The Last Woman Standing (Part 1)

Carley Thomas

If I really had my choice in all this, I would have done a lot of things differently. I would have said "I love you" to my mom more. I would have tried harder in school. I would have listened when people tried to give me advice. Needless to say, I had a few regrets in my life. I wasn't planning on making any more now that I was older and wiser. So, when Tony proposed a vote, I knew exactly where I'd be going.

Considering how determined Tony was to survive, I was a little surprised that he wanted to press on without making certain that the radiation detector wasn't damaged. There were risks with either option, really, but it just made more sense to look at the bigger picture. Sure, we could outrun winter and make certain that we made it far enough south that we'd be out of the freeze but there was no guarantee that we'd have safe food and water along the way. We'd all seen what dying from radiation poisoning looked like and none of us would wish that on anyone. If making sure the detector was working properly meant taking a detour, so be it.

I tried to give Tony an encouraging look as we all got ready to move on but he wasn't paying any attention. He always seemed like the most antisocial out of all of us. Maybe he just felt a little out of place. But, then, none of us really fit in. Honestly, it was Maria that had adjusted the best. She seemed to think of us as a surrogate family rather than an awkward, ragtag bunch of strangers. It wasn't really surprising considering she was the youngest and lost her mother so recently. It just wasn't so easy for the rest of us.

We adjusted course and started heading northwest towards the city. Nate would navigate us around the outskirts once we got closer but it was nerve wracking to think that we'd be that close. In the open, we could see danger coming as long as it was something tangible. But with fallen buildings and dark hidey holes, there was no telling what might be lurking in the city. Most of the bigger cities were the hardest hit with bombs so residual radiation was a big problem but it wasn't as bad as the animals. I remember visiting a zoo once when I was younger. I'm pretty sure most cities had them. The downside to a zoo in an abandoned city full of radiation was mutated monsters that liked to stay close to their old homes. As much shelter could be found in places like that, we had only made one attempt to stay in a city. None of us wanted to try it again.

Maria and I stayed in the middle of the group. Whether anyone liked it or not, we had to recognize that the men were far better protectors than we girls were. It just made more sense. Nate was almost always at the front, keeping us on track and pointed in the right direction. I had heard Tony say once that Nate was little more than a scruffy kid but I had never seen that in him. Four years younger, he might have been, but he never acted his age. I remember seeing the same thing in my brother when I was a kid, an unnatural wisdom and maturity that just didn't adhere to an age bracket. It was why we were all still here, why we had followed Nate in the first place. At least, that was my thoughts on the matter.

Travel was fairly easy since the war had more or less leveled everything that wasn't already flat. Even the craters had evened each other out after so much abuse. Unfortunately, everything looked the same. Even the weird shrubs that grew in these flatlands, odd purplish things with wide trunks and spiraling branches, didn't change much from shrub to shrub. Of course, we'd be able to see the city sooner here than if we were in some of the areas that still had hills. I could already pick out the rubble of the outskirts and the dark smudge on the horizon of the city itself.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Darian's voice made me jump in mid step, though I did my best to recover quickly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's fine," I replied smoothly. "I was just focused on the city ahead." There was no way I was going to admit that I had dropped my guard enough for someone to sneak up on me. I had to make sure that everyone thought I could handle myself. With Darian, I could at least play it off because he was just big and slightly startling in the first place. I was just glad that Nate or Tony hadn't been paying close enough attention to notice. It was a small miracle, really, but I could relax a bit and actually answer Darian's question.

"I was watching the horizon and thinking it's gonna be a long, boring walk."

"I'd rather have a long, boring walk over a short and exciting one." Tony was apparently paying more attention than I thought and felt like entering the conversation. "At least a boring walk means you can live long enough to get where you're going."

"Well, that's true but that wasn't what I was getting at. I just meant that there isn't much to look at around here. No trees or mountains or anything."

"Well, thank God for that," he retorted. "The last thing we need is a freaking mountain to climb, just for a good view."

I shut my mouth hard at that, tightening my jaw so I wouldn't snap back at him. Darian had already stepped back a bit to keep himself out of the line of fire and I almost wished I could do the same. Tony was being a real jerk lately and I was definitely not handling the backlash well.