Blinding White Flash

Occurs during the collapse of society due to natural gas and oil depletion.

The winter of 2016, called Black Winter, triggers the beginning of the end of modern civilization due to natural gas depletion. Millions freeze to death, millions more lose their jobs. Coupled with an oil embargo in the Middle East, and North America is in economic collapse. Riots abound.

China, hungry for oil and raw materials, uses the chaos in the United States to invade Canada to get at our forests, farmlands and above all our tar sands for the oil. They must be stopped. This sparks a world war.

This is a story of a father and son team, from a small town in Southwestern Ontario, who join in the fight to repel the invaders. During their yearlong journey through the Rockies and into the north lands of Alberta they find out what the effects of peak oil has meant to the people they meet along the way. This includes what happens in hospitals, to those in jails, to roving gangs who take over and rule like dictators, to those dedicated to preserving some part of our past, to the kindness that exists in some people regardless of the hardships they are in.

During their journey they meet people whom they become friends with, to subsequently have them separated due to events they cannot control. A sad realization that what they were experiencing was a short-lived version of what happens in normal daily lives -- people come and go in and out of our lives.

One finds out that he has no problem doing his job, in fact realizes he is a natural, and in his true realm. The other thought he could kill, but finds out during their trip that he can’t do it. The two understand the other, but often lock horns over their differences.

The big dilemma for the military action is how to stop the invaders from coming through the Rockies. This problem is exacerbated by the limited fuels available for military machinery. High tech military might is useless without the oil that runs it. This means more feet on the ground than technological superiority. Volunteers are needed on mass to help the defenses, but one of the characters just does not believe in playing by the rules and wants to act on his own. This leads to conflicts between him and the military command, but at the same time saves their butts.

The story is also about how the actions of one person can have wide ranging cascading effects, known as the Law of Unexpected Consequences.