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In 2030, following several years of international unrest, the President of the United States agreed to meet with a potentially-hostile foreign dictator over dinner to discuss the possibility of smoothing relations between the two countries. It seemed as if it would be a very low-key event, with both men standing down most of their active guards in order to show that they came to the meeting in peace. Unfortunately, all things went horribly awry faster than anyone could’ve guessed. Both leaders were kidnapped and assassinated by infiltrators in the foreign palace. The US Vice President was rushed to power, and called an emergency session of Congress to discuss the next best course of action.

The enemy was expecting this.
The bombings took place right in the middle of the congressional session, destroying the entirety of Washington, D.C. and large portions of the surrounding area.

The people of America were shocked. Within moments, nearly every important governmental figure in the country was dead. Who was in charge now? Did anybody know? There were a few Senators and Representatives that hadn’t made the special session, but they had (wisely) gone into hiding for fear of their lives.

The only thing to do was temporarily give power over to the state governors until the mess could be sorted out. Afraid, however, of further attacks, no state wanted to send their people off to gather in one place, or it could become another target. There was a mass fleeing of American citizens to other countries, particularly Canada and Mexico, as the US military tried to calm everyone down (and root out the people responsible for the attack.) Until everyone could be certain of their security, the best course of action seemed to be to just lay low and keep governing affairs within each individual state, until everything re-stabilized.

Once again, things didn’t go as planned. There were too many conflicts among the states, too many people were fleeing from place to place, and the panic in the country had turned into mass hysteria. The only thing to do, in the eyes of several state governors, was to shut off the borders and install military rule.

It had happened in other countries; in times of severe chaos, the military was often called in to run things by rule of the iron fist. But in some states, things went a little farther than others. Barriers had to be built along the nation’s borders, to stop the crazed migration (with the help of bordering nations, who couldn’t handle the sudden influx of immigrants.) There was a huge crackdown on crime, which had been on the rise because of the hysteria. Things began to heat up between the states as they tried to figure out how best to restore the US Government.

In an epic fight between states, the leaders of the Deep South banded together and called for a secession from the whole mess, saying that they could better take care of themselves. They argued that they would no longer be leaving the Union, because the Union no longer existed. There were too many battles going on, and they preferred to keep their own state militias in charge as opposed to some federal army from a government that was in shambles.

At first, this idea seemed both shocking and appalling, but they weren’t the only states who wanted out. Hawaii had long been looking for independence, and demanded it now more than ever. Washington State had been having trouble between its Eastern and Western halves, and now begged for a split between the two, a problem shared by Northern, Southern, and Central California.

The acting President— someone far down the line of succession, who really wasn’t qualified for the job—had no idea what to do but put the issue to a vote. Most states agreed that Washington and California should be allowed the divide for economic reasons... and that was what set the snowball rolling.

After months of violent debate, the South finally succeeded in breaking off. Following suit, many of the remaining states decided to become their own independent sectors, wanting to be free from the “America” label that was earning so much anger and violence from other nations.

Vermont was one of those states.

Vermont’s government never let go of the idea that the best way to keep the people calm was to run a tight ship. They stepped down the “military” outlook, but imposed a mandatory 8:30 curfew (for “safety” reasons, though really it was to try and quash the illegal activities of nightlife), increased the drinking and smoking ages considerably (for “health” reasons, but everyone knew it was because it was expensive to buy from breweries and tobacco farms now that everyone was on their own), took away almost everyone’s right to own a car (for “environmental” reasons, which translated to it being too expensive to import from overseas), and put the Officials in charge of everything. Vermont kept on trading terms with several other states—they’d always been quite friendly with New York and New Hampshire, both close neighbors—but the state was, officially, Closed. It was occasionally possible to get hold of a visa to enter another friendly state, but the amount of paperwork one had to go through was absolutely ridiculous, and the process usually came back negative anyway. The truth was, the government of Vermont was scared; the better it kept its people down, the better.