Part 1: Affiliations: Intro

The Once-Park shuddered. Fierce wind whipped through trees, sending the chill of autumn through the needles and pines. A sprinkle had fallen earlier in the morning, and moisture made the smell sharp and strong to the animals that hunched and hid from the thick thunderclouds billowing in the distance. The dusk drew onto the forest like a velvet curtain, casting all in a dark wine mood except the faint, dim signs of habitation.

A few abandoned campgrounds held a few roaming squatters, those desperate enough to risk the reaching grasp of old winter. Some of them would freeze, hands grasping half burned tinder and veins filled with ice. In the very deepest reaches of the Once-Park, nestled between cliffs or on islands in the wide rivers, miniature armed bunkers had been crafted, occupied by those with enough vision to see the necessity of autonomy from the coming destruction, but not sane enough to recognize the resilience of community. Many of them would eventually starve, too scared to venture forth for more supplies from towns they assumed pillaged by a “Devouring Horde”.

And, in a small, tiny cabin near the interstate that ran beside the Once-Park, a small band of soldiers gathered to watch the road for larger bands, and to report back via radio.