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William "Bill" Masen is Born
Bill Masen is born in a southern suburb of London (Wyndham, 19). Since there are no explicitly written dates, this timeline is based on Bill being born in 1930 -
Triffids are Created in Russia
Around this time, the triffids are created in Russia. They were probably bio-enginereed from pitcher plants. -
Triffid Oil
Umberto smuggles Triffid oil to Arctic and European Fish Oil Company. They analyze it and realize that their oil is inferior compared to this mystery substance. He offers to smuggle the Triffid seed out of Russia for an exorbitant sum of money. However, he supposedly shot down by the Russians and the Triffid seeds are spread everywhere (Whyndham, 23-24) -
Masen's First Experience With Triffid
A young Bill Masen finds a Triffid in his backyard. It is about four feet tall (Wyndham, 25). -
Triffids Become Known
Triffids become known to most of the world. They go "viral" for sometime then are forgotten. -
Masen Gets Job at Arctic and Eurpean Oil Company
Masen finishes his education and applies for a job at Arctic & European. He gets the job and starts working with triffids. At this time he also meets Walter Lucknor and becomes good friends with him. -
Masen Goes Blind From Triffid Venom
Masen is blinded in a freak accident by triffid venom. He is in the hospital for awhile, possibly a month or so. -
The Great Blinding
England experiences a rare and fascinating green comet. Most of England watches it, resulting in the viewers going blind. Masen however, has bandages around his eyes and misses the comet. The next day, he unravels the bandages and realizes that most of England is now blind (Wydham, Chp 1) -
Bill Meets Josella
While exploring the now quiet city, Masen rescues Josella, who is being beaten by a blind man. She is chained to him, so he can navigate the city and get food (Wyndham, 50) -
Bill and Josella See the Light
While staying at an abandoned apartment, Bill and Josella see a light in the distance. After taking note of it's location, Bill and Josella travel there the next day (Wyndham, 78-79) -
Bill and Josella go to the University
After seeing the mysterious light, Bill and Josella track it down to the University. There they find a group of survivors who are gathering resources. They join this group and help get supplies (Wyndham, 85-93). -
"Fire"
After a week or so, Coker stages a fire and kidnaps some people including Josella and Bill. He then groups them with blind people so the sighted can help the blind survive. -
Masen Leaves Group
After a while, most of Masen's group of blind die from disease and triffids (Wyndham, 122 & 126). He then abandons them with supplies and goes to find Josella -
Bill and Coker Realize That Triffids Can Plan
While traveling through a ruined town, Bill and Coker stumble upon a Triffid lurking in the shadows. It is heavily implied that the Triffid was waiting for its prey (Wyndham, 152) -
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Masen Meets Coker
Masen finds Coker and they team up to find Beadley's group and Josella. Together, they find a small pocket of survivors. They turn out to be deserters from Beadley's group who didn't like his polygamous ideas. They continue on the search but after awhile, Coker and Masen part ways. Coker goes back to the Christians and Masen pursues one last lead. -
Bill Finds Susan
While looking for Josella, he finds a little girl who is mourning her brother. He saves her from a creeping triffid and takes her with him. -
Bill Finally Finds Josella
Bill and Susan travel to a house in Sussex that Josella mentioned once. They find her there along with three survivors, Dennis, Mary, and Joyce. -
David Masen is Born
Bill and Josella's first child is born. -
Masen Learns More About Triffids
Susan, who has been monitoring Triffids realizes that Triffids have a form of hearing and will move towards the sound (Wyndham, 195-196). She tells Bill and they set up sound traps to kill them. They also set up perimeter defenses. Bill also realizes that Triffids learn from experience (Wyndham, 200) -
Contact From Beadley
A representative from Michael Beadley, Ivan Simpson, tracks down Bill and finds them when Susan sets a signal fire. He lands his helicopter and meets with them. Together they plan a move to the new colony. -
Contact From "The Council"
When Masen returns from an errand, he finds two strange men in his house. They are representatives from a new fledgling government that is highly militaristic. They are demanding that Bill take in seventeen more blind people. Bill and Josella pretend to agree to the terms but escape after supper and make their way towards Beadley's colony.