The World That Remains (Evergreen Book 2)
Page 35
The song stopped far sooner than she wanted it to.
She looked up at him. “I, umm… haven’t danced since junior prom.”
“You’re pretty good.”
“You’re a pretty bad liar.”
He smiled. “For someone who hasn’t done this before, you’re pretty good.”
“Didn’t picture you for a Taylor Swift fan.”
“I listen to a lot of stuff. Never thought I’d hear music again.”
She broke eye contact, staring at his chest. “Yeah, same here. Wow… I’m crying.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. This was… wow. Umm. Magical.” She bit her lip.
A moment of silence passed.
“I can put something else on if you want.”
“Maybe… later? I… don’t want to ruin that. It’s a memory. The first good memory I think I’m going to have after…” She looked up. “I think I need a little air. It’s getting warm in here.”
Logan took her hand and led her out of the shed and across a short distance of field to the creek the pipes fed from. “How’s this?”
“Good.” She smiled, then lowered herself to sit cross-legged near the bank.
He sat beside her and gathered a few small rocks, tossing one into the water. “It really is beautiful here. Sometimes, when I’m working on the farm, I think about the people who lived on this land back before technology. Native Americans, pioneers… they found a way to thrive.”
Harper leaned back, staring up at the sky. “We forgot everything they learned. Like, I was talking about that earlier. No one here knows how to make fabric. Or furniture. Or most of the stuff we used to just buy.”
“Yeah. People used to make everything by hand, then machines and factories happened so everyone forgot how to really do things.”
“Not everyone. There’s YouTube—was YouTube videos of people making stuff by hand. But none of those people happen to be here in Evergreen. How far back do you think we’ll go? 1800s? Medieval days?”
Logan tossed another rock into the creek, causing a tall, narrow splash. “Probably closer to the 1800s. If the Third World survived, there might still be factories and stuff left or real schools.”
“I was so worried about getting into a good college, but I still hadn’t figured out what I wanted to do. Might’ve gone for veterinary medicine. My dad suggested psychology, but I chickened out. Dealing with people with super sad issues would’ve broken me. I couldn’t sleep because I had no idea what to study for or what to do with my life. Could be worse, I guess. This woman who walked here with us, Summer, studied business, got a degree… and like months after she got her first real job, the war happened. Me stressing out over what to do doesn’t seem that bad. At least I didn’t waste four years learning stuff that won’t do any good now. So, Logan Ruiz, what were you gonna do?”
He threw another little rock. “Same thing. Trying to figure it out. I was going back and forth between a trade school—like for welding or electrician work, joining the Navy, or maybe going into teaching.”
“Trade school?” She blinked at him. “Really?”
“Yeah. My dad said there’s a lot of money in those jobs, but it can be dangerous ass-busting work. I was kinda leaning toward joining the Navy and getting into something science-based that I could’ve used in the civilian world after. ’Course both of those options are kinda shot now.” Logan shook his head, throwing another rock, harder. “I can’t believe people actually fired the damn nukes. So many dead… so damned pointless.”
“Yeah.” She looked down at her lap.
He hesitated, then exhaled. “That Taylor Swift song… Luisa sometimes got a hold of my stuff. She put it on there, probably as a joke. I was gonna delete it, but now I can’t. It’ll always make me think of her.”
Harper choked up.
“And, it’ll always make me think of you.” He wiped a tear, managing to salvage a smile.
She leaned against him. That he’d played that song for her felt as though he’d opened up and bared his soul to her. As long as she’d known him—which, admittedly hadn’t been that long—he’d never much spoken of his family or seemed anything but happy, rolling with the giant punch life dealt him. Seeing that vulnerability in him clicked with her. She sat there for a while in silence, just being with him in their shared grief.
“I hate the war.” Harper scowled. “How could anyone be so stupid and cruel to use weapons like that?”
Logan exhaled. “I don’t know.”
“Do you have any idea what started it?”
“Nope. Everyone’s too busy trying to survive to ask why it happened. I figure by the time civilization recovers, no one will care.”
She pulled her hair off her face and peered over at him. “Do you think it’ll recover or are we all going to wind up tribal and crazy… running around half naked with spears and stuff?”
“Nah. I don’t think it’ll go that far. We’ll be okay.” He threw his last rock, which vanished into the creek with a melodic ploink. “It’s just like living in the Old West again. Lack of tech didn’t turn them into Mad Max back then, right? Why would it do that now?”
She smiled down at the grass between them. “Yeah, I guess. Maybe I shouldn’t give up hope yet.”
“I haven’t given up hope.”
“Oh,” said Harper. Wow. He lost his family and he’s still optimistic? Is he too full of life or am I an emo queen?
“But, I have much bigger hopes than society merely surviving.”
She sat up, giving him an ‘oh really?’ stare. “Like what? A green new world like from Star Trek rising out of the ash?”
Logan rested his hand atop hers. “Well… I was kinda hoping you might want to kiss me.”
Butterflies swarmed around her gut. Part of her wanted to, but even the few glimpses of feeling happy she enjoyed recently felt like she somehow disrespected the world that had died. “I dunno if I’m ready for that yet.”
“Okay. No problem.” He smiled, though disappointment flickered across his eyes.
“I like you, Logan.” She took a deep breath to still the nerves exploding throughout her body. “I think I maybe do want to kiss you, but I can’t yet. I’m too messed up. I need to know I’m really into you and not just pulling a Lorelei and clinging to the first guy who’s nice to me. It has to be real. Will you give me a little time to let the dust settle? Can we maybe start by holding hands and watching the sun go down together?”
Logan slipped his hand under hers and laced fingers with her. “Yeah. That sounds romantic.”
She grinned and leaned against him, gazing up at the sun slipping into its mountainous bed. It tinted the undersides of clouds pink, spreading a wide band of orange along shadowy peaks beneath a blanket of indigo.
He hummed the song they’d danced to.
A tear slipped out of her eye. Taylor Swift had been right.
Everything had changed.
fin
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading The World That Remains!
When I wrote Evergreen, I hadn’t been prepared for the overwhelmingly wonderful response it received. In truth, I’d planned that book as a one-off. However, so many people asked for a follow up novel that no real choice existed for me. I had a great time getting back into the heads of these characters, and I hope you enjoyed the trip along with me.
Additional thanks to Lee Sheridan for editing.
Also, thanks to Alexandria Thompson for the wonderful cover art!
About the Author
Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world, in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, The Harmony Paradox, and the Daughter of Mars series take place. Along with editing for Curiosity Quills press, he has worked in IT and technical support.
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, developer
of two custom RPG systems (paper & dice), and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats, presently living with two: Loki and Dorian.
Visit me online at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewSCoxAuthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/matthewcox10420/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7712730.Matthew_S_Cox
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mscox_fiction
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mscox.author/
Email: mcox2112@gmail.com
Other books by Matthew S. Cox
Divergent Fates Universe Novels
Division Zero series
Division Zero
Lex De Mortuis
Thrall
Guardian
Harbinger
The Awakened series
Prophet of the Badlands
Archon’s Queen
Grey Ronin
Daughter of Ash
Zero Rogue
Angel Descended
Daughter of Mars series
The Hand of Raziel
Araphel
Ghost Black
Virtual Immortality series
Virtual Immortality
The Harmony Paradox
Divergent Fates Anthology
(Fiction Novels - Adult)
The Roadhouse Chronicles Series
One More Run
The Redeemed
Dead Man’s Number
Faded Skies series
Heir Ascendant
Ascendant Unrest
Ascendant Revolution
Temporal Armistice Series
Nascent Shadow
The Shadow Collector
The Gate to Oblivion
Vampire Innocent series
A Nighttime of Forever
A Beginner’s Guide to Fangs
The Artist of Ruin
The Last Family Road Trip
The Phantom Oracle
Standalones
Wayfarer: AV494
Axillon99
Chiaroscuro: The Mouse and the Candle
The Spirits of Six Minstrel Run
The Far Side of Promise anthology
Operation: Chimera (with Tony Healey)
The Dysfunctional Conspiracy (with Christopher Veltmann)
Winter Solstice series (with J.R. Rain)
Convergence
Containment
Catalyst
Alexis Silver series (with J.R. Rain)
Silver Light
Deep Silver
Silver Quarrel
Samantha Moon Origins series (with J.R. Rain)
New Moon Rising
Moon Mourning
Vampire For Hire series (with J.R. Rain)
Moon Master
Dead Moon
Maddy Wimsey series (with J.R. Rain)
The Devil’s Eye
The Drifting Gloom
Samantha Moon Case Files series (with J.R. Rain)
Blood Moon
Immortal Operative series (with J.R. Rain)
Broken Ice
Young Adult Novels
The Eldritch Heart Series
The Eldritch Heart
The Cursed Crown
Evergreen Series
Evergreen
The World That Remains
Standalones
Caller 107
The Summer the World Ended
Nine Candles of Deepest Black
The Forest Beyond the Earth
Out of Sight
Evergreen
Middle Grade Novels
Tales of Widowswood series
Emma and the Banderwigh
Emma and the Silk Thieves
Emma and the Silverbell Faeries
Emma and the Elixir of Madness
Emma and the Weeping Spirit
Standalones
Citadel: The Concordant Sequence
The Cursed Codex
The Menagerie of Jenkins Bailey
Sophie’s Light