This is the End 2: The Post-Apocalyptic Box Set (9 Book Collection)

by J. Thorn

  “Don’t move,” I ordered. “Unless, of course, you want me to take some of your vital organs with me on my way to Mexico?”

  His breathing was heavy and angry, but he didn’t move.

  “Put the safety on your gun,” I demanded. When he didn’t immediately comply I pressed my weapon into his muscled side and felt the knife slice at soft flesh and hard muscle. This time he obeyed. “Throw it back on the bed.”

  “You won’t even make it out of town,” Kane warned. “And if you try, by the time you make it back to me I will be beyond pissed. For your own sake, knock this off. Give up, Reagan. Be smart.”

  “Kane,” I laughed bitterly. “If I don’t make it out of this town, I hope for my own sake you are pissed off and put me out of my misery.”

  “Now, now, Reagan, don’t say things you don’t mean,” he taunted.

  I pushed the knife deeper into his side so that a steady stream of blood was seeping through his white undershirt and coating the knife before it dripped down his side and pooled in the waistband of his boxers and baggy sweatpants.

  Finally he threw the gun onto the bed without giving me any sign that I was hurting him. With the knife held in place I flicked the handcuffs around one of his wrists with expert like precision, looped it through the bars on the window and then clasped it around his other wrist.

  At the same time I removed the knife I jumped back out of his reach. He couldn’t turn around fully to face me but I felt his angry stare as if he had branded my skin with it.

  “Thanks for the gun,” I said chirpily as I picked it up off the bed.

  “Reagan, I will find you,” he growled out, pulling desperately against the steel bars. The cuffs rattled against them and he continued to stare at them, as if he could cut them off with his laser vision. “I will hunt you down until you’re mine again.”

  “Do not hold your breath for that one,” I answered flippantly. I started backing toward the door; I had to get out of here!

  “Good advice,” he said dryly. “Now let me give you some. Don’t ever stay too long in any town because I will find you. Don’t tell anyone your real name from here on out, or I will find you. And,” with this statement hanging nervously in the air, he finally said, “Don’t ever, ever think you will be safe from me- because there is no place in this world I would not go for you.”

  “Now that’s just crazy,” I laughed because I couldn’t help myself. “You just sit tight and I’m sure some other poor, unsuspecting girl will pop up and you can hold her prisoner for the rest of her life.”

  “I don’t think you’re getting it-“

  I held up my hand and shook my head. “I don’t really want to get it. I just want to go.” I stepped through the door and breathed in deeply with relief. His keys were still in the padlock so I closed the door and clicked the lock shut. I heard his struggles as I took the staircase several stairs at a time. He was seriously stronger than me, and I suddenly doubted the durability of those steel bars.

  Damn it.

  And probably I should have gagged the man.

  Oh well, it was too late to go back now.

  I fumbled with the front door lock but eventually found it. I let the padlock fall away but still

  opened the door carefully. The dark streets were quiet and stretched out in front of me in utter stillness. I knew there were guards walking around everywhere though and making it through the main part of town was going to be a biotch.

  Fear pelted my insides and my breathing whooshed inside my ears as I struggled not to panic. Somehow I pulled myself together and dug for nonexistent courage. I just had to get to the football field. They would be waiting for me if I could make it.

  Hendrix would be waiting for me.

  And with those thoughts propelling me forward I somehow managed to stay in the shadows of houses, trees and buildings and make it to the edge of the main street. The school was before me and beyond that, the football field.

  I was catching my breath and watching as the guards paced in front of the school and fields. I had no idea how to get there from here, but I had to. I didn’t have a choice.

  And that’s when Kane’s booming shouts broke up the quiet night. For a moment I wondered what took him so long to start yelling, but I assumed it was pride. He thought he could catch me on his own, he thought he could hunt me down no matter what.

  And when he realized he couldn’t, he started yelling. His shouts boomed through the still air with ungodly intensity- haunting the night with his inhumane anger.

  Idiot.

  Guards from all around me reacted and started running toward the sound. I clicked on the safety of Kane’s gun and readied myself for a confrontation that never came.

  There were still guards around though and I knew I had only precious seconds to move before Kane would catch up with me.

  I took a step into the light of the moon and took off sprinting for the fields. I mentally prepared myself to shoot at a living, breathing, non-infected human being, promising I would only maim them critically and try not to kill them.

  Two guards saw me moving and took off running so they could intercept me. I didn’t know if they knew who I was or not, or if they just didn’t like random people running around their town at night, but it didn’t matter. I would shoot them if they tried to stop me. I would.

  I had no choice.

  Still my hands were shaking with uncertainty and my palms were sweaty and slick.

  Just as they were about to reach me with guns raised and ferocious looks contorting their expressions the door to the school slammed open and Miller came running out, screaming and hollering. He was insane with it- making as much noise as I had ever heard another person ever make.

  But then I realized why.

  He had released the Zombies from inside the school.

  And he was drawing them outside.

  I didn’t know how he managed to get them all out, or by the looks of it at least most of them, but it didn’t matter, because soon enough this town was going to be overrun with them.

  Granted they could barely run and their bodies were hardly able to carry their weight. Some couldn’t even manage that and they pulled themselves along the grass or cement with their elbows. Still, it was going to take a while to clean them up and the guards that had previously been in pursuit of me were now tasked with rounding up or finishing off the Zombies.

  “Get to safety,” one of the guards ordered me.

  “Sure thing,” I grinned at his back and then took off sprinting for the bleachers. Their shiny metal gleamed in the cold night like a beacon of hope, like a lighthouse during a terrible storm. If Miller was on his way, then Hendrix would already be waiting for me.

  I had to assume the Zombies were the last part of the plan.

  And I was right. When I reached the base of the bleachers, there was a small party of people waiting for me. I came to a stop as they stepped out of hiding and all eyed me with intense relief.

  “You made it,” Vaughan breathed.

  “I made it,” I smiled.

  Beyond us, in the forest, we heard the static of walkie-talkies go off and as one, we stepped back in the shadows as more guards came running out of the woods.

  A hand slipped into mine and the warmth and rightness I felt promised it was Hendrix. I looked up at him, into his dark eyes and shadowed face and just stared at his familiar outline.

  Neither one of us said anything, but the hand clutching mine was both desperate and possessive, both needy and demanding. Tears flooded my eyes as I noticed the contrast between the disgust I felt for Kane and the pure safety I felt near Hendrix. He was my hope, my security, my future.

  Kane was vile. And gone. Out of my life for good.

  “We need to go,” Tyler snapped. “Now.”

  And none of us hesitated. We just sprinted back through the woods, our feet fast but stumbling over the rough terrain. We didn’t encounter any guards, but only by luck and only by the genius plan to let the Zomb
ies out.

  They would notice we were gone in no time though and we needed to get as much space between us and them as possible.

  By the time we were back on the familiar property of the farmhouse, my lungs and chest burned with the cool spring air and my legs were numb and exhausted. My hand had never left Hendrix’s and I was sure I would never leave his side again. Not when something that f-ed up could happen in the span of twenty-four hours.

  Never did I want to feel like that again.

  Never did I want a shower as much as I did right now.

  Vaughan and Nelson burst into the house through the back door and Hendrix ordered Miller and Tyler to get in the minivan and sit in the captain’s chairs. I had no idea how we were all going to fit in a seven passenger van, but at this point we didn’t have a choice.

  I moved to follow Nelson and grab my backpack and make sure everyone was coming when Hendrix pulled back on my hand and yanked me against him. I crashed into his chest with a force that knocked what little breath I had left out of me.

  My arms went around his waist instantly though and he clutched me to him so tightly it was painful.

  But I never wanted him to let go.

  “I’m so happy you’re Ok,” he whispered into my ear. His hot breath floated against my skin and the sincerity of his voice plunged deep into my chest. “If they hurt you…. if they touched you-“

  “They didn’t,” I assured him quickly. “I promise, they didn’t. I’m fine.”

  And then there was movement again. Nelson came out of the house carrying a still sick Page and Haley was right behind him with my backpack and hers. Harrison and King followed with Nelson and Hendrix’s packs and a few bags I didn’t recognize. I hoped they were supplies. Vaughan was last and he ordered us all to get in the van.

  The bags were haphazardly thrown in the trunk and then we squeezed in. Vaughan drove as usual, with Nelson in the front seat. Haley sat on the floor, her back pressed against the corner of Vaughan’s chair, with Page stretched out awkwardly in front of her. Past our new additions in the captain’s chairs, Harrison, King and Hendrix squeezed into the backseat and Hendrix pulled me onto his lap.

  I curled up into him, relishing his warmth and savoring his touch. This felt right. This felt…. good. I needed his strong, protective arms around me more than anything else.

  And while Vaughan drove away, leaving the farmhouse and that horrible town hopefully forever in our wake, I allowed myself to breathe again.

  Only instead of the intense relief I wanted to feel, I felt the pinpricks and nauseous tingles of fear. I snuggled deeper into Hendrix, burying my face against the warmth of his skin and throwing my arms around his neck.

  I took even breaths, keeping the panic attack at bay. But in my ears, Kane’s inhuman roar of outrage echoed loudly and in my head all I could hear was his promise to find me.

  Real fear- the realest I’d ever felt- descended on me with a vice like grip and I began to tremble.

  Hendrix’s soft words, whispered into my hair was the only thing that tethered me to sanity. “It’s over, Reagan. They’ll never touch you again. They’ll never see you again. You’re Ok. You’re with me. I’ll keep you safe.”

  Over and over he whispered promises into my ear, my heart, my soul. And slowly they seemed to make a difference. Eventually I stopped shaking, eventually I stopped panicking.

  I was safe now.

  I was with people that cared about me.

  And they were all safe too.

  The additions to our group made me nervous, but taking in Miller’s broken, abused body, I knew we made the right decision to bring them.

  We rode in tense silence as we waited for someone to find us or hunt us down. But no one ever came. By the time we hit the Oklahoma border a few hours later, dangerously low on gas and strung out from a night without sleep, we had at least started to believe the worst was behind us.

  My heart had slowed its rapid rhythm and I decided about thirty minutes ago I was never leaving Hendrix’s lap. Never.

  “That was a crazy night,” Nelson broke the silence first.

  “Never again,” Vaughan said adamantly.

  “Never again,” Tyler echoed hopefully.

  And in my ear, so that only I could hear, Hendrix whispered, “Never again.” His words were a promise.

  His words were a soothing balm on my torn apart heart.

  I had held out a lot of hope for my fellow humans over the last two years. For as long as there had been people there had been conflict, but there has also been solutions. We were facing the first generation since the beginning of time that had potentially found a problem it could not overcome.

  And instead of banding together to defeat this foe by force, we gave up and turned to tyrants and relinquished our freedom. I saw this first with Gary and his encampment of militia, and now with Matthias and his communist cult of insanity.

  But that could never be me. I could never hand over my free will and spirit and let someone else take control. This world was diseased with poisoned death, but I would never let it touch me. I would choose unrestricted life. I would independently choose love.

  My hand slid up Hendrix’s throat and I cup his scruffy jawline. “Never again.”

  Episode Six

  Chapter One

  686 Days after initial infection

  “Holy shit!” King shrieked like a girl, like a squealing, frightened, out of her mind with terror girl. I was pretty sure he couldn’t even blame it on puberty at this point. The yelping scream that just ripped from his lungs was pure, panicked fear.

  The sound of a gun, loud and ringing in my ear, overpowered both King and the Feeder that almost made a snack out of his face. I sucked in a deep breath and shook my head at him.

  “That was close,” I was panting and struggling to catch my breath. King wasn’t the only one scared out of his mind.

  He dropped his smoking gun, “Fu-“

  “Cuss jar,” I whispered and then raised my arms to prepare for our next encounter.

  “I didn’t finish,” he murmured with a ragged breath.

  “Are you Ok?” I peered into the darkness and prayed that this aisle would be safe. Please be safe. Please be safe. Please be safe.

  “I’m fine,” he assured me quickly. “Just a little… uh, I didn’t see that one.”

  “Me either,” I consoled him. “But good shot.”

  “I’ve actually found it’s kind of hard to miss when they’re four inches from your face.”

  I stifled a laugh, but I had to agree. “Still, you didn’t panic.” The giggle I’d been suppressing finally bubbled out and I added. “Much.”

  “Shut it,” he growled- which only made me laugh harder.

  I pulled myself together and then focused on the task at hand. “K, ready for this?”

  “Nope,” he replied honestly.

  “One, two-“

  And he was around the corner before I could get to three. I was supposed to go first. We were supposed to be taking turns. But he kept jumping in front of me whenever it was my turn. I supposed he thought he was being chivalrous, but the last Feeder had practically licked his face before he got his shot off.

  “King,” I raced around the corner and scolded him on a harsh whisper. “You’re supposed to let me go first.”

  We walked past empty shelves and looted flats of whatever was supposed to be re-stocked in Aisle 8. Our footsteps were silent on the linoleum floor, except where we stepped on something left over from the previous looters. It was almost completely dark in the abandoned Publix where we’d stopped for the night and we were going aisle to aisle clearing out remaining Feeders before we set up for the night.

  “Pretty sure Hendrix would murder me if I let something happen to you,” he shrugged.

  I growled out a few choice words of my own.

  “Cuss jar,” he sing-songed.

  “Well, what do you think he would do to me if I let something happen to you?” I demanded.
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  “Put you over his knee and spank you?” King asked with fake innocence.

  “Oh my god,” I said at full volume.

  “What?” More pretend innocence.

  “That was so…. perverted coming from you,” I pointed out. “I’m just surprised.”

  “Reagan, I’m fifteen. You’re surprised that I said something mildly off color?”

  Off color? “Yes, no, wait, on your left!” And then we were both firing after the creature crawling through the darkness. Yeesh, this one didn’t have any legs. I shivered, avoiding any kind of prolonged interaction with it as it bled out on the cold floor.

  “One, two-“ I counted again, but he was already around the corner. “Damn it, King!” I hissed as I followed him.

  “Listen, he’s already going to be super pissed we got split up,” King argued in a fierce whisper. And I could see his point.

  We’d stormed this grocery store like a SWAT team- well, like a hungry, filthy, cranky SWAT team with a meager one gun a piece and about one hundred bullets divided between us all. I was following my usual protocol of being Hendrix’s Zombie-cide Brutality Buddy, when we were bombarded by Feeders. We got split up in the mayhem; he ended up on one side of the cash registers and I on the other. There were too many Zombies for him to fight my decision as I ran off after his youngest brother; but I had a feeling we were going to have words later.

  I could hardly wait.

  Oh no, that was wrong. I could wait. I could definitely wait.

  “Well, he should pay more attention,” I sniped. “If he can’t keep tabs on me, then he doesn’t deserve me.” I was mostly just saying that out loud to hear myself talk- because I believed none of it. Nor did I really think we were into that dangerous place of being actually serious about each other- other than hoping the other one survived the day, and then the night and then the next day and so forth and so on.

  King snorted. “I’m the wrong person for you to talk to about this. Don’t you have a friend?”

  “Yes, I have a friend,” I confirmed, hiding my smile.

  “And, not that I care about my brother or his wacked out sex life, but I think it was the multitude of Zombies obstructing his way back to you, not his lack of determination.”