I loaded the last chapter a couple of days ago so check that you have read that before this one…

Day Thirty Six: 5:57pm

For their wedding Jo didn't have a white dress only a pale green summer dress she had borrowed from one of the new employees from work. Lucas wore a borrowed navy suit that had seen better days but still managed to look dashing. And they didn't have everyone there, or even their families. But they had each other, and the best wishes of Claire and a couple of their new employees to sanction their marriage and wait nervously to see happy couple joined together, and little Timothy to kiss the bride. And that was more than enough for them both - more than anyone could ask for these days.

The left the church and emerged into the last light of the day. Their appearance attracted a few onlookers who were curious to encounter a wedding in such times and stayed to stare at the couple. Timothy shyly clung on to Jo's dress, seeming flustered by the situation. She leaned down to take his hand and then after a moment Lucas bent down to pick the little boy up in his arms and carry him along with them.

Someone, somehow had managed to find a camera and take their picture as the three of them stood in the church grounds – Lucas tall dark and handsome, Jo as fair and lovely as any storybook princess and little Timothy, beaming with the excitement of the occasion. Once the picture was taken the film was passed to them to keep and develop sometime in the future when such things became normal again. When Lucas peered into the camera at the shot he was struck by the way three of them looked so very right together and the fact that, though she had no white dress and there were no frills or fuss, he had never seen a more beautiful bride than his new wife.

Lucas looked to his wife as she stood beside him. "Joanna North," she repeated to herself, contemplating the strangeness of it all after having been Joanna Portman for twenty seven years. Lucas smiled when he heard the sound of the name of her lips. He had thought she might opt to keep her old name but after a moment's indecision which came about as a result of having to make decisions that others might angst over for several months in only a few minutes she had decided to take his. "I think it sounds a very honest name. Hardworking," she had said and smiled at him.

"I like it. I think it suits you enormously," he replied, leaning over to kiss her once more.

"What will we do now?," Jo asked suddenly, reflecting that she hadn't even paused to consider what might happen next. They were the last of Section D and they had no home, no plans and she hadn't a clue what the future would bring.

"Well, tomorrow I guess we'll have to join the others and start with the tiresome business of rebuilding the city. But I think we can safety leave that for tomorrow and concentrate on just us for now," Lucas replied, his lips curving into a smile. "Claire has said she'll take Timothy this evening and then after that he could come and stay with us if you like."

"I would like that," Jo replied, her face lighting up.

"Jim has said he will lend me the use of an apartment. There's no power but its perfectly clean and undamaged by these past few weeks. And Claire went over earlier to leave us some dinner there so I thought we might have supper by candlelight. And then," he said, lowering his voice, " – then I think I might make love to you until you purr like a kitten."

"Oh," she said, looking up at him startled, "but you know I don't purr like a kitten," she replied doubtfully.

"No, not yet anyway," he said grinning. "But I'm pretty sure you will," he replied, moving closer to her and playfully twisting a strand of her golden hair in his fingers and after a minute she returned his smile.

They said their farewells to their wedding party and Lucas put his arm round her waist and she leaned in to him, finding his body provided welcome shelter from the chilly wind that signaled the onset of winter and together they began the journey to their first temporary home together.

After walking for some ten minutes, Lucas turned in response to the sound of his name in the distance to see Jim, who was unaware of the celebration and had just returned from a visit to the Prime Minister, round the corner. Lucas extracted his arm and waited for Jim to catch up with them and then clasped his hand warmly in his own.

Jim took the lead and walked slightly ahead of them, showing them the way to the apartment.

Before them lay the city of London, its outline softened by the romantic blush of the fading light.

Jim reflected that the city had stood for over two thousand years. It had seen the Romans come and go, stood firm as the country withstood raids by Vikings, grown and adapted to its new Norman rulers a thousand years ago. It had survived fire, plague, civil war, bombardment and tyranny. It had been burnt to the ground and rebuilt again. And it would survive this too – it would withstand this latest catastrophe and be rebuilt to emerge stronger still and to stand proudly once again as the nation's capital.

But it would not be easy. And he knew enough to know that it would take years not weeks. The job of a lifetime perhaps. And that the gentleness and comfort of the old world was gone and this brave new world would be harder and less forgiving than the old. A world of survivors. And he could see that Lucas North was a survivor, he knew that after eight years in a Russian jail he had to be. Unquestionably. He thought Lucas would do well in the new city.

The girl he wasn't so sure about. She looked more fragile to him.

But then he turned around to check on their progress and saw with surprise something he hadn't noticed before. That Lucas had taken her hand in his and when Jim looked closer at the expression on his face as he looked at her he knew that she too would be fine. Despite everything that had gone, despite his professional cynicism that went along with his job and after twenty two years of marriage, he still believed in love.

Half an hour later as he unlocked the door to the safehouse and handed the keys to Lucas and congratulated him and what was, he'd now learned, his new wife on their nuptials, he thought to himself that those two had probably a better chance of surviving and even at happiness as anyone else in the city. And, as turned, he caught a glimpse of Lucas' hand on his wife's stomach, a protective gesture as old as time that was unmistakable in its meaning. Jim smiled to himself. Where there was new life and love there was hope for the future.

THE END.

So that is the end. I have always had a liking for apocalyptic type stories and for romance so this was fun to write. Please review and let me know how you liked the story.