In my research of the State Government, I managed to find a full document detailing the emergency plans for Washington State should an emergency happen. Inside there was even a table detailing the annual probability for a whole number of disasters, the most likely of which being “extreme weather”. It also states that “members of the public, private organizations and businesses, state agencies, and local jurisdictions should plan to be self-sufficient for a period of at least two weeks after an emergency or disaster”. It is also said that they should likely prepare to be self-sufficient for longer periods of time. It is the governor who has the power/responsibility of declaring a state of emergency.
Also in my research I found that there is an old archives building in Olympia that used to be an active bomb shelter (and I assume it can still serve as one if need be). I found a very short article explaining its existence and a small section of a page from the state government website, not much else. I wanted to include it in my research because the bomb shelter itself I plan to play a big role in what happens to the state government in the ARG we are creating. We even talked about it in my group on monday and how the bomb shelter is not well stocked, so in the case of an actual emergency, they would not be prepared for a large number of people (or really any people, for that matter).
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
Washington State Military Department (.gov)
https://mil.wa.gov › 2024 CEMP Base Plan Update
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/jan/13/archives-building-still-serves-as-bomb-shelter/
In this ARG I imagine that the state government on day one of the apocalypse are mostly in session at the capitol. Or perhaps they are mostly within the boundaries of Olympia, except for perhaps representatives/senators in Washington DC of course. Either the day of apocalypse starting or relatively soon afterwards a riot occurs at the Capitol Building which leads to the deaths of a vast majority of the cops existing in Olympia. I imagine that this riot, combined with the emergency happening, leads the government individuals currently in Olympia to seek out the bomb shelter as a place of refuge. In this situation let’s just say that the place is still stocked and maintained, so it can handle people in emergency situations such as this one. So, they somehow make their way to the bomb shelter where I also would say that other people (those not in the government) might have gone as well. This would of course be after the riot takes place but just before (if not around the time) that the mysterious fog is setting in. And along with that all the changes to the animals are happening, but I’m not sure how quickly that would take effect after the apocalypse starts.
With the “mysterious fog” there comes communications errors that prevent those inside Olympia from reaching those outside. The bomb shelter is no exception. In fact, I imagine that it might be a bit more iffy for them to gain contact with the outside world, especially with the fog that messes with the phone signals. In the aftermath of a little riot happening at Olympia’s capitol building lets just say that those in the bomb shelter (mostly just the government individuals) become a bit paranoid about their situation. They would likely become fearful and more hesitant to try and reach out to those still in the city. And due to them fleeing so quickly to seek shelter for themselves, people might not trust them as much to lead. Also depending on how long they are in there, I would imagine that lack of contact with the outside world would do things to you as a person. But with all of us stuck at Evergreen surrounded by the fog, I can’t imagine we will ever know for certain what is going on there until this mysterious fog thing passes…