History TheElitesJumpShip / Literature

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends:''In, ''The Chaos Connection'', a newscaster mentions that the President, Vice-President and Joint Chiefs have secluded themselves in an underground bunker even as the government tells citizens not to worry about the escalating terrorist attacks.

* In Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath'' a wealthy duke and his fellow nobles attempt to wait out a deadly plague decimating the populace by holding a constant party in a secluded abbey. [[EverybodyDiesEnding It doesn't work out well for them]], with the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the plague itself arriving to kill them all.

** The CorruptCorporateExecutive who created a fake anti-zombie vaccine known as "Phalanx" (actually an anti-rabies vaccine he started selling when the zombie virus was still known as "African rabies", even though it was neither rabies nor from Africa) runs off to a private island rented from Russia in order to escape prosecution as well as the zombies.
** In a clearer example of this trope, a huge group of A-list celebrities, most of them famous -- with a lot of NoCelebritiesWereHarmed going on -- take refuge in a beautiful, reinforced mansion on Long Island... [[IdiotBall which is broadcasting 24/7 to the people]]. [[TemptingFate In an inevitable turn of events]], hundreds of desperate refugees break into the mansion looking for some form of solace or shelter, the scene descends into chaos and anarchy, and most (if not all) of the elites are killed and their bodyguards and other servants abandon it.

** The South African government retreats to a bunker where they finalize a solution that involves a TheNeedsOfTheMany sacrifice, although it is noted that at least one of the cabinet members there would "rather be fighting in the streets than cowering in a bunker" and is only there due to orders. This becomes known as "The Redecker Plan", originally devised during apartheid to be used to shield "important" members of society in case of a mass uprising by the black population, and revolves around setting up safe zones with civilians to distract the zombies while the government and military fortify and regroup elsewhere. With the exception of Israel (which had prepared enough to not need to before the Great Panic) and possibly North Korea, the majority of the world's surviving countries ended up using their own version of it.
** Seemingly defied by North Korea, though the interviee theorizes they're actually a ''massive'' case being played straight; the entire country vanished off the face of the Earth shortly before the Great Panic, and later expiditions discovered that the NK government had constructed massive, underground shelters to ride out the ZombieApocalypse. However, rather than any sort of benevolence or equality, the narrator thinks it's actually a case of Kim Jong Il taking all his servants with him, as the people of North Korea are little more than slaves to their dictator. However, none of this is confirmed, as no contact has been made with anyone in North Korea since their disappearance.

** Seemingly defied by North Korea, though the interviee theorizes they're actually a ''massive'' case being played straight; the entire country vanished off the face of the Earth shortly before the Great Panic, and later expiditions discovered that the NK government had constructed massive, underground shelters to ride out the ZombieApocalypse. However, rather than any sort of benevolence or equality, the narrator thinks it's actually a case of Kim-Jong taking all his servants with him, as the people of North Korea are little more than slaves to their dictator. However, none of this is confirmed, as no contact has been made with anyone in North Korea since their disappearance.

* Seemingly defied by North Korea, though the interviee theorizes they're actually a ''massive'' case being played straight; the entire country vanished off the face of the Earth shortly before the Great Panic, and later expiditions discovered that the NK government had constructed massive, underground shelters to ride out the ZombieApocalypse. However, rather than any sort of benevolence or equality, the narrator thinks it's actually a case of Kim-Jong taking all his servants with him, as the people of North Korea are little more than slaves to their dictator. However, none of this is confirmed, as no contact has been made with anyone in North Korea since their disappearance.

** The CorruptCorporateExecutive who has touted what turns out to be a false treatment runs off to a private island rented from Russia in order to escape prosecution as well as the zombies.

** The South African government retreats to a bunker where they finalize a solution that involves a TheNeedsOfTheMany sacrifice, although it is noted that at least one of the cabinet members there would "rather be fighting in the streets than cowering in a bunker" and is only there due to orders.

* ''Literature/TheThreeInvestigators:'' In ''The Blazing Cliffs'', unpopular businessman Charles Barron is convinced that society is on the verge of collapse, and has withdrawn to a well-maintained self-sufficient ranch as he waits for his beliefs to be vindicated. A group of conmen fake a BenevolentAlienInvasion and offer to take Barron, his wife, and their valuables off-planet before an imminent war and then bring them back to Earth to be leaders of society once the war is over. Barron is prepared to follow their instructions (although to be fair, he does think that his employees will be fairly safe back on the ranch, and many of them already think the whole thing is fishy) before being convinced that he's being conned.
-->'''Ranch Foreman Hank Detweiler:''' Why should they want Barron? He's no genius. He's rich, that's all. Do the rich go first class even on Doomsday?

* In ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'', a massive fire breaks out in Ankh-Morpork. The citizens from the richer quarters across the river are seen [[SarcasmMode ''heroically'']] chopping down the bridges to prevent refugees from invading to reach safety.
* ''Literature/Flood1979'' : When a fracturing dam threatens to flood a lower class Latino neighborhood, the authorities plan to flood a (largely evacuated) wealthy neighborhood on the outskirts of town to divert some of the water. Many of its residents are unhappy about losing their houses, and one who refuses to evacuate tries to bribe an engineer to sabotage the diversion.
* Attempted in the final novel of ''Literature/TheInterdependency''. Once the leaders of several Guild Houses were convinced there really ''was'' a problem, their plan was to evacuate themselves and their families to the one place that would survive the upcoming collapse and leave the commoners to die.
* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', a few prominent examples are seen:
** The CorruptCorporateExecutive who has touted what turns out to be a false treatment runs off to a private island rented from Russia in order to escape prosecution as well as the zombies.
** In a clearer example of this trope, a huge group of A-list celebrities, most of them famous -- with a lot of NoCelebritiesWereHarmed going on -- take refuge in a beautiful, reinforced mansion on Long Island... [[IdiotBall which is broadcasting 24/7 to the people]]. [[TemptingFate In an inevitable turn of events]], hundreds of desperate refugees break into the mansion looking for some form of solace or shelter, the scene descends into chaos and anarchy, and most (if not all) of the elites are killed and their bodyguards and other servants abandon it.
** [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen Elizabeth II]] is noted as being an incredibly rare subversion, as in-universe, she refuses to leave the UK during the zombie attacks, although she sends her family to a more secure area.
** The Chinese government remains stationed in a secure bunker while issuing chaotic and bizarre commands which whittle down the army outside, "ordering wave after wave of conscripted teenagers into battle." It gets to the point where a rebel coalition begins fighting a two-front war between them and the zombies before nuking their bunker.
** The South African government retreats to a bunker where they finalize a solution that involves a TheNeedsOfTheMany sacrifice, although it is noted that at least one of the cabinet members there would "rather be fighting in the streets than cowering in a bunker" and is only there due to orders.
** Also defied by Israel, who wall off their entire country but first invite others to come while there's still time.
* In the first book of ''Literature/TheAshesSeries'' book, President-elect Hilton Logan is faced with a nuclear war being caused by WesternTerrorists who are partially motivated by the sleazy actions Logan took to become president and his plans for the future of the country. The terrorists have murdered the president pro tempore and most of his chain of succession. Rather than stay in Washington D.C. and try to help the joint chiefs of staff resolve the crisis, Logan promptly flees to the countryside, waits until the missile exchange has ended, and then emerges, asserting his right to rule over what's left of America, and sending the brunt of the surviving military after anyone who won't recognize his authority.

** In the short story "Descent into the Underworld," Italian villagers come into conflict with the inhabitants of a nearby ElaborateUndergroundBase (complete with a movie theater and swimming pool) inhabited by wealthy American doomsday preppers. A year after the ZombieApocalypse, the PrivateMilitaryContractors guarding the bunker and at least some of the rich families inside it plan to steal the village's harvest. They also kidnap a child as a ReplacementGoldfish for a family whose daughter drowns in the pool.
** In the short story "Chase the Sunset," several Canadian soldiers discuss a list of their upcoming assignments. One of those assignments is liberating a six hundred-foot-deep bunker that houses the Canadian prime minister, a [=NORAD=] general, ten members of Parliament, and "assorted aides, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives and mistresses."
* Demonstrated by the Indian Prime Minister in ''Literature/EndersShadow''. In the second book, ''Shadow Of The Hegemon'', when the Indian Empire finds itself set up for invasion and conquest by China thanks to Achilles, the Indian Prime Minister flees the country rather than be caught by China. The third book sees Virlomi, an Indian graduate of Battle School, successfully free India, then deny the Prime Minister's claim of a government in exile and assume power herself, stating that it is a leader's job to protect their people, not run to safety and leave them to despots.
* In Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath'' a wealthy duke and his fellow nobles attempt to wait out a deadly plague decimating the populace by holding a constant party in a secluded abbey. [[EverybodyDiesEnding It doesn't work out well for them]], with the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the plague itself arriving to kill them all.

* In ''Literature/SixWakes'', it's mentioned that most of the {{Human Popsicle}}s who signed on to the ''Dormire'''s voyage to Tau Ceti did so, in part, because the Earth is starting to become a CrapsackWorld thanks to GaiasLament. Hence the quote above.

* This is the core plot of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', as elite businessmen and industrialists disappear from the world stage in protest of growing socialist policies, forming their own community called Galt's Gulch. By author Creator/AynRand's Objectivism philosophy, as well as the HumansAreBastards nature of the populace, they're considered the ''heroes'' of the story.
** Some fans of the book will occasionally talk of "Going Galt", i.e. abandoning civilisation as described in the novel[[note]]... although without the magical, thermodynamics-defying motor, invisibility cloak, and everything else that the novel creates in order to prop up the idea[[/note]]. On those rare occasions that they follow through, [[https://www.vice.com/en/article/bn53b3/atlas-mugged-922-v21n10 it doesn't tend to end well]].
* In the backstory of ''Literature/TheReclamationProject'' humans abandoned the surface of the Earth when civilization collapsed, moving up to flying cities held in the air by anti-gravity.
* Occurred in the backstory of the ''Literature/{{Wayfarers}}'' series; when Earth's biosphere collapsed, the wealthy elite took off to colonize Mars instead, while those left behind were forced to cannibalize the remaining cities into the {{Generation Ship}}s of the Exodus Fleet and wander the galaxy until some friendly aliens found them. There's still a bit of tension about this between the descendants of the two groups.
* ''Atlantis Found'', one of the ''Literature/DirkPittAdventures'' has a cabal of ultra-wealthy Nazi descendants getting an inkling of a meteor that will come to destroy Earth and spending the next several decades focused on building immensely durable and luxurious cruise ships for themselves and their followers. And when further calculations show the meteor won't hit Earth after all they decide to ''cause'' a disaster of similar magnitude by using nanotechnology to disrupt the Earth's crust so they can still wipe out everyone besides their empire. On a smaller note, when the U.S. military attacks their headquarters, it's noted that members of the founding family think nothing of using their guards as CanonFodder in an effort to ensure their own survival and escape.
* In ''Literature/{{Colony}}'' once the ship starts malfunctioning, the leaders off the ship (save its PuppetKing) prepare to flee in a very small escape pod without allowing any public debate on who else gets to come with them. Most of them get talked out of it though. It ends up being a moot point, as the [[SinisterMinister ship's chaplain]] takes the pod for himself and the ship's prostitutes. The book's basic premise could be considered this trope as well, with the elites in question being the top experts in their fields being sent out to find a new home for the human race with the rest to follow, which apparently never happened.

* ''Literature/SpyHigh'':

* The Literature/LiadenUniverse novel ''Crystal Dragon'' is set during an interstellar war; when the invading enemy armies start getting near the planet Solcintra, the rich and powerful buy up all available shipping and take off for fortified hiding places farther from the battlefront, leaving the rest of the population to take their chances. (The fortified hiding places get wiped out, while the remnant population of Solcintra work together and survive.)
* ''Literature/WhenWorldsCollide'': Attempted but averted when a rich wall street tycoon tries to buy his way into the HomeworldEvacuation with [[WorthlessYellowRocks now worthless money]] despite having refused to finance the building of the rocket ship earlier. He gets laughed out of there.

* ''Literature/TheLostFleet'': While it doesn't happen all the time, there are multiple occasions when, after a Syndic planet insists on picking a fight with Geary's fleet, Geary observes the military, political and business leaders of the planet retreating to various bunkers or moons while leaving the common soldiers and workers behind to die. Whenever this happens he tries to specifically target wherever said elites fled to while often specifically ignoring those they abandoned. In both the final book of the original series and the ''Literature/TheLostStars'' sequel series, CEO (later President) Iceni and General Drakon of the Midway system both specifically avert this by not abandoning their system in the face of enemy bombardment and/or alien invasions (although they are briefly tempted), choosing to remain behind (and execute a few CorruptCorporateExecutive's who they do catch trying to flee themselves) and share their planets fate, [[KarmicJackpot which builds their prestige when the day is saved]].
* ''Literature/{{Flood}}'': As the Earth is slowly flooded, MegaCorp CEO Nathan Lammockson engages in a little bit of this; setting up first a secret city for an affluent minority in the Andes Mountains, then a self-sustaining cruise ship, an underwater habitat and also a small-scale HomeworldEvacuation, all of which experience at least some problems. None of these are ''just'' for Elites, but they do contain a fair number of them (with Nathan pulling some strings to get a woman pregnant with his grandchild aboard the spaceship). This causes problems on the spaceship where everyone on the crew is supposed to have necessary skills.
* ''Literature/{{Wool}}'': In the backstory, members of the American government used a super weapon to wipe out everyone in the world except for a couple hundred thousand Americans they'd put in silo-like survival bunkers that they'd spent years making in preparation of the event, feeling that their actions are necessary to keep humanity from being destroyed by a war. Notably, the vast majority of the people they got to go into the silos went in under false pretenses and had no idea that the world was going to end. Zigzagged if you accept the sequels and prequels as canon, given that they state that the original people behind the slaughter ''are still alive and running things'' due to [[HumanPopsicle having themselves frozen for cryogenic shifts]] and some of them eventually plan to blow up 49 of the 50 silos (including their own) in order to completely destroy knowledge of the old world.

* In Creator/AlexanderBelyaev's ''The Leap into the Void'', a group of aristocratic and financial elites commission a German engineer to build a line of spaceships that will allow them to escape Earth on the eve of the impending global socialist revolution, wait it out on UsefulNotes/{{Venus}} (the novel was written before the scientists discovered just what kind of hellhole Venus actually was) until their loyal troops subdued the uprising, then return to claim their rightful place. Unfortunately for them, only one ship is actually built and takes off in time to outrun the revolution, and a socialist mole among the servants they brought along (because, of course, they wouldn't wash their own dishes) makes sure that the "parasites" are left behind on Venus when the ship heads back home upon receiving the news of the revolution's victory.
* ''Literature/TheSecretRunnersOfNewYork'' features a contagion that kills 99.5% of humanity. The narrator's parents and most of their acquaintances pay $17 million apiece to ride things out in an island refuge. When the narrator travels into the future and journeys to the island, she discovers that it was attacked by angry lower-class survivors who killed or chased away all the elites.
* ''Sold -- For a Spaceship'' by Philip High is set in the aftermath of a global ecological catastrophe. A ruling elite who escaped into space attempt to return to Earth, but find that they are unable to survive, whereas those left behind have adapted.
* ''Literature/TheLockedTomb: Literature/NonaTheNinth'': Ten thousand years ago, the Earth was on the cusp of climate apocalypse, and the man later known as John Gaius was the lead scientist on cryostasis technology that would allow the entire human population to evacuate to a habitable exoplanet aboard a fleet of generation ships. Until, that is, the world's trillionaires pulled strings to get the project shut down, and its resources diverted to fund their own, private evacuation effort, and leave the rest of humanity to die. The callousness of it all, along with the flagrant lies and corruption required to keep the trillionaires' project going and convince the population that everyone would still be saved, is ''the'' reason for the Emperor's 10,000-year-long vendetta [[SinsOfTheFather against their descendants]].
* ''Literature/HeavyObject'': In Volume 18, it's revealed that the elites in charge of various off-world colonization programs determined they wouldn't succeed for a number of reasons. Instead they redirected the resources into constructing self-sustaining bunker cities where they could ride out the apocalypse in comfort. They even funded the creation of a spaceborne Object specifically because its destruction would result in a cataclysmic impact wiping out the surface. Frolaytia ends up killing everyone in one of the cities on discovering the plan.

* ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'': In Volume 18, it's revealed that the elites in charge of various off-world colonization programs determined they wouldn't succeed for a number of reasons. Instead they redirected the resources into constructing self-sustaining bunker cities where they could ride out the apocalypse in comfort. They even funded the creation of a spaceborne Object specifically because its destruction would result in a cataclysmic impact wiping out the surface. Frolaytia ends up killing everyone in one of the cities on discovering the plan.