text: "Are you worried about these uncertain times? Do you..."
  
  Click.
  
  You're so damn sick of these Ground Zero commercials you think as you turn the TV off. If you older brother Ben hadn't shot his family and himself in a tragic paranoid breakdown you can only imagine he'd be going on about how right he was in building that underground bunker out in your backyard.
  
  You look at the time and realize you've spent most of the day procrastinating watching TV even though there's not much on that interests you on TV anymore. All the channels you used to watch that had interesting shit on them now all have shallow reality shows and quite frankly you've got enough dysfunctional family drama going on in real life without needing to watch it on TV.
  
  You remember a time when you could avoid most of the mess by hiding out in your basement. Unfortunately you can't even do that anymore. Ever since dad drank himself to death, the gravy train of living at home for free came to an end.
  
  Without the help of your dad's pension checks anymore, your older Amazonian sister Kelly said there was no way in hell that she was going to keep supporting the house on her own unless she was the only one living in it. Seeing as she's a roller derby bitch as well as an illegal fight club brawler, it isn't like you or any of your siblings were in any position to argue with her.
  
  Your younger brother Peter, having given up his lofty dreams of being a famous movie director now spends a lot of his time in the garage making amateur porn with various guys he picks up at the clubs. He makes enough money through his website that it keeps Kelly off his back. He seems to enjoy what he's doing and at least he's not stealing your clothes anymore.
  
  Your younger sister Donna simply moved out and moved in with your best friend Julie who is still the eternal party girl. Really you're surprised Julie hasn't caught every STD known to man at this point. To be honest Donna's had more in common with Julie than you have for many years now. You're sure Donna's a lot happier at a "party house."
  
  As for you, you didn't have much in the way of options. Trying to get a job has failed spectacularly in this economy. Though your..."unique" and reclusive personality doesn't exactly help in that department.
  
  Given some of the junk that's laying around the house you sometimes wonder if you shouldn't try to sell some of it over the Internet to support yourself. Seems like a lot of work though and you're no wheeler and dealer.
  
  Donna suggested that you move in with her and Julie, but that whole scene isn't for you. As much as you hate dealing with Kelly, you'd also hate having to put up with drunk horny guys (and girls) trying to get into your pants every five minutes, not to mention the loud music, crowds and the ever growing possibility of the cops busting the place for illegal drugs.
  
  Which brings you to your boyfriend Bobby Morningstar who naturally has suggested that you move in with him on several occasions. This would be the ideal solution if it weren't for the fact that his own family consists of like a million siblings that all live in his cult compound. There's also the fact that his ex-girlfriend/sister Diana is wicked pissed at you for stealing him away from her.
  
  It's been an ongoing source of tension between you and Bobby and you wish he'd just leave them all behind and you two could make a life together elsewhere, but his duty to family is strong, as is his faith to the Babylonian Goddess of Chaos, Tiamat which still involves human sacrifices.
  
  Right now you're having a period of separation with him. Sometimes you think about breaking up with him completely, but then you can't just dismiss the good times you do have with him. You have that special bond that only a couple could have when one warns the other about their serial killer relative lying in wait for them in the woods. Thank god Bobby took care of your uncle Ed. That had to be the scariest moment of your life dealing with that situation.
  
  Of course none of this delightful recap of past events really helps you. Kelly is starting to get very impatient with you and you fear that your months of stalling are coming to an end.
  
  Kelly's currently not home, but she'll be back in a few hours to get a bit of sleep before heading off to her fight club stuff. Continuing to enjoy the time you have to not have to deal with her you go back to procrastinating, which mainly involves goofing off on the Internet, "stumbling" upon a porn site and then using battery powered means to relieve yourself of stress.
  
  Eventually you hear the familiar slamming of the door and stomping around upstairs, which signifies that Kelly is indeed home.
  
  "SUZY! Stop splittin' the kitten and get yer bony ass up here!" you hear Kelly shout.
  
  You were afraid of this. You clean yourself up a bit, mentally prepare yourself and then head upstairs.
  
  "Hey Kelly..." you start to say, but are interrupted.
  "Shut up. I've got exactly a couple hours to get some rest before I have to drag my ass to my other job to support this fucking house and it's a fucking mess! You can't even clean up around here? Did you even look for a job today? Let me guess you spent the whole day fucking around on the Internet and masturbating didn't you?"
  "Well uh..."
  "Jesus fuckin' Christ Suzy, you're goddamn useless you know that? The only reason I'm not kicking your ass right now is because I need to save my energy and it would be too fucking easy."
  
  Before you can even speak, Kelly continues her rant.
  
  "GET A FUCKING JOB! I don't care what kind! Just be a contributing member of this household like Peter or get the fuck out like Donna!"
  "Kelly I'm trying, but I'm just not having any luck in finding anything, can't you help me out?" you say.
  "Help you out? I'm helping you out right now by supporting your ass! I've been helping you out for quite some time! In fact I originally suggested that you could probably become a ring girl at the fights, but you said no because you didn't want to dress up in skimpy clothing and parade around in front of a bunch of drunks."
  "Kelly, you know I don't want to dress like that in public, especially not after what uncle Ed made me wear that night..."
  "Oh here we go, crazy old uncle Ed! How long you going to keep using that as an excuse? Sheesh, the way you go on about it, you act like he raped you. What happened instead? He got killed, you weren't even touched and you got a fucking boyfriend out of that deal! Some of us should be so lucky to be in a fucked up situation and STILL come out ahead! You know what I deal with on a regular basis? Steroid freaks trying to break my fucking neck that's what! You think I'd be making a living trading punches with fucktards if I LOOKED like you Suzy? You got the biggest advantage and you're just wasting it! What the hell is your goddamn problem?"
  
  You can see that Kelly is in full-blown jealousy mode and shows no signs of stopping. Attempting to walk away will only result in her getting physical with you so the only thing you can do is endure the verbal assault.
  
  "This is sink or swim time sis. You either get your shit together by the end of this week or you're out on your ass! This sheltered girl act is really fucking OLD! You're a grown ass WOMAN. Start acting like one! Now get out of my fucking sight."
  
  You meekly slink back to the basement and leave Kelly alone.
  
  You silently mope for a while pondering what the hell you're going to do next. You then notice that your phone has been under your couch cushions and on silent all day. Bobby apparently has been repeatedly trying to contact you. Even left multiple texts saying that he really wants to talk, but the mood you're in right now, you don't want to deal with it.
  
  You don't want to deal with anything. You just want to be safe in your own little world in the basement. How you miss those days...
  
  Well today isn't completely over yet. You've still got time to salvage some of it. Hell, maybe you can even make a major change in your life.
  
  > move in with Donna and Julie
  Even if you did manage to find a job, it wouldn't change the fact that you'll still have to put up with Kelly's abuse. She'd just bitch at you for something else. She will always find an excuse.
  
  With that in mind, you realize that your options are limited. You're going to have to move out and go live at the only place available to an unemployed bum like yourself, your friend Julie's house.
  
  Chances are she's either passed out, hung over or in the middle of yet another one of her seemingly never ending parties, so you figure calling her will be useless and call your sister Donna instead (who might only be slightly more available)
  
  Ignoring Bobby's calls, you speed dial Donna and surprisingly she picks up after only a couple of rings. Even more surprisingly you don't hear any music or noise in the background. Must've caught a rare in between party time.
  
  "Hello? Suzy?" Donna asks.
  "Yeah, it's me." You answer.
  "Hey haven't spoken to you in awhile! How are things? Not too bad I hope?"
  "Well...yeah they are kinda. I just got my ass chewed out by Kelly. (Sigh) She's saying I have to find a job by the end of the week or she's throwing me out."
  "Yeah sounds like her."
  "You know how hard it is for me to find a job. I just don't think it's going to happen by the end of the week and in any case I don't think I can take her abuse any longer. I'm done."
  "Well you shouldn't have to put up with her shit. She's a fucking bullying bitch! I mean that's certainly why I left."
  "Yeah so I was wondering, could I move in with you and Julie?"
  
  There's a bit of a pause.
  
  "Well...I mean sure you could come here. I wouldn't mind and I mean you know Julie would be fine with it, but I know you're not exactly miss fun and excitement and I think you're aware of how wild things can get over here." Donna says.
  "Yeah, but anything is better than continuing to live with Kelly right now, and given how big Julie's home is, I'm sure I can still find a quiet corner to not bother anyone in." you respond.
  "Okay, well as long as you don't because a buzz killing party pooper, you're more than welcome to stay here. So are you coming today?"
  "I think I need to pack up quite a bit of stuff before doing that. I also have to have some way of transporting the stuff over. I dunno, maybe I can borrow Peter's car or something."
  "What about Bobby?"
  "Uh, no, I'm still not speaking with him at this time. Besides, he'd probably just try to convince me to live in his compound and I'm just not in the mood to deal."
  "Hrm. I certainly understand that. Well, since you said you're going to have to spend a little time packing up your stuff, I can come pick you up tomorrow. I'd do it today, but the vehicle situation isn't ideal right now. Got someone repairing my car right now and Julie's vehicle... well let's say it's going to be even longer before . It was quite the part last Friday."
  "I'll bet. Well that sounds like it'll work for me. When will you get here?"
  "Oh probably sometime in the afternoon. I'll call before hand."
  "Okay, well I guess I'll see you then."
  "I'll let Julie know, she'll be pretty excited."
  
  At this point you say goodbye to your sister and you hang up.
  
  You get to packing up as many of your vital things as possible. Really it doesn't take you too long at all. You didn't own too much stuff, and stuff like furniture or a bed is going to be provided at Julie's house though you wonder if you shouldn't move your bed over there if only because the beds over there are probably like petri dishes.
  
  In any event, you spend the rest of your night in the basement, which will probably be your last night ever here. It seems weird and scary, but on another level you are a little excited. Maybe it was time for a change.
  
  Who knows, maybe you'll indulge in a little partying yourself when you get to your new home, hell if anyone deserves to let loose a little its certainly you.
  
  > Next day...
  "...act now and Ground Zero will provide a..."
  
  Click.
  
  As you groggily wake up, you're wondering if you should bother even taking your TV with you considering the stations just play Ground Zero commercials half the time.
  
  You look at the time and see that you've slept for most of the morning, but it doesn't matter considering your sister isn't going to pick you up until the afternoon. You just hope that she remembers to come get you period. While your sister isn't as flaky as Julie, she still doesn't have the greatest sense of responsibility.
  
  You also check your phone and see that Bobby's still trying to reach you, but you still don't feel like dealing with him. MAYBE later, right now you want to focus on one major decision at a time and moving out of a place where you've lived your whole life certainly qualifies.
  
  All your stuff is packed and ready to go, and since you can't do much more until your sister gets here, you just wait.
  
  As you continue to wait, you start to get anxious. You start to worry if you're making the right decision or not. You start to pace in your room weighing all the pros and cons of what you're doing.
  
  "Ugh, this is so stressful...I need to calm down..." you say and start unzipping one of your packed bags to get old reliable to relax you.
  
  20 minutes later...
  
  "Hey Suzy?! You down there?" you hear Donna call from upstairs.
  "Huh? Uh what?! Yeah! Hold on!" you exclaim and stop your stress relief session.
  
  As you hurry to get dressed, Donna continues to call down to you.
  
  "I called you know, why didn't you answer?"
  "Uh, I guess I didn't hear it. Sorry about that. Be up in a minute."
  "I thought you were ready. What were you doing? Splittin' the kitten down there?" Donna laughs. You don't answer; you just finish dressing and grab your bags.
  
  When you get upstairs, Donna greets you. She's wearing a shirt that is obviously trying to call attention to her small breasts and pants that are one size too tight to make her ass look like its more filled out, but she's dressed fairly conservative all things considered.
  
  "Were you just taking what's in your bags? Because we could probably put more into the car."
  "Nah, I need to get out of here now. I mean maybe later I could get someone to come get my couch or some of my furniture though."
  "Okay, but really I don't think you'll need to, Julie's got spare beds and such. Plenty of space you know."
  "Yeah I know. Let's get going."
  
  You and Donna leave the house and after throwing your bags in her car you and her are soon on your way.
  
  Along the way Donna puts on some music. She takes mercy on you by not listening to that techno dance crap that you hate so much, but instead listens to the bubble gum pop crap that you hate slightly less.
  
  "So...I found an area of the house where I think you'll be happiest at yesterday." Donna says.
  "Oh? Is it the basement?"
  "Hah, nah. That's being used for other things. I was thinking of Julie's dad's old office on the far left of the house. I mean Julie never uses it, and besides a few people wandering from the main party to have a quickie in there it's never used anymore."
  "Gee, you make it sound so appealing."
  "Well it's either that or one of the upstairs bedrooms and I can't promise you won't be disturbed on regular basis there. At least with the office you can lock it and it's far enough away from the usual party grounds."
  "I guess it's the best I can hope for, thanks I guess for thinking ahead."
  "No problem. You know I'm glad you're coming to live with us. I mean I know you probably don't believe it, but I missed talking with you. Julie's fun and all, but even I get tired from partying ALL the time."
  "Well thanks Donna...hey this is like the twelfth police car I've seen pulled over and cops arresting someone." You say looking out the window.
  "Yeah, I dunno if you've noticed since you tend to hang out in the basement most of the time, but there's been an increase in crime which also means an increase in the cops using that as an excuse to be assholes... like this. Shit!"
  
  Nothing like talking something into existence. A cop car puts on its siren and a bullhorn tells you to pull over. You briefly worry that your sister isn't going to pull over, but she does. Swearing and sighing the whole time.
  
  Doesn't take long before a policeman approaches the vehicle.
  
  "Alright where are you going in such a hurry?" the cop asks.
  "Nowhere. I wasn't even speeding!"
  "Is that right honey? Not according to my radar you weren't. Besides, you ignored a stop sign back there. I think you need to step out of the car."
  "Are you kidding me? There wasn't a stop sign!"
  "Aren't you supposed to ask for her license and registration first?" you add.
  
  The cop suddenly points his finger at the both of you.
  
  "The both of you need to shut the hell up right, before I run you both in for obstruction of justice. Now both of you out of the car now!"
  
  Your sister looks at you like she really wants to just try to turn the car back on and try to drive away, but you both know that wouldn't do any good save for getting yourselves in a whole lot of trouble.
  
  The cop calls over his partner who looks equally uncompromising. He tells him to search you, while he starts searching the car while he puts Donna up against the car and starts patting down Donna.
  
  "Getting a good feel, you bastard?" Donna remarks.
  
  The cop frisking you is slightly better, since you don't get your girl parts molested, but he certainly comes close. He snickers a bit as you tense up from this indignity.
  
  After you and your sister have been frisked. They tell you both to go sit on the curb with your hands locked behind your heads while they search the car.
  
  This is a bad situation anyway since you're obviously dealing with two asshole cops, but who knows what the hell Donna's got in her car which will give them even more of an excuse to march you off to jail.
  
  Speaking of which, Donna whispers to you.
  
  "We need to run."
  "What?" you ask in a whisper.
  "Those two fuckers are going to find something in the car."
  "You're driving with illegal drugs in the car?"
  "Not that much, well at least I don't think I am...hell I'm not even sure, but I can't take that chance! We gotta run!"
  "And where the hell are we gonna go?"
  "I dunno! We could probably still hide at Julie's house."
  "You're joking right? That place is probably the first place they'll look! Shit, Donna! I knew I shouldn't have left the goddamn basement today!"
  "Look...they're pretty involved in searching right now. If we ran we could probably at least lose them until we came up with a better idea."
  
  You get the impression Donna is going to run no matter what and you can't see how that's going to be a good idea in any way. You're also concerned that if she runs and you stay, these two cops will just pin everything on you (whatever that may be).
  
  Still, if she sees that you're determined to stay, maybe she'll keep to her common sense and won't run too.
  
  > Run
  It's really not what you want to do, but if Donna does have drugs in her car like she thinks she does, it's going to be bad for you whether Donna runs or not.
  
  You knew you shouldn't have left the basement!
  
  "Alright, alright, let's do this, but I don't think we should run to Julie's house. I just don't see it being a safe haven." You whisper.
  "Okay, okay, I know where we could run to and hide out for awhile. Got a friend by the name of Tina, she works over at the strip club."
  "Great. Which one?"
  "Kitty City, you know where it is?"
  "Why the hell would I know where a strip club is?"
  "Because we're going to meet up there! If we run, we can't run in the same direction! We'll get caught for sure!"
  "We're probably going to get caught anyway!" you say.
  
  Your voices start to catch the attention of the officers.
  
  "Hey! Quiet down the pair of you...HEY! COME BACK HERE!" one of the officers shouts as Donna runs off!
  
  You're so surprised about her deciding that was the time to start running that you don't even get the opportunity to stand up from the curb before one officer is already chasing Donna and the other has already pulled out his pistol and commanded you to stay put.
  
  You meekly put up your hands and lower your head in an attempt to show you have no intention of running.
  
  "I'm not going anywhere. Don't shoot." You say nervously.
  
  The officer sees that you really aren't a threat puts his gun away, pulls you up roughly by the arm from the curb and throws you into the back of the police car before calling in on his radio about Donna being a runner.
  
  While you're breaking down in tears and worrying about the worst, the officer who threw you into the back of the police car finishes searching Donna's car. Eventually the other officer comes back as well looking a little worn out.
  
  After talking a moment, one of them opens the car door.
  
  "Alright, I didn't find anything in the car, so why the hell did your friend run?"
  "I...I really don't know...officer..." you say.
  "Don't fucking lie to me or this is going to go very badly for you!" the cop warns and its enough to cause you to yelp a little in fear and begin to cry again.
  
  "(sob) My sister...thought you were going to...(sob) find drugs in the car...so she thought it would be better to run. Please I was just driving with her (sob) to find a new place to live! I've never done anything (sob) wrong in my life! I've..."
  "Alright, alright, shut the hell up and stop your crying. Shit. (Sigh) Well what do you think?" the officer asks his partner who is still trying to catch his breath.
  "Did you call in about the bitch running?"
  "Yeah, but I dunno if anyone's going to bother chasing down some junkie whore, since it sounds like everyone's got their hands full especially now that a riot's broke out at the mall. In fact we're supposed to go down there and help."
  "Another fucking riot?! What the fuck is going on in this town? Someone put something in the water?"
  "Seems like it. So what do we do with this one? I mean she's clean and the car's clean so..."
  "(Sigh) I dunno. I could think of a few things, but we probably don't have time for that right now."
  
  The officer that chased Donna looks into the backseat at you. He's being as intimidating as possible and despite him being red in the face and winded it's working.
  
  "All right blondie, this is your lucky day. Due to the rest of this town seemingly losing its goddamn mind right now and the fact that you're clean, we're letting you go. You can take whatever belongings you have in the car, BUT we're still impounding it if only because your junkie sister made me fucking run several blocks trying to catch her ass."
  "Got it. And thank you." You say and start to get out of the car.
  
  Both of the officers help you out...but it isn't out of kindness. The pair of them take the opportunity to grope your chest and your ass as you step out of the car.
  
  "Now I suggest you gather your shit, and take your pretty little ass home." One of the cops says with a leering grin while other laughs.
  
  You really aren't in any position to argue, fight or anything else. You hate the fact you just got molested, but you know that if you give them any sort of lip, they're going to do much worse.
  
  You quickly get your bags out of Donna's car and run away from the scene without looking back. When you're far enough a way, you find some place to sit down and reflect on your situation.
  
  You try to think of the positive first and that's namely things could've been a lot worse you. You have no doubt that those cops would've done more than just feel you up had they been in a less generous mood. So you're glad you didn't get jailed, raped or worse.
  
  But then you think about the negative. First off is your sister who fucking LEFT you there. No hint, no "Now!" no clue at all that she was going to choose that particular time to run. Granted you froze up when it came time to run, but she didn't even look back. You don't exactly have the best opinion of her right now putting you in a situation like that.
  
  Second of all you don't have a new place to live now or at least you aren't where you were going to go. As far as you know the offer to live at Julie's is still open, but it would quite the walk to go there now. A walk that you don't particularly want to do given the day you've had, in fact you'd rather just go back home.
  
  Of course the problem with going back home is you can't stay there so you're going to have to go someplace else eventually. Of course maybe Peter would let you borrow his car, but so far your track record with your siblings this weeks hasn't been great.
  
  > walk to Julie's house
  You might as well continue to Julie's house. Going back home is just prolonging the inevitable. Also if your sister shows up at Julie's, you'd like to give her a piece of your mind about her just ditching you like that.
  
  Your walk to Julie's slowly starts to become a worrisome endeavor. You see several fights along with a number of other officers arresting folks. You also see a couple of bad car accidents. While you try to avoid large groups of people, you're still in the danger zone of what almost seems like chaos on the streets. Those two asshole cops weren't joking when one of them said it seemed like the entire town had lost its mind.
  
  As you quicken your pace to Julie's in an attempt to get through this madness quicker, a large teenager that's running from something runs right into you while he's turning a corner. The pair of you fall on the sidewalk.
  
  You're a little dazed, but before you can even recover the teenager is upon you.
  
  "You stupid fucking bitch! Gimme yo' shit!" he shouts and punches you in the face and then proceeds to attempt to rip your backpack from you, though he's having a hard time seeing as it's firmly strapped to your back.
  
  The teenager gets frustrated and stops trying to rob you and then just seems to be focused on abusing you. You feel several kicks going into your side and then your face. You plead for him to stop and curl up into a ball, but he's not even listening, it's like he's possessed or something because he actually starts laughing.
  
  "There's that motherfucker!" A voice shouts. You don't see who it is due to you being curled up and having your eyes closed wishing you were elsewhere, but you soon feel the weight of several someones stepping and falling all over you. The pursuers of your assailant have caught up to him and you are now unfortunately being crushed in the resulting dogpile.
  
  You desperately attempt to crawl away feeling the pain of several fists, elbows, knees and feet randomly hitting you in the process. You just want to be home.
  
  You manage to crawl out from under the pile and then scramble away as fast as you can only to stumble on your bruised wobbly legs in the middle of the street. It is then where your luck only gets worse when a speeding truck slams into your body which goes flying a few feet in front of the truck only THEN to be run completely over by the same truck which doesn't stop at all.
  
  Your misery is put to an end under the heavy weight of the truck's tires causing the innards from your mangled body to squeeze out like a tube of toothpaste and painting the street red.