by Benham, Tara
At Night’s End
A novel
Tara L Benham
Benham Books, LLC
Copyright © 2015
Copyright © Cover Design
TaraLynn Photography
At Night’s End
Copyright © 2015 Benham Books, LLC
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, or events is entirely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording, - without the prior written permission of the author.
ISBN - 13: 978-1517046958
ISBN - 10: 1517046955
This book is dedicated to:
All of my friends and family that have dealt with me for the past three years while I wrote this book.
To my mom and dad for always encouraging me to do my heart’s desire and for believing in me even if I am a “weird kid”.
To Peggy Noe, my editor (if there are still errors blame me not her). Thank you for dealing with me and helping me with making the corrections.
To Leah, Yvonne and Cathi thank you all for the never ending support and the hours of listening to be rant, rave, plot and explode ADD-ness of nonsense from the book and all future books. You have no idea how much fun I had sharing this with you all.
To those reading this now, thank you the most. I can write all day, but without you reading it wouldn’t do much good, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Please enjoy! God Bless!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 1
"Darcy! McCaid! Are you two ready yet? We don't want to be late!" Dad yelled from the bottom of the stairs in the foyer where he was waiting for us. My dad only followed a schedule when it involved one of my or my sister Darcy’s events, so it was funny that he was the one warning us we were going to be late. He enjoyed our time together, including watching us train for martial arts. Since Dad ran his own business, and usually worked from the house, he rarely followed a schedule at all. You would think that I would be better with organization with the full schedule my dad had my sister and I on, but I think I’m not organized because of that. Messiness was my rebellion. My room was always a total disaster; even with all the fun gadgets that I have, thanks to my best friend, Ever. Ever was always in the know about the newest technology available. This was definitely something that she had in common with Dad. My newest gadget was my rotating shoe mount that has all my shoes categorized by color and type. All of them, except the one pair that I was looking for that I needed for class. I have a large room, with a large bed that had been pushed up against the wall, a couch, a walk in closet, a huge standalone full length mirror, and clothes everywhere. I can never find anything in this room. I was rushing to find my shoes that had somehow ended up underneath my bed in the very back. I was completely underneath my bed, except for my feet when I heard the undeniable stomping approach of my little sister.
"Did you hear what Dad's new project is?" With the whine that was in Darcy’s voice as she asked the question, I knew whatever it was I would totally be laughing about it later when I told Ever. Ever lived with us most of the time, and Darcy is my little sister. Darcy is 3 years younger than me, and does not always deal with Dad as well as Ever and I. She was not amused at all about how dad has been "prepping" all of us for some mass catastrophic event or the end of the world. She was still young when the whole Mayan world apocalypse thing was expected to occur ten years ago, and wasn't old enough to understand that everyone was absolutely certain that the Zombie Apocalypse would happen eventually. With the wars and all the new bio warfare that I had read were being created by the countries, the people had been scared of what might happen, or so I’ve learned from the studies I have had to do, I could grasp it a little more than she did. These studies were not from my history classes in school though, oh no, they were all a part of Dad's preparation for us. Since I was the oldest I was further along in the studies than Darcy. Not that I believed any of it, but I could see how with the way Dad grew up and the way losing my mother affected him, that he would feel the need to prepare us. Dad was a planner and because he couldn’t save mom, he had a plan to do everything he thought he needed to in order to save his daughters.
"What's up now Darce?" I asked as I made my journey back out from the black hole that was beneath my bed. It was always a danger to get under there, and with all the obstacles it generally was even more dangerous coming back out. I was agile because of my training but in confined spaces such as I was in now, even my agility wasn’t going to help me.
"He's planning on building a moat around the house for added protection in case of some imaginary end of world mass hysteria event. A MOAT!!! Caidee" Darcy was not pleased at all by this idea. I could hear it in her voice even though I wasn't looking at her face. Darcy’s voice always sounded higher and more nasally when she was upset. This news and the intensity in her voice made me start to back out quicker, which in turn caused me to hit my head on the bottom of the bed. I yelped out a snicker and backed out with shoes in hand.
"It is NOT funny Caidee; seriously I will be the lamest person in school for sure now." Darcy was the only person ever allowed to call me "Caidee" and that was only because she's called me that since she was a baby. I prefer "McCaid" or "Caid", but I don't try to change it because she's had so much to deal with since she was little that I allow her to continue to call me by "Caidee". Darcy has dark blond hair, large green eyes, a cute turned up nose, and dimples that are on both cheeks when she smiles. She looks like a young version of mom from the pictures I have seen. Darcy was always more worried about what others thought about her, us, our dad and the craziness that our life consists of now. I adjusted fairly quickly but I had the help of Ever, who can make any situation seem less than crazy.
"Did Dad tell you this" I raised an eyebrow as I rubbed the spot where I hit my head, "or is this another one of Denver's rumors?" Denver was Darcy's snarky best friend and a pain in my side. She's the reason that Darcy feels ashamed of our dad sometimes. Ever and I both got endless enjoyment from harassing the two of them whenever possible.
Darcy just rolled her eyes at me. My sister had eye rolling down to an art; she was the quintessential teenager when it came to all the cliché habits. I told Ever that Darcy had no hope of ever having a thought that was her own. I love my sister, but she liked to be a follower of Denver, and the “in crowd”. Darcy felt she had to try extra hard to be popular and fit in because of the way
our dad was, and how most of the town viewed him. Ever used to try to stand up for Darcy and say it was because she was young and impressionable, but she gave that up a few years ago after seeing how Denver could convince Darcy to do just about anything.
"Dad did. I know you don't like Denver, Caidee, but she doesn’t know yet, and seriously I would die if she found out about this. Besides, she doesn’t come up with stuff. She tells me what she hears from her Dad.” Denver’s dad was the mayor of the town, and her uncle ran the main construction business in the town. Her uncle is the one that usually helps my dad with his projects, so it was totally possible that this was the truth.
“Quit twirling your hair, it’ll will kink up and get tangled.” I pulled her hand away from her hair. My mom used to do the same thing whenever she was anxious or upset. When Mom died, I was eight and Darcy was only five so she doesn't remember what Mom was like before she got sick. In fact, Darcy doesn't remember her much at all, so I like to make sure to tell her she is much more like Mom than Dad, which always seems to make her feel better. Mom and Dad were complete opposites, but Dad didn’t become this eccentric and set on prepping for different disasters until after my mom’s death. Darcy is a lot like Mom, but she is also a lot like Dad used to be. I tried to tell her that before, but she didn’t believe that Dad would have ever been concerned about his appearance or his standing in society. Mom was always the livelier of our parents, but Dad had a spark in him before my mom got sick. Cancer was one thing that could take the spark out of anyone. Before the sickness we were a normal family of four, upper middle class, living in a town house near our grandparents. Mom loved to laugh and always wore her light brown hair in a ponytail. She stayed at home with us to take care of us, and Dad worked at a pharmacy lab creating new medications. Mom started getting sick when I was seven years old, she was just fatigued at first, and then she started getting headaches. Dad made her go see a doctor. He was with her when the diagnosis came. Dad relied on my grandparents to care for her during the day while he spent it trying to come up with a cure. At night he would come home, send Grams and Gramps to their home, and then at night, it would just be us four as a family. Dad never gave up hope even after Mom made peace with the realization that nothing was going to make her better. She began making books and journals for me and Darcy, and I helped her with some when Grams was busy. I was just 8 though, and some things she didn’t want me to help her with because she wanted some things to be a surprise. I do remember her always telling me to stick with Dad when things got tough because even at his worst, he would know what to do. I remember all the good and the bad, but I try to only remind Darcy of the good.
"Darce, I know you're upset,” I pointed at her as she started twirling her hair again, “but before you freak out let's talk to Dad and see what he means by a moat." I made the air quotes around "a moat" which made Darcy giggle and she seemed to calm down a little. Air quotes were something I had done since we were little when Dad would come up with something new. When Darcy was small she thought that the quotes were wings, but we never knew why or what even made them funny, but now it’s an inside joke that I used to help decrease Darcy's anxiety about Dad's new ideas. Ever has even began to use the air quotes to lighten the mood when necessary and she doesn’t understand why it’s funny either. Dad just assumes it’s a sister thing and smiles, which generally makes Darcy laugh even harder. Dad sums up everything that he doesn’t understand as a sister thing.
"Seriously you two if you don't hurry up…I’m ready to kick some butt, so get down here and let's go" This time it was Ever's voice beckoning us from the first floor. We looked at each other, grinned and then ran toward the stairs. We almost fell on top of each other as we skidded to a stop after seeing Ever's newest get-up. Ever was known for thinking outside of the fashion box. This afternoon she had on shiny, bright canary yellow sneakers, zebra print leggings, brilliant blue running shorts, a tie-dyed sports bra, and to top it all off, her beautiful long curly red hair was pulled into a high side pony tail. I couldn't get down the steps quick enough and had to fight Darcy to go down first. The amusement on Dad's face was obvious, he loved Ever as much as we did. Every time she returned from visiting her mom, she had new outfits and get ups to show off for us. Her crazy fashion sense was one of the many things that I loved about my best friend.
"OH EV!!! I love it", I laughingly compliment her as I run to her to check out the outfit. Hugging her, I notice Darcy about to snap a picture of us, I'm sure to post online, so being our natural silly selves we pose.
My dad just takes all of it in stride, smiling at the fun being had with the teenage girls he was surrounded by. My dad's an awesome dad, odd or not, and this was one fact that even Darcy wouldn't deny. We are all piling into Dad's SUV when I decide to broach the subject of the moat with Dad. I know that Ever will love to hear all of it, and Darcy will appreciate that Denver won't hear anything about it since she always meets us at the training center. Yes, my little sister's stuck up brat of a best friend does martial arts with us as well. We asked her once why she participated in the martial arts and she said it helped keep her fit, increased her agility for cheerleading, and because she was not going to be left out of our group training.
Ever and I think that she secretly is afraid that the apocalypse will happen and she won't live if she doesn’t have the training. Whenever we discuss these possibilities, it ends with us playing a scenario game where we put Denver in embarrassing situations from which we have to save her. Even thinking about the different scenarios makes me crack a smile, which is noticed by Dad who looks at me quizzically. I don't see how Darcy could love Denver so much, but other than making fun of our Dad’s quirks, she is a good friend to Darcy.
“So, Dad," I tried to sound somewhat nonchalant, "what's this whole moat thing about." I used the air quotes again which sent Darcy into a fit of giggles and caused Ever's eyebrows to shoot up to her hairline in a very comical way. When I looked at Ever, she mouthed "moat" and I nodded. Her response was a huge ear to ear grin. Ever probably enjoyed Dad the most out of the three of us, and sometimes would spend hours with him helping plan out new training ideas, safety procedures, and sometimes she even gave him ideas of things he needs to do to the house or property to protect us. I'm actually surprised she didn't already know about the moat, or that she wasn't the one to actually suggest it. So with the introduction of the possibility of a moat, I knew she was dying to hear all of these details so she could start the planning with him. She had been sitting in the back, but managed to squeeze herself into the middle turning her body in order to face towards Dad.
"Oh yes, Dad. Please do tell us about this moat you want to build." There was humor in Ever's voice as she asked for further explanation. Ever has called our father, "Dad" for as long as I could remember. She has lived with us on and off for the last five years. Ever’s mother was more interested in partying than in parenting, and was only home on the rare occasions that it suited her. Ever would visit her during these times, and would come home with new clothes as a sign that her mother “loved” her. Ever would prefer to stay with us all the time, but Dad told her she should visit her mom when possible. I think it was in part because of our mom dying and he wanted Ever to have a mom whenever she could.
Dad chuckled at Ever’s excitement, then let out a sigh that meant that while he would explain the whole thing, it was not up for debate. As I waited, I watched Dad think about what he should say. Dad always makes this intense face when he is deep in thought, his brows furrowed, and his bottom lip kind of puckers. According to Ever this is the same face I make, when I'm upset, thinking or trying to not laugh about something. Dad had started getting gray on his sideburns, which was really striking against his jet black hair. To be such a geek, my dad is a handsome man. He has never remarried or dated since Mom died, even though he had his share of women trying to get him on a date. Darcy and I think that it's more for the money than because of Dad. Not, that Dad isn't a catch, but he's not really soci
al with people outside of our group, so these women can't really know him that well. I asked him once when I was thirteen why he didn't date, but Dad just shrugged and simply stated "I'm happy".
As much as Darcy resembled mom, I look like Dad. I have his jet black hair, grey eyes that are big and round, a heart shaped face with high cheek bones, and full lips. Ever is forever telling me that I am ridiculously pretty like the super models on TV. I always laugh it off, telling her she was just being a good best friend, to which she always scoffs a "whatever" at me. If I am as beautiful as she thought, I totally didn't get to reap any of the benefits from it. At seventeen, I have never had a boyfriend or even had a guy act interested in me. Besides, Dad has a strict dating rule of “no boyfriends until you're eighteen". Ever said it was because they were intimidated by me, but I don’t know if I believe her. My brain was racing through all these thoughts as I was watching Dad's face trying to see how we looked similar, when he started talking.
"Caid, Darcy, Ever" Dad knew how much she enjoyed being included in family discussions, "I am going to dig a trench around the perimeter of the property about thirty acres from the house, but it won't be a moat unless necessary. It's going to be about ten feet wide, and ten feet deep. I have plans so that it can fill with water in just a matter of minutes. I know you all think I'm paranoid, but I'm just making sure you girls are safe and protected if anything should ever happen. Just wait, one day you'll thank me for all this." Sometimes, when Dad talked like this, it made me think he knew something that we didn't. He hardly ever said when the "apocalypse" happens; usually it was "if something" happened. Dad decided he needed to prepare for the end of the world, after the death of my mother. He was full of life, happily married and had two children when all the talk was going on about how the Mayans predicted the end of the world, but he wasn't worried then, or so he says, it wasn't until she died that he got serious about the training and prepping. My dad is a scientist who had come up with the cure for cancer that he sold to the CDC, which allowed us to buy our house and have the money to do all these crazy preparations. Dad sold our house in town, and bought an old white colonial home that sat on eighty acres of land, fifty of those were forested and completely surrounded the house and the other thirty, except for a long drive way that led to our house. The trees and amount of property were the initial selling points, because as he put it "they provide perfect blocking from the outside world." In the past ten years, he has signed me and Darcy up for MMA training, built an underground living area that was stocked with enough supplies to allow a small army to survive for years, made a free standing air purification system, which the government also bought the rights to and providing us with even more money. We also have a self-contained well that will allow safe water with no chance of contamination, and irrigation system for our five acre "garden". The well is fed from an artificial stream, and has a purification system that is used constantly. One teacher comes once a week to teach us canning techniques and one retired Master Sergeant from the Army who teaches us how to shoot just about any weapon imaginable. My Dad has created an armory that would make any gun collector salivate just to think about, let alone see. There are seriously enough weapons and ammunition that we could defend ourselves from any attack. I think Dad may have gone overboard, but it's always fun to learn a new weapon. I prefer shooting the cross bow and the .22 caliber handgun. Darcy, on the other hand, likes shooting the big guns, like the Desert Eagle .50 caliber, and the machine gun that's attached to a concrete base at the range. She's also big into throwing the axes. For as much as Darcy pretends to be little miss prissy, she totally digs all the training. She would die if she had to admit that to anyone, especially Denver. Speaking of the devil, I notice her waiting outside of the training center checking her phone and annoyingly tapping her foot as is she was the Queen and we had left her waiting. Dad pulled into a parking space up front, and Darcy practically jumped out of the vehicle before it even stopped moving. She made sure to warn Ever "DO NOT MENTION THE MOAT AT ALL. I'm serious”, while giving her the stare down.
