Society

Government:

On a Federal level, there is no government. There is no more United States, nor any other country on the planet, not in any meaningful capacity. There is also no more state government and what exists as community leadership for the Safe Zone of Safe Haven & Outlook is a loosely existing representative body that has stepped forward to try to give some organization to the community and its needs as a community council. They group of members became notable for their own work done during the dark weeks following the End of the World date and gained the support of specific groups that looked up to them. Those community leaders are: Joshua Landace, Honora Rogers, Peter Dumas, Tyler Welch and Bernadette Parks. Decisions are made by them in a group capacity, and they directly oversee organization of needs and protection.

Law Enforcement & Military:

There is no more police department, sheriff’s department or military. At the time of the EotW there was a police convention (orchestrated in the area intentionally) to bring in law enforcement persons from all over the US and for this reason there were hundreds of law enforcement officers in the area in addition to the normal number of local law enforcement. After the chaos of the EotW and in the wake of loss of life, the local law enforcement and local military personnel began to work together, eventually merging into a larger group joined by the law enforcement persons who had been in the area during the EotW, to try to protect survivors and fend off the dangers. They have formed a sort of community security and watch group working under the moniker of a formerly existing group called Aegis.

Public Works:

The state of electricity, water and sewer is that those things do exist within the safe zone. How and why these exist here is a point of debate amongst many people. (OOC: These things exist because of actions taken by people prior to the EotW date that enabled these things to function in a self-sustaining, self-repairing fashion. No one has wanted to tamper with or look too closely into this because no one wants to be the cause of if they disappear.) Just because these things exist, however, does not mean that they are squandered. They are very conserved and the community has begun to emphasize a “lights out” policy while outside after dark, lights draw attention from monsters and dangers. This is especially the case for those on the waterfront, the community has learned that it’s not a good thing to be a beacon of light against the ocean, pulling things to shore.

There has been absolutely no contact with the world outside of Safe Haven and Outlook, not since the EotW date, by phone or internet, no radio nor television signals. There has been limited HAM radio communications, but not in some time and those communications have involved people calling for help. There are no more functioning cell towers outside of the safe zone, so cell phones no longer work, but there is a functioning land line system and there is a functioning intranet within the safe zone. These work for the same reason that electricity, water and sewer are working.

Medical Care:

The original hospital that had served the area for years was destroyed in the course of the End of the World events. In the days after a makeshift hospital was set up in an empty warehouse building that miraculously remained structurally sound. Eventually a better building was moved to, an old office building that survived with minimal damage that allowed for more privacy and security. Medications and medical supplies are limited, with no real ability to replace things it has required creativity and conservation on the part of most medical personnel. Things that were once taken for granted as mildly annoying can be deadly in this world and medical skills are highly valued.

The Ship:

On June 28, 2013, exactly 1 week after the End Times events started and so much destruction had occurred, a massive ship appeared in the strait between the mainland and the islands that were left. The ship carried hundreds of people, skilled labor, medical professionals, teachers, security trained individuals and tons of supplies. Those aboard said that they were sent to help, they provided some of the first organization to give the survivors direction and a glimmer of hope. After unpacking supplies and people aboard the ship, the vessel itself has been taken apart to provide steel to use in repairing the existing structures in the city and to repurpose the steel.

The Seedy-Side of things:

As might be expected in a world where survival has become so tenuous and resources are rare, there is a great deal of crime. Theft is the most prevalent of the crimes that are committed, out of necessity or greed. A black market has been established already, a lot of scavengers go there to try to trade things that they recover from outside of the safe-zone for the things that they need or want. It is one avenue towards getting extra food, medical supplies or weapons. There are some groups of scavengers who are particularly interested in hunting down the stockpiled supplies of those who were “Preppers” in the months and weeks leading up to the End of the World events. It’s noteworthy that murder has become extremely rare, the human population is becoming endangered which has perhaps caused a greater respect for human life in a sense, but it doesn’t stop the strong from preying upon the weak out of a skewed sense of entitlement. The laws that once governed the country are not enforced any longer, what is left is a sort of Martial Law and expectation of a certain moral code that keeps people behaving more than anything.