Railroaders

Mathias walked alongside the containers, trying to guess their content. An easy game, when part of his job was knowing by heart what was contained in the hundreds of boxes he carried across the United States. He smiled when he reached the cargo of gas masks. For those who only knew the ultra-conditioned air of the refuges, the outside air is a deadly hazard. But with a bit of good will, it is perfectly breathable without any protection. The craned were living proof of that, they lived their whole life without ever breathing.

After the solar eruptions, the last shelters of civilisation were cut off from each others. With all electronics liable to fail should another occur, planes and trucks were rendered inoperable. Trains, however, were the last mean of mass transportation available for the new government. Not the modern, ultra-fast trains, but rather the old, steamy ones. They had to be brought back in from the decommission and crewed by the few specialists available. Who were also given guns and heavy armor.

Protect the goods

No city can survive on its own. With none of the machinery required to rebuild them from scratch, the last shreds of humanity had to find a way to haul the different necessities across the country. The trains seemed like a perfect solution, until the craned made themselves known. The outcasts who couldn't enter the domed cities in time were thought to be dead, which was true for the most part. Some of them survived, though not unscathed. The solar storm permanently damaged their brain, reducing them to savage beasts barely able to organize. Of their former selves, only remains a deep hatred towards the privileged inside their shiny cities. Lacking the firepower to attack the powerful military, they set their maddened gaze on the transports.

Two trains and their crews were lost before the reformed government reacted. They tripled the size of the railroaders, gave them heavy weaponry and combat training. The outside world has become an hostile wasteland, but some brave heroes still dare cross the wilderness and dangers to connect the different strongholds of humanity. Plus, they get a shiny badge for their merit.