Lockey vs. the Apocalypse by Meadows, Carl (love novels in english .TXT) 📗

whose interests are exclusively confined to, “Murdering the living with a rage more fierce than the heart of a star.”

Sigh. I don’t know how I ended up on this little melancholy wander. I think maybe because of Isaac’s presence, if I’m honest. A guy my own age has been missing from my apocalypse experience thus far, and with him here, I guess I’m wondering at what might have been. Isaac’s nice, but (a) he’s more like a friend I like to hang out with and chat shit and (b) even if I was interested, I’d have to live with him when I inevitably cast him aside. And I would eventually cast him aside because something inside me is broken. Life would be unbearable then; I mean, shit, can you imagine being forced to live with your ex? Doesn’t matter who was the heart breaker and who was the heartbroken, it would be a wholly shitty experience for everyone, including those in proximity.

Holy. Shit. No.

No, I’m not feeling twitchy for our resident tech geek. I think it’s just having someone of the opposite sex that I could be with that’s brought all these thoughts to the surface. Not that I’m saying he’d be automatically interested in me. Hell, that makes me sound so arrogant.

Bloody hell, I’m making a mess of this.

Look, I’m no Freya. I’m not drop dead gorgeous with a radiant soul, just your average woman. Men don’t vie for my attention and I guess I’ve always just felt like an option for most guys, a handy alternative who might be a bit of fun or a distraction when there’s no better alternative.

It’s just the thought of a possibility that has my head all twisted up this morning. The chances of making that ultimate connection in these apocalyptic times have been drastically reduced. And that’s… well… it’s a bit shit, if I’m honest.

Bah, enough of this self-indulgent pity party.

The last few days have been busy as hell gathering resources, and I’m fucking beat. I love having more people around that I can bullshit with, but as extroverted as I am, I like a little time to myself as well to recharge my energy. I’m taking today for myself as tomorrow we’re going to a retail park at the far end of town where there is both a big electronics store, and a B&Q. The former we’re hitting with the intent to acquire Isaac all the gear he needs to set up some perimeter security on the lodge, cameras on the gate, stuff like that. The latter is for gardening supplies that Norah wants; fertilisers, seeds, blah blah. Her list is easy to follow.

Nate and I haven’t the first clue what Isaac will need, so he’s coming with us. He started to tell us, reeling off a list of stuff and I had to Jack O’Neill his ass.

“I can see your mouth moving,” I said. “And words keep coming out of them, but they’re not ones from my world.”

He laughed. “But if we want this done properly…”

“You’ll have to come with us,” I finished.

“Um, I was going to say, if we want this done properly, I’ll need the things on my list.”

“And your list is made up of random noises, cleverly disguised to sound like actual words but that, in fact, mean absolutely nothing to simple earthlings like myself or Nate. So, you’re coming with us.”

His facial expression was equal to one he might make if I’d just instructed him to saw off his dick with a rusty knife. He turned a pleading gaze to Nate, expecting the grizzled old veteran to say no at having a complete amateur along for the ride.

“Erin’s right,” was all he said. “We don’t have the time to match up the words on your list to a store full of alien devices. We can watch your six while you gather what you need; that way we can be in and out much faster. Don’t forget we have to hit the garden section of the hardware store as well for Norah. The quicker we’re done with yours, the sooner we can get Norah’s list. Every minute counts out in the field and we’ve no idea what we’re walking into up there.”

Isaac was crestfallen. The thought of being out in the field clearly terrified him.

“Like Nate says, we’ll have your back all the way.” I put on my best reassuring voice, though that usually sounds like I’m just taking the piss. “You just do what you do, and Nate and I will take care of everything else.”

“This is the new world, son,” said Nate, softening his usual granite tone a little. “And it’s a grindstone. Whether it wears you down, or polishes you up, depends on what you’re made of.”

I turned slowly to look at Nate. “Holy crap, Confucious,” I said. “That is some profound shit!”

The joke broke the tension as Isaac laughed nervously. He sucked in a breath to visibly calm himself and nodded.

“Okay,” he said, more for himself than either of us. “I can do this.”

“Easy peasy,” I nodded, slapping him on the shoulder. “All you gotta do is go shopping for nerd-tech, and we’ll handle the heavy lifting. Major bonus? You can have whatever your heart desires, for free!”

So, that’s what we’re doing tomorrow. We’re going to roll out in the pickup. We haven’t had the chance to do a proper fuel run, but Mark siphoned a load of diesel out the white van we took from the little convenience store and transferred it to the pickup to load up its tank. The van is bigger, but the pickup has more grunt in a pinch and is a much sturdier all-round vehicle. There’s plenty of space in the back for all our loot, and with just the three of us going, we can fit in there no problem.

The plan is to go tomorrow, but we might wait another day or two, depending on this rain. We don’t really want to