you could switch to The Road plot. That is, if you want to show that the evil has spread to adjacent areas.
14
STARTING YOUR STORY
INCLUDES WRITING EXERCISES
WHERE TO BEGIN? This is a question only you can answer. There is no right or wrong way to begin your story's timeline, whether it be pre-apocalypse, during the apocalypse, or post-apocalypse. Each offers distinct advantages and disadvantages that must be carefully weighed before making a decision: Start too early, and the reader is bored waiting for the end of the world to begin. But start in the middle of an attack, and the action is meaningless because the reader doesn't care about the characters yet. As with any type of story, balance is key.
✓ PRE-APOCALYPSE
Depending on how interesting and revealing you can make it, it may be advisable to begin the story showing the main character (or multiple characters) in their Ordinary Pre-Apocalypse World. What were they doing before the apocalypse touched them? What were their hopes and dreams? What kind of people were they? Who or what did they lose in their life before the apocalypse? This determines what kind of survivors they will be, and influences every other stage of the plot.
✓ DURING THE APOCALYPSE
If you choose to begin your story during the apocalypse (before civilization has fallen), then you need to show the characters operating in their Ordinary Apocalyptic World; this presents the most options for wild change from scene to scene as the situation is rapidly shifting. Characters may be safe one chapter, doomed the next, then saved again, etc.
✓ POST-APOCALYPSE
If you choose to begin your story after the apocalypse, then you need to show your characters operating in their Ordinary Post-Apocalypse World to establish their normal before moving on. This gives the reader a chance to adjust to the story world and get to know the characters before any major action commences. If you fail to establish the characters and setting, even briefly, any action you insert won't work because the reader doesn't care yet.
HOW TO WRITE KILLER OPENING LINES
Maybe you've read my best selling book, Writing Dynanite Story Hooks, a guide to crafting story hooks (opening lines and entire first chapters). If you haven't, I recommend you read it before starting your story. It’s easy lessons and killer strategies apply to any fiction genre.
But I'm not going to make you buy another book just to use this one, so my basic advice is keep your first sentence short and punchy; insert your main character's name if possible. Don't start with weather or setting, but do tease us with something exciting and/or mysterious.
Examples using different points of view (POV) might be:
Derek Mason aimed his rifle out the attic window.
Tiffany Loomis had never seen a dead body before.
Jan Clark was jogging when the ambulance shot by.
Something about the patient disturbed Mike Kelly.
I swerved around the screaming man.
I'm walking home from school when the bombs drop.
Notice how each example grabs the reader? They do that to accomplish two tasks:
Instantly orient the reader to the viewpoint character (which can be the main character or a “throwaway” victim if you prefer).
Planting a mystery in the reader's mind to create the expectation of action and horror to come.
It doesn't matter if you're using third person or first person (either in past tense or present tense). You can even use the unpopular second person POV if you want:
You aim your gun at the dead man.
See? POV doesn't matter. All of these are fantastic first sentences. Short and sweet. There's no room for confusion, no chance to get bored. These lines achieve this by gently easing the reader into the story. They also raise reader expectations you are an author who knows how to deliver.
If this is your first book, you can't help being a newbie, but you don't have to make the same mistake so many new authors do. You can absolutely have a first-class opening line in your first book. In fact, it's essential that you do if you're going to stand out.
As best selling author Mickey Spillane put it, “Your first line sells the book. Your last line sells the next book.”
HOW TO WRITE KILLER FIRST PARAGRAPHS
Make sure your first line sings, then start polishing the first paragraph, the first page, the first chapter. So how do you do that? The first line sets up the action, but you can't rush into it. Remember, the reader doesn't care about your character yet. You have to pull back, give them a broader understanding of what they read in the first line.
Here's an example from one of my zombie short stories:
Veronica and I are fighting over a boy again. We don't even know his name, but pickings are slim after the world ended. Everyone is in a hurry, but not us. We stand on the street corner, waiting for something to happen. Or someone.
— from “Two Girls, a Guy, and the End of the World”
See how this example begins with the characters taking action? The main character and her friend are fighting over a boy and they've done it before. But do we find out who he is or witness the details of the fight yet? No. Instead, I use the opportunity to pull back and explain the setting (post-apocalypse) and location (a street corner). I take the time to briefly convey the present emotional state of the characters (bored, desperate, hopeful). Only after I acc
omplish these goals do I bring the boy in and put the girls' fight in context.
This is much more effective than starting with the fight. Why? Because now the reader knows who is present, what they are doing, and why they are doing it. We also get that all-important first glimpse into their thoughts and emotions; this gives readers a feel for what kind of story this will be. The other advantage of holding back the boy is I can focus on just two characters instead of three.
Let's take a look at expansions of my earlier examples to see how I might build them into gripping first paragraphs:
Tiffany Loomis had never seen a dead body before. She thought maybe it was a joke, some kind of Halloween prank. She looked around wildly, scanning the thick bushes lining the street for kids waiting to jump out at her. She saw no one.
Jan Clark was jogging when the ambulance shot by. It nearly hit her, and she fell into a ditch scrambling to avoid it. The ditch was muddy with last night's rain, ruining her expensive new jogging suit. Before she could even get to her knees, another ambulance sped past, followed by a patrol car. All of the vehicles had their sirens blaring. Jan watched the receding taillights, wondering what was going on.
Something about the patient disturbed Mike Kelly. He'd only been on call a few hours, and the night shift at Lincoln Memorial was never this busy. As Mike bent to inspect the injured man, he caught a whiff of rot coming from the wound. He didn't need to be a doctor to know it was a bite mark.
I swerved around the screaming man. He was in the middle of the road waving his hands, begging me to stop. To help. And I could have, but that would be breaking the rules Terry and I lived by: Don't stop. Don't help. Don't trust. Not anyone. Not ever. It's how we'd stayed safe during the apocalypse. Well, safe until last night. We'd broken the rules and Terry paid the price. Now she was gone.