The Last Remnants Read online

  The Last Remnants

  Ravaged Land: Divided

  Kellee L. Greene

  Contents

  THE LAST REMNANTS

  Mailing List

  Books By Kellee L. Greene

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Final Note

  Books By Kellee L. Greene

  Mailing List

  About the Author

  Ravaged Land - Preview

  Ravaged Land - Chapter one

  Ravaged Land - Chapter two

  THE LAST REMNANTS

  ravaged land: divided

  —————

  BY

  KELLEE L. GREENE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 Kellee L. Greene

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author.

  First Edition March 2018

  Mailing List

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  Coming Soon…

  Book three in the Ravaged Land: Divided series is coming soon. Please subscribe to the mailing list to be one of the first to know when it’s available! And follow Kellee L. Greene on Facebook.

  Books By Kellee L. Greene

  Ravaged Land: Divided

  The Last Disaster - Book 1

  The Last Remnants - Book 2

  Book 3 Coming Soon!

  Ravaged Land Series

  Ravaged Land -Book 1

  Finding Home - Book 2

  Crashing Down - Book 3

  Running Away - Book 4

  Escaping Fear - Book 5

  Fighting Back - Book 6

  The Island Series

  The Island - Book 1

  The Fight - Book 2

  The Escape - Book 3

  The Erased - Book 4

  The Alien Invasion Series

  The Landing - Book 1

  The Aftermath - Book 2

  Destined Realms Series

  Destined - Book 1

  1

  We’d been traveling for weeks without any problems. For the most part, things had been going quite smoothly. We’d made significant progress, but we had all been functioning in some crazy state far beyond exhaustion.

  The only time we stopped walking was to eat, sleep, or refill our water bottles otherwise it was full steam ahead. I had no idea where we were, or how far from home I was, but none of that really mattered. The only thing that did matter was getting as far south as I possibly could so that I could finally find my new home. To start rebuilding what I’d lost. And the only thing I was certain about was that I wasn’t there yet.

  When it had started snowing again a few days ago, we’d stopped and holed up in an abandoned church. The insides were caked in dust and dirt, but there weren’t tracks in the dust. It was empty and had been for a while. There was mold and mildew everywhere, but it was better than being outside.

  “The fire is dying down,” Charlie grumbled as she rubbed her hands together near the flames.

  She was sitting about four feet away from a small metal pail that held our little fire. Charlie sighed and adjusted the blanket that she had draped over her shoulders before hugging herself.

  Logan dropped another small piece of wood into the fire, and it crackled as it blazed up, rising out of the pail. A trail of smoke danced up toward the ceiling and out through the large cracks. Logan glanced at Charlie, but lowered his head and stepped back.

  Charlie hadn’t been the same since she’d almost been taken away from us. Most of the time, Ryder carried her club because she just didn’t have the energy. She was constantly distracted. Charlie never went off on her own unless it was because she needed to use the restroom. Not that most places even had bathrooms.

  Every inch of the church was cold, except the area within a three-foot radius of the metal pail. It was a good thing we still had our jackets and blankets to help keep us warm.

  I was lying on a broken, slanted pew staring at the stained-glass windows that had managed to stay mostly intact. My stomach grumbled so loud I was sure the others had heard it.

  “Should we heat up some of the meat?” Ryder asked. Maybe he had heard it, or maybe the others were hungry too.

  “Want help?” I asked, but Ryder held up his palm to stop me.

  “I’ll get it.” Ryder turned and walked down the aisle toward the doors at the back of the building.

  We’d been lucky the lock still worked, but it didn’t seem all that secure. Someone could have probably broken in with only a little effort if they wanted. Luckily, no one had been around to even try.

  Ryder had taken out a small wolf less than twenty-four hours ago and packed it in a pile of snow. We’d eaten so much when he first killed it that I was surprised there was even any meat left.

  I didn’t bother to turn around when Ryder made his way back inside. We all sat there watching him slice the roughly cut slab of meat into smaller chunks.

  I held out my twig, and Ryder stuck on a piece of the meat at the top. My mouth watered.

  “I guess I should have brought in more,” Ryder said looking up at us as the others waited for their portion.

  “I don’t think there will ever be a time that I won’t be hungry,” Logan said covering a slight cough.

  Shawn’s head bobbed up and down in enthusiastic understanding. “Back with The Evolved, in the beginning, we could indulge in seconds. Of course, things had changed since then.”

  “My family had stored up a lot, but my dad watched it carefully,” I said smiling at the memory. God, I missed my parents so much it hurt. I cleared my throat and pushed the memories away. “No point in dwelling on the past I suppose. Things are different now that’s for sure.”

  All of their eyes shifted up at me at nearly the same time as I squashed out the conversation. Maybe there would be a time to reminisce, but I for one wasn’t ready. My pain was still too raw. Maybe if we ever found a place of our own, and we were finally safe again, maybe then. Maybe.

  “I wonder if there is anywhere that is completely isolated from The Evolved or the natives,” I said with a sigh. “What if we have to keep moving around forever?”

  “We haven’t seen anyone in miles and miles,” Charlie said taking a small bite from her chunk of meat. Red juices dripped down her chin. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and stuck the meat back into the fire. “Maybe eventually they’ll kill each other off.”

  “Wouldn’t that be nice?” Logan said with a meat-stuffed cheek. “But seems a unlikely scenario.”

  Ryder stood up and placed his hands on his hips. He looked at us one after the other, his eyes moving around the circle. “You guys still hungry? Should I get more?”

  My head was already movi
ng up and down before he’d even finished speaking. I felt like I could eat a whole wolf myself.

  “Yeah,” Logan said picking between his teeth with a fingernail.

  “Please,” Shawn said.

  Ryder popped up to his feet, flourishing his arm as he walked backward, bending slightly at the waist. “It would be my pleasure.”

  “Oh, please,” Charlie said rolling her eyes.

  I couldn’t hold back the small laugh as I looked away from him. It felt like every eye in the room was on me. Surely, I couldn’t be the only one that found humor in Ryder’s silliness.

  Whatever beginning to a relationship Ryder and I had, was in a strange place. We knew how we felt about one another, but we kept things quiet. He didn’t say it, but I knew it was because he didn’t want to upset Charlie.

  What she’d gone through had been bad enough. It wasn’t like either Ryder, nor I wanted to rub anything in her face. If there even was anything.

  It wasn’t like we had tons of time to be alone anyway. We traveled together. We were all awake and asleep at the same time. And there was always someone around.

  Surely when we found a place to stay long term things would be different. For the time being, the important thing was getting there. Until then, everything else could wait.

  “Hey,” Shawn said nudging me with his elbow. “Everything all right?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a smile. “About as well as one might expect with all things considered.”

  “We’ll get there,” Shawn said rocking his body into mine.

  I looked into his sparkling eyes. “I sure hope so.”

  “Look how far we’ve come,” Shawn said gesturing around the room.

  I scrunched up my nose. The disgusting and dirty room didn’t make me feel like I’d accomplished anything.

  “OK, maybe not this room exactly,” Shawn said. “But things have been good. We’re making major progress and haven’t run into any problems. I think going south was a really smart idea.”

  “Until everyone else realizes it too,” Charlie muttered.

  “Then we’re ahead of the game,” Shawn said.

  Logan was shaking his head snickering quietly. “Progress or not, we don’t know what’s waiting for us out there. Never let your guard down. Not even for a second. We can’t assume anything is safe.”

  I nodded. Logan was right of course, but what I didn’t mention to the others was that we’d never be safe. No mattered where we stopped… we wouldn’t ever be safe. We’d always have to sleep with one eye open. Then again, maybe they all already knew that.

  The back door opened and Ryder seemed to blow in with the breeze. “Good news boys and girls.”

  “What?” Logan grunted. It didn’t sound like he believed in good news.

  “Come with me. I’ll show you,” Ryder stuck out his hand for me, and then for Charlie. I took it, but she ignored it. When I was on my feet, Ryder dropped my hand but smiled brightly. “You guys are going to love this.”

  We followed Ryder down the aisle. I looked down at the club he was holding assuming it would be covered in blood and he was going to present us with another wolf. But the club didn’t have any fresh blood on it.

  Ryder pushed both doors open and stepped to the side. I blinked several times before I realized what was different. It had stopped snowing.

  I’d only been in the sunlight for a few seconds, and already my cheeks had felt warm. After the previous days of the heavy snowstorm, it was almost too hard to believe.

  “Maybe we can head out in the morning,” I said looking out at the emptiness surrounding us.

  “Could start up again by then,” Charlie said crossing her arms.

  Of course she was right, but hopefully, she was wrong. I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic being stuck inside the small church.

  “Guess we’ll see in the morning,” Ryder said holding his hands above his eyes to block out the light. “But I think this is promising. The sky is clear, and the sun is warm. Let’s stay positive.”

  Ryder leaned closer to Charlie and smiled. She returned the smile, but even I could feel the emptiness in her eyes. Ryder looked away, and I instantly felt the worry radiate out from him.

  “Well, we might as well, go back inside. Rest up. Could be a big day ahead of us,” Ryder said placing his hands on his hips.

  “We’ll see,” Charlie muttered and walked back inside.

  Logan and Shawn followed her. Ryder grabbed my hand as I was walking away.

  “We should get inside,” I said, my eyes quickly darting towards the church. I worried Charlie was watching.

  “Oh, yeah, of course. I just wanted a minute with you. We don’t get to—”

  “I know.” I stood on my tip-toes to kiss his cheek. “But you know…,” I said swallowing down the lump at the back of my throat. “She just needs more time.”

  Ryder tried to hide his frown. “She does, or you do?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Never mind.” Ryder started to walk away before I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to face me.

  I narrowed my eyes at him waiting for him to explain himself. His jaw was stiff but it quickly softened when he sighed.

  “It’s difficult you know?” He leaned closer. “I should get time with my girlfriend without having to worry about her running off.”

  “I know.” I hesitated, chewing on my cheek. “But if she runs off again. It puts us all in danger. We can’t risk it. You know that.”

  “She won’t.” Ryder’s eyes were hard as he stared directly into mine. He groaned as he looked away from me. “It’s just that I shouldn’t feel like I miss you when you’re usually less than ten feet away from me.”

  I grabbed his hand and laced my fingers with his. “It’s hard for me too.”

  “Is it?”

  “Jesus, Ryder! It’s like you’re angry with me.”

  “I’m sorry, but you seem so hard. It’s like you won’t let me in.”

  I threw my hand in the air in frustration. “Really?”

  He was right. I didn’t, but I didn’t let anyone in. This shell around me was necessary. One hundred percent necessary, and he was just going to have to live with the fact that it was going to be there.

  “It’ll be better when we find a place. I know it will,” I said, wishing I could say the right thing… the thing that would make him stop looking at me with his puppy dog eyes.

  “What will stop her from running once we find our place?” Ryder asked.

  I exhaled slowly. “Nothing I guess.” I looked around the area. “We should get back inside.”

  I hated feeling like I was brushing him off. He didn’t bother to hide the hurt in his eyes. Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get as close as I had. Losing my parents had hurt like hell. Getting close to others was the last thing I wanted. Feeling that pain again… I don’t know if I could survive it.

  I stepped toward the church, but Ryder pulled me back. My body spun, and I slammed into his chest. My heart raced as I looked up into his sad eyes.

  Ryder didn’t say anything. He pressed his lips to mine pouring everything into his kiss. It was filled with so much passion that it rattled my bones. I felt everything he felt for me in a quick electric shock. Then he let go and walked away.

  My knees were weak.

  I was dizzy.

  Disoriented.

  What had just happened?

  I wanted more.

  Ryder cleared his throat without turning around. “Coming?”

  2

  We’d packed our things, but all of us lingered in the doorway as if waiting for something to go wrong. Something like a snowflake. But the sun was already on the rise, and the day was definitely the warmest I’d felt in a long time.

  Of course, just because it was warm, didn’t mean it would stay that way. Maybe it just meant there was another snowstorm waiting in the wings. Perhaps the one coming would be bigger and more ferocious than the last.
Maybe it would be the one that would end everything.

  “OK.” Ryder let out a deep breath and pasted a smile on his face. “Here we go.”

  I stepped around Shawn, then around Ryder when neither of them moved. My boot sunk down in the wet snow.

  “Yeah. OK. Let’s go,” I said waving them along.

  “Wait!” Ryder said. He took a step forward and squinted out toward the horizon. “Get back inside.”

  “What is it?” Charlie said her voice soft.

  I noticed the black spot in the distance bobbing side to side with each step. If we could see them that meant they could probably see us too. Logan grabbed Charlie and guided her inside, the rest of us followed close behind.

  “Shit,” Ryder said locking the door.

  “They were alone.” I let out a quick breath.

  “What should we do?” Charlie whispered.

  Ryder held up his hand and stared at the door. “Emery’s right. They were alone, which means, we can take them down if we need to.”

  “But maybe we won’t need to,” I added.

  “It's possible they didn’t see us,” Shawn said rubbing his hands together. He almost looked as though he was ready for a fight. At least one where we had the upper-hand. “Can you see them? Are they still coming?”