Tsunami Timeline - Complete

[sentinel]

If you respond and complain that "this is unrealistic" I will personally find your address, come to your house, and smack you. Just wait.

On March 11, 2011 a megatsunami struck the Eastern seaboard of the United States destroying both lives and nuclear reactors. Due to the lives lost on this tragic day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is elevated to the Presidency.

Due to the damage along with the meltdown of almost every nuclear reactor in the affected states, President Gates orders for the evacuation of every state on the eastern seaboard.

President Gates puts the evacuated states under martial law only allowing military officials in or out of the affected area. There are reports of looting, but the people looting are also being exposed to nuclear radiation and the end will come soon for them...

The Gates Administration struggles to help all the "refugees" of the evacuated states --not to mention that the world economy has gone into a deep depression as a result of the emergency.

As months go by the global depression only gets worse. The disaster states remain evacuated as the Administration monitors the conditions for human life there. The western states are overwhelmed with the millions of refugees that are present. Unemployment is up near 35% with underemployment at 38%. Gates' approval rating begins to decline rapidly starting 5 months after the evacuation.

The 2012 election has not been talked about since the evacuation. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich's lives were all lost in the Megatsunami of 2011. Mitch Daniels has, internally, ruled out a run saying that he needs to focus on the millions of refugees in Indiana.

February 2012 roles around and there is no Iowa caucus, it just doesn't happen. There are no plans to implement the primaries that were scheduled.

Gates announces that he will not seek "election" or relection to the Presidency citing that he never wanted to be in this position.

At a small "convention" in the new executive capital, Denver, Colorado --Congress is located in Topeka, Kansas and the Supreme Court in Sacramento, California --Vice President Arne Duncan is nominated by the supporters of the administration, sometimes called the American Party, to be their nominee for President. David Beiter, former Mayor of Boise Idaho and now Senator from Idaho, is nominated to be the "party's" Vice Presidential pick.

The opposition to the administration which has labeled itself the Patriot Party nominates Governor Chuck Hagel as their Presidential pick. Hagel selects Senator Phil Gordon of Arizona who succeeded John McCain via gubernatorial appointment.

There is not any "grassroots" campaigning, few advertisements. There are televised debates and the government helps refugees view the debates as well as register to vote in thier own states. Both Presidential candidates break down during the debates when talking about the disaster.

American Party - Vice President Arne Duncan of Illinois/Senator David Beiter of Idaho- 154 Electoral Votes, 43% popular vote.
Patriot Party - Governor Charles Hagel of Nebraska/Senator Phil Gordon of Arizona - 190 Electoral Votes, 57% popular vote  

Hagel wins decisively in the popular vote due to the unhappiness with how the current Administration is handling the majority of refugees who are in the "eastern" states. It's clear, via the map, that they heavily voted for Hagel and as you go farther west the margin of victory decreases. Duncan barely holds onto his home state.

[sentinel]

112,639,560 people lived in the states that were evacuated prior to the tsunami which is roughly 37% of the US population.

The Gates Administration estimated that 17% of the population that lived in the states which were affected now lives in another state. This means there are around 19,148,725 refugees. 93 million people are unaccounted for or deceased.

The Hagel Administration revised these estimates saying that closer to 25% of the original population in the evacuated states are now living as refugees.

The Gates Administration had increased the cap on the representatives in the House of Representatives to 476. Another census is performed in 2012 after the election which gives entirely new electoral college numbers.

 California   86
 Texas   60
 Illinois   34
 Ohio   33
 Michigan   25
 Indiana   20
 Tennessee   19
 Washington   18
 Wisconsin   17
 Missouri   16
 Arizona   16
 Kentucky   16
 Minnesota   15
 Alabama   14
 Colorado   13
 Louisiana   13
 Oklahoma   12
 Oregon   12
 West Virginia   10
 Iowa   10
 Mississippi   10
 Arkansas   9
 Kansas   9
 Utah   8
 Nevada   8
 New Mexico   7
 Nebraska   6
 Idaho   5
 Hawaii   5
 Montana   4
 South Dakota   4
 Alaska   4
 North Dakota   3
 Wyoming   3

Adding up to 544 making the magic number 273.

[sentinel]

The Hagel Administration quietly released the new Electoral College map showing that their primary concern of their administration is dealing with the crisis at hand.

*Ignore the Nebraska & Maine Congressional districts.
**Winning California, Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Washington would give you more than a majority.

Early into President Hagel's term a war over resources breaks out in the Middle East. The United States is preoccupied at home with its own problems including a shortage of oil which is hampering any chance of recovery and deepening the recession. People are generally supportive of the Hagel Administration's actions -- planning to go back into the evacuated states and more. Congress, which is now located in Topeka, is finding it hard to find the money they need to support services to the refugees who are still having trouble finding work.

Eight months into the Hagel Administration in 2013 with a crippling oil shortage, a breakthrough happens in a small science lab in Silicon Valley. No one outside of the lab knows about the breakthrough but it has potential to save the American economy.

The Hagel Administration does note that the number of people unemployed in the "green" industry has decreased.

Twelve months into the Presidency, reports are coming back that the evacuated states are now safe to re-enter. Military patrols begin to go for general surveillance and to clean up the bodies. Civilians are still not allowed re-entry to the evacuated zones.

Unemployment, globally, rises along with mortality rates due to a decline in access to health care. The war in the Middle East has gotten worse with strange allies coming together. Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia are fighting against Iraq, Iran, Uzbekistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are seen largely as failures due to the uprising of governments hostile to the US and democracy in those respective nations.

All US forces had been removed after the catastrophe in 2011 from Iraq, Afghanistan and Europe.

18 months into the Hagel Presidency, the President's resolve is tried and he is tired as President Gates was before him. The Presidency is like it has never been before. The bubble of the Presidency is destroyed and the President is, ironically, more powerful than ever. Parties exist in Congress for the sake of parties but when the President proposes something Congress lines up right behind him. There is no time for fighting in this bleak reality.

It is worth noting that refugee camps are now called "Gateways" short for "Gateway to Poverty"

[sentinel]

November 2014 - President Hagel announces a huge program to create millions of jobs. In the next few months they will begin developing a plan to almost completely clear out the evacuated states and build a new "shining city on a hill" that will be the envy of civilizations for thousands of years. The Administration will begin allowing experts to go deeper into the evacuated states, still with military escorts, and they will be able to stay in those states for longer amounts of times. The morale of the country rapidly increases as people become excited to literally build their own future. The people are calling it a "Blueprint to a New America"


January 30, 2015 - President Chuck Hagel is shot and killed by a crazed assassin in Denver. Police reports say that the assassin's motive was obvious to kill the President but assassin cited that "shot the President to save millions. The evacuated states aren't safe, Hagel is going to send millions in there to die." The assassin's statement does not pick up much traction and the Administration has already released all its data on the air quality of the evacuated states.

Vice President Phil Gordon assumes the Presidency upon President Hagel's death. The American people are unfamiliar with Gordon who had not been in the spotlight in the election or in the current administration. He is a stranger in almost every home outside of Arizona.

Gordon quickly appoints Governor Dustin McDaniel of Arkansas as his Vice President. Congress confirms this with a voice vote. Fortunately or unfortunately, this will be the only time something gets done under the Gordon Administration easily.

The Gordon Administration delays the opening of the borders to the evacuated states from November 2015 to February 2016 after sacking several cabinet officials including Secretary of the Interior Greg Phillips of Wyoming. The Senate rejects all of Gordon's new choices in a show of defiance against the former Vice President. Public opinion is against Gordon, who think that he should have allowed President Hagel's choices to remain in their positions.

By the time experts are being allowed into the evacuated states in March 2016 (its delayed again), the American people have turned their backs on Gordon who is still a stranger to them.

In May 2016 the American Party nominates California Governor Kamala Harris for President and she picks former Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton for Vice President. Dayton was ousted in 2014 for a second term, the same year Harris won election as Governor of California.

 The Patriot Party renominates President Phil Gordon and Vice President Dustin McDaniel.

In July 2016 an independent health report comes out saying that 40% of the people allowed into the evacuated states who stated for a week or more at a time are now dead. The study declares that the evacuated states are not yet safe for human life and they further study and research is needed to determine why.

Gordon rejects the reports calling them "false and inaccurate." Unfortunately, rumors had been swirling around refugee camps for months now and the report only confirms their own thoughts.

American Party Presidential nominee Harris calls President Gordon "an utter failure for allowing more deaths when America needs every life more than ever."

2016 Election Results

American Party
Governor Kalama Harris of California / Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota - 485 Electoral Votes, 67% popular vote.

Patriot Party
President Phil Gordon of Arizona / Vice President Dustin McDaniel of Arkansas - 59 Electoral Votes, 33% popular vote.

President Gordon fails to become anything less than a stranger winning slim majorities in 7 states. The western states, who also have the most refugees, vote for the American Party (60-40) in almost the same margin they did for the Patriot Party (70-30) four years earlier.

President Gordon devastated by the election outcome resigns the Presidency the day after the election saying "It is clear that the American people feel strongly about my job as their President. I will not make them suffer any longer."

Vice President Dustin McDaniels assumes the Presidency and quietly serves out the remainder of Gordon's term.

President-elect Kalama Harris is sworn in on January 20, 2017.

[sentinel]

2017

A group of political junkies on some internet forum create a map on what political leanings they think the states now have even though most people are unfamiliar with the positions of both political parties mainly because they overlap on many issues.

American Party (Red) - 238 Electoral Votes
Patriot Party (Blue) - 254 Electoral Votes
Toss Up - 52 Electoral Votes
Magic Number: 273

[sentinel]

How can the public blame Gordon? Hagel wanted to send people in, and Gordon's been prolonging the re-opening.

I see it like this

They can't blame Hagel. He's gone. Would they? Would Hagel have paid more attention to the report? Did Gordon know about something and just ignore it? Would Hagel have known about the report? Doesn't matter because Hagel is gone and Gordon disputed the report. What the American people know is that Gordon sent people in and more Americans died.

Gordon also wasn't as much prolonging the reopening as botching the reopening which led to delays.

[sentinel]

2017

Another President is inagurated with little pomp and circumstance. President Harris gets right to work vowing to find out why people who were let into the evacuated states are now dying, how to remedy it and then to fulfill President Hagel's vision.


Presidents of the United States
44 - Barack H. Obama* - January 20, 2009 - March 11, 2011
45 - Robert M. Gates** - March 11, 2011 - January 20, 2013
46 - Charles T. Hagel*** - January 20, 2013 - January 30, 2015
47 - Phillip Gordon*4 - January 30, 2015 - November 9, 2016
48 - Dustin McDaniel - November 9, 2016 - January 20, 2017
49 - Kamala D. Harris*5 - January 20, 2017 - Present

* - MIA post-Tsunami.
* - Both new political parties claim him as a member
*3 - Assassinated
*4 - Resigned after devastating election loss. First Jewish President.
*5 - First woman President, first Asian-American President, second biracial President.
*6 - Before Obama, there were 6 President's in 35 years. From 2009 to 2017, 8 years, there were 6 President's.

[sentinel]

What are the positions of the two parties, whose names are even confusable?

Both parties in election years are essentially against whatever it is the other party is doing because, nothing has worked so far. Both parties want to get people back into and rebuild the evacuated states. The American Party hit the Patriot Party hard in 2016 with the botching of the health inspections and that study. Economically, they're striving for the same thing. As push comes to shove you'll see more divides between the parties but right now after the election they're all on board with the President's agenda because they realize that bickering is going to hurt both of them as millions of Americans go into poverty and unemployment sky rockets.

We saw more partisanship with President Gordon which had been largely dormant under Gates and Hagel.

Social issues, due to the economic conditions, have not risen to the forefront of debate. The Patriot Party is more concerned with them, but less so than the Tea Party/Republican Party we see today. The American Party will be more liberal on social issues, but they're not talking about them either.

[sentinel]

2017

President Harris, with a 43% unemployment rate, pulls back what remaining forces the US has around the world as chaos in many third world countries breaks out. Early in Harris' term there are food shortages across the United States and she is forced to put down a dozen or so riots with military force. She pleads with the American people to work with her during these troubling times. The American people generally feel more compassion towards Harris and they feel she is speaking directly to them.

People continue to die who had been exposed to the evacuated states for more than a week, the number is now at 50% of those people. A second health report shows that there was more radiation than previously thought still present so over time it was possible to be exposed to fatal levels. The report states that by the end of 2017, it should be okay to go back into the states.

During the meantime, President Harris makes drastic reform to restore the health care system in America and quietly socializes health care. All American citizens are now covered by the government for health care. President Harris says this will save billions of dollars. Obamacare was seen as a stepping stone for this, but had largely not been implemented after the catastrophe in 2011.

[sentinel]

It is very likely there were massive die offs due to civil war and starvation in the rest of the world. I am guessing China and India's industrial revolution bit the dust pretty darn quick and hundreds of millions might of died of famine and disease in those two countries alone. In fact a nuclear war in South Asia may have broken out...perhaps even in the Middle East as Israel's enemies see an opportunity to invade and respond in kind.

I don't want to veer too much off the focus on America but I will put in some tidbits about whats happening in the rest of the world.

[sentinel]

God damnit, I just wrote so much and lost it all. Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. I want an auto-save! Back to writing this in a word document.

[sentinel]

2018

The Harris Administration struggles with bad forecasts for unemployment and steadily increasing unemployment figures. The national average is 45% with the highest unemployment rate in the most populous city in the United States --Chicago. The states on the West Coast have the lowest unemployment on average around 35%. The states closer to the evacuated states are higher than the national average.

Around the world the depression is especially harsh. China and India's industrial revolutions have come to a screeching halt and then proceeded to crash into a steel wall. At least two hundred million or more are out of work in each country respectively, and the poverty level is staggering. In Pakistan, the government has collapsed and India has threatened invasion after Pakistan's former governments final action was to self destruct its own nuclear weapons. Iran has declared war on Pakistan as a result --due to the fact that its nuclear clouds have blown towards Iran. India, although threatening war, is not capable of any sort of war although what is left of the Indian military is vigilant about keeping outsiders --out.

China has tried to double down on the discipline of its people but with widespread poverty riots are the norm. Most Chinese experts believe that the riots will die off eventually --literally.

In Europe, the Scandinavian Alliance --one of the few countries doing comparatively well during the depression, is shooting anyone who tries to cross the border --as long as they look Russian.

The Russian Federation's population is rapidly decreasing due to food and fuel shortages along with harsh winters. Russia, in 2015, invaded and completely took over Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia but has since fully removed its own forces due to problems at home. Those three countries are now "locally" governed and there is no national government.

In mainland Europe, the European Union has bit the dust, there is no "European" identity or culture anymore. Intervention in the Middle East war looms as the energy crisis in Europe worsens. Several historical pundits see the opportunity for dictatorships to rise around Europe and the rest of the world due to the depression...

In South America the Brazilian government is in chaos as a military coup ousts the democratically elected government. Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, and now Brazil are all authoritarian. Colombia is still democratic in a sense but it is losing the battle against rebels. Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay all have serious threats to their infant democracies whether from left wing radicals or the military. With Brazil's fall, they see little hope for themselves.

As for Central America, Costa Rica has militarized and has one of the the lowest unemployment in the world having created thousands of military related jobs. Costa Rica has threatened to seize the Panama Canal if anarchy broke out in Panama. Nicaragua is openly hostile to Costa Rica --who has fought back the Nicaraguan advances with much success and superior firepower.

Aside from Pakistan, who detonated their own nuclear weapons in their holding spaces to keep them away from warlords and rebels, there has been no use of nuclear weapons elsewhere. India is the closest to what you would consider "losing control" of its nuclear weapons. Iran's people are most definitely suffering the consequences of Pakistan's actions. Why did Pakistan set off the weapons instead of dismantling them? It took less time to set them off, something they did not have much of.

[sentinel]

I have another update written, just not posted yet. Sorry!

[sentinel]

2018 continued

The Harris Administration sends several hundred inspectors and experts into the evacuated states armed with military officials. All of the inspectors and experts were volunteer and are well aware of the potential consequences of their actions.

However, the Harris Administration cannot wait any longer to fully implement an economic plan. Harris tells her cabinet they must work under the assumption that the plan for the evacuated states will not happen when they want it to --but still remain ready to implement once she gives the word.

The Administration already had rolled out a plan to help those in poverty by cutting more military spending. Congress approves the cuts after some partisan debate which was ultimately silenced by more poor economic forecasts. Senator Aaron Schock –a member of the American Party--of Utah was one of dissenting opinions who faced some backlash for opposing the President’s plan.
The Canadian Prime Minister approaches the Secretary of State in May 2018 to suggest a Common Market between the US and Canada. The Secretary of State says he will bring the idea to the President. If you were wondering, Canada is not having a problem with riots, but also faces large unemployment figures.

Around the same time, scientists from a small laboratory and research center in Silicon Valley send a brief message to their representative to Congress asking for a meeting with him saying they have a breakthrough that “would change America as we now know it.” The intern opening the letter discards it as a few crazy guys mailing them like some of the other mail he has to open daily. Everyone thinks they’re going to change the world.

President Kamala Harris appoints Professor William Nye, who had been vocal about what the Gates administration should do in response to the catastrophe as well as a critic of the following administrations saying that they have missed an opportunity to change the way we live everyday by redrawing the cities of old, to the “Panel on Health, Engineering and Science in the Evacuated States.” Nye was also extremely critical of then President Gordon who ignored what Nye called “obvious warning signs” that the evacuated states were still not safe. Nye helped create President Hagel’s blueprint for a new America but says the blueprint has since “lost its original intention.”

By August 2018 the Harris Administration, with the support of the Nye Panel, brings letting more people –selectively—back into the evacuated states. The first step to recovery, President Harris explains in an address before both houses of Congress, is to clean out the rubble, keep what might be reusable, and to clean out the bodies. Harris says that it is an unfortunate decision but that the bodies they find will be cremated. Harris says that after the first phase of recovery is complete, they will begin mapping out plans for the new cities and then the third phase is implementation. She says it will take years but with the strength of the American people “we will come through this together and we will be better when we come out on the other side.
The American public is receptive to most of the plan which echoes President Hagel’s; however, they are not receptive to the idea of cremating the bodies –even though most of them have severely decomposed over the past 7 years.

As November comes around, Harris’ American Party does not do well during the midterm elections losing seats in both houses of Congress.

[sentinel]

2019
The Harris Administration acknowledges that the American people are not happy with the cremation of bodies which is already underway but the President says it is a “necessary evil” and that it would take “resources we do not have to identify the millions of bodies…” Several small colonies of survivors have been found in the evacuated states with no more than 20 people in each colony, mostly in the southeast evacuated states where the weather all year round is fairly pleasant.

Senator Aaron Schock once again speaks out against the cremations –but takes issue more with the process and how Harris has gone around Congress and has therefore avoided a confrontation with the representatives of the American people on this issue which is “not of national security, but of convenience for the Harris Administration.”

Both political parties are –for the most part—united against how Harris is handling the cremations but the Patriot Party along with Schock are the most vocal in their opposition. Both houses of Congress pass a resolution forbidding the cremations of bodies from the evacuated states but Harris responds saying “this decision is not Congress’ to make.”

Otherwise, the process of bringing people in to the evacuated states to clear the rubble goes fairly smoothly initially –however; another issue is where to put all the rubble. Currently its being piled on what used to be farmlands outside of suburban and urban areas in the evacuated states while bureaucrats and politicians struggle on what to do with it. The Nye Panel makes a statement saying it has “serious concerns” with the current process and offers an alternative method that would help experts reuse the materials down the road.

Harris’ Secretary of State, at the President’s request, begins negotiating the terms of a common market agreement between the US and Canada. Several top officials from both sides are involved but the process is not revealed to the press.

2019 does not end without leaving a its mark. In December 2019 riots break out over high heating costs in Cincinatti, Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock and several other “eastern” states. The Harris Administration botches its response and the riots get worse with rioters starting to arson buildings. After a week of local police intervention, Harris orders the military into the cities with the worse riots but in Cincinatti, Ohio where the worse riots are, the military uses lethal force which sends the riots berserk. In the end 20 military officials and over 100 rioters are dead from that day alone with the toll worsening as 2020 rang in

[sentinel]

2020

After three weeks of rioting and more deaths, Harris pulls the military and police forces out of Cincinnati, the last place the riots are still occurring, The rioters continue to arson and plunder the city and the media declares that Cincinnati is “burning to the ground.”

Senator Aaron Schock of Utah says he will challenge President Harris for the nomination for the American Party at the American Party convention. California officials, fearing for Harris’ Presidency due to her sinking approvals, set up a primary for April 2020 to help unify her supporters. Schock says that he will contest the primary.

On the other side, the Patriot Party in an early convention in February 2020 nominates Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds for President and Senator Gavin Newsom of California for Vice President. Who both pledge to stop “the unconstitutional cremations of American citizens” by President Harris as well as to “implement President Hagel’s blueprint for a New America.”
Unemployment decreases slightly for the first time in 8 years in early 2020 even if only by half a percent.
President Harris in a televised news conference is asked why she hasn’t campaigned in California with the primary only days away to which she responds “I’ve been doing the work of the people in Denver. This is my job, this is my focus. I’m confident the people of California want me to be their President.”

Five days later President Harris soundly defeats Aaron Schock in the primary in California 63% to 37%. Schock vows to defeat Harris at the American Party Convention in June.
By the time June rolls around, the cremation issue is still in the backdrop but the American Party is beginning to try to drop the issue altogether with polls showing Reynolds/Newsom leading Harris but not by much. The convention renominates the Harris/Dayton ticket with a minority voting for Schock.

The next few months are spent by Harris and Reynolds trading jabs about the handling of the war and the campaign largely takes over Harris’ day-to-day duties as President contrary to how she handled the primary challenge. Unemployment stays level until election day but the people of Ohio and the other eastern states remember how Harris handled the rioting in their cities and the death tolls associated with them.

2020 Presidential Election

President Kamala Harris of California / Vice President Mark Dayton of Minnesota – 260 Electoral Votes, 49.7% popular vote – American Party

Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa / Senator Gavin Newsom of California – 284 Electoral Votes, 49.9% popular vote – Patriot Party

Illinois, one of the most contested states this cycle, goes for Governor Reynolds as does all of its neighboring states where President Harris’ numbers have been way in the red for months due to her handling of the cremations and especially the riots.

At this point, no President has won a second term since 2004.

[sentinel]

American Party
Patriots Party


Presidents of the United States

44 - Barack H. Obama* of Illinois - January 20, 2009 - March 11, 2011
45 - Robert M. Gates** of Texas - March 11, 2011 - January 20, 2013
46 - Charles T. Hagel*** of Nebraska - January 20, 2013 - January 30, 2015
47 - Phillip Gordon*4 of Arizona - January 30, 2015 - November 9, 2016
48 - Dustin McDaniel of Arkansas - November 9, 2016 - January 20, 2017
49 - Kamala D. Harris*5 of California - January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021
50 - Kimberly Reynolds of Iowa - January 20, 2021 - Present

* - MIA post-Tsunami.
** - Both new political parties claim him as a member
*3 - Assassinated
*4 - Resigned after devastating election loss. First Jewish President.
*5 - First woman President, first Asian-American President, second biracial President.
*6 - Before Obama, there were 6 President's in 35 years. From 2009 to 2017, 8 years, there were 6 President's.

Vice Presidents of the United States

47 - Joseph R. Biden* of Delaware - January 20, 2009 - March 11, 2011
Vacant -  March 11, 2011 - March 28, 2011
48 - Arne Duncan** of Illinois -  March 28, 2011 - January 20, 2013
49 - Phillip Gordon*** of Arizona - January 20, 2013 - January 30, 2015
50 - Dustin McDaniel**** of Arkansas - February 5, 2015 - November 9, 2016
Vacant -  November 9, 2016 - January 20, 2017
51 -Mark Dayton of Minnesota - January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021
52 - Gavin Newson of California - January 20, 2021 - Present


* - MIA post Tsunami
** - Last surviving cabinet member of the Obama Administration after Gates following the tsunami. Gates quickly appoints him as Vice President.
*** - Succeeds President Hagel upon his assassination.
**** - Succeeds President Gordon upon his resignation after his defeat in the election.

[sentinel]

I wrote the next part and more --just haven't posted it yet. Will post tonight.

[sentinel]

2021
   President Reynolds, as all her predecessors, commits to seeing the repopulating and rebuilding of the evacuated states in accordance to the Blueprint for a New America which her administration will –be obviously revising just like her predecessors.
   Over the first year of her tenure as President, Reynolds ushers in thousands of new jobs as the rebuilding efforts commence. William Nye still heads the Panel on Health, Engineering and Science in the Evacuated States and issues few public statement but is known to be quite vocal inside the Administration.
   By December 2021 the unemployment rate has dropped 10% to around 35% nationally and President Reynold’s approval ratings are in the 70’s. The cremation of bodies ceases and legislation on what to do with the bodies stalls in Congress as “holding centers” for the bodies begin to overflow. The Reynolds Administration manages to suppress negative stories about the “facilities” where the bodies are being temporarily stored.

2022
   January 2022 rolls around and in terms of the initial phase of clearing out the rubble in the evacuated states, its nearly complete in some states with unprecedented amounts of manpower. The American Government manages to pay people what little it can and also tries its hardest to provide housing in “work camps” in the evacuated states. The government is regulating where people sleep and live in the evacuated states for efficiency, greater organization and safety.
   In February 2022, Professor William Nye resigns, along with three quarters of other members, from the panel citing a lack of acknowledgement from the Administration.
   In mid 2022 Senator Aaron Schock of Utah visits a small laboratory in Nevada, at the request of the laboratory, and asks them to relocate to Utah –within three months the laboratory and all of its workers have moved to a new headquarters in Salt Lake City.
   Reynolds approval remains high in 2022 as more rubble is cleared from the evacuated States. By the end of 2022, some rebuilding has started as well as much planning and zoning. In March 2022 the unemployment rate drops to a nearly 10+ year low of 28%.
   However, many economists outside the Administration criticize the lack of transparency including how the Administration is having less and less external support in planning the recovery efforts.
   In terms of international events, the world is still in a depression. Europe and Asia are struggling to recover while Africa is largely the way it was before The Catastrophe –except that its own urban centers are struggling even more. War and anarchy has been the default in the Middle East which started as Arabs v. Hebrews and has evolved into Arabs v. Arabs with Israel somewhere in the mix.
   Indian and "Pakistan" went to war in late 2016 and now India occupies Pakistan for the most part. India had fears that Pakistan did not detonate all of their nuclear weapons.
         Other countries nuclear weapons have largely remained secure. China, fearing the fall of the North Korean dictatorship, destroyed North Korea’s nuclear facilities in 2018 during its own civil war as the dying act of a world power.
   To most academics, the United States still is a world power –other countries that academics declare as having relatively stable governments are India, South Africa, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden.



 Green = Stable government w/ no radical opposition that has an honest chance of overthrowing the current type government
Light green = Stable government with quickly growing radical opposition to the current type of government, in many cases this opposition is armed or is the military
Orange = Opposition to the current type of government are mobilized and armed. Current government is actively or inactively fighting against them
Red = Full out Civil War where the “current” government is not recognized by a majority of the people
Gray = Government? What government?

[sentinel]

March 2022

   A report is released alleging that thousands of illegal and undisclosed workers are working in the evacuated states and says that Reynold’s Administration is not doing a good enough job ensuring border security and keeping track of what’s happening in the evacuated states.

   Around the same time, the Reynold’s Administration reveals the results of the Census and the new Electoral Map. Congress has approved a “Return to Normalcy” plan for Rhode Island and Maryland which would allow workers to vote while working in these territories. Workers in other evacuated states would be given absentee ballots for their home state. Maryland and Rhode Island are given 3 electoral votes each and President Reynold’s appoints a Military Governor for both areas.

   The “Return to Normalcy” plan has Congressional elections scheduled for Maryland and Rhode Island in 2026.

Green = Increase in Electoral Votes
Yellow = Decrease in Electoral Votes
Gray = No Change
Blue = Rhode Island/Maryland who were each given 3 Electoral Votes
Total: 551 Electoral Votes (276 to win)

[sentinel]

Just a note that most of what was Rhode Island is under water. Approximately 45% of it is above sea level. Most workers are reaching Rhode Island via boat from one of the states on the Gulf of Mexico.

May 8, 2022

Several workers are hospitalized in West Virginia after bumps that were filled with a thick, opaque fluid appeared on their skin. They had been working in Virginia...

May 12, 2022

Excerpts from a phone conversation between a Doctor in the hospital and another Doctor...

We've had the five patients quarantined as well as all of the people who have come in contact with them...the President sent this distinguished General down here...its scary how willing they are to throw people into quarantine...I don't think there's a need for the armed guards....not only around the rooms they're quarantined in but around the whole facility...

What do you think it is? It couldn't be...

Everything points to it...

May 14, 2022

I spoke with the General today...I told him what we thought it was...there is an even greater military presence here now...he warned me not to talk about what was going on here...

Did you confirm it?

Confirm it? I knew it was it when I saw it...


May 23, 2022

"Have you heard from Dr. Friedemann in West Virgnia, honey?"
"I've tried to get a hold of him...the hospital staff said he left...he won't answer his phone...I can't get a hold of his family..."
"Honey, do you think...?"
"I've been thinking we should leave..."

[sentinel]

News Channel 5 - A suburban community outside of Chicago

"Last night neighbors reported a break in at the home of Dr. Harold Quirin. Police arrived at the scene to find the house broken into but with no one present. Police have been unable to contact Dr. Quirin or his wife and are in the process of trying to contact family as to find their whereabouts. There are no signs of a struggle within the house. Police do not suspect foul play at this time."

[sentinel]

"Mrs. President..."

"Have you isolated the problem?"

"Yes, we've taken care of it. You don't need to concern yourself with it."

"Good, we cannot let something like this rip through America at a time where morale is already horribly low. History will judge us well for making these hard decisions..."

June 2022


A reporter living with workers in Virginia, along with a dozen or so workers, develops bumps  filled with a thick, opaque fluid while in a camp in Virginia and become very ill. The reporter manages to call home and tell her family about it. Her father, a surgeon, is confused by the description. "Honey, this can't be --but it sounds like smallpox. You need to get to a hospital immediately."

The reporter Lynsay Dayna is brought to a hospital in West Virginia, the same one that the first batch of workers went to. Days later the patients are "relocated" from the hospital by the military to a "military hospital." When Dayna's father arrives the hospital has no information on where she might be.

Dayna's job at the Denver Times contacts her father upon not hearing from Lynsay in over two weeks. Her father explains what happened and the story gets national airtime.

The military and the President's spokeswoman are categorically denying their involvement....

By July 2022 doctors have recorded over 100 cases of smallpox...many theorize that during the construction efforts the strain was released from its contained state in a former Center for Disease Control. Others believe a more diabolical theory in which the strain was purposely released...the fact is that no one is certain how it was released...

Small pox vaccinations are in extremely short supply and there is a deficit of the resources needed to make them...those who can pay are getting the vaccinations first...The Reynolds Administration states that it "is doing everything in our power to ensure that all Americans regardless of income, race and class are getting this vaccination..." Unfortunately that is not the stark reality for many Americans. Not only is fear of smallpox rampant in America, news has spread to other countries who are also preparing for a possible epidemic...

By August 2022 the number of people who have contracted smallpox has increased 100x to 10,000...the death toll, out of these cases, is around 2,000...

The Reynolds Administration quarantines the evacuated states, pretty much locking them "out" of the inhabited United States. Reynold's actions are condemned by the American Party (and most of the Patriot Party excluding its leadership)...Senator Aaron Schock calls the President's actions a "death sentence for millions of Americans working and living in the evacuated states..."

President Reynolds addresses the nation defending her actions calling it for "the greater good. If we let everyone in the evacuated states back in, then we will all surely be at the mercy of small pox. Right now we have the illness contained and we are looking for ways to save as many lives as possible..."

The Secretary for Health & Human Services lobbies with pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of the vaccine and to let the Administration help distribute it better...the companies respond that "they're doing all they can" but the resources to make it are "scarce at best."


By September 2022 the question of where the dead bodies are being brought comes up again...the Administration refuses to comment.

The midterm elections in 2022 come around and the American Party regains both houses of Congress for the first time since 2018.

Midterm Results:

Senate (68 Seats):

American Party: 40
Patriot Party: 25
Independent: 3

House of Representatives (477 Seats):

American Party: 310
Patriot Party: 134
Independent: 33


Unemployment: 33%
Reynold's Approval: 21%

[sentinel]

By the time January 2023 rolls around the rate of infection has declined but it is still spreading. Parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Alabama are militarized. Construction efforts in the evacuated states virtually come to a halt and the American Red Cross says the Administration is not properly preparing their workers for the winter....


July 2023

With the recovery stalled due to the continuing smallpox epidemic unemployment jumps back up to 40% as Reynold's approval rating dips into the teens. The American Party controlled Congress tries to legislate demands on the bureaucracy as to how to handle the epidemic but the Reynold's Administration has its own ideas...impeachment is mentioned but it ultimately goes nowhere...

Former Senator Mike Lee an old Republican who now considers himself a member of the American Party says that "President Reynolds has proven her incompetence. She needs to get out of the way so our country can move forward and solve this problem."

The rest of the year comes and goes with millions of Americans living in fear...sometime in November 2023 after over 2 million people contracted the disease and nearly 750,000 died, the vaccine has finally been distributed to more than 2/3rds of the population over a year and a half later...

Pundits have said it would be impossible for Reynolds to recover from such a devastating mark on her record. Her approval rating has been in the single digits for months.

In January 2024 the Reynolds Administration feels comfortable enough with new checks in place that they can allow controlled traveling between the evacuated states and the rest of the United States. Many workers go back to their homes, after passing medical evaluations, having not seen their families since 2022 --or in some cases earlier.

In April 2024 the British Civil War ends with the dissolution of the United Kingdom into Wales, England, Scotland and the agreement that Northern Ireland will vote on if it wishes to become part of Ireland or remain independent.

What does bump Reynold's approval, although slightly, is her handling of riots and domestic uprisings across the United States...Reynold's forces use very different tactics than the way they handled the quarantine...

In May 2024 Senator Aaron Schock of Utah receives the nomination for the American Party and selects scientist William Nye of California as his running mate. President Kim Reynolds of Iowa receives the Patriot Party nomination but Vice President Gavin Newsom opts not to run with her for reelection. Instead Reynold's picks Congressman Corbinian Viet an Indian American. Interestingly enough one of his parents is German, the other Indian and he was born in the United States...

As the election approached Reynolds took credit for increasing employment (which has since again dropped to 38%) but the American people are not willing to forget their fallen brothers to the hands of smallpox which they blame on Reynolds.

*Just a note, I realize Schock is from Illinois. He moved west after the catastrophe like many other Americans.

November 2024 Presidential Election

Senator Aaron Schock of Utah/William Nye of California - 436 Electoral Votes, 61.7% popular vote - American Party
President Kim Reynolds of Iowa/Congressman Corbinian Viet of Michigan - 115 Electoral Votes, 31.3% popular vote - Patriot Party
Other Various Candidates - 7.0% Popular Vote

Senator Schock wins in a lopsided victory over President Reynolds. Many people doubt if its possible for a President to win a second term as President during these times...Exit Polls, when conducted, showed that both candidates favorability ratings were in the negatives although Reynold's substantially more than Schock...


Congressional Election Results

Senate (68 Seats):

American Party: 44 (+4)
Patriot Party: 19
Independent: 5 (+2)

House of Representatives (477 Seats):

American Party: 325 (+15)
Patriot Party: 113 (-21)
Independent: 39 (+6)


Unemployment on Election Day: 35%
Reynold's Approval on Election Day: 13% Strongly Approve/Approve, 67% Strongly Disapprove/Disapprove, 20% Unsure/No Opinion

[sentinel]

American Party
Patriots Party


Presidents of the United States

44 - Barack H. Obama* of Illinois - January 20, 2009 - March 11, 2011
45 - Robert M. Gates** of Texas - March 11, 2011 - January 20, 2013
46 - Charles T. Hagel*** of Nebraska - January 20, 2013 - January 30, 2015
47 - Phillip Gordon*4 of Arizona - January 30, 2015 - November 9, 2016
48 - Dustin McDaniel of Arkansas - November 9, 2016 - January 20, 2017
49 - Kamala D. Harris*5 of California - January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021
50 - Kimberly Reynolds of Iowa - January 20, 2021 - January 20, 2025
51 - Aaron Schock of Utah - January 20, 2025 - Present

* - MIA post-Tsunami.
** - Both new political parties claim him as a member
*3 - Assassinated
*4 - Resigned after devastating election loss. First Jewish President.
*5 - First woman President, first Asian-American President, second biracial President.
*6 - Before Obama, there were 6 President's in 35 years. From 2009 to 2017, 8 years, there were 6 President's.

Vice Presidents of the United States

47 - Joseph R. Biden* of Delaware - January 20, 2009 - March 11, 2011
Vacant -  March 11, 2011 - March 28, 2011
48 - Arne Duncan** of Illinois -  March 28, 2011 - January 20, 2013
49 - Phillip Gordon*** of Arizona - January 20, 2013 - January 30, 2015
50 - Dustin McDaniel**** of Arkansas - February 5, 2015 - November 9, 2016
Vacant -  November 9, 2016 - January 20, 2017
51 -Mark Dayton of Minnesota - January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021
52 - Gavin Newson of California - January 20, 2021 - January 20, 2025
53 - William Nye of California - January 20, 2025 - Present


* - MIA post Tsunami
** - Last surviving cabinet member of the Obama Administration after Gates following the tsunami. Gates quickly appoints him as Vice President.
*** - Succeeds President Hagel upon his assassination.
**** - Succeeds President Gordon upon his resignation after his defeat in the election.