SFReader Forums

David BH Pitchford said...
A great number of those survivors will adapt. It's how we conquered the world. As for vehicles, one of the problems there is available gasoline. Without refineries, the usable gasoline should last no more than two years. Most of it will settle and be unusable within a year. The fuel degrades more quickly than the belts. The belts could last anywhere from two to twenty years. Try leaving a gallon of gas in a can for a year without bothering it; it separates and settles.

Climate will have a big impact. In cold places, folks are likely to burn the most convenient fuels. Which could deplete petro fuels in a single winter depending on population and competition. And with the competition, you just have to imagine the reasonable consequence of desperate humans - some will be destroyed in conflict and crime.

Most of your canned and processed foods will be unpalatable within one to two years and inedible within four unless kept in a sheltered environment such as a dry basement, cave, etc. Again, climate and population density will impact this enormously. As there is likely to be a consciousness of economy, survivors are likely to augment prefab foods with environmental alternatives. Vermin are easy to harvest (squirels, rabbits, rats, pigeons, doves, feral dogs and cats). Bugs are good food in a pinch, and can augment the prefab foods, especially bigger ones like roaches, crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas, etc. Lots of plants are nutrative if not palatable: acorns, grass seed (untreated by chemicals), some flowers, wild berries and fruits, etc.

Thing with the boyscout part - survivors will educate themselves or turn to crime. They're not going to remain ignorant and live long. Natural selection. Somebody gets hungry enough, they eat a slug; the next hungriest watches to see if the first got sick. Then suddenly everyone in the area knows that slugs are good food. Same with plants and critters; watch what the others eat and avoid what kills the suckers. If animals won't eat that plant, it may not be safe to eat. We have instincts. And once hunger robs us of our higher intellectual processes, we will wise up and get past the whole freak out of what's safe.

If the only thing available is prefab food, we'll all be dead in less than a decade.

What is the location of your story? Worldwide, you're talking a great diversity of time lines. Folks will either die early or wander to where they can survive. Some in groups, some as mavericks.