North Carolina is a former American state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the Southern United States. The state once bordered South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina was once a key producer of textiles and tobacco in the United States. Raleigh was its capital and Charlotte was its largest city. On September 25th, 1983, the great nuclear war that ravaged the rest of the world brought the region to its knees, crippling the state government and limiting its ability to respond to the widespread disaster. What order emerged in the following years was largely local, stemming from small-town police forces, religious communities, citizen militias, and white supremacist organizations. Oftentimes these were one in the same. The western regions of the state, however, were largely spared from Doomsday. Fleeing from the carnage to the east, elements of the former state government managed to form a coalition of stable settlements. These eventually formed a state known as Blue Ridge.
Years of police control and genocide ensued. Attempts at restoring the Confederate States, harsh persecutions of minorities, and post-atomic religious extremist sects kept the state in a state of constant flux in the decades immediately following Doomsday. As Blue Ridge's power grew over the years, it became embroiled in many of the conflicts which ravaged North and South Carolina in order to achieve a favorable peace. After years of interminable conflict, most local governments had become dependent upon Blue Ridge. Seeking to end the violence, Blue Ridge reconstituted itself into the State of Carolina in 2020, declaring itself the legal successor to both the North and South Carolinian governments.
History[]
Pre-Doomsday[]
English colonists, sent by Sir Walter Raleigh, unsuccessfully attempted to settle Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587. Virginia Dare, born there in 1587, was the first child of English parentage born in America.
In 1653 the first permanent settlements were established by English colonists from Virginia near the Roanoke and Chowan rivers. The region was established as an English proprietary colony in 1663–1665 and in its early history was the scene of Culpepper's Rebellion (1677), the Quaker-led Cary Rebellion (1708), the Tuscarora Indian War (1711–1713), and many pirate raids.
During the American Revolution, there was relatively little fighting within the state, but many North Carolinians saw action elsewhere. Despite considerable pro-Union, antislavery sentiment, North Carolina joined the Confederacy during the Civil War. The state's history of racial tension did not end there, and though the post-Civil War North Carolina government was more amicable to reconstruction, disenfranchisement of blacks in the state continued well after the war. This history of racial violence includes the Wilmington massacre of 1898, in which white supremacists violently took control of the city. This remains the first and only coup d'état in pre-Doomsday American history and it marked a turning point in racial relations in North Carolina.
The skyline of pre-war Raleigh
Though the late 19th century was hard on North Carolina, the 20th century saw the state turn into a center of education and innovation. In 1903, Kitty Hawk was the location of the first successful flight of a manned airplane. Coupled with a massive education campaign led by North Carolina's governor, the 1910s saw the creation of thousands of public schools and the establishment of many colleges. This was cut short, first by a particularly devastating Spanish Flu and then by the Great Depression, which left countless farmers in the largely-rural state destitute. North Carolina's success in pioneering education continued, and by 1980 many of the state's universities were among the most well-known in the nation. As more blacks sought higher education, many of North Carolina's most important moments during the civil rights era involved black college students. Perhaps the most famous were the Greensboro sit-ins of 1960. Though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 soon followed, racial violence continued in North Carolina.
During the 1980 census, North Carolina was found to have a population of 5,881,766.
Doomsday[]
| City | Population | Deaths | Injuries | Wind Direction | Wind Speed | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 382,000 | 87,382 | 110,881 | ESE | 3 mph | Clear |
| Fayetteville | 59,507 | 4,800 | 6,903 | NNE | 6 mph | Fair |
| Goldsboro | 31,871 | 10,709 | 22,880 | NE | 4 mph | Fair |
| Greensboro | 155,642 | 43,991 | 44,032 | E | 2 mph | Clear |
| Havelock | 17,718 | 6,819 | 7,438 | NE | 8 mph | Fair |
| Jacksonville | 18,237 | 7,572 | 9,024 | NE | 8 mph | Fair |
| Raleigh | 150,255 | 49,115 | 78,079 | NE | 5 mph | Clear |
| Wilmington | 44,000 | 20,980 | 21,544 | NE | 9 mph | Partly cloudy |
On Doomsday, strikes in North Carolina included Charlotte, Camp Lejuene, Havelock, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Fort Fisher, Jacksonville, Raleigh and Greensboro. Though the metropolitan areas were largely spread out and the downtown areas were considerably harder hit than the various communities adjacent to the cities, the military targets in North Carolina were completely obliterated. This crippled North Carolina leadership, preventing an immediate response to Doomsday. The region - particularly in the Piedmont - collapsed into near-anarchy. The nuclear blasts created massive fires that burned uncontrolled for weeks. They devastated the urban sprawl that had not been directly hit. Within the first few hours after Doomsday, the interstate system and many highways in North Carolina were gridlocked. People still trapped in urban areas were forced to flee the growing infernos on foot.
The nuclear warheads detonated in Raleigh caused fires that burned for days, spreading to other areas
Those on the road fortunate to have stopped near regions not hit by bombs would have found crowds of desperate people swarming these communities mixing with terrified, armed citizens. Many tramplings and shootings happened across the state because of this initial panic. Grocery stores and convenience stores were picked clean within the first 24 hours after the bombs fell. One notable incident in Durham involved a fire at a gas station due to the pandemonium causing a massive explosion that contributed to the wave of fire cooking the Triangle alive. Each town had successive and large-scale waves of refugees arriving in their town, realizing there was nothing to be found, resorting to desperate measures, leaving their dead, and moving on.
Those who were stranded on their cars in the middle of nowhere were forced to migrate on foot. The pattern of nuclear strikes in the region isolated the mountains and coastline of North Carolina from the more-populated Piedmont, and emergency workers did what they could to guide people away from irradiated areas. Though this saved countless lives, it had the effect of funneling survivors, especially near Raleigh and Charlotte. Communities in the way, which had been picked clean already, were oftentimes subject to looting or other acts of violence.
The breakdown in order resulted in an overwhelming use of force by law enforcement.
Some communities retained order, usually by force. Violence and theft were frequent grounds for execution on the spot, though many of these extrajudicial killings saw a disproportionate number of black survivors die at the hands of rural law enforcement and armed citizens. These communities numbered far greater in October than they did in December, and most of the ones remaining withered away within the first few years of their existences. Though some survivors eked out an existence closer to locations of nuclear strikes, a series of expeditions undertaken separately by the Blue Ridge, Elizabeth City and Outer Banks governments confirmed that the cities of Durham, Winston-Salem, Morrisville and Wilmington were abandoned soon after Doomsday due to violence and mass deaths from radiation and starvation.
Blue Ridge scouts discovered a crude burial plot and marker 15 miles outside of Durham. Its tombstone was made out of plywood and the inscription - "Here Lies William Kennedy Smith, a member of the Kennedy clan from Massachusetts" - apparently carved with a knife.
Roughly a day after the bombs fell, nuclear fallout began to rain down on the devastated state. The prevailing wind currents carried the fallout to the northeast, though OTL weather reports indicate that the wind was largely already blowing in this direction at the time the bombs fell. This fallout would make central and southern North Carolina incredibly unsafe, and the regions remain impacted by radiation today. Communities within the fallout zones typically did not survive the first year after Doomsday. By 2000, it is estimated that only about a hundred people remained living in the fallout zones.
Carolinian Dark Age (1984 - 1990)[]
Though several successful survivor communities would rise throughout North Carolina, the first year after Doomsday saw a dramatic fall in NC's population. Countless isolated survivors and families died in their houses during these dark years. Their abandoned domiciles would remain undiscovered for years until an explorer or looter found the house and their long-deceased occupants, took what remained of value (if there was anything at all), and moved on. Occasionally, looters would stumble upon the scene of some final act of desperation. Evidence of cannibalism has been noted on many remains dating to the year after Doomsday. Many tragic stories have been discovered in these abandoned houses, and it became customary to lay grave markers for the dead outside their homes. Nature began to reclaim these houses fairly early on, and by now many of these buildings are no longer safe to enter or have already collapsed. Starvation was especially bad on the barrier islands of the Outer Banks, which cannot grow their own food.
Vegetation reclaimed roads in the Southeast in only a few months.
Had the 1980s hurricane seasons been more active in North Carolina, it is unlikely that the region would have ever recovered. These famines culminated in a mutiny among members of the Coast Guard stationed in the region, ultimately resulting in the creation of a new, de facto independent city-state. In the meantime, Roanoke Island, being a fairly large island capable of supporting some agriculture, was able to retain relative order. Andy Griffith is known to have survived Doomsday and lived well into his 80s, spending the rest of his life in Manteo.
Meanwhile, in the mountains, the closest thing to a continuation of the North Carolina state government established a safe zone in Asheville. Situated relatively far away from the nearest nuclear strike in Charlotte, the Appalachian mountain city was able to establish order fairly quickly. Naturally, everyone in North Carolina had the same idea: the bombs did not hit the mountains, so it must be safe there. The population of Asheville is estimated to have swelled to roughly 400,000 people, or twice its pre-war population. This was an intense drain on resources, and these people brought with them their share of violence, disease, and more mouths to feed. The survival of Billy Graham and his mega-church inspired various acts of kindness, though it also inspired plenty of misguided racism and religious fervor. Various townships were reclaimed by Asheville in the following year as the new refugees were given opportunities to relocate to houses within Asheville that had lost their owners (prior residents of Buncome County were given priority status over the rest).
In 1984, Asheville passed legislature effectively declaring its independence from the United States in all but name. It began to ally with various other mountain communities and reclaim many more. As Asheville was where many members of the NC state legislature ended up, it was seen as something as a continuation of government by many people who had otherwise received little-to-no updates on the state of the union. This allowed Asheville to quickly establish control over the region, albeit fairly loose. Many of the refugees in Asheville ended up wandering elsewhere on their own, turning to desperation and banditry. Asheville's militia was most famously deployed in the Battle of Swannanoa, in which a group known for its violence against other refugees was engaged by the newly-formed militia. A reported 20 people died in the assault, and the region was pacified. Word of a new power in western NC spread around Appalachia.
Over the following years, Asheville made contact with other survivor communities outside of North Carolina. Some were hostile, such as East Tennessee, while others were more willing to cooperate and trade, such as the Piedmont Republic. Asheville fought a series of wars against the former of the two called the Smoky Mountain War of 1987, effectively establishing the pre-war border of North Carolina as the legal boundary of East Tennessee. The overwhelming amount of refugees relocated, settled, or perished over time, and Asheville returned to a more stable population of 200,000.
Violence continued in many post-atomic states as warlords and extremists exacted a reign of terror.
The central region of North Carolina, which had been hit particularly hard by the bombs, largely fell into anarchy shortly after Doomsday. In a few cases, law and order was retained in a brutal fashion. Particularly in rural areas, survivor communities were usually small and oftentimes tied to a religious congregation. This led to the early creation of several agricultural settlements. These groups were small; a typical community was no more than 100 people. As time went on, some groups grew in size, wielding influence over whole towns. Multitudes more dwindled in size as families died with every famine, the passing of winter each year, and regular epidemics of typhoid. Some gave their lives to protect their families in this grim, lawless realities while others met their fate by trying to steal Thursday night dinner from the wrong person.
There was oftentimes some overlap between members of local police departments and members of hate groups. North Carolina was still very racially-divided prior to Doomsday, and this only got worse after the bombs fell. As these police departments were the only semblance of law and order remaining, countless atrocities against minorities were ignored, and some police chiefs became little more than tribal despots. Though many police departments ended up dissolving in the months and years after Doomsday, a number of these communities established local control. There was some level of cooperation among these communities, though wars resembling gang violence broke out between various police states.
Perhaps the most notable case of a police despot rising to power was in Henderson, in which a police chief elected after Doomsday terrorized nearby communities into giving him monthly "taxes." This could come in the form of food, supplies, or labor. Anyone who refused, was disliked, or was a minority was shot on the spot. By gathering steady supplies from these areas, he had effectively seized control of several counties in North Carolina. This would continue until the 2000s.
Sheriff Rule (1991 - 2010)[]
The period after 1990 is typically referred to as "sheriff rule" in central North Carolina. By this point, most of the agricultural and religious communities that had survived were nominally protected by militias claiming to be law enforcement. The definition of this term grew increasingly loose over time, though most of these agencies claimed to be direct continuations of some polity's police or sheriff department. As towns were re-established, these groups represented the towns' interests and became synonymous with the town militia. As happens with groups of armed people claiming to be the law in a lawless time, these groups began to exert increasing influence on the provisional governments of the towns they protected. Over the span of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the question arose in communities across North Carolina: were law enforcement militias the tools of their small communities, or were the small communities the tools of the law enforcement militias?
The law enforcement militias that became important were universally the ones that stuck together to enrich themselves. The peaceful militias were passive as other communities grew in importance via small-scale wars, racial cleansing, and tax collection. Though Henderson remained the most powerful and notable example due to its control over the entire Kerr Lake region, it was not the only one. These communities that had clung to survival through the Carolinian dark ages began to seize resources from isolated families first, then other communities entirely. As opposed to the wholesale murder seen in the 80s (which still happened), smaller communities were intimidated into providing resources to police communities in exchange for protection. Settlements that had previously been depopulated by violence were resettled. A 2020 census of Oxford NC, for example, looked into archival records from 1980 and reported that none of the people living in the city in 1980 were living there in 2020.
Supplies stockpiles had to be kept in secure locations. Prisons were turned into post-war fortresses, such as Butner FCC in the Kerr Republic
The Kerr Republic became a model example of this because of its large-scale, violent invasion of the surrounding countryside in the early 1990s. A democratically-elected police chief ordered a two-month reign of terror known as the Kerr Lake Massacre, in which armed members of the militia swept through the communities surrounding the lake, and then south into Granville and Vance counties in an attempt to "collect long-withheld taxes" from people living in the region after Doomsday. Parishes, families, and other small communities were then told that the Henderson PD represented law and order in the absence of instruction from the state or federal governments. These taxes typically came in the form of food, water, and ammunition. In 1992, Butner Correctional Facility was occupied and turned into a fortress and stockpile for the Henderson militia. No such "mass tax collection" took place again, and local militias began allying with the Henderson militia to participate in the defense of the region. This was referred to as the Kerr Republic.
By 1995, the Kerr Republic was the primary producer and distributor of tobacco, which made it a regionally-important entity. Militia members became responsible for clearing out and patrolling the interstate system. By this point, many highways and stretches of the interstate were almost entirely overgrown. The rusted and broken-down vehicles were stripped of useful parts and then moved off the road to allow for the movement of caravans and riders on horseback. Ensuring the interstate is not entirely overgrown remains a constant chore in North Carolina, particularly during the summer. A similar thing began to happen all over the state, from the mountains to the coast.
In addition to this expansion of the post-war infrastructure, the rise of tobacco estates transformed the economic and civic landscape across North Carolina. Though they initially existed within sheriff-ruled areas, prospecting farmers might leave their violent, police-controlled plots and find somewhere more suitable to start a farm of their own. In the late 1990s, a massive tobacco boom led these tobacco magnates to compete with the sheriffs, especially as the various sheriff republics began to expand. However, a sense of adventure began to sweep through the younger adults who had known the pre-war world only as children. This sense of wanderlust and newfound youth in a post-apocalyptic world led many to resist sheriff rule or leave them altogether.
The late 1990s also saw the formal establishment of Blue Ridge, which held the most widely-recognized claim to legitimacy as the successor to the North Carolina state government. During the 1980s and 90s, much of the black diaspora facing persecution in North Carolina fled to Asheville. Though systemic racism existed in Blue Ridge, it was lightyears ahead of sheriff-ruled communities in terms of social justice. To preserve their unquestioned power and dominance, the sheriffs of central NC refused Blue Ridge's legitimacy. The mountain community that seemed to be taking North Carolina in a relatively-peaceful sweep was stopped in its tracks. Black communities and independent farmers began to ally with Blue Ridge. The population of central North Carolina continued to plummet as waves of immigrants flocked to western North Carolina.
Not everyone was willing to leave their homes, especially tobacco farmers who had just established their new estates. Resistance against sheriff rule became even more widespread, especially after the Second Burning of Durham in 1997. This post-apocalyptic concert became the birth of the 'smasher' subculture. Known for its unique taste in hard rock, near-anarchic beliefs, bad attitudes, and garments absolutely covered in unnecessary spikes and chains, smashers were the boogeymen to the older generation. Smashers in Blue Ridge started many famous music bands and led to the birth of radio stations that remain staples of Carolinian culture to this day.
In the early 2000s, a massive revolt took place in Asheboro after the Level Cross Massacre of 2004, in which a group of 6 police klansmen in the sleepy town of Level Cross opened fire on a black neighborhood, killing anywhere from 18 to 66 people. After news of this mass killing by the sheriffs spread through the former Piedmont-Triad, months of rioting were violently and lethally handled by the police. How a tragedy of this magnitude could take place in a southern town named Level Cross was beyond anyone, but the violence that ensued shook the police klan to the ground, eventually resulting in the complete collapse of the Asheboro Police Klan. The remnants of this klan scattered to the wind, though racial violence continued. News of this wanton slaughter reached far and wide and soon many sheriff-ruled communities found themselves embroiled in violence. Some, like Roanoke Rapids, were able to throw off their oppressors. Others, such as those in Hillsborough, were put down with brutal efficiency.
These insurrections would continue throughout the 2000s. They were called the "Pig Wars," a slang term at first that had caught on by the 2010s to refer to the widespread downfall of most of these regimes by 2010. Though many would blame meddling from Blue Ridge from the start, the mountain community began sending aid to those fighting against the police klans - first in the form of food and supplies, but soon in the form of weapons and armed mercenaries. The American Spring, which saw the United States in the West contact much of North America, would spell the ultimate end of sheriff rule and, in short order, the further expansion of Blue Ridge into the North Carolinian Piedmont.
Blue Ridge Ascendant (2011 - 2015)[]
Grove Park, the capitol building of Blue Ridge. Several members of the US Supreme Court fled here after Doomsday before evacuating to New Zealand.
In 2011, a revolt broke out against the local government of Kannapolis. Dubbed the Moonshiner's War, this armed conflict dragged many bandit groups and gangs into the fray. Though it began as a violent gang war, the police and government, many of whom had gang affiliations, began to pick sides. This culminated in a violent shootout and widespread destruction. The events were broadcast from a series of radio signals to the entire world and was a rare glimpse to some overseas at just how far post-war America had fallen. The cries for help were needed by Blue Ridge, which quickly annexed the city and began to pursue a policy of expansion into central North Carolina. The process of pacifying these gang wars was long, but in the end the region was pacified and proved to be a model of success for Blue Ridge.
The winter of 2012 saw the Level Cross Tribunals. This sleepy town to the north of Asheboro had been host to a radical sect of the Ku-Klux-Klan since the '90s. They began a period of aggressive expansion throughout the former Piedmont-Triad. What began as an ethnic cleanse turned into a brutal subjugation of the surrounding population into a cult. To protect itself, Asheboro accepted Blue Ridge control over the region. After a quick and brutal cleanup of the area, the Blue Ridge army cornered the cult in its main headquarters. After a tense standoff, the radicals stormed the Blue Ridge army in a suicide run. They were put down, but inflicted heavy casualties on the team sent to eliminate them.
The expansion of Blue Ridge's authority into central North Carolina resulted in a large-scale shift away from sheriff rule. The police warlords that once claimed huge swaths of land in North Carolina had largely petered out, killed each other, or scattered to the winds. The Pig Wars ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. Though police states continued until the Rocky Mount Wars, the worst of the storm had passed. A shift in Carolinian culture took place. Whether it was due to the collapse of autocratic regimes across the former state or the rebellious youth simply growing older and more tempered, North Carolina saw groups like smashers and atom goths lose traction. In OTL, the 2010s saw an obsession with 80s culture. A similar thing took place in the 2010s in this ATL. As Blue Ride expanded across North Carolina, a return of many technologies meant the return of ways to make and distribute music. The world remained in a period of arrested development after the war, but the 2010s truly saw the cultural rebirth of pre-war America. Synth-folk, Appalachian metal, and bluegrass dominated the music scene.
The acquisition of territory within the Piedmont-Triad allowed Blue Ridge to justify its expansion throughout rural regions of North Carolina. For many of these farmers, the promise of a new regime was usually accompanied by violence and crop failure. The farmers in the region had no reason annexation by Blue Ridge would be any different. To many degrees, it was not any different, though the new government rarely gave folks a reason to revolt so long as there was food on the table. Some parts of North Carolina were far worse for wear under the thumb of a sheriff warlord and believed the very same thing could happen to Blue Ridge on a grander scale. Of course, the sheriffs were not all opposed. There were many who believed in the ability of what police or military presence existed in the region was a unifying presence, and that they represented the preservation of old world values and the continuation of the American way of life. Such people would have looked dis-favorably upon any large-scale government after a certain point.
Cape Hatteras lighthouse is still a landmark in the post-war world. Erosion threatens its stability and the building has begun to lean.
In 2013, the expansion of Route 64 from Murphy to Manteo was underway, though much of these routes, particularly in Blue Ridge, were already rebuilt and in regular use. Though trade along I-40 continued, it was very limited east of Statesville. West of Statesville, I-40 had been the lifeblood of Blue Ridge - by 2010, the cities located along the I-40 corridor were among the most populous in the state. The reconstruction of old Route 64 connected North Carolina with the post-atomic world and it was a massive undertaking. Blue Ridge oversaw most of the construction and provided most of the equipment on the side west of Raleigh. On the eastern side of Raleigh, Outer Banks rebuilt the William B. Umstead bridge. After years of negotiations, the Inner Banks were willing to allow the reconstruction of Route 64. The various polities donating men and resources to the project means the quality of the roads vary heavily. The project was completed in 2020.
Route 64 in North Carolina was fortunately far from radiation zones, save for one exception: Raleigh. A bypass was created and now Route 64 officially goes around Raleigh. However, a number of routes directly through Raleigh are known to shave off travel time significantly. People are known to travel through these routes at high speed, stopping for nothing in order to avoid radiation. Known famously as the Dale Earnhardt Superhighway, these routes are frequently changing due to blockage or new, faster routes being discovered. To travel the Dale Earnhardt Superhighway is to tempt fate and requires keen navigation, fast reflexes, mechanical aptitude, and a working automobile. It has reinvigorated North Carolina's bootlegger spirit and jumpstarted the post-war sport of racing. Many people refurbish old cars for the sole purpose of travelling the Dale Earnhardt Superhighway. The routes are frequently littered with the broken-down wrecks of cars that could not survive the trip. The bodies of their drivers usually aren't far away. "Move your car before you die," is one of the idioms that has entered the Carolinian lexicon, usually meaning "if you are in a bad situation, don't bring others down with you."
The Rocky Mount Wars (2016-2018)[]
The 2010s in North Carolina had seen a return to something resembling civilization. The worst of the sheriff regimes had passed and a stable supply of goods from the Appalachian mountains to the Outer Banks had been established. However, the lingering racial resentments remained, and there were many black settlements which remained hesitant to trade with white settlements and vice-versa. The presence of the Ku-Klux-Klan had continued, and there were still many outlaw groups which preyed on black communities, which in turn provoked armed response. Though these occurrences happened with much less frequency in the west, they did still happen. Outside the Blue Ridge borders, however, there was very little their militias could do. The mountain state was seen as a fallible arbiter and it was slow to punish allied militias for taking place in the same violence it sought to put down. In 2015, the Republic of the Inner Banks shut its borders after an intense firefight in Greenville.
The Republic of the Inner Banks is a loose collection of predominantly-black communities, many of whom are populated by folks who fled persecution from sheriff states. They are naturally wary of outsiders and their interactions with nearby states have been less than friendly. Though the end of the Pig Wars was an end to sherrif-led dictatorships, many viewed these polities as a means of stability, and that their end meant that outlaws had taken over the town. This caused many rural settlers to become fervently hostile to anyone they saw as trouble, and having lived in a post-apocalyptic state ruled by racist autocrats (or in a pre-apocalyptic, racially-divided United States), many believed the black-led Inner Banks to be a collection of outlaw states. This culminated in a series of skirmishes in and outside the Inner Banks borders.
This is not to say the Inner Banks was a bastion of freedom. Its ruler had created a cult of personality around himself, and though he was a successful leader who was largely responsible for the repopulation of Greenville, his rule was authoritarian and people he did not like had a way of dying. He had led this community since the late 1980s, but mental deterioration and three decades of absolute rule had changed him. Still, he was seen as a religious icon by many communities, and if he decreed something as his will, it meant that it was God's will. While this was used as a justification for war on the Inner Banks, the existence of a black-led state was anathema to many racial groups in North Carolina.
In 2016, a collection of militias from Rocky Mount, Tarboro, and Roanoke Rapids was gathered by a wealthy landowner who proposed an invasion of the Inner Banks to oust its leader. The group invaded Greenville and held it for several months before being driven out of the Inner Banks. A counterattack pursued this army and laid waste to Rocky Mount. A fire began in the city, gutting its downtown. This was all the nearby states needed to attack the Inner Banks. In 2017, Blue Ridge president Franklin Graham announced his support of the war against the Inner Banks. The religious idealogue had broken from the teachings of his father Billy Graham and run for Blue Ridge presidency in 2016.
The entrance of Blue Ridge into the war galvanized nearby states, many of whom believed this was anything other than another wave of racial violence... or were very aware and entered the war because of it. The Outer Banks launched an attack from Manteo into Williamston on July 23rd, 2017. The Inner Banks routed their armies and launched a counterattack in July, capturing much of the Outer Banks army at Engelhard before moving on to capture Mann's Harbor, on the coast opposite Manteo. The town of Wilson was impressed by this maneuver and allied with the Inner Banks, believing their cause to be just. They began a number of hit-and-run attacks on the ruins of Rocky Mount and Tarboro. The Blue Ridge army would arrive in late 2017, surrounding the city and forcing its surrender that December.
A complete reversal of fortune for the Inner Banks took place in 2018, as Blue Ridge-allied forces would move on to Greenville in early February. Heavy street-fighting continued on until February 19th. The Inner Banks armies regrouped in Washington, preparing for an invasion. Instead, Blue Ridge elected to attack Edenton and Engelhard. As their armies moved in, countless civilians were encountered and slaughtered. Refugees swarmed Washington, and the situation for the leader of Inner Banks grew dire. He launched an attack against Blue Ridge forces in Swanquarter in July of 2018 and was again defeated. As the militias approached Bath, a mass suicide in Washington ensued. Blue Ridge soldiers would enter a grizzly scene. Inner Banks' leader and his inner circle had shot themselves and broadcast the order on the radio. Hundreds of indoctrinated families took their own lives in this group suicide.
Though the Rocky Mount War was relatively brief, it was something of a "correction" for North Carolinian politics and a massive advance of Blue Ridge interests. While the destruction of the sheriff states had brought about an end of outright genocide, the Rocky Mount Wars represented an affirmation of many racist ideas across the state. Franklin Graham was hailed as a strong president, and he began talks with the East American Alliance to join this military and trade alliance. Though Blue Ridge had formed good ties with East Tennessee decades before, the citizens of Blue Ridge were wary of other states. Now, they believed cooperation was the best way to move forward after Doomsday.
Notable Cities[]
| City | Description |
|---|---|
Population: 47,000 (2020)  |
The de facto capital of North Carolina since 1983, Asheville is located in the Appalachian mountains. Spared by the nuclear warfare which scourged much of the rest of the state, the region overcame a period of significant hardship immediately following Doomsday as the situation across North America spiraled out of control. It was at Asheville's Grove Park Inn that the US Supreme Court was evacuated as the bombs flew, along with much of the surviving state government. Early unity provided by both the surviving state government as well as the ministry of Billy Graham allowed Asheville a chance to survive and establish regional dominance over western North Carolina by the year 2000. The disparate and de facto independent Carolinian cities were volatile and prone to infighting. Blue Ridge was frequently drawn into these wars, allowing it to direct more of the state over the years.
|
Population: 42,000 (2020)  |
Situated close to Charlotte, the Queen City metropolitan area had begun to encroach on Concord before Doomsday. When Charlotte was destroyed, Concord was barely out of the blast zones. It was one of the first place many of the panicked refugees went. The week after Doomsday saw a collapse in law and order as violence erupted while the radioactive ashes of Charlotte fell like snow on the city. The situation spiraled out of control by the hour. The NC National Guard in the area had been mobilized to oversee the evacuation of Charlotte, leaving a token force to defend Concord itself. That winter, as mass deaths in Concord continued, the National Guard pulled out of the area, leaving the defense of the city to the local police department. The community that survived was scarred, wary of its neighbors. Racially-divided murders were routine across the state, but a number of racist groups formed something of a fifth column in Concord, threatening its fragile stability.
|
Population: 29,000 (2020)  |
Kannapolis saw intense fighting following Doomsday and it bears the scars from it. The situation devolved so completely that the civic government had considered the area forfeit and abandoned it for Asheville only three weeks after the bombs fell. What authority remained in Kannapolis was a revolving door of militia leaders, each commanding a less efficient version of the preceding provisional government. By 1986, it was run by a series of trade unions, except many of them did not appreciate being called such. The town hall and nearby baseball field was used as a market square for traders attempting to take the 601 to bypass the radioactive ruins of Charlotte. This was dangerous, as desperate survivors in the area regularly assaulted travelers. The safest way was via automobile, which was neither cheap nor feasible at times. Operational motor vehicles were no longer a common sight, so one approaching signaled a proverbial dinner bell to bandits in the area. Truck traps using falling logs, improvised anti-vehicle mines, or hidden pits were used by bandits to force vehicles to stop. Kannapolis popularized the term "Dale Earnhardt Superhighway" at it became the staging point for many traders attempting to make it south to Greenville. Rather than drive through high-trafficked areas which were prone to bandits, unofficial trails for motorcars were cleared by Kannapolitans with the Intimidators providing muscle. Kannapolis survived while the bandits in the area slowly died out.
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Population: 16,000 (2020)  |
Located along the I-95 trade corridor between Virginia/Delmarva and the rest of the state, Rocky Mount is a city on the rise in the post-war world. It exerts significant power over the surrounding cities in the area, most of which inherited much of the refugees from Raleigh after the bombs fell. The majority black city became a safe haven for people escaping racial persecution. The same violence which grasped the state was responsible for shaping Rocky Mount's post-war politics. A majority-white government attempted to oversee distribution of rations and collection of taxes from the surrounding populace while likewise attempting to sideline the black population. In Rocky Mount, black communities were able to form a distribution network of goods, usually centeted around churches. These small communities formed the Last Evangelical Church of Rocky Mount, drawing religious people from across the state. Professionals who had fled from Durham and the rest of the Triangle found themselves in Rocky Mount, including a young William Barber II. Involved in the NAACP since his teenage years, Barber would become a talented statesman and pastor, and a stark contrast against the white Baptist quasi-theocracy of Franklin Graham. The Last Evangelical Church was inherently apocalyptic in its ideology, though believed that the war was just the opening act of the end of days. Those to see God's salvation and mercy were still alive, they needed to keep going.
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Population: 21,000 (2020)  |
Greenville is the largest city in eastern North Carolina. Situated along the Pitt River, it is only a short distance from the Pamlico Sound, making it an important city for international trade. Eastern North Carolina was considerably more sparsely populated prior to Doomsday, making Greenville important by default. Greenville was the headquarters of the 42d Civil Support Detachment. This meant Greenville was meant to serve as something of a state capital in the event of a nuclear war. Greenville was to coordinate with the 105th Military Police Battalion in Asheville to ensure the civic government did not collapse. Greenville was led by Adjutant General William Emmett Ingram Sr in the years following the war. Ingram's leadership placed Greenville at a pre-eminent position in North Carolina. He assumed control of the nearby waterfront town of Washington, providing Greenville with a sea port. By default, Ingram would come to oversee most surviving towns in the Inner Banks. Pirates in the Outer Banks and the coast guard mutiny of Elizabeth City confounded his efforts to unite Eastern NC. In 1985, Ingram died and former Wake County sheriff Walter B Jones was named Adjutant General. Mortality rate among the National Guard members and army reservists was high, resulting in forced conscription of the populace. Anthony Morris, a refugee from Lumberton and leader of the Jehovah's Witness churches in the area, found the National Guard's methods of resource management to be inefficient. As is the case in many NC towns, his church became a community hub in food insecure times. His church, named Faithful and True, began to supplant the National Guard as the true decision-maker in the area. As the soldiers were conscripted, more and more members of F&T became involved in the military. In 2002, Morris was named Adjutant General, placing his church at the head of Greenville politics. Over the next decade, the "Republic of the Inner Banks" stamped out competing churches, prosecuted clergy from other religions, and turned the stringent demands of the Jehovah's Witness into law. Ostracism was practically a death sentence. In 2018, multiple states in the area joined jnto a coalition to oust this church from civic life, drawing in Blue Ridge. After a series of firefights, F&T ended when Morris demanded the suicide of all citizens via radio, doing so on the air with an estimated 117 other people. Afterwards, the National Guard structure was assumed by Blue Ridge and reorganized, placing the Adjutent General in the west rather than in the east. With this, Greenville became a subordinate of Blue Ridge along with the communities once overseen by the Guard. Blue Ridge had effectively unified the state of North Carolina. Today, Greenville is a dangerous, crime-ridden city. With most wealth and new infrastructure centered around the old city of Washington, Old Greenville is impoverished and depressed. While the religious persecutions have ended, some in Greenville are beginning to regret the annexation. |
| "If Asheville is the brains of the operation then Boone is its heart," said bluegrass musician Doc Watson regarding Blue Ridge. When the bombs fell, survival efforts were spearheaded by Samaritan's Purse, a church led by Charismatic Christian minister Billy Graham. Boone received many refugees fleeing the destruction of Greensboro, though it did not have the infrastructure to support this. In October, to prevent unnecessary deaths due to overcrowding, entrance to the city was provided using a lottery system. Exceptions were made for people with certain skills, but Boone already could not support its own population once state commerce ended. Appalachian State University's campus housed over thousands of refugees, mostly in unused classrooms and auditoriums. Watauga Medical Center quickly ran out of room, meaning those who required medical care either had to wait or travel many miles to the nearest hospital in West Jefferson and Lenoir. Samaritan's Purse along with the National Guard operated triage buses which brought patients to nearby hospitals. Though the death toll was high like any other location, the situation in Boone stabilized faster than in larger cities, leading the National Guard's members to be diverted to the I-40 corridor. Samaritan's Purse established an effective monopoly on gasoline in the area, allowing Boone to establish supply chains with other North Carolinian cities. With Billy Graham serving as a quasi head-of-state despite his wishes against such a thing, Boone nearly rivaled Asheville in its importance. Samaritan's Embrace was responsible for aiding in the stabilization of other small towns in the High Country. Naturally, treatment was preferential. While ostracism did not happen, those receiving continual aid were under consistent pressure to attend church services. In Boone, this meant just about everyone.
As Asheville stabilized, Samaritan's Embrace became heavily involved in controlling a network of civilian trade along the I-40 corridor between Statesville and Asheville. The civilian economy therefore became deeply steeped in religion in the years to come. Today, Boone remains a somewhat small city limited by its own geography. The county of Watauga itself is, for all intents and purposes, Boone. While it continues to serve as the headquarters of Samaritan's Embrace, its location far from the I-40 corridor impedes economic growth to a degree. It does, however, serve as an important trading city between the Blue Ridge cities and the Republic of Virginia. Like Asheville, Boone is home to one of the few post-war universities still in operation in the United States: Appalachian State is still holding classes and holds a scholastic and sports rivalry with Asheville's University of North Carolina which almost resembles the old world rivalry between the original UNC and Duke University. | |
| When Charlotte was destroyed with a warhead yielding at least one Megaton of TNT, tens of thousands of people and their immediate surroundings were immediately vaporized and ejected into a radioactive plume stretching into the stratosphere. Hickory was in the direct path of the fallout. The citizens living there took shelter as anyone who grew up in the Cold War had been trained. Few truly had adequate protection. There exists a saying in communities like this: the strontium lining, wherein the nuclear war presents such a hazard in an area that it actually abates some of the many secondary consequences of such an event. In the case of Hickory, the National Guard and army set up checkpoints instructing refugees to keep moving. The chaos which engulfed many other cities due to roaming mobs spared Hickory. For this reason, Hickory was able to establish trade with the rest of the I-40 corridor much sooner than other settlements. Cases of acute radiation sickness began not long after. Cancer rates skyrocketed.
Though the worst of the fallout degraded before the end of the year, the health crisis in Hickory never truly abated. Life expectancy in the city is on average 6 years shorter than other stable Carolinian cities of comparable size. Hickory retains prominence both due to an ideal location as well as its lofty position in manufacturing. Some of the largest remaining steel mills in the area are headquartered in Hickory and Statesville. Hickory is the center of development for many railways which run congruently with the old interstates. The heavy industry in Hickory creates a dirty, smog-choked environment, hastening the deaths of its pre-war citizens while sending many of its younger workers to an early grave. | |
| When Greensboro was hit with a 1 megaton warhead, the entire Piedmont-Triad died with it. An intense firestorm engulfed the city, lifting radioactive ash higher and higher, spreading it towards Winston-Salem. The intense, uncontrolled fire raged for weeks, spreading west. High Point and Kernersville were almost completely destroyed. While many evacuated along I-40, the police departments of Greensboro and High Point were filled with people who would sooner take advantage of the chaos. Greensboro's police department was compromised by the Klan before the war. With minimal oversight from the National Guard, these groups resettled in Randolph County. Expecting to return to Greensboro after the fires died down and the radiation degraded, these police officers established autocratic, Christian nationalist states which edged out non-Klan-aligned officers in relatively short order. While they claimed de jure land rights in Greensboro, claiming the fires would have produced fertile soil, they exerted de facto control over Asheboro and its environs.
This peaked with the Level Cross Massacres of 2002, when the officers went house-to-house to execute a black neighborhood. Galvanized by this act, the people of Asheboro revolted, expelling the police klans back into the irradiated hellhole of Greensboro. Asheboro has somewhat recovered since, and while racial tensions remain since old habits are hard to beat, the populace is eager to work together for a larger goal. By this point, with parts of Winston-Salem being rebuilt, Asheboro forms one of the three major cities of the New Triad, with Burlington being the third. Asheboro today is the capital and largest city in the District of Wachovia. | |
| Appalachia was once the home of the Cherokee people over a century and a half before the Third World War. Following their forcible removal in 1817, some 1,000 Cherokee remained in the area. Their descendants formed the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi). When the world burned, some believed the Cherokee would thrive. In truth, they fared little better than anyone else in rural Appalachia. The death toll in the months to follow was high as electricity was not restored to the area until 1985. However, the EBCI did more-or-less assume control of the governing body of the town of Cherokee and the surrounding areas. Prosper, no; survive, yes. The erroneous belief that the Cherokee somehow possessed some forgotten knowledge on how to live off the land would lead many to flee to this part of North Carolina, contributing to the shortages. In 1987, tensions rose between North Carolinian communities and Tennessee survivor communities, resulting in what has been dubbed the Smoky Mountain War. The ECBI, caught in the middle, joined the fledgling provisional government of North Carolina which would come to be known as Blue Ridge.
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| Nestled in a coastal river feeding into the Albemarle Sound, the "Harbor of Hospitality" is one of the most active ports on the American East Coast following Doomsday. Led by a rogue faction of the Coast Guard after most other military installations along the Carolinian coast were scourged by nuclear fire, Elizabeth City was an isolationist state wary of most neighboring survivor communities for much of its existence. Rejecting cooperation from the Inner Banks and the Rocky Mount coalition, Elizabeth City was dubbed the "Harbor of Hostility" by its many detractors. The aircraft stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City were maintained almost religiously. Protected by four HH-3F Pelican helicopters and six Lockheed HC-130 recon planes, Elizabeth City maintained its isolation for well over a decade and its independence for decades longer.
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| The Outer Banks suffered immensely after ignoble beginning and end of World War III. The barrier islands are not conducive for farming, meaning they were entirely dependent upon agriculture on the mainland. Only Roanoke Island was large enough to support a stable population. Nuclear summer impeded even this as a drought devastated eastern Carolina. Some in the Outer Banks took to piracy and banditry. One such pirate entered into local legend - the Black Shadow - who raided coastal towns along the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds. Betrayal within his gang would prove to be his undoing, but the legend of the Black Shadow spread far and wide, leading to the popular misconception that Carolina is a pirate haven even today. Indeed, one former warband sailor named Bondabee Daniels took to sailing around the post-war world, spreading his own legend far and wide.
As the situation on Roanoke Island stabilized, the city of Manteo formed a coalition overseeing the small towns left in the Outer Banks. Even then, for every step the town made to solidify its presence as a legitimate state, it experienced another setback. Hurricane Gloria washed out the Roanoke Sound Bridge, forcing the towns in the Outer Banks to adapt. Transit in the area was mostly performed by boats from that point on. Dependence upon oil exports from the SAC culminated in the Brazilian period during the 2000s. The provisional Republic of the Outer Banks, centered at Manteo, fought with the neighboring Elizabeth City and the Inner Banks for resources and farmland. In the late 2010s, the Outer Banks attemted to oust Anthony Morris as the Adjutent General of the Inner Banks. Despite making early gains in the war, a counterattack crippled the Outer Banks. Once Blue Ridge became involved in the war, Roanoke Island became the site of many guerilla skirmishes between the denizens of the Outer Banks and the occupying forces. The war ended with the annexation of the Inner Banks by Blue Ridge and, in 2019, the Outer Banks Republic voted to join Blue Ridge as it solidified into the State of Carolina. Today, Manteo is the capital of the District of Hatteras, which encompasses the former territory of the Republic of the Outer Banks. Life has changed little in this area. The towns remain small and underdeveloped aside from Manteo. The Carolinian government has restored many of the pre-war bridges connecting the Outer Banks to the mainland, making life a little easier. Manteo is the site of the Virginia Dare Shipyard, which allows Carolina to project its power along the coast. New businesses are developing in Manteo and it is becoming a major port of call for the State of Carolina. | |
| The area north of Raleigh is rural, known particularly for tobacco production. After Doomsday, refugees from Raleigh radiated in all directions, especially to the east and to the north. Henderson received many of these refugees and, though the years immediately after the nuclear war were tough, the arable soil allowed for agriculture to flourish later in the decade. Governed by the sheriff's departments of Granville, Franklin, and Vance counties, a de facto independent Kerr Republic was formed centered around the titular Kerr Lake. This area overlapped with Virginia, causing strife with the eastward-expanding state. In the meantime, the former military camp of Butner became the military capital of the Kerr triumvirate.
In the 1990s, the Kerr Republic began a bloodthirsty campaign of collecting taxes from its citizens, oftentimes violently assaulting those who did not contribute enough to the regime, rejected the demands, or who upset the tax collectors. This oftentimes affected predominantly black settlements and households, though it was certainly not limited to these groups. By 1995, Kerr was one of the largest producers of tobacco in the American southeast and its rigorous taxation meant each parcel of land from Creedmoor to Hillsborough to Henderson was accounted for. It was one of the few states to resist the unification of Carolina until sanctions by Blue Ridge and a particularly brutal drought in 2009 crippled the Kerr Republic. Shortly before the Rocky Mount War, the Kerr Republic voted to dissolve, with Franklin and Granville counties voting to join Blue Ridge in 2018 and Vance finally joining in 2020. Today, Camp Butner remains a military camp under the State of Carolina while Henderson has become the nee headquarters of the Marlboro tobacco company. |
Geography[]
North Carolina has a wide range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet (2,037 m) at Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak in mainland North America. The coastal plains are strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles (500 km) from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a subtropical highland climate. The interior Piedmont region is a plateau separating the coastal plains from the Appalachian mountains. Though the Piedmont runs the length of the mountains, the plateau is at its widest in the Carolinas. This region was home to most metropolitan areas in North Carolina and therefore subject to the heaviest bombing during the war.
Ecology[]
North Carolina was host to many invasive species whose spread could be abated at best before the war. After Doomsday, there was no central authority acting to prevent the spread of harmful vegetation and insect life. Fire ants are a regular nuisance in OTL North Carolina and the movement of agricultural products which grow in areas infested by these species is restricted. This does not exist in the 1983: Doomsday timeline. Fire ants regularly destroy crops and damage farming equipment which encounter their mounds, to say nothing of the painful stings that tend to follow such accidents. There is (somehow) an even worse problem in with fire ants in a post-nuclear scenario .
Feral swine, which commonly roam free in Appalachia, have taken to destroying crops in central North Carolina. Though commonly hunted which naturally quells their numbers, Razorback swine are capable of breeding with domesticated pigs. There is a seemingly endless supply in rural areas and the overgrown ruins of Wilmington seem to be a breeding ground for wild pigs. The Venus Fly Trap, which grows in a very sensitive environment, is listed as critically endangered and is expected to go extinct in the wild in the near future, partially because of uncontrolled foraging from wild pigs as well as competition from invasive plant life.
The Africanized honeybee (colloquially referred to as killer bees) has all but displaced the European honeybee in North Carolina.
In 2006, Africanized honey bees were inadvertently introduced to the Outer Banks. If there were two things people were popularly concerned about in the early 1980s, it was nuclear war and killer bees. Along the coast, Africanized honey bees have all but removed the European honey bee. This appears to be continuing in central North Carolina and has spread significantly south into South Carolina and Georgia. Cases of people dying to killer bee swarms brought attention to this unfortunate reality, though at this point there is little that can be done. Beekeepers in North Carolina have taken to cultivating hives and honey production has increased dramatically. Oftentimes, honey produced in North Carolina is purple in color.
There is a large population of feral cats and dogs, many of whom are descendants of housepets from before the war. Dogs especially pose a threat in the ruins of cities hit by nuclear weapons. They will oftentimes work in packs and are known to bring down horses, especially if left unattended. Every year, a few explorers are attacked and killed by these dogs. Feral dogs will attack and kill livestock, especially smaller animals such as chickens. Cats have also been an issue for smaller animals. Though they are seldom an issue for farmers - they actually help to quell the rodent population - protected wildlife have been displaced from their habitats due to the abundant feral feline population in Carolina. These animals are a common vector for rabies, which has flared up considerably in recent decades.
Though almost entirely depopulated after the nuclear war of 1983, the Carolinian government is in the process of restoring the wildlife sanctuary, pictured here with Cape Lookout lighthouse in the background.
The horse population of North Carolina is around what it was in the early 20th century. Sadly, the wild horse sanctuaries on the Outer Banks have been almost completely depopulated. Though many domesticated horses in North Carolina are descended from the Shackleford horses, many were killed for meat during the 1980s. In the 2010s, a new breed of domesticated horse - the Shackleford Mustang - was introduced and have become the most popular breed of horse in the Carolinas, though they have made their way into many horse markets across the Americas. The Carolinian government has restricted access to Shackleford Island and have introduced foals to the island in an attempt to repopulate the wild horse population to some degree of success.
Bamboo and kudzu were threats to North Carolina's biodiversity before the war and have continued to spread unabated. A thick bamboo forest has grown in the Cape Fear region, competing with the native vegetation already present. Carolina has begun to combat this spread using controlled burns, though the damage has been done in certain parts. Kudzu, on the other hand, completely covered many rural roads in the summer of 1984. Aided by a nuclear summer which prolonged the growth period of kudzu, the vine formed a mat which covered these roads. Along with the native brambles which tend to grow in these areas, maintaining paths between settlements is a process which requires constant attention. Though Blue Ridge and the Carolinian government have repaved several routes, rural roads are oftentimes are little more than unpaved trails.
Culture[]
North Carolinian culture since the 1980s has remained a vibrant and ever-shifting post-war amalgamation of rural traditions and 1980s sensibilities. Many aspects harken back to the Carolinian Dark Ages, though it was increasingly influenced in the 1990s by backer culture. Similar to frontiersmen, the idea of casting off the shackles of sheriff rule, throwing caution to the wind, and setting out on the broken Carolinian roads for adventure and the first chance at fame and fortune since the bombs fell allured many young North Carolinians. Some aspects were seen as a continuation of the American dream, a gasping breath at freedom and breathing life into the shattered world around them. This dream took many lives, but there were many who persevered. As wars between sheriffs broke out and sheriff rule began to weaken under the backers, a new subculture began to rise among the youth: smashers.
Smashers have a mixed legacy in many Carolinian circles today. Effectively a post-war return to goth/hard rock crowds, smashers are known for their loud concerts, boisterous behavior, and general disregard for sheriff rule. They popularly wear black, had mohawks, and put spikes on most of their clothes. Their most famous act was the 1997 Second Burning of Durham, in which thousands gathered in the ruins of Duke University and held a concert wherein much of the surrounding ruins was defaced or destroyed. The festivities lasted for days, resulted in several deaths, and could be heard from far and wide. The religious crowd notably equated them with devil worshippers and superstitious folks who hear their concerts have returned with mobs on more than one occasion, resulting in many firefights. Smasher culture saw its zenith in the early 2000s before the end of sheriff rule.
As smasher culture came to an end, the return of textile manufacturing in North Carolina, particularly in the mountains, led to an explosion of "road warriors." Known for wearing denim jackets and jeans, also playing loud music that more resembled classic rock, and being "overly armed," road warriors were the hard-as-nails mercs and caravaneers. They wore headbands, bandoliers, multiple gun belts, and gas masks. Being armed to an ostentatious degree was seen as a display of wealth, though it was give-or-take weather half of them were really loaded. Road warrior culture fell off when Blue Ridge's war in central North Carolina displayed just how silly this was. The denim-wearing drifters made their mark, however, and the style is frequently referred to as an "Asheville Tuxedo."
Cuisine[]
A plate of Lexington barbecue with the fixin's.
North Carolina by and large had the best barbecue in the United States before Doomsday and not even a nuclear war could change that. Though Texan barbecue remains a fierce contender, it factually pales in comparison to North Carolina's. Barbecue is slow-roasted pork which is usually either pulled, chopped, or served as a brisket. Barbecue is an important part of North Carolinian heritage. There are two distinct styles which have evolved in North Carolina: Lexington style and Eastern style. Preference between the two was and still is hotly-debated between North Carolinians. The styles have remained much the same since the war.
Eastern NC barbecue tends to use the whole hog. The meat is then dressed in vinegar-based sauce.
Lexington style barbecue is typically made using pork shoulder and is dressed in a savory or tangy ketchup-based sauce mixed with apple cider vinegar, red chili flakes, pepper, and occasionally brown sugar. This style is preferred typically by folks in western North Carolina. In OTL, Lexington was named the BBQ capital of North Carolina - and thus de facto BBQ capital of the world, by the NC state government. This caused uproar in the eastern part of the state. Indeed in this timeline, Blue Ridge names the Lexington style its national dish in 2001. According to economist Zachary Galifinakas, this delayed the unification of the state under Blue Ridge's banner by a decade. Eastern style is a robust, tangy, vinegar-based brine which is applied after cooking. In this style, the entire pig is used. It is typically spicier than Lexington barbecue, though is is typically chopped in order to hold the thinner sauce. If served on a sandwich, it is oftentimes topped with coleslaw to mellow out the spice.
Music[]
Religion[]
Famous persons[]
- Cherrie Berrie - Vice-governor of Blue Ridge, the "elevator queen" in OTL.
- Dale Earnhardt Sr. - Racecar driver and resident of Kannapolis.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Neo-bootlegger, died in a crash in 2012.
- Billy Graham - Religious speaker in Blue Ridge.
- Franklin Graham - Governor of Blue Ridge, religious speaker.
- Andy Griffith - Star of the Andy Griffith show, died in 2003 at Manteo home.
- Michael Jordan - Basketball player.
- William Kennedy Smith - died during the evacuation of Durham.
- Seth Henderson - Superintendent of Dare County Schools in the 60s/70's and President of the Outer Banks during 1988-1996 as a Democrat.
- James Webb - NASA administrator, died during Doomsday.
References[]
See also[]
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