[center][color=9e0b0f][h2]Black Riot[/h2][/color][hr][h3]Intro[/h3][hr][/center]

The RV was in rough shape. The air conditioning was out again, the water filter needed replacing, one of the engine belts was slipping, and it only had a gallon left in the fuel tank. But somehow, it had made it. Arturo leaned back in the driver's seat and stared out of the massive windows into the city sky, admiring the massive and clean buildings. It was different there. More upright. But there was some damage scattered across the city. Construction projects were underway to fix up smashed roads and buildings after the revolution.

He smiled to himself. [color=9e0b0f][i]Infrastructure damage is good. 'Specially in a place this big. Can probably get a lot of supplies in trade here...[/i][/color] There were supposedly a few companies that might be willing to work with the Free Territory of Chihuahua and Sonora, the expanse of land that the Black Militia and ILW had stormed and taken over when global leaders had disappeared. It stretched all the way from Los Angeles, CA to Albuquerque, NM, to Parral, MX, though territorial lockdown was fairly loose and a number of smaller groups were trying to build new nations inside its claimed areas. Arturo was out looking for materials to feed the growing population of the Free Territory, and his journeys had taken him all the way to Metropolis, still one of the biggest centers of commerce in North America even after the collapse of the old government.

Soil. Fertilizers. Raw minerals. Seeds. Most of the Free Territory's needs were covered by its masses of craftsmen and farmers, since the first order of business had been to ensure that everybody had food, clothing, entertainment, and shelter. But now it needed materials to not only expand its settlements, but also to give restitution to the families and friends of those who had been killed during the revolutionary war. It took a few weeks, but Arturo had managed to convince most of the other council representatives of the Free Territory that even 'enemies' should be treated fairly and given a choice between staying and becoming a productive member of society, or leaving with a mobile home and enough supplies to survive until their crops started growing.

Most people had opted to stay, but that meant the Free Territory was running in the red for the time being. A group of biologists and architects was tasked with coming up with a sustainable living plan. The plan mandated prefabricated housing equipped with solar panels, a home battery, rooftop rainwater collection, an automated indoor personal hydroponics garden, and a public outdoor miniature greenhouse. It seemed reasonable, and after being cleaned up by industrial engineers, the material requirement per unit dropped below that of ordinary housing. But the Free Territory needed materials in the first place: they could only build 5,000 out of the needed 500,000 prefab homes.

Arturo's musings on sustainable communities ended and the large man stood, stretched, yawned, and stepped out of the RV and onto the pavement. The free parking lot was on the outskirts of the downtown area, and he had quite a ways to walk. Even if he fucking hated them, the capitalists in the area hadn't been forced to build their production chains from the ground up, and were possibly willing to trade.