Survivor communities outside the known world

[BreezeLouise]

...ohgod, infected howler monkeys. I have just imagined a new level of fear. I blame you, BreezeLouise! 

...

 

Hehe. I'm sorry, it was the first thing that popped into my head.

Ughh... I already hate monkeys on their natural form. Now you made me imagine them as beasts.. *shudders*
Also, can somebody draw that, please? Now I'm curious.

That's why I haven't even mentioned Amazon. As I said, most of South America would be swarmed with beasts, and a thousand times scarier than any colder places out there. So if we think about the possibilities of survival communities, we must narrow down to the few places that have more inclement weather.

You know, I don't really want to see a picture of an infected monkey. But at the same time, I really, really do. Especially, like, an action shot of one swooping down on an unsuspecting passerby. Total nightmare fuel.

[Koeshi]

While the Rash is most predominant in mammals, I do believe it can infect some members of other kingdoms.  Which ones we don't know, but just imagine an infected anaconda .

[Dane Murgen]

Um... It says on this page that only mammals were infected and that I really don't think that any other clade can be infected, and the other amniotes (reptiles and birds) are explicitly stated to be immune. The only other animals that could've been infected are the non-mammalian synaspids, even though they're already dead. Unless I'm making a big assumption that only clades are affected. There might've been gene transfer or something. I don't know, but it's very unlikely I think.

[Koeshi]

Hmmm, thats odd I was sure that it was just less prevalent in other vertebrate kingdoms.  I stand corrected.  Could we see a return of reptiles as the dominant animals on the planet?

All hail our glorious Lizard-people overlords!!! (so does this mean that the governments survived the Rash intact? XD)

[ArborealAscender]

What would the chances be for uncontacted tribes that are so remote from everything only beasts might venture into the rainforests and other zones where such tribes live?

I would venture a guess that the Plague would come to them by means of beasts anyway, given that even in the harsh-wintered North the forests seem to be densely inhabited by rash-infected beings. My impression is, the Silent World is truly, and fully, overtaken.

[Balthazar]

I've always wondered about parts of Russia and Canada, especially the more cold and remote areas, were there is little cover for the trolls and giants to make their nests. The people there would probably already used to dealing with deadly beasts like bears and wolves, I wonder if they could survive the apocalypse?

Part of me wishes that Japan would have been spared, but my gut tells me the government probably wouldn't be able to cut off their borders as quick or as efficiently as Iceland, and once it reached the shores, it would spread like wild fire. But maybe I can hope for a small surviving whaling vessel?  Not sure how they would get food or much water for that matter (boil sea water? would work for a few people but not for many. Make a farm on the deck? TO exposed to sea water, the crops would wither too quickly and how would they have seeds in the first place?) but I can dream.

[Vafhudr]

The major issue with Japan is that it's highly densely populated. If they were infected - and considering their need for importation, isolation would be a much more dire option now than it was in the past.

Newfoundland is uh... less than ideal for an autonomous entity.

Nevertheless, it would probably be pretty central to the Canada scenario of this.

[kapitod]

Also not on Japans side, even if against all odds they managed to keep their population from becoming infected, the most densely populated country on the planet is across a very narrow stretch of sea and has a much bigger navy.

I think it would be pretty cool if after the comic is finished and published anyone doing survivor fanfics could do short ones about their countries after Year 0 in the style of journals and letters, then they all get compiled together into a little book add-on.  Probably wouldn't happen, but it would be interesting since I'm sure Minna wouldn't have the time to do all the background research needed for such a project, but if she specified the rules of the world for the entrants then we could get some interesting and original stuff.

[Balthazar]

My main concern with Japan was China is just over the strait, and it's densely populated cities and large land area would make it one of the least countries to survive, maybe tied with the U.S. It would not be that difficult for refugees to cross the strait and some of them may carry the rash.

Russia suffers the same problem, but it is so large that I am sure there are some survivors making settlements in the tundras, thought the cities are most likely doomed.

[BreezeLouise]

My main concern with Japan was China is just over the strait, and it's densely populated cities and large land area would make it one of the least countries to survive, maybe tied with the U.S. It would not be that difficult for refugees to cross the strait and some of them may carry the rash.

Russia suffers the same problem, but it is so large that I am sure there are some survivors making settlements in the tundras, thought the cities are most likely doomed.

The U.S. is screwed, but honestly, I think China would have it much worse off. While it wouldn't be as bad as, say the Amazon *shudder*, it'd be a very, very bad place to be. It's got ridiculous overpopulation, heavy smog that blocks out the sun (which would go away, obviously, but it'd be a nightmare during that initial stretch), and a healthcare system that is only recently really starting to develop. I'm sure it does have some isolated places that would manage to survive--it can get pretty cold in China, and it's not like it consists entirely of crowded cities--but the same holds true for the U.S. And the U.S. does have a few things working to its advantage, like advanced medicine and a lot of experience in humanitarian aid and, to a lesser extent, handling outbreaks. I think they'd both end up the same way, more or less--mostly silent with a few surviving communities scattered around the northern regions--but I really feel like you'd have a better chance of surviving in the U.S., even if it's just because you'd have a little more time to GTFO.

This is ignoring the whole aircraft carrier thing, of course.

[Vafhudr]

Eh. I think some section of China might endure. The mega-metropolitan areas of the south are megascrewed, but the mountains and more harsh climates of the north and west provides some interesting opportunities.

[Balthazar]

What I think is the most interesting is the bomb shelters of America. There are people who actually keep and maintain shelters just in case everything goes up in flames, they probably have enough food to last through a nuclear winter and weapons to boot. Granted some of them would have probably been destroyed either through internal strife or infected people or animals sneaking in. But it is a possibility there are small communities in the U.S. that are still making by.

[Vafhudr]

Dramatic irony tends to be savage to those kinds of people and that kind of scenario.

[BreezeLouise]

Eh. I think some section of China might endure. The mega-metropolitan areas of the south are megascrewed, but the mountains and more harsh climates of the north and west provides some interesting opportunities.

I guess I was being harsh and overgeneralizing, I was focusing more on the urban areas. That is true, it can get very, very cold in northern China, or so I hear. And in remote places like those, I agree, I think they'd have a fighting chance. I do think, though, that unless you happen to already be there, you're not going to have too much of a chance. I dunno, I just can't see too many people in any major cities making it out in time.

What I think is the most interesting is the bomb shelters of America. There are people who actually keep and maintain shelters just in case everything goes up in flames, they probably have enough food to last through a nuclear winter and weapons to boot. Granted some of them would have probably been destroyed either through internal strife or infected people or animals sneaking in. But it is a possibility there are small communities in the U.S. that are still making by.

You know, I hadn't really thought of bomb shelters. I'm sure there are plenty left over from the Cold War, and I'm even more sure that there are no shortage of survivalists that maintain their own. A lot of people own large, remote plots of land for hunting and stuff, too. Provided they were able to get set up properly, one could live relatively comfortably. It honestly does get pretty cold up here, too, especially in places like Vermont. Going by a quick look at Wikipedia, it gets a little colder on average in Burlington, Vermont than it does in Mora, Sweden (totally feel free to check me on that, I might just be missing something).

[princeofdoom]

I still think the northern most island of Japan, Hokkaido, could survive. It has a much lower population and gets cold in the winter. Especially since Japan was one of the first countries to close boarders along with Iceland, and magic has returned. Likely there would be kamikaze (in the literal meaning of divine wind) protecting them from infected from other lands try to get there.