text: My neighbor and his family weren’t the sort of people I would ordinarily get to know. They are conservative Christians with an interest in guns and ‘survival’. Now let me state for the record that I’m neither opposed to guns, personal farming, or any type of religion (when practiced in moderation) but most individuals I know with those fixations, are deep into them. DEEP. To the point they often come across as ‘cult like’ to me. Sure, I was always ‘friendly’ and waved big when they drove by, but that was just my personal strategy. I figured it was much better to be on their ‘good’ side, than to be on their ‘bad’ side. Know what I mean? During the viral outbreak, everyone in our tiny community was already on edge. It didn’t take much more to push certain ‘agitated folks’ with apocalyptic views (like my ‘prepper’ neighbors) into believing ‘the end was near’. Once hoarding started of ordinary commodities, it triggered a fierce survival instinct in them which frankly, they’d been preparing for, for many, many years. In truth, there really were a few isolated pockets of crime occurring nearby; as our local society broke into panic and riots. A few unstable people jumped the shark and looted stores or robbed their neighbors (as if zombies had just risen from the dead). Meanwhile, the real-world mortality rate for those infected with the virus was only about 1%. The common cold, cancer, vehicle accidents, heart attacks, and a half-dozen other common ailments took more lives and yet it didn’t make the local news. It was the definition of overreaction and hysterical madness. The irony was that despite the circumstances not even being close to justifying real chaos, the exaggerated panic circulating around was rapidly edging us closer to the real thing. A loud knock on my front door jolted me awake. I don’t normally sleep in my recliner but then again, hearing shouting up the road at 1 AM wasn’t ‘normal’ either. It didn’t matter that the circumstances didn’t merit an actual apocalypse. No one told the panicked rednecks up the street so I had to adjust my way of thinking to match theirs. To my relief, it was my aforementioned neighbor. Frank looked absolutely triggered. He was clearly waiting for ‘the end’ to come. In his hand was a very intimidating military-style rifle. Luckily he wasn’t pointing it at me but I still didn’t feel safe with it so prominent in my view. Before I could ask what was going on, he stepped aggressively onto my threshold. I took an immediate step backward, yielding the floor in submission. “It’s finally going down.”; Frank deadpanned. The grave look in his bloodshot eyes spoke volumes. He didn’t have to explain. It was clear what he meant. I asked if he and his family were ‘ok’. He grimaced and nodded somberly. A look of relief crept over his face at my sincere question. I obviously exhibited some behavior which made him feel better about approaching me. I suppose that was because I’d asked about their well-being. It was proof to him that I wasn’t out to burn down their home and pick them off, one-by-one, as they ran screaming out the door. Besides being way outside my ability (or intentions), I only owned a small handgun. I think because they were hardcore doomsday preppers; they assumed everyone else was just like them. “We’ll need to band together to survive this thing.”; He began in earnest. The whites of his eyes were prominent. “I’ve been monitoring the police bands. Widespread looting and attacks are escalating rapidly in town. Things have fully collapsed. It’s only a matter of time before one of those greedy bastards comes to our dead-end road and tries to seize our munitions and supplies. You’ve always been friendly with us so I wanted to approach you about combining forces.” I started to try to get him to relax but he was clearly too wound up. There was no evidence the handful of local crimes were anything more than just a few isolated incidents. The problem was, Frank wasn’t going to be ‘calmed’. He was all ‘puffed up’. He was ‘vigilant’. The man was ready for a fierce battle and wouldn’t appreciate me trying to downplay his ‘apocalypse’ as mostly imagined, or one-sided. Not at all. I elected to play along for the sake of humoring him. After all, the AR-15 over his shoulder looked like it meant business. In the event of a pseudo apocalypse, it’s best to agree completely with the heavily armed guy in your doorway. “Frank, buddy. I’m here for you and your family. If things get rough, I’ll be right there beside you, ok?” That was as vaguely supportive (while not being contractually committal), as I could be. It seemed to reassure him. The rigid posture he manifested like an on-duty green beret, loosed ever-so-slightly. He ‘suggested’ I grab “all of my firearms” and ammo; and immediately join his family at ‘their compound’. I could tell that he wasn’t going to respond well to any hesitancy on my part. I just nodded and grabbed my never-used 9mm and two boxes of bullets. At his house, the family looked like they were already prepared for an all-out-war. His wife sized me up. I could tell she was against bringing me over. Their college aged daughters were dressed in battle fatigues and full military garb. I wanted to run away in terror at this surreal experience but it felt safer to be on that side of ‘the fortress’, than outside of it, viewed as an enemy. The latent sounds of gunfire in the distance snapped them into action. To be honest, it triggered me too. Up until that point I thought they were nuts to assume a societal collapse over a small, local uprising but it was hard to ignore rapid gunfire at 2AM. Frank’s family lined up like a well-oiled machine at the ‘command center’. They’d already boarded up their windows and barricaded both doors. Witnessing their assembled arsenal of weaponry, I had to wonder why anyone would be foolish enough to try to break in. My home was an infinitely easier target. Sensing my thoughts, Frank offered; “It’s well known by certain people in town that we are exceptionally ‘well stocked’. That puts a big target on our backs by savages who would try to take our things or our lives. Our mistake was not being more ‘low key’ during our previous supply runs.” I nodded appreciatively. Under the rapidly developing circumstances, I felt very lucky to be taken in by them. I had way less to offer our haphazard ‘apocalyptic’ partnership than I would stand to benefit. That being the case, it seemed prudent for me to keep my big mouth shut, lest they suddenly realize all of my strategic shortcomings. Apparently Frank had perimeter sensors around his property. When one of them suddenly went off, a spotlight lit up the entire area in blaring light. One of his daughters fired off a half dozen rounds at the intruder. He didn’t get back up. ‘It’ had begun. You would think having perimeter sensors and triggered spotlights would’ve been enough to discourage any sane person but it just seemed to appeal to their misguided sense of pride. Frank’s place was a real ‘challenge’. The thieves were apparently spurned on by the potential bragging rights and the massive spoils of their armada. They shot out the bulbs to effect a deep-cover of darkness. What the intruders didn’t count on, where Frank’s hidden infrared and heat-sensing modules buried in the yard. That led to three more bodies lying dead on the grass. I had to hand it to him, when the shit hit the proverbial fan, they were absolutely, positively prepared. How ironic it was that (if I’d known about all their detection gadgets on the property) I would’ve thought he and his family needed mental help. Now I was seeing how wrong I was. Their home was taking heavy sniper fire from the foothills behind the house. They had a number of protected gun turrets for a standoff. Frank himself took aim at the latest source of conflict while I stood ready to reload for him. It was something I could do to help during the tense crisis. Using night-vision goggles, he managed to triangulate the source of the shooter and pinned him down. It was amazing to watch him in action! With that shooter out of the picture, I assumed we’d finally have some peace but again, I was wrong. The individuals intent of seizing Frank’s huge stash doubled-down on their efforts. Maybe they were angry at having so many personal losses that they felt like they had to avenge their fallen partners. Whatever the reason, a cavalry of four rapidly charged the front gate. Both Frank’s daughters and his wife were ready and waiting. Two fell immediately. Another was grazed by a shot but must’ve been wearing body armor or something. He limped over to a makeshift shield in the yard to take refuge. What the intruder didn’t realize, was that they had left the barrier there as a decoy. Buried slightly in the ground under it was an explosive charge. He was blown to pieces. The fourth guy had enough and turned to run. In what could only described as being swept up by the hyper-intense passion of battle, I grabbed up one of their rifles and fired at him. To my great disbelief, I dropped him at 35 yards! Suddenly I too was a killer but if he’d made it inside, I would’ve been in his crosshairs. Up until that point I was a peaceful man but it was ‘kill or be killed’. Frank patted me on the back and told me I’d done the right thing. “The guy would’ve come back eventually for revenge.”; He consoled. Now I was ‘one of them’. Would the total routing of this band of apocalyptic marauders bring reinforcements, or did we get them all? None of us knew. We had to stay fully alert. Frank had been awake for more than 36 hours prepping. He was in danger of passing out. As a good commander, he knew when he needed to turn over command. He and his wife took the first shift sleeping while both daughters and I stood watch. They eyed the security monitors while I reloaded weapons and familiarized myself with their considerable arsenal. It was a long night but thankfully we didn’t have further attacks until several days later. We successfully weathered them too. Teamwork was key. What we didn’t realize was that simultaneously across the world, nearly identical localized battles were taking place for control and dominance. What started out as a regional overreaction triggered panic and a global domino effect. The pseudo apocalypse became a real one. Governments collapsed. Law and order became a thing of the past. Every journey begins with a single step. Not that it mattered but the fall of civilization possibly started at my neighbor’s house. At least Frank’s family came to accept me. I took his eldest daughter to be my wife once she turned 22. I’m a quick learner but she’s still the superior shot. Our children will be the first generation to grow up in the post American world.