The Junction is a post-apocalyptic short story developed as part of my Honours thesis in Creative Writing. Set in Western Australia’s Gascoyne Junction, the story explores how a small survivor community negotiates evolving internal and external social contracts—including uneasy ties with a neighbouring cannibalist group. The creative work is accompanied by an academic exegesis examining community, power, and the social contract in apocalyptic narratives, drawing on Hugh Howey’s Silo series and social contract theory.