The Lay Low Scenario
The world had other plans. Adam had his own.
“Where is my lucky shirt? I need it for the all-hands meeting!” Adam’s dad hopped around the living room wearing nothing but a towel.
“I haven’t seen it in ages. You probably left it at the gym.” Mom sorted through a mountain of laundry.
“Mom, I’ll grab breakfast at the library.” Adam headed for the door.
“Are you walking or rolling to the library?” Mom arrived in the living room holding up a mud-stained T-shirt.
Adam had already left.
Looking at her husband, she shrugged, ”Maybe you should wear this.”
Adam stood with a mattock in his hands, staring at the small patch of land he had cleared of weeds the previous week.
Today was the first tillage.
Not far away, a tractor equipped with a modern one-pass tillage unit was doing the same job across an enormous field in a fraction of the time.
Adam tried not to look.
He was only halfway finished when the tractor rolled over and stopped beside him.
An old man in his seventies climbed down. He grabbed a cold beer, settled into a sun lounger, and watched.
“You’re doing it wrong. Dig a couple more inches.”
Adam sighed and kept working.
By the time old man Rick opened his fourth beer, Adam dropped into the chair beside him, exhausted.
“I still don’t understand why you’re learning these ancient farming methods.”
“Your tractor stops working when it runs out of fuel.”
Neither of them spoke for a while.
Adam watched farming videos on YouTube where everything looked ridiculously easy.
Rick broke the silence. “Are you sure society will collapse?”
Adam didn’t even look up. “It already has, in some places. Do you really believe the civil war in India is only about religion? Or that European countries closed their borders purely for security reasons?”
“But isn’t our country supposed to be strong and self-sufficient?” Rick imitated a populist politician.
Adam laughed. “I thought we’d be the first to fall.”
“I’m glad I never married or had children. I feel sorry for the world we’re leaving your generation.” Rick took another sip of beer.
“Your generation not having children is actually a catalyst.”
“Why don’t you spend time with people your own age?” Rick pointed at a group of teenagers jogging in the distance.
“I can’t stand their childishness. Evolutionarily speaking, humans only need adult friends.”
Rick chuckled. “Evolutionarily speaking… don’t you need a romantic interest?”
“I do have one. Unfortunately, she’s thirty years old, and she’s my economics teacher.”
Rick nearly spat out his beer.
When Adam returned home, the atmosphere felt different.
His parents sat silently together on the sofa.
His mother hurried over.
“Your dad’s company is shutting down.”
The television showed breaking news with the sound muted.
More than 100 companies had declared bankruptcy in the past three days.
Adam walked straight to his room.
For the next half hour, he searched news sites, economic reports, and discussion groups.
Protests. Riots. Insurance companies collapsing. Supply chains breaking.
Then he returned.
His parents hadn’t moved.
Adam picked up the television remote and started a prerecorded video.
“Mom. Dad. Please watch this.”
“Running a government is like running a business. For decades, governments around the world have made one terrible business decision after another.”
As the Adam on the screen continued explaining, the real Adam stepped out of the room. He sent a message to a private group.
“It is starting. Proceed with the ‘Lay Low’ scenario. This is not a drill.”
By the time he returned, the recording was ending.
“I hope I’m wrong, but humor me for one week.”
He placed two backpacks on the floor.
His mother opened one.
Canned food. Flashlights. Rope.
“Shouldn’t we bring money? Our documents?”
Adam shook his head.
She continued unpacking the bag.
Knives. First-aid supplies.
Then she smiled.
Folded neatly at the bottom was his father’s lucky shirt.
Rick pulled the reinforced cellar door shut.
From outside, there was no sign that the entrance even existed.
As they descended the stairs, Adam’s father looked around at the shelves stacked with supplies.
“How long do you think this chaos will last?”
“My guess is two years. Maybe ten. We have enough rations for five.”
His mother swallowed. “Are you really expecting hunger… violence… people dying?”
“I’m fairly certain.”
He pointed toward the radio. “We’ll know soon enough.”
A sudden noise echoed above them.
Everyone froze.
Another sound.
Footsteps.
Rick’s face turned pale.
“How did they find the entrance?”
Adam held up a finger.
“Shhh.”
Then came three knocks.
A pause.
Two knocks.
Another pause.
One final knock.
Adam smiled.
“Rick. Open the door.”
A minute later, a woman carrying a backpack walked in.
She smiled at Adam. “I made it.”
“Hi, I am Eve. Adam’s economics teacher.”
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Humanity Reinvented is now open for ARC readers.
Ten speculative flash fiction stories. Each one reimagines a single human element.