Love at the End of the World

by Christiana Miller

“You can’t kill them,” Casey whispered harshly. “They’re not bad men.”

  Jo took her eyes off Kyle and Tyler long enough to throw the teenager a glare. “Have you not heard a word I’ve said? You have no idea if they’re bad men or not.”

  “And you have no proof that they are,” she shot back.

  “Jesus, you should be a lawyer when you grow up. Stubborn and argumentative.”

  Just then a rumbling came rushing at them, and Jo jerked her attention to the road that led up to the cabin. So did Kyle and Tyler. They shouted to one another about a gun, but a second later a large four-wheeler came barreling up the road with Luke at its helm.

  Shock doused Jo and her jaw dropped as she watched him slam on the brakes before yanking a rifle from around his chest and taking aim. Where in the hell had he found those treasures?

  Kyle and Tyler threw up their hands, the clothes falling to the ground. Seeing them so unprepared made Jo think Casey had a point. Plus, she’d never seen gang members driving a sensible hybrid.

  “Don’t shoot us!” Kyle cried. “We didn’t know this was confiscated territory!”

  “What are you doing here?” Luke demanded coldly.

  The two men looked at each other. Jo’s grip tightened on her gun, but Casey’s hand landed on top of hers and forced the barrel down.

  “Stop it!” she whispered harshly to Casey.

  “Just listen, Jo. Can’t you see they’re just like us?”

  Exasperated, Jo turned her attention back to Luke, and she had to admit that Luke looked like a dangerous badass compared to the two men he held at gunpoint.

  “I’ll give you until the count of three, and if you don’t start talking, I’ll have to make the decision which one of you is going to die first,” he said.

  “All right,” Kyle said.

  “Don’t you dare, Kyle,” Tyler warned.

  “I don’t want us to die,” Kyle told him. He looked back at Luke. “We’re scouting for a permanent home. This town looked completely deserted, so we figured it might be our best opportunity to find what we’re looking for. We honestly didn’t know it had been claimed. If we had known, we would have moved on. Let us go and we’ll get the hell out of here, and we promise we won’t return.”

  A minute dragged by and Jo waited to see what Luke would do. She would’ve already pulled the trigger and ended what could turn out to be a deadly confrontation. But much to her surprise, Luke lowered his rifle. She cursed his stupidity under her breath and tried to yank her gun back up, but Casey glared at her.

  “Just you two?” Luke asked.

  Kyle hesitated, and Jo’s spidey sense tingled a warning.

  “No,” Kyle admitted.

  “I see,” Luke said. “So how many people do you have needing homes?”

  “Ten families,” Tyler said. “Please. They need us.”

  Luke was silent for a moment, thinking. “Someone told me not to trust anyone in this new world.”

  “And that person was probably right,” Tyler replied stiffly. “But I swear to God I’m telling you the truth. We don’t want trouble.”

  “There are children,” Kyle admitted. Tyler nudged his side hard enough to make him wince. “If you kill us, you might be killing them.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “California,” Tyler replied. “Los Angeles. It’s…bad. We had a massive earthquake not too long ago, not that anyone could help. There was devastation everywhere, up and down the whole coast. We got out just in time.”

  “You and the others?”

  “The others we came across along the way. Survivors, but bone-tired. There’s no place safe, so we decided to head north, hoping to find a place where we could finally live peacefully.”

  “I have a child too,” Luke said softly. Jo wanted to smack him for putting Casey at risk. Again. “I guess we’ve been trying to find the same thing. You took a big risk telling me about your group.”

  “You don’t seem like the awful people we’ve come across a time or two,” Tyler said. “Nothing but lawlessness.”

  “Yeah,” Luke replied. “I saw that firsthand back in Helena. I think… If y’all want to come here and live, well, I think we could have ourselves the beginnings of a new society.”

  Jo couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and his words were a savage blow to her heart. When she was making the decision when to go, she hadn’t quite understood how quickly Luke and Casey had gotten under her skin. Now with his words choosing to stay here, the reality of truly leaving him behind hit her between the eyes.

  Kyle and Tyler looked at each other in confusion before slowly lowering their hands.

  “You’re not going to kill us?” Kyle asked.

  “Do you want me to kill you?” Luke replied.

  “No, no,” Kyle said quickly, shaking his head.

  They stood staring at one another in an awkward moment before Casey abruptly left the safety of the trees to walk toward them. The men, already spooked by Luke’s confrontation, jumped a little at her sudden appearance. Jo ground her teeth together before following the teenager, although she kept her gun down by her side, ready to use it if she needed to.

  “Dad!” Casey ran to her father.

  “I didn’t know you were here,” Luke said. He looked up to pin Jo with a dark glower.

  What’s he mad about? He’s the one who dropped his guard around strangers!

  “I came looking for you,” he told Jo. “Because you were gone.”

  The not-so-subtle censor grated on her nerves.

  “I decided to go scavenging,” she replied, skirting around the two strangers to keep them in her line of sight. “Casey followed. We happened to be inside the house when they came in, and we snuck out.”

  “I thought I heard footsteps,” Kyle muttered.

  “Guess we need to do some talking,” Luke said, and she wasn’t sure if he meant between her and him or about the Kyle and Tyler situation.

  “I would’ve handled this differently,” she said, deciding to go with the obvious. Her gaze swept from the two newbies to Luke and then back again.

  “Not everything has to be handled differently, Jo.” He dismounted the four-wheeler, slinging the rifle over his shoulder, and crooked a finger. “Can I talk to you?”

  “Now?”

  He walked away without looking back. She had half a mind to ignore him, but she wanted to hear what he had to say, so she followed. Only when they were some distance away so they wouldn’t be overheard, but not too far that they couldn’t protect Casey if the need should arise, he stopped and faced her.

  “When I pulled up I saw you in the tree line,” he said. “I knew what you were planning on doing.”

  “I was protecting your daughter.”

  “And I appreciate that, but hell, Jo, if you hadn’t run this morning—”

  “I didn’t run,” she stressed.

  “But you wanted to, didn’t you?” he asked softly. “I wasn’t asleep when you snuck out, like you regretted what had happened.”

  She eyed Kyle and Tyler. “Is this really the right time to talk about this?”

  “Oh hell,” he ground out. “It’s never going to be the right time, is it? Well, fine. Let’s change the subject.”

  “To a more important situation,” she added. “You think you can trust what these men are saying?”

  “I feel like it’s worth a shot. You were right, you know. Society will be rebuilt, so why not start with us? Why not start right now?”

  “Because you’re taking a risk.”

  “Casey and I walked into that haven point in Helena and that turned out to be a big fucking mistake. Maybe it’s time we stopped putting up boarders and start rebuilding. Start trusting people.” He pointed to the open landscape. “There’s potential here, Jo. Land to farm. Animals can graze here. Greenway is off the beaten path, so not many on the interstate would come exploring.”

  “We came exploring,” she pointed out dryly. “We’re not the only ones out
there scavenging for supplies. There aren’t any walls around Greenway like the safe havens have. At any time, we could be ambushed.”

  “That’s why we need numbers,” Luke said. “We can patrol, start up a functioning society with police and teachers. A medical center.”

  He nodded toward her in a motion to remind her of her profession, like she could forget, but she knew what he was asking of her. To stay, be with them as part of this so-called start-up town. End her search and settle down.

  A small part of her brain told her it was an interesting concept, but her rational side warned her that Luke’s suggestion meant she’d have to put her trust into a system she wasn’t sure could work. Put her trust in strangers. In the past, when she did that, she wound up flat on her back in the hospital. But Jo saw the determination in his eyes and realized Luke had already made up his mind.

  “Before you go signing a peace treaty with them, why not have them bring their families,” she suggested. “That will establish trust both ways. See if these are the type of people you want to surround yourself with.”

  He cupped her face with his big palm, and a sliver of desire shot through her body. Their one night together had only wetted her appetite for more.

  She cleared her throat and pulled away, not wanting to show anything to the curious gazes watching them.

  “Where did you find your magic carpet ride?”

  “The four-wheeler? Found it in the garage behind the cabin. Along with the rifle.”

  “Well, let’s go back and extend an invitation to Kyle and Tyler,” she said. “Then I’m going supply hunting.”

  “How about we all go supply hunting together?” he asked, giving a lopsided grin.

  “Sure,” she said. “I can teach Casey how my lock pick works.”

  His saucy, little smile abruptly died.

  Chapter 8

  Later that night, Jo lay half on Luke’s chest, her breasts pressed flat against his hard pecs. She played with the dusting of hair covering his skin while he played with the short strands of her own hair that tickled her ears. The second round of sex had been even more mind-blowing than the previous night, and this time she didn’t have the urge to run away.

  “Can I ask you a question?” he said.

  “Yeah,” she murmured.

  “No kids?”

  She glanced up at him. “Not my choice. Remember when I said I needed help once?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’d gotten pregnant.” As the memories came back, surprisingly they weren’t quite as bitter as they had once been. “The girlfriend of my Baby Daddy objected to the proof of his infidelity and tried to eliminate it. She attacked me with a knife. I not only lost the baby, I lost my ability to have any more.”

  “Jesus,” he whispered. “How old were you?”

  “Sixteen. I told you, I thought I was a badass. Invincible.” She pursed her lips. “I started to develop around age fourteen, and the foster family I was living with had a teenage son who thought I was his personal love toy. They didn’t believe me, but then again, no one ever believes the troubled new girl in the house.”

  “Jesus.”

  She shook her head. “Nope. One foster mother said if I prayed hard enough I’d be saved. I didn’t realize her version of that word differed a lot from mine.”

  “What happened?”

  “I thought I’d find a different Jesus, but it was the same with the leader of the gang. Always promising to have my back and protect me. He assured me I had nothing to fear or worry about. He lied of course. As you know, I ended up as his girlfriend’s shish kabob. It was…the most frightening moment of my life. I thought I was going to die, and I realized I really didn’t want to.”

  He cradled her head and kissed the top of it. “No wonder you don’t trust people when you’ve had nothing but the opposite.”

  She leaned up to stare at him eye to eye. “I don’t need your pity.”

  “You don’t have my pity,” he corrected. “Your sixteen-year-old self has my sympathy. The forty-year-old woman has my respect.”

  She relaxed back down onto his chest. It almost felt good to tell someone what had happened all those years ago. “Can I ask you a question now?”

  “Of course.”

  “You really believe what you said earlier today, about forming a new society?”

  “Yes. Absolutely. The events in Helena only hammered in all too well that constantly running is the least safe place to be.”

  “I…I don’t know if I want to stay, Luke. I’ve been so focused on finding this all-female sanctuary…it’s hard for me to let that go.”

  He sat up, disturbing her relaxed posture. He cupped her face. “You said we have to find a heaven amongst this insanity, and this is it. This is our heaven, Jo. You’re going to give this up for some fantasy place when you don’t even know if it exists or not?”

  God, she wanted to believe him, put her faith in him, and Casey, and what could be. Heaven, here? It seemed like a dream. This place was great, it existed, and the other probably wasn’t there, but there was that little voice in her head telling her not to get her hopes up. Not to trust.

  “We don’t really know each other, Luke. What if—”

  “The world ends?” he asked, interrupting her. “It did, and we found each other. Doesn’t that tell you something? You say I don’t know you, but who you were in the past is gone. That person doesn’t exist, just like the girl who ran with a gang doesn’t exist. Jo—”

  “Josephine.”

  “What?”

  “My name. It’s Josephine.”

  He smiled. “I like it.”

  She shrugged. “My old boss, Heather, said it was too long, so that’s why I go by Jo. Short and sweet, just like me, she used to say.”

  “Well, you are kinda short, but they were way off on the sweet part.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “See? Lemons have nothing on you, babe.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her, sliding his tongue along the seam of her mouth until she opened, allowing him in. The familiar rush of desire every time he touched filled her once again, and she encircled his neck with her arms. He laid back, bringing her on top, and for the rest of the night, neither of them spoke any more.

  * * * *

  Jo hung back, watching the parking lot of the Greenway library with a wary gaze. Several vans, a beat-up camper, and an SUV drove in to the meeting Kyle and Tyler had agreed to the day before.

  She didn’t hold out much hope that any of the people now disembarking from their mode of transportation could be counted on in an emergency situation. Behind Kyle and Tyler’s hybrid stepped out a slightly overweight man and a thin woman, both dressed as if they’d just come off the farm in denim coveralls and flannel. The next couple wasn’t much better, with a skinny dude who looked like he needed some major calories and a woman who towered over him by about six inches. Children came out too, standing by their parents, looking just as distrustful.

  “Thanks for meeting with us,” Luke said. “I’m Luke, and this is my daughter Casey. Back there is Jo.”

  Jo waved. A little girl waved back.

  “This is a nice town,” the farmer said, looking around.

  Luke nodded. “A perfect opportunity to build a lasting society.”

  Several of the people nodded their agreement.

  “We could be strong in numbers,” Luke continued. “I’ve seen the bad in people. In Helena, Casey was attacked by four men within the so-called haven place. Walls don’t protect people, but all of us together, along with finding other good people, we can protect ourselves.”

  “No one else left in this town?” another person asked.

  “Not that we’ve found.” Luke pointed to Jo. “She’s a damn good nurse, and there are bodies in the medical clinic, so I’m assuming there might be bodies in other buildings. Or in homes. We explored many of them yesterday, but not all.”

  “So how would this work?” Farmer asked, crossing his arms
over his chest and lifting his chin. “You wanna be king or something of this place?”

  “Good God, no,” Luke replied. “I’m a mechanic. There’s a large garage at the end of main street, and I’m more than happy opening it back up.”

  Farmer nodded. “I’m a teacher. My name’s Arnold, and this is my wife Mary. She was a teacher as well.”

  Shocked, Jo’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t expected that statement from the burly-looking man. Other people spoke up, giving names and professions, and Jo had to admit there was more diversity than she thought there’d be.

  Then, all of a sudden, a horn sounded. Jo tensed and reached for her gun. Damn it! I knew it! A fucking ambush!

  She ran forward. Her first instinct was to stand with Luke and protect Casey, but as she approached, she noticed that all the newcomers began to scatter, including the children. Confused, she slowed down, and that’s when she heard the low rumbling of engines approaching.

  “Come on, Jo!” Luke yelled, grabbing her hand. He led her and Casey around the side of the library.

  “This is a set-up!” Jo said angrily. “Do you see what I mean? You can’t trust anyone!”

  “I don’t think so,” Luke said, shaking his head. “They could’ve just flat-out killed us.”

  “Look,” Casey said, pointing.

  Tyler and Kyle walked to the middle of the parking lot and waited. Several large pick-up trucks came rolling by, slowed, and then they turned into the parking lot before coming to a stop.

  A man stepped out of the first one, and Jo determined he had to be the leader. For some reason, he reminded her a lot of Aerosmith front man, Steven Tyler. Long hair, goatee, some weird, flowing shirt under a leather vest. The other men who hopped out of their trucks looked like some rejects from a Mad Max movie, taking the whole end of the world to heart.

  “This town has been claimed,” Tyler called out.

  The leader chuckled and looked around. “Is that so?”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said. “Best move on.”

  “Well, you know, that doesn’t quite work for us,” he said. “I see all these vehicles, and I’m guessing you have some women with you. Now, I’ll make a deal. This town looks like a right nice place to hang out in, so…what say you have your small part and we’ll have everything else, including which of your women we want to keep.”