the end by Dreoilin (i can read book club .txt) 📖

I gave birth to Tristan when I was young. It was not the best time to have a baby, as the economy was dying, and the government was failing. My fiance, Cameron, was not ready to have a baby eithar, but as Tristan grew, I could see fatherhood was a great color on him. I did my best too.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but we were pretty good parents. It wasn't our fault for the things that happened during the first few years.
Tristan was born on the first of January in 2012. In Washington, several politics had been arrested for stealing from several banks. They never made it to the court house. A group of rioting college idiots took down the whole parade of lawmen and the government swine they were supposed to protect.
In the next couple months that followed, several more assasinations and bank thefts were on the rise. Money was disappearing fast. You would think it would make it's way back around. That's what it's supposed to do.
You spend money on a boat, the salesman spends it on a car, the car salesman spends it on his employees, the employees put it in a bank. Nope. That didn't happen. It bypassed those employees, leaving millions and trillions jobless.
Cameron, like several others were let go from their jobs, and businesses shut down like crazy. My job at the hair salon was shut down before we were let go. My boss who owned the shop handed out money and hugs, wishing us the best in life.
I found out later she was shot for her car and wallet on her way home that day. She had four kids and a loving husband.
Our bank account was wiped out quick. Luckily not before a few withdrawels. Not that money even mattered anymore.
Stores were abandoned and left for people to savage through and take what they needed to survive. The packaged meat and frozen foods were all bad, but people suffered through food poisoning to survive.
We learned quick like all the rest to do what we could to survive.
Our landlord took his family east, and let whoever was left stay in their motor-homes.
Power was shut off quickly all over Washington, starting in Seattle, and making it's way to the smaller cities.
We were in Sumner, one of the firsts to lose power.
Luckily my fiance had found a portable radio in an abandoned pawn shop down main street. It ate batteries quick, but there was alot of news, and we had to keep listening.
Washington was abandoned quick, and those panicked morons who caused our state to crumble, thought it would be more successful in another state.
Lets just say Montana and North Dakota were the lasts to fall. No one thinks to go to the country to try and make it. Those people are too busy trying to make it in the big cities. To get out of the little hick towns.
We used military grade walkies to communicate with families. The cell phone businesses were killed off near the beginning because of all the money they were making. You can thank those college kids for that too.
One night my dad came in on the walkie. He wanted us to come up the hill to Bonney Lake and stay with them where it was safe.
I had been so quiet, I jumped when the rushing sound of the radio waves blasted on.
But I picked up the walkie. "We're gonna stay here, I think." I told him.
I looked at Cameron who was still finishing a plate of green beans.
We had been rationing.
"Alright, but keep us posted what happens down there. I still think you should come up here."
"Of course, dad." I replied. "Stay safe, we love you guys."
A slight pause while the message transferred. "Love you guys too. Kiss my grandson."
I made a mental note to find my sleeping son later and give him a kiss for my dad.
While the walkie was on, I decided to check in on other family members.
Cameron's family in Idaho had come over when the idiots from Washington ransacked through their town. We talked them into it.
"Checking in with everyone else." I said through the walkie.
We waited a couple seconds while people received my message.
"It's ten o'clock, Rylee." My mom scolded. "But we're here." She was referring to my youngest sister, Jamie.
"Everyone's here." Cameron's dad's family. Consisting of his step mom and half siblings.
"We're all okay." My aunt's house was now home to my uncle and grandparents.
Cameron's mom, and his grandparents all checked in. My dad's siblings and parents were all living wih them, so I knew they were fine. Cameron's older brother checked in last.
"Love you all, and miss you. Turning the radio off for the night." I told them.
When everyone replied, we switched off the walkie, then sat up listening to the news for a bit longer.
Nothing more than riots and bankrupcies, and falling countries and cities, and towns and states.
It seemed like Canada and Africa were going to last the longest. Japan and all the Asian cities fell quickly after Washington did.
The radio anchor signed off for the night, so we switched off the radio, and let the fire in the fireplace die before we covered that up to keep in the heat. Cameron locked down the doors and windows, then came with me to check on Tristan.
We each gave him a kiss-though I gave him two, one from his grandpa-and we headed to our room.
Mornings always started early for us. Breakfast and news in the morning, then planning the rest of the day.
"I really think we should consider getting camping material." I told Cameron. "In case we have to leave. Plus it might be nice for here."
Tristan was eight months old. He sat in his high chair, munching on cheerios. The bowl I put in front of him was mostly spilled all over the tray that confined him.
"Do you want me to go and get that today?" Cameron asked. He was eating his cereal with water, as I was.
Milk had to go fast.
"I would like that, yes." I said, though the idea of Cameron outside with the riots that were still going on made me nauseas.
"I can do that." He said. "We need more amunition, and probably a couple more guns just for safety."
I rolled my eyes. "What we should do is learn how to use a bow and arrow. Because I'm betting the bullet company is going to be the next to go." I told him.
"I agree, but it doesn't hurt to get the last of the best." He smiled.
I gave in and smacked a kiss on him as I took my bowl to the sink.
We still had running water, but we had to boil it to keep it hot. We had to ration that too, so we went a couple days without showering or bathing.
Tristan shouted at us.
He did that alot.
Cameron put his bowl in the sink, and dumped the rest of the cheerios onto Tristan's tray so I could wash that bowl too.
"Okay, might as well do that now while the crazies are still sleeping." He headed into our room to the closet to get the shot gun. He took a couple more bullets and stuffed them in his pockets, then locked the closet door. Before he left, he picked up Tristan and gave him a long hug and a kiss, then he embraced me and passionately kissed me until he was ready to leave.
I didn't push him. My stomach was in knots.
He opened the door and looked around. When he was sure it was safe he closed the door, and I locked it behind him.
I opened the curtain in the kitchen window.
The once green grass was now brown and dead. The roads were overgrown with weeds. The heat radiated off of the pavement that was left.
I wiped a few beads of sweat from my forehead and finished with the dishes. When Tristan started fussing, I picked him up out of his high chair and set him on the floor.
He crawled around just fine, but like most kids, he got into everything.
I began to clean up the rest of the RV. I made the bed in the bedroom, cleaned up the bathroom, and wiped the table down. Then I stood around worried, and waiting for something to do.
A couple of shots went off in the distance and my heart began to sink. I grabbed Tristan and took him into the bedroom and locked the door. I lifted the mattress and we climbed in the wooden base Cameron had made to hide in.
It had a couple of little snacks hidden in boxes in the corners, and some blankets. It would only last us about a week.
Tristan started getting fussy after a couple hours so I gave him a couple cheerios.
We waited there until it seemed late and then I heard someone at the door.
"Rylee?" It was Cameron.
I pushed the board above us. It was heavy, but I lifted he mattress and climbed out with Tristan.
"I heard some shots." I told him.
"So did I." Cameron said. He put his satchel down on the bed. "I think it was off in Puyallup, because there was no one there today."
I picked up the bag and looked through it.
A couple packs of bullets, a couple canteens, some lanterns, matches, rain ponchos, and some tarps.
"Is this it?" I asked.
Cameron headed to the cubbard. "No, the tent and the rest of it I put in the storage in the side.
I nodded and followed him in the kitchen.
He turned around and held Tristan and I for a long while.
"I got you a rifle too, so I think we should practice a bit." He said.
I shrugged. He knew I wasn't the sharpest of shooters.
We shot a couple rounds off, and when my shots were closer together, we put the rifle away and headed inside.
I started on dinner when it got dark, and Cameron started to lock down.
Because the trailer wasn't meant to protect someone from rioting, we had to reinforce the doors and windows.
Cameron made a tough wooden wall for the door, and some covers for the windows.
It would keep them at bay, but it wouldn't protect us forever.
We had some beans and an apple for dinner that night. We were running a little scarce on supplies. Dinner was quiet. For a little while.
We heard them coming. It started out as a low rumbling and screaming off in the distance. Probably way off on the freeway.
Cameron dropped his spoon in his plate, and went to the door. He pulled the