"After the War" - a different kind of story

Over the weekend I sat and reviewed some upcoming contest deadline. I came across a contest that I couldn't pass up. An excuse to try my hand at a short story. So with Monday being my busiest day of the week, I figured I'd share it. It reminds me that no matter how bleak the situation may be, never give up on finding love.


After the War


Kady stood atop the gentle slope, shotgun slung over her shoulder, looking over her sprawling garden and admired her handiwork. There were no neighbors left since the War of 2012. Sadly, she realized that she liked it that way. No one to 
fight with, no one to worry about. The only problem was, now she grew more food than she could eat and there was no one to share it with.

She reflected on the day everything had changed. Her choice to purchase and move onto her own land could not have been more timely. Moving day also marked the beginning of the end of life as she'd known it. The day gas reached five dollars a gallon. The day pandemonium broke out in the streets. The day she became 
completely self sufficient, if not nearly alone. The months leading up to moving day Kady had purchased a library of how-to 
books, learned to do and make everything possible with very limited supplies.

She'd seen it coming, even as her friends, family, and neighbors had called her a lunatic conspiracy theorist. No one had wanted to believe what was really going to happen. The more she tried to raise the alarm, the more the people she loved pulled way from her. They were all gone now, taken by illness, starvation, 
and serious injury.

She missed her children the most, though her longing for male companionship ran a close second. She couldn't even remember how long it had been since she'd shared her bed. Eight years? Ten maybe? Shaking her head, she tried to knock loose the image in her mind. The more time passed, the more she thought about 
what she missed.

Maybe those that died quickly had been the lucky ones. Sure, she had prepared for survival, but within the first three years she'd buried every family member and friend she had left, read every book she owned,twice, and lost the use of her solar powered generator. Not that it mattered, since there were no new books 
to read. She lit a candle for her minimal needs and generally went to bed when the sun went down. 


She gazed down at the healthy, colorful garden, and marveled at the clearness of the sky, the beauty of her food growing. Before the war, she'd wasted all of her garden space on flowers. Sure, they were pretty, but they really served no purpose. The flowering plants that produced her food were far more beautiful to her now.


Movement from the trees below startled her from her reverie.


"Who's there?"


"I mean no harm," came the voice of a man.

Kady watched closely, searching the woods for other signs of movement that may signify an ambush. It wouldn't be the first. "You alone?"

"Yes, ma'am. I travel alone. I was hopin' you might be willing to allow me to work for a meal."


"Come out where I can see you."  She'd heard spending too much time alone could cause hallucinations. After all of these years, was she finally losing her mind?


She watched as the man came out of the trees fifty yards from her, his arms reaching toward the sky in surrender.

"Well, come on up this way. I'm not gonna shoot you for christsake."


"A man never knows," he laughed, drawing closer. "I'm Charlie. From New York."


"City?"


"Yes, ma'am." 

The sounds of another human voice left her feeling disoriented. "Lucky to be alive, I'm thinkin'. I'm Kadence, from right here in Oklahoma. What brings you so far from the city."

"Well, the cities were dangerous, and the military had everyone locked down. People were dying of communicable diseases and they wouldn't let us out. I was lucky to escape with my wife and daughter, but they died a month later from what I think must have been pneumonia."

They stood and sized each other up. Kady decided he might have been a handsome man before he'd lost so much weight. He appeared about her age. "I'm sorry for your loss. 

"Thank you."

"So what did you do in the mundane world, Charlie?"

"I was an electrical engineer. Not that it does me much good now."

Kady's heart flipped. Maybe life could still be worth living. Maybe there was a God still looking down on them.

"Charlie, I do believe we could be benefit each other," she smiled and turned to lead him to the house. "Now lets go put some food in that belly of yours."