A Beginning

A Beginning

The State of Affairs that Led to the Collapse of the Government

Following the third Gulf War, oil supplies ran incredibly scarce. As governments and societies throughout the world attempted to adapt themselves to a world where oil was no longer a resource that could be taken for granted, strict restrictions on fuel consumption were imposed, which included rationing and a whole host of other measures, such as requiring cars to fill up their tanks on certain days, inspecting households and fining those that went over their fuel limit, and increasing use of mass transit. As fuel supplies continued to decrease, governments around the world began increasing use of renewable energy.

Many countries were able to adapt more easily to this, but in the United States (where our story takes place), the adoption of renewable energies were done in patchwork fashion, with certain parts of the country, such as the Northeast and the West Coast, adopting it more readily and easily than other parts such as the Midwest and Southeast. Mass transit proved a bigger challenge however, as the infrastructure for transit in the United States was built around the assumption that people would drive to their places of work, home, and school. Because of this, mass transit proved to be at best a halfway solution for people in many cities throughout the country, and that ultimately led to major issues as citizens groaned at the ineffective mass transit that only took them part of the way through the large cities they lived in. Riots began at the government’s inability to make cities more mass-transit friendly, and these riots quickly escalated into a general sense of discontentment with a government that seemed aloof to the citizenry’s concerns. Matters were not helped by the fact that the government used up large amounts of oil and other such resources on the military and certain government officials and institutions, which led citizens to complain that the government was taking away resources that belonged to them.

Over time, these sentiments continued to rise to the surface, and people started to rebel against local city and state governments. The national government attempted to send troops in to provide reinforcements and quash the revolt, but the citizenry armed themselves and fought back against these troops. It wasn’t very long before committees of citizens took over states across the nation, and the national government began losing its power. Because of this, the government made a strategic decision—it would stop fighting back then and there. It would instead retreat to Washington, D.C. and small areas in the outlying parts of the district that entered into Virginia and Maryland. It would work on rebuilding its armed forces and wait until the time was right for it to restore order once more.

With most of the country no longer under the control of the national government, state governments took over, but these weaker state governments were unable to prevent roving gangs from taking over large parts of the states and cities. Our cast of main characters finds themselves in San Fransisco, controlled by several roving gangs, and in the outskirts and the deserts nearby, also patrolled and run by multiple gangs as state governments, weak and underfunded, have proved unable to maintain little more than a token presence unable to provide much, if any, resistance.



On the Road

As the camera pans into the footage, we see a large desert that seemingly stretches without end. Small cactuses and tumbleweeds roll around, and off in the distance, large canyons appear. Driving along a small, two-lane road, we see a man driving a motorcycle.

The audience catches but a momentary glimpse at the man, who is dressed in a pair of jeans with a shirt, a jean jacket, and a pair of boots. Along with these things he also wears a pair of sunglasses and a helmet. He then passes by in a blur, as he continues on driving in the motorcycle without end.

In one of the approaching canyons, a group of bandits have set up an outpost. Society and government have fallen, and it is bandits, and civilians who have formed themselves into groups, who now wield the law.

Our main character, Ryan Anderson, was himself part of the government, or more specifically, part of the government’s armed forces (the US Army). He was discharged, however, and now is forced to live a civilian life. Even there, though, he still runs his life much like a soldier would.

At the moment, he is trying to drive to San Francisco, where he lives and where the ragtag group of people who he heads are.

He continues on riding in his motorcycle, and it fades into a blur as the show transitions to depicting the group he heads.

San Francisco

In a large house just outside the outskirts of San Francisco, we see the outside of the house. It’s a pretty big house, with two stories, a porch, and a rooftop with a chimney.

It was torn and worn down when Ryan purchased it five years before the government collapsed, which allowed him to get it for really cheap. It also helped that no one had lived there for a while.

With those things out of the way, he spent a lot of time and money remodeling the house to bring it up to par and update it. The house, with five rooms and four bathrooms, was very large, and it wasn’t easy, but he did manage to do it.

Once the government fell, he had a large house that he lived in, but the rising threat from bandits who would seize and rob led him to prepare mechanisms to protect the house from intruders.

While the government began to start collapsing, Ryan found a job after being discharged from the Army as a consultant for a technology firm. The job was somewhat tedious, but it paid him well, and it also helped that he had somewhat of an interest in technology. However, as the situation worsened, the place he worked for closed, and he was forced to adopt a new life in an unforgiving world.

As the government began to fall, Ryan had several interactions with multiple people, each with their own colorful and unique personalities, who became part of his group.

These people formed the group that he would head, and though their struggles and challenges weren’t easy, they formed a bond, albeit one not completely based on affection.

Turning to the inside of the house, we see the house’s living room and kitchen. In a corner of the house, we see a stairway. On a mat in the living room, we see Max, Ryan’s pet Siberian Husky nuzzled in the corner.

Off in the kitchen, we see Joanna and Sarah preparing a meal for the group while Isabel watches a telenovela (a kind of Spanish soap opera). Aside from that, those are the people to be found on the first floor of the house.

On the second floor, we see the house’s office space. It’s the center of operations and the main computer room, and it is there that Logan can be found. Hunched to his Alienware laptop, we see him typing furiously. Zooming in closer, we can see a command line prompt that he is typing into.

Leaving the room, and heading to the other, we can see Miyamoto Tsukuba in his room. On the right corner, we see a shelf full of manga and figures from a slew of manga and anime. Hanging on a corner of the room is his most prized possession—a katana which was gifted to him by his grandfather. On the left corner, beside his nightstand, we see his Remington rifle and an AK-47. Hung in his closet are his regular clothes, several cosplay outfits, his kendo gear, and a bunch of other things.

After passing by his room, we go to another room. Frenetic noise can be heard, and upon entering the room, a large television is shown on a corner of the room. In it, a soccer match is shown. A small bed faces the television, and in it, Jose watches the television intently, wrapped by its sheets, as the match goes on.











Script notes

Ryan has several lines of dialogue spoken with a commanding voice.
Jason and Miyamoto also have some dialogue, but theirs are kept to a minimum; in short, they barely speak, reflecting their introverted personalities.
Jose doesn’t speak at all, but that’s because he’s intently focused on the match.

(Note: these would refer to the first episode, which would be split into three parts—Ryan riding on his way to San Francisco and dealing with bandits and circumstances on his way there, catching a glimpse at the interactions and way the rest of the group lives, and Ryan returning, reuniting with the group, and staring out the window, as a large threat from roaming bandits begins to emerge.)