Fanfic / Death of a Nation

Death of a Nation is a 28 Days Later fanfic written by kspence92 of fanfiction.net and alternatehistory.com. Read in on alternatehistory.com here for an expanded take on 28 Weeks Later. It also includes some contributions by other users.

It serves as a Spiritual Predecessor to the events of 28 Days Later that focuses on how the British government dealt with the Rage crisis that affected the United Kingdom before Jim woke up from his coma. It later expanded to the events leading up into 28 Weeks Later and serves as a Spiritual Successor to that film where it portrays how Europe dealt with the Rage reaching the continent.

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Death of a Nation provides the following tropes:

• Aborted Arc: Nothing is mentioned about the Kaliningrad Oblast, a small piece of land bordering Poland and the Baltics whose sovereignty belongs to Russia. However, given the fact the Central Europe was hit hard with the outbreak, it does not look so good. See also Artistic License – Geography below.
• Allohistorical Allusion:
  • A 60 Minutes interview with former Secretary of State Colin Powell on September 23, 2009 details how the U.S. State Department attempted to evacuate American citizens and embassy personnel in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, many Americans were caught up in the evacuation and became casualties themselves. The U.S. Embassy in London could not be evacuated on time due to all the British civilian and military transport being diverted in the evacuation of the capital despite the U.S. Ambassador's connections. The embassy was last known to be barricaded on the second floor while the lower levels were breached by the Infected. 6 months later, the fate of the Ambassador, Embassy Marines, and the staff were confirmed. It serves as this timeline's "Benghazi incident."
  • Speaking of Benghazi, it is the town where the Libyan Civil War occurs just like in OTL.
• All There in the Manual: The thread on alternatehistory.com has several news reports, newspaper clippings, interviews, official government documents, and eyewitness testimonies written by kspence92 and other users.
• Alternate History: The first British outbreak begins on the evening of May 4, 2002 around Cambridge. It takes a full month for Britain to fall. Because of this, The War on Terror takes a different turn as British forces in Afghanistan are pulled out to deal with matters back home. The world economy takes a beating.
  • Basically everything associated with Britain past the POD is butterflied away meaning that there is no 7/7 attacks and no London 2012 Olympics. This may mean Adele, The Wanted, and One Direction may not form or even go into fame at all.
  • An even bigger point-of-divergence is when the Rage reaches continental Europe, turning much of the continent into a wasteland with only some countries surviving intact while small surviving communities emerge from the once proud continent. As of 2012, Europe has yet to recover. A World Half Full indeed since Europe is taken out of the picture in global affairs.
  • Since Athens was abandoned by the Greek government, it is safe to assume they won't be hosting the 2004 Summer Olympics as well.
  • Due to the events of the Rage Epidemic in Europe, the 2003 Invasion and the Iraq War is butterflied away in this timeline as President George W. Bush initially focused on helping NATO combat the Rage epidemic before U.S. forces withdraw from Europe as casualties mounted. This means Saddam Hussein gets to stay in power up to this timeline's present day.
  • An earlier Libyan Civil War occurs in July 2003 as the cost of European refugees increases the price of daily goods in the country. Though it went on the Mumar Gaddaffi's favor due to the lack of NATO intervention, he would ultimate be assassinated in 2006 before Libya becomes a democratic state.
• Armies Are Evil:
  • This fic reveals that Major West and his men were not an isolated case; groups of British military personnel that went rogue turned into raiding survivor settlements and kidnapping women for sex slave purposes.
  • The coup plotter's faction of the French Armed Forces was seen as this by majority of the French populace since they were willing to nuke the shit out of the infested towns without regard to civilians still trapped behind-the-lines. They are promptly disposed by an angry French people as chaos reigns in the uninfected parts of the country.
• Apocalypse Maiden: Alice Harris is considered to be one since she was brought to the Isle of Dogs without proper security. Though the virus spread because her husband kissed her, she would ultimately be the source. However, Andy Harris takes the blame for bringing the European continent to its knees for accidentally spreading the virus there.
• Artistic License – Biology: It is nigh impossible for a virus, natural or genetically-engineered, to incubate in a host in 30 seconds or less.
• Artistic License – Geography:
  • Italy should not have fallen to the Rage virus since the outbreak in France would have gotten them time to seal passes in the Franco-Italian border. Even if the Rage reached Italy, not all of the country would fall as the north is heavily mountainous which would favor the defender.
  • Russia only responded when the Rage was nearing Ukraine. Nothing is mentioned of the Kaliningrad Oblast which would fallen at the time the Rage was rampaging in Central Europe^note The author himself actually admits it was error in his part not to include Kaliningrad Oblast as he merely forgot about it.
• Asshole Victim: Major Henry West and his soldiers.
  • In one particular chapter, a soldier named Colonel Mackey who led a rogue group of British Army soldiers into pillaging survivor communities for protection tax.
• Apocalyptic Log: There are nine chapters dealing with the tale's of British citizens of different backgrounds and profession. The chapter known as Eddie's Diary takes a grimmer tone.
  • The chapter ''Police Report'' shows the chaos and confusion of how Cambridge police officers dealt with initial Rage infected mistaken to be drunk hooligans.
  • Various interviewees before London was to be evacuated.
• Awesome Personnel Carrier: The Warrior IFV was stated to take part in the Battle of Luton.
• Ax-Crazy: Russia's preparation in the defense of their country as Ukraine falls to the Rage virus has been described as this. As it turned out, those measures proved effective, allowing Russia to emerge dominant over the ashes of Europe.
• Back from the Brink: The survivors and remaining resettlement communities on the Isles managed to weather the outbreak and reestablish contact with each other and the outside world. By 2006, the British Federation is established, which is slated as faring considerably better than poverty-stricken Continental Europe thanks to US and Irish aid.
• Back Story: Of how the British government dealt with the outbreak initially.
  • For this fanfiction, The 11-year old Eddie is the son of Sergeant Farrell.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Rage Virus is stopped in the Pyrenees mountains to the West, the Turkish to the Southeast, and by the Russians to the East. However, an entire continent has became a wasteland resulting in the loss of countless lives, historical pieces, and cultural identities. The vaccine arrives by 2012 at long last but has been described as all "a little too late." Furthermore, the question looms: "Will the rage ever come back?"
• Cluster F-Bomb: Tony Blair gives several of this while spoiler: news of the Rage virus reaching Edinburgh^note The third temporary capital after the fall of York reaches him.
  Tony Blair: This is fucked. Do you know that ? Its fucked, Its fucked, its fucking fucked!
• Crapsack World: Europe is essentially wiped off the map save for a few countries that survived miraculously. Without Europe, all foreign aid to Africa dries up, thus making the continent more prone to civil war and famine. The Middle East is the same as always, racked by Islamic terrorists. Moreover, Osama bin Laden is still alive in this timeline. The big economies of China and Japan is said to have suffered with the loss of Britain as a trading partner all while Russia moves into Eastern Europe to "protect" what remains of survivor enclaves in the region.
• Crazy-Prepared: How the Russian Federation plans to meet the Rage virus head on as its neighboring countries fell: using tanks, armored personnel carriers, landmines, helicopters, and jet fighters.
  In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin would look out the windows of his office in the Kremlin at a military parade in the square, as they prepared to go to the new defensive line that would stretch from St Petersburg to Smolensk to Rostov. Hundreds of thousands of heavily armed soldiers, thousands of tanks and APC's and several hundred helicopters, as well as millions of land mines and many thousands of miles of barbed wire cut across Russia's western areas. Russia was about to face the infection head on.
  Of course, if all those defenses didn't work, there was also another option to fall back on...around 12,000 of these options patiently waited in underground silos and submarines.
• Deadline News: A CNN reporter is mentioned to be killed live on-screen by an Infected. Because of this, no foreign media was allowed to report in Britain and was all relocated to Northern Ireland.
• Different World, Different Movies: An in-universe newspaper article states that the ordeal of Jim would be made into a film called 28 Days Later. Naturally, this receives a huge amount of controversy among the displaced British people worldwide.
  • One user mentioned the possibility of the Spider-Man Trilogy being more successful than our timeline due to superhero movies being seen as an optimistic take to the entertainment industry in times of catastrophe.^note Only the first Spider-Man would have been finished by the time of the outbreak. Therefore, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, and other sequels would be unrecognizable with respect to our timeline.
  • Another user also mentioned the possibility of the Marvel Cinematic Universe being produced earlier than the late 2000s.
• Disappeared Dad: Eddie's father is said to be deployed to fight the infected. It is later revealed to be Sergeant Farrell.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • A similar Dunkirk happens twice: one reverse into France and later European refugees going to Britain.
  • Meta-example: Britain cut-off from the rest of Europe drew parallels to the 2016 Brexit referendum, albeit lack of the Infected.
• Doomed by Canon: Readers would already know what would happen to Britain (twice) and Europe.
  • Also some of the named characters.
• Earn Your Happy Ending:
  • Jim, Selena, and Hannah are accepted into a British refugee camp in Germany. Although Jim was apprehended for the murder of Major West and his rogue soldiers, he was later given clemency as he acted in self-defense. Following this, all three start new lives in Germany and are implied to have moved to the United States at the start of the European outreak ^note If the author follows the tie-in comics of 28 Weeks Later.
  • For the world as a whole, the vaccine against the Rage Virus was finally completed and distributed on August 1, 2012. Nonetheless, it was criticized as being developed too late to be of significance as the virus had already burned itself out years prior and surviving samples are kept at the highest biosecurity level.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: The SAS see action in protecting VIPs such as Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Royal Family, and other government officials.
  • U.S. Navy SEALs were involved in the operation that shut down and secured Britain's nuclear power plants after the Rage virus burned itself out. Other special forces involved were French, German, and Dutch.
  • Delta Force secured the Isle of Dogs safezone prior to the Second London Outbreak.
• Empathy Doll Shot: A severed arm of 7-year old girl clutching a doll in the aftermath of the Battle of Luton is mentioned to have enraged the British public against the military's recklessness on how to deal with the Infected.
• Face Death with Dignity: Andrew Turnbull, the former Secretary for Cabinet Office, decides to remain in London as it falls to the Infected. His last email to Prime Minister Blair states that he will get drunk and play loud rock music all while the Infected area already prowling in the streets below further stating he does not care if they kill him.
  • One of the British generals decide to remain in the defense of York^note York was the first temporary capital after London was abandoned stating his men will "fight to the last bullet." Nothing was heard from his ever since.
  • The French were determined to face the infection head-on as the Ragers push towards Paris despite knowing the survival of the Republic was slim.
• Foregone Conclusion: For readers that have seen both films, they already know the fate of the named characters that appear on this story.
• Going Down with the Ship: Tony Blair wanted to remain in London, specifically in the bunker underneath Downing Street, as a symbol of how politicians should remain while the people evacuate. Naturally, his security detail had none of this and threw him to the next chopper headed for York.
  • Andrew Turnbull decides to remain in London while ranting about how politicians headed for the hills ^note He does acknowledge that the SAS threw Tony Blair inside the chopper.. In the end, he decides to get drunk and party with loud music as a form of Face Death with Dignity.
  • Tony Blair expressed disgust knowing of the hard fact that they would relocate to Belfast, Northern Ireland for the fourth time^note after the fall of Edinburgh. While this was not officially abandoning the United Kingdom it, meant abandoning the island of Great Britain as a whole.
• Hold the Line: During the evacuation of London, what remained of the London Metropolitan Police fight the infected with riot gear in order to buy the remaining survivors to escape to the south. They fought gallantly until the line collapsed due to the shear weight and numbers of the Infected.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Despite the horrors of the Rage Virus, several atrocities are committed by crazed survivors and rogue soldiers against normal people. Major Markley's and his group of rogue soldiers is one example.
• In Spite of a Nail: The Libyan Civil War still occurs in this timeline, except it occurs earlier in July 2003 rather than March 2011 and has a different outcome in which the Gadaffi faction emerges victorious against the rebels^note Due to the lack of NATO intervention. but not for long.
• Irony: A "Reverse Dunkirk" occurs as millions of British citizens cross the channel into France for refuge
  It was not Tony Blair's Winston Churchill moment and there was no Dunkirk Spirit. The only resemblance to Dunkirk in fact was the British refugees crossing the channel TO France and not the other way around.
• La Résistance: What surviving communities in Britain do against the Infected and rogue British soldiers.
  • In France, the pro-government faction against the coup-plotter factions.
• Last Stand: Occurs several times here from York to Edinburgh.
• Kill It with Fire: Why Manchester burned to the ground since the populace thought burning the city to the ground would kill the Infected outright. While it does kill a significant portion of them, it also takes the city and countless survivors wholed up in the city. The event is known as the Great Manchester Fire.
  • During the Second London Outbreak, the USAF firebombs Isle of Dogs as it was compromised with the Infected. Infected stragglers and human survivors were then burned by U.S. soldiers armed with flamethrowers.
  • One town in France initially defended their town with success by dousing the roads with petrol and burning it as the Infected approached.
• Make the Bear Angry Again: After the Rage virus burns itself out in Europe, Russia moves its forces into the wastelands of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, and Ukraine^note which as this point the government evacuated to Sevastopol in the Crimean Peninsula with the aid of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. It is heavily implied the provisional Ukrainian government is under the influence of Moscow in exchange for aid. as to "protect the survivors from roaming bands of armed gangs that are preying on the people". This all occurs as NATO apparently dissolved and the U.S. having withdrawn from Europe as casualties mounted.
• More Dakka: One British Army general decides to use everything the British Army had to pound the Infected that was approaching Luton. This included machine guns, tanks, armoured vehicles, attack helicopters, and fighter jets. Despite the shear firepower, it only delays the Infected's advance into London.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: To be added.
• Nuclear Option/ Nuke 'em:
  • Initially, there was a serious discussion in the British Parliament to use Britain's nuclear arsenal to destroy towns full of Infected. This was rejected by Tony Blair himself.
  • While French President Jacques Chirac initially dismissed the use of nuclear weapons on the infected at the French northern coast, he is disposed in a coup of hardline generals whose intent was to save the Republic.
    • In fact, the chapter where the French use nuclear weapons is cited Nuke 'Em. Three nuclear bombs are used in the area between the areas of Calais and Dunkirk. It only stalls the Infection as it continues its way south, resulting in the eventual fall of Paris and the collapse of France following a Second French Revolution against the military government. Prior to this, three more bombs are used to level Reims, Dijon, and Orleans which again was futile attempt before the remaining civilian-run French government evacuated to Corsica.
  • The Russians use the nuclear bomb in clearing Lugansk and Donetsk from the Infected when they begin "liberating" Ukraine from the Ragers.
• Police Are Useless: Justified since the police and constables in Cambridge were unaware that the "rioters" were infected with the Rage virus and initially thought that they were high on substances. This is what caused the Rage to spread within Cambridge so fast before it could be stopped.
  • They weren't entirely useless at all. In fact, the many British policemen fought the Infected efficiently using riot gear and the occasional firearms but were only overwhelmed due to the collapse of logistics and supplies as well as the increasing numbers of Infected.
  • Surviving policemen continued to uphold their duty to protect and serve survivor communities once the Rage burned out. During the Scottish Civil War, the remaining police officers sided with MP Galloway's Glasgow faction against the Edinburgh faction.
• The Remnant:
  • The British government relocates to Belfast, Northern Ireland where they continue operations there.
  • While unmentioned, Britain's 15 overseas territories have survived entirely.
  • Glasgow became the next capital of the UK after MP Galloway and his forces secured it from a hostile rival faction.
  • The French government relocated to the island of Corsica after France was engulfed with ragers. The Italians apparently relocated to Sardinia or Sicily.
  • The only countries left untouched by the Rage Virus epidemic in Europe is Spain, Portugal, Malta, Cyprus, and Ireland^note Switzerland and Greece lost some territory.
• Saved by Canon: Some of the named characters as per film continuity.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Some soldiers of the U.S. Army abandon their post and refuse to shoot civilians during the Isle of Dogs Massacre.
• Shown Their Work: The author describes the outbreak in Britain the best way he can including how the government, the British Armed Forces, and the international community would response. Props since he actually lives in the United Kingdom.
  • Even better is despite a few flaws in narrating the European outbreak, it is told in a very spectacular manner that fans of the two films consider it as an accurate Spiritual Successor.
• Spiritual Predecessor: Of 28 Days Later as accepted by the fandom community.
• Spiritual Successor: Of 28 Weeks Later as accepted by the fandom community.
• Storming the Castle: What the Fall of Edinburgh to the infected looked like, considering Edinburgh is a historic castle city. The Black Watch Regiment of the British Army was stated to have held a Last Stand at Edinburgh Castle before being wiped out by the Infected.
• Tank Goodness: Challenger 2 main battle tanks take part in the Battle of Luton. However, as the town became overrun, infected were seen climbing over tanks. In fact, many Challenger 2s were abandoned throughout Britain. One particular use of Challenger 2 was during the Scottish Civil War between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
  • The M1 Abrams is mentioned to be in use by the U.S. Army during the repopulation of Britain.
  • In one point, a French Army tank is mentioned to be running over Carson refugee escaping from Calais. The tank is implied to be a Leclerc main battle tank.
  • The Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams are used by the Bundeswehr and the U.S. Army in the defense of Germany from the Rage Virus.
  • The Russian Ground Forces use the T-72 in clearing their own border towns of the Infected.
• Technically-Living Zombie: As per the film franchise canon.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Happens several times
  • The Battle of Luton for example:
  The British Army launched its offensive to save Luton during the night of 10th May, deploying soldiers equiped with CBRN suits riding in Warrior IFV's backed up by Challenger 2 tanks with Apache helicopter support above whilst the Royal Air Force deployed Torando strike aircraft to contact airstrikes on heavy concentrations of infected. The result was a blood bath, as due to a breakdown in communications, the Ministry of Defence was unaware that thousands of civilians were still trapped in the town, unable to escape due to blocked roads and infected prowling outside their homes, resulting in thousands of innocent men, women and children dying under a hail of cannon, rocket and machinegun fire as well as air strikes. The video footage smuggled out by one brave ITN camerawoman of a severed arm holding a doll would haunt the nation and cause an outcry.
  • The infamous Isle of Dogs massacre.
  The order to exterminate EVERYTHING, infected or uninfected, came through 15 minutes after the first attacks. It was out of control, and the only way of stopping the spread was to kill everyone the virus could potentially spread to.

  Snipers and machineguns gunned down hundreds of people, infected and uninfected. Some began to abandon their posts as the infected numbers grew and panic set in, others abandoned their posts refusing to shoot unarmed civilians.

  Most of the soldiers began to fall back to pre planned positions on the outskirts of district 1 to await helicopter extraction when it became clear all was lost.

  USAF jets began bombing the streets of District 1 within half an hour of the outbreak, killing thousands of infected and uninfected, followed by the deployment of poisonious gas and special forces squads wearing NBC suits and armed with flamethrowers to kill the remaining survivors.

  Three hours after the outbreak, District 1 was devoid of human life, and over 13,000 people lay dead in the streets or in burnt out buildings.
  • Finally how the Russians dealt with outbreaks on their border towns. They pounded it with artillery and aircraft until nothing standing is left. It is brutal and effective.
• Vestigial Empire: Within a few weeks, the United Kingdom effectively ceases to exist, due to the complete breakdown of social order and overwhelming numbers of infected. All that remains is a remnant British government in Northern Ireland, a handful of military units and over a million refugees scattered around the globe.
• The Virus: Officially known as the Human Cortio-Deficiency Virus and commonly known as the Rage Virus.
• A World Half Full: Europe by the 2010s is a desolate wasteland with only Portugal, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland surviving intact. France is governed from Corsica while Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany remain as rump states. Greece has abandoned the mainland to the Corinth Canal and Ionian islands while Turkey abandoned the European side by destroying the Bosphorus bridge, thus sparing the Middle East and Asia of the rage. Poland is mentioned to have entirely collapsed, as well as the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Eastern Europe is reduced to bandits and survival enclaves all while Russia goes into to "liberate" or "protect the survivors" of what was once part of the Soviet Union.
• War Is Hell: The situation in the United Kingdom has been described as a "21st century Holocaust" due to the sheer brutality committed by the Infected which makes Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot look cute in comparison.
• While Rome Burns: The Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceania were sparred of the Rage but they didn't get off scot-free since they also had to deal with the resulting economic crash with the fall of Britain and Europe.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: On the first day of the outbreak, the police did not really know the status of the Infected and attempted to arrest and restrain them thinking they were drunk or high hooligans. It ended up costing several lives. Hence, many surviving officers were shocked to see why their former colleagues suddenly "defected" to the side of the "rioters." These lack of awareness would see why the virus could not be contained so easily.
• Zombie Infectee: At one chapter, a Ukrainian family fleeing into Russia attempts to hide their infected children from Russian border guards. It is discovered too late and is the reason why the rage reached Russia, albeit only the border towns.
• Zombie Apocalypse: As per the setting of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

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