Life Without the Internet

A nationwide internet blackout throws the United States into chaos.

Laura, a teacher, and Jack, a writer, gather a group to help society remember how to live without technology. A story of fear, hope, and rediscovery.

Life Without the Internet

Author: Faramarz Parsa

Flights across the United States stopped at the same moment.

The last sentence broadcast on TV and radio was short and chilling:

“All communications are down.”

Then came the silence.

No internet.

No phones.

No radio signals.

No satellites.

It was as if an invisible hand had torn every technological root from the ground.

No one knew whether this disaster was limited to America or had spread across the world.

No one could contact anyone.

And this uncertainty—slow and creeping—spread through society like a disease.

People were confused at first.

Then irritated.

And finally… terrified.

Streets filled with screams that turned into protests,

And protests that turned into chaos.

A society addicted to glowing screens and instant updates suddenly faced a forgotten truth:

How to live without the internet.

Stores were looted.

Food supplies would barely last a month or two.

No one dared think about tomorrow.

But this is where the story truly begins…

A Cabin Near the Oregon Border

In a mountain region, Laura—an intelligent and gentle teacher—sat in her small wooden cabin with her husband Jack, a writer of imaginative fiction.

The world around them had fallen silent in a way they had never heard before.

Weeks of unrest had swallowed the nearby towns:

power outages, food shortages, scattered looting.

Time no longer mattered; days drifted like smoke between people’s fingers.

In such a world, relationships either blossomed… or broke apart.

And in the ruins of that collapsing society, Jack and Laura stood—two people unsure of what they feared more:

the world outside, or the darkness growing inside themselves.

People were hungry, lost, and helpless.

No official message, no warning, no guidance.

The wind carried the smell of smoke and burnt plastic through empty streets.

The distant sound of shattering glass echoed like the wings of restless crows.

Laura whispered:

— People think life is over… but only the internet has died, not life itself.

Jack, more serious than ever, said:

— If we don’t remind them, they’ll never remember. We have to act before people turn on each other.

Five Groups — Not to Fight, but to Prevent Fighting

With help from Ernest, a retired special-forces soldier,

James, a precise sniper,

Danny and his tactical team,

and several farmers and ranchers,

they formed five groups.

Five groups, each with five hundred people—

not to wage war, but to keep one from beginning.

Many looked at them with doubt.

So much fear.

So much chaos.

Could people truly survive without the internet?

Laura smiled:

— If we can live, they can too.

When social media went dark, people suddenly faced something they hadn’t seen in years:

Themselves.

Families who lived under the same roof but apart from each other now had to talk.

Children who lived inside their screens now had to look outside.

And those who defined themselves by likes felt utterly lost.

At a gathering, Jack shouted:

— We lived before the internet! We had food, farms, skills.

Technology was meant to help us—not make us forget who we are!

For the first time… people listened.

Learning to Live Again

The groups taught basic survival and community skills:

• baking bread

• growing vegetables and wheat

• raising livestock

• finding directions without GPS

• and how to entertain themselves without screens

Slowly, people realized:

Life… was still life.

The sun still rose.

The earth still offered food.

And humans could still speak to one another.

Ernest told his group:

— We’re not here to fight. We’re here to help people remember what it means to be human.

The First Test

But the challenges were far from over.

Just hours later, raider groups—seeking power rather than food—began attacking farms and storage sheds.

They eventually reached Jack and Laura’s home.

Dust-covered faces, dry throats, red eyes from hunger and sleeplessness.

Jack whispered:

— Desperate people are always more dangerous than wicked ones.

The leader of the raiders shouted:

— Bring out all your supplies!

But Jack and Laura had promised themselves that violence would be the last resort.

Laura stepped forward:

— You think you’re strong? Strength is in building, not destroying.

The raider leader laughed bitterly:

— Words won’t fill our stomachs. Bring it out, or we take it by force.

Laura took another brave step:

— How long can you keep stealing? Sooner than you think, everything will run out.

Why not build with us? Work with the land? Then there will be enough for all of us.

Amazingly…

many of the raiders surrendered.

Perhaps because for the first time, someone had spoken to them like they were human.

Rebuilding Life

Weeks passed.

Small villages formed.

Fields grew green again.

And a peace settled in—strangely deeper than the noisy days of social media.

One calm night by a fire, Jack said:

— Maybe the internet will return someday…

But today you all learned something greater:

The hardship was only a fear living in our minds.

People smiled—softly, sincerely.

Months later, suddenly, the power returned.

Phones lit up.

Screens glowed again.

But this time, no one rushed to them.

They simply smiled.

Laura said:

— Whether the internet is here or not…

It no longer controls us.

Humanity had discovered that without the internet, we don’t just survive—

we can live.