BattleTanx

Setting

On January 3rd, 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies a novel virus which only targets female humans. Labeled a Level 4 Hot Agent, this "X2 Virus" has a 99.9% fatality rate, but because it was initially presumed to be an influenza-type organism, quarantine measures were not enforced, and the outbreak quickly spreads. On March 23rd, 2001, as female death rates increase astronomically, the United States government declares martial law. US Army and National Guard units are deployed to all major cities with orders to evacuate every female to secured quarantine zones in Northern California. Other countries take similar measures.

Discontent at this course of action causes many men to riot and form militia groups to combat their national governments. On April 19th, civil war erupts in the US as renegade National Guard units start attacking government forces. Countries across the world similarly fracture, and those with significant military forces invade their neighbors to secure their female populations. When China invades Russia to seize their quarantine zones, they respond with tactical nuclear weapons.

The global nuclear war which followed causes civilization to end on May 6th, 2001. From a pre-plague population of 260 million, just 50 million male survivors and 50,000 female survivors are left in the former United States. Facing extinction, militarized gangs called Tribes form around the surviving women. These women - known as "Queenlords" - function as both tribal rulers and holy entities of jealous adoration to the men they lead. Meanwhile the man who has proven himself to be the strongest, the most cunning, and the greatest leader in battle is declared the "Battlelord" of the Tribe.

Plot

On the same day martial law is declared, Griffin Spade proposes to Madison in Queens, New York. Madison is one of the few women immune to the X2 Virus, but with world starting to collapse, Griffin joins one of the many militias forming to protect his fiancée. However, she does not want him to die protecting her and makes the decision to voluntarily give herself up to government forces. Shortly thereafter New York City is hit with the first of multiple nuclear strikes which wipes out 99% of its population.

Griffin manages to survive the attack and the following months thanks to an abandoned National Guard tank he seized. Believing Madison must have survived somewhere out west, Griffin fights his way out of New York City, crossing from Queens into Manhattan via the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, through Times Square, and across the George Washington Bridge. Heading west, Griffin gathers a small army of followers with the same goal of reuniting with their loved ones. They invade Chicago along Lake Shore Drive, overthrow the Tribes occupying the city, and rescue their Queenlords to secure their own survival.

Leaving behind a portion of his forces to start rebuilding the "Heartland," Griffin pushes west as his fame and army continue to grow. Driven by dreams of Madison and nightmares of a sinister force holding her, Griffin's army takes over Area 51 and Las Vegas from the Tribes occupying them. Arriving at San Francisco, he finds it unscathed, having been spared the nuclear holocaust as it was one of the designated quarantine zones. The city is occupied however by a "Dark Alliance" of Tribes led by the Dark Angels, religious fanatics whose goal is to reshape the world in their God's name.

Battling their way across the Golden Gate Bridge and into the city, Griffin's army reaches the "Q-Zone", an island fortress where the government quarantined women. In a final confrontation Griffin defeats the Dark Angels and rescues Madison. Reunited with his love, Griffin is proclaimed Battlelord and together they start to rebuild a new nation.