I recently attended the Atlanta Writers conference. I was asked one question multiple times. I reference VX, a highly lethal chemical weapon in my manuscript. I was repeatedly questioned if this is a real thing. Yes!
No seriously it exists, it is a manmade substance for one purpose and one purpose only to kill. It is a chemical nerve agent that has horrific side effects depending on the severity of exposure. Yes, a single drop can kill, however you can survive if you do the right things.
Don't take my word for it the CDC was one site I used to do research on this evil liquid for my manuscript. Here is an excerpt:
- The extent of poisoning caused by VX depends on how much VX a person was exposed to, how the person was exposed, and the length of time of the exposure.
- Symptoms will appear within a few seconds after exposure to the vapor form of VX, and within a few minutes to up to 18 hours after exposure to the liquid form.
- VX is the most potent of all nerve agents. Compared with the nerve agent sarin (also known as GB), they consider VX to be much more toxic by entry through the skin and somewhat more toxic by inhalation.
- It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal.
As a thriller writer, I want to scare you, so things like this need to be real. I want my books to be things that could really happen, though I do change some details since I'm not writing a how to book. I want the good guys to win of course, though they must face an uphill battle to do so and some characters will of course die. That's why I research things like this and feel it is important to include real weapons in my writing.
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