Sticks & Stones

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STICKS & STONES, A POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLDBUILDING FUTURE WIKI PROJECT
So WTF This TL, Bro?
Basically, this is like ThatAlternateHistoryLad5's 2000: Y2K, but it's set like, 39/38 years after the P.O.D? Yeah, ya can make an connection to dat lol. 
With the supposed end of the Cold War, came the end of any possibility of nuclear war (so we thought), and apparently any lessons that we've learned from World War II along with it. During the Ukrainian War, the West sent supplies to Ukraine so it could have the ability to defend itself. It's human nature, y'all. Overtime, tho, The West's leaders became increasingly warhawks. A year ago, all they wanted was for Putin to f*ck off from Ukraine. Now? They want an World War III in order to gain dominance once again, kick Putin from power (f*ck that dude, anyways), put a puppet regime, and maybe, JUST, maybe, squeeze China's balls so hard, the PLA stepping foot in Taiwan is ought to be a wet dream.
With 2038 being 15 years away, one begs the question: What's ought to happen should the Y2K38 bug happen on the real!?
==Plot==
===The Y2K Scare===
If you were born between '88 and '97, I want ya to go back in time to January 1, 2000. End of the World, they said. It didn't end (If you don't live in the universe of 2000:MC, that is). It was all a hoax, and people fell for it. But 38 years later, and the apocalypse would happen on the real. Its no yolk.
===Lore===
The 2030s prove out to be much worse than the 2020s. The 2020s were marked by the Global Warming Era ending in 2023, and the Global Drought Era beginning in 2024. The rest of the 2020s (2025-29) would be marred by the Second Cold War. All of this was worsened by the Nile Crisis in 2026, & the West African War in September 2023. North Africa & the Middle East would be destroyed by some of the worst sandstorms in 2024, whereas the Congo Rainforest would burn to ashes that same year. Summer 2024 was much more hotter, the average being 45°C, with the lowest being 37°C. All of this would only end by mid October. 
This all causes a refugee crisis that by 2029 resembles the 2015-16 European Refugee Crisis that rocked the Old Continent back in '15 or '16, depednin' on who ya ask. 2026 would be EVEN worse for Africa, as South Africa and several other guys would band up and form the Alliance of Socialist African Nations (ASAN). The EAF Constitution would also be ratified that year, finally ending YEARS of gridlock when it came to one stupid constitution. In July 2032, the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis would nearly result in a Taiwan War, and likely, World War III, but it didn't happen. Jinping wasn't too crazy. But the next guy would have totally lost his marbles.
===3 Months Before D-Day===
We now enter October 2037, 3 months before you-know-what. NATO is ought to begin their masterchild; Marauder Berlin 2037. That names just screams "Able Archer '83" for me. Jinping finally dies on October 28, a month shy away from his 26 anniversary of rule on November 15th. He is replaced by the CCP's best friend on November 3, 2037: Wei Zhenbao. Born in December 1979 in an obscure town in Heilongjiang Province, his daddy was of Ruskie descent, giving him Siberian balls! Just kidding, making him more susceptible to losing his mind. 
The Chinese thought that when Xi Jinping would die, the CCP would be fightin' amongst themselves in order to gain supremacy, ending the tyranny of the CCP that they have suffered since '49. What they got, was a Sino-Russian Madman that would cause the invasion of Taiwan, and World War III, if the US wanted to play rough with Beijing. In mid-November 2037, pro-democracy riots erupt in China. We aren't talking about Sit-ins and vandalism. No, no, this is on the scale of the George Floyd protests. Actually, the George Floyd protests are T.A.M.E compared to how ticked off people were when Premier Dear Leader Zhenbao rose to power.
There were reports that if you'd even say that "Oh, but he could change his mind", you would be beaten to death, your family beaten or tortured, your kids sexually assaulted & your house set on fire. People would start setting fire anything they'd get their hands on. Dumpsters, cars, stores, houses of people even a little bit sympathetic to the CCP, and even skyscrapers. China was on the edge of a Second Civil War.
Chaos rules in China until January 19, 2038. World War III, or the Y2K38 War, begins....
===The Y2K38 War===
January 19, 2038. It's Tuesday, and since Tuesday sucks balls, let's make it worse. Let's assume you're at a Chinese base, that is connected to a missile silo, that's equipped with an early warning system. You detect one singular ICBM had launched from Hawaii, and is heading for Qingdao. You panic, but it gets much worse when you realize: They have went from one to 15. 15! The missiles weren't really launched, but this is "Sticks & Stones", so yeah, you're oughta launch back, raise hell on the imperialist Americans for having the audacity to attack the People's Republic. 
Missiles launch across China. The US army gets word of 'em, and they prepare for retaliation. In Malmstrom AFB, Cascade County, Motana, a 49-year-old Peter Griffin rip-off, having seen the EAS sent seconds ago, gets on his '92 Volkswagen Golf GTI, knocking down the gates to the base, speedin' down the tarmac, whilst driving head-on to a Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, signaling for it to stop, because no war had happened. In an alternate timeline, he would have stopped, but the pilot don't stop, knowin' it's all true, and thinkin' the guy had lost his marbles. The car was stopped, and he was put at the Sherriff's office. He, sadly, wouldn't survive what would come up next. The missiles strike locations in the US West Coast, such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Honolulu & Anchorage. Back in D.C, where missiles have yet to hit, the US Secretary of Defense, Eren Finch, informs POTUS, who by the way, is Jayden Lars, leading the country after his victory in the 2036 Presidential Election, and he replies with 3 infamous words. 
==="Beijing Will Pay."===
He shouts those 3 words, looking like that Hitler-lookalike in '04's Downfall. 
As soon as he tells Finch to raise hell on China, he calls the NATO HQ in Brussels. The Euros are scared as hell. China's missiles also, to make matters worse, will raise hell upon Japan, South Korea, Australia & India, worsening sh*t. India had engaged in a border skirmish with the Pakistani army in Kashmir with the Indians on January 13, starting the Second Indo-Pakistani War, opening the Indian Front of the Y2K38 War. Within hours, Taipei, Hanoi, Sydney, Canberra, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Pyongyang & other cities are dust. 
All of this while Wei is hiding in his bunker in Sichuan, our man contacts Russia's prez. Putin. Yep, Putin's still alive, despite bein' 86 years old, and even though Zelensky and the West defeated him in 2027, he is in control of Donetsk & Luhansk, 'cause Putin was so restless to get 'em independent, or at least a part of Russia, Turkey had to make it so that if Donetsk & Luhansk were to be free, they had to give up Crimea. He's pissed, man. P-I-S-S-E-D! He orders his two crown jewels in 'Kraine, Donetsk & Luhansk, to invade their neighbor, whilst he ordered the army to invade the Baltics & Norway. He also orders nuclear strikes on strategic European cities that are pretty useful for the Euro-Atlantic Alliance, such as: 
*Berlin (the seat of Germany, which possesses an army that's oughta halt the Ruskies)
*Paris (capital of France, a nation armed with nukes)
*Rome (capital of Italy, where NATO could use to launch airstrikes to Serbia, Putin's lapdog in the Balkans)
*London (capital of the UK, a nuke-armed nation)
*Brussels (where the NATO supreme command is located, and the capital of the European Union)
Italy & Germany go poof, as both the Italian PM Massimo Giorgio & German Chancellor Walter Kurtz can't get outta dodge. French President Gabriel Girard makes a run for Corsica, while UK PM Sir Michael Howards kicks the bucket whilst at 10 Downing Street, not wanting to die in the blast. The East Coast is also impacted. New York City, Boston, Washington D.C, and others? They're done for, man.
In Africa, situation's more or less the same. South Africa, and their ASAN bro, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Algeria, invade the East African Federation. Meanwhile, Egypt also comes under attack from Libya & Sudan, due to it being an ally of the East African Federation. In the Middle East, Turkey is bombarded by nuclear weapons, whilst Iran and a coalition of Arab countries invade Israel.
Turkey is also Vietnam'd, being seen as an Israeli buddy, which means, they could retaliate against Persia and its friends. Putin also orders Serbian President Vasilev Lajčák to pledge alliance to Moscow and invade Kosovo & Bosnia, whilst annexing Republika Srpska. Belgrade accepts and invades Kosovo & Bosnia. The Albanians attempt to intervene, but Tirana is hit by a nuclear weapon, killing Albanian PM Roland Bici. So goodbye me!
The world stood still as the missiles hit their locations. In the aftermath of World War III (as it's now called, years later, in the year 2123.), things were all different. Technology has degraded from AI Art & Robots to most TVs being black & white. 2 billion died during this war, 3 billion more would die following all this. The world population in 2037 was 9 Billion. The world population in 2042 dropped to 4 billion, or the world population in 1982. Now, in 2123, the world population is 10 Billion. According to a UN simulation made in 2031, it should have been 12 Billion.