Your character may be from this coalition of cities formed from the remnants of Independent West America.

📌 Summary

🏙️ City States, 🧱 Walls First, 🐍 Corrupt Governments

After the Steel Syndicate and all but the eastern PAU fell to the devastating new strain of zombies, it was only a matter of time before the IWA met the same fate.

Believing themselves protected by the natural barrier of the Rocky Mountains, they weren't prepared for the hordes that soon descended upon them. With a lack of outside help, the governments of each city withdrew inward in a desperate bid for self-preservation, a strategy that ultimately sealed their fate. It took less than two weeks for the fractured IWA to be almost completely overrun, but not all was lost. Some cities managed to survive, even if they would never be the same. Leveraging their own local militaries and law enforcement, they established new fortifications and strict containment measures.

These last surviving holdouts set up a loose cooperative effort known as the Inter-City Contract, a coalition that facilitated the sharing of information and resources by setting up communication and travel routes between cities.

Life inside the hive cities is unforgiving. Crime and corruption run rampant. Denizens are routinely screened for infection, with those found exhibiting SiB-6 symptoms subject to immediate execution.

These new cities are divided into two sections: the outer-shells and the inner-shells.

• The Outer Shells
  The outermost reaches of each city are defined by a strict perimeter extending 5 to 25 miles out. Secured by heavy border walls, these zones house the facilities needed to sustain the population: grain fields, livestock compounds, solar farms, and rail networks work to supply vital resources to the inner cities.
  While this area is livable, it's mostly populated by people deemed "lesser" relative to their inner-shell counterparts. It doesn't mean it's any less safe, as military checkpoints, a heavy wall around the perimeter, and harsh screening protect the outer shells.

• The Inner Shells
  The inner cities are surrounded by heavy walls, armed checkpoints, and quarantine sectors. Security takes precedence above all else, ensuring the core population is free from infection.
  These are the most densely populated areas of the cities, where crime and corruption are constant.

Many people living in these cities, despite being some of the safest places in the Americas, seek to escape due to the lifestyle they produce.

🎨 Culture: Weary, repressed, vigilant. Art and propaganda all fall to the rich and powerful, as well as the government. Anti-government forms of expression are heavily suppressed.

💬 Name for Residents: City Dwellers.

🖥️ Tech Level: Early 2010s infrastructure. The internet was shut off for the general populace. Most advanced technology is heavily scrutinized and mostly kept to governmental operations. Most have access to technology roughly equivalent to that of the 2000s.

🗳️ Government: Confederal Alliance with a regularly meeting council of leaders. City-states maintain independence and operate on their pre-fall forms of government.

💰 Currency: Whatever pre-fall currency was used by the city-state

🧭 Location: Many major cities in the old IWA territory. Feel free to reference the IWA forum for cities from the area in real life.

🧟 Experience with the Infected: Contained beyond the fortified walls and fences, but constant vigilance is required. Animals are killed on sight.

🕰️ Inter-City Contract Timeline

• February 2029
  The IWA falls, each city pulling its remaining citizens and local militaries as well as critical government operations into itself.

• May 2029
  A pact is signed by all of these new city-states: the Inter-City Contract is formed. War is prohibited. Cooperation is forced. Resources will be shared to make sure no city-state fails. In theory.

• June 2029
  The first council meets in the Sacramento City-State. Leaders and diplomats from across all cities meet. Universal laws among the city-states are decided collectively at yearly meetings.

• December 2034
  The San Jose City-State falls in an onslaught of Merchant Island strain zombies. Tighter quarantine and screening procedures are established. Less leeway is given to anything. Border guards and SiB-6 screeners are given full authority to execute on suspicion alone.

• January 2042
  After a decade of relative stability, tensions begin to rise as resources become scarce. Expeditions from the cities begin traveling out to obtain more resources in a bid to prevent infighting.

❓Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to Ask Questions about Chapter 3 and answers related to the city-states will be added here.

Question: What is the process to get inside/outside of each of them? Is it difficult? (Referring to inner and outer shells)
Answer: Inner-Shell civilians can more easily commute from the inner to the outer, though they don't do it often, not much reason too. Outer Shell civilians on the other hand have a hard time going to the inner shell due to classism and general discrimination. This is perpetrated by the governments of the cities as well who treat them as second hand citizens.

Exiting the entire city and then coming back in, if not sanctioned by the city's government for trade/diplomacy/etc. is difficult. You'll be treated as an outsider despite any ID you may possess.

Question: Can you freely move out of one of the cities and into another?
Answer: No, unless they were informed in advance for diplomacy, trade, and other things of that nature then you'll go through a decent lot of screenings, tests, questioning, and more. Most likely one'll only be let into the outer shell. And if approved for residency for example, you'll only be an outer shell civilian. Second-class civilian.

Each city is its own separate political entity, and each one is greedy and scared of the others and what they could do. They are wary. So, immigration agreements are non-existent.

Question: Do these cities give each other information about people, or is it just other sort of more generic information?
Answer: Generic information, like zombie movements, maybe their populations, wanted criminals, safe travel route information for trade, and more.