Love at the End of the World, Part 3

by ChirpingGirl

I write mostly at night after my wife and kids have gone to sleep. I also do it in the dark. So it's hardly perfect. Be kind.

Two months later the four girls are still travelling south. Their stock of food is running low, and they are all hungry. They eat so sparingly as to conserve as much as possible for the long, cold journey still ahead. They feel as though they have travelled far, but due to the weather and their own fatigue, they still have a very long way to go. There's been little or nothing to find on the long road. No signs of life either. None of the girls have spoken in days. They seem to communicate simply by looks and hand gestures.

They finally come to another city. Kaylin had plotted their course, no choice but to look there for supplies. The city seems as dead and abandoned as any other. They pass crashed cars with skeletons inside. They step over bones in the streets and on the sidewalks. There's nothing worth looting yet. A museum, some fast food restaurants, government buildings and a bank are all they come upon first. But then they see it. They see a CVS pharmacy, and it looks unlooted. They head right for it. Kaylin let's Suki take control of their cart of dwindling supplies as she readies her now trusty MP5. The windows are covered in grime, they can't see inside. Kaylin tries the front door. It sticks, but with a little effort it opens. She gives the others a look that tells them to wait there while she looks inside. Kaylin steps in with her weapon ready, but there's no need for it here. The pharmacy is stocked with everything they need. Food, canned goods, water, hygene supplies, candy of all kinds.... everything. The ailes were all fully stocked. Kaylin takes a moment. She sheds a few tears. She knew they were done for without a miracle, and here it is. But then she realized that this may be the worst thing that could happen. That they would always find places like this, and that they would start to expect it as matter of fact. She considered not even telling the others and just moving on. But she couldn't condemn the children to starvation, not with this miracle before them. She steps back outside and holds the door open. The other girls cautiously look inside, and when they see it they can hardly believe it. They all step inside, and Kaylin closes the door behind them.

The children are mezmerized at the site. Suki pulls Kaylin aside.

"This... this is a miracle!" Suki said.

"Yeah, maybe."

"How could it be anything else?"

"Not now." Kaylin said.

Bunny picks up a small bag of potato chips from a "clearance" display. She looks at Kaylin, and Kaylin reluctantly gives her a nod to go ahead and eat it. Bunny opens it and shares with the little one. They may be out of date, but are surprisingly crunchy and fresh.

Even with this place fully stocked and no trace of Human life Kaylin can't relax. Everything is a potential trap as far as she's concerned.

By night the girls have set up camp in the store. They have a good fire going contained inside of a mini barbecue that had been on end of summer sale. They eat another small meal despite this treasure they've found. Kaylin keeps looking out a window for potential signs of life, but there is absolutely nothing living out there. They are the first Humans to set foot in the area since the day the world ended. Suki leaves the little ones and goes to Kaylin.

"Anything?" Suki asked.

"Just ghosts."

"Then why don't you let them roam the ruins, and come eat?"

"No."

Suki puts her hand on Kaylin's shoulder.

"You can't keep watch on an empty stomach."

"I always have."

Kaylin continues staring out the window. Suki goes back to the children.

Late at night Kaylin is still keeping watch. Suki isn't able to sleep, so she lights a candle taken from the store and goes to Kaylin.

"You need some rest." Suki said.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Suki sits in a chair a cashier once used. She looks around and finds a dust covered newspaper next to the register. She clears the dust then picks it up to read.

"Same old news". Kaylin said.

Suki reads the headline.

"Russia uses experimental new weapon over London. No survivors reported."

Kaylin hadn't read any news papers with that headline before.

"Maybe that is new."

Suki continues.

"Pentagon officials claim new weapon air burst over London and somehow extracted all oxygen within a several hundred mile radius, killing millions instantly. A united states military response is certain."

Suki absorbs the information.

"Explains what some of the old timers said. How people just died that day."

"Doesn't explain why it's cold all the time and why the sky is always dark." Kaylin said.

"A lot of things burned. All that ash whent into the sky that day and for a lot of days after. I don't know."

Suki continues reading.

"Government officials ask for calm as millions attempt to flee major cities. That must be why all this stuff is here. People were trying to get away, and no one ever came back."

Kaylin doesn't really care.

"Yeah, that's unfortunate."

Suki puts the paper back down, then goes to their cart of supplies. She pulls out an old Cassette Player/Recorder. She also grabs some cassetes. She then goes and grabs the batteries needed and puts them in. She puts a cassette in and presses play. There's no sound until she sets it down near the cash registers where she was sitting. A romantic song begins to play. Kaylin doesn't like when she uses that thing.

"I was kind of glad when you lost the rechargeable batteries for that thing." Kaylin said.

"Plenty of them here."

Suki sits near Kaylin and stares at her.

"What?" Kaylin said.

"We haven't talked in weeks."

"Nothing much to say."

"There was everything to say. And maybe nothing."

"I let it go." Kaylin said as she continued to look out into the dead city.

Weeks ago the four girls were holed up inside of a diner waiting out a storm. The girls were asleep as Kaylin and Suki were listening to the tape player and had almost finished off the bottle of burboun Kaylin and Bunny found back at the hospital. Both of them were a little wasted, and for once were both giggling like 15 year old girls should. Kaylin pours the last of the booze into a cup.

"What'll you give me for it?" Kaylin asked.

"Mmmmmmmmm, I dunno, how about a kiss?"

Kaylin doesn't say anything, so Suki just leans forward and kisses her. A friendly kiss on the lips quickly turns into them making out. Neither had ever done it with anyone before, so it was all guess work, but they seemed to be getting it right as neither could stop. Kaylin is the one to pull back and stop. She looks at Suki for a moment, then shoves her away.

"Don't ever do that again." Kaylin said angrily.

Back at the pharmacy the mood between them is equally tense.

"There was nothing wrong with it." Suki said.

"Yes, there was."

"Oh, I get it, you're a hard ass. You can't get close to anyone."

"You got it."

"You got close to Bunny."

"Different."

"How?"

"It just is."

Suki takes Kaylin's hand into hers.

"You're so tense." Suki said.

Kaylin tries to pull away, but Suki won't let her.

"Please don't pull away."

Kaylin snaps her hand away from Suki.

"Leave me alone!" Kaylin said angrily as she turned her gaze back out the window.

Suki gets up and goes to the tape player. She turns it off, then goes to the girls and lays down next to them.

The next morning Kaylin is making plans to search the nearby buildings.

"That's the tallest building. I want to get onto the roof and have a look around. Maybe we can see if there's any signs of life out there."

"I'll go with you." Suki said

"The kids don't get left alone."

"We'll be fine." Bunny said.

"They can lock the door from the inside. And Bunny's getting good with a nine mil." Suki said.

Kaylin reluctantly agrees.

"Alright, but we check in every five minutes on these walker talker things."

Some time ago the group had looted an electronics store and the only useful items they found were crank powered walie talkies. They took as many as they could find.

"Ok, every five minutes." Bunny said.

"And keep your guns close, and always have that twenty two with you."

"I know, I know." Bunny has been through this before.

Suki and Kaylin grab several childrens school back packs from a "back to school" aisle and head out. Bunny locks the door behind them.

The weather outside is cold, but at least there isn't any wind.

"There, let's try to get to the roof of that building." Kaylin said as she pointed at the museum building just across the street from the pharmacy.

Kaylin and Suki enter the museum and find dust covered relics, and the skeletons of the last people to ever visit the museum. The remains are of varying sizes, and some have school back packs.

"They all just died." Kaylin said.

"The bomb the news paper was talking about." Suki said.

Kaylin steps over the remains, they mean nothing to her. Suki stops for a moment and starts to cry.

"What?" Kaylin asked.

"They just died."

"So?" Kaylin said without a hint of compassion.

"Doesn't it mean anything to you?"

"Their problems are over. We're the ones you should be crying for."

Kaylin continues on, Suki follows her.

The roof of the museum provided them a good view of the city. With the dead trees having no leaves, they could see nearly everything. There was no sign of any life. No Humans, no animals, nothing. Kaylin scans the city with a pair of binoculars.

"Anything?" Suki asked.

"Nothing. Roads are covered in ash. No tracks of any kind."

Kaylin looks beyond their immediate area and sees a few more places that may have useful things. A plasma donation center, a good will, a sports arena and a pawn shop. Kaylin pulls out some post-it notes and a pen. She makes note of the locations. As she looks around, she notices Suki adjusting her somewhat filthy hair. She notices it's jet black color.

"Your hair is pretty." Kaylin said.

"What?"

"I didn't notice before, but your hair is pretty."

Suki doesn't think she's being genuine with her compliment.

"Yeah, ok."

Kaylin walks past her back down to the museum. Suki realizes Kaylin was being genuine. She quickly follows her.

The two say nothing as they search several buildings, but when they get to a bar near the pharmacy the tension between them begins to boil over. Kaylin picks up a bottle of rum and examines it. Suki makes a terrible comment that sets Kaylin off.

"Drink up. Maybe it'll make you less of a hard ass. For a few minutes anyway."

Kaylin stares at the bottle, then she explodes. She throws the bottle at a wall then grabs a chair and throws it into a large mirror that has a sign above it "if you can't recognize yourself, you're too drunk to drive". Kaylin picks up other bar items and proceeds to smash and destroy them. Suki just watches her, she knows Kaylin needs to do this. After Kaylin is finished destroying as much as she can, she has a seat on a stool and after a moment of silence she begins to cry profusely. Suki goes to her and holds her. To her surprise Kaylin grabs onto her.

"I don't want to survive anymore." Kaylin said while crying.

"I know. I know you're sick and tired of this nightmare. I know. So am I." Suki said.

Kaylin says something that Suki can't believe.

"I want to die."

Suki believes her.

"No! No, you don't get to say that. We need you here."

"You can take care of Bunny. You've been good with her."

"You're not leaving us, I won't let you."

"Please."

Suki grabs Kaylin's side arm.

"You want the easy way out? Well that's too fucking bad, because there are people who care about you now and we don't want you to go."

"Just let me go. Promise you'll take care of Bunny, that's all I care about."

"I will no matter what but you're not doing this. We stick together from now on."

Kaylin composes herself then gathers up her gear and begins looting the bar.

"What are you doing?" Suki asked.

"All I ever do."

Later that evening at the pharmacy Suki and the girls are eating another small meal. Kaylin is, for the first time in a long time, sleeping at the window she keeps watch from.

"What happened out there?" Bunny asked.

Suki tells Bunny the truth.

"She wants to leave us."

Bunny doesn't understand.

"Why would she want to leave us?"

"Sweetheart, she doesn't want to leave us the way you think. She wants to leave..."

"You mean forever." Bunny said.

"Yeah, forever."

"She doesn't get to do that to us."

Suki puts her food aside.

"Listen, girls, this is something she has to decide for herself. She doesn't want to live this way anymore. She's tired of wandering and hoping to find places like this. She's tired of being cold all the time. She's tired of being afraid all the time."

"We all are." Bunny said.

"I know. But we have to agree to let her make her own decision. If she wants to go, that's her choice. But we want her to stay, don't we?"

Bunny and the little one nod their heads yes.

"Ok. Now let's eat up and get some sleep."

They continue eating their meal.

Later that evening Suki is keeping watch, she hasn't disturbed Kaylin's sleep.

Kaylin is having a strange dream. She's in a high school she once searched, except now she's a student. She's a normal fifteen year old girl. She's with friends, goofing off, and doing what girls her age used to do. But since her dreams are based on ideas of what Kaylin thought girls her age did in school, her dream goes from being a good one to a nightmare. Her friends suddenly turn into skeletons, the green grass dies, the blue sky above turns dark and the hallways of the school go dark and cold. Kaylin is back in her survivor gear. She looks around the school and begins to cry until she sees Suki standing in front of her. She's clean, beautiful, perfect. Kaylins memory portrays her as a vision of beauty, perfect in every way. Suki stands there smiling at Kaylin. Kaylin walks over to her and inspects her.

"You are so beautiful."

The vision of Suki leans forward and hugs Kaylin. Kaylin hugs her back, enjoing the warm touch of another Human being. But as Suki pulls back from her, she returns to her post apocalyptic refugee appearance. She's joined by Bunny and the little girl. The little ones each take one of Suki's hands. Their smiles are gone, replaced by angry frowns. They turn around to walk away from Kaylin.

"Don't go!"

Suki and the girls turn back around to Kaylin and what she sees is a horrific sight. They're dead. Their throats cut, and their clothes covered in blood. Kaylin screams before waking up suddenly.

"You ok?" Suki asked.

"No."

Suki gets up and goes to her. She grabs Kaylin's MP5 and puts it on the cashiers counter. She goes back to Kaylin, looks at her for a moment, then puts her arms around her and embraces her. Kaylin tries to push her away, but then returns the embrace. Kaylin grabs Suki and pulls her as close as she can get her.

"You're not leaving us." Suki said.

"I promise I won't."

Kaylin pulls back and looks at Suki's face.

"You are so beautiful." Kaylin said.

Suki smiles at her. Kaylin moves in and kisses Suki's lips. Suki let's her, and kisses her back. They both pull back from the kiss, and go back to holding each other. And they do so for the rest of the night.

The next morning the weather outside has gotten worse. Winter is here. Kaylin goes to the front door.

"Ok, here's the plan. I go out and get as much stuff as I can. All of you stay here and try to stay warm."

"You can't go out there, not alone." Suki said.

"Can't risk both of us. You stay here with the kids."

Suki puts her jacket and gloves on.

"We go together, or we don't go. We need to bring back enough stuff to last a while, and four hands can carry a lot more than two."

Suki grabs some backpacks as well, and so do the little ones.

"Outnumbered?" Kaylin asked.

All three girls nod their heads to say yes.

They all head out towards the pawn shop Kaylin had noticed while on the roof of the museum.

"Why there?" Suki asked.

"Electricaltronical stuff. Maybe some heat makers, and more of those generators you can make things work by cranking."

The snow is light as they reach the shop. The front door, like all the others, is unlocked. They go inside and find everything covered in dust, but as unlooted as every other business in the area. But there is one skeleton sitting in a chair, it's bone fingers resting on the dust covered keyboard of a laptop computer.

Suki and the girls look around, but Kaylin, perhaps on instinct, goes to the guns. They're all preserved behind glass display cases. Box after box of assorted ammunitions stored near them. Kaylin smashes the glass cases, startling Suki and the girls.

"What are you doing!?" Suki asked.

"Can't leave all this behind."

Suki sighs deeply. The little ones have snuck off and have already found large portable heating and cooling units on display near small refrigerators and other household electronics. They both cary a big unit back to Suki, who is very impressed.

"Great job, girls! now let's see if we can find any of those generator things."

Suki and the girls find hand crank generators near camping supplies. Suki reads the sign next to the gear: "thirty percent off all camping supplies. Turn end of summer savings into fall fun! Lamps, tents, portable generators! Perfect for hunting season! Suki and the girls take everything and pile it up near the shops entrance. Kaylin is still looting the weapons and ammo. Suki interrupts her.

"I know what you meant now." Suki said.

"'bout what?"

"That this may not be a good thing. We might start to expect to always find places like this with everything we need."

"Yeah."

Kaylin fills a pack with handguns and ammo. Suki and the girls go to the back of the store to look for more things. They find lawn carts next to lawn mowers, perfect for carrying their goods. The little one tugs at Bunny's coat to get her attention. She points to box after box and hundreds of ancient VHS tapes still in their paper covering. Along with them are equally obsolete technological items the shop could never sell or give away. Old standard definition TV's, cameras, and many other relics discarded by society as newer and better gadgets came along. A piece of paper near them says "someone take this shit, the old man won't pay to have it all taken to the dump. Take it, burn it, give it away. Just find a way to get rid of all this old shit". Suki inspects the old tapes, and one of the televisions with a built in VHS and DVD player.

"Why not?" Suki said as she started filling a lawn cart with the "old shit".

It took them all day, and several trips back and forth, but they gutted the pawn shop and left behind only what was useless. With their loot piled up in the shop, the little ones are exhausted. Kaylin is putting duct tape around the edges of windows where any cold air from outside could get in. Suki "shops" for dinner. She chooses spaghetti, and spaghetti sauce. She takes it back to their "camp". She pours water into a pan and sets it on top of a barbecue to boil. They had already figured out how to get a generator and a small refrigerator working, and would also be enjoying cold drinks with a hot meal tonight. As the water heats, Suki goes to Kaylin who is still taping the windows.

"We're here for the winter now." Suki said.

"I know. We still have to ration everything if we're going to make it through."

"Still lots of places to look, and more here than we ever dreamed possible. May even be more in the back, we haven't even looked there yet. Tonight we have a big dinner and celebrate, tomorrow we go back to surviving."

Kaylin reluctantly agrees.

"Alright, one celebration."

Later, Suki is preparing dinner and the girls are amazed at the feast she's prepared. Kaylin had gotten another generator working, and is trying to figure out how to make an old TV work. She manages to turn it on, and figure out it's basic controls. She then manages to put a VHS tape into the player, and it works. All of them are amazed to see it. First, an FBI warning, then trailers for movies, then the feature presentation: DIE HARD. Kaylin sits down with her "family" and Suki hands her a paper plate full of spaghetti and saltine crackers on the side. She also hands her an ice cold coca cola. The little ones are already eating and watching this odd site on the television.

"What would you call this, dinner and moving pictures?" Suki asked.

"Let's just call it a celebration." Kaylin said.

The "family" enjoys dinner and a movie.

A week later Kaylin is searching homes a bit away from the pharmacy. She closes the door of a house, and spray paints a red X on the front door to remind her that she's already pillaged it. She tosses her finds into a lawn cart, and moves onto the next house. The winter is here, but there's been little snow. Kaylin is dressed head to toe in warm clothing. She takes a moment to look down the street near her next target, and sees nothing but more houses, and a few small businesses. Her cart is already full, but she still has a couple of backpacks to fill before heading back. She enters the next house, and it's become a typical find. Everything covered in dust, but at least no skeletons here yet. Kaylin ransacks the kitchen, finding plenty of canned goods and other food items. She finds candles and lighters in a drawer. She shoves all of it in a back pack and a half, then heads up stairs. She'd been on the lookout for childrens clothing, and she finally finds some that will fit Bunny and the little one in the bedroom that once belonged to a little girl. She takes everything in the closet, including coats and cold weather items. After searching the adults bedroom, and finding only a few other items of clothes she and Suki might be able to use, Kaylin completed her search of the house and returned to the cart. Overflowing with goods, she calls it a day and begins to head back to the pharmacy.

At the pharmacy, Suki keeps guard with her new AR-15 Kaylin took from the pawn shop and fixed up for her. She also carries side arms, and a knife. Even though they are the only four people in the city, Kaylin still doesn't feel safe. Suki opens the front doors and Kaylin brings the cart in. Suki quickly closes and locks the doors.

"Good stuff?" Suki asked.

"Lots of food, clothes, other stuff."

Bunny and the little one go to the cart and start sorting the loot, it's their job.

"Enough to lift rationing?" Suki asked.

"Maybe a little. We're stuck here for months, but we still need to plan for heading south. We need to make some kind of plan."

"I've already started. Right now we have enough to make it through the winter months, and then three or four more on the road. The more you bring back the more we have for both."

"Tomorrow will probably be the last chance for a while, I can smell a storm moving in."

"Then maybe we should all go, just in case it's going to be a bad and long one."

"Yeah, good idea. But right now I'm starving, what's for dinner?"

"Something called "stove top chicken stuffing" and something in a can called "Hormel breast of chicken in water". Found it in the back of the building with all the other stuff. It was in the crates that said "fall, thanksgiving and Christmas food items". We'll try the "turkey" tomorrow."

Later in the evening after their dinner, Bunny and the little one are asleep. Suki is still working out rationing plans to get them through the winter. Kaylin, to Suki's surprise, puts a cassette into the tape player.

"Found hundreds of these at that shop, might as well listen to them." Kaylin said.

Suki likes her selection.

"That's nice."

Kaylin reaches out to Suki, implying she wants to dance with her.

"This is different." Suki said as she joins Kaylin.

"We need to talk."

Kaylin pulls her close, and they begin to move to the music. Neither of them knows how to dance, so this is the best they can do.

"I know." Suki said.

"Why don't you start."

Suki rests her head on Kaylins chest.

"Is this going anywhere?" Suki asked.

Kaylin finally tells her.

"Kaylin."

Suki smiles as she looks Kaylin in the eyes.

"Hello, Kaylin."

Suki hugs Kaylin, they continue moving to the music.

The next morning it was warmer, and pouring rain. It was an opportunity they couldn't pass up to clean themselves. First, the little ones stood on the sidewalk just outside the pharmacy. Kaylin and Suki each helped their girl get clean. The filth from their little bodies ran down a storm drian with the rain water. Kaylin poured shampoo on top of Bunnies hair and rubbed it in for her, Suki did the same for her girl. It took a long time to get the little ones clean, but once they were done they ran back into the pharmacy to dry themselves off. Kaylin and Suki then took the opportunity to clean themselves. The two fifteen year old girls helped each other. Kaylin scrubbed Suki's back and helped wash her hair, Suki did the same for Kaylin. Each admired the others bodies but said nothing. Suki found herself desperately wanting to touch Kaylin's breasts, but wasn't sure it would be appropriate. Kaylin noticed her staring, and after a moment she grabbed Suki's hands and put them on her breasts for her. Kaylins were bigger than Suki's, and Suki very much enjoyed touching them. Kaylin put her hands on Suki's hips and pulled her forward to her. The sensation they both felt was something they'd never felt before. They knew little or nothing of sex, especially sex between two girls, but just touching each other was thrilling to both of them. But when their vaginas touched, a new and wonderful feeling washed over both of them along with the rain water. They pulled each other close. Kaylin rubbed her hands all over Suki's body, which felt wonderful to Suki. Suki did the same and for the first time in her life, Kaylin felt the caring touch of another Human being besides her mother. Kaylin, perhaps on instict, grabbed Suki and took her down to the hard concrete sidewalk and layed on top of her. They began kissing, and Suki grabbed onto Kaylin's soaking wet hair. Suki spread her legs then wrapped them around Kaylins waist. The rain continued to pour. Kaylin began moving herself back and forth on Suki, and as the unebelievable pleasure struck them, so did a revelation. They were falling in love with each other, and both wanted nothing more than to share their bodies with each other. Kaylin began moving faster and faster and pressing her vagina against Suki's as hard as she could until she found a perfect spot. Suki's face lit up with pleasure and she began to make the strange sounds the she made when Kaylin caught her masturbating, only louder and more animalistic. Kaylin had never felt anything like this and she couldn't believe it. She fucked Suki so hard and fast that Suki's back was being shredded by the concrete below. But Suki didn't care. They both came at the same time and the pleasure so overwhelmed them both that as they came they both froze and just breathed fast and hard. As their orgasms faded away they looked at each other, neither knowing what to say. What should they say? They said nothing to each other, and didn't even acknowledge what had just happened. They finished "showering" and whent back inside the pharmacy.

A day later the "family" had finished looting several more homes. it was just in time as the winter storm Kaylin predicted hit that night. They would be snowed in for days, a week... maybe even more. They set in for the storm. Kaylin and Suki still had not spoken of what happened. The little ones slept, snuggled up to each other. Kaylin wasn't on watch, there was no point tonight. No one would be out in this storm unless they wanted to die. Suki sat down next to Kaylin, who was cleaning something small.

"Can we talk?." Suki asked.

"Sure."

"About what we did yesterday."

"I'm not sorry."

"No! No, me either. I'm happy you're not. I meant we should talk about it, because it was very important."

"I know. Are we married now?"

Suki didn't understand.

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't that what married people did? I read it in something called a "magazine" from the display over there."

"I don't know. Do you want to be married?"

"It'd mean we were family."

Suki likes that.

"We pretty much are."

Kaylin gives her what she was cleaning, a very beautiful ring with a diamond. She found two identical ones in a house.

"If you want to be married, I'm ok with it." Kaylin said.

Suki takes the ring and looks at it.

"Do you love me?" Suki asked.

"I feel the things for you that I felt for my mother. I feel for you what I feel for Bunny. I guess that's love, but I don't really know what love is so I'm guessing."

"I love you." Suki said.

"Then I love you."

Suki gave the ring back to Kaylin.

"I Think you have to put it on me, and I have to put it on you or it's not official." Suki said.

Kaylin takes the ring, then slips it on Suki's middle finger. Suki does the same for Kaylin.

"I marry you." Suki said.

"I marry you, too." Kaylin said.

They gently kiss each other, then realize they've been watched having this post apocalyptic nuptial. Bunny and the little one are smiling at them. The new "parents" of the girls reach out to invite their daughters over, and each hug their "mother". They're a true family now.

The next morning, Suki is snuggled up with her "daughter", Bunny and Kaylin have a conversation while sharing a snickers bar for breakfast.

"I thought you didn't like her?" Bunny asked.

"I lied."

Bunny smiles.

"You really like her."

"Yeah, I really like her. Like I really like you."

Kaylin broke off a bigger piece and gave it to Bunny.

"We're a family now." Bunny said.

"Yeah, we're a family now."

"I was right."

"Yeah, you were right."

Bunny eats the candy.

"She's really pretty. Just like you." Bunny said as she chewed.

Kaylin couldn't help but smile.

"And just like you." Kaylin said before kissing Bunny on the cheek.

Bunny gets up and goes to Kaylin, and sits in her lap.

"Thanks for buying me." Bunny said.

"You're welcome." Kaylin said as she hugged Bunny.

"Will you stay with us now? You won't go away like you wanted to?"

"I won't leave my family. I promise."

They hold each other.

A week later the snow had melted due to another rain storm. Kaylin took the opportunity to go scavenging while the others stayed behind. She was surprised to find that there were people travelling through a neighborhood. They looted as they whent, but they seemed like good people. Women, children, a few men. Kaylin was hesitant to approach them as she didn't want to reveal the bounty of supplies she had with her. the women looked after the children as the men searched. One of the older children, a boy, saw Kaylin out of the corner of his eye, and alerted the adults. She had no choice but to stand with her newly tricked out AR-15 ready. The men were armed with shotguns, no match for Kaylin at their range. She could easily mow them all down if she had to. The women all had pistols, but even at their range, and with obviously little training, Kaylin didn't feel threatened. One of the men held up his shotgun, a gesture of not being a threat. He had no idea Kaylin was a fifteen year old girl, or he would probably not have done so. Kaylin was wrapped in all manner of warm clothing, and her face was covered.

"We're just passing through!" The man yelled.

Kaylin pulled a pistol as well, but kept it lowered.

"Look, there's plenty of houses to search! More than you can carry, and more than we can! Let's call it even and go on about our day! No need to waste ammo shooting at each other!"

Kaylin wasn't going to take chances, not with her family without her. She thought about killing all of them to make sure they wouldn't find the pharmacy, but she saw the small children. They were terrified. But she still didn't lower her guard, the men could sieze an opportunity and take her down. Kaylin cautiously approached them, and made a gesture for the men and women to lower their weapons. They do. Kaylin reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of some kind of energy bars and tossed them to the boy who saw her. She was testing him. If he shared with everyone, especially the little ones, and the adults refused, they may be trustworthy. The boy gave most of them to the children, then offered to the adults, who all refused. The children ate like starving animals, it took only seconds for them to consume half of the bars, and save the rest for later. This told Kaylin the children were raised well, and not as animals.

"Thank you." One of the mothers said.

Kaylin pulled the cloth covering her mouth down to reveal the young girl the men would not have suspected.

"Storm's coming. Worse than the one before. You should find shelter, it'll be here by night."

"Who are you?" A man asked.

Kaylin wanted to seem every bit the bad ass she really was.

"Someone you don't want to fuck with."

Kaylin starts to walk backwards, away from the group.

"Wait! You could come with us!" A woman said.

"Don't follow me, or I'll kill all of you." Kaylin replied.

Kaylin walked in a direction away from the pharmacy, in hopes the group wouldn't go that way. She watched them covertly as they looted another house, then moved on down the road. It was near dark before they were gone down the road. The storm was coming, and Kaylin had to hurry back to the pharmacy. Suki and the girls were worried, and releived when Kaylin returned.

"I was about to come looking for you." Suki said.

"Had a run in with refugees."

Suki is concerned.

"Refugees?"

"They're gone."

Suki embraces her wife, and tries to warm her up.

It had been a brutal storm that lasted a week. The snow was waist high, and the temperature beyond deadly. There was little for them to do. The little ones slep, Kaylin and Suki made sure the inside of the pharmacy was always as warm as possible. Rarely did they have a moment alone, and hand't been together since that special day. Each time they touched each other, their urges nearly overwhelmed them. They so badly wanted to slip away from the girls, and slip out of their clothes. They were eager to experiment, to discover what they could do to eath other that felt as good as their first sexual encounter. With the little ones snuggled up and fast asleep, and no possible danger coming their way, Kaylin and Suki decide to sneek away to the back of the store, to finally have a "honeymoon".

They passionately kissed and ripped each others cloths away. It took no time at all for them to strip each other. As their warm, naked bodies touched each other they felt the same rush of excitement, if not moreso. Suki didn't mind Kaylin controlling this. Suki let Kaylin take full control. Kaylin lifted Suki on top of stack of various goods. Suki wrapped her legs around Kaylins waist, but Kaylin had something else in mind. The spread Suki's legs, and began to move her head down. She kissed Suki's neck, then her chest, then her breasts, then her stomach, and finally she had her head between Suki's legs.

"What are you doing?" Suki asked.

"Saw it in one of those moving picture things. I'm guessing what to do, but hopefully I'll get it right."

Kaylin buries her face in Suki's pussy. Suki is amazed at the sensation and grabs onto Kaylins hair. Kaylin gets it right. She sticks her tongue inside Suki's warm, wet pussy and licks her. But what Kaylin does next is even better. Kaylin licks Suki's clit, and when sensing she's doing something right, she sucks the clit. Suki cums hard in Kaylins mouth. So hard that she nearly rips some of Kaylins hair out of her head. Suki calms, and caresses Kaylins head. Kaylin rests her head in Sukis crotch.

"Teach me that." Suki said.

Kaylin chuckles.

Weeks whent by. The winter weather had finally broken, and a rain storm had melted most the snow away. The streets were flooded with ankle deep water. Kaylin was dressed and ready for more searching. Suki hugs and kisses her, and the two little ones hug her.

"Be safe." Suki said as she kissed Kaylin.

"I promise."

Kaylin set out. She had filled her backpacks with more goods, but when she came upon a house with it's door open, she found a ghastly sight. The men she had seen in the group of refugees had all frozen to death, trapped and unable to leave, they tried and failed to survive the storm. There was no sight of the women or the children that were with them. Kaylin did the only thing she could, she took what they had and left them behind.

After searching a few more houses, she found the women and children huddled together in a house near a fireplace, all dead. Starved to death, or frozen, probably both. Kaylin let them be. They had nothing useful except their clothes, and she couldn't bring herself to take them. Suki tries to contact Kaylin on the radio.

"Kaylin? Kaylin are you there?"

Kaylin responds.

"I'm here. I'm alright."

"What did I say about checking in every fifteen minutes?"

"I know."

Suki senses something's wrong.

"You ok?"

Kaylin stares at the bodies.

"No."

Suki is concerned.

"Come home."

"Soon."

She turns her radio off, then covers the bodies with blankets. She leaves everything, what little there was, behind.

Kaylin carried her supplies back to the pharmacy where her family was anxiously awaiting her return. Suki could tell something was wrong, but didn't press her for details.

Later that night, both Bunny and the little one had their heads resting in Kaylins lap. Kaylin stroked their hair as they slept. This is the most "motherly" she's been towards them. That's Suki's job. Kaylin is the protector and hunter gatherer.

"What happened out there?" Suki asked.

"They're all dead. Those people I told you about. They're all dead."

"Oh, god."

"If I left you, you'd be dead."

"Maybe, maybe not."

Suki helps remove the little ones from Kaylins lap. Kaylin goes to an aisle of food and looks at the bounty before her. They've gone through none of it. Row after row of food and supplies, enough to last what would seem like forever.

"Maybe we should have shared." Suki said.

"No. We have to think about ourselves."

Kaylin picks up a huge pack of snickers bars, one of many more on the shelf.

"They had so much of everything." Kaylin said.

"People kill for what they threw away now."

Kaylin puts the bag back and grabs Suki, pulling her into an embrace.

"I love you." Kaylin said.

"I love you, too."

They "excused" themselves to the back of the store again as the children slept.

It was a long and brutal winter. Weeks turned into months. Weeks and months of snow that covered everything and blocked the door. It was nearly what was once called "spring" again before the snow had finally begun to melt. The girls were sick and tired of their incarceration, but they were finally free to step outside. The snow had mostly melted and was overflowing the drains. The girls stepped outside and were greeted with something they hadn't seen or felt in so long... the sun. The clouds broke and the sun shined on the decaying wasteland of the city. It's dull colors brightened by the light.

Kaylin put her arms around Suki, their bond had only strengthened in their time stuck inside the pharmacy.

It was getting warm, very warm. So warm that the girls were sweating. It didn't last long, but atleast the sun was seeming to stick around. The clouds had broken, or perhaps all the soot and ash in them finally cleared out. The sun remained shining for days, then a week, and finally the skies were clear for the first time in many years. Suki thought the Earth may finally be healing it's self. Kaylin was less optimistic.

It was time to move on. If they wanted to get south by the next winter they had to begin moving now. They had rationed every morsel of food and drink, and by the time the spring arrived they still had so much left. They agreed not to leave anything behind, so they all ate as much as they possibly could. Their carts and packs were all stuffed with supplies, and Kaylin had selected only the best firearms to take with them, and left behind what was to heavy or not very useful. They still had enough firepower to take out an army. kaylin and Bunny took one last look at the pharmacy.

"Was a good place." Bunny said.

"Yeah. But we have to find a real home." Kaylin said.

Kaylin and Bunny join Suki and the little one. They begin their long journey South.