Novel in a Day - Apocalypse

Welp, I survived another Novel in a Day (NiaD)!! 😀

For those who are unfamiliar with NiaD, it's "an annual event where a group of writers from across the planet get together and write a novel. A whole novel, in a single day." I took part for the first time last fall, contributing chapter 13 of Butterfly Dawn (Blue Edition). 

This round things worked a little differently. The organizer decided to do a "novella" with only 12 chapters per story, instead of the usual 20-24. He also provided us with the theme in advance - Apocalypse. The novella itself is called The District, and there ended up being seven versions.

Last Friday at 6pm (CST, midnight in London) we received our briefs, with the finished chapters due at 2pm (CST) on Saturday. The briefs provide key information, including character descriptions, things that have already happened, what your chapter needs to start and end with, and what plot points need to be included. These details are one of the things that make NiaD doable for me. I'm not great at coming up with my own ideas, so having a basic framework keeps me on track and from it being too daunting a task, unlike NaNoWriMo. There ain't no way I'm writing 50,000 words in 30 days! Lol, I'll bet I don't even speak that many! 😄

I wrote about half my chapter on Friday night, which was less than I'd hoped for. Thankfully I finished, reread, edited, received feedback from my writing mates and got it sent in on Saturday...with 14 minutes to spare! 😎 Later that evening we "met" for drinks in a Facebook video chat. 🍷

While a bit stressful, given the tight deadline and a desire to write something intelligible, I have enjoyed both NiaDs. I'm self-conscious about my writing abilities, but this offers me a chance to practice and work on something more than a blog post. 

Below is my chapter, along with some of the briefing information, just to provide a little context. 

YOUR CHAPTER BRIEF!

Background 
AUTUMN 2020 - WASHINGTON DC
14 months ago, the world changed when the powergrid and all electronic devices stopped
working permanently.

Things that have already happened
Over the past 12 months, most of DC has emptied as people have migrated away to find their families away from a now redundant political capital. Life in the District is centered around the National Mall and the Arboretum which is now farm land.
OLIVER KELLY has recently arrived into the District with a small team and persuaded the town to provide 100 volunteers to help his plan to restore some electric power to the city.
Power has been successfully restored to the Capitol Building.

Starts with:
The people in the District are happy and optimistic about the future.

Chapter details
It's been a couple of days since the power was restored to the Capitol Building. Kelly and his team are hailed as heros by the citizens of the District and are spoiling them.

While several of his team have an 'all-in-a-days-work' approach, Kelly is lapping up the attention and gifts and accepts it all.

ROBERTA MIGUEL starts to get to very suspicious about Kelly's motives. She uncovers from one of the engineers that Kelly brought with him that they've been working for a while but they picked DC because they needed somewhere with a large backup power supply system so they could use the electricity to make what they need to repair larger power generation stations.

Ends with: 
Late in the evening, Miguel decides to head over to the Capitol Building to think things over.

The Electronic Shutdown
At 13:07pm on the 29th of August, all electric power went out.

It started early that morning with bright Northern Lights visible in DC, with people getting static shocks off their electronics. At 13:07 the power stations failed and the electric grid went down.
All electronic devices — anything that used electronics, whether powered by the main or batteries stopped working as wiring / circuits burnt out.
This made all sorts of things impossible. No streetlights or house lights. No ovens. No fridges. No phones. No TV. No Internet. Credit cards, and bank records are all offline.

Life in the District
It has been some 14 months since the power outage hit DC (and who knows how much else of the world). Residents of the District believe it must be a global melt-down because no one has come to either help or invade.
Most residents of the DC area (some 80%+) moved away pretty much immediately after the Event, as -- since it was no longer the political capital of the world — many left to find family (or just more open land) away from the urban centre.
Without refrigeration, any food that spoils is butchered as it’s needed, and the National Mall and the Arboretum are now farmland for crops and cattle. People get given generous rations based on whatever the farmers and butchers prepare / harvest that day, and everyone is expected to contribute to public life. Money isn’t used; people barter services / favours and goods. Travel is mostly by foot, although horses pull carts for transporting food, etc.
A significant majority of people wear clothes taken from the various museum and public facility gift shops.

Name:
Roberta Miguel
Job:
Has taken on a role of an ‘administrator’ of sorts for the District after the power outage. Not ‘in
charge’ as such (no one is), but highly respected in the District and her role in co-ordinating
various community considerations means her opinion bordering on judgement is often sought.
Gender:
Female
Age:
47
Appearance:
5’5”, medium build. Hispanic. Shoulder length brown hair.
Family:
Divorced 3 years ago from Carlos Miguel (49). No children.
Background:
Before the power outage, Roberta was a career politician, most recently a Democrat Congresswoman from Maryland and at the time of the outage was Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Name:
Oliver Kelly
Job:
Unemployed
Gender:
Male
Age:
43
Appearance:
6’0” caucasian. Thin but without the leanness that comes from exercise. Dark hair which, like the rest of him, he keeps as neat as he is able.

The District - Grey Edition 

Chapter 11

Autumn leaves blew lazily through the district, strewing optimism in their wake. People exchanged hopeful glances as they worked, heartened by the restoration of power to the Capitol Building. 

Where once evening brought desolation with its enveloping shadows, there was now a literal beacon of hope shining down the National Mall.  

The praise and excitement for their work was endless. Oliver Kelly and his team were showered with gifts, from dinner invitations to offers of some of Washington DC’s most beautiful finery, such as costumes taken from Ford’s Theatre or Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit from the National Air and Space Museum. While most of his team were thankful but downplayed their contribution as “just doing their jobs,” Oliver Kelly basked in the acclaim. His self-importance didn’t go unnoticed by Roberta Miguel.

In the few days since power had been restored in the Capitol building, little things about Kelly had bothered Roberta. Nothing she could quite put her finger on to discuss with others, but enough to question Kelly’s professed heroics.   

As she wandered down the Mall, Roberta stopped to chat with former lobbyists and politicians turned-farmers, helping harvest or bundle their given crops. Carrots were a great favorite, as were turnips and peas. 

“If I never see another turnip, it will be too soon,” Roberta joked as she helped yank the dirt covered root vegetable from the ground.

  “Yes, because there is such a variety of things you can make with cucumbers,” said John, chuckling as he carried a full basket, setting it down on the broken sidewalk. “Not to go full nerd on you, with turnips at least you can ‘boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew!’”

Roberta almost dropped the handful of turnips she was carrying. “Did you seriously just quote Samwise Gamgee at me?” she asked, laughing.  

John smiled and nodded, rescuing his crops from her grasp. “These will do nicely for the celebration dinner being planned for Kelly and his team,” he said. 

Looking thoughtful, Roberta asked, “Don’t you think Kelly is...well, milking it a bit? He practically requested the celebratory dinner tomorrow night.” 

“I know it’s only been a little more than a year since we lost power, but having a little electricity seems like a miracle,” he replied. “While we’ve found ways to function without it, we all remember how much easier life was...how the loss of one thing affected so much. I’m not even talking about superfluous things like entertainment - movies, tv shows or concerts - but being able to store food in a fridge or put ice in your lemonade. What’s the point of lemonade if it’s not cold?” 

Roberta laughed. “Guess I know the first thing you’re making once we have freezers again. And I do appreciate the larger implications, like life returning to some place of normalcy. But there’s just something about him and his behavior. I can’t quite put my finger on it…” 

John shrugged and kept moving. Roberta finished pulling turnips from the little patch she was working on and bid him a good day. She moved slowly along the Mall, her shoulder length hair blowing in the wind. She saw others preparing for the festivities, some gathering food, while others worked on rudimentary decorations. She wished she could get into the spirit of the celebration. If only she could articulate what was bothering her…

The preparations continued into the next day, with dozens cooking to feed the massive number of people anticipated to gather that evening. Most people were expected to find a place to sit on the ground or retaining walls, though a few tables were scattered along the mall. A special one was set up for Oliver Kelly and his team. Joining them would be some of what now passed for dignitaries. Roberta helped with what she could, though her 5’5” stature prevented her from assisting with the homemade garland and paper lantern hanging. She layed out countless candles, enough to light up a small city...which the Mall had become for them at this point. 

The crowd began to gather at dusk, mingling for drinks before wandering to the different spaces set up with food. Roberta smiled to herself as she watched people pass by, drinks in hand. The world might be falling apart, but someone will always find a way to make booze. She also enjoyed seeing the vast array of clothing choices, from the more casual partygoer sporting a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum glow-in-the-dark tshirt to a dress from the 1930s someone obtained from the National Museum of American History. What an odd time future archeologists were going to have when they excavated this site! 

After filling her plate, Roberta made her way to the head table, sitting down next to a member of Kelly’s team. Introductions were made and pleasantries exchanged. Just as she started to ask how long he’d been working with Oliver Kelly, another member of the local delegation stood up and began thanking Kelly and Co for their hard work, dedication in bringing the power back on in the Capitol Building. 

“To see it lighting up the sky is truly a wonder,” he said as he sat back down, on the verge of tears. 

His expression of gratitude was followed by several other people standing to raise a glass and offer a toast. It reminded Roberta of a wedding she’d attended a few years back, where far too many people felt it was necessary to stand up and offer tedious stories or banal words of encouragement to the bride and groom. 

Glasses began to empty, so a couple people stepped up, offering refills between salutes. Since she barely sipped her drink each time, Roberta declined refills along the way. She continually glanced down the table, attempting to appear nonchalant as she watched Oliver Kelly’s reaction to the praise. His smile increased in smugness with each round of polite applause. 

When the tributes finally ended, she turned back to the engineer beside her. His sluggish movements told her he had been partaking in several rounds of the  stomach-burning hooch that had been liberally distributed during the speeches. 

“So, how long have you been working with Oliver?”

“Oh...a while...now,” he said, not quite slurring. 

“As you know, we’re all beyond grateful. Even though I’m from Maryland, DC feels like home to me.” 

“Happy to help,” he said, slowly grinning into his glass. 

“Before everything fell apart, I was a member of Congress. As much as people make fun of or get angry at politicians, I loved what I did and cared about making a difference.”

“Mmm. I’m...sure.” 

“Just as you’re doing now. Making a difference. Trying to help people. And DC is such a symbolic place to start. Is that why it was chosen?”

He shook his head and took another swig from his half empty glass.  “No...not our first stop. Kelly...we all’ve been working on...all of this...for while.” 

“Really? I had no idea.” 

“You know what they say…….”

“Yes?” Roberta prompted. 

“Location…..location….......location,” he chuckled, pausing unnecessarily long between each word as he waved his glass at someone pouring another round of refills. 

“What makes DC particularly desirable?” Roberta asked, trying to sound indifferent to his response. 

“The backup power...power supply system.”

“Oh?” 

“We needed somewhere with a large backup power spppply syz-time.” 

Desperately hoping to find out a little more before his alcohol soaked brain stopped stringing words together, Roberta patted him heartily on the back and laughed, hoping to jar him back toward consciousness.

“And boy howdy did you find one! Washington’s was designed to power everything in case of an emergency or natural disaster, though I guess you can’t plan for everything!” 

He nodded slowly. 

“So why did you need to find a place with a large backup power supply system? This is all above my paygrade, so I find it fascinating.” 

“To make repairs. So we can ube...use...the electricity to fix….”

Roberta jostled him again, trying not to panic.

“Repairs are important...so important. Repairing what exactly?”

He slumped forward, resting his head on his folded arms. “Prrr stations. Gener-er-eration stations. Fiiix ‘em…..zzzz...”

Roberta glanced up, grateful that it seemed like no one had noticed their discussion. She patted the engineer’s back and moved his glass so he wouldn’t knock it over when he got up. As others rose, she followed, gently gathering the plates and cutlery near her. While most people ate from paper plates or improvised platters, the head table’s place settings came from the White House dining room. Nothing was too special for the bringers of light. 

Time passed and the crowd began to scatter. While most people returned home for the night, there were a few stragglers left along the mall, some deep in conversation, while others were swaying from an excess of the rarely shared moonshine. Roberta circled the area, blowing out a candle here, stopping someone from falling into a pond there. 

Finally, instead of calling it a night, she turned and slowly strode toward the Capitol Building. It glowed, almost as a beacon, drawing this pensive moth toward its light. Where better to mull than in the place at the heart of all her questions?

###


When we participated last October, a group of us met at a coffee shop on Friday night and Saturday morning, drinking coffee and working on our chapters (separately but together). The need for social distancing rendered that impossible this time. Instead, there was a lively Facebook chat between myself and the two other friends who were also working on their respective chapters. We found out afterwards that, while we ended up in different novellas, we had successive chapters - 10, 11 and 12. Katie #2 wrote chapter 10 in The District - Orange Edition and Sam wrote the 12th and final chapter for The District - Purple Edition. 

After reading their chapters, I felt like Emma listening to Jane Fairfax play the piano.* 😄

Now to figure out the next project! 




~ Katie Q. 🐧
*I watched two versions of Emma over the weekend, so I've got it on the brain. 😊


YouTube Bonuses: 

"If the world was ending"

Given the apocalypse theme, I thought this song would be a fitting inclusion. 

It popped up on my Pandora station recently and is one of my current favorite songs. 

"Some Good News, Episode 2"

Omg, how the heck is he going to top this episode?!?!?!? If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, jump to 8:27. 

It's a bit of a slow burn, but you really need to watch it all for context. 

I seriously got teary eyed. So freaking cool. <3