The Beginning at the End of the World: A Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian Series (The Survivor Diaries Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that she was getting power happy and that a bunch of Villagers were getting sick of it. That she let those people die in the fire because she had no plan.”
    I bent my head at that to stare at my boots. It was true; I had no plan for fires of that magnitude.
    “Anything else?” asked Jackson.
    “He said that pretty soon she was going to try and get us all to move away from here for some ridiculous plan she has to bring us all to the Valley,” he said. He looked at our faces as if he was trying to pull information from us using only the power of his glance. His look turned accusing when he looked over to see my guilty expression.
    “What happened after that,” Mark asked, getting him back on track.
    “I told him he was a total dickweed and he swung at me. We ended up rolling on the ground, beatin’ the crap out of each other.” We all sat staring at each other in thought for an uncomfortable moment.
    “Levi, you can go now if that is everything.” Jackson’s dismissal concluded his investigation.
    “It’s not true, right?” begged Levi. “You aren’t thinking of moving us, are you?”
    I stared at the lost-looking guy, just sitting there willing me to tell him it wasn’t true. “Levi, any decision like that would be left for the Village, not for me to make unilaterally. It would be done by vote.”
    By the look on his face, that was not the answer he was looking for. He walked out of the little make-shift court house and jail looking very uneasy.
    I wasn’t sure where to start with Mark and Jackson, so I went with, “What the hell is this place?”
    “I decided to make this a jail right after you left on your little adventure,” said Jackson smugly.
    “And you didn’t tell me?” I asked, steaming at his tone. “Why?”
    “You can see why, Laura,” Mark said, defensively. “Because there are Villagers who are questioning your authority.”
    “Doing this behind my back only undermines my authority more. How will this help? And people still have the right to question. This is still America, isn’t it?” I said, channeling my youngest niece.
    “Is it?” asked Jackson.
    I had never even questioned whether or not we were still Americans, or if America even existed anymore. America had failed, I couldn’t deny that. But had it ceased to exist?
    ∞
    “For as much as you hate Jackson, you sure do defend him a lot,” I told Mark as we were walking home. I was so mad, I couldn’t even look at him.
    “I don’t ‘hate’ anyone. I just dislike him— a lot,” Mark retorted.
    “I have nothing going on with him. He’s my advisor, Mark. That’s it.”
    “I know. I am just tired of fighting. Can we just hit rewind and start over?” he asked.
    “It wouldn’t be the first time we did that, would it?” I asked, knowing very well that we had. “Fine, rewind ‘hit.’ Let’s move forward.”
    I had no idea where the beginning point would be for this rewind, but I was just too tired of the tension and arguing. I don’t know why I decided to keep the Pandora’s Box open, but I continued to talk. This time it was about the giant, pink elephant in the room that I had never really come to terms with.
    “I killed someone, and you don’t even seem to care that it’s eating me up,” I said as we persisted up the icy hill. Obviously, I still needed to talk with him about this.
    “I know. I killed people in the war. Yours was self-defense, plain and simple,” said Mark.
    “I feel different, though. Like I can never go back, and I am not even sure where ‘back’ is. Everything is just off,” I tried to explain.
    Mark sucked in air and blew out a visible breath that swirled with the snowflakes that were coming down softly. “I get it. You took a human life that you can never give back. And I am glad you did it. Because if you hadn’t have done what you did, I wouldn’t have you here with me right now.”
    I felt no better. We walked the rest of the way home in an uncomfortable