Love at the End of the World Read online

  The haven point, which had once been the bustling city of Helena, Montana, suffered the quaint charm of the area lost under the desperation of a panicked population. Like many cities, the remaining people had created a sanctuary to allow disease-free people into a place with vendors and apartments, although wanting a relatively secure night’s sleep would be an astronomically high fee. Within a few months of the virus outbreak, cities had been picked clean. Once the virus began to spread and people started to die, all sense of civility went right out the door. It was like people had been waiting for the go-ahead to loot and commit all types of atrocities, and it didn’t take them very long to make skeletons out of the once-thriving economy.

  As the girl meandered along the vendors, she did so without seeming to notice any of the surroundings. When she neared a section where the vendors broke near a small pathway that led to a darkened set of apartments, the men finally pounced. Before the girl could scream, they had her. The leader increased his pace and placed his hand over her mouth. As he wrapped an arm around her waist, he picked her up and the four of them disappeared down the alley. If Jo hadn’t seen it, no one would ever miss the young, blonde teenager.

  Bending down, she slid her .22 caliber handgun out of her leg holster and made sure it was ready to go before following the kidnappers. The alley amplified the girl’s puny attempts to free herself, and a few grunts from her abductor suggested she wasn’t as helpless as Jo had assumed.

  “Bitch!”

  “No, don’t hit her!” another man said. “Don’t mark her pretty face.”

  “Get me something to tie her hands with, because the cunt just scraped me with her nails.”

  Using their distraction to her benefit, Jo silently walked up behind one man and calmly fired her gun into his back. Her .22 might be an ineffectual gun to most, but she knew exactly where to place the bullets to inflict maximum damage. Once the man went down, she quickly aimed at the next man and fired. He fell with a thud, dead before he hit the ground. The third man backed up and began to fumble around in his pockets, she assumed to find his own weapon, but Jo took advantage of his shock and fired directly into his head. Then she brought her gun around to the leader, but didn’t pull the trigger since the girl was between them.

  “Let her go,” Jo ordered, pitching her voice low to maintain her cover.

  “You fucking crazy bastard! You killed them so you could have her?”

  “I killed them because they were fucking assholes, just like you. Let. The girl. Go.”

  The leader spit in her direction. Jo wanted very much to kill him too, but she couldn’t chance it with the girl being used as a body shield.

  “The only one who might’ve been able to help you was that first guy, but the bullet I put in his spinal cord more than likely paralyzed him,” she explained calmly. “Or he’s dead. In any case, you’re alone, and you can’t get a weapon as long as you hold on to her. So what’re you going to do, hotshot?”

  They stared at one another. The lighting in the alley wasn’t great, but she could still see the fear that crossed over his face, and it amused her, knowing this man who outweighed her by a good sixty or seventy pounds could be scared of her. Then he gave a sort of roar-slash-snarl, and with a mighty shove, pushed the teenager toward her. The younger girl crashed into her, and before Jo could get a clear line of sight, the man was gone. All that was left were his footfalls running rapidly away.

  “Oh my God!” the young girl cried. “Thank you! Thank you!”

  Annoyed, Jo pushed her away. “Stupid teenager.”

  “He…he was g-going to rape me.”

  “I know,” Jo muttered. “And you’ve done nothing to protect yourself.”

  The girl blinked. “But...but…”

  “But what?” Jo demanded. “This isn’t a beauty contest. You don’t get points for being the prettiest apocalyptic survivor. Cut the blonde hair and get some clothes that don’t scream look at my tits.”

  Suddenly, another noise came echoing through the alley, a roar of rage that caused Jo to push the teenager behind her as she raised her gun, bracing herself. A man came skidding to a halt.

  “Wait!” the teenager cried and put her hand on Jo’s arm to push the gun barrel down.

  The new man looked at the three dead men first before concentrating on Jo, and he raised a baseball bat like he was getting ready for a game.

  “She’s mine,” the man said coldly.

  “She’s a child.”

  “She’s my child!”

  Jo blinked. “Seriously? You’re her dad?”

  “Yes!”

  “Hey,” she said, addressing the teenager. “Is he telling the truth? He’s your father?”

  “Y-yes,” she replied.

  Jo suspiciously eyed the man again. “Do you want to go back with him?”

  “Yes.”

  Jo lowered her gun and stepped aside. The teenager rushed forward and threw herself into the man’s arms. Dad bent his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath as he hugged his daughter. Jo couldn’t help but admire the man’s muscles as they bunched under his shirt, although it annoyed her that she noticed.

  “And where the fuck were you?” Jo demanded, shaking off the momentary lapse of concentration.

  The man raised his head and glared at her. “Pardon me?”

  “If you’re her dad, where the fuck were you when these assholes latched onto the idea of kidnapping her? Do you even know what they had planned for her?”

  “I can make a pretty disgusting conclusion,” he muttered.

  “She’s a priceless commodity,” Jo continued, pointing to the teenager. “These bastards knew she was disease-free, so don’t fool yourself into thinking she’s safe behind these walls.”

  “Look, thank you for protecting her, but you don’t know anything about us.”

  “You’re right, I don’t know anything about you two, but I do know what it means to survive. Turn her from your daughter into your son, if you really want to protect her.”

  Jo shook her head and started to march past him to leave the alley, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her. It was the first time in a long time that a man had touched her, and instinct had her trying to pull away, but the small spark of electricity when their skin met confused her so she stopped her struggle.

  Instead, she glared at him. “Let go of me.”

  The man stared at her, hard, and when their gazes met, butterflies fluttered in her belly. “You’re a woman,” he finally said, surprised.

  “You don’t have to sound so shocked.”

  “I’m not. I mean…you’re a pretty good aim…” His voice trailed off, as if he knew exactly how sexist his words were.

  Jo was quite aware of how she looked. She’d cut her once-long hair off and deliberately kept her face a little dirty to disguise her rounded features. His disbelief was warranted, but instead of pissing her off his unease amused her.

  “I’m a pretty good aim…for a female?”

  “It sounded better in my head.”

  “I’m sure it did.”

  “My name is Luke,” the man said. “And this is my daughter Casey.”

  “I’m Jo.”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy,” Casey blubbered through tears. “I didn’t mean any of it!”

  Casey’s shaky voice jolted Jo, and she took the opportunity to pull her arm out of Luke’s grasp, stepping far enough back so he couldn’t touch her again. Despite herself, she was curious about Casey’s words, so she waited for Luke to explain.

  “We had an argument,” Luke said over Casey’s head. “She said she wished it had been me who died instead of her mother.”

  “Ouch,” Jo said, wincing.

  “I didn’t mean it!” Casey wailed.

  “Keep your voice down,” Jo said. “Sorry to hear about your mom, Casey, but this new world sucks and girls like you are worth a lot of money, so try to put the teenage angst behind you in order to survive this fucked-up world. ’Kay?”

  Ca
sey nodded.

  Jo turned to the dad. “Now, the chance of someone not hearing those gunshots are about zero to nil, so I suggest you skedaddle and forget about—”

  Before she finished what she was saying, the sound of another gunshot ripped through the alley. Luke gasped and grabbed his side, stumbling forward into her and trapping Casey between them. As a shrill whistle pealed through the night, Jo instinctively raised her gun and fired, causing the whistle to abruptly end, followed by the dull thud of a body hitting the ground hard. For a split second, Jo couldn’t believe she just killed one of the haven guards.

  “Fuck!” Jo cried. She placed her arms around Luke, helping him stay on his feet. “That was a guard. I just killed a fucking guard! Shit! Come on, we have to go. Casey, help your dad on the other side.”

  “What are we going to do?” Casey asked in a wobbly voice. “He needs medical help.”

  “Well, we just fucked ourselves getting help here,” Jo replied. “Guards are judge, jury, and executioners, so we gotta get the hell out.”

  “How?” Luke asked, wincing with every step.

  “I’ve got a plan,” Jo said. “Just don’t pass out on us until we get out of here.”

  Chapter 2

  As quickly as they could manage, Jo led them down the alley until they reached the next street over. Already she could hear the shrill whistles blasting through the whole area, letting the entire center know to mobilize for action. Time was of the utmost importance.

  Several times they had to wait in the darkness to let sentries pass by, but eventually they came to a stop at a warehouse door. Using her elbow, Jo busted the glass then reached inside to unlock the door. They shuffled inside, wasting no time to traverse the neatly stacked merchandise to the back of the building where a set of stairs led to the second floor.

  “Can you go up them?” Jo asked.

  Luke gave a terse nod, holding his side. Blood coated his hand, and she knew he had to be in a lot of pain. He took stoicism to a whole new level.

  “We’re almost safe.”

  She ran up the stairs, letting Casey help her father, and went right into the small, corner bathroom where the window faced the outside perimeter of the haven. Jo reached into her pocket and took out her butterfly knife, swishing it open to help pop out the window frame. Setting it on the floor, she reached behind the dusty toilet tank and took out a rolled ladder, hooking it on the windowsill and tossing it so it unfurled to the ground.

  “How did you know that was here?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” she said. “Escape first, explanations second.”

  “We’ve got a camper,” Luke said, causing her to pause.

  “What?”

  “Not too far from here. You can come with us.”

  She thought quickly. The most important thing was putting distance between them and the guards, and then getting Luke patched up. She heard herself agreeing despite her rule of never trusting strangers. “Okay. Once we get to the ground tell me where to go.”

  One by one they used the ladder. Since the rungs were held together by rope, they tended to move a lot. Once they were on the ground, Luke led the way, even though he moved slow. They kept to the shadows and Jo positioned herself behind Luke just in case the blood loss was too much and he keeled over.

  About fifteen minutes later, he pointed to an area behind a half-burned house, and Jo noticed a parked RV, obscured in the darkness. Luke tried pulling out a set of keys from his pocket, but he was half-slumped over and it was clear he was losing the battle to stay conscious, so Jo reached into his pocket and pulled out a single key, hurrying to open the camper.

  Luke hefted himself inside, collapsing into a seat. Casey followed and knelt beside him, leaving Jo to close and secure the door. Immediately, she dumped her backpack onto the table, searching through the items until she found her med kit.

  “I need light, and I need to see that wound,” she said.

  Casey rose and went to a cabinet to pull out a flashlight. She turned it on and held the beam down low, illuminating the area without blinding anyone. It was the first time Jo had gotten a good look at Luke. Gray peppered his brown hair, hanging a tad too long around his ears and on his collar. Pain bracketed the sides of his light eyes.

  “Can you stand to pull down your pants?” Jo asked him.

  He nodded. She helped him up, trying to ignore his low groan of pain as she proceeded to unzip his jeans and ease them down his hips. It was the first clear look Jo had of the wound, and she was relieved to see it was a through-and-through.

  “Looks like nothing is damaged too bad,” she murmured. “I can stitch you up. Luckily, I have some antibiotics and pain pills if you need them. Not allergic to penicillin, are you?”

  “No,” he muttered.

  “Good.” She turned to Casey. “I need towels and any alcohol you have. The sterilizing kind, not the drinking kind.”

  She nodded and turned toward the back of the camper. A few minutes later, she returned, arms loaded with towels and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol clutched in one hand.

  “Perfect,” Jo said. She looked at Luke. “This is going to hurt.”

  “It fucking hurts now.”

  “If you’re going to faint or throw up, let me know.”

  He glared at her.

  “Casey, you’re going to be my assistant,” she said to the teenager. “I’m going to need you to mop up the blood.”

  “I don’t know if I can do that,” the girl whispered.

  “I know it’s hard seeing your dad like this,” Jo said soothingly, “but I’ve got no one else to help me. Okay? Just focus on getting your dad better.”

  Slowly, Casey nodded.

  Taking a deep breath, Jo grabbed the alcohol and poured a little on her hands. Then she opened her med kit and took out a suture packet. The sterile thread had a curved needle attached, so Jo used one of her instrument clamps to pull it out, then she knelt at Luke’s feet and looked up at him.

  “You ready?”

  “Do it,” he rasped.

  When the needle went through his skin, he groaned but held still. Wanting this over as quickly as possible, Jo sewed the hole closed. Blood poured over her hands, making them slippery, but she’d dealt with the viscous serum before. Casey helped mop up the extra blood, and a few minutes later, the front side was done. Swaying, Luke turned around, and he placed a hand on the wall to help stay steady. Keeping herself focused on the task, Jo quickly closed the back entrance, which was a little trickier since the edges of skin were a bit more ragged at the exit point.

  “Done,” she said.

  Luke took the towel from his daughter, holding it to his side, and collapsed back into the chair.

  “Fuck,” he muttered. “Remind me never to get shot again.”

  Jo rose and went to the sink to wash her hands. Drops of blood scattered around the surface, and she looked at Casey. “He needs pressure bandages on each side. Do you think you can do that?”

  The girl, looking a little queasy, nodded.

  “Clean him up, then coat the stitches with antibiotic ointment. It’s somewhere in that stuff I dumped out of my backpack. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Casey responded in a faint voice.

  It was clear the girl found the task nauseating, and Jo felt strangely proud of her. If nothing else, perhaps she would remember patching her father up and know acting up wasn’t an option nowadays. It sucked, because she just lost any semblance of a childhood, and for that Jo sympathized with her. Once upon a time, she’d had to grow up fast too.

  Jo dried her hands and reached for two pill bottles from the backpack pile still on the table. She held them out to Casey.

  “The penicillin he’ll need to take three times a day. The pain pill is just as needed, and he probably needs it now.”

  Casey took them and glanced at the labels. “All right.”

  Jo looked at Luke, who watched her through half-closed eyes. Sweat beaded on his brow, and he breathed in jerky littl
e draws. “I’m going to drive and get us out of here. It’s best we put some distance between us and this place.”

  He grunted his agreement.

  She patted his knee consolingly and headed to the front of the camper. She slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, took a deep breath, and shifted the vehicle into drive. It hit her in that moment that she was about to drive off into the unknown with people she barely knew. Then again, she was a stranger to them as well, so she supposed trust went both ways.

  Chapter 3

  Easing out of the city that had once been Helena, Jo drove west. Obscure lights flickered through the darkened countryside, no doubt from people who had generators and thus still had electricity, and she wondered how long those people would last. If there was one thing she’d learned through her travels, it was that there were far more assholes left in the world than decent folks. Having a beacon shining through the night was asking for a big heap of trouble.

  Luke and his daughter might just be the last bit of good people she’d be likely to meet.

  At some point Casey must have fallen asleep, because all movement in the back ceased. Montana was known as Big Sky Country, an apt name for the long stretches of absolutely nothing. Boredom set in quickly, the monotonous sound of tires rolling over the paved road not helping, and it wasn’t long until fatigue followed. The adrenaline that had spiked through her veins earlier deserted her, leaving her struggling to stay awake. Her eyes wanted to close, so she began to hit her thigh hard enough with a fist so the painful jolt would refocus her attention.

  An hour later Jo couldn’t take any more and figured they had to be in the clear of anyone trying to follow them. She began to look for a place to park the camper for the night, and soon she saw a median overgrown with tall grass and trees.