The Earth's End

by Tara Brown

  The information stings but I feel sick for him, not me. I squeeze his hand and offer a small smile. It’s all I have because the memories of the trip from hell are flooding my mind.

  “That’s so cute”—Sasha sighs, batting her lashes—“and you both lived.”

  “Because she saved me on the side of the road. Picked us up on the seventh day.” Mitch laughs bitterly.

  “Tanya drove?” Jamie narrows her gaze, doubtful.

  “I did.” I smirk at her. “And no one died.”

  “Well, she did leave the car in gear when she jumped out of it, almost letting it get away from us.” Jeff winks at me.

  My cheeks flush and I cover my eyes. “Oh my God, I forgot about that.”

  “I’ll never forget it. The sight of Mitch running after you, screaming to get the car, will make me smile for the rest of my life.” Jeff laughs.

  “How did you end up here?” Miles scowls in my direction.

  “Boulder.” I recall the moment I met Liam in the ER with perfect clarity.

  “We were in Boulder too,” Jamie says excitedly. “Like a couple of months ago, not even.”

  “No, we were there in the beginning,” Mitch corrects her. “We went there because some dude on a radio broadcast told us it would be the safe haven. It was weird, like he knew this before the world even ended.”

  “Yeah, they knew.” Miles nods.

  “When we got to Boulder you could tell, it was running way too efficiently for being so early in the war. I knew things were bad when I heard they had some postal service thing going, but really it was the government looking for any bitten who had survived.” Mitch’s eyes flicker to mine. “That’s how we met Liam.”

  “I got Mitch to cut my bite off so they wouldn’t round me up too. At the hospital Liam was there. He scared me, but when it came down to it, he was right. They were going to kill us bitten, though I didn’t have anything special from the bots.” The memory of it all brings a tightness to my back and a tingle in my shoulder where the scar is.

  “So you escaped Boulder with Liam?” Miles asks with a scowl.

  “Yeah. And when he got Dr. Jacquard to look at me, at why the bots didn’t do anything to me, the doctor lied for me. He told Liam I was a freak who had some damage to my electrical system. But Dr. Jacquard started plotting the moment he saw me. He planned on using me to destroy bots. He was trying to come up with a signal to do it when we came here.”

  “You came to the castle, in the beginning?”

  “For a moment,” Mitch answers Erin. “Then Jacquard got us out, hid us at the ranch you found us at. He came the day before you guys arrived, had some new plan. He explained that Lou would kill him, and she would call the bots to her. And she could hold them while Tan killed them.”

  “In private he told me I would die from it. He asked if I was okay with that. After seeing the undead army and the plans the bots had for us, I knew I could do it.” I stare into the crowd of people sitting. “If I could make the world a little safer for Mason, I would.”

  “And now here we are, at the latest in farm-to-table dining.” Jeff laughs.

  “Legit,” Erin agrees, smiling too wide.

  “That is one crazy story,” Miles says, shaking his head. “And what are the odds it would be you and Lou?”

  “I bet it was Lou’s dad all along. Planning for the worst-case scenario.” Mitch grins.

  “Oh my God!” I hit him in the arm. “He would never.” I laugh but I’m alone.

  No one else agrees with me.

  “You guys, Lou’s dad would never do that.” I’m trying to convince them but it’s working the opposite. Their faces make me question everything. “You think?”

  “Anything’s possible,” Miles adds before heads turn toward the front of the room.

  “Showtime,” Jeff jokes.

  Liam walks with poise and grace to the front and stands before us all. If he and Erin had babies, they would be so beautiful they would make the sun jealous of their light.

  “He’s like an elf on Lord of the Rings,” Mitch mutters and I grin.

  “Thank you for coming, and for being,” Liam starts weirdly because, let’s be honest, he’s weird. “I think it’s safe to say we have survived our greatest challenge yet.” He smiles and everyone else does too.

  He doesn’t need the bots to be the pied piper, he’s so hot and convincing, and hot.

  Lou and Lee walk out to the front to stand with him. I see something in her I haven’t noticed before. She’s regal too. In a different way, but regal nonetheless.

  “We have decided that a constitutional democracy is the best way to run this town that is quickly becoming a small city. As more and more people arrive, we will be stretched to our limits. And with human nature back in business”—he pauses and his eyes twinkle with mischief—“we will need to enlist not only societal rules but also ensure the guard is strong and well trained. Fortunately, most of us seem to have retained what we were gifted by the bots as far as information is concerned.” He glimpses at Lou who smirks. “Until we have a proper council, we will continue on as we were. I will remain the king, Queen Lou will stay in her role, and Princess Lee in hers. If any of you have political, philosophical, or historical experience from your previous lives, we are hosting an open house in the round room tomorrow. We welcome all and the council will be made up of diverse and able-bodied people.”

  He pauses again but the mischief is gone from his face.

  “We lost a lot of people in our lives this last year, most of us have no family left except those we have chosen. We understand there is a great need for counselling and grief management and perhaps even some PTSD—” The room erupts in laughter, no doubt everyone agreeing with him. “If you have experience, we are also looking for any help we might get in that arena. If you are new here, the rules are simple: We are an eye-for-eye society out of need. If you break the rules, you will be dealt with hastily. If you hurt someone, be prepared for that same treatment. There is no violence or weapons in the city. And we are honoring the barter and trade system until we have some sort of monetary decisions made. Everyone here works and is treated equally. There is a registration for skills, abilities, and previous professions at the front gates. If you are passionate about something new, what better time to change careers? But no matter what, sign up for something to earn your keep. This city and our survival depend upon it.”

  He steps forward a little more. “On behalf of the guard, the queen, and the princess, I welcome you to our city. We have survived the greatest tragedy this world has ever seen. We are the strongest of our people. I believe we can only go up from here.”

  The room erupts in reverence and glory.

  “And now we feast!” he shouts and they cheer harder.

  Even I have to give it to him, he is good at this.

  He was made for it.

  And he comes across as a bit insane until his eyes meet Lou’s and he loses all that. She makes him smile in a way I doubt he has ever smiled in his whole life.

  Mitch leans in and whispers, “Weirdly enough, I believe him.”

  “Me too.”

  “I’m so sorry for not telling you it was my fault you ended up in Canada.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t tell me.” I laugh. “That was a smart choice. At the time, when I was driving through the stupid mountains, all by myself, lost and starving, I would have been crazy angry with you instead of desperate to find you.”

  “Maybe you would have run me over instead of rescuing me,” he says as he stares into my eyes.

  “We’ll never know.” I lean in and kiss him, and for the first time in one year, I believe the world has a chance. I thought it was over and there was no way a love like this could survive, and I am so grateful to be wrong. So grateful to be in the arms of the weirdest, funniest guy I have ever met.

  Did I lose people, of course.

  But I gained some too.

  33

  A month later

&n
bsp; Liam

  She’s in the window, staring at the grounds, and I know it’s eating her. She’s watching him and it’s eating at me. The guilt prevents her from living fully. She’s moping.

  I’m torn between killing him and making it look like an accident or hiding his body, so she thinks he ran off. The second would ensure she never gets past the guilt so it’s low on my list.

  And while Kyle has become the thing that’s ruining my life, I’m not entirely sure I could kill someone. Not like that. If a single soul threatened Lou’s safety, I could justify a large amount of violence, but cold-blooded murder because she ended a teenaged relationship poorly would be something I’d really have to work up to.

  Being king, I could have someone else do it, but they would never be as efficient as I am, and she would find out it was me. And that is a risk I’d never take.

  Not that I have free time to obsess over this.

  I have incompetent workers who decided to take me at my word on feast day a month ago and are currently trying a different career path. Needless to say, it’s exhausting all the last of autumn to train them adequately.

  I also have a city’s worth of people living in a town and more come every day. We’re building as fast as we can, and the new bodies do help with the workload, but humans are not the same as drones. They require sleep and breaks and full meals.

  At the very top of my list of things not going my way, we don’t have enough winter stores nor the storage places, to provide for live humans. The drones also required less.

  There are days when I see the old way, the way of the nanobot, as better. But then I think on something she once said to me. What if when it came time for us to have children and reproduce, someone who was more compatible with either of us came into town? What if the bots decided we matched this person better and separated us? She stared at me and asked if I had such undying faith in their capabilities to keep us safe, that I would walk away from her or allow her to walk from me.

  The answer was unequivocally no.

  Never.

  Not a chance.

  I would burn the earth and myself with it.

  The last one was a lie.

  There’s a chance I am incapable of hurting myself to that degree.

  She turns and gives me a soft smile. “Did you say something?”

  “No.” I don’t know if I did. I talk to myself aloud a lot.

  “Are you all right?” She walks to me, putting her hand on my arm like she does when she thinks something’s wrong.

  “I’m fine.” It’s a small lie.

  “Have you had any homicidal thoughts today?” She stares into my eyes when she asks it. She’s a human lie detector, even against me.

  “Of course.” No point in lying.

  She cocks an eyebrow. “Tell me who.”

  “I contemplated strangling one of the builders who came in. He was telling me they’re behind schedule. He complained about the crew, some laziness, and them not listening to him. And for two seconds”—I close my eyes and recall it exactly—“I could feel my fingers around his neck, it was meaty too. I would have struggled a little. I wanted to be mid strangle when I told him to learn to exude confidence so his men and women would listen to him. If how he behaved at work was anything similar to what he did when he came into my council room and sniveled like a small child, I don’t blame his workers for being disrespectful.”

  “And then?”

  “And one of the other council members told him that since this was his third time coming and he hadn’t come up with a solution on his own for this problem, he would be transferred to a new crew. There he would work under someone we felt was quite efficient at problem-solving so he could learn some strategies.” Telling the story grates on my nerves.

  “That’s a super smart answer.” She battles a grin.

  “I thought so. I was quite satisfied with how it went. And as he left, the council member who solved it actually appeared to be contemplating strangling him herself. And I realized the man was annoying as hell and my response wasn’t completely irrational.”

  “See.” Her eyes widen and she lets the smile take over her face, lighting it up and melting my bitter heart back to the soggy mess she prefers it to be. “You’re not getting worse.”

  “Well, let’s not church it up too much. Murder is still my first choice as a solution in all things.” I laugh as if I didn’t just say murder.

  “Yeah, I mean that’s not ideal.” She scoffs. “But have you committed or actively plotted someone’s death?”

  “No.” It’s a mistake. I answer too quickly; I’m rushing because I desperately don’t want to have this conversation. Not even with her.

  “Liar,” she outwardly mocks me. “Legit, you have to stop plotting Kyle’s death. Just let me handle it.”

  “I love you,” I change the subject, desperate for this to be over.

  “You’re manipulating me. But I love you too.” She stands on her tiptoes and brushes her lips against mine. Breathing her in is exactly what I need. She is the cure.

  “Do you love me enough to sort out the next three hours of civil matters with the council?”

  “Absolutely not.” She kisses once more and steps back. “We all agree, Tanya and I can never be council, just in case the bots take over again.”

  “Frying all the computers and sabotaging our entire programming system didn’t help that scenario,” I remark, still a little bitter at her for that. “You’ve left us in the dark ages.”

  “Whatever.” She turns and walks to the door. “I’ll see you after, for dinner.” She blows me a kiss and I let myself pretend to feel it land.

  But I don’t go to the council. I’ve excused myself for the afternoon and have another destination in mind. I hurry to the back stairs and rush down them to the kitchens and the back door. As I leave the courtyard and ramparts and pass by the gardens and slop houses, my mind churns. I’m plotting but it’s not my plan.

  It’s advice.

  Hopefully sound advice.

  The brewhouse that I fought against being built, is halfway constructed. It will be a pub and brewery, and everyone is excited. Everyone but me. I can’t help but roll my eyes seeing it, laughing at the image of the townsfolk as hipster microbrewers.

  He’s there when I get close. He’s shouting at someone. He looks different, broader, stronger. At least with this mission to annoy me, he’s not drunk all the time on that noxious moonshine. I didn’t even know Canadians made shine.

  A man bows and Kyle’s head turns. He recoils and stands straight, not offering me any sort of recognition beyond disgust.

  “Kyle, I’d like a word, if you’re able.” I give him the chance to politely decline. It’s not for him. It’s for me. It’s so I can say I tried and he didn’t want to meet me halfway. And then when he vanishes, I have something resembling a clear conscience.

  But he’s an annoying Boy Scout and shouts at his workers, “Be right back.” He jogs to where I am, dripping with disdain. “Didn’t think the king ever left the confines of the castle,” he mocks me. “Surely, you have matters more important than brewery engineering.”

  “Is that your way of ensuring I understand I am not welcome in your brewhouse?” I ask, watching for his reaction.

  “Come all you like, the more the merrier.” That’s a lie.

  “It doesn’t hurt my feelings, Kyle. I’m completely aware of your hatred of me.”

  “Look, Liam. I don’t want to do this. Lou asked me not to do it. She made herself really clear when she chose you and this.” He waves a hand at the castle and town that is slowly stretching out of the ramparts and creeping along the fields to where his brewery is. One day, this will be cheap side, and the streets will be cobbled instead of hay and dirt. “So if you could try to be the bigger man—”

  “Let me rephrase that, I’m counting on you hating me.” That statement makes him stop. He stares at me confused as I finish the thought, “I’m hoping we never create anyth
ing close to a friendship.”

  “Okay.” He scoffs. “Done.”

  “Because I need a favor from you and your particular feelings for me are self-serving.”

  “What? You want me to drop dead?” He laughs.

  “No, the opposite actually.” The request tastes like ash in my mouth but there is no line I wouldn’t cross for her.

  “I’m lost.” He loses the grin and humor.

  “I want you to do something for me, something I can’t ask another person for.” I stall, wishing I could say it and be done but it’s harder than I imagined. “I’ve been having a lot of old feelings come up recently. Being surrounded by people and their problems and human nature has me seeking old solutions.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I was once a guest at an institution for the criminally insane. I had some problems coping with betrayal.”

  “Okay.” His eyes flicker and I suspect he would prefer very much to take a step back.

  “If ever there were to come a time when it’s obvious I no longer have a handle on myself, Mad King Liam so to speak—”

  “Dude. You can’t ask this of me. Don’t you have a friend?”

  “That’s the point. I don’t want a friend to be persuaded into thinking I’m okay again. I’m persuasive. Quite.”

  “Oh I know.” He’s back on board.

  “If you have even a drop of love left for her, you will ensure I have an accident of some sort. I will get sick. Something will go incredibly wrong and I will no longer be with us.”

  “Why? Are you worried that time is close?” It’s smart question.

  “No. If the time were close I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t admit my flaws to you. I would never ask for your help. And most of all, I would never leave her behind for you to have.” I stress the word “never,” hoping he catches my drift. “I love her more than I love anything in the world. And this act right here, is a safeguard to ensure she survives everything, even me.”

  “She has bots, she heals.”

  “And I’m clever and resourceful, and if my problems were to ever come back, evil. Right now I want nothing but for her to have a happy life. With me. But if that changes, and I change, I need you to guarantee me you will take care of her. And me.”