Florida is still here; just most of the people and about a quarter of the land are gone. Things have settled down by now and recovery is in motion in many areas.
TAMPA/MACDILL AFB (central Gulf
Coast): SS-17 (MIRV: 4x 200 Kt warheads); On Target; Ground Burst.
JACKSONVILLE (northeast Florida, on the
Atlantic Coast): SS-N-8 (single 2 Mt warhead); On Target; Ground
Burst.
ST. PETERSBURG (just southwest of
Tampa, on Tampa Bay): SS-N-17 (MIRV: 3x 500 Kt warheads); On Target;
Ground Burst.
TALLAHASSEE (State Capital): SS-17
(MIRV: 6x 300 Kt warheads); MIRV malfunction--5 warheads On Target,
1 warhead diverted 286km (130mi) SE to Gainesville; Ground Burst.
HOMESTEAD AFB (south of Miami, FL):
SS-N-17 (MIRV: 3x 500 Kt warheads); On Target; Ground Burst.
PATRICK AFB (south of Kennedy Space
Center): SS-N-17 (MIRV: 3x 500 Kt warheads); On Target; Ground
Burst.
EGLIN AFB (near Ft. Walton Beach):
SS-19 (MIRV: 6x 300 Kt warheads); On Target; Ground Burst.
CRYSTAL RIVER 3 (nuclear power plant,
northwest of Crystal River, FL): SS-17 (MIRV: 4x 200 Kt warheads);
On Target; Ground Burst.
ST. LUCIE 1 (nuclear power station,
Port St. Lucie, FL): SS-19 (MIRV: 6x 300 Kt warheads); On Target;
Ground Burst.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (Merritt Island,
central Atlantic Coast): SS-18M2 (MIRV: 10x 2 Mt warheads); Off
Target, deviated 25 km (15.5 mi) to NE; Low Air Burst over Open
Ocean.
ORLANDO (central Florida): SS-N-8
(single 2 Mt warhead); On Target; Ground Burst.
PENSACOLA (western end of "The
Panhandle"): SS-17 (MIRV: 4x 200 Kt warheads); On Target; Ground
Burst.
GAINESVILLE (northcentral Florida): 1
off-course 300 Kt MIRV warhead from an SS-17; Near Miss, 10km
(4.5mi) N; Ground Burst.
MIAMI (southeast Atlantic Coast): SS-19
(MIRV: 6x 300 Kt warheads); On Target; Ground Burst.
KEY WEST NAS (southernmost Florida
Key): SS-N-8 (single 2 Mt warhead); On Target; Malfunction--did not
detonate.
Defenses: The landward approaches to the east are heavily patrolled and barricaded, and few bandits have tried to breach the formidable defenses. The militia has about 350 full-time soldiers and is well-armed with numerous salvaged military arms. Guarding the landward approaches to the town are a line of trenches and pillboxes, constructed in the first years after the war by the local populace to keep the refugees out. Today, they are still there, thought the wire is mostly rusted and the trenches have been partially filled in by erosion. There are seven former USMC M60A1 tanks and several dozen M101 105mm howitzers still sitting in place, though none of them function anymore. The Albany Presidency has attempted several times over the decades to purchase the tanks and cannons. The Gulf Breeze leaders have always said no, but do want to buy spare parts for them from Albany, which they have so far refused to do. The reason is that the Albany leadership wants to make sure that if they have to one day invade the Gulf Breeze area, they won't have to face operational tanks.
Gulf Breeze's "fleet": In addition to numerous fishing craft, both newly built and pre-war, there are a number of old steel-hulled ships to be found in Pensacola Bay north of the town. Several of these are US Navy ships that came here following the nuclear war, having few other places to go. Their crews were often assimilated into the general population, and welcomed due to their skills. Their ships were largely left to rust, and many of them have sunk at anchor over the years. Of those still floating, there are several of note...
Essex class aircraft carrier CVT-16 Lexington: The centerpiece of the Bay has got to be the Lexington, which was the resident flight training carrier at Pensacola when the war broke out. Crippled and beached by the nuclear blasts, her huge bulk has sat rusting on a sandbar for the last 150 years. Her fuel tanks have long ago been drained to keep smaller, more important ships running.
Charles F. Adams class destroyer DDG-10 Sampson: During her tour of duty in WWIII, the Sampson was credited with sinking or helping sink three Soviet and Cuban submarines and one Cuban merchant raider. She returned to Pensacola after being heavily damaged in action in 1990 and has never left. She is sitting very low in the water these days and is certainly well past the ability to go to sea.
Exxon Vera Cruz: The Exxon Vera Cruz is a very large 150,000 ton oil tanker that once operated out of New Orleans. On the way through the Gulf with empty holds when the bombs hit, she decided to stay out at sea until the exchanges were over. After six years or so of wandering around the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean in epic fashion, she answered a call by Gulf Breeze to come into their safe harbor. Once there, the crew was welcomed ashore and the ship was moved into Pensacola Bay. This is probably the most seaworthy of all the surviving larger ships in North America and could easily be made ready to sail.
Victor II class submarine K-495: This Russian Victor II class nuclear attack submarine was part of Russia's convoy-busting effort in late 1989, and was active in the Gulf, sinking several vessels. She suffered a crew mutiny in April of 1990, and the new captain decided to look for asylum in Gulf Breeze. The crew was at first welcomed, but soon were the target of much hatred for their nation's role in the war. An attempt was made to take the sub back out to sea, but the citizens of the town stopped it. Nearly all the Russians were killed in the battle or later in jail. The submarine itself sat quayside for about 35 years, before she sank during a storm. While on the bottom with a flooded engine room, the sub is still relatively intact and offers a goldmine of technology and equipment to anyone willing or able to salvage her.
The floatplanes: An especially strong hurricane in 2128 slammed into the rubbled wasteland that was Pensacola. After the storm was over, salvage parties from Gulf Breeze, on a regular hunt for loot in the ruins, discovered that the hurricane had exposed a previously-hidden intact part of the Pensacola Naval Air Museum near the old Naval Air Station. Amongst other ancient artifacts, the party discovered the mostly-complete hulk of a floatplane. This machine, actually the Curtis NC-4 from the early days of aviation, was nearly 220 years old and would never fly, but it was intact enough that the salvage party's foreman realized it's potential. After a laborious effort to disassemble the machine and haul it piece by piece across the bay to Gulf Breeze, the craftsmen and engineers of the city set about trying to replicate it. 150 years of forest growthin the area provided a lot of oak trees, and the Strontium-90 in the soil yielded an oak close in content to mahogany, ideally strong for airframe construction. Utilizing old, rebuilt truck engines, a working prototype was built in under a year. It crashed after the first two flights, but much was learned and after only five short years, three more aircraft had been assembled.
Click here for stats for the floatplanes.
While of limited military value due to their inherent fragility, these floatplanes are invaluable for coastal reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions in support of Gulf Breeze's large fishing fleet. As well, the White Fist pirate group is lurking in the Gulf still, and the ability to spot and track their converted liner from the air would provide coastal communities much needed warning of an attack from the sea. Unfortunately, the pirates have learned of these aircraft and are planning their own counter-measures.
Having helped with some technical issues, as well as providing electrical equipment, the Albany Protectorate government has been watching Gulf Breeze's progress with great interest. Attempts at negotiations so far have been stonewalled by the Gulf Breezers, but the current leadership of Albany is hinting at cutting off some needed trade routes if the Gulf Breezers aren't willing to share in their new discovery. Time will tell how this all plays out.
Fort Pickens: This ancient seacoast fort south of the city, full of old 16" rifle emplacements and 12' mortar pits, is home to a large population of fishers and farmers. Gulf Breeze operates a small militia garrison here, guarding the approaches to the port.
The ruins of Pensacola: The city itself is a barren wasteland, occupied by scavengers who rummage through the less-damaged sections in search of trinkets. The remaining factories and military bases have been long ago been looted of all but the heaviest machinery, and much of that was thrown into the sea as being too radioactive to use. Few people from Gulf Breeze see any reason to visit these ruins anymore.
Eglin Air Force Base: Nuked hard during the war, this large, sprawling old base in the pine forests is now home to just a few scavengers. After the war, the growing Albany Presidency to the north carried off everything that was still intact back to Georgia, leaving only empty buildings. A massive underground bunker has been long rumored on the grounds of the air base, but no evidence has yet turned up to prove it.
The ruins of Tallahassee: Nuked and burned, nothing remains here anymore. The area was always full of sinkholes and the ground shocks have opened up many more. Travel through lowland areas near the ruins can sometimes result in falling into a covered sinkhole. The northern outskirts of the ruins are frequented by patrols from the Albany Presidency, which nominally claims the area between Tallahassee and the Georgia border.
DeFuniak Springs: There is an old steam locomotive here that could be repaired and put back into use with the proper tools.
The AP: The Albany Presidency from southwestern Georgia (see that State) has an advance base camp near Tallahassee. They have 120 men here, a large number of them horse cavalry, called the "Blue Berets". The Blue Berets are led by Army Captain Geoff Anderson, an officer who tends to be a little too sympathetic to the needs of KFS traders in the area (he's taking bribes).
Pre-war: Northern Florida was a land of forests, cropland and college football. Millions of people lived in big cities and small farming towns, enjoying the good weather and the slow pace of life.
The war: Nukes splattered all across northern Florida, destroying Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Gainesville. People panicked and fled the cities, swamping the rural communities under. Fear and desperation drove average people to do terrible things to their fellow man.
Post-war: In the chaos after the war, this area suffered greatly from refugees and epidemics. Within five years, the population had been cut by 95% and the situation was stabilized. People began to climb up the ladder again, rebuilding what had been senselessly destroyed.
North Florida today: The terrain in north Florida has changed over the years, with an increase in swamp lands and flooded areas taking over the pine flatwoods and cypress groves. Most rivers are at least 10 feet above their pre-war water level and numerous springs and small lakes dot the country side where there were none before. This swampy region, stretching far up into the Okefenokee Swamps of Georgia, is hot, muggy and filled with mosquitoes, diseases and skeletons. Many towns have been abandoned for decades and bamboo and palmetto have overgrown the deserted ruins. Smallpox is spreading slowly through the area from Georgia recently. Wildlife is also similar to pre-war, but more abundant and slightly larger, especially water-dwelling animals like giant catfish over 12 feet long. 150 years after the war, there are a number of people groups living in the region, some in active competition with each other. Most population groups are now small and independent.
Predators: The rivers and swamps of Florida are home to several species of mutant carnivores. These include large mutant alligators and giant mutant sentient wolves, who hunt in packs of 15 or so and are very dangerous to humans.
Ag Team F-27: The team was woken in 2004 due to a computer glitch. The team awoke to a hostile environment with bands of nomads roaming the country side in search of food and shelter. The team set about organizing a community from the roving bands near the town of Starke, just east of Gainesville. The team had two large tractors and a large truck in their inventory, along with all the needed farm attachments to the tractors. They setup several farms and eventually turned over the maintenance to the local peoples. Several attacks by marauders depleted most of their ammunition. After a decade, the area was rid of most marauders and bandits. The Agricultural Team had established large farms and orchards in the area around Starke. F-27 settled in the area permanently since they had received no word from any other Morrow teams. They married, had children, and lived out their lives around Starke. As the Morrow members died off, either from accident, conflict with marauders or old age, the local populace became self-sufficient. The Agricultural Team had done a splendid job.
Starke: Around 90 years after the war, Leonard Smith was elected as major of the Starke area. The first 30 years of his rule were prosperous. He had the total support of the people in the Starke area due to his outstanding leadership and administrative abilities. As he aged, he began to become forgetful and less responsible. He was given a gift of a large Chucky Cheese Mouse costume head and began to wear it at special occasions. First as a joke, then later he was never seen in public without it on. He picked up the nickname "Cheez Man". But the populace put up with this extravagance due to his life-long hard work for the area. The locals are very loyal to Cheez Man and it will take a lot of hard evidence to convince them that something is amiss. Unknown to the local populace, Cheez Man is suffering from Alzheimer's. Not long ago his administration began the "First-Born Program". Every 1st Born child had to spend a minimum of two years in the Cheez Man's "Training Program". This program provided instruction in mechanics and driving skills of the surviving MP tractors (from Ag Team F-27), farming, militia training and a variety of other skilled crafts. Only the brightest or wealthiest actually ever attended the training. The remainder were sent to the Gainesville Camp, a forced labor camp used to extract salvageable goods from the Gainesville ruins.
The Guard: The real power in Starke rest with the leader of the Guard and the Cheez Man's Chief Merchant. The Guard is a group of soldiers and mercenaries that protect the Cheez Man's HQ and the Gainesville Camp, run patrols of the area and are the leaders of the militia for the area. They are armed with a mixture of MP small arms (from the Agriculture Team and their caches) and black powder rifles. They are known to have an M60 MG and a 120mm mortar with limited rounds.
Starke Militia: The farmers and tradesmen have been formed into a militia group for mutual defense in time of crisis. They are 500 strong and armed with 75% balck powder muskets (which are manufactured in Starke), 5% pre-war rifles, shotguns, and pistols, and 20% melee weapons.
The ruins of Gainesville: One of the SS-17 MIRVs aimed at Tallahasse missed a bit and landed in the northern suburbs of Gainesville, demolishing about half of the city. Plundered by looters over the last 150 years, little remains of Gainesville but deserted dilapidated houses and burnt-out rusting cars. Large areas of the city are being retaken by the palmetto and mangrove trees. Gainesville is still filled with random radioactive hot spots with a low level of radiation in the whole area. The southern and eastern ruins are home to the Gainesville Camp, run by merchants and Guardsmen from nearby Starke, using the 1st Born recruits as slave labor.
Ocala: The home of a colony of midgets and dwarves, taking the curious nickname of "The Hobbits". At the time of the war, a large group of dwarves and midgets were on vacation in Florida. They survived the initial onslaught, but just barely. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that they were captured and used as slaves by a group of Bikers, odds are that they would have all died out within a few months. After years of abuse, the slaves revolted against their cruel masters. Many of the little people were killed in the revolt, but in the end they won, gaining their freedom. The survivors set up in Ocala, where they had been forced to serve the Bikers. The grounds of the old Thoroughbred Horse Farms proved to be an excellent area for a settlement and the population has grown steadily if slowly. Over the years, the survivors sent out scouting parties to look for others like themselves and offer them a safe haven to live, and there are now some 200 living in the Ocala area. The Hobbits can occasionally be found in small patrols all over Florida and even into Georgia, looking for other short people, or just hunting and scavenging. They are armed with bows, crossbows, slings and the occasional firearm, many of them cut down to size.
The Ocala Rangers: The Rangers live in the Salt Springs area of the Ocala National Forest and extract taxes from the local people in exchange for "protection". While this might sound like simple extortion, the Rangers really are offering protection in trade for food and supplies. They are descendents of local police, some rangers, and some military who decided to save the forest because they couldnet save the cities.
The Mound People: There is a large tribe of Cannibals in the Ocala Forest known as the "Mound People". One of the largest Cannibal towns is Old Home, where they have an underground base in a mound (hence the name of the tribe).
Yankeetown: A large trading town of 110 fishermen and their families. Their main trade goods are from the ocean; shrimp mussels, smoked fish (snook and mullet), saltwater sturgeon and caviar. They also make a great Manatee steak. Yankeetown has been the target of Slavers and Pirates in the past.
Cross City: Home to a Kentucky Free State Trade Station. The Trader, his family, and household staff number 12 people--all down from Kentucky--and 30 Slaves operate this Trade Station, where Kentucky-made goods can be traded for books, recovered tech items, and agricultural products.
The Slavers: Western Florida is rife with Slavers who prey on the local communities. Currently, the main Slaver town is Saint Marks, south of the ruins of Tallahassee. Saint Marks is a wide-open cesspit of a town, where anything can be bought, including human lives. Slaves and other ill-gotten goods are gathered here by various Slaver and Pirate groups and traded to Mexican Slavers, who arrive in small steamships, as well as local Warlords and even KFS Slave Agents. At any given time there are about 150 Slavers/Scumbags in Saint Marks and 300 to 400 slaves. The Slavers have always been so much better armed than the people of this region, that there isn't much they can do to defend themselves except join with a Warlord--which isn't much different than being preyed upon by the Slavers.
The Pirates: The waters off Western Florida are the stalking grounds of Pirates. The most powerful of these human predators are the "White Fist Pirates". This pirate group is actually the descendants of the crew and passengers of a Cruise Liner that was at sea when the Bombs fell. Finding safety aboard the Liner, they took to preying upon other ships, and eventually to raiding coastal communities, in order to keep the Cruise Liner running. Their entire culture is founded around keeping the Cruise Liner running.
The Pirates of the White Fist have propeller-driven boats, nine big trawlers and two cutters. The cutters stay close to Cedar Key, where the White Fist maintains a small land base. Nowadays the Cruise Liner--which has gone through several names, over the years, and is now called the Port Royale--is much modified, and starting to show her age. The generators still work, but only partial engine power is available--several masts with sails have been rigged to aid in navigation & propulsion.
While the White Fist pirates rarely take slaves--they value freedom, electing their own officers, and serving on the ships they choose to--they do more buying of slaves, rather than selling. The White Fist usually treats their civilian victims with a modicum of respect. The White Fist Pirates have dealings with the Slavers of St. Marks, trading their plunder for slaves trained as Domestic Servants (Pirate Lords do NOT sweep floors and make beds). The White Fist Pirates have also been trading with the Mexicans. Because the Mexicans are willing to trade with the White Fist, they are allowed to come into Florida waters without being robbed by the pirates. The Mexicans operate steam vessels and trade oil in exchange for the cargoes the pirates have plundered. In total, there are about 300 Pirates, most serving aboard the old Liner, the Port Royale, with twice that number of family members and Slaves.
Tyndall Air Force Base: The SS-19 targeted for Tyndall had its guidance package fried by EMP in mid-flight by earlier detonations and overshot the base by 300 miles, splashing down inert into the Gulf of Mexico. Thus saved from the Hammer of God, overnight the training squadrons of F-15 Eagles became the bulk of the surviving Air Defense capability in North America. The Wing Commander was in contact with the remaining US military command structure at Mount Weather from day one, and was not surprised to receive deployment orders almost immediately. However, the orders came fast and from multiple sources, and often were cancelled just as quickly as they were issued. The Wing was first tasked to the Pacific northwest to counter a rumored invasion, but within a day was ordered to prepare for a deployment to Europe, which was heating up rapidly. In the end, the Wing was called to Virginia to defend what was left of the government, which by the end of 1989 had begun to reorganize in the Mount Weather region. With the chaotic situation in Florida, and a shortage of personnel and transport, it was several weeks before all those who were to go were able to fly off to airfields in Virginia and Maryland. Left behind at Tyndall were non-essential personnel and some security forces, charged with guarding the base's extensive facilities in case the Wing were to ever return. Of course, they never did and over the decades to come the base fell into disrepair. Battered by storms and looted by scavengers and pirates, 150 years after the War there is little left of Tyndall to see except crumbling runways and half-collapsed hangers. In recent years, it has become a popular stop for fishermen from Gulf Breeze, who can be found drying their catches on the vast sun-baked stretches of tarmac.
The ruins of Jacksonville: Mostly rubbled-out after catching several nuclear warheads, this once fine port city is a shadow of its former self. Less than 1,000 people live in the entire Duval County area now. The ruins of the city are split in two by the Saint Johns River and the largest number of people are concentrated in the eastern half of the city, where they battle mutant wildlife often.
Saint Augustine: Home to some 900 people, the largest town along Florida's Atlantic coastline. They are primarily fishers, but have spread out into surrounding fields to plant crops to supplement their diets and to provide alcohol fuel for their boats. These people live quite well, but are constantly at war with the weather and the shifting waters.
Palm Coast: A small farming and fishing community of 60 people, located along the shore north of the ruins of Daytona. The current Mayor, Bubba-Joe Kenyon, is a pompous, arrogant man who has treated his citizens with utter contempt since he came to power in a rigged election four years ago. Bubba-Joe is planning on declaring himself a Warlord soon, and has had several citizens publicly executed over the last year on bogus charges. As dissent grows against the Mayor and his flunky the Sheriff--which happens to be Bubba-Joe's cousin Ronny--the remaining population is simply biding their time for the right moment to rise up. Some have even considered contacting the Cuban community to the west for help.
Daytona Beach: Damaged severely by overpressure tide flooding from the offshore strikes, vast portions of the city were heavily waterlogged and gutted. Further damage from hurricanes and general neglect has left this area in near-total ruins.
Melbourne: Melbourne is now a small fishing town of only a dozen families living on smoked and salted fish and small plot gardens. Hurricanes often drive these people inland, killing many each season.
Cape Kennedy Space Center: Due to a combination of a sticky keyboard error and the resultant computer failure at the launch site, the Russian SS-18M2 ICBM that was supposed to destroy the satellite launch center missed the mark by a wide margin. The ten MIRV warheads popped in a circle over the Atlantic about 15 miles to the northeast of the Cape, about halfway between the Kennedy Space Center and New Smyrna Beach. The resulting nuclear-induced tidal wave, and the widespread radioactive seawater contamination left behind by it, were dreadful; thousands died in the areas along the central Atlantic coast of the state. Physical damage to the Space Center itself was minimal--the hits were far enough away that they merely caused a four-foot high wave to wash across the coastal areas. The EMP, however, fried almost all the sensitive electronics and circuitry in the center, rendering it virtually useless. A follow-up strike nuked nearby Patrick Air Force Base the next day and further damaged the southern edges of the Space Center. While many official parties have come here over the decades--including Morrow Project teams, Carolina Confederacy missions and even a submarine-inserted long-range Soviet patrol--they have mostly left disappointed. With all the software fried and the hardware rusting, any effort to get it back into operation would be prohibitively expensive. The most obvious features of the complex are still the three large launch structures, all badly damaged by blast effects and salt-water exposure over the last 150 years. Most of the smaller launch towers have crumbled, but the large assembly building still towers majestically over the beautiful coastline, perched on a plateau overlooking the water.
The "Morrow Treasure": All across Florida you will hear people referring to the "Morrow Treasure". Most locals explain that this is a treasure that will bring prosperity and a better life to anyone who finds it. No one knows where it is, but many have tried to find it. The Morrow Treasure is actually part of a secret Project plan initiated just prior to the war. Sensing the need for a failsafe for the Morrow bases that were to live through the war, Bruce Morrow initiated "Project Treasure". This involved emplacing a Special Salvage Team near the Cape Kennedy NASA facility. The plan was to acquire through legitimate business deals the items needed to launch a small rocket into the upper atmosphere. To be fit on this rocket is a transmitter that will send out wake-up codes to key boltholes throughout the country. The problem was that the war started before all the components were in place. As the war raged, Prime Base awoke a Salvage Team in the Florida area and tasked them to go to the ruins of Cape Kennedy and get the items they needed. The Salvage Team found Cape Kennedy mostly abandoned, having suffered much fallout from nuclear strikes nearby. They managed to salvage a rocket, the launchers, and controls, and along with several support vehicles, they hauled it all to the west. Suffering from radiation sickness from the time the emerged from their bolthole, the Salvage Team realized that they were not going to make it to the coast where they were to meet their pick-up boat. Instead, they stashed all the stuff in a cave in central Florida and sealed it up. The team tried to contact Prime Base with the cave's location, but by then Prime had been destroyed. The team managed to locate Agriculture Team F-27's bolthole and left the manuals and coordinates with them before they died. When F-27 woke 15 years later, they attempted to locate the cave, but were unable to due to marauders and bad directions. They never tried again, too caught up in their own troubles, and the Treasure passed into local legend.
PD Note: Cuba was hard hit in the war; the Russians nuked the US military base at Guantanamo Bay while Havana was hit by an American nuke, devastating most of the urban areas. About 40 years after the war, a temporarily resurgent Cuban government, staged a limited invasion of Florida. While this invasion was a success, back home, Cuba itself had collapsed into anarchy, stranding the "Cubano Fuerza de Expedicion" (CFE, or Cuban Expeditionary Force) in Florida. Cuba has been a "colony" of Jamaica for the last 40 years or so (see the entry on Louisiana for a full explanation), and has served as the staging base for their recent expeditions to Louisiana. More Cubans have come to Florida in the last year, though more as settlers than conquerors, led by Jamaican overseers. While the main emphasis for the Jamaicans has been the Mississippi Bayou, they have organized groups of native Cubans to cross the Gulf of Mexico to settle in Florida territory--which many Cubans consider to be their property, anyway. Thanks to the stability and economic development that the Jamaicans have provided over the last two generations, Cuba is a strong and healthy nation once again. In mainland Cuba, manufacturing has returned to a state similar to the 1880s. Amongst other things, they specialize in producing an indigenous, Mauser-type bolt-action rifle, which is of such good workmanship and quality that the Jamaican force currently in Louisiana is mostly armed with them.
Spring Hill: Home to a small settlement of some 100 Jamaicans and Cubans, who arrived here just a year ago. They are farming the plains and fishing the Gulf, in an effort to establish a resupply base for Jamaican-Cuban vessels headed further north. These Jamaican-led Cubans have made some contact with the two large Cuban groups to the west--the Nationalistas and the CFE--but those groups have, so far, shown little interest in these newcomers from Cuba. A few fishing boats from Gulf Breeze have stopped by, curious about the new activity, but they also seem uninterested in establishing anything more than a casual acquaintance.
Lakeland: Home of the "Nationalistas"; descendents of pre-war Anti-Castro Cuban Freedom Fighters that the old USA had secretly allowed to train in several camps out in the Everglades. The Nationalistas survived the War relatively intact because of their original remoteness but, over the years, they migrated north, out of the swamps, and have been settled in Lakeland, east of the ruins of Tampa, for almost 100 years. They are now about 500 strong and armed with a mixture of pre-war weapons (both civilian and military, including some heavy weapons left over from the old days) and black powder rifles. They are in limited competition with the CFE, located to their southeast, and they have had some contact with the Jamaican-led Cubans along the coast, but are unsure what to make of them.
Avon Park: Home of the oddly named "Cubano Fuerza de Expedicion" (CFE, or Cuban Expeditionary Force); descendents of a Cuban invasion force sent into southern Florida 40 years after the War. Originally a Cuban Army Battalion of 1,000 Soldiers, they currently number 800 men, women, and children, armed with black powder rifles and several pre-war weapons. Despite their military-sounding name, these people have been in the area for about 100 years now, and have long ago become farmers and ranchers with very little remaining military heritage. They have an uneasy truce with the Nationalistas to the northwest, though it is more economic than cultural, and want nothing to do with the Jamaican-led Cubans of Spring Hill.
The ruins of Tampa/Saint Petersburg: The Tampa Bay area was enveloped by four MIRV warheads and largely demolished. 150 years later, the Gulf of Mexico has encroached far into the bay, widening it and flooding out much of the charred rubble. A few people still live in the northwestern edges of the area, though, fishing the Gulf and farming small plots of land. These people are living on the edge of starvation most times.
The ruins of Bradenton/Sarasota: Destroyed by thousands of rampaging refugees in 1989 and then swamped out by numerous Gulf hurricanes, Sarasota is almost completely destroyed. Much of the beach area is now underwater, and the polluted waters of Sarasota Bay are known for sharks and mutant rays. Occasional salvagers and traders prowl the ruins searching for trinkets and loot, but little is to be found anymore.
The ruins of Orlando: Orlando was hit by a nuclear weapon in the final round of the exchanges, a ground burst in the southeastern portion of the city. The arc of total destruction from the ensuing firestorms extended eight miles into the city, loosely in a line from University Boulevard and Rollins College in the north, to Orlo Vista to the northwest, and to nearly Highway 435 in the west. The northernmost suburbs have retained a steady population throughout the last 150 years, now numbering about 250.
Winter Haven: This town is now home to a bandit clan with technology ranging from clubs and knives to firearms and motorcycles. This is the only bandit clan of any note in the entire state, and as such has a monopoly on violent crime. They can often be found ranging throughout central Florida on raiding missions against scattered settlements and farms. The clan totals around 100 all together, though about half are women and children. Major looming food shortages will no doubt lead them to kill each other off or move further north. The Cuban communities to either side are hoping that they do it fast.
The ruins of Miami: Nuked by several warheads, Miami burned furiously for weeks after the war until little was left. Over time, the general erosion of the beach and the encroachment of the Great Swamp have left most of Miami waterlogged. What the bombs that fell on Dade County didn't destroy was wiped out by a decades-long medical crisis. Mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, typhoid, encephalitis, and even dengue fever ran rampant and killed-off all human life; diseases that still infest the area, to the current day.
The ruins of Fort Myers: A ravaged ruin, burned by fires, smashed by hurricanes, tornados and storm surges, and nearly taken over by the Great Swamp. Less than 50 people still live in the area today, most inbred for generations.
Venice: Venice, on the Gulf Coast, is now one of the largest settlements in all of South Florida. Protected from the Gulf waters by a well-maintained seawall and from the marauders by sheer isolation, this town has survived quite well and is now home to some 1,200 people. Fishing, cattle ranching, and citrus farming are the mainstays of the local economy, with some limited trading in Alpaca wool. Fishing boats from Gulf Breeze can be found here often.
Venice is also home to the Diocese of Venice, and is the seat of His Grace Aldo II, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Though a Town Council officially governs the town, the real power is split between the Sheriff with his armed Deputies, and the Bishop with his Churchmen. While the Sheriff maintains order and defends the town from danger, the Church operates almost all social services in the community. The hospital, the schools, the windmills that pump clean water up from below, the alcohol plant--even the workshop where the Sheriff's flintlock muskets are made and maintained--are all run by the Church.
The Diocese sees it as their duty to gather and store knowledge--but they share very little. On average, the community of Venice operates at an almost medieval level of technology. The common folk have only crossbows and short-bladed swords, while the Sheriff and his Deputies are armed with Church-made flintlock muskets. Nonetheless, the Church schools have made a fine, basic education universal among the people, and the Church-run hospital has maintained a high level of medical skill, while Church sponsored Missionaries are sent out to the four corners of the state. Life in Venice is simple, but comfortable.
The Florida Keys: During the night of November 18, 1989, the Naval Air Station on Key West was the target of a Soviet SS-N-8 SLBM. The 2-Megatonne warhead was on target but turned out to be a dud. The Keys still suffered many deaths from the fallout clouds of far away strikes, forcing operations at Key West NAS to be severely curtailed. A massive hurricane in the spring of 1992 nearly flattened the base and destroyed most every aircraft and vehicle still there. Worst of all, the US Highway 1 Bridge was cut between Summerland Key and Ramrod Key by the hurricane, making travel from Key West to the mainland nearly impossible. After that, the military completely abandoned the Keys, leaving it to the few surviving locals and fishermen. Over the next 147 years, the eastern islands of the Keys were depopulated under the poundings of storms and radiation-scarred refugees from Miami, eventually leaving just Key West and a few nearby islands inhabited.
Key West: This island is now home to about 75 fishermen and small-plot farmers. Fishing boats from Gulf Breeze are frequent visitors to the island, stopping here to rest and fix nets. Key West has also received visits from Cuban fishermen, who normally only come by in the summer. The SS-N-8 warhead is still on the island, just a rusty cylinder of metal now, beneath three feet of sand in a cypress grove north of the city, leaking radiation at low levels.
The Jamaicans: The old abandoned Dolphin Research Center on Vaca Key is now home to a small outpost of Jamaicans. These twenty men were dropped off by the main Jamaican expedition as it passed through the Straits of Florida to Louisiana. Since arriving here, the men have tidied up the main buildings and sent out patrols to the neighboring islands. So far, they have found people only on Key West. They have, however, met some mutant mosquitoes and what they believe to have been a sand crab the size of a Toyota.
People who have contributed to this entry:
John Raner
Vince Tognarelli
Tim McKee
Chris Van Deelen
Jeffery Schwartz
Karl Zohler