Brooks fucking called it. At least they said they did often.

Brooks saw it coming a mile away. They predicted everything down to the letter. They fucking called it.

In their old life Brooks was what might have been called a deranged prepper doomer without any actual plans for their real life. Brooks had a storage full of non-perishables in case they could stay at home, a bag with days of supplies in case they had to leave in a hurry, and knowledge of every bunker and waterway and edible plant around just in case it mattered.

Brooks was not exceptional at the time. Many others were just as determined in their own survival and just as willing to fight for it. They were not the only one who knew their stuff and were not the only one who had the right supplies.

Brooks was only exceptional in one way. That was that it actually worked. Brooks somehow despite it all survived past the end into a new life.

When it all went down they stayed home, stayed safe, bugged in and so did many others. Somehow Brooks was never shot in a supply fight or killed by radiation. When supplies ran low they left the home and knew exactly what stores to raid and what plants to eat and so did so many others. Somehow Brooks never misidentified and never starved. When supplies got better they found a safe place to settle and secure and so did a few others. Somehow Brooks never slipped up.

Brooks survived when so many others didn’t and despite the preparation and effort everyone else put in Brooks insisted that the reason why was because they called it. They saw it in advance, they knew what was coming, just like everyone else. But still they insisted that that was the reason why.

Every other prepper, doomer, lunatic in the area died. They died slower no doubt, but they died nonetheless. Brooks somehow, despite it all, Brooks made it.

They went from empty building to empty building. They spoke aloud to the no one listening. They saw the abandoned shelters, the supply stores, the maps, the bags, the everything needed to survive. And as they went never seeing another soul they insisted that the reason they lived was because they called it.