Looking for a disaster to order

[wneleh]

I'm trying to strand a couple of modern-day healthy, 40-year-old, decently competent American men in a situation where

Comments

[beesandbrews]

If you really wanted to go with pepper spray, accidental deployment is an option.

Tripping over uneven ground because of full hands can cause someone to have the air knocked out of their lungs plus misc other painful injuries. Witnesses would want to help.

Really it just depends on setting. How serioys an injury. Glancing up at the same time a lightbulb shatters could be anything from minor to devastating.

Let your plot be your guide!

[wneleh]

I really like the idea of our hero being affected by his own pepper spray!

[laridian]

How long does communication have to be out/the disaster have to be? A good weather event (hurricane, tornado, flood, snowstorm, etc) can do much the same. I've lived through days without phone/power after hurricanes; you would still need medical attention but couldn't easily call for it (and in a weather event can't travel much either).

[wneleh]

Hmmmm. I want to have communication with their families cut off, so the weather event doesn't even have to be where they are...

[squidgiepdx]

I'm a particular fan of earthquakes which can lead to both of your issues being taken care of. Bonus is that it could reoccur in the future, threatening further peril.

Also, research a Carrington Event. That's a random EMP wave that can hit the Earth and disrupt all technology.

[wneleh]

Unfortunately I've already dropped a building on these guys in another story! But a Carrington Event would do it, I think.

[malnpudl]

Do you need a disaster? Or do you just need them cut off from everything

[wneleh]

Our Hero fancies himself a prepper (though mostly for the cool gear), so this might be a spot to land him in at some point.

Trinity County, eh? I could get nice and symbolic, though since actual people actually live there, I'll probably refrain.

[nyxelestia]

True disaster is really not necessary for them to be isolated. I live in a suburb just outside of Los Angeles, but being a mountainous area, phone reception is shit. So from the moment I leave my house's Wi-Fi range until I hit the highway, I'm always rolling the dice on whether or not a phone call or radio signal would go through

[wneleh]

Good point about cell coverage! I think they'll have a hardened phone of some sort - which will be back at the car. Actually, hobbling back to the car only to find that it won't start will eat a couple of hours I was trying to figure out how to spill. Or sending two of the strangers (teen boys) to the car to get the radios / other supplies will be a way of establishing vulnerability/trust.

I also really like the bus idea...

[nyxelestia]

Communication is an infrastructure. The entire infrastructure doesn't need to come down for you to be unable to utilize it, you just need to lose your own access to it.

Even things like specialty radios and satellite phones need to be maintained. So if someone forgets to charge it or replace a broken part or fix the battery port or the antenna is missing or...you get the idea. :P

If it's a bus, you'd have to think about what kind of bus and what it was doing there in the first place. If it was public transportation that just broke down in the worst spot possible, then it probably won't be well-equipped. A long-distance bus (i.e. Greyhound) would be, and it would have people's luggage in it (so a lot of extra supplies to boot).