Publisher's blurb: WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY OF MINCO! PLEASE PREPARE TO BE PATTED DOWN, SEARCHED, AND INTERROGATED IF NEEDED. Located in a temperate region of thick wooded areas and rolling mountain ranges, the town of Minco and its closest surrounding communities were heavily dedicated to the coal mining industry prior to the days of the apocalypse. In those days Minco was considered to be a modest, isolated community with little of interest to offer the outsider. Since the apocalypse, however, this closely knit spot of civilization is doing quite well. Unlike many places around it, Minco has electricity, food, clean water, shelter, active trade and production, and a sense of security that is provided by foot soldiers and the local police force. Due to an old mining company lab that specialized in converting coal into synthesized gasoline and diesel, the fuel needs for the community's many vehicles are met through the mining efforts. Minco not only has the basic needs but many other aspects of a thriving community as well. Although the elementary school mostly provides the needs of housing citizens, a portion of the building is still used to provide daily education. Nestled in the top floor of the building there is a room full of assorted computers and communications technology. Combined with some modified transmitters on the building's roof and/or located near the school, the operations of this location provide the community with one television station and three radio stations. Outsiders of the community receive mixed greetings and treatment by the citizens of Minco. Though some folks, particularly the merchants, welcome the presence of outsiders, Pastor McClanahan and his closest supporters shun and discourage the presence of those that do not belong to the community itself. Local individuals that dwell outside the immediate community area are generally treated with greater acceptance than individuals that are complete outsiders to the area. If the party members be foreign to the surrounding hills then they are likely to be expected to earn their respect and place of acceptance by many of Minco's citizens. The survivors that live in the surrounding areas but not within the actual established area of Minco are referred to as "hillbillies" by the community members. This term was adopted as means of describing such reclusive, rural folk that prefer to survive by their own wits and rules rather than relocate into Minco and conform to the standards of the community. While many of these "hillbillies" do share the envisioned appearance, mannerisms, and cultural aspects of the historical mountainfolk associated with the title, others have very little in common with the pre-apocalyptic concept. Some of these groups consist of biker gangs, decadent hedonists, brutal savages, or radical cultists. Minco citizens attempt to encourage some groups of hillbillies to merge with their society while other groups are viewed upon as violent enemies not to be trusted.