The End?

In Science Fiction II, we are watching 28 Days Later, which is about the end of civilization (at least in Britain) from a zombie apocalypse via a rage virus that spreads and infects the bulk of the population).  Then I saw a new trailer on iTunes Movie Trailers for a film called Aftermath, with the tag line, "The only thing worse than the end is what comes after."

As I watch these films and recall all the other end movies I've seen (probably the earlier one I can recall was the controversial (for the time anyway) The Day After, which aired in 1983 about a nuclear holocaust.

What all of these films never address is this simple question: what if people actually helped each other and were able to work together?

Oh yeah, I know why.  There wouldn't be any of these apocalyptic films!

I wonder what actual history has to say on this subject.  The Great Depression was pretty horrific, but it wasn't the end of America.  The fall of the Roman empire was terrible too, yet societies are still here.  The Dark Ages?  Same thing.

I would just like to see an apocalyptic film that actually differed from the traditional idea of survival after the end of the world (whether that be aliens, disease, technology, zombies, vampires, werewolves, a meteor, and so on) is worse than the actual threat to our existence.