She had no idea how she’d survived it, but she was glad she had.
Feeling desperate to cling to the life she’d once known, she looked at the pictures Peaches had kept in her bedroom. There was a picture of her from years ago on her wedding day, looking beautiful and poised in a perfect white gown. There were pictures of her from more recently with friends on a girl’s holiday, drinking cocktails. There was one of her and her husband, smiling widely at one another, unaware of the fear that would await them in the future. Aby felt tears sting her eyes. All those people in the photos would never know how Peaches died. Even her husband had abandoned ship. Aby felt sick at the thought of him changing his mind and returning home to find her, but finding out she was gone. Left alone outside that awful house, lying dead on the floor in a pool of her own blood.
There was nothing you could do, there was nothing you could do, there was nothing you could do...
Aby squeezed her eyes shut, but it didn’t stop the tears from coming. They came hot and fast down her grimy cheeks. She looked down at her hands and realized she still had blood caked into the cracks in her skin, under her nails and up to her wrists. She could hear Tex’s laughter in the back of her mind. She was trembling uncontrollably. She felt like she’d never be clean again. She felt like she’d always be stuck in the memory of what happened to her and Peaches in that house. She couldn’t stop crying and she stopped trying to stem the flow. For a long time, she just wept, filling the silence of the house.
When she stopped again, the house was deadly silent. She took several deep breaths. She hadn’t cried like that in a very long time, if ever. All of the emotions she’d kept inside her to help her survive her ordeal had come flooding out. Now, she felt a little better. Or at least, she felt like she could keep going in life. She felt like she could start anew.
She sat up in the bed, her mind whirring. She had to survive. She saw that now. There was no other option. Not many people could survive what she went through, and she almost didn’t make it. But she was alive, and that had to mean something. She had to still have some purpose on this earth. Maybe she was still meant to find Jake. Maybe things were just going to get better. She didn’t imagine that they could get worse, but then again, she’d thought that before.
She just had to rebuild herself. She had to be more resilient, less caring, sharper and more alert. She had to switch off her emotions and focus on survival. She couldn’t get attached to someone like Peaches again. It was too dangerous. The only person she wanted any attachment to ever again was Jake. He was the only one that mattered now.
She wondered if he was lying awake thinking of her too. She wondered if he’d suffered without her the way she had without him. She hoped not. She didn’t want him to go through the things she had. She hoped that he and Megan had found a way to survive. She hoped that they hadn’t gone too far astray. Because she’d made her decision. Once she was healed, she was heading out there to find them.
The thought terrified her. She felt relatively safe in her house now. She had supplies and a base to protect her from people outside. She had weapons that would scare away anyone who tried to mess with her. But it wasn’t worth having without Jake and Megan there. What was the point in living just to be alone for the rest of her life? Recent days had shown her how easily life could be snatched away from you. It had shown her that she might not have as many days as she had hoped. But whatever happened, she wanted her final days to be with the people she cared about.
She would have to face the open road. She would probably have to go on foot, since the truck was running out of fuel. She’d have to face anything she came across alone. But it had to be worth it. If she could push away her fear for a while, then she was determined that she could do what she set out to do.
But first, she had to rest. She had to get better. She knew she’d never heal from the traumas that she experienced, and her hand would always be in disrepair. She knew that if she made it back to Jake, he might not even recognize the person it had made her into. She was cold inside and hardened to the world around her. She was a different person than she had been before she got into Tex’s car. But she hoped he’d still know how to love her. She hoped he could still find a place in his heart for her.
Because he was her only reason left to live.
Twenty-Four
Megan
There was blood. A lot of it. Megan gasped in horror and tried to talk Jake into waking up, but he passed out almost as soon as the bullet hit him. Megan looked around her in fear. She didn’t like her odds if Jake was out of action. The man had claimed to have a family inside the house. What if there were more of them, ready to pounce and kill her?
She forced herself to leave Jake behind for a moment and she rushed inside the house, stepping over the bloodied corpse of the house owner. She quickly searched the house, looking for signs of life, but it was quickly evident to her the man had lived alone. The house was untidy and smelt of a man who was used to living on his own, drinking a lot of beer in front of the TV and mourning his long gone wife who left him for a better man. It was a relief to find that he was the only one, but now, she still had to make sure Jake survived his wound.
She rushed back out to him. The bullet had made it clean through his arm, which she was glad of. She didn’t want to go digging around under his skin to try and get it out. She still had no idea what to do for someone with a bullet wound, except stop the bleeding. She ran back inside to look for a first aid kit and found one in the kitchen. Coming back out with antiseptic and bandages, she got to work on Jake’s arm.
By the time she’d stemmed the blood flow and cleaned the wound, Jake was beginning to wake up. He groaned in pain as he tried to sit up, but she shook her head at him.
“You need to stay still for me. I’m going to lift your arm above your head. I’ve heard that stops you bleeding out too fast.”
Jake choked out a laugh. “So I’ll die slower?”
“You’re not going to die,” Megan said firmly, lifting his arm up and holding it there as he groaned in pain. “I won’t let that happen. We still have to find Aby.”
“What if she’s gone?” Jake said, his voice cracking. “Just let me go, Megan.”
She didn’t even bother to respond. She knew that Jake didn’t really want to die. He might think he did, but he’d regret even thinking that once he was better. Megan made the decision there and then. They’d stay in the house until he was better. She’d look after the both of them, keep them fed and watered. She’d bury the bodies in the yard to avoid suspicion from the neighbors, and she’d defend the property with her life. They’d spent too long on the open road. They needed somewhere to be safe.
It took great effort for Megan to take Jake inside the house. Megan couldn’t manage to take him upstairs so she laid him down on the couch and tucked him up in blankets. He passed out again, but Megan watched him carefully and he seemed like he was going to be okay. His breathing was steady as he slept, and though his pulse was fast, he didn’t seem to be losing too much blood from his arm. She was no expert, but she thought maybe he would heal.
Megan felt restless as she waited for Jake to wake up, so she set to work around the house, trying to keep herself distracted. She dragged the bodies in the yard out of sight, even though her head was swimming and her body ached. She cleaned blood from her face as best as she could and ate a small meal from the tins in the cupboard of the house. She gathered all of the weapons from the bodies in the yard and stored them under the sink. Even holding a gun now felt dangerous after what had happened to Jake.
Megan felt anxious when she ran out of tasks to do and so she explored the house for a while. It was a nice suburban property, the kind she always dreamed of having some day with the man of her dreams. Now, she was stuck in this place with Jake, not knowing if they’d survive another day. They were battered and bruised, and the saddest part was that she was used to it. She was used to living in terror of violence. But some of that terror was gone
now. They’d survived things that most humans would never have to endure. If that didn’t make her strong, she didn’t know what did.
She wished Aby could see her now. She’d grown so much in the past few days. The last time she’d been with Aby, she’d felt bitter and small next to her, always feeling overlooked by her and Jake. But if Aby could see her now, would she see a hero? Would she see the woman who kept her fiance alive, always digging him out of trouble because he was spiralling without her?
Megan sighed as she went to check on Jake. He was restless in his sleep, muttering something under his breath. Megan thought he might be asking for something so she leant close to listen to him. But he wasn’t asking for Megan.
He was muttering Aby’s name.
Megan couldn’t help smiling at that. She had to admit that their love for one another was sweet, if troublesome. They were a kind of all or nothing couple. They gave everything to one another. Not for the first time, Megan felt envious. She deserved something like that. But she guessed that the apocalypse wasn’t exactly the best time to be looking for a man...especially when half of them were abusive assholes who wanted to hurt her.
How many times had a man tried to kill her since she left Pittsburgh? She’d lost count. She didn’t trust men for the most part anyway, but even less so now. No, she was better off alone. Men like Jake who loved their partner so much were rare. Megan only seemed to attract the men who were incapable of good. They disguised themselves as nice guys for a while, but they always turned out nasty. That was the last thing that Megan needed now.
No, she was better off just her. She had enough problems to deal with without a man adding to them. It was lonely, but she had Jake. She watched him, her heart racing. She was terrified that he could just die at any minute and leave her on her own. He was trouble, but he was all she had. And for as long as they were searching for Aby, they had a direction to move in, a purpose in life. If they could find her, Jake might go back to the way he was. He might recover emotionally as well as physically.
But it was looking less and less likely. The further they strayed, the less likely it seemed that they’d find one another again. What if Jake’s mental health only got worse and worse? What if he wanted to take his own life for real? Megan shivered. She didn’t think she could forgive herself if he did that while she was supposed to be taking care of him. She had to help him through this whole thing, no matter what they were faced with.
It was going to be tough. His heartache would only get worse. His injuries were bad. He might never have full use of his arm again if the bullet wound didn’t heal properly. They would face a million challenges before they found any kind of peace. But Megan wanted to keep fighting. She felt like her life had never really had a chance to get started. She hadn’t felt the happiness that so many people got to experience. Now that all of this had happened, it was going to be harder to find anyway, but she wanted to try. Maybe they could make a life for themselves in that house in the suburbs. Maybe they could have a simple kind of existence, but a happy one. That’s all she needed. They were good people. Surely they at least deserved a life free of any more pain?
Megan was weary, but she knew sleep wouldn’t come easily to her. Besides, with Jake out of action, she needed to protect the house. She positioned herself by the window, a pistol in her hand as she looked out for trouble. It wasn’t easy to imagine that they might be safe for a while. Trouble followed them wherever they went. But the night was quiet and still. Megan felt herself relax a little. The gang was clearly long gone. The neighbors hadn’t come to investigate the gunshots they must’ve heard. Megan guessed that they were simply keeping themselves to themselves. Megan thought she’d like to live that way. She didn’t need any more trouble.
Her eyes began to sag a little with sleepiness, but she fought against it. She was in for a long night. She shook her head to herself in disbelief. If someone had told her a few weeks earlier that she’d be in the middle of the apocalypse, protecting herself with a gun in her hand, she would’ve laughed in their face. But Megan wasn’t the same person she’d been back then. She wasn’t the same person who followed her abusive ex around like a lost puppy, accepting that he was a bad person, but never leaving him. She wasn’t the same shy woman who didn’t know how to stand up for herself. She was a fighter. She was a force to be reckoned with.
She was a survivor.
She looked over her shoulder at Jake, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully now. He was so battered that barely an inch of his skin was left unbruised. His breathing was rasp, still clogged up with smoke from the house fire. Megan watched him with interest. She had once thought that he was better than her because of his strength, but oh, how the tables had turned. He had prided himself on being prepared for his new world, but how could he be? He had lived a sheltered, easy life. He’d never been in a fight or had a partner trying to beat on him. He had a good life before all of this. Now, he wasn’t prepared for the way life could pull you apart slowly or all at once.
Megan had experienced both. Her ex had slowly unravelled her into a sobbing mess every day of her life. This new world had shattered all of her expectations and broken her all over again. But if there was one thing Megan knew, it was how to get back on her feet. She had never found an easy path, so she was used to the grit of the dirt road. She had always known that life wouldn’t be easy for her, but instead of collapsing into tears now, she was going to fight harder. Now, she’d never let this world get the better of her again. Now, she’d survive no matter what.
For the first time in a long time, Megan closed her eyes and prayed. She didn’t really know who she was praying to, but she was hoping that someone might hear her.
“Please let Jake get better,” she murmured quietly. “Please let us survive this. Please show us strength and get us to the other side. I’m not ready to die. I don’t want to give up yet.”
There was a long silence. Of course, no one was hearing her. There was no one out there. She was on her own. But that was okay. She’d made it this far.
She’d make it all the way.
Want more Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Adventures? Read my mentor Ryan Westfield’s excellent book Getting Out, part of an 8 book series. Get your copy here!
Do you have what it takes to survive?
The EMP hits. The lights go out and silence roars. Society is on the brink of violent chaos. The only way to survive is to get out, away from the cities and into the wilderness.
Max is an office worker with some gear and a plan. He's one of the first to realize the unspoken dangers. A few years ago, he inherited an old farmhouse. His plan is to get to it as fast as possible and bunker down. He thinks he's ready, but he quickly discovers that there's more to surviving than just having the right gear.
Mandy is a waitress with the day off work. What seems like a normal power outage quickly turns terrifying. Her peaceful town is no longer the home she once knew. She's offered a way out, but can she put her trust in a perfect stranger?
Georgia is a single mother who just wants to keep her two teenage kids safe. She drives a pickup and loves hunting. She has skills that could keep her family alive, but is she ready to make life or death decisions in the blink of an eye?
Do Max, Mandy, and Georgia have what it takes to overcome the unexpected? After all, even the best-laid plans can come up short.
Getting Out is book 1 of The EMP, a post-apocalyptic survival thriller series. It deals with real people fighting for their survival every inch of the way. Read Getting Out Now!
Twenty-Five
Getting Out by Ryan Westfield Preview
Max sat in his cubicle with his chair pointed to the window. He’d been staring outside for the last twenty minutes, unable to concentrate on his work. On the best days, the work seemed pointless. On the worst, it was a nightmare.
It was supposed to be a good job, decent pay, good benefits. He had a real “career,” unlike some of his friends, who were still working odd jobs here and there.
If his parents had been alive, they would have been proud of him.
But it wasn’t what he wanted to do. The problem? He didn’t know what he wanted to do. He only knew that things didn’t feel right. Something was wrong with the world, and Max already knew that it wasn’t going to get any better.
“Psst, Max,” whispered Jeremy, his cubicle neighbor.
“Huh?” said Max, waking up from his little daydream.
“You’ve been staring out the window for like forever, man,” said Jeremy. “Big Tom is going to come around soon, you know.”
“Screw Big Tom,” said Max. Big Tom was the boss, a guy with a much bigger gut than a heart. Max figured him for some kind of sadist who’d happened to get into the line of work that allowed him to pursue his true passion—torturing his employees with meaningless reports and “metrics,” whatever the hell those were.
“What’s that?” said Big Tom, moving slowly into view, blocking Max’s view of the window.
“Shit,” muttered Jeremy nervously. He immediately hunched back over his desk and started working furiously on some meaningless project.
“Hi, Tom,” said Max calmly. He wasn’t in the mood today to really give a shit about any of this. Maybe he should just quit, and head up to the old farmhouse that his dad had left him when he’d passed away. Max had been meaning to head up there and check the place out for a while. The old house hadn’t been used in years, but Max had been toying with the fantasy of creating a homestead there. The only problem? He didn’t know much about homesteading, having grown up in the suburbs away from real nature.
“I heard what you said,” hissed Big Tom, leaning down towards Max, bracing his hands on his khaki-covered knees.
The End of the World Series | Book 3 | Survive The Destruction Page 14
