Windup girl was an amazingly imaginative extrapolation. I do have a bit of a problem with how fatalistic most post-apocalypse works are. I think what would actually emerge would be very messy, but still far more hopeful than depicted. For example, in a The Walking Dead scenario, the first real settlement they found that was semi-secure would have probably grown into a fairly stable city-state. They work hard on that show to keep the rollercoaster going. IMO, tiring and not very realistic.