The Last Fight: A Post Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (Surviving the EMP Book 3)

by Ryan Casey

  “I… I think he wants the end of this just as much as we do. We have to be careful. But it’s time we accepted something.”

  “Go on.”

  “The farm,” Emma said. “It’s not going to work out there. As good as it is. As nice as it is. It’s Jack’s. And we aren’t going to get it. We need to move on.”

  Logan tasted bitterness when he heard those words. He didn’t want to accept them. Didn’t want to believe them.

  But he could feel their truth.

  “We can’t just give up.”

  “We have to,” Emma said. “We can still end this without anyone else getting hurt. We have a chance. It’s good, but there’ll be other places like this. Places where the people are more welcoming. So maybe we try those. Maybe we move on.”

  “And what about Candice?” Logan asked.

  “What about her?”

  “What does she want? What if she turns around and says she wants to stay with her boyfriend? What about then?”

  Emma tilted her head to one side and took a deep breath. “Then she does,” she said. “She’s not our prisoner. She can make her own choices. Right? But… but we’ll be okay. One way or another, we’ll be okay. Like we always have. Right?”

  Logan thought about all of this. The fact Emma was still by his side in spite of all she knew about him. Her desperation to be good; to do the right thing, no matter the cost. Her desperation for him to be good. He saw her wanting to believe in him and it made him feel sad. Because he’d wanted to believe in himself, too. He’d wanted to believe in himself for so, so long.

  He’d been lying to himself for so many years that facing the truth of what he’d done and what that made him wasn’t an easy thing to do.

  Logan looked into Emma’s eyes. He wanted to tell her this was an awful idea. That it was a recipe for disaster.

  But in the end, he saw her hope, he saw how much it meant to her, and he nodded his head.

  “Okay,” he said.

  Emma smiled. “You’ll do it?”

  “I’ll agree to the exchange,” he said, looking right into Bella’s eyes. “But… but I want Candice back. We don’t lose her too.”

  “I get that. Jack sounded… like he was going to try to get his son to see that, too. But don’t you think maybe things would be better if we just… just let Candice do what she wanted? If we listened to her?”

  Logan felt his leverage slipping away. He was willing to talk. Willing to compromise. Willing to try to be better, all over again. But there was a point where he had to be strong. And Candice… in a strange way, he felt like she was good for Emma. She was good for both of them. “It’s part of the deal. It’s the only solution. She’s one of us. She stays one of us. If the boy wants to come chasing after her… that’s his decision. We can deal with him however we see fit. Okay?”

  He saw Emma’s face had turned now. Saw she looked conflicted, like this wasn’t exactly what she wanted.

  But in the end, she nodded, accepting it was the best she was going to get. “Okay.”

  “Okay,” Logan said. He looked right at Bella. “Two days. Midday. That’s when it happens. Now get some rest. We’ve got a long day of waiting ahead.”

  He turned around and headed back into the woods, back towards their camp.

  He’d agree to this exchange.

  But one thing was for sure.

  This wasn’t over.

  As much as he told himself he could be better, that they could move on… he knew this conflict was only just beginning.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  There was only so long Jack could keep the exchange quiet.

  The following morning was sunny and warm. There was a sickening humidity to the air, the sun bright and blazing. He sat at the breakfast table, the rest of his people present. He’d called a meeting first thing, before they ate or did anything else.

  He’d toyed with keeping things quiet as long as he could. But he knew honesty was the best policy. He’d seen the trouble trying to stifle the truth could cause.

  He looked at the animals, who were naturally by their feet. Then at Hazel, and at Wayne. He knew Wayne was going to be the difficult one. The problematic one. He really didn’t know how things were going to go.

  But the sooner he got everything onto the table, the sooner they could figure out a resolution.

  “I had a visit last night,” Jack said. “From Emma.”

  A moment’s hesitation from Wayne and Hazel.

  Then, realisation.

  “And Bella,” he said.

  Wayne stood. “Bella was here?”

  “Wayne—”

  “If she was here then there’s a chance we—”

  “Wayne, sit down. Please.”

  Wayne looked at his dad, then at his mum, reluctantly.

  And then he sat with a sigh.

  Jack cleared his throat, leaned across the table. “Emma proposed something. A way of ending the deadlock. A way of ending the conflict.”

  Both of them listened, transfixed.

  “An exchange.”

  Immediately, Wayne shook his head. “We can’t let Candice go back to Logan. It’s not happening.”

  “I thought you’d say that. But there’s more you should know. Emma proposed exchanging Bella and Candice right there and then. I thought about it. But then I realised I needed to talk to you. To both of you. To run this by you.”

  “Very thoughtful of you,” Wayne said, somewhat sarcastically.

  “We came to a new agreement. All of us meet in neutral territory. Tomorrow. Midday. That’s when the exchange happens.”

  Wayne tightened his grip on the table. “Wait, what? This is bullshit. You didn’t exchange her last night because you wanted to tell me you were gonna exchange her tomorrow anyway and let me have no say in the matter? You’re seriously going ahead with this exchange plan?”

  “It’s not ideal,” Jack said. “But it’s our only way of—”

  “But it’s not though, is it? Because you know I can’t just let Candice go. You know I can’t just let her walk away with… him. And he’ll know that, too. Don’t you see it?”

  “I think it’s about time we started actually thinking about what Candice might want rather than what her ex-boyfriend wants.”

  It was a cheap shot, Jack knew. It wasn’t going to win him much in the way of favour from his son.

  But screw it. He was way beyond that point anyway.

  Wayne shook his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You split up,” Jack said, ignoring the shaking of Hazel’s head. “She finished things with you. She chose her own path. And for whatever reason, she chose Logan’s path. She wants the best for you. She wants the best for everyone. But… well. That might not mean her staying here. She might be one of the only people who can keep him in check, her and that kid, Emma. It’s time we thought about her, isn’t it? Rather than what we want?”

  Wayne shook his head. But Jack could tell from the look on his face that he felt he was fighting a losing battle. The way Hazel was looking too, like she knew this was the only way. Like she knew this was right.

  “But… but there’s other possibilities. Emma. She thinks if we at least look willing to make this exchange, he might let Candice stay with us anyway.”

  “Sure,” Wayne said. “She would say that, wouldn’t she? She’s a kid. She sees the world through rose tinted spectacles. Face it. It’s not happening.”

  Jack nodded. He suspected as much. “And there’s something else.”

  “Something else?”

  “Maybe we don’t have to make this exchange, anyway,” Jack said.

  Wayne looked at him then. Hazel narrowed her eyes, too. “What?”

  “Maybe we… maybe we only have to make it look like we’re making an exchange. Maybe we can make it seem like we’re handing Candice over. Like we’re ending all of this, ending the conflict. And maybe when the dust settles, we go after Logan and get Candice back. And this girl, Emma. Sh
e’s a good kid. Maybe we can bring her on board, too.”

  “So you’re talking about double-crossing him?” Hazel said.

  “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “It’s a dangerous game. And what makes you so sure he isn’t planning the same?”

  “That’s exactly why we need to act. Why we need to stay one step ahead. Logan is who he is. And he isn’t going to just give up. But if we don’t go ahead with this exchange… we risk upsetting things even more. Bella might end up dead. That’s not a risk I’m willing to take. So we try something else. The only thing we can do. The peaceful resolution. For now.”

  Wayne just sat there, shaking his head. “I can’t just let her go.”

  Jack went to say something when he saw Hazel reach a hand and place it on her son’s.

  She looked him right in the eye.

  “I’m sorry, lad,” she said. “I’m sorry it has to be this way. But… but your dad is right.”

  “No.”

  “We have to let Candice go,” she said. “I don’t agree with the second part of the plan. I don’t agree with hunting Logan down after the exchange. But we have to let her go. We have to let her choose her own path. It might be the only way. Every way is a risk. There’s no easy option here.”

  Wayne sat there, so angry, so red and frustrated. His whole world breaking apart around him.

  And then he looked at Jack with such fury in his eyes.

  “Every time you come into my life, you destroy it,” he said. “You break things. That’s what you do. This is your fault. It’s on you. All of it.”

  He stood up and he walked out of the room.

  Jack sat there, opposite Hazel. He felt empty. Cold.

  She looked back at him. Such a distance between them.

  “I wish I could say he doesn’t mean it,” she said. “I’m sorry, Jack.”

  She stood up. Walked off in Wayne’s direction.

  But on the way, she put a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

  “This is the right thing to do. The exchange… it’s the right thing to do. I know it’s not an easy decision to make. But it’s all about compromise. You need to know something, though. He’ll… he’ll never forgive you for this. Just know that. He’ll never forgive you. The sooner you come to terms with that, the better.”

  She squeezed his shoulder.

  Then she walked off in pursuit of Wayne.

  Jack sat alone at the table, only Villain and Mrs Fuzzles for company.

  He thought about all the things they’d said. And there was only one thing he was more certain than ever about.

  He was going to make this exchange.

  But then he was going to destroy Logan.

  He was going to get Candice back.

  He wasn’t losing his son forever.

  He stood up and looked over at the rifle at the other side of the room.

  Then outside at the sun, climbing towards its highest point.

  Twenty-four hours to go.

  Chapter Thirty

  That night, Wayne didn’t sleep a wink, because there was something he had to be awake for.

  He waited until he was absolutely sure everyone was asleep before acting. Unfortunately, Jack was awake for a long time, which meant it was well into the early hours now. Not ideal, but still time.

  He’d thought his plan through for a long time, the majority of a long and torturous day. He’d kept his head down and weighed up the pros and cons.

  And in the end, he’d decided there was only one option.

  Only one way of settling this—as risky as it was.

  He stood up. Walked across his bedroom, out onto the hallway. He stopped when he reached Bella’s room. He wished she was still in there. Wished he could tell her what he was doing, and why he was doing it.

  He wished he could apologise in advance for everything he was going to do.

  But he hoped, deep down, she’d understand.

  He walked further down the hallway and passed his mum’s bedroom.

  His heart skipped a beat when he thought of his mum sleeping in there. He’d been separated from her, and then they’d ended up together again. She always cared about him. Always had his best interests at heart. She’d brought him up. She’d always wanted the best for him. Always tried to do right by him.

  She didn’t deserve any more heartbreak. Didn’t deserve any more loss. Raising him had been difficult enough. Pete had helped. Wayne didn’t mind Pete. They didn’t have a particularly close bond, but he’d been there for his mum, and that was what mattered more than anything.

  But now he was gone, too. The other side of the country. No chance of finding him.

  Another person she loved, gone.

  He wished things didn’t have to be this way.

  He wanted to go in there and say sorry to her.

  Say goodbye to her.

  But it was too much of a risk.

  And then he walked past Jack’s room and he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end.

  The hardest thing of all? He couldn’t hate him. No matter how hard he tried to detest him, as he knew he should, he just couldn’t.

  He’d torn his life apart when he was a kid. The way Wayne loved him so much when he was younger. He’d idolised him. He was everything to him. They went camping together, just the two of them. Went on long walks to places Wayne didn’t even believe existed, hidden in the woods.

  And then the accident happened and everything changed.

  Jack had distanced himself from Wayne. He’d distanced himself from everyone. The arguments between him and Mum started. The long nights listening to them scream at one another.

  And then he’d walked into Wayne’s room one night when he’d already been sleeping in a hotel for much of the week, put his hand on his shoulder, held him close and made him promise that he’d always look after his family. That he’d always look after the ones he loved. That he’d do everything for them.

  Wayne was too involved in his video game at the time to properly understand. But he’d agreed. He’d nodded.

  He’d looked around and seen his dad standing at his bedroom door, glassiness to his eyes.

  “I love you, son,” he’d said.

  And then he’d walked out and never seen him again.

  He’d come back into his life feigning the saviour role, but things were different now. Too much had transpired. Too much had changed.

  He wanted to put things right with him, but he knew there was only one thing he could do.

  It was selfish. But it was time to start thinking about himself.

  He walked away from the door to his dad’s room, fists tightened, and he went to leave the house.

  Mrs Fuzzles was standing right by the door.

  He crouched down opposite her. He expected her to growl or hiss at him.

  But in the end, she did neither.

  She moved towards him, nudged her head against his arm and purred.

  He stroked her. Petted her. He wanted to take her with him. She was a part of his journey to find Candice, after all. He wanted to show her just how much he cared about her. Just how much she mattered.

  But then he found himself lifting Mrs Fuzzles up. “Come on, pet.”

  He took her through to Bella’s room.

  Rested her on her bed.

  “This is your home now,” he whispered. “This is where you belong. Okay? You’re going to wait here for Bella. She’ll be back here. I promise. And she’ll look after you, okay? She’ll look after you.”

  Mrs Fuzzles looked back at him confused, like she didn’t understand. Which of course she didn’t.

  But Wayne just hoped she didn’t feel like he was abandoning her.

  And he hoped he could keep his promise about Bella coming back here.

  He hoped, one way or another, things would work out for her.

  But now he could only do his part.

  He walked away from Bella’s bed and heard a thud by his feet.

  He looked down.
Mrs Fuzzles was by his side once more.

  He reached down and she nudged him with her head again. This was more painful than he’d expected. He’d never felt a particular bond to any pet before. But this was different and he knew it.

  He picked her up, cuddled her. Held her close. Listened to her purr like she was actually enjoying it.

  “It’s been good knowing you, Mrs Fuzzles,” he said, bringing himself to say her actual name, something that usually discomforted him. “You’re… you’re a good cat.”

  She put her nails to his face.

  Pawed him, just slightly.

  And then before he had a chance to cry any more, she turned around and walked towards Bella’s bedroom door.

  He walked across the farmhouse. Grabbed the key for the little office by the barns from the side. Opened the door. Looked back at the home he was leaving behind. And then he looked at Jack’s bedroom door again. He felt guilt. He knew his dad left for legitimate reasons.

  But he just wasn’t the right person to be making the decisions anymore.

  He was putting people in danger.

  And it wasn’t going to get any better any time soon.

  He opened the door before he could change his mind, and then he walked.

  He walked across the farmyard. Walked towards the barns, as the cool night breeze brushed against him.

  He walked over to the little office area right beside the barns, and he stopped.

  He stared at the door. Lifted the key. He asked himself if this was what he really wanted to do. Whether it was the right thing.

  And as much as he told himself it could be risky, that it could put people in danger… the alternatives seemed far worse.

  It was time to follow his gut.

  It was time to do what he felt was right.

  He opened the door to the little office area.

  Pushed it open.

  Candice sat there, wide awake.

  Wayne felt a cascade of emotions. Sadness. Elation. Urgency. Cautiousness.

  But above everything, ahead of everything else, he felt something undeniable.

  And that something was love.

  “Candice,” he said.

  He walked over to Candice. Perched opposite her, the smell strong in this room.