Contingency

The **United States Department of the Contingency**, better known simply as the **Contingency**, was a secret organization created by the U.S. government with the purpose of restoring law and order to the country following the global outbreak of Lazarus brain infection. To that end, the Contingency prepared various supply depots across the country, each equipped with broadcasts that would draw in surviving soldiers or groups of survivors, which in turn formed divisions such as Delta Force in the north and Alpha Force in the west. Before the outbreak, the Contingency also conducted Project Lazarus in order to control, cure or weaponize LBI, resulting in the creation of the einherjar.

## Pre-Apocalypse

The Contingency was likely founded during or after the Collapse, the worldwide economic shock that devastated the global economy. Among other effects, oil prices skyrocketed, causing the U.S. and several European nations to enter open war with several Middle Eastern states; these conflicts included the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States. In the chaos, food riots broke out and entire neighbourhoods secluded themselves behind walls, guarding their resources from outsiders; this culminated in the attempted secession of Texas, placing the federal government in a state of disarray. With the country on the brink of total collapse the federal government authorised the creation of the Contingency, a group whose sole purpose was to prepare for the government's downfall and the restoration of civilization in the aftermath.

Prior to 2003, the Contingency discovered a novel pathogen in Central America that had the potential to cause a global outbreak; given the social and economic conditions of the time, such an outbreak could cause the extinction of the human race. Initially seeking to contain it, the Contingency ultimately decided to prepare the surviving population as best they could; part of this included studying the pathogen using human test subjects, creating super soldiers that could contain the chaos that was to come.

## Post-Apocalypse

It is currently unknown how the Contingency organized itself following the global outbreak of the brain infection, and there are few details on how its various divisions came to form. At least one, Delta Force, formed in the northern U.S. and primarily consisted of a few enlisted servicemen and women alongside civilian survivors that were trained to use weapons. Another, Alpha Force, formed in northern California under the command of U.S. army soldier Marcus Aurora.

Sometime in 2004 Delta Force came under the command of Kieron Worth, a U.S. army soldier who had seen active duty in the 2003 invasion of Iraq; under Kieron's command, Delta Force grew considerably, often taking in any struggling survivors they encountered as long as they swore to serve their cause. By 2006-2007 Delta Force had grown large enough - and well-armed enough - to invade and take over Adams Air Force Base in west-central Montana. Alpha Force, on the other hand, grew to primarily consist of civilians led by a few former U.S. soldiers, with only a few members having any combat experience.

## Notable Members

### Alpha Force

* Marcus Aurora - leader
* Dylan Emerson

### Delta Force

* Kieron Worth - leader
* Albert
* Cara
* Unnamed sound engineer
* Numerous unnamed soldiers and workers