I like it. It's a cool, unique spin on post-apocalyptic/zombie times. Do you have any plans for it? Make it a novel, etc.? Got any main characters or zoned-in setting, like a particular city or town?
Like most of my stories, I created the setting for a book. Many of the events are set all over the former United States, with particular yet-unselected cities serving as hubs (both in plot and socioeconomical sense) due to presense there of established communities with proper defenses and resource distribution.
While many of the characters are yet to be fleshed out, I can tell you about one who has a plotline of her own (the book is meant to consist of several intertwining plotlines).
Her name is Agatha Black Sun - at least, that's what she presents herself as to others. She's a white girl adopted into a fairly-rich (middle class) Native American family, before they finally happened to have a child born naturally. She's pale, has black hair and an aquilline nose. Trained by her father with many a method of survival, she's among rare few in the US capable of surviving and thriving (as much as one can) through the end of the world as we know it: endurant, strong, quick and dexterous, she was as if born for this.
Agatha had to leave her family - who can fend for themselves in their small town, mind you - in order to find her little brother who was swept up by the contamination forces before the bombs dropped, meaning that there's a chance of his survival somewhere in the US. She travels with her dog - a blackish German Shepard, a trained hunting dog as well with whom Agatha grew up - across many a military base and a military compound, with little success: her brother, among other survivors, is either haven't been there or have been transported to a safer location.
As such, with her vertical crossbow, she travels what now constitutes a barely-surviving country, scavenging for supplies as she does.
She's a lesbian, and, despite her stoic exterior (reminiscent of the Native American chiefs), she's a shy girl who has never been in a romantic relationship before. Due to her Asian heritage, she's incapable of processing alcohol efficiently, which leaves her unwilling to take part in drinking it. She's confident, but not talkative when on her way; if she has to, she'd say a few words, very succintly, while in a more relaxed atmosphere she might even open up to you and befriend you. She's not very clever in the academical sense but is certainly capable of surviving through her wits and cunning; she's also a capable, if unskilled, detective, able to piece together where her brother might be held despite lack of specific evidence.
In a wilderness, she's a perfect survivor - if somewhat dragged down by her pale skin - and with the Short War (the bombs falling), came the world she's most versed in. It's the buzzing society of the world we knew that had her stunned and incapable: she'd fail her job interviews miserably because she doesn't understand the code of the corporate, preferring to talk straightly and honestly; most of the girls she met were shallow and stupid, most often because of how they were raised rather than being incapable of becoming otherwise.
Have you come up with particular plot points that feature each of those attributes? I'm particularly thinking of instances where she'd be forced to drink alcohol, or fake it, perhaps; or develop a love interest (even if one that's half-hearted or full of mixed messages); or times when her crossbow comes in particularly handy (since you describe it as a vertical crossbow, I wonder if there's an instance where it might be necessary that it was such, rather than just being a cool visual).
AND THAT DOGGY BETTER LIVE!!!
Before I start answering, I must include the reason for such a name the character bears, which I unintentionally omitted from the original comment.
"Agatha" is her real name, with which she grew up at the orphanage, but the "Black Sun" part comes from the fact that she was born during an eclipse (doing calculations for it was fun). After learning that, her little brother, having fun with his own heritage (to which he wasn't entirely attuned), gave her an "Indian name". Agatha liked it and said that, if she's ever to lead a tribe, that's what her name would be.
- instances where she'd be forced to drink alcohol, or fake it, perhaps
One time, Agatha visits what its inhabitants call the Dome. The Dome is one of smaller hubs, with a couple of dozen survivors as a permanent staff and a few that are passing by and staying only for a while; used to be a typical five-storey house, until cluster rocket blew off its roof and highest floor as collateral damage, and it's also a set-out point for a major plotline.
Agatha manages to get in minutes before one of the hordes - very populous groups of zeds who, due to the way their system works, lost almost all of the sense-making that may have been left had they been alone - rush through the area. The Domers hope to wait it out, until someone makes a noise loud enough to get the horde's attention. Most zeds mindlessly rush forward to whatever destination they may have had, ignoring the Dome, but those closer to the noise got very aggressive, so the Domers had to fight back.
After this particularly terrifying and difficult battle, those Domers who had no responsibilities at the moment - which included the Dome's leader, Ellis Gatling, and her leuitenant and one of the best marksmen in the state, Chris King - decided to celebrate the victory and get some rest, which included drinking some stored alcohol. Agatha had to politely refuse, explaining the situation. Ellis doesn't believe it at first, but Chris tells her how he served in Turkey with an Asian guy who'd be a hell of a mess after what Chris himself could take in and have fun with. After that, the relationships between the leaders of the Dome and Agatha go much smoother, with her being able to open up to them.
- or develop a love interest
Indeed. I haven't fleshed that out yet, but there's certainly a plan to portray this part of Agatha's personality.
- or times when her crossbow comes in particularly handy (since you describe it as a vertical crossbow, I wonder if there's an instance where it might be necessary that it was such, rather than just being a cool visual)
Well, she is living in a world where any amount of shooting firearms will attract the whole gang of the local zeds (who, I will remind you, communicate through wireless connection and relay such information to those in the vicinity), so using an almost-silent crossbow is a very effective method of concealed killing.
Vertical crossbows are usually lighter than the classical wooden or solid-metal ones, because the vertical constuction is a modern invention to which the industry added a few of helpful sidefeatures. For example, one can disassemble such a crossbow if need be and reassemble it to the precise same use. The lightness translated to easier holding when aiming and, thus, higher accuracy, which is important when you're hunting either animals or living humans (zeds or otherwise).
- AND THAT DOGGY BETTER LIVE!!!
I love the doggy too, but given how the setting is Stephen King-inspired, I'd have to see about that.
Quickest way to make a villain is to have some human character kill the dog. Everyone will instantly want to see that guy dead. :p
Sounds like you've got at least a few key scenes happening. Have you been working on an outline or a way to tie the scenes together?
If you've got a stand-alone scene already written, or a test scene, don't be afraid to post to #worldbuilding and #shortstory and get feedback!
I'll keep that in mind.
I have a few strokes for the story: some scenes done better than others. It's a long way to go, still: I gotta finish #crystalclear first. (Which reminds me: I have to find a better host for those stories: Wattpad turned out to be incapable of serving unregistered readers.)
- I have to find a better host for those stories: Wattpad turned out to be incapable of serving unregistered readers.
Google Docs/Drive? You can set it to publicly read-only.
I've got a regular blog. I used to have another one specifically for fiction and poetry, so it's certainly doable to make a fiction blog.