Samuel Ferguson stopped working on his chores in the fields. He stood erect and bent backwards then from side to side to stretch his aching back. He looked up at the hot dry sky remembering that his family told him they had hidden themselves in a canyon over sixty years ago to escape the collapse of civilisation where governments used to look after its citizens, but not now.

The world had been a better place before the troubles, or was it? The people then had built a house of cards that looked impressive with strong vibrant economies, but all you needed to do was blow a little air on it and the whole thing came tumbling down.

During financial difficulties, governments manipulated interest rates and used its money to shore up a failing system, so people and governments spent as if there was no tomorrow, but it’s all about people’s confidence levels. The bankrupt countries could spend no more. Whether in democracies or totalitarian states, rebellions arose because of soaring inflation and shortages of food. The governments collapsed and what remained was another Dark Age.

Sam wondered what had happened to the world in that sixty years. Their community’s wind generators and solar panels were failing in their canyon, making it more difficult to live within the confines of it. They required parts and someone had to leave and get what they needed. Others in their community had ventured out into the unknown, but had never returned. He vowed to be the first one to do it.