Bandits. Forest fires. Cannibals. Material shortages. Family problems.

Why had Clayton Sanders expected these issues and others like them to be absent from life at the end of the modern world? It had sounded good anyway. His plan had been simple: dig in, hunker down, and wait it out. He knew that society would go through a "reset" period before things settled down. He knew people would suffer during that time, but also knew he couldn't stop it. He couldn't help the world around him but he could try and keep his family and closest friends safe. Maintain at least a semblance of normalcy for them.

And then his family had gotten involved.

First it was his parents insisting that they show everyone the Sanders had working vehicles and extra food by taking supplies to the church in Jordan to "donate." This had resulted in a fight for that same vehicle and a near battle just to get away.

Then his niece had gone charging into Peabody to "rescue" her friend, only to be caught herself and necessitate a rescue mission for her that he still partially regretted as it had cost the life of his best friend “Big Bear” John Barnes. Then Leon, Clay's irascible grandfather, decided they needed to build a town of sorts and gather good people with skills they needed to occupy it. Now, the people Leon brought are beginning to want to do things differently, his parents have yet to learn their lesson about letting other people know that the Sanders were better prepared than average for the disaster that had beset the Earth, and on top of everything else who shows up? Tax collectors.

Maybe things haven't changed so much after all. Now he has to defend his family farm from an old enemy of his father and prevent him and his army of miscreants from taking the very things Clay and the others need to survive. All in a day's work here at the end of the modern world, right? With the dig-in-and-hunker-down plan now truly shot to hell, Clay and his friends are going to have to face some rough odds in defending their family and home. Fortunately, this isn't the first time they've faced such a thing. Their enemies don't have a clue what kind of firestorm they're about to ignite.