The year is 2010 on an alternate Earth, in all ways identical to ours but for one event. Approximately one year ago, a meteor smashed into north western Utah. The resulting crater had an approximate 10 mile radius. Loss of life in the area was minimized due to the amount of effected farmland, and advanced warning from a team of scientists at NASA. An enormous mushroom cloud of dust and radioactive ash was launched into the stratosphere, the fallout of which reached as far as central Russia. It was a disaster on a scale unprecedented since Mt. Eyjafjallajokull. The dust cloud that covered most of the globe has only recently begun to settle.
Immediately after the meteor strike, President Obama and his administration went into overdrive, pouring money into relocation efforts and public works repairs. For the first few months after the meteor strike, looting was rampant, and crime rates skyrocketed. To help ensure order, government forces moved into Utah and surrounding states and clamped down hard. There has been no news or travel into or out of Utah, and conspiracy theories abound. The fundamentalist right wing began decrying these efforts as a government takeover, and the sign of the coming of the conquering Anti-Christ. Cults began to arise taking the meteor as a sign from God of the opening of the first seal of Revelation. They named the meteor "Bellerophon" after the rider of pegasus; the false God come upon a white horse.
In the past few months, strange rumours have been reaching your ears over the internet and through the student grapevine. People on facebook and twitter have been blogging about being able to see through walls, or breath fire (FML). Other strange occurrences have begun appearing in the tabloids in even greater concentration than ever. No concrete evidence has yet been presented, and rumours remain that, rumours. The big picture so far as you know? You are a student of Jefferson High School in Middleton, Nevada, and life continues as normal. For a short time anyway.
