The one major cause keeping the Confederation together, aside from the threats issued out of Chicago, is the organization's proximity to the dead zones to the west, where refugees have begun crossing the Mississippi River looking for safety, and in doing so are causing harming and violence in the unstable city-states next to the river. Food security is another factor keeping the organization together. With the rich farmlands in Idaho, Iowa, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas all but destroyed, the cities in the Confederation are forced to rely on Illinois and Indiana's rich crops, which have become strategic targets for groups in search of secure food supplies, forcing the states to band together to protect themselves against invaders.