As the World Ends

by Marian Lanouette

  Copyright © 2012 by Marian Lanouette

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1480171298

  ISBN-13: 9781480171299

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-62346-389-2

  “Lanouette… Knows how to seize and hold the reader’s imagination.”

  Leo J. Maloney, Termination Orders

  Review copied with permission of Reader’s Shadow E-magazine

  A short story romance meets doomsday tale by Marian Lanouette!

  Review by Kate (Read 2 Review)

  As The World Ends comes out in December 2012 and I have to say if you don’t get a copy you are missing out on a simply brilliant story.

  Without giving away too many spoilers the story is set around escaping doomsday, as the title may suggest. The main characters Lauren and husband Rob pack up and head into the mountains where they meet Roan who is also seeking shelter. Roan sets his eyes on Lauren and won’t stop until he has her.

  The pacing in the story is fantastic. There is enough detail to really pull you into the story and the action which made the pages flow by. I really liked the character of Lauren, wanting to leave but needing to pack make-up, I would probably be exactly like her. The male characters were very well developed, Rob…. DAMN!

  I love the way Marian writes and this novella has made me want to read her other work. I highly recommend this story for all who enjoy a good romance and escapist story.

  I give AS THE WORLD ENDS 5/5

  http://www.Read2review.com

  All names, characters, places and incidents in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Also available from Marian Lanouette

  If I Fail, A Jake Carrington Mystery

  Burn in Hell, A Jake Carrington Mystery

  CONTENTS

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  AUTHOR BIO

  In loving memory of Brian Allen

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thanks to Judy Roth for the great editing and suggestions. As always to my critique partners, Gail Chianese and Mandi Casey love working with you two. A special thanks to my beta reader Carol Miller. Great catches, Carol.

  And a big thank you to Brenda Piel, Apieling Pictures, LLC for making me look so good.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “It was a rough day. Keila acted like a total ass today. I couldn’t wait for the day to end and come home. How about you? How was your day?” Lauren asked her husband, Rob.

  “Pretty much the same,” he muttered.

  Unbuttoning her blouse as she got ready for bed Lauren turned to Rob with a mischievous grin and said, “Do you want to end it on a high note?”

  “I always want to end it on a high note.” He grinned back at her.

  A seductive smiled played across her lips. “Okay, you take the top.” She laughed, jumping up on their bed.

  An explosion rocked not only their room, but the whole house just as she landed on the mattress. “What the hell was that?” she screamed, pulling on her robe as she ran after her husband as he shot out of their room.

  “I don’t know, but it wasn’t inside the house. Stay here…”

  “The hell I will,” she yelled, following him out the front door.

  The city block where they lived looked like a bomb had gone off. She grabbed her neighbor’s arm. “Do you know what happened?”

  “No.”

  “Anyone hurt?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, I just don’t know,” her neighbor, Kent said, walking away from her in a daze.

  Lauren increased her speed as she tried to catch up with her husband. Drawing the robe tighter around her body she slowed her pace to listen to her husband as he spoke to one of the cops who’d recently arrived on the scene.

  “Did someone set off a bomb?” he asked.

  “We don’t know. We’re investigating…” the cop said when another house exploded creating more chaos.

  “What the fuck’s going on?” Lauren shouted, grabbing Rob’s arm.

  He put his arms around her and said, “I don’t know, honey.”

  The older cop spoke in a dire tone. “Supposedly, today’s the end of the world. You know the thing everyone’s talked about for the last two years.”

  Looking at the cop like he had two heads she wondered what thing. Rob rubbed her back to calm her down though it didn’t help. She needed time to think.

  “Seriously, what do you mean?” Rob said.

  “Today is December 21, 2013. You never heard of the Mayan Calendar and the end of the world prophecy?”

  “I have, but their predictions were for last year on this date. And nothing happened. It’s all a myth,” Rob stated.

  “This isn’t the only explosion tonight, and the power is out in twelve states.”

  The veraciousness of his statement was frightening. The end of the world was just words crazy people spouted. Weren’t they? Lauren never in her life gave it a thought. Surrounded by the aftermath of each explosion she understood the enormity of her error.

  Rob whispered in her ear, “Let’s head home and pack what we need.”

  “Need for what?” She quivered.

  “Survival, Lauren, survival.”

  “Where do you think we’re going to go?” A cold shiver ran down her spine.

  “Away from these houses, hon. The gas line comes into every one of them, including ours. First thing I need to do is turn off the gas. Next, we need to get the SUV out of the garage and pack up some warm clothes, food, blankets, canned goods and the likes.”

  She stared at Rob, trying to read him. It dawned on her, he was serious. “Oh my God, this can’t be happening, Rob.”

  “It is, so let’s hurry. I know exactly where we’re going to go.”

  Once they got back to the house Lauren grabbed her overnight bag, loading it with make-up, jewelry, and other personal items. Rob walked in, grabbed her bag, and started unpacking it.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need all that stuff.”

  He looked at his wife, she was beautiful and compact. Standing only five three with curves in all the right places and a head of curly blonde hair set off by piercing green eyes. For him it was love at first sight. In his opinion, she didn’t need make-up to look good. Her beauty, for the first time in his life, scared him.

  “Lauren, we’re going to be roughing it, and if things get as crazy as I think, I don’t want you looking great and attracting attention. This isn’t going to be a short-term thing. If all that myth crap is right, this isn’t only the end of the world as we know it, it’s a new beginning. Only the strongest will survive.”

  “Are you trying to scare me, Rob? If you are, you’re doing a good job of it.” The floor rocked under their feet, throwing them off balance. Rob grabbed for her and the counter at the same time.

  “Hurry, Lauren, we’re not safe here, please leave the make-up, grab the stuff you need for personal hygiene and hurry. I’ll meet you in the kitchen. Grab my swimsuit and sweats and some sweaters and do the same for yourself—it will be cold and damp at night where we’re going, but hot during the day.”

  It looked like Rob’s obsession for the outdoors would pay-off. He loved scuba diving, rock climbing, cave exploring, camping, and skiing; you name
it, Rob did it. Hopefully, with his knowledge and Air Force training, they would survive.

  After she finished packing the items he told her to, she ran down the stairs. In the kitchen she met up with him, helping to load up bag after bag with canned goods. On the way out, she remembered to grab the can opener and some forks and knives.

  When they’d loaded the SUV to capacity, they locked their front door and drove down the street. It took some maneuvering on Rob’s part to work their way around the emergency vehicles and the neighbors, but his skills at the wheel paid-off.

  “Rob, we’re not coming back, are we?” she asked, the tears stinging her eyes.

  “No, Hon.”

  “But our things…”

  “They’re just things, Lauren. As long as we have each other, that’s all that counts. We’ll be okay. I promise.” He grabbed her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it.

  “I love you, Lauren. You’re all I need to survive.”

  “I love you, Rob. I can’t live without you.”

  “You don’t have to, no more tears, okay?”

  “I can’t help it. Our life…one minute it’s fine,” her voice broke as tears threatened to fall. “Everything is changing so fast. What if this is only a gas leak and they fix it by tomorrow afternoon? Won’t we feel silly for running?”

  “We’re not running, Lauren. We’re being smart. If it is a gas leak, and they fix it by tomorrow afternoon, then we head home and laugh about our adventure tonight. It’s one of the reasons we locked the front door.”

  As he drove, Lauren studied her husband. A big guy, he filled his seat well. It’s true, she thought, opposites do attract. The first thing she’d noticed about Rob was his dark wavy hair. He kept it a little too long, touching his shoulders, his rebellion of sorts. At six one, his athletic body still turned her on. A body, she knew he worked hard to maintain.

  A smile touched her lips. Boy, did he know how to…pulled from her thoughts with a jolt. Their car flew off the road. “Oh my God, what’s happening?”

  Rob had instinctively reached his arm across her to hold her back, like that would help, she thought.

  “Hold on, Lauren. Make sure your belt’s on tight.”

  Taking a deep breath, Lauren prayed, as they flew through the air.

  CHAPTER TWO

  On the other side of the state, Roan had been preparing for this event for the last two years. With his bags packed, he loaded up his big, white-box truck. The kind carpenters and plumbers use. First he packed the gas heater, gas, food, clothes, batteries, and a couple of radios. Next, he loaded the water where it was easy to access it. Before heading out, he checked to see if the matches he had in the waterproof box were still dry. Cathy, his soon to be ex-wife, had told him he was nuts and never bought into the whole 2012 scenario. She laughed at him when nothing happened last year. When she left, she had threatened to put him in a straightjacket. The stock-piled food and other items in the caves where he was headed would have brought ridicule from her for wasting time and money. So the scientists were a year off, who cared. Now, he’d be vindicated. Well, what did she think now? For a single moment, he considered contacting her to offer a place in his truck. A cruel smiled spread across his lips. The reality of it hit him hard, after all these months of wanting her back—no way in hell did he want to spend an eternity with her. How sad was that? He laughed about all the stuff Cathy had fought for in the divorce, a lot of good it would do her now.

  Roan tilted his water bottle up in a silent salute. “Here’s to you, Cathy, may the Lord be kind to you.”

  Drinking from the bottle, he recapped it before climbing into his truck. The ground rumbled beneath him as he put the truck in gear to head out. He looked back just in time to see his house explode. Fully engulfed in flames he realized he beat death by seconds. Unable to control his trembling hands he locked them together to steady them. Resting his head on the steering wheel, he reconsidered calling Cathy, but the phone had no signal. Destiny had made the decision for him.

  The gearshift in hand, he dragged it up into first, and then drove off. Without a backward glance, he drove away from the home he had known most of his adult life.

  “I’m sorry, Cathy, I tried.” Tears sprung to his muddy brown eyes, surprising him. He hadn’t cried in years. His mind turned to his destination and survival.

  Over the last year he had noticed signs that other people were using his cave. To ensure it remained abandoned and his supplies left untouched by the scavengers, Roan placed a motion activated camera in the back of the cave where he had set up his escape home. Another camera at the entrance stood guard when he resided in the cave. The eyes in the cave provided unexpected entertainment when a couple on several occasions used it to make love. He envied the man. The woman with him was a beautiful blonde with a petite body. Who seemed adventurous and in love. The man treated her well from what he could see on the video.

  As he got closer to the cave, he realized how much he wished she would be there when he arrived. If this was the end of the world as he knew it, he would have no qualms about eliminating the man, so he could have the woman. He’d already killed once today.

  “What a hoot!”

  Roan now understood why he let Cathy go in the first place. He was in love with a video image.

  The SUV landed with a thud, Lauren’s scream piercing his armor. He watched her head snap right and then left before she could steady herself. Knuckles turning white as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, Rob prayed their landing wouldn’t knock the tires off the vehicle. The minutes ticked by, and then the hours before they landed with a heavy thud that rattled his teeth. The reality of it…it was only seconds.

  “Shit, your life really does flash in front of you,” Rob declared.

  “Not mine, but I think I need find a bathroom real soon. I don’t feel so good.” Lauren leaned forward resting her head on the dashboard.

  “What’s the matter,” Rob screamed, unbuckling his seat belt to get to Lauren.

  “Stop, Rob. I’m fine…no, I’m not…I’m just shaken…get us out of here before someone or something else explodes. The bile’s burning its way up my throat.” Rob struggle for control when he realized Lauren was okay.

  Finally, a spot opened up in the snarled traffic. He was able to maneuver through it, working his way over to the right, hoping his exit would appear soon.

  Lauren played with the electronics. “The damn GPS won’t work.”

  “I didn’t think it would. Turn on the radio and see what they’re saying about all this,” he murmured.

  Lauren turned on the truck radio. Rob watched as she fiddled with the buttons. Only static echoed through the SUV.

  “Use the portable radio. Try to pull something up on that.”

  “Do we have enough batteries for this thing?”

  “I hope so. If not, there’ll be a store on the way where we can stop and pick some up.” Seeing a break in traffic, he turned the car into it and almost hit a van.

  “Asshole,” he yelled.

  “Relax, Rob.”

  “How can I? If we don’t get to that cave tonight, it’s over. The last few times we were there, it showed signs of another person using it. If he gets there first, do you think he’ll let us in?”

  “What do you mean let us in?” she asked, voice strained.

  “Exactly what I said, Lauren. Only the strong will survive if this is what I think it is.”

  “Oh, God, Rob. Is that why you have all those guns back there?”

  “Yes. I’ll do whatever is necessary to protect us, Lauren, especially you.”

  “Especially me?”

  “Yes, especially you. You’re mine, and I’m not letting anyone else near you, not to worry.”

  She turned and looked out the window, trying to figure out what he saw in his mind. This Rob was new to her. Not to worry, he said, but now he had her worried. Did he think people were going to attack them? How long could they live in the cave? How could this
have happened if everyone had so much warning?

  “Stop the car…”

  “What…”

  “I’m gonna be sick. Stop the car, Rob.” She gagged.

  Rob looked around as he got off the highway. Looters were everywhere. A bunch of them were breaking the glass at the gas station.

  “Lauren, grab one of those bags and use it to throw up in. We can’t stop here, it’s not safe.”

  “Rob, watch out… that guy is heading right for us.”

  Rob swerved, missed the guy by driving over the grass. With his foot on the gas petal he drove out of the lot and back onto the highway. Once he got to exit thirty-three, he could take the back roads away from the crowds. He made a hard left to miss an abandoned car. Keeping up his speed he made it to his exit in forty-five minutes.

  The back road had a lot of cars, but it was moving faster than the highway.

  “Look at all the people hitchhiking,” Lauren pointed.

  “We’re not picking anyone up. I don’t care if they’re young or old. We have just enough for ourselves. We need to get a handle on the situation, okay?” He turned his head and looked at her. His wife had a soft spot for kids and the elderly. Hating that he’d be the one to force her to change, he needed to make sure that she understood the situation.

  “I understand, Rob. I’m not stupid.” Annoyed, she turned away from him. Her heart ached as she watched the little boy with his mother run down the road; each with a pillowcase over a shoulder.

  Rob grabbed her arm to get her attention. “I know you’re not stupid. We can only have compassion for ourselves right now. It’s important you understand we come first, no matter what.”

  They drove for another hour before clearing traffic. Rob pulled over onto the grass. Together they took a much needed pee break.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Exhausted, Roam entered the cave, his sleeping bag and duffle bag over one shoulder. He scanned the cave before walking deeper into it. It was perfect; deep—going back more than a half mile and tall. Standing up straight wasn’t a problem for the most part, except by the entrance he needed to watch out for the stalactites. They were skinny, sharp, and short there. Deeper into the cavern, there were ones that had grown as big around as a man’s chest and were pretty damn hard when you conked your head on them. A pair in the far right corner, he had dubbed Dracula’s Smile, were two very long, and very sharp cones. In between them were smaller, yet no less sharper ones. He’d have to remember to watch his step.