Geoff North - How the World Ends

Angela placed her fingers over the girl’s lips, silencing her before she could protest any more. Amanda’s sleepy eyes opened and Angela mouthed the words be quiet. The girl slowly wriggled herself up into a sitting position and saw the new arrivals. Angela clamped her hand fully over her mouth before she could scream. She leaned close to her ear and whispered. “Wake your brother up as quietly as you can. We’re leaving.”

Angela watched as Roy and his companion gave into Marie’s demands. The big man started with his shirt, undoing the buttons and glaring at the small woman standing before him with familiar murderous intent. It was a look Angela had hoped she would never have to see again. Things got much worse when he dropped his pants and stripped out of his underwear.

I should’ve died in my office after the bomb hit… I wish I’d died in my office.

“He hasn’t seen us yet,” Michael whispered.

Angela tore her eyes from the horrible scene and concentrated on the twins. “You go first, Michael. Crawl off to the right and keep up against the wall where the shadows are. Amanda, you go next. I’ll be right behind you.”

It’s like fate brought the two of you back together again so soon, isn’t it, girl? See what you get for breaking the law? Ol’ Roy there might not have much authority, but he does have the right to blow your brains all over the parkade floor for stealing those clothes.

Angela ignored her stepfather and crawled after the children. What were the chances of that bastard finding them down here? It’s a coincidence , she told herself, nothing more . He doesn’t know we’re here, and I’m not going to let him find us.

Michael led them further down into the third level. They crept on their hands and knees around another immense column, and rose to their feet when they were certain they wouldn’t be spotted. Angela could still hear Roy swearing and complaining. Marie’s voice was rising as well. Gunfire erupted seconds later and Angela saw the yellow flashes against a far wall behind them.

“Run!”

They could hear more shouting between shots, the sleeping children had started to cry. Parents were yelling, and Angela was certain the whispering old couple were now screaming at the top of their lungs. Michael was stopping at every vehicle trying to open doors.

“We don’t got time to check for food,” his sister said.

“I’m not looking for food, I’m looking for keys.”

Angela pulled him along. “The cars don’t work anymore, remember?”

“That lady said some of them still started, the ones parked farther under. If we can find keys in one, you can drive us out of here.”

It had been decades since Angela had driven a car, and she hadn’t been very good at it back then. Re-learning now, driving in a claustrophobic underground concrete parkade through a hail of bullets didn’t seem like such a bright idea as it had just hours earlier.

Now you’re beginning to use that head. Finally realizing what you can and what you can’t do… and you can’t do a whole hell of a lot, isn’t that right, girl?

Thanks, Dad. I needed that.

Angela pushed Amanda between two parked vehicles. “Help your brother check these cars. Find one with keys and I’ll try and get it started.”

Stupid. Stubborn. Distrustful.

The gunfire and screaming continued. Angela tested door handles along with the children and lucked out on her third try. It was a dark four-door sedan. It looked very powerful, and very expensive. There was a pleasant chime as the passenger door opened up and Angela slid into the leather seat.

Someone was already sitting in the driver’s seat. “This is my ride, bitch.”

The big woman that had sat across from Angela as they’d eaten was staring at her once again. They were much closer now, only twelve inches of console separating them. She could give Roy a run for his money, Angela thought. “You’re… you’re going to steal it?”

She hammered the padded steering wheel with a big fist. “Is that what you think? The big black girl found herself a nice Audi and she’s going to hotwire the fucking thing and drive away before the cracker-ass mother-fucker owner can say shit?”

Oh dear.

“I… we, that is… we’re just trying to get the hell out of here.”

Michael and Amanda opened the rear doors and sat inside, thumping the doors shut and fastening their seatbelts. Amanda kicked at the back of the driver’s seat. “Will this thing start?”

The woman looked over her shoulder and grinned at the children. “Hell yeah, girl.” She pressed the keyless ignition, and the car rumbled to life. “Quality German engineering will never let you down.” She leaned over towards Angela. “I am the mother-fucking owner of this car. How’s that for a shocker?”

The tires squealed as she pulled the shifter into drive. Angela fumbled for her own seatbelt as the car tore forward. “They’re killing each other above. I don’t care if you own, lease, or rent the damned thing. Just be careful.”

“This is my baby. Don’t you worry, I’ll be careful.”

Angela saw two things when the Audi pulled around the pillar they’d snuck around moments earlier. Marie Hodgkins was lying on the concrete floor in a pool of blood. There were three holes in her chest and stomach. Her final shift as manager and commandant at the Sandman had come to a grisly end. The second thing Angela saw—and prayed she would forget—was Roy the mall security guard standing bare naked over the dead body with a full erection. The little man with the greasy ponytail was hastily pulling his pants up behind him.

“God- damn, ” the Audi owner yelled as she slammed on the brakes. “Now that is definitely not a sight for sore eyes.”

“Don’t stop!” Michael pleaded. “He killed our Mom, and he’s gonna kill us, too!”

The woman didn’t need any more convincing. Roy was pointing a rifle at the windshield. “You kids get your heads down and keep ‘em down till we’re out of here.” The car shot forward again and Roy started firing. The first bullet went through the middle of the windshield and punched into the back seats between Michael and Amanda. A second bullet ricocheted off the car hood. Roy didn’t get a chance to fire a third shot. The big woman swerved at the last second, and the rearview mirror on her side struck Roy in the stomach with enough force to tear it clean off the door. Angela looked back and saw him fall to his knees.

Not enough to kill him. A golf club in the back wasn’t enough, and a big German car couldn’t get the job done either. Can’t anything kill that bastard?

“Fucker smucked my car up. Big-ass, small-dick mother fucker.” She continued teaching the Fulger twins colorful words and introduced Angela to a few new ones as she drove up and out of the parkade. Corey—or whatever oxygen-masked clad guard on duty it was—lowered his weapon and stood back. The Audi roared off into the night.

The woman held her hand out to Angela. “My name’s Caitlan. Sorry we got off to such a rough start. I’ve run into a lot of assholes since the world went to shit.”

Angela shook her hand. “I’m Angela. The two back there are Amanda and Michael. And don’t apologize. I’ve met a few undesirables along the way as well.”

Caitlan chuckled. “Undesirables… That’s another way of putting it.”

“You’re going the wrong way,” Michael said.

She looked at him in the rear view mirror. “What way am I supposed to be going?”

Amanda answered. “West. We were going west.”