During the prolonged battle, the oil-fields of the Middle East are set alight, destroying fuel production. The resulting conflict depletes the already scarce resources of the industrial nations, shattering their economies. Finally, the supply of fuel is restricted to the essential services, which are fast breaking down. The stock market collapses, creating a world-wide economic depression. Outbreaks of fighting in the cities become steadily less sporadic.
Factories grind to a standstill.
Pappagallo, Chief Executive of Seven Sisters Petroleum in Australia, escapes the downfall of the cities with maps showing the location of a fuel pump in the wasteland. He constructs a rudimentary fuel refining plant and creates a farm near the fuel pump, intending to survive the fall of civilization. A small armed community is established and the compound is fortified. Australia has become a war-zone, as the road trains and tankers have ceased transporting supplies and fuel. In Australia, centralised government crumbles.