Cities near these sites would not be spared; they would be collateral in a calculated attempt to shatter the nation’s ability to respond. The horror would not be evenly distributed. It would follow the logic of war.
Regions without dense military infrastructure or major strategic assets might escape the first wave, not because they are valued, but because they are less useful to destroy immediately. Parts of northern New England and sections of the rural Midwest could, in theory, see the sky glow from a distance before feeling the direct effects. Yet no map offers true safety. Fallout drifts. Systems collapse. Supply chains die. The distinction is not between safe and unsafe, but between instant obliteration and a narrow, uncertain window to survive, regroup, and endure a world permanently changed.
