Love at the End of the World

by ChirpingGirl

The story is set in a post apocalyptic world where two girls, Kaylin a 15 year old survivor, and the five year old girl she bought named Bunny, travel the wasteland in search of a refuge from the nightmare of the wastes. And I couldn't think of a good title for this.

No one knew how it happened. No one really cared. All that mattered was survivial. There was nothing else to do. The world was in ruins, the survivors left to pay for the sins of others who were long dead.

In a city who's name no longer mattered to anyone, a young woman named "Kaylin", who is no more than fifteen, is searching a long abandoned and previously pillaged business. It had once been a place where people brought their cars to be serviced. She was a gorgeous young woman despite her living conditions. Her golden blonde hair was filthy, her clothes covered in all manner of crud, and her face covered with smudges. She had only a backpack filled with whatever she could find worth putting into it, a large knife in a holster on her right leg, and a "six shooter" in another holster on her left. She also carried a pump action shotgun which was once police issued. She also wore a bullet proof police vest and a swat helmet. She found nothing worth taking in this place, save for a half full container of motor oil and a tire iron. Neither were worth anything, but she took them anyway. As she stepped outside, a cold breeze hits her. It was October, or at least she thought it was, and she knew her looting days were almost over. It would soon be twenty below and no one would dare step out of shelter to search the ruins. She began walking down a street with houses on each side, and each one either gutted for material to burn, or left completely ransacked and empty.

It took her half the day but she finally arrived at the only remaining Human civilization in this city, a huge shopping center area. A giant shopping mall, big box store, and smaller business all within walking distance of each other. It had all been fenced off and guard posts set up. What was once a place people whent to spend their hard earned money on foreign made goods was now a trading outpost where travellers would come to sell the things people once discarded, but would now kill for. If you had enough high value items to trade you could purchase anything, or anyone in this place. Kaylin approached the main gate with her arms raised in the air to show she is no threat. A guard aims a hunting rifle at her and asks what her reason for being there is.

"What's your business here?"

"Trade."

Kaylin pulls a pack of vegetable seeds out of a pocket and tosses it to the guard. He inspects it, then motions to another guard to open the gate. Kaylin steps through and is immediately told the rules.

"Keep your weapons, use them only if you have to. Commit a murder and you'll be shot dead without trial. Trade for anything you want, buy whatever you want. You run out of trade or local money and we kick you out. Understood?"

Kaylin nods yes to show she understands. The guard steps aside and lets her pass.

She approaches a trade kiosk, but nearby a sale is going on. No one seems interested, but Kaylin goes to investigate. It's not food, or supplies for sale, it's children. Boys and girls, none more than eight years old. The auctioneer tries to get attention.

"Children for sale! All are clean, well bred, and well mannered! At least until they get into their teens. Ah, you there, young lady, how would you like a little brother or sister to keep you company on your travels?"

Kaylin had seen children being sold before, so it wasn't a shock to her. But she noticed one of the girls, the youngest of the lot, was the only one trying desperately to free herself from her chains. She was a beautiful little girl with long chocolate brown hair, brown eyes, and a cute little cleft chin. Kaylin always had a "thing" for pretty girls with cleft chins.

"How much?" She asked.

"Ah! I see your eyes have chosen this lovely little thing. She's just turned five, and she's a bit spirited, but she's worth everything you'd pay. Trade or local currency."

Kaylin walks over to inspect her. The little girl gets prettier as she gets closer to her.

"I'm not interested in buying "used."

The seller knows what she means.

"We have a strict "no sampling" policy here. And you can be publically executed for that here. If I hadn't paid so much for this one I would have bought her myself and sampled her every five minutes. Rest assured she is brand new and not broken in."

Kaylin inspects her closely, the little girl pulls away from her but the seller pushes her back. Kaylin is very impressed with her.

"Perfect teeth. Perfect skin. Perfect hair."

"She's top quality." The seller enthusiastically boasts.

Kaylin resists the temptation to touch her.

"Why hasn't she sold already?"

"The same reason none of them have. Food and water are hard enough to come by as it is. Sharing with children just leaves even less. I may stop buying and selling them soon."

Kaylin realizes he's a motivated seller.

"Five thousand."

Kaylin's offer offends the seller.

"Five? That's outrageous. She's worth twenty."

"Maybe before the end of the world. Now she's just a drain on my resources. Five thousand, take it or leave it."

"Eight."

Kaylin thinks for a moment.

"Seven. No more."

The seller agrees.

"Deal."

"I'll be back by night. I need to trade for the money. Have her ready to go by then."

"She'll be ready. And all sales are final. No returns, no refunds."

Kaylin goes to a trading kiosk where other desperate outsiders have come to unload their wares. Kaylin shows a guard another pack of vegetabel seeds and she's allowed to cut to the front of the line. She sets her backpack down on the counter and pulls out handfulls of seed packs. They are worthless to a traveller, but to a community like this they are priceless. The buyer is shocked at the bounty before him. He begins picking through and sorting them. When's he's done he offers Kaylin a price.

"Twenty thousand local currency."

The other traders look as though they want to attack Kaylin to see if she has more hidden on her, but the local security discourages them by brandishing their firearms.

"I want twice that."

The buyer seems to hesistate, but his partner nods to him telling to pay what she's asked.

Her pockets filled with local money, Kaylin heads to a weapons dealer. She inspects a small semi auto .22 pistol, just small and light enough for her new friend to hold. Kaylin was hesistant to consider arming the little one, but she figured she would have to teach her eventually. She then inspects a swat issue MP5 with a scope and flashlight attached, and then a glock with a laser attachment. She purchased everything she inspected, and enough ammo to take out an army. She had barely made a dent in her new found fortune. She purchased a new jacket, shoes, and backpack for her new friend as well as other cold weather gear and spare clothing items for them both.

Later in the day, Kaylin returns to pick up her new friend. The seller gives her a key to the girls restraints. Kaylin locks a pair of handcuffs to the chain that leads to a collar around the girls neck, then fixes the cuff around her wrist assuring her expensive new friend doesn't try to get away.

"Come back and buy from us anytime, young lady."

Kaylin kneels down to the girl.

"You won't try to run, will you?"

She responds by shaking her head to say that no she won't run. Kaylin takes her hand and they leave together.

Kaylin had rented a "hotel" room for them, which was just a large tent in the parking lot of the shopping mall. Kaylin sets their gear down, and gives the girl her new jacket.

"It's going to be cold tonight, you should wear this."

The girl slips it on, but says nothing to kaylin.

"What's your name?" Kaylin asked.

The girl hesitates, but finally speaks.

"I don't have a name."

"No name? How can that be?"

"I don't know. I just don't."

Kaylin zips the coat up for her, then hands her some food. The girl is hesitant, but then grabs it and eats it quickly as if Kaylin might take it away from her.

"Easy, you'll choke yourself."

The girl slows down a little.

"Well, we need to give you a name. Mine's Kaylin. Why don't we call you... call you... bunny!"

The girl stops eating, she's confused.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Bunny. You know, like bunny rabbit. Do you know what a bunny rabbit is?"

The girl shakes her head no.

"It's a cute, furry little animal."

The girls doesn't understand what she means.

"Bunny it is then. And as soon as I can trust that you won't run away, I'll take the chain off."

"Take it off now." The girl demanded.

"I said when I can trust you. I don't trust you yet."

"If you want to hurt me I can hurt you." The girl threatened.

Kaylin believes her.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"What do you want from me?"

Kaylin doesn't answer her.

"Eat up, then go to sleep. We're leaving tomorrow."

Kaylin lays down on a filthy old blanket and it isn't long before she's asleep. The girl finishes her meager meal, then lays down herself. It's so cold, but she stays far away from Kaylin.

The next morning is gray, cold and rainy. Hardly ideal conditions to be travelling, but Kaylin plans to move on anyway. After spending the last of her local money on food and other supplies, she and "Bunny" set out into the ruins and wastes.

By mid day they had reached the city limits. It was time to move on to other places to search, and other civilizations to trade with.

Late in the day a freezing rain was starting to pour. It was a sign of the brutal winter months to come. Kaylin knew they didn't have long to escape the colder climates and get somewhere warmer. They took refuge in a small gas station, which had long been looted but was still intact and would serve as a good shelter until the bad weather passed.

Searching the place was pointless. Kaylin found only old newspapers from before. She used them along with some twigs from outside to start a small fire on the floor. Bunny was freezing cold and miserable, but so was Kaylin. Bunny had gotten used to some luxury in her confinement. Atleast it was warmer and dry. Kaylin and Bunny ate a small dinner together. They were well stocked with food, but had to ration every bite of it. Kaylin knew to well that indulging would only cause misery later.

As Bunny lay near the fire, Kaylin read one of the old news papers. Nothing meant anything to her, it was all pointless and long forgotten history. The paper told a story of "growing tensions with Russia" and "pandemic fears". The economy was also in shambles, oil prices were skyrocketing, and illegal immigrants were overruning the country. Kaylin didn't understand any of it. She could read the words, but the stories had no meaning. She figured it all had something to do with the screwed up world she grew up in, but had no idea how it all fit together.

"What is that?" Bunny asked about the paper.

"It's a news paper. People before used to read them to know what was going on."

"But not any more?"

"No, not any more."

Bunny wondered about the paper.

"Will they ever make any more of them?"

"No, they'll never make any more of them."

Kaylin places the paper she was reading in the fire. She then gets up and lays down next to Bunny to share warmth. Bunny doesn't like it.

"Don't." Bunny complained.

Kaylin doesn't care what she wants.

"We'll stay warmer being close. Didn't your mother ever do this with you?"

"She sold me for drugs. She never did anything good for me."

"You seem pretty smart, she must have taught you things."

"Maybe one good thing. She taught me how to read."

Kaylin pulls a thermal blanket over them and snuggles with her. Bunny still objects but the warmth is welcome.

"Now go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Bunny can't keep her eyes open and she quickly falls asleep. Kaylin uses the opportunity to admire her. She gently strokes Bunny's still, for the moment, clean hair and enjoy's it's softness. She nuzzles her nose into Bunny's hair and sniffs. She smiles when she picks up a faint smell of shampoo.

Kaylin always liked girls much more than boys. Girls never tried to rape her after all. The few girls she had ever had contact with were always kind to her. The boys she had contact with all tried to assault her.

Bunny was sound asleep. Kaylin was starting to have feelings she'd never felt before. She felt an overwhelming urge to touch Bunny, to kiss her soft skin. But she couldn't do it. She really didn't want to hurt her. She didn't buy her to be a slave, she bought her so she wouldn't be alone anymore. To do things to her that she didn't want would be a betrayal she would never forgive Kaylin for. And Kaylin didn't really know what to do with her anyway. She had spent most of her life scavenging and surviving, not thinking about sex as most teenagers her age do. She stopped touching her, and just placed her arm around Bunny and then layed her head next to hers. it wasn't long before she was sound sleep.

The next morning the rain was gone, and the sun was shining. While Bunny still slept, Kaylin unlocked her handcuff from Bunny's chain and stepped outside to feel the warmth of the sun, even though it was still cold. The light illuminated the world around her. Everything seemed better with the sun shining, but also showed the misery of this world. The trees, who didn't get much sun shine anymore, had only dark brown leaves falling from them instead of the explosion of colors they once did in the fall. She looked down the long road that lay ahead for them and saw nothing in their path. No animals, no people, nothing. She whent back inside to find Bunny had woken up and realized Kaylin was no longer attached to her. But she didn't run away.

"Good morning." Kaylin said to her.

Bunny didn't reply. Kaylin walked over to her and gently began to brush the little ones hair for her.

"I know it doesn't seem like we should, but we do have to try to keep up our appearance. No reason to look like savages. And we have to brush our teeth too. Unfortunately showering isn't a luxury we're going to enjoy very often, but we'll make do."

Kaylin reattaches the handcuff.

"I could have run." Bunny told her.

Kaylin wasn't worried.

"But you didn't. Why?"

"I wouldn't know where to go. Or what to do."

Kalin does something unexpected, and kisses her on the cheek.

"Every time I did something good my mommy gave me a kiss on the cheek. Every time you do something good, you get one."

Bunny asks about her mommy.

"Where's your mommy now?"

Kaylin is hesistant, but feels she should tell her to earn her trust.

"She's gone. One day she started to get sick, and then one day we said our goodbyes. After that I was on my own and survived on my own."

"Was she a good mommy?"

"Yeah, she was the best."

"Are you trying to be my mommy?"

"No, I'm not trying to be your mommy. I want to be your friend."

Kaylin finishes grooming the little one.

As the day whent on they travelled. They passed abandoned cars left to rust away, looted homes and the bones of murder victims. Bunny seemed unphased by it all, as did Kaylin. They passed by billboards with fading advertisements for businesses and products that no longer existed. One billboard had graffiti written on it which said "everything will be ok", a message to anyone who might happen by it, but it was an empty promise.

They travelled for what felt like miles before they came to a small town. At a distance it seemed abandoned, but as they got closer they saw signs of life. Kaylin had a bad feeling when she heard dogs barking. Barking dogs with people were always a bad sign.

"Maybe we should find another way around."

Bunny didn't disagree and they quickly got off the road and headed into a wooded area to avoid being seen.

They crossed a creek and headed further away from the town. Kaylin was sure they'd gotten clear of any potential encounter. They hadn't noticed it was getting dark, and starting to snow. Kaylin knew being outside at night was nearly a death sentence without a fire to keep you warm. But there wouldn't be any fires tonight, or any shelter. Kaylin knew they had to keep moving, keep getting further away from the town. The dogs may be sent out to hunt come morning, and not far behind would be their masters. Kaylin knew she and Bunny wouldn't be on the menu, the people would have other plans for them.

They kept moving in the pitch black. It was so cold. Bunny tried to keep up with Kaylin, but she was exhausted. They travelled all through the night. The freezing dark gave way to the freezing gray light of morning. The snow had picked up in the night, and Kaylin worried about the footprints they were leaving behind, but there was nothing they could do about it. the town was far behind them and no signs of life ahead of them. They were dead on their feet, but carried on.

They came to an abandoned semi and trailer. The driver must have lost control and crashed the semi into a ditch, but the trailer had broken free of it and was still in the middle of the road. The weathered and faded breakfast cereal mascot emblazoned on both sides of the trailer was slowly being consumed by rust. Kaylin knew the trailer wouldn be empty, but it could be good shelter for them until the snow passed.

Kaylin and Bunny approached the trailer, and noticed it was still locked. Both of them were too tired to even speak. Kaylin reached into her coat and pulled out a pick gun that she had found in a police station. It had never been of use to her since anything with a lock on it had already been broken by the time she got to it. With a little work, Kaylin was able to pick the lock and open the back of the trailer. The inside was filled with boxes of various kinds of breakfast cereal still stored for shipping. Kaylin and Bunny couldn't believe what they were seeing. There was no way anyone could have missed this, but the trailer was still packed full. Kaylin was cautious, but didn't think this could be a set up. No one would leave a bounty like this just to trap some meat.

"Hungry?" Kaylin asked Bunny.

Bunny, though exhausted, smiled and nodded yes.

Later that night, the two had made a camp inside the trailer with a small fire. The snow had stopped, but the temperature must have gone below freezing. Though the cereal was long past it's expiration date, it was all still edible. Kaylin figured the freezing temperatures may have helped preserve it. They ate until they couldn't eat anymore. Bunny yawned, and Kaylin whiped the sugar residue off her lips.

"Can we take all of this with us?" Bunny asked.

"No, but we won't leave any of it behind."

"Not even for other people?"

"There are no other people."

"But if there were, would we share?"

Kaylin is blunt.

"No."

Kaylin helps Bunny lay down.

"Sleep now."

Bunny seems to open up to Kaylin.

"Keep me warm?"

Kaylin snuggles up to her.

"Keep each other warm."

They hold each other and fall dead asleep.

Outside in the blackness, there is no one and nothing. No sign of life. These two are the last two people who will ever travel this road.

To be continued.