Land of Flatwater

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Land Of Flatwater is a timeline on AlternateHistory.com that's a Spin-Off of the Protect and Survive: A Timeline story. The story is set in Nebraska, and focuses on an African-American family (and their relatives and friends) in Omaha as the events of Protect and Survive happen. Eventually, the main charater and his family, as things get worse go to a farm owned by a friend of his father's with a Mysterious Past. They are there when the nuclear exchange happens on the 21st. It is now March of 1984 in the story. It also stars Robert Kerrey (the then-governor of Nebraska), Debra Winger, Tom Osborne (the then-coach of Nebraska), and several other famous Nebraska figures.

The timeline can be read here.

Tropes used in Land of Flatwater include:

• After the End: Of course, since it's same universe as Protect and Survive.
• Allohistorical Allusion: One character thinks Fire Up the Quattro, among other examples.
• Atomic Hate: Omaha gets severely damaged from two 20-megaton missiles (aimed at Offutt Air Force Base), hit by five 100-kilton missiles (aimed at the communications links to nearby Offutt Air Force Base and at the bridge crossings), and is then destroyed by a 10-megaton ground burst, while western Nebraska gets hit with over 160 500-kilton missiles to get the silos there. Averted with Lincoln, though.
• Cabin Fever: Happens in the shelter the main character is staying in, to the point where his hair starts to fall out.
• The Cold War: Like its predecessor, set in The Eighties.
• Cozy Catastrophe: Averted in the aftermath, as radiation covers much of the state in the immediate aftermath and people can't get out of their shelters until early March. Even after they get out, life is still pretty harsh.
• The End of the World as We Know It: Happens on page 30.
• For Want of a Nail: Nebraska gets the two-point conversion at the Orange Bowl and wins the last national title.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: As mentioned, Johnny Carson is at the FEMA shelter in Norfolk. Bob Devaney (Tom Osborne's predecessor as head football coach at Nebraska) is under Memorial Stadium after the exchange.
• Hope Spot: Happens several times in the story, especially as the end approaches.
• Loads and Loads of Characters: Has at least a dozen major characters, and numerous secondary characters.
• More Dakka: Rick is loaded with weapons and NBC suits because of his Mysterious Past.
• Mysterious Past: The family friend of Chip's family. He reveals some of it to the Ed (the main character's father) the night before the nuclear exchange.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Averted. As mentioned, Robert Kerrey and Debra Winger appear, as do Tom Osborne and Johnny Carson.
• Spin-Off: Of Protect and Survive: A Timeline.
• Spiritual Successor: To The Day After and Alas, Babylon, among others (the author has said the latter is one of his favorites).
• Tank Goodness: The description of the tank battles in World War III in Western Germany.
• The Eighties: Again, like Protect And Survive, so pop culture references from this era are to be expected.
• The Last DJ: A number of Omaha and Lincoln radio hosts are this postwar.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: What happens to Omaha and Offutt Air Force Base.
• Undefeatable Little Village: Fremont and Columbus try to be this before the exchange, but fail (though they don't share the same fate as Fenton, as it is before the war has gone nuclear).
• Wham! Episode: The post that describes the nuclear exchange and its effects on Nebraska, as well as the moment when the main characters find out about the exchange.
• World War III: Breaks out on page 9.