The explosion shook the building they stood on and he reached out to steady McKaye as she tottered too close to the edge for his comfort. The last of the horde turned back toward town. He could see the strange island of boats floating in the distance, safe for now.
“Let’s go,” he said.
She followed him to the edge of the roof, without question, and something about that small act made him happy. She was gutsy. His group could use gutsy. He also hadn’t been attracted to a woman this strongly in too many years. Selfishly, he wanted to convince McKaye to join his group. Wherever she’d been headed, how important could it be when the world was over?
Reece noticed she traveled light, but something told him she wasn’t camped in town. “How did you know about the boats on the river?”
“They’ve been there since the beginning. I assumed they’d still be floating.”
“The beginning?” Maybe he’d misread the situation. “Do you live close by? Are you with a group?”
“I lived here before...before it wasn’t a town anymore. I’m on my own now.”
He nodded. Pain radiated from her words. She didn’t have to say more to tell him everything. She wasn’t the first person to get lost in this new life. Some found themselves again. He had.
“Why did you come back?”
She shrugged. “I guess I needed to be sure my family was really gone. Facing my demons brought them a lot closer to me than I’d planned to find them.”
Her dry chuckle caused him to shake his head. “Well, you managed to stay alive.”
“Thanks to you.”
“You’re welcome.” He pointed toward the warehouse. “Let’s get going. I have people who are waiting for me. Good people.”
Apprehension slid across her expression. “I’m better on my own.”
“Give us a chance.” He paused to let his words sink in. “If you’ve been burned, it wasn’t by us. We’re decent folks.”
She scowled. “There are no decent folks left.”
“Let me prove you wrong.” He held out his hand to her.
McKaye looked at him. She sighed, but then nodded. “Okay.” She accepted his hand, and her smaller fingers were cold as he grasped them. “I hope I won’t regret this.”
“I’ll do my best to ensure you don’t.”
He helped her climb onto a fire escape. Together, they made their way to the ground.
The smell of the river freshened the air. They were downwind of the contaminated. He hurried along, with her close behind, until they reached the warehouse. He saw several bodies that told him his people had fought to get inside.
Max opened the door. “It’s about time!” His eyes narrowed as he looked McKaye over. “She okay?”
“Yeah. She’s not contaminated. She’s with us now.”
Max shrugged. “Good, another set of hands to help us load the truck. We lucked out. The truck fit, and it’s being loaded.”
Reece grinned. Then, doing a very unmanly happy dance, he whooped loud enough the sound echoed in the cavernous warehouse. McKaye’s eyes widened a second before she giggled.
He couldn’t have asked for better luck.
Chapter 5
McKaye helped Reece’s people load the last of the items on the truck. Nella, Reece’s sister, had been friendly, but the other woman, Sabine, was reserved. Max seemed okay, but the younger man was a creeper. His name escaped her, but not his eyes. She wondered how he didn’t trip considering he’d done nothing but eyeball her chest. He kept smiling at her in a way that made her want to take a shower.
He touched her shoulder, and she flinched. “Easy, darlin’. I haven’t seen such a pretty lady in a long time.”
He turned and spat on the floor. The stench of stale sweat and tobacco radiating from him made her wrinkle her nose. If the rest of Reece’s group was like this guy, her instinct to go her own way was right.
“Don’t call me darlin’,” she ordered.
Creeper laughed. “Sugar?”
“No.”
“Honey?”
“How about just my name?”
Laughing, Creeper looked at her in that dirty way that made her feel naked. “Only if you whisper my name.”
She glared at him. “I can’t even remember it.”
His unibrow wrinkled. “You don’t have to be such a bitch.”
She did. She really, really did. McKaye crossed her arms over her chest, glaring.
“James!” Nella barked. “Leave her alone!” She turned to look at McKaye. “Don’t mind him. He’s lost all his social skills since the world ended.”
Creeper—James—rolled his eyes. “What’s the point?”
“The point is, don’t be a perv. There aren’t a lot of women left, but your chances of picking one up with such lame come-on lines is still a big, fat zero.”
He gave Nella the finger, and Nella narrowed her eyes at him.
“Zero,” she reiterated dryly. “Like you. A total zero.”
McKaye had the feeling that if Nella didn’t have Max and Reece nearby James would have done something worse than sneer. The cold hate in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine.
“Everything okay?” Reece came over, glancing between James and his sister.
“Fine. Fine,” James said before he hurried away.
“’El?” Reece’s eyebrow rose.
“He’s just being James.” She turned to look at McKaye. “Obnoxious, but harmless.”
McKaye didn’t say anything, but she didn’t completely agree. She’d met more than one James since the world changed, and they were never harmless. Nella’s kind of overly generous optimism was as dangerous as a loaded gun. All James needed to do was wait to show them his darkest side, and they’ll have shot themselves in the foot by letting him stay. Melody had made that mistake.
McKaye held her breath as she watched Melody face down the men. Six against one. Tim was dead. Emily was dead. Heather was dead. She and Hannah were the only ones left who weren’t standing behind Branden. She had no idea where Hannah had taken cover. McKaye couldn’t help Melody without a weapon. Hiding made her feel like a coward, but she didn’t have any choice.
“Let’s be reasonable. Branden, is this really necessary? Please.”
Branden looked to his side. The stranger who’d shown up last night stood there. They exchanged a look, and the stranger nodded. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger. Melody was dead.
Another man jogged up to Branden. He was a stranger too. “I killed one back there.” He held up Hannah’s pack. “She didn’t have a weapon, but better safe than sorry.”
Branden scowled. “Don’t kill any more women. Jesus! What’ll we do for fun? There’s one more, find her.”
Melody had told her all of Branden’s leering and disgusting comments were empty. She’d said to ignore them because they all needed to stick together. She’d been wrong—dead wrong. McKaye slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from crying as she silently said goodbye to her friend. Melody had been a good woman.
“This is all yours now,” Branden said to his murderous cohorts. “Take what you want, but when you find the other girl I get to go first.”
McKaye waited until the men moved out of sight, and then she ran away from the camp with nothing but the backpack she never took off and the lessons she’d learned.
“Earth to McKaye,” Nella snapped at her.
“Sorry.” She straightened her back. “Just thinking.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Nella grinned. “Well, I hope during your thinking time you decided to come back with us.”
“I’m not sure. Nothing personal, but I feel more comfortable keeping to myself.”
“It doesn’t sound like that was working out very well for you earlier.”
“No. Reece showed up just in time, but I’m not sure about living with another group of people.”
“I’d love having another woman around, and judging by the way my brother was looking at y
ou, he would too.”
McKaye’s face heated. She didn’t look Nella in the eyes.
Nella laughed. “It’s cool. Reece is a good guy. He’s nothing like James. Just give us a chance. The more the merrier, right?”
“You’re sweet, but wrong. Seriously, I’ve seen what guys like James can do. He’s not harmless.”
Nella frowned. “You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”
“Haven’t we all? A decade in this hellscape hasn’t been good for anyone.”
“No kidding.” Nella reached out and touched McKaye’s shoulder. “I’d love it if you came back with us. You can leave anytime you want.”
She glanced over at where Reece and Max were talking. Even with the graying and missing arm the guy was hot. There was something so alive about him that drew her to him. She liked his smile. Turning back to Nella, she nodded.
Nella bounced on the balls of her feet before giving McKaye a quick hug. “Welcome!”
She wished the thought of returning with them didn’t make her throat tighten and her palms sweat. Dread twisted in the pit of her stomach.
Chapter 6
The fire’s warmth seeped into McKaye as she sat on the couch in the cabin. She never thought she’d spend the winter here. Yet, here she sat. This was the safest she’d felt since before the world changed—ended. She could sleep soundly here, but that was a habit she’d have to get out of when she left.
Nella had taught her to knit. She turned her work and began purling a new row on the scarf she was making.
“That’s turning out pretty good.” Nella put her own knitting down. “You’re quiet today.”
McKaye shrugged. “I like it here, but as soon as spring comes I’m leaving. I just don’t know how to tell Reece.”
Nella frowned. “Why do you want to leave? Has something happened?”
“No, but it will. I know this respite has to end. Nothing good can thrive in this world. Something will happen.”
Nella waved her hand in the air. “Oh, don’t be so fatalistic. I told you everything would be okay, and it is. What more do we need to do to prove we aren’t all wolves planning on eating you? Thirty-two people live here, work together, take turns watching the fence to protect against the sick or scavengers. We survive—together—so we can have some kind of normal.”
Sighing, McKaye took a measured, slow breath before she spoke. “I’ve tried to explain this to you. It’s not you. It’s not your group. It’s that even after all this time I don’t see this as my group. I refuse to trust anyone—any group. You’re great. Reece is great. But I need to find a place where I feel safe.”
“Talk to Reece. Please. If you don’t feel safe, maybe others don’t. We want our community to thrive. We need to understand your feelings so that the next person who comes will want to join us for good, not just for the winter.”
“I get it.” McKaye nodded. “I do. I’ll talk to him, but there isn’t anything you or anyone else is doing wrong. It’s me. I’m broken.”
“There’s no such thing as a broken person, just a little bent. We can help you get straightened out if you just give us some more time. Early on I felt like I was lost, and if it hadn’t been for my brother, I might have become someone different, someone I wouldn’t like. Don’t leave, we’re still human.”
McKaye sat there, struggling to find the words to explain that was the problem, and tried not to cry. She wanted to be part of humanity again, but she was afraid. She could be happy here, but it would break her heart when that happiness ended. All good things came to an end, and in this world, that happened sooner rather than later.
Nella stood up. “I’m going to the canteen. Need anything?”
“No. I’m good.”
Nodding, Nella grabbed her coat off the hook as she slid her feet into her boots. McKaye went back to her knitting and tried to forget how short her remaining time there actually was.
* * * *
Reece looked up to see his sister entering the canteen, the main gathering building and supply hub that the community shared.
“You busy?” Nella asked.
“No. What’s up?” Reece set his notebook down. He’d been going over inventory. Come spring they needed to restock a lot, but they’d still have a few more months before stock went critical. “You okay?” She was scowling.
“No.”
“Why?”
“It’s McKaye. She still wants to leave in the spring.”
Reece rubbed his bearded jaw. “You guys fighting?”
“No. That’s the thing, we get along great. Honestly. It’s fun. I really like her. How do we convince her to stay?”
“I wish I knew.”
“I know, but I doubt you’ll listen.” Nella’s cheeks grew pink.
Reece’s eyebrow hiked up. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like your idea.”
“You’ll like it, you both will. I can’t believe I’m suggesting this. It’s not really sisterly, but I think you should sleep with her.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I think two should just stop dancing around your attraction. When you’re in the room together everyone knows how you both feel—everyone but you guys.”
Reece rubbed the back of his neck. He wouldn’t look his sister in the eyes. “I’m not a whole man anymore. She’s young and—”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Nella snapped. “You’re more man than most. She doesn’t care that you’re older, or that you lost an arm. She’s more mature than women twice her age. Make a move and give her a reason to stay, or she’ll go. Well, that’s all I’m going to say about it. Put down that I’m taking some toothpaste and a bag of popcorn.”
He picked up the notebook and adjusted the numbers. “Got it.”
Nella chuckled. He glanced up at her. “I know you got this.”
She grabbed her items and left before he could gather enough of his wits to find a rebuttal. His sister wasn’t the type to meddle in his love life. Her saying something was a real wake-up call.
* * * *
There was a knock at the door, and McKaye sat her knitting down. Nella still wasn’t back. McKaye stood up and peeked outside through the side window. Reece stood on the porch.
She opened the door. “Hey. Nella isn’t home.”
“I came to see you,” Reece sat his backpack down and hung up his coat. “I—I need to be honest with you.”
McKaye’s brows drew together and her lips pursed. “So, you aren’t normally honest?”
“I haven’t told you how I feel. Call it a lie of omission.”
Her breath caught as Reece shut the door.
He put his arm around her, and she let him. When he pulled her close she didn’t protest. His lips descended, and her eyes fluttered closed. He smelled fresh, like the cold air outside with a hint of some masculine soap. His kiss tasted like the cinnamon candy he liked. She sighed. This was what she’d imagined kissing him would be like. His tongue danced against hers, and they moved together as naturally as if they’d kissed a thousand times.
When he pulled back she fought the quick flash of loss and disappointment.
“I want to take you to bed,” he said.
She liked that he was direct, but her heart beat faster. She paused, just long enough to consider if she was ready for this evolution between them. “Okay.”
His slow smile made butterflies flutter in her stomach. He nodded. “Okay.”
He kicked off his boots, and she took his hand, leading him to her room.
Chapter 7
Reece’s mouth grew dry, and his breath hitched. He needed her to want him as badly as he wanted her. He cupped her cheek before sliding his hand behind her head, cradling her. The tenderness that coursed through him stole his breath for a second. She blinked up. Her eyes widened.
He gazed deeply into her eyes. “I’ll make this good for you.”
“Are you sure about this? Reece—”
“It’s the end of the world. If I’m going to die, I want
to do it without the regret of never having had you in my bed.”
McKaye rolled her eyes, but he could see she was amused. “Wow, what a romantic. When you put it that way, how can I say no?”
She pressed her lips to his. Her small hands flattened against his chest. They were cold. The sensation heightened his desire. He deepened the kiss, holding her tighter with his arm.
When she pulled back he experienced a flash of loss.
“Reece.” His name sounded like a sigh as she whispered it against his lips.
He opened his eyes to watch her expression. In the old world he would have called her plain, but after getting to know her in this world, he saw her beauty. She had kindness and strength, a rare combination now. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lower lip, and the sight intensified his arousal. If she said no now, it would hurt, but he’d let her go. He had to be sure before this went any farther.
“I want you. I want to stay with you tonight. Let me make love to you. Promise me you’ll think about staying with us. You don’t have to go.”
McKaye bit her lip. “I can’t stay.”
He scowled. “Why?”
She brushed hair out of his eyes. “I won’t get tangled up with another group. People can hurt me too, not just the sicks. I can’t lose anyone else, and I don’t think I could stand another betrayal.”
“I’ll protect you, and I’d never do anything to hurt you. McKaye, you have no idea how I feel about you.”
“And whose fault is that? I—I’ll have sex with you, but I won’t make any promises.” She looked away.
Reece tilted her head up to face him. “I’ll make you a promise. I won’t hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you. You have my word. I won’t expect anything from you until I’ve proven you can trust me...us. These people are my family. I want them to be your family too.”
He claimed her lips again. Desire flamed to life between them. He set her on her feet.
Love at the End of the World Page 15
