- - End of All Things, The by Lissa Bryan Read Free Book Online

said.
    “You haven’t been eating enough. That’s what this is for.” Justin held up a can of powdered weight-loss shake.
    “How’s that going to help?”
    “You mix up a shake to drink along with what you’re eating. It gives you the extra calories and vitamins you might be missing.”
    Justin headed back to the stock room but paused in the doorway and told her to wait where she was. Carly wondered what he’d seen but shrugged and spent the next few minutes in the health and beauty aisle, where she selected a few sticks of deodorant and some leave-in spray conditioner that might help contain the frizzy mess her hair had become. She saw a row of baby wipes and flung a few large packets into the cart. If she couldn’t shower, she could at least wipe herself down. It was better than nothing, she supposed.
    Justin returned, carrying a case of liquor. Carly’s eyes widened. “Headed to a kegger this weekend?”
    “Trade goods,” he explained and dropped the case into a second cart that had been abandoned nearby. “It’s a pain-killer, a disinfectant, and a good time, all rolled into one.”
    They rolled the carts back up to the front of the store, and Carly pulled her checkbook out of her pocket.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Justin told her. “Besides, I hate waiting in line behind someone who’s writing a check.”
    Carly gave him a small smile. She knew he was joking to soften the reaction his words were bound to have, and she appreciated it. She considered for a moment and then put her checkbook back into her pocket. He was probably right. Even if the owner of the store returned, who would be at the bank to cash her check? “How are we going to carry all of this?” Her tote wouldn’t hold it all.
    “We’ll just wheel the carts back to your place.”
    Carly swallowed back a protest about stealing the carts when she considered the fact everything inside the carts was stolen as well.
    “Is there a gun shop here?” Justin asked.
    “On the other side of the bridge.”
    “Care to take a stroll with me?”
    Carly smiled at him. “Certainly.”
    They walked down 10th Street toward the bridge. Sam trotted beside her, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. He looked happy, and it made her heart lighten a bit. “You said you were from Omaha. Is that where your family is?”
    For a moment, Carly didn’t think he was going to answer, and she regretted asking the question. 
    “I don’t have any family.”
    “Are they all . . . gone?”
    Justin shrugged. “I’d imagine so, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I grew up in the foster care system and enlisted as soon as I was old enough to sign the papers.”
    Carly didn’t know if she should she offer sympathy, or if she should—
    “What about your family?”
    “They’re . . . gone.” Carly’s throat tightened.
    “I’m sorry. Were you close?”
    “Very. My mom and dad . . . they were wonderful. But you knew my dad, at least a little bit, right?”
    “He was my Arabic teacher for a few months, until he retired.”
    That must have been the language her dad had been speaking in his fevered delirium the night he died. She pushed the thought away and blinked hard to combat the stinging in her eyes. Justin gave her a pat on the shoulder, his eyes compassionate. She felt a little closer to Justin, knowing he had a connection to her father, no matter how slight. 
    “How old are you, Carly?”
    “Twenty-two.”
    “Did you still live at home?”
    “No, I had my own apartment upstairs. Mom and Dad were on the ground floor. So I still saw them every day and went downstairs for dinner all the time since I’m not much of a cook.” Carly gave a little laugh even as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “My mom worried I wasn’t eating enough vegetables and healthy stuff.”
    Justin was quiet for a moment. “The men spoke highly of your father. He left the field around the time you were born and became an instructor, but his