FAYETTEVILLE — Hunched shivering in the burned-out husk of a city bus, former Sgt. 1st Class Tina Allred readies her spear. Beside her former Specialist Joey Pulsipher threads a dart into his altlatl, a sort of sling for launching pointed projectiles. Luckily the patrol of a dozen or so warriors from the enemy tribe passes by without detecting them. As the marauders disappear into the howling snow, Allred and Pulsipher relax and return to their original goal of foraging for food.

This is the current state of affairs at Ft. Bragg, currently under a seemingly endless assault by the forces of nature. When the first snowflakes and freezing rain began to fall, nobody thought that the garrison cancelling work for two days was the beginning of the end. But then power failed, looters became more frequent at grocery stores, and neighborhoods realized they must band together to defend against incursions from other subdivisions looking for food and fuel.