The End Boxset: Postapocalyptic Visions of an Unstoppable Collapse by BJ Knights

survival over anyone else. Why would they take a big group of people to some secret hideout when people would end up being the greatest threat of all? Rob was actually kind for giving Jeremy the heads-up in the first place.
     
    After that thought, Jeremy would go back to the drawing board. No, really, why did they leave me? Maybe the routine of questions were to keep his mind free of the major errors that he made the night before. This would be the main reason why he was on foot walking on a deserted back road instead of safely hidden in the mountains away from the sprawl of the neighboring city. For Jeremy, these thoughts were hard to wrestle. Especially when the natural stages of grief were surfacing; such as denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Jeremy was somewhere between denial and anger. He was in denial over his truck breaking down. He was angry at himself for deviating from his escape plan, wasting so much time, and for ultimately being weak by trying to warn others. People, it seemed, that had long ago forgot about him.
     
    It was the night before, Wednesday 1:45am. Jeremy was on the road, slightly behind schedule, but still making progress. His truck was packed with fuel cans, water, camping gear, and the works. He had decided that he was going to warn his parents. It was a natural instinct. How could he live with himself if he hadn't? He drove to his parents’ house, about thirty minutes away from his trailer. He didn't care how late it was, this was a matter of life and death. He felt anxious, like he was late for work or for a flight. But he had to be patient. And if his parents refused to leave, if they didn't believe a word he said, then he would have to accept that and move on. But what if nothing ended up happening? This was a tad foolish for Jeremy to consider. He believed that things were hanging on by a thread and that it wouldn't take much for it all to tumble down.
     
    His parents, Bill and Lorraine, lived in an old neighborhood that had seen a high increase in crime as of recent years. This concern was the deciding factor behind Jeremy's decision to get his parents. What was the purpose of keeping himself safe and sitting there in a cabin in the mountains all alone and worrying about the people he cared about? No, Jeremy was going to alert his loved ones, saving them in the process. He would be a hero to the town. He would even rescue his estranged ex-girlfriend, Linda, now married with a child. Though he hadn't talked to her in two years and didn't even know where she lived.   Every house along the road could have been hers. It was no doubt a house of love and happiness. Linda and her perfect husband, and their perfect child. There was no room in this portrait for Jeremy. And even though it had been two years, she was never far from his mind. “Truly pathetic,” thought Jeremy.
     
    He pulled into his parent’s driveway of their three bedroom home on top a small hill. There were two cars. His father's Buick Century and a four-door Dodge.  Jeremy suspected that he knew who owned the Dodge.  He'd only met the guy once, and had nearly forgotten about him. His parent's had rented his room out to a man named Philip while Jeremy was deployed overseas. When Jeremy returned, his parents told him they had reached an agreement and that his room was going to be occupied for the next year. “Son, you're in your twenties now. You've saved up some money, so we didn't think it would be a problem,” his dad said.
     
    And he was right. It wasn't much of a problem. But when he met Phillip, Jeremy believed that his parents had found the son they always wanted. During dinner they treated Jeremy as the guest and Phillip as their son. He liked the same football teams as Jeremy's dad. He even liked race car driving, whereas Jeremy didn't. He was helpful, polite, and well-liked by Jeremy's parents. Not some moody, stubborn, and impulsive college dropout.
     
    Jeremy checked the house. Not a