Viruses that go Bump in the Night

Listening to John spin tales at LibertyCon

I was reminded of John Ringo's essay on the zombie apocalypse during microbiology lab today. We watched a video on SARS, and one of the questions asked was "did we overreact to SARS?"

The answer, of course, is no, and a little bit, yes. The possibility of a global pandemic (yes, I know that's redundant) is a clear one. We are too mobile for that to not be a danger. So quarantine and preventative measures are good, and wise. The media panic, on the other hand… that was an overreaction.

Going back to the zombie apocalypse, though, what is coming might not be zombies. It could be literally anything. There are virii out there we barely know exist, and it wouldn't take much more tech to get to a point where they could be unleashed on humanity as a pathogen.

As a writer, this spins so many stories into my head it's hard to keep track. I'd started work years ago on a novel I titled Methuselah Germ, and I am thinking about either publishing the portion I have completed as a novella (yes, it is a complete story arc, but only about 50K words long) or adding the planned secondary arc in, to make it a full-length novel. It's not at the top of the pile, but I think this class, that essay, and articles like this, will inspire me to make it an even better scarier story.

I could go on and on about this topic, and I probably will soon… science fiction and medicine are, after all, my first reading loves.

For really good reads on this, try out John Ringo's The Last Centurion and newest release, Under a Graveyard Sky.