About Vince's World

Vince lives in a dystopian future where resource depletion, war and pandemics took their toll on the United States until some regions seceded, thinking they were better off on their own. The United States was too depleted of fuel, supplies and manpower to put up much of a fight and chose instead to focus their remaining resources on retaining the Mississippi River, the coal fields and the northeastern forest regions.

The Southwest devolved into chaos. Where order exists, it is at the hands of regional strongmen.

In this world there are still cars and motorcycles, but only the rich can afford them and fuel is hard to get at any price. Horses, donkeys and bicycles are more typical modes of transportation, as is the train. Some towns have electricity, although not usually twenty-four hours a day. Some homes have solar or wind power. There are a few radio stations, but ham radio is more common. Some places have local telephone service, but long distance phone service is almost non-existent. Food is local and seasonal, supplemented with hunting, fishing, and occasional luxuries brought in by train.

The older generation hopes for a return of the good old days when life was rich and everyone had electricity and could go to school. But to the younger people, this dirty and difficult world is all they've ever known. Like young people everywhere, they look for ways to establish themselves, whether it's through legitimate work and pretending to play the game, or by bucking the system at every turn.

With no broadly-accepted source of authority in this chaotic time, one method of staying alive seems as good as any other.