Human-Zombie War (Night of the Living Alternate History Map Game)

The Human - Zombie War, also known simply as The Apocalypse or the Zombie War was a global war that began in 1969. It currently involves almost every nation on the globe, devastating large sections of the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Since the initial outbreak in 1969 the zombie outbreak has spread all across the world, rallying support from many of the world's superpowers to end the zombie horde. It perhaps one of the most widespread wars in history, comparable even to World War 2.

In a state of total war, the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities toward the cause of eradicating the undead, erasing social classes and fiat goods that had dominated the globe in the past. Much of society broke down into primitive barter-based economies, plagued by crime, disease, and conflict following the initial global infection. The role of the average citizen descended into a fight to survive and secure the most basic necessities. Widespread destruction engulfed much of the civilized world, meeting the downfall of globalization and world travel. Bombing campaigns and all-out invasions crippled the infrastructure of Europe and North America for decades to come. Millions of civilians were killed in the chaos, displacing many and creating an entire generation of refugees.

The infection was born from the film Night of the Living Dead, by George A. Romero, a classic undead movie of 1968. Shortly after the film's release a radical team of scientists from a pharmaceutical company in the United States secretly begin conducting experiments to replicate the zombies in the movie, hoping to become rich from licensing the technology to be used as a biological weapon. The primitive virus would unknowingly contaminate the group, leading to the spread of the disease across the world.

Initial American attempts to contain the infection failed, leading to much of the US Midwest being overrun within months. The zombies would also spread to Mexico and Central America, where the infection would manifest and mutate. After a massive mobilization effort the United States managed to push the zombies to the Mississippi River, which became the main front against the North American infection, through the Blockade Campaign.

The infection would also appear in Europe and the British Isles through contact the scientists made there within a few months. Europe was heavily overrun, destroying entire cities of unsuspecting inhabitants. Communication between nations was severally broken down, and many nations were unable to mobilize in time to contain the infection.

The fear of a nuclear exchange reached its height in the early months of the war. With Warsaw Pact and NATO missiles pointed at the other, the prospect of an accident strike was almost realized, if not for the efforts of several peacekeeping negotiations, including the Annapolis Conference. The fear of nuclear war would again be realized with the London War, in which the English threatened to pacify the British Isles with nuclear detonations.

The Cold War would continue to play a large role in the war's outcome. American efforts in southeast Asia were largely abandoned, and similar operations would be canceled. Cold War-era sentiment would largely slow the efforts of humanitarian aid and much needed support in Europe, and lead to the continent's slow downfall.

Background
On 1 October 1968 the film Night of the Living Dead, by George A. Romero was released in theaters. The movie became popular across the United States, drawing large numbers in the box office. Inspired by the film's depiction of life-less corpses wandering the streets, a private team of scientists would begin to research the possibility of using similar 'undead' as a biological weapon. The research team would commence work in a closed laboratory in the United States, testing several rare strains of bacteria and viruses from the Caribbean, Yellowstone National Park, and other remote areas. On the 30 December a scientist was accidentally exposed to the experimental virus, eventually contaminating the entire team.

In the early weeks of January 1969 the leader of the scientist group made several visits to private arms dealer and weapon manufacturers in Milan, Italy and in London, England, further spreading the infection. In the United States hundreds of people began to report strange flu-like symptoms. On 15 March, after dozens of deaths, the state of Arizona declared a state of emergency. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation, began a formal investigation, cleaning large buildings that were contaminated. On 25 March the research group's laboratory was discovered and FBI agents were ordered to storm the facility, arresting all members of the team at site. The team was transferred by armored convoy to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma to await further questioning, but were compromised shortly after arriving. The base was overrun within a few days.

United States
After the initial crisis US military personnel were stationed in major cities, hoping to evacuate as many civilians as possible. Basic screening stations were established, setting the example for future screening efforts. After constant bombardment for days, the United States withdrew by air to the east, officially abandoning Phoenix, Arizona on 11 April.

Texas became the first state to declare itself independent on 1 May 1969, declaring that to manage the crisis accordingly the state needed to act on a small scale, until the infection could be stopped. Texas, and the states that would follow, remained dependent on the United States, acting in the interest of the anti-zombie effort. With western Texas largely inhabited with the undead, Texas began massive recruitment efforts. The state would remain mostly intact, acting as a buffer for the United States, thanks in part to the most densely populated area of zombies residing behind the massive American-Mexican border. The defenses helped to prevent Texas from quickly falling to the zombie horde, allowing them to focus on the western border.

With much of the southwest in disarray and chaos, new nations and survivor groups would soon appear all across the ruins of the United states. On 3 May the Bay Republic was founded in the city of San Francisco by the survivors in the city. Other western nations, including the Northwest Federation, formed from the former states of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, and Northern California would soon grow to become regional powers in the west.

Europe
Initially the European outbreaks began in northern Italy and Britain, caused directly by the American scientist who traveled there. Milan would be quarantined by the Italian government on 9 May hoping to prevent the infection from consuming the rest of Italy. The efforts were largely unsuccessful and soon zombies are reported near Turin and Genoa. The zombies would pick up momentum in Italy, eventually advancing south toward Rome.

London would fall quickly to the zombie infection, which had spread rapidly before the onset of symptoms. The city is overrun and its population dispersed into the countryside. Unknowingly this would also spread the infection across Central Europe. The City of London, the small region within London, would wall itself off from the city around it, repairing the old walls to serve as a barrier to the British capital. The stronghold was bombarded with refugees who were largely turned down. People pleaded at the city gate, as zombies roamed behind them.

The City of London was unable to allow any of these refugees from entering. Knowing that they could risk contaminating the entire population, and that supplies were short, the doors remained shut. The City was forced with a housing crisis. Since most of the nation's inhabitants were commuters from London, the nation was unable to house even a small fraction of those locked within. Poor living conditions led to outbreaks of disease and starvation. Nearly thirty-five percent of the people inside would perish in the next few weeks.

The infection would spread from Italy into France and the north, and from England into the mainland, striking in many metropolises at once. Zombies had entered West Germany by May of 1969, and Soviet forces along the Berlin Wall began using the barrier as a screening station. The Berlin Wall was vastly improved and expanded, along with the rest of the Soviet border in Germany.

Northern France, including the regions of Normandy and Brittanny were quickly hit by infection. The French government largely fell back, hoping to evacuate citizens south. Out of the chaos the region of Brittanny would declare itself independent, locking off the French border. By the end of 1969 much of northern and central France had been abandoned.

Blockade Campaign
On 20 August the president of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, would begin the Blockade Campaign. The campaign was a large scale operation with the objective of pushing the safe zone to the Mississippi River. The plan began in the east, utilizing large numbers of veterans from the Vietnam War who were selected for a second tour of duty.