JACKSON

It had been slow, and then fast.

We had been warned.

Research scientists had been the first to find out about it. The information had gone public – Al Gore and his famous comments and writings about global warming, the Nobel Peace Prize that he had received. It had been blown off by so many at first. Congressional hearings on climate change, views picked up by the Democratic party, even the U.N. had pushed for the Kyoto Protocol. Yet things had continued to worsen. The ice caps had shrunk, sea levels had continued to rise, and things had hit the point of no return like a slap in the face.

The first case, as far as I was aware, happened in Russia. The melting ice had released an anthrax virus that had been dormant for years, held in the carcass of deer and reentering the environment once it had been exposed again. Dozens had been in the hospital. A kid had died. Pulmonary anthrax was deadly in most cases. Dermal contact wasn't nearly as bad. It was luck that it hadn't been worse.

Russia and the Soviet Union had a history with anthrax – in the late twentieth century primarily. Most of it, I don't remember the details of anymore. I can't look it up like I would have in the past.

Despite the spread of that deadly bacteria, the story had been rather covered up. It's hard to say whether it was because of the politics of the area, interests aligned elsewhere, but the story hadn't been as big as it should have.

NPR had reported it, even though it had ended up brushed off and forgotten after a few weeks. It had been blamed as a result of thawing permafrost, correctly so. Permafrost was thick and much of it, all across the world, had been there for centuries. Climate change had caused the temperature in the Arctic Circle to rise quickly. All of the people and animals that had been buried inside of the permafrost had held viruses and bacteria that we hadn't seen for years – that we hadn't known about, or been able to vaccinate against. Anti- or pro-vaccination didn't matter anymore. We were all vulnerable.

It had been the first of many.

Smallpox. Cholera. H5N1. The bubonic plague. The pneumonic plague. Bolivian hemorrhagic fever. All of it had come back, slapped on with antibiotic-resistant superbugs. It had all been the perfect disaster.

The coldest parts of the world had been hit hardest, at first – but it was the twenty-first century and how connected the rest of the world was made it all too easy for the diseases to spread. Soon it didn't matter whether it was Siberia or Australia. Something was there. Only the most isolated parts and communities were left untouched, but that was an assumption. I'd never know. No one would.

Of course, they weren't the only ones still alive. I was. But I was alone. Not the last human on Earth, surely, I'd come across others. We all fought for the same thing: survival.

Being alone during a time like this was hard. I didn't know everything. But it was also a safety mechanism. If I avoided people, then I avoided the diseases and bugs that they could have carried with them. It was a cost-analysis decision. Either decision could be right.

I'd never been a boy scout growing up, and now, I regretted it. A few of those skills would have come in handy. Building a fire wasn't so bad. I'd picked up a few things from television and a few others along the way, and I'd made it this far. I had a good immune system. Working in the hospital for years had allowed me that much. Good enough, apparently, that it had managed to keep me alive for this long. All I could do was keep my fingers crossed that it wouldn't fail me now.

Most grocery stores didn't have a lot left. Most produce couldn't be trusted anymore. I'd gotten good at growing tomatoes – but not much else.

Still, I had to try and see if there was anything there. Canned beans, pasta, soup, water chestnuts, peas. Beggars can't be choosers, and we were all beggars now. If it wasn't perishable, then it could be eaten. If it was sealed tightly, of course, was another thing to consider. Sodium and preservatives had sounded awful. Now, they kept us alive.

"Hey!" I barked out, seeing movement in the corner of my eye.

A flash of red hair had caught my attention, just bright enough that it managed to stick out despite the darkness. My hand moved to the handgun tucked into my waistband, moving down the aisle quickly to try and find whoever it was.

"Drop it." A woman's voice said.

Turning my head, the double barrel of a shotgun was pointed at my shoulders. The same woman that I had seen was standing there, messy red hair and all. A surgical mask covered the lower half of her face. She was one step ahead of me.

"Alright, alright," I complied, giving a slight bend of my knees and dropping the gun on the ground before turning toward her with both hands up. "I don't mean any harm."

"Are you sick?" She asked quickly. I shook my head. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah, yeah I am."

The woman stared at me for a moment, brow furrowed together as she made her decision. She took a step back away from me and lowered her gun slightly, pointing it about halfway down my body. No one wanted to get too close to anyone anymore, no less a stranger. But I understand why she'd approached. For too many things, healing was no longer an option. It was a hard thing to have to understand as a doctor. I hadn't wanted to give up, but I had. It hadn't been a choice, not really.

"Are you?" I turned the question back around on her.

"Yes." She took another step back. "My name's April."

"Jackson Avery," I replied, giving her half of a smile. I know that there's little point in getting to know people, but it's hard to be alone, really. I missed people.

"You're looking for food?" April asked. I nodded. "This place is pretty much empty. I've been coming here, taking a little here and there, for the past few weeks. I haven't seen anyone else here before, though." She explained, eyeing me still with a hint of suspicion. No matter what people said, you could never be too careful now. I knew that.

"I'm passing through right now." The last place I stayed had no longer been an option. A group had come through, and one of them had ended up catching something. I'd gotten out of there as soon as possible. "Not looking for any trouble."

"There's not any to find around here." She murmured. "If you need a place to stay for the night, I have a farm. Food, water. Bed. But I'm a doctor. I'll need to look at you first, make sure you're honest."

Small world. "You're a doctor?" I questioned, brows raising up.

"Yeah, why?" She answered.

"So am I," I said.

"Huh," April replied, pulling down her mask so that I could see her lips. She looked healthy, by all accounts. As healthy as anyone could be now. Her lips were a little chapped and her face was covered in freckles. She was pretty, almost in an ordinary looking way. The kind of person I could have worked with, probably. "You understand I still have to if you want to stay with me, right? I can't just go off your word."

"Yeah, I get it." I nodded. "You really have a farm set up like that?" I asked.

"Yep." She shrugged slightly. "It was my family's, back before… everything happened. Pigs, chickens, corn and other vegetables. Set outside the city. A big piece of property, no neighbors for miles. I was so eager to get out of there when I was young, and now I'm right back where I started."

Was her family. Well, that answered that. I wouldn't push. I knew how much it hurt – even if it had only been me and my mom growing up, without her, things felt different. It was hard to think about.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "If you're willing, I could use a place to crash for the night." I hadn't slept in a real bed in a few weeks now. A roof over my bed would be a nice change of pace.

"You know how to ride a bike?" She questioned.

"Yeah, of course. Who doesn't?"

With April sitting on the handlebars of her bicycle, I petalled us both in the direction of the farm. It was a few miles away, I could tell, but at least she didn't add a lot of weight to the bike. It had been a long time since I had ridden one, though, and I could feel it when I stopped and got off.

"This is it?" I asked, looking at the house. It looked normal – a little worn down, sure, but everywhere was. It looked good compared to some of the places that I'd seen lately.

"Yeah," she nodded, walking up to the front porch and heading inside.

"Looks pretty nice." I complimented.

"Thanks," April glanced back at me with a smile. "Turns out there's not a lot to do with the whole end of humanity thing, so I've been trying to do a little upkeep. Passes time, gives me something to do so I don't feel like I'm going completely insane."

I followed her inside, nodding. "Makes sense."

"How long have you been on the road?" She asked.

"A couple of weeks now." I answered. "I had a decent set up in Montana. Figured since it was isolated, it was the place to be. So did a group of others. They came through and brought something with them, so I hightailed it out of there. Thought maybe that if I could make it to the Great Lakes, I could get some luck there – some isolation, fresh water and fish."

"Not a bad plan," she commented, pulling out a chair and motioning for me to sit. "I've been here since it happened. My parents got sick. I flew home, and I never left again."

I fell quiet for a moment as she gave a general examination, feeling for fever, examining my ears, throat, nose, and mouth. I knew that I was healthy. I got a little obsessive with checking myself out and making sure of it. I didn't want to die. Even if this wasn't really living, being alive was better than the alternative.

"Do you believe me now?" I asked when she pulled away and took off her gloves.

"Yeah," April answered, sitting down at the table next to me. "I haven't talked to anyone in a long time. I was kind of surprised to see you, but… glad, in a weird way." She confessed.

"I know what you mean." I nodded. "It gets pretty lonely being out there." You get desperate.

"It does," she agreed, biting at her lower lip and looking down at her hands for a moment. "I was shy growing up, but I got real social by the time I was done with medical school and in my internship. I feel like I wasted a lot of years not taking advantage of the people I was around. Scared of them. Now, all I want is to be around people again. I miss them so much. Getting annoyed in traffic, whiny and stupidly stubborn patients… I miss all of it."

The real honesty was refreshing. "I do too," I agreed. "It sucks, being like this. Of all the things to take us out… I never really thought it'd be this, you know? I figured it'd be past my life time, too. Feels pretty stupid, looking back."

"It does," she nodded. "But I thought the exact same thing. Sure, I recycled, I drove a car with good gas mileage. I shopped local. And yet none of that really ended up mattering."

"Yeah. I mean, one person can't make a difference. Not on that kind of scale, at least. I'm sure that the local vendors appreciated it, but… those of us that are left, we're all in the same place." I agreed. "Where are you from?"

"Chicago. What about you?"

"Seattle."

Her eyebrows rose. "Wow, you really are a long way from home. How long have you been on your own?"

"Since it started, pretty much." I shrugged. "I was single and living in the city. Good immune system. Had a family cabin out in Montana, headed out there to lay low once I realized that it wasn't just going to blow over on its own accord. What about you?"

"I've been alone since the beginning too," April smiled sadly. "I thought that maybe my sisters would come here, bring out their family. But once it got really bad, I didn't hear from them. It's not like I can just… send a text or Facebook message like old times. I wish."

"You never know," I offered up with a slight smile.

"Yeah," she agreed, chewing at her lower lip. "Do you want food? It's a gas stove, fortunately. I have some chili that I made last night."

"That sounds great." I grinned.

April bounced up to her feet to get the chili that she was talking about. I felt weird just sitting there and letting her take care of things. I'd been the only person around for awhile, I hadn't been able to relax for a moment when it came to my own survival. Sure, it had been like that before, more or less. I'd been an adult and single, I had taken care of myself. But there had been restaurants, delivery, fast food. The entire service industry. Now, nothing. Yet I was getting served.

"I hope it's okay," she murmured when she brought the bowl and a spoon over to me, setting it down on the kitchen. "I'll grab you some water, too. We've got a well out back. I can show you later."

Once she had gotten water for the both of us, we sit and eat. It's better than anything I had eaten in awhile, honestly. And all food was better when it was shared with some company.

"You can stay as long as you want, you know." She looked up at me, wetting her lips. "It'd be nice to have some company around here."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't want to be a burden."

"Oh, I didn't say you would be staying for free," April laughed. "Trust me, I can definitely put you to work around this place. There are a few things that I've been wanting to do that I'm not quite strong enough to get done on my own."

"Thank you." I smiled at her.

As a sign of good faith, I grab her dish from her and clean both of ours. I don't know what all she had in mind, but I could use a little time to stop traveling, to figure out what I was going to do next. Even if I'd had a plan, this was a little hitch in it. I'd forgotten just how nice it was to be around someone, to have real company, real conversation. I wanted that. I craved that.

"Is there anything that I can do for you right now?" I asked her once I was done.

"No, I don't think so," April shook her head. "It's going to be dark soon. I can show you around the extent of the land in the morning, let you get a feel for it all. It's a nice place to be."

"Okay," I took a deep breath, rubbing the back of my head.

"Why don't I show you to your room?" She suggested.

"Sure." I agreed.

April led me upstairs, pointing out her own bedroom and the bathroom as she did. There wasn't running water anymore, even out here, but she said that she kept her first aid kit and other medical supplies in there. The room to what would temporarily be my bedroom was the last door on the right.

It was a small room, a dresser, and the bed made up neatly. It looked like something that you would have seen out of some kind of Southern Living magazine. Still kept clean, no doubt because of her.

"It's nice, thank you." I turned to her, setting my backpack down on the dresser.

"Don't worry about it," she brushed off with a shrug. "Like I said, it'll be nice to have someone else around."

April lingered in the doorway of the room, staring at me and chewing at her lower lip. I looked back at her, taking a deep breath through my nose. It was nice to be around someone. I found myself staring at her lips, the way the bottom was caught between her teeth. I didn't mean to stare at her or her lips quite so directly, but it had been a long time since I had been around anyone, let alone an attractive woman.

"Are you, uh, sure there's nothing else I could do for you?" I asked, wetting my own lips.

"Uh…" she trailed off.

I knew what I wanted, and it seemed like she wanted it too.

Our lips crashed together the moment that I stepped toward her, bending down my neck to meet her. My hands fell to her hips and I pulled them flush against mine. She's warm and soft, curves meeting my edges. Even just having her pulled against my front side felt too good. I hadn't kissed or held someone in months. It was easy to assume that the same was true for her.

She pushed me backward without our lips separating from each other, her arms wrapping around my neck. My hands go to he thighs and I picked her up with ease, turning her around so that I could lower the both of us onto her bed.

Absolute desperation filled the both of us. Her hands tore at my shirt and it didn't take her long for her to get it off my head. I followed her lead, pushing it up though not moving enough to remove it from her completely. She was pale and freckled absolutely everywhere but still toned, no doubt from the farm work that she had been doing out here. One hand held myself up for balance and the other slipped beneath her sports bra, cupping her breast and thumbing the nipple.

"Shit–" April swore, hips rolling up into mine.

Just enough to let me know it had been quite some time for her, too. Explained it all.

"Fuck," I swore into her neck when her hand grabbed the outline of my cock, my hips canting forward into her touch and rolling against her. I was getting too needy for her.

"I know," she groaned out.

I shifted back and up, just enough that I could pull her pants and underwear off in the same motion. She kicked them away from her ankles and I resumed my position, pushing open her legs with a knee. I could already see that she was glistening with desire, matching how hard I was.

April moaned as I made contact with her core, middle finger immediately seeking out and finding that nub that I knew would send her spinning out. I knew that I wasn't going to last long once I was inside of her. The least I could do was make sure that she came before that.

With quick circles and a moderate amount of pressure, it doesn't take long. She squirmed and moaned, swearing just about every curse word I'd heard in the English language, fisting the sheets and arching her back. When she does finally hit her release, she cried out loudly and jerked against the mattress, her thighs clamped around my wrist to keep my hand exactly where it was.

"God, you're beautiful." I complimented before leaning down to kiss her, hard and messy.

"I want you." She whined.

No hesitation, I pushed down my jeans and boxers, kicking them away. Two fingers get pushed inside of her, making sure that she's wet enough. They go back to her clit before I moved inside of her, a low and loud groan escaping from me. She felt amazing. I was already ready to blow a load inside of her, even if I knew that was a bad idea.

"Shit, you feel so good." My mouth found her neck again as I moved my hips in and out of her, burying it there to mark up her neck. It didn't matter – no one else was going to see but me.

"So do you." April grabbed onto my ass, her nails digging into the skin. I don't care about the pain.

Most moans don't get drowned out despite the way that we clung onto each other and buried our faces into one another. Literally the end of the world, and right now, we were the only other person that had someone to hold onto. It was a connection that had been lacking for far too long. It didn't matter if we didn't really know each other beyond the surface – when it came to the end of times, it was no longer about the romance or knowing every little detail. Any connection, anyone to hold onto, that was worth something.

"Shit, I'm gonna cum." It was too much to hold back any more.

After April nodded, I pulled out. She wrapped her hand around my cock, jerking me off so that my release hits her stomach. I grunted, barely able to hold up my weight but not wanting to crush her. I rolled over, landing on my back.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up." She murmured. I watched her grab her clothes, walking out.

I didn't know what she wanted. I could convince myself easily that it didn't matter – it wasn't likely that I would be here for more than a few days. Maybe being around one person wasn't dangerous, but I still didn't know her. I didn't know what this was going to be, if anything. Nor did I really know how long her offer stood.

Sitting up slowly, I grab my clothes off the floor, folding them and setting them on the nightstand. I pull my boxers back on. It might get cold during the night, but I still try to let my clothes breathe out. I'm mostly used to the smell.

April returned. I'm a little surprised by it, but I'm glad. I pulled down the bed covers for both of us.

"Hey," she murmured. She'd changed into a nightgown.

"Hi." I grinned at her, getting under the sheets. It's a cozy bed.

"You can stay as long as you want to, you know. Strings or no strings. I don't care. It's just nice to be around someone again." April stated as she got into the bed, curling up against me and placing her hand on my chest, right over my heart.

"Strings or no strings, huh?" I questioned. She didn't beat around the bush, that was for sure.

"Don't care," she muttered and barely shrugged. "It's not like either of us are in a position to be picky right now."

"You got a point there." I brushed a strand of hair back away from her face.

We fall asleep laying next to each other. I don't know if it's the bed or having someone else there with me, but I feel secure for the first time since all of this had started. I don't dream, but the paranoia was at least put at ease. When I wake up in the morning with light streaming in the window, I'm wrapped up around her like I've known her and slept with her my entire life. It's a nice feeling.

"Good morning." I greeted, giving her a little shake. It must have been eight or so.

April made a noise, stretching out. I could hear her back popping as she moved, using one arm to sit herself up properly and glance out the window herself.

"Hey," she murmured. "You ready for me to show you around?"

We both get dressed in the same clothes that we had been wearing before, and she showed me around the place. I can't tell how many acres it was, but it was big – plenty of vegetables, more than enough for the two of us, which explained the chili that she had made. She didn't have to eat quite so plainly when she had more than enough to survive out here.

All in all, it was a nice place. Perfect for the current conditions. It was hard to say now whether or not things would get better, if we would be able to rebuild, or if it this was just the first part of the entire planet hitting the boot. No one knew what the future held.

But maybe, just maybe, it looked a little brighter to share it with someone.

"So, what do you think about staying here?" April asked as we headed back inside.

"It's a nice place. I'd like to." I smiled.

And I would like her, too.