It's a war-themed drama/thriller from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy. It's set in the near future (some time between now and 2025) in Woodland, California, USA. Here's a summary of the original short story: The original story covers the events of the first day. Now, I want to expand it. I know that Woodland must shelter for 4 days. I would like to keep this "1 chapter = 1 day" format going for the first week (from there I'll go by week, then by month later). But what could possibly happen over 4 days in a fallout shelter? I know what will happen once Chris leaves the shelter, but I'm not sure how to fill the time inside the shelter. One idea I had had was this: My MC is a 17yo kid, with no power in the situation, totally helpless and at the mercy of the circumstances around him. What if I have a second character who is the exact opposite, someone who does have power? I'm thinking, perhaps, a top-ranking military general who is now in charge of the nationwide recovery operations. His duties would be coordinating with FEMA, lending vehicles and aircraft to move supplies, providing security to supply convoys, enforcing travel restrictions, maintaining civil order, etc. Basically, my idea is that I'd flip between these two characters every chapter to show how the general's decisions affect the civilians on the ground on the other side of the country. I think, if I do it right, it could be really cool to tie their sides of the story together. However, I do not know how I could accomplish this. But that's just one idea. There are an infinite number of directions I could go with this, and I'm not really set on any of it, so I'm asking for feedback. Where would you, personally, go with this story? The more opinions the better! Thanks.
Sounds like you have a good premise, I'll be interested to see how your story unfolds. As to what can happen during four days in a fall out shelter? Panic, fighting, people demanding to know something, people fighting over who should be in charge, over food, and pretty much whatever you can think of. Remember Hurricane Katrina a few years back and how everyone was packed into the sports stadium for weeks? They ran low on water and other supplies. Maybe the fall out shelter doesn't have enough rations for everyone, maybe there's only enough food and water for three days, not four and they are asking everyone to skip one meal to help make things last into that fourth day. Maybe there's people outside the shelter trying to get into the shelter and some of the people inside are trying to let them in. Lots of drama can occur in four days in a confined area with a bunch of strangers with different personalities.
