Apocalypse

The apocalypse was a catastrophic event that transformed a portion of the world into the Wasteland.

The disaster
Sometime during or before 2018, the land that would become the Wasteland became heavily polluted due to excessive industrialization. It is unknown if this was the only factor that lead to the apocalypse, though it was apparently the only one that Captain was aware of. The disaster caused mass destruction and wiped out most of the life in the area.

Aftermath
While most life was wiped out, some animal and plant life is known to have survived the disaster. Surviving species include, but are not limited to, humans, horses, trilobites, wolves, and palm trees. Additionally, some humans who did not survive the disaster were re-animated and became zombies, likely due to a biological parasite that was unintentionally released by the disaster.

Human survivors began to re-colonize the area, forming at least one village. Some survivors, such as the Car Gang and Hoodlum Joe's gang, adopted an outlaw lifestyle and became raiders, while others, such as Captain's crew, came together to combat the new threats.

In 2020, multiple meteors fell just outside of Rock City. It is not known what impact these had on the already fragile ecosystem of the Wasteland.