Map of the World of Second Chances

Some of you are familiar with my "Second Chances" stories, basically NSFW stories set 4-5 years into a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by climate change. It got its name from the titular town that was the setting for my first story. However, Second Chances isn't the only place in this wide fictional world.

In this setting, I like to not only explore post-apocalyptic themes like survival and family, but also taboo and being an outcast in pre-apocalyptic life vs. post-apocalyptic life. That's probably the biggest theme of these stories.

Besides the town of Second Chances, where Donovan and the Sauveterre triplets (plus Zackary, their father and the town's mayor) live in isolated peace, there's dozens of other factions. Some of them range from other survivalist settlements trying to make it to next year, to actual nation-states and several leviathan-like enemies that want to ravage this new world for all its resources. Or, to maintain their pre-apocalyptic lifestyles.

Republic of Appalachia: The Republic of Appalachia is a federated direct democracy comprising the traditional Appalachian Mountains, with claims to southwestern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. The capital city is Huntington. This nation-state formed when an influx of refugees from along the East Coast fled to higher ground. This migration of residents from cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc. led to Appalachia, a nominally rural region, to suddenly gain a sharp population boom. The cultural identity of Appalachia changed as well, combining conservative homestead living with progressive values and beliefs. Appalachia frequently clashes with the enclaved cities of Pittsburgh and Atlanta.

Mississippi Nation: The Mississippi Nation is a loose confederation of coastal settlements and city-states along the Mississippi River and its connected waterways. Although its capital city is the half-flooded city of New Orleans, the largest gathering of residents can be found on barges, boats, and atoll-like settlements floating either up and down the river, or along the Gulf Coast. This nation-state formed due to fluctuating migration patterns due to extreme weather patterns due to the changing seasons. A majority of the Nation's population are comprised of aquatic mammals who use their physiology to their advantage. The Nation frequently clashes with the enclaved city of Minneapolis (or 'Minnie').

United Cascadia: United Cascadia, or just 'Cascadia', is a unitary republic primarily based in Vancouver Island with militarized settlements along British Columbia, Washington, and parts of Oregon. After California was turned into a wasteland as a result of catastrophic earthquakes, drought, and nuclear disaster, many of the former US state's residents fled either eastward or north. This migration, though similar to its East Coast counterpart, was more bloody and violent in the wake of societal collapse. However, a stable population has grown within Cascadia's boundaries, with a conscript military resulting in law and order...as well as corruption. United Cascadia's capital city used to be Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC respectively, but have both been abandoned due to excessive flooding and a series of coordinated attacks from the enclaved city of Portland. Both nation-states are incredibly hostile with each other.

Enclaved Cities: They are often colloquially referred to as 'enclavers', 'en-slavers', the 'downtowners', and 'New Romans'. Comprising Portland, (Las) Vegas, Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Atlanta, these cities are walled-off fortresses, complete with electricity, plumbing, working technology, and food. In the days leading up to civilization's Collapse, members of the rich elite prepared. Most of them hid in luxury, fully aware of what was coming and hoarded enough foodstuffs, silver, gold, electronics, assets, and weaponry to establish a country. Something which they fully intended to do. Once it became clear that the world governments had disintegrated, these elite survivors left the comforts of their luxury compounds and underground bunkers to carve out a slice of the old world for themselves. They established enclaved cities as post-apocalyptic fiefdoms with themselves as monarchs. Each enclaved city is an oligarchical dictatorship that enslaves its 'worker citizens' to maintain everything while the former 1% of the pre-apocalyptic world spend their days living a numbing, hedonistic lifestyle in the skyscrapers. The elite of the enclaved cities live and act like royalty, anesthetizing themselves with food, alcohol, nonstop parties, endless orgies, reruns of old television and movies, and even VR headset originally built to educate their children, but are now used to exclusively raise them in this scary new world. And if these enclaved cities run out of certain supplies such as tools, electric components, or worker citizens? Simple! They send out mercenaries to raid surrounding towns and settlements. It is no wonder that even the vilest of warlords in the post-apocalyptic landscape want nothing more than to see these cities destroyed.

Nova Scotia: It's unknown if the Canadian government still exists in exile, but it is well-known that the country's armed forces managed to establish a base-of-operations on Nova Scotia. They also have a connected link to the settlement on Newfoundland too. They do not take kindly to outsiders.

'Free' Cuba: Much like the C.A.F. in Nova Scotia, nobody knows that much about Free Cuba. What's known for a fact is that a pro-democracy revolution occurred during the first several chaotic months of the Collapse. While most, if not all of the other islands in the Caribbean became isolationist or abandoned due to sea level rise and harsher hurricane seasons, Cuba wasn't hesitant about opening international trade. They are currently the most stable North American government that actively participates in commerce, especially with the Mississippi Nation, who is its largest trading partner alongside Appalachia. This is despite the regress in fast travel and near-instant communication. Together, they hold a deep hatred towards the enclaved cities, who are envious of Cuba and wish for violent takeover to grab the island's resources.

Cheyenne Mountain Complex: This defensive bunker and military installation are believed to have been where the last remnants of the legitimate United States government resided in the months following societal collapse. What's known is that before evacuating from D.C., the U.S. President gave executive orders to have black ops teams shut down all nuclear reactors throughout the continent, fully aware that life as we knew it was coming to an end. This order mostly succeeded, save for the Great Californian disasters that turned it into a wasteland. Other executive orders included the relocation of Congress and the administration to Cheyenne Mountain Complex, where they resided in the years ahead. At some point, the enclaved city of Denver sent mercenaries to raid the complex under the belief its inhabitants were dead. Yet these mercenaries were met with heavy automatic countermeasures. Whether or not the occupants inside are all dead, the defense systems are still active and won't let alone inside the complex.