The Tularosa Basin is a low basin area between the Sacramento Mountians to the east and the San Adreas Mountians to the west. It covers an area of 6,500 sq miles and is about 150 miles long, north to south, and at most 60 miles wide. Much of it is desert and scrub though it was said to have been a lush garden before the Fall.
The Chevron Estate
In the north of the basin in the shadow of the Sacramento Mountains lies the Chevron Estate. It is centred on the old settlement of Tularosa and has flourished by tapping in to the ‘sweet water’ aquifer beneath it to become a lush agricultural centre. The Chevron family claim to have lived here since before the world collapsed and they run the estate as they see fit. Chevron Estates uses its ample water to mainly produce onions, potatoes, corn, sorghum, peppers, piñon nuts, pinto beans, and chilies.
The estate gets its labour from over a hundred indentured servants who volunteer to work for the Chevrons. Indeed for many a poor wretch the shelter of the workers’ barracks, the three square meals a day and basic medical treatment are a great improvement thatthey happily surrender their liberty for. All the field hands are male, mainly Latinos, who receive an enlistment bounty, which they often send to their families, before agreeing to three years of farming service. After three years they can leave with a modest bonus or choose to once again sign up as a good proportion does. The work is hard but living conditions are decent.
Couvent de Soeur Souriante
The Convent is situated in a partially concealed valley to the south east of Alamogordo. It is an old rambling pre-fall structure that is only occupied by four surviving nuns; Sisters Rihanna, Jocaste, Britaney and Sledge. The Convent is home to the holy artefact of Saint Mark’s Toe bone which is said to protect it from danger and guard those within.
Zozo Fire God Temple
Based on the ruins of the old town of Carrizozo lies the modern day Fire Temple of Zozo, a mere two miles to the south east of the Valley of Fire. The Valley of Fire is a Malpaís, badland, of an uneroded lava flow that has now become geologically active again for reasons unknown. It is approximately 12 miles long with an ancient pre-fall road that crosses it with more than a degree of danger for the traveller. Worshippers gather at the Zozo Temple to pray and make offerings to placate the Fire God. It is rumoured that some of the offerings are human sacrifices cast in to the lava streams.
Vista Tunnel Warren
On the very west of the Sacramento Mountains, to the west of the ruins of Cloudcroft heading on the old ’82 road is the Vista Tunnel Warren. It is home to a nest of fierce cannibal savages that charge a grim toll of travellers wishing to pass through. They have burrowed deep in to the mountain and have created a claustrophobic web of tunnels. The tunnel dwellers are dormant during the day but venture out at night for prey.
Jarilla Junction
Jarilla Junction is located in the southern part of the basin 50 miles north east of El Paso and 38 miles south of Alamogordo on the old ’54 road. It is next to the Jarilla Mountains where copper, gold, lead, and silver has been sporadically mined over the years. It is situated at an old junction of the old ’54 road and the abandoned El Paso Railroad.
The small settlement that has been occupied by elements of the 3rd Mississippi Infantry under Captain Deuteronomy Blake as the most northern eastern outpost of William Jay- Lepetomane’s conquest of New Mexico. The Mississippians are well dug in with a steady supply of water, fortifications and weaponry. They are volunteers from newly annexed lands to the east of the Texican Republic and keen to show their worth.
© Copyright Winwick Pig Publishing 2022
