Warday

Warday
1984 hardback edition
Author	Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Nuclear war, Novel
Publisher	Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Publication date	1984
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	374 pp
ISBN	0030707315
OCLC Number	10046613
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 19
LC Classification	PS3569.T6955 W3 1984

Warday is a novel by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, first published in 1984. It is a fictionalized account of two reporters traveling across America five years after a limited nuclear attack in order to assess how the nation had changed after the war. The novel takes the form of a research article and is written in first-person narrative form. It includes fictionalized government documents and interviews with individuals regarding the events and aftermath of the war.

Plot summary

Warday in the United States

The novel opens with Strieber's account of a nuclear attack on New York City. He is traveling on a bus when he witnesses an intense flash of light. Strieber also witnesses the flooding of New York's subway system due to a tsunami that was triggered by a nuclear detonation out to sea. Strieber makes his way to his son's school, where he is reunited with his family and shelters there. During this period, Strieber survives radiation sickness. Upon his recovery, he and his family leave New York for Dallas, Texas which was not attacked. Three years later, Strieber and Kunetka decide to document the effects of Warday on the United States. They travel through Texas, the American Southwest, and on to California which was not attacked and is very prosperous, through the Midwest, and ultimately back to the ruins of New York. They conduct interviews along the way with various people they come across, while collecting various government reports about the disaster.

An interview Strieber conducts with the former Undersecretary of Defense details how the war came about. In the months before the nuclear attack, the United States was on the verge of deploying an advanced anti-ballistic missile system known as "Spiderweb". The system, utilizing an orbiting particle beam to destroy both land and submarine launched missiles coming from the Soviet Union. Panicked by the threat of Spiderweb making the United States potentially invulnerable to any kind of missile attack, during initial deployment of Spiderweb by the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Soviets destroy the Shuttle using a hunter-killer satellite. The conflict escalates rapidly from this point, beginning with the Soviets detonating a set of six large nuclear warheads in space some 200 to 225 miles above the United States, causing a massive electromagnetic pulse that cripples electronics across the country. Immediately after, the Soviets launch a limited first strike using satellites to deploy their warheads. In response, the U.S. President, aboard the NEACP, launches a counter electromagnetic pulse strike and a limited nuclear strike on the USSR to destroy Moscow, Leningrad, Sevastopol, and the administrative capitals of the Soviet Republics, and a rumored biological attack on the Ukraine. Shortly after American missiles were launched, the NEACP, crippled by the electromagnetic pulse, crash lands in North Carolina, killing the President.

The "limited attack" by the USSR only destroys the cities of Washington, D.C., San Antonio, and the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs of New York City. The subsequent firestorms and fallout from these attacks destroy Long Island, Baltimore and most of Southwest Texas. In addition, ICBM missile fields and major air force bases in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming are also destroyed. The attack kills a total of 7,340,548 people. The Soviet Navy also launched nuclear attacks on the U.S. Navy, destroying the Third, Sixth, and Seventh fleets, killing tens of thousands of sailors, and reducing the strength of the US Navy by 90% in one attack. Despite these incidents, the limited attack excluded the majority of other American cities and the rest of the country, but the nation suffers nevertheless. Manhattan and the remaining boroughs are evacuated and eventually allowed to fall into ruin. The dusting of the Midwest and Central Plains by radioactive materials causes a famine that kills millions of people. Also, less than a year after the war, a new strain of influenza known as the Cincinnati Flu quickly reaches epidemic levels, killing 21,600,000 throughout the United States and millions more worldwide. Even after these catastrophes, a constant danger of radiation poisoning is present even for those far away from the blasts, as well as a new disease called Non-Specific Sclerosing Disease, or NSD. An interviewee mentions that the cities of Philadelphia and Houston were evacuated in the years following the war due to the heavy fallout from the DC and San Antonio bombings.

Warday in the USSR

Through interviews, Strieber and Kunetka learn about the fate of the USSR. Russia had been far more damaged than the United States although it is unspecified and unknown as to the full extent of the damage and casualties there, or whether or not the Soviet Premier and the Politburo survived. It is certain that the USSR collapsed, as nearly half of its population was killed immediately on Warday or had died by the time of the book, five years later. The cities of Moscow, Leningrad, Vladivostok, and other major Russian cities were destroyed "the administrative capitals of all the republics", as some of the former USSR states (the "kingdom of Azerbaijan" is mentioned) have declared themselves independent states, military-run enclaves, and even the reemergence of the White Russians. The biological weapons suspected to have been launched by the United States have destroyed Ukraine's famed wheat fields. Rogue USSR submarines still roam the Arctic seas, sacking Alaskan and Canadian communities for supplies, while their launching and targeting systems are still aimed at the US. These submarines are actively hunted by the Royal Navy as they pose a major threat to America and the world's security. Strieber and Kunetka also hear that the section of the Soviet Army that was stationed in the Warsaw Pact nations were disbanded due to no orders from Moscow or the rest of the USSR.

Warday in the rest in the world

In interviews, Strieber and Kunetka learn of what happened to rest of the world. While the conflict escalated and raged between the US and USSR, Europe, led by the United Kingdom, France, Germany signed a secret treaty amongst themselves. Under the "Treaty of Coventry", Europe declared themselves neutral to the Soviet Union, and neutralized US military facilities located in their countries. In exchange, the Soviets spared Europe from Nuclear attack, as the Europeans did not attack the Soviet Union in defense of the United States. In the aftermath of the war, the United States has become very dependent on the United Kingdom and Japan for aid and support. In the world of the book, an IGO called "British Relief", an aid organization that has backing from British military units stationed in the United States, has a major role in governing the country even to the point of occupying some areas. In the absence of the USSR and the US, the European Union, especially Britain, and Japan have become the technologically advanced superpowers. The presence of a strong Japanese military force in the US, especially in the Aztlan region around El Paso, Texas is encountered by the characters. Many interviewees mention the potential of a future Cold War between the UK and Japan.

It is mentioned to Strieber and Kunetka the other flashpoints that had happened worldwide as a result of the war based on the political and economic climate during the 80s. Mexico, while escaping destruction, without the aid and trade the United States provided, quickly collapses into a state of anarchy with revolutions reported in Mexico City, and mass death from famine, and outbreaks of the Cincinnati Flu. Canada, despite escaping direct hits from nuclear weapons, was affected by the electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States and had its economy destroyed as a result. The country has closed its borders to U.S. refugees, especially expelling many people from North Dakota who sought shelter across the border in the days following the war. The Canadians keep a very critical eye on the United States, blaming the country for having entered the war without thinking of the consequences to neighboring countries. It is casually mentioned that the U.S. has sold Alaska to the Canadians, with the oil of Prudhoe Bay being diverted to Vancouver. Argentina and most of Latin America, though escaping unscathed from the war, was occupied and divided among Western nations in an effort to stabilize food stocks directed to Europe, and to prevent a similar fate to Mexico. It is also mentioned that Poland has invaded what is left of the Ukraine to retake territory it lost during World War II, South Africa is at war with Zimbabwe, while the Israel/Palestinian conflict rages out of control. It is mentioned that the developing world, particularly, the Indian sub-continent, Latin America, Asia, and Africa experienced severe population declines due to famine.

Strieber and Kunetka observe many foreign companies and nations present in the unaffected regions of the US, as many of these foreigners see America as a ripe market to sell electronics, machinery, and investments, while exploiting it for natural resource exploitation. Some who are interviewed see this as an attempt by foreign powers to reduce the United States to a Third World nation, with a dependency on them.

Themes

American life and society after Warday

As Strieber and Kunetka observe throughout the novel, aside from the human cost, the war has left its mark on the economy and politics of the country. Due to the EMP, virtually all bank accounts, 401k and pension funds, financial records, the stock market, the credit system and other assets stored electronically, both in the United States and Canada, simply vanish, although the Chicago Board of Trade continues to function. Because of this, money undergoes a rapid deflation and paper currency is no longer used, as the system reverts back to the Gold Dollar system. For example, the cost of a home is reduced to 800 gold dollars. In addition, electronic machinery and devices are rendered useless, which further limits the economy. Nearly all electronic machinery and equipment are imported from abroad. Oil has reportedly fallen to 12 cents a barrel, while many foreign nations called in loans and debts owed by the United States.

Since the federal government has been critically reduced due to the bombing, individual states like California and Texas form de facto independent nations, with autonomous military forces and currency, although a new, albeit feeble, Federal Government is re declared with its capital in Los Angeles. During a visit to California, Strieber and Kunetka observe a standard of living that is at pre-war levels, with heavy Japanese and British investment and influence. Due to no direct attacks, no fallout, recovery from the EMP, and California's usual high standard of living and stability, California became a magnet for millions of refugees from across the United States. As a result, California shut its borders, suspended habeas corpus and became an authoritarian police state that ruthlessly hunts down refugees. Suspected illegal immigrants are immediately deported or imprisoned on sight, or even executed. Strieber and Kunetka are captured by the authorities, and sentenced to hard labor, but escape imprisonment and California.

It is also mentioned later in the book that most of the states in Deep South and Pacific Northwest have fared about as well as California and are "resident-only" states but, as illustrated in their encounter with the Georgia Patrol later in the book, the South is not as apparently authoritarian as California becomes.

Also a new Hispanic/Native American nation named Aztlan is brought into existence through a violent revolution and, apparent, ethnic cleansing of the Anglo population of El Paso, Roswell, far western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The Aztlanian government claims all of the area from West Texas to the Californian border up to Nevada, though a visit to Los Alamos, New Mexico discerns that such claims are weak. Through an interview with its foreign minister, Aztlan is a Libertarian Socialist country that grants total autonomy to the Native American tribes living within its border. The minister also tells Strieber and Kunetka of Aztlan's eventual goal of a Hispanic nation along the Mexican border that would eventually include California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas west of the Pecos. In the book the Aztlan leader makes clear that Aztlan is not a part of Mexico, and that its borders are closed, though it does welcome Mexican immigrants. Strieber and Kunetka, while traveling through Aztlan, observe the Japanese essentially turn Aztlan into a vassal state. The Japanese help develop Aztlan in exchange for exploitation of natural resources such as soy and uranium. Aztlan is recognized by most nations in Africa and Latin America, but the Governor and de facto "President" of Texas, tells Strieber in an interview of plans to retake back Aztlan by force.

Culturally, the United States undergoes several radical changes. For one, the Catholic and Episcopal churches reunite in a spirit of reconciliation after the disaster, and assisted suicide in the face of painful terminal illness is accepted and sanctioned by religious leaders including the current Holy See. In addition, new factions emerge, such as Witch healers and the mainstreaming of Wicca and the Destructuralists, who, like Anarchists, push for a complete dismantling of any form of civic authority. Due to the EMP destroying communication systems, the American people remained isolated from the rest of the world. Outside of California, rumors and even superstition prevailed as Strieber and Kunetka throughout the novel seem unaware of what happened outside of the United States such as losing Alaska and Europe's neutrality.

Due to this, the United States is reduced to third world standards that is slowly falling under the control of the UK and Japan, both of which would not mind seeing the US formally split up. The Los Alamos National Laboratory, being stripped bare by the Japanese, as all of its equipment, facilities, and even scientists are being shipped back to Japan in a similar vein to Operation Paperclip in World War II. The ambition of many Americans is to emigrate to the United Kingdom.

Despite what has happened, most Americans interviewed and surveyed by Strieber and Kunetka, as well of their own personal beliefs, feel that the United States will recover and be restored. Over 60% of people they interview believe in that the United States should be restored from coast to coast, and increasingly disapprove of the heavy foreign influence taking hold.

Although actually published in 1984, the novel purports to be a journalistic account written in 1993, five years after the war, which takes place in late October, 1988. The novel contains a fictional copyright page bearing the date 1993.

Sequels

During the book tour surrounding the release of Warday, both Strieber and Kunetka hinted that they were planning a sequel in which the two would venture overseas and reveal how Western Europe, Africa, China, Japan, and the remnants of the Soviet Union fared ten years after the limited exchange.[1] However, both writers instead released Nature's End, and then ceased writing together for reasons neither have explained. In the years since Nature's End was released, Strieber's switch in focus towards his Communion series, chronicling his own (supposed) experiences of alien contact, along with his collaborations with Art Bell, has resulted in the indefinite shelving of this project.

See also

• List of Nuclear Holocaust fiction
• Nuclear Holocaust
• Nuclear weapons in popular culture

External links

• Emptyworld.com's article for Warday^{[dead link]}
• People Magazine 20 April 1984 Article on Warday