"David Robbins - Blade 9 - LA Strike" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robbins David L)

One hundred and six years ago the nuclear Armageddon had finally been launched, proving that
mankindтАЩs implied claim to possessing intelligence and wisdom had been a sham. By the time the war
ended, after all the nuclear missiles and chemical weapons had been employed, after millions upon
millions had perished and the environment had been poisoned with radioactive and chemical-warfare
toxins, after the fire storms had subsided and the fallout had descended, the once fertile and lush planet
Earth had been reduced to a polluted caricature of its former self.

In the county once known as the United States of America, there were dozens of organized Outposts,
city-states, and territories under the rule of one group or another, but by far the major portion of the
countryside consisted of the violent Outlands. The Russians controlled a belt of land in the East, the mob
had taken over Nevada, the Mormons dominated Utah, the autocratic Technics governed Chicago, and
there were many, many odder groups, most of them intent on conquering oven more land.

World War Three had not taught humanity a thing, or so it often seemed to Blade.

The Federation consisted of the more progressive, stable factions. First there was the Free State of
California, the only state to retain its administrative integrity after the war. The governor of California, a
man named Melnick, had first proposed forming an elite tactical force to deal with threats to the
Federation as they arose. Melnick had even gone so far as to have a special facility constructed north of
Los Angeles, slightly northwest of Pyramid Lake, where the Force stayed and trained while awaiting
assignments. The headquarters compound consisted of 12 acres surrounded by an electrified fence
topped with barbed wire and guarded by regular California Army troops. Of all the Federation factions,
California perhaps most resembled the prewar society. Of its large cities, only San Diego and San
Bernadino were obliterated during the war. San Francisco and Los Angeles were both intact, although
both were considerably run-down in comparison to their former greatness.

The next Federation faction that came the closest to resembling prewar America was the Civilized Zone.
Composed of the former states of Kansas Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and New
Mexico and the northern half of Texas and part of Arizona, the Civilized Zone had been created after the
U.S. government evacuated hundreds of thousands of its citizens in the Midwest during the war. The
region had been subsequently renamed by the dictator who took over after the U.S. government
collapsed.

Of the five remaining factions, none were similar to the prewar culture.

A legion of horsemen known as the Cavalry now controlled the Dakota Territory, a throwback to the
rugged pioneer days of early America where most of the men wore buckskins and the women were as
hardy as their mates.

The former state of Montana was in the hands of the Flathead Indians, who had finally cast off the white
manтАЩs yoke and reclaimed their land and their ancient heritage.

Another former state, Minnesota, was the home of three Federation factions. First, dwelling in a
subterranean city in the north-central part of the state, were the reclusive Moles. Their city, dubbed the
Mound, had started as an underground fallout shelter and gradually expanded over the years. Of all the
Federation members, they were the least liked, in large measure due to their leader, a domineering egotist
named Wolfe.

Also located in Minnesota, in the northwest quarter, were the refugees from the Twin Cities who had
resettled in the small town of Halma and designated themselves as the Clan. They had deliberately moved