The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree by norgbelulah (mature)

[potentiality-26.livejournal.com]

Fandom: JUSTIFIED
Characters/Pairing: Ava Crowder/Boyd Crowder/Raylan Givens, Loretta McCready
Length: 17,840 words
Author on LJ: norgbelulah
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: A Justified meets the zombie apocalypse fic needs no- er- justification.  I should mention that this isn't strictly an A.U., but rather a well thought out 'What if'- what if the next thing to happen to these characters was the end of the world- plus the undead?

It's a wonderful Loretta-centric fic, with some equally wonderful third party POV Ava/Boyd/Raylan development.  The author strikes the perfect mix of chilling horror and odd sweetness in this story, and never more so than with this OT3.  Because really, this is one of the happier endings they could reasonably expect.

The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree