When Everything Stopped Working

In Darkness

Waiting for sunrise. I never expected to be in this position. There used to be civilization, however flawed it might have been, but now there is nothing. I’m here in this derelict hut on the side of a hill somewhere in what used to be known as the Lake District.

Why Am I Here?

I can’t remember how it started, there seemed to be an issue with power storage. Batteries started losing their ability to store power, which meant the renewables could not be used to supply any power to the grid.

Fossil fuels got more focus but the mined coal would not burn, neither would petrol, no one knew why. Science was at a loss. There was no reason for this. Things should burn and batteries should store power, but they all had stopped doing what they used to do, what we were used to them doing.

This meant that there were no trains, or vehicles on the roads and the sky was clear of everything except birds and clouds. Horse and Oxen were put back into service as beasts of burden and stagecoaches were now on the roads, but the roads were not maintained and were falling into disrepair.

Electricity and Gas supplies stopped and even the solar panels fell into disuse and the power they harvested could not be stored. Everything we were used to, television , radio, fridges , cookers, central heating was all gone.

Pipes rusted or rotted, food had to be fresh, but the shops were closed so people had to take to cultivating their own or stealing.

In previously urban and suburban areas if you had any food you would be targeted by gangs so you had to be more and more careful trying to secure the area where you were, but it was only a matter of time before someone bigger and more aggressive than you moved to take your stuff.

I saw this coming and I was lucky that I had no family or people to be responsible for. Society disintegrated as all its power sources became unusable. You might have kerosene lamps and heaters but the kerosene would no longer burn so they were obsolete.

I decided to pack up a rucksack full of useful items, knives, matches (they still worked and wood still burnt is small quantities) and a few tools, then started on my walk to find somewhere more safe in the Lake District.

Ironically I had just paid off my house, but now it was not safe for me to stay so I had to find somewhere safe.

Back In The Shed On The Hill

The sun is coming up over the hills above Ulverston. Here I have fresh water and have a small concealed garden where I am growing potatoes, peas and tomatoes and a few other vegetables. I know this peace will not last as others will find this place and my hut is visible from the lake, that’s how I found it so undoubtedly others will too.

The sky is cloudless so it’s cold today, though I need to go down to the lake to refill my water bottles. I do have a water butt next to the hut but it has not rained for a while and I don’t want to risk running out of water.

It is quiet now, even though it is morning. For now I have escaped the danger of the city, and maybe others have too, but we have no form of communication (that needs power) so it has to be face to face, and these days you don’t know who you can trust.

I am in a world where virtually nothing works, and I don’t know what I am waiting for.

Maybe tomorrow something will happen.