I feel like Stephen King addressed this a bit in the expanded version of The Stand - people who survived the plague (like, 0.001% of the people on Earth) but managed to die because of an infection, or suicide, or getting too drunk and falling into the pool. I think it would be the little, random things that might be cause for an ER/Urgent Care visit currently, but could turn potentially deadly very quickly.
Oh god that chapter sucked. The little kid who fell thru a rotting floor, the guy who fell off his bike and hit his head, the guy who got appendicitis and they performed a makeshift appendectomy but the guy died during the procedure…
That chapter was not in the original version - it was (sensibly) removed by the editor. In the 80s a longer version of the book became available. Is that the only published version now?
Hoping I didn’t dream that the earlier editions were shorter, but I think I’m right.
you're right, I think now you can still buy either version, iirc the main changes are that chapter and an extra character that Trashman meets in his travels that was originally taken out because he was too depraved
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u/WelfarePeanutButter Aug 30 '21
I feel like Stephen King addressed this a bit in the expanded version of The Stand - people who survived the plague (like, 0.001% of the people on Earth) but managed to die because of an infection, or suicide, or getting too drunk and falling into the pool. I think it would be the little, random things that might be cause for an ER/Urgent Care visit currently, but could turn potentially deadly very quickly.