Chapter 183

1645 hours, local time
Tuesday, 7 October, 2014
Flagstaff Pulliam Airport
Flagstaff, AZ

“So, according to the local Flagstaff authorities, we’ll have to board with a variety of refugees from the overrun parts of Maricopa and Pinal counties, which are increasingly under the oppression and occupation of the Mesa Mormon Militia. That organization is soon preparing to be renamed the Deseret National Army, once the other military formations under LDS command combine with it, but the triple M is still its most effective fighting force so far.

“Also, we’re getting reports that Mormons are fleeing other parts of the world in order to both practice Mormonism easier and to help defend Utah and Mesa. The overthrow of the various cities of central and northern Arizona by the Mormon cause is just inevitable, especially with so many others fleeing while the Mormons increase in numbers so much,” Jeanette announced, informing me and the rest of the tribe as was her angelic duty.

“So, Arizona is fucked, just like New Mexico,” I concluded succinctly.

“As an entity, sure. But who cares about the inescapable dissolution of a defunct American state, at least now during an apocalypse like this one? It was a nice, if arid place, but it was a territory up until little more than a century before it collapsed with the rest of the USA. People will do just fine if Arizona and New Mexico are replaced as entitles by other such territories,” Jeanette continued, even if she winked at me with approval despite her words.

“Meanwhile, the Chiapas campaign continues to weaken the once rejuvenated Zapatista Liberation Army and the city of Cancun has fallen to the cartels’ army. Tampico is under relentless assault now, so its capture is just a matter of time,” Sonali added for her part.

“The Black Guard has secured Detroit’s recently abandoned downtown districts and set to work rebuilding and renovating the city almost from a clean or blank slate. They have also captured Flint, but the creation of a supposed caliphate in Dearborn, a heavily Muslim community In Michigan, has proved to be bad news for both the Black Guard regime and the Seventh Day Adventist fanatics who have seized much of the main peninsula. Both sides are threatening to destroy the nascent Islamic state, the first on American soil.

“The Salvation Army has completely swept aside all resistance in Rhode Island, allowing it to create a theocratic police state of the worst sort. No shocks there, of course. Ditto for Arnold Oxheart and Opus Dei on Long Island, but they have also captured Governor’s Island and have invaded Martha’s Vineyard with the clear objective of seizing the place outright. Like it or not, the world is becoming a little smaller by the day, even if just as lawless and violent by now.

“The Lesotho-Swaziland coalition forces have just won an amazing victory over the South African People’s Army at Port Elizabeth. They not only captured the city, but also took two thousand prisoners, including the garrison commander himself. Time will tell what happens next, but at least it’s clear there is stiff resistance to President Mguwa and his Dem Rev regime in Durban. The war is far from over, in any case.

“The last Tutsis have fled Rwanda due to the latest genocidal war that the Hutus have waged against them, killing some eighteen thousand Tutsis in the past two weeks alone. Most of the refugees are fleeing to the former Zaire aka the former Democratic Republic of Congo, but that is hardly much of a relief. The war is spilling into Burundi, where there are fears that the Tutsis might attempt a sort of preemptive strike.

“To make matters worse, the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda has initiated its biggest offensive yet, resulting in truly heinous atrocities, especially rape, torture, and slaughter. Life has become very cheap of late in much of Africa, but that’s hardly limited to said continent. Han Chinese and Uyghurs are butchering each other without scruples in Xinjiang. Eight different warlords are fighting viciously to rule Thailand, among the many rapid changes that have come and gone since Bangkok was incinerated.

“The Sultanate of Brunei, whose capital somehow survived Fireball Day, has expanded forcefully into parts of nearby Borneo, has imposed Sharia law on all conquered areas, and has massacred anyone resisting or opposing such changes. The Tsardom of Yekaterinburg has begun a major offensive with the objective of seizing Astrakhan at last and ending its council communist rule,” Trish informed me now, even as the pre boarding preparations proceeded.