The Community

A civil war broke out in the United States and different European nations took different sides. The nations enemies took advantage of the chaos and smuggled in weapons of mass destruction. New York City fell to nerve agents that were never identified. Los Angeles fell into chaos as homemade bombs started detonating throughout the city over weeks. People rioted, buildings burned, different organizations took credit and started to create their own incendiary devices. After six months everything was either rubble or on fire. Pittsburgh fell to biological warfare. A form of virulent undetectable cholera was introduced to the Allegheny river, contaminating the water supply and decimating the population within a week. Whatever major city didn't fall victim to an act of terrorism fell to the rigors of war.   The only place left untouched was Alaska. Like many times before, everyone forgot about Alaska. Alaska didn't care to be remembered. Alaska hasn't been big on getting involved with the affairs of the lower 48 since WWII. Supplies stopped coming in, but different forms and levels of subsistence living were already common among most of Alaska's citizens. Infrastructure slowly fell apart. Soon the only electricity to be had was the kind you could generate yourself. Water came from wells, rivers, and lakes. Hospitals and schools closed, but people opened their own clinics and classrooms where they felt both safe and needed. Different communities and groups rose and fell in the populated areas, but eventually stabilized. The popular areas quickly became less populated as folks started heading out into the bush to make their own way, rather than deal with the pitfalls of rebuilding a society. The isolated communities that were already off the grid didn't change a whole lot. They became more lawless, and more cut off once the last of the gasoline started going bad.   Alaska became a bit of an Eden, and word started getting out. Just like during the Yukon gold rush, unprepared people headed north hoping for a better life. Not a lot made it, but the ones who did found it to be a harder way of life than they were expecting. It was still better than the lower 48.