A lot of rural communities held out from the electric/hydrogen vehicle revolution of the 2030s. They even held onto, and often revered internal combustion engines that had their heyday in the 1970s.
After things got out of hand the natural gas and petrol supply chains dried up, and regional mom and pop refineries1 showed up, centered around what was known as Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas: The Greater Texan Petro State.
To get there, one has to travel through disputed territory.
A loose corridor was formed between the south-west corner of Michigan-Huron Great Lakes Nation State and the GTPS.
There were a lot of road gangs fighting over this spot: The Gas Brothers, Diesel Dykes… and a weird clan called The Sinclair-Busch Cartel. Ultimately, a dominant force emerged: Penelope and her gang of ratmen.
Penelope is small in stature, but conniving, deceitful, and ruthless. She leads a gang of ‘roided out, half-rat, half-men, and together, they terrorize the area.
The residents of the Wasteland call her gang the Mouse-gas-teers, though never in front of Penny. She calls her group Penelope Petrol Incorporated.
Anyone traveling between the two proto states and the bordering wasteland had to fuel up with PPI.
I told you all this story to help tell the next one
Song of the week
murderous gangs
When my inbox is otherwise dreary and overwhelming, I make a beeline for anything from Brooks Industries.
Too easy to imagine...