Page 88 of Dating After the End of the World
I pull my lips in and nod, shame coating my face.
“Fucking slimeball.” Tessa spits on the ground. “I knew I never liked that guy.”
“Where’s Nate now?” Molly asks, fear filling her eyes, like Nate’s some kind of boogeyman who’ll jump out at any moment.
“He’s either dead or dying.”
“Looks like we both killed our boyfriends,” Tessa says with the smallest smile, trying to find humor in the darkest of times. That’s when we need it most. It’s easy to laugh when you’re happy. I smile back and reach for her hand, squeezing it.
“So, what are we supposed to do?” Molly asks, her eyes darting all over the place.
“We’re going to kill these assholes. That’s what.” I stand tall, projecting confidence to my newly recruited sisters-in-arms.
“With what? Your throwing stars and a knife?” Tessa gestures to the only weapons currently on any of us.
A devilish grin creeps across my face. “No. Follow me.”
I lead the girls through the woods to a secret place my dad and I marked off. Certain grooves in the bark of trees are the only guideposts along the way. The spot is covered by a dead log and years’ worth of leaves and decaying vegetation. I start pulling everything off, and Molly and Tessa quickly join in. Underneath it all is a single piece of plywood. We bend down and lift it, flipping it over to reveal the top of a large green chest, previously the lodging for all the components of an over-the-shoulder rocket-propelled grenade launcher. I never got to see it, but I also never believed my dad when he told me the chest was just for storage and had arrived empty. I unlatch the lid and toss it open, revealing the contents.
“Holy shit!” Tessa clasps her hands over her mouth, realizing how much noise she made in her excitement. “Holy shit!” she repeats, but this time in a whisper.
Molly’s eyes widen. “That’s a lot of guns.”
“It sure is,” I say, looking like a proud parent showing off the report card of their favorite child. “Think we can go in and save some people now?”
“Hell yeah!” the girls say in unison.
Chapter 37
“Everyone locked and loaded?” I eye Tessa and Molly, one on either side of me. We look like something out ofThe Matrix, the scene where Neo and Trinity walk through the metal detectors, their entire bodies covered in various guns, blades, explosives, and ammunition. I can’t even recall how many times I watched that movie with my dad, and I smile at the memory.
Each of us has at least four pistols, a semi-machine gun, a combat knife, two flashbangs, and all the necessary ammunition to participate in a shoot-out for the better part of an hour. I also gave Tessa the one grenade my dad bought off the black market a long time ago. “I’m not even sure if it actually works, and hopefully you don’t have to use it, but if you get in a spot where ... ya know.”
“I know,” is all she said in response.
“I’m ready,” Molly whispers at my side.
“Let’s do this.” Tessa pats my back, giving my shoulder a small squeeze of reassurance.
“We need to go in quiet. We are severely outnumbered, and we have to assume they’re all armed and may have hostages. First thing we do is take out anyone patrolling the area. We don’t want any stragglers getting the drop on us from behind, and if we get made, then ... well, we’re gonna be in for one hell of a firefight.” I am drawing out a map of the property in the dirt with a stick, talking through the plan one last time before we make our move.
“What about Greg?” Molly chimes in, her voice laced with concern.
“That’s next. After the approach is clear, we need to take the sniper tower back. If they have someone up there watching, we’ll never make it to the house. So, we ...”
“You said Greg was probably fine.” Tears well up in Molly’s eyes, and her lower lip starts to quiver.
“I saidif. Ifthey have someone up there. We need to plan for everything.”
She nods and lets me get back to it.
“Okay, so then we make a break for the sniper tower and secure it. Molly, you can stay up there with Greg and provide supporting fire as needed. Tessa, you’ll come with me, and we’ll head for the main house. Any questions?” My eyes dart back and forth, watching as both of them shake their heads. “All right, follow me, and stay low.”
The gunfire has ceased for several minutes now as we make our way back through the woods, which tells me the burners are settled in, thinking they have control of the place and everyone in it. I poke my head out of the tree line, scanning in every direction, looking for the slightest bit of movement. When I see none, I wave the girls on behind me, and we quickly slink along the trees, staying low to the ground as we move toward the house. When the brush opens up, I spot the first burner, a lone man pacing back and forth, watching the north and west approaches to the house. He has a single shotgun in his hands and holds it pointed at the ground, a relaxed grip indicating he doesn’t expect any danger.
“Stay here,” I whisper as I get into position.
I count out the number of steps he takes before he does his about-face, the same number each time and always at the same speed, like a human metronome, assigned to a single strip of earth. When he plants his weight and pivots his foot, I follow his shirt up to where it stops, drawing animaginary bull’s-eye on the back of his neck. This time, I picture Nate’s smug face. I step forward, my body rustling the leaves of the bushes around me. At the sudden sound, he stops and spins around, his eyes going wide as my figure emerges, moving toward him. The man raises a brow and lifts his gun.Too slow.My arm shoots out, my wrist snapping at the last second as the throwing star cuts through the air like a Frisbee, planting itself right into his Adam’s apple. He drops the gun and his hands shoot up to his neck. Gurgling violently, his mouth sprays red with each successive cough. Blood pours from his throat like red wine from a bottle.I could really use a drink right now.
