I read this a while ago, I thought it was one of Al Steiner's but it turned out not to be.
Our standard hero with a military past gets caught up in some kind of apocalypse and is traversing a building to get to a safe spot when he finds a girl hiding in a corner/under a mattress and drags her along.
Story ensues.
Does anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?
Thank you folks!
I think this is it - thank you! I had a slightly different recollection of the beginning of the story (specifically the 'going through a building and finding the girl under the mattress thing still sticks out) but I may be misremembering.
Thank you AJ!
Also, try North of the River by Al Steiner, same Greenies universe. A soldier takes refuge in a building and discovers a girl that's been hiding in there, too.
The closest thing that comes to mind is Bio War by Fick Suck, but in that the main character finds 2 girls in an apartment before they head out of LA for safety.
https://storiesonline.net/s/46532/bio-war
Synopsis: At the end of the century, the new science of biologics has created genetically enhanced soldiers. However, the science slips out of government control creating a devastating biological apocalypse. Brody, one of the enhanced soldiers, escapes the collapse to a small town in the mountains. This is his saga.
I think I remember one about a nuclear attack by The Canadians on the USA. (! Prescient perhaps? 😀)
Girl was bound and MC was unable to release her so she spends the tale naked,in cuffs, and gagged.
Near future, with cars having fuel cells.
I'm fairly sure it was only on the now defunct asstr but that's about all I can recall
Prescient? More like paranoia ("Heck, that's what we'd do, so why not nuke them first, just in case?").
Thank you @Finbar_saunders, I haven't been on asstr in a very, very long time, I think the story I was talking about was here.
The story Grant mentioned is close but not the one I was thinking about. I'll keep looking, but if anyone has any suggestions I'll take them of course.