Page 29 of The End of the World As We Know It

She laughed. “You’re funny. I’m Kristen.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, an automatic sense of distrust coloring the way he perceived every aspect of their interaction. Much of this feeling had to do with her association with his childhood bully, but it was also because he was unaccustomed to girls as hot as her accosting him in what he supposed still marginally qualified as a public place, even if there were precious few other people around to bear witness to the event.

She said, “Dude, come on, relax. I promise I don’t bite. I just thought maybe you’d like to hang with us.”

Corey’s frown deepened.

Who was thisusshe was talking about?

Then he looked past her and saw two other people, a boy and a girl, lounging nearby on the rusted-out merry-go-round that was part of the park’s shabby playground area. The guy saw him looking and casually flipped a hand at him, a half-hearted gesture of greeting. The other girl sat at the edge of the merry-go-round, feet dangling a few inches above the ground as she leaned against one of the corroded rails and stared at the ground with a blank expression. They were both the approximate age of the girl who’d approached him, a few years his senior, early twenties, maybe. A torn-open suitcase carton of Budweiser cans sat between them on the rusted metal disk.

Corey looked at Kristen and sighed. “I don’t know. I was just on my way home.”

She snorted. “What for?”

He frowned again. “Because it’s where I fucking live. Where else would I go?”

A strange look crossed her face, one he needed a moment to recognize as something akin to pity. “But nobody’s there.”

He became wary again, taken aback by her proclamation. “Yeah? And how would you know that?”

A crease formed in the middle of her brow, deepening his impression of being pitied. “I know because I talked to Angie early this morning, right before she… you know, took off.”

Now she had his full attention.

“Yeah? She say anything about that?”

Her tone became more solemn as she said, “She told me about your folks dying, that she was leaving town. So, you know, condolences or whatever.” She laughed again, but this time there was a ragged quality to it, like it was one small emotional nudge from becoming a sob. “We’re all losing our people. I’m all alone, too, now.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the pair lounging on the merry-go-round. “Except for them, I mean.”

Corey grunted. “Where did you see Angie?”

“At J.J.’s Market. You know, over by the Great Escape. She was loading a bunch of shit into your stepmom’s station wagon. Just going in and out of the store with armloads of shit. The place was open, but no one was around.”

Corey’s confusion intensified. “Are you saying she was robbing the place?”

“Way to assume the worst about your own flesh and blood.” That crease in the middle of her brow became more pronounced. “And, no, it wasn’t like that. I mean, not really. Angie was only doing what everyone else has been doing. The ones still alive, anyway. In case you hadn’t noticed, a lot of the people who used to run things, likeprobably the owner of J.J.’s, are dead now. People have just been walking into places and taking whatever they need. Some places are locked up tight, but others are wide open. You can’t rightly call it theft when the people you’re quote-unquote ‘stealing’ from aren’t still breathing.”

Corey figured she had a point. “Yeah, okay. So… did Angie say anything about me?”

She shook her head. “No, not really, dude. I guess it’s kinda shitty how she just took off and left you all alone, huh?”

He grunted. “I guess it kinda is, yeah.”

Kristen reached out and touched his arm. “Seriously. Come hang a while. Have some beers. What else have you got to do?”

For the first time, Corey took full note of the sense of aching need in her voice. Need and desperation. Hearing this made him feel sorry for her, eroding some of his resistance. He nonetheless hesitated a beat longer, craning his head around and seeing no one else in the vicinity.

He met her gaze again. “Where’s Jared?”

She grimaced. “He’s dead. Fucking Captain Trips took him away.”

A part of Corey rejoiced at this news, while another part was aghast at this gut reaction. It made him feel like a ghoul, but he couldn’t help it.

So long, Jared, he thought.Rest in pieces, you fucking asshole.

Now Kristen really was crying, silently, her thin shoulders shaking as tears trickled down her cheeks.