Bringing All the Bad by Ann Christy

Author:Ann Christy [Christy, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: light horror, horror, paranormal adventure, post-apocalyptic science fiction, biological warfare, strong female leads, urban fantasy, Women's Fiction, coming of age, Vampires, literary horror, dystopian science fiction, Genetic Engineering, women science fiction, Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, vampire, female lead characters, Dystopian, fantasy, action and adventure, friendship, urban legend, Family Life, female villains, science fiction, psychological thriller
Publisher: Ann Christy
Published: 2020-04-24T22:00:00+00:00

Willa

Willa discreetly watches Beau as he struggles with the cool morning air. It’s her turn to bring the fire back to life, so she keeps her hands busy and watches through the newly rising smoke. Beau’s breath steams out in wisps. His short, punctuated breaths telegraph his effort. She can see the pain each successively colder night brings when he wakes. She has to do something. And soon.

Winter is coming quickly to the mountains. The summer was less scorching up here, true, but the winter will be spectacularly awful. There’s a reason so few people chose to live in these mountains when this area was first visited by people. Even fewer chose to live here in winter.

Bee settles next to her, dropping a load of wood from the lean-to they built to keep it dry during the rains. They built it at the beginning of their stay, so it’s a poorly constructed thing. They’re already talking about building a better one. They could do that now.

They can do that because of Beau. They owe him much. The least they can do is let him go.

Smiling her thanks for the wood, Willa says, “Not long until the fire is ready. Then coffee.”

Bee hums a little moan of longing. Coffee has almost become a ritual. So precious is it that they became divided on how to make it last. They voted about it. The choice was a full cup of weak coffee, or very small cups of stronger stuff. The same amount of grounds, but a different experience. Eventually, they agreed to disagree and split into two groups for the coffee.

Willa and Bee have chosen to be in the strong coffee group. It’s no bigger than a shot of espresso, except not nearly as strong. Even so, it tastes divine. It’s worth it to them. The weak coffee group may get a full cup, but it’s the pale brown of watered-down tea instead of real coffee.

As Bee moves away to retrieve their allotment of grounds for the day, Willa keeps watching Beau and enjoys the forest. The spongy earth is less spongy in this clearing where they’ve made their camp, but the smell of this wild place covers everything. Mossy rocks, morning mist, the soft rustle of so many needles in the trees. It’s beautiful. She’s sorry now that she never took the time to enjoy it before the world went insane and so many women died.

When Beau had first gathered the three survivors in the building and told them he was taking them to a park, Willa had been confused. Parks were green spaces with closely cropped grass and people lounging on blankets or gathered on benches sipping coffee. They were places with jogging trails nestled inside the city boundaries. How could they hide in a park?

As they had driven out of the city and the mountains loomed ahead of them, she’d finally realized that the word park covered many different kinds of places.

This park is a world unto itself. Mountains, lakes, vast spaces filled with wilderness only lightly touched by humans.

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