Silent Zone
If there's a Hell on Earth, this is it.
The Silent Zone, officially the Appalachian Reclamation Boundary (ARB), is an area of land that encompasses much of the former North American states of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire that were seized by New Sublantica, destroyed during the war, and then razed during the regime’s collapse. It is affected by nearly every possible hazard, including radiological, biological, chemical, and exophysical, due to the WKC’s reckless experiments and the nuclear, biological, and exophysical ordnance used in both wars. It has gained a widespread reputation as the most dangerous place on Earth.
Since its creation, the Zone continued to decay for nearly 200 years. However, as of 2250, a reclamation and cleanup initiative is ongoing, spearheaded by Raven and funded by the New American Union (NAU). The initiative is projected to take 60-70 years to complete and cost over U€230 trillion. The initiative is highly divisive; some reject it as a lost cause, while others view the Zone as a massive, untapped strategic and economic resource.
Demographics
During its main period of decay, the Zone effectively fell to anarchy, those remaining there falling victim to gangs or cults fuelled by surplus WKC drugs and armed by plentiful military stockpiles. Those born in the Zone were subject to an extremely high rate of birth defects, and almost everyone who lived there would develop terminal cancers. The neighbouring NAU conducted extensive humanitarian operations during this period, but the hostile nature of the Zone’s population as well as the extreme dangers of its environment made it difficult to conduct these operations safely.
Security
A huge defensive wall co-funded by the Joint Appalachian Defence Treaty (JADT) separates the Silent Zone from the rest of North America, lined with automatic turrets; lined with miles of razor wire, minefields, and pits filled with quicksand-like anti-personnel sludge. The wall extends into the sea, enclosing even the coastal areas of the Zone. The JADT makes entrance into the Silent Zone illegal by any signatory citizen and only humanitarian forces are permitted into the zone. All returning personnel must be quarantined for biological hazards and scanned for radiation. Raven secretly in part funded the barrier to prevent exophysical materials from leaving the zone and to prevent sapient anomalies escaping.