The Post-Apocalyptic Roadmap/Arizona

Part of the Post-Apocalyptic Roadmap Project.

Tucson

Tucson is a charred crater, as the Davis Monthan AFB housed the largest collection of mothballed planes in the country. There were hundreds of A10s less than an hour from flyable there. Only people left alive in southern Arizona are in the small towns up in the mountains. (ie Safford, Mt Lemon) as well as towns further south, but they are subject to fallout down in the valley. Life is hard it seems to get worse day by day, wells ran dry, I don't think Phoenix could be any worse.

Phoenix

Dear god was I wrong. We were able so survive almost a month in Tucson, with only 10 losses in the whole town. (Mostly raids for water) Of the 10 of us that decided to go it's just me, Jess and Luke that made it out of that hell whole alive in the three days it took us to get from one end to the other. We started off with a good convoy too, now were all on foot, ended up better that way in the end, people saw us as targets in the vehicles. Most streets were torn up or littered with cars, the highways and interstates are NOT an option.

Flagstaff

I am not sure what we would have done if Flagstaff was a bust, most likely died, the tall peaks seem to protect us from fallout and the city was very into the Granola movement (A lot of house already had solar panels, community based food market ect.) It gave them a head start getting power, food and water to run independently where we need it. Not to mention the fact that this was a collage town, full of health and young people before. Oddly the city's biggest problem is problem is with the tribes, not that they attack the town, I just makes it hard to travel further north. It's too bad I'd love to see the canyon once more.

Phoenix, Cont.

Things have quieted down here. After the looting, anyone with any brains cleared out. The exodus only took three days. All that was left in the northern half of the city was four or five communities, mine included. Small cul-de-sacs and apartment complexes, sharing food and supplies. Downtown was the home of the rebuilding effort. Those skyscrapers were the perfect spot for people to set up shop. They tore up the tarmac at the airport and started to try and grow crops. Rioting in south Phoenix continued until the end of the month though, then they started forming communities like the ones we have. A huge bunch of bandits settled down in the west, set up a "king", and began robbing those poor guys in the south, but leaving downtown alone.

Then the militia was formed. Based out of a mall on the northern edge of the city, it was made up of army members and the citizens who decided not to clear out. They marched into downtown without any complaint, seeing as they had been mostly fair to us. They even put down the bandits. Everything seemed in order, but then supplies began running low. There aren't many plants that grow well in this scorching heat. The food we grew was only enough for our little pockets of civilization. The militia needed more food. They started taking it from the southern farmers. They drained every last bite, so that the only settlement south of downtown is a market made of re purposed warehouses and a radio station I'm lucky enough to be broadcasting this through. We haven't exactly tried joining the new government but we'd jump at the chance if they offered. Food's going to be scarce for us.

The desert sands blew in, smothering anything that isn't being lived in. Our little towns are islands in a sea of sand and scrub. The animals from the zoo got out, and you know how they bred endangered oryx? Well now there's almost a hundred of the things. Coyotes and dogs aren't a problem, and neither are lions, for now. Peccaries can be a threat to the crops. We're trying to grow beans and citrus, and we even managed to pump some water into the local pool and make a sort of fish farm.

Nomad tribes aren't a problem. If food shortages continue, the militia is going to march on another city. There are just too many mouths. -The Mongol.