The Divide: Origins (12 page)

“What
will we be doing? We’re not taking separate jobs. No matter what we do, we’re
doing it together.”

“I
have something very important in store for you three. We have patrols at night
in case the military comes back. We’ll give you a battery operated heater, and
you can make sure the south side of the city’s border is safe every night.”

“You
expect us to sit out in the cold at night with nothing but a battery operated
heater? We won’t survive for long doing that.”

“I
know. That’s why it’s not an all-night thing. We have several people who work
in shifts. Four groups go to each side of the town every two hours, so you
won’t have to bear the cold any longer than that. What do you say? It’s a small
price for having food and shelter, isn’t it?”

“Very
small. What’s the catch?”

“They
might actually try to attack us sooner or later. Your life will be at risk
every time you leave these grounds. Is that not a good enough catch for you?”

“I
suppose it is. When do I start, and can Zoe and Liam stay out of this? They’re
just kids.”

“They’re
old enough, and it sounded like the girl wanted to help us.”

“
The girl
has a name,” Zoe said in
frustration.

All
of this sounded ridiculous to her. What ever happened to going to Texas? Were
they really about to go out into subzero temperatures over the rest of their
lives to insure a town’s safety that was probably doomed to fail sooner or
later?

“I
meant no offense. I know it might not seem like it, but we’re grateful for
anyone who helps us. Thank you, Zoe,” Mack said sincerely.

“There’s
still one thing I don’t understand. Why do you and your brother protect these
people? If you’re capable of organizing something like this, then it seems like
you would be able to fend for yourselves just fine,” Max said.

“Brandon
was the mayor of this town before it all went to hell. He feels responsible,
and I’m his brother, so of course I’m going to help him. His family was on a
trip to Florida to see some relatives. He doesn’t know if they’re alive or
dead. He may never know with the way everything is. Protecting these people is
all Brandon has now.”

“You’re
a good brother. Why not go to Florida, though?”

“I
guess you haven’t heard.”

“Heard
what?”

“We
talked to some people from Florida over the radio. The weather was crazy there.
After the disaster, hurricanes and tornados pounded everyone. Over half the
people there are already dead. We could go, but it would probably be for
nothing. Samantha’s family lived on the beach. We can hope, but they probably
didn’t make it. This place is all we’ve got.”

“I’m
sorry. I just wanted to get to know who I’ll be working with.”

“It’s
no problem. You should go downstairs and see your friend. You’ll leave at
midnight for patrol duty, so be sure to come here and get your supplies before
you go.”

“Will
do,”
Max
said as he walked downstairs to finally find
the woman they had been looking for all day.

It
wasn’t ideal, but they were together again, and they were at what might be a
permanent place to lay their heads. For once, things were looking up. A lot can
change in a night.

Chapter 12

Finding Death

Max
found Rebecca tucked away in the corner of a classroom. She had been given a
nice private spot and plenty of water to hydrate. She was still on the mend,
but Max could tell she was feeling better already. He talked to her first.

“I’m
glad you and Zoe made it. What happened to Liam’s sister, though?” Rebecca
asked.

“She
was murdered before I found them. I got
who
I could here.
I’m so glad we found you. What do you make of these people? Am I right to trust
them?”

“I
think so. They’ve been nothing but helpful to me. They said I would have to
work after I heal, but I can live with that if we have a safe place to stay.”

“I
knew about the work part. We have a two-hour patrol tonight. Maybe this is
better than whatever is in Texas.”

“I
hope so. Even more, I hope my parents were inside that base because if they
weren’t, they’re dead by now.”

“I’m
sure they were. Why do you think they attacked the people on the outside?”

“I
have no idea. All I can figure is that they thought we would eventually be a threat.
It’s fine now, though. We made it out, and these guys supposedly have enough
firepower to hold the military off in an emergency.”

“Somehow
I doubt that. We’ll stick with them for now, but if it comes down to an all-out
fight with the military, I’m getting you out of here.”

“There’s
something else we need to talk about. What happened in the car . . . what did
that mean? I know at a time like this it seems stupid to even think about
romance, but . . .”

“It’s
not stupid at all. We need good things to hang onto, and nothing good is being
given to us now. We had talked the night before, and I shut things down because
I didn’t think it made sense for the times we’re in. It makes more sense than
anything, though. We have to make our own happiness, and I would love for you
to be a part of mine.”

“I
like that answer. I’m glad you’re alive, Max. I don’t know what I would’ve done
without you.”

“You’re
a survivor. You would’ve been fine,” Max said and gave her a kiss on the
forehead.

“So
do I get to talk to her?” Zoe asked.

“Of
course. I’ll be just outside,” Max said and walked out of the room.

He
found Liam sitting in the hallway looking completely blank. The kid had been
through a lot. Max could understand if the day had been too much for him. He
felt like he needed to say something to try to make it better, but he had no
idea what that would be.

“You
can stop looking at me that way,” Liam said.

“In
what way?” Max asked.

“Like
I’m a wounded animal you have to fix.”

“I
don’t mean to. You’ve been through a lot, though. It would be understandable if
you needed some fixing. What can I do?”

“There’s
nothing anyone can do, Max. You should know that. Our families are dead, and
pretending that sticking together will help us survive or give us some type of
replacement for our loved ones is absolutely ridiculous. You could never be
Zoe’s dad, and you sure as hell couldn’t be mine. Zoe’s special, but we won’t
live long enough to be anything to each other. I’m just ready to get it over
with.”

“No
one’s trying to replace your father. We’re just sticking together because what
else can we do?”

“I
don’t think it matters.”

“You
said you were ready to get it over with. What exactly did that mean?”

“What
do you think? It’s pretty simple. I want to die, so I don’t have to live in
this world anymore. Don’t you?”

“No.
I want to live and see what I can have with this group of people. I think we
can survive. You’re a part of that group, you know. I’ll never be a parent to
you or Zoe, but I could be your friend. In this world, I think that’s worth a
lot.”

“Maybe
it should be, but I’m not so sure right now. It seems like it would be easier
to check out instead of waiting to die.”

“Don’t
talk like that. You need to get some rest. It’ll do you some good. We had a long
day.”

Max
went upstairs and tried to talk Mack into letting Liam out of his work. He was
in no shape to actually do anything but mourn. It took some convincing, but he
eventually got him to agree to give Liam two weeks to get over everything he
had seen. Then Max walked downstairs and rested his eyes. He couldn’t actually
sleep. Too much had gone on in the last few days, and his mind wouldn’t shut
off. Every time he started to drift off, a new worry made its way into his
brain and pulled him back to the waking world. Most of his worry centered on
something Liam said. Would they all be better off dead? Max had been a science
teacher before he was in prison, and he had studied a lot about theories that
involved the extinctions of species. Was this theirs? Wasn’t it possible that
they were fighting a losing battle, and Ira was just the beginning of their
suffering before mankind inevitably died out?

Before
he knew it, it was already getting close to midnight. Max woke up Zoe and they
went upstairs to get a couple of rifles and their heater. Then they headed out.
Once they got to the south side of town, they set up shop in the upstairs of an
old store. It had a great vantage point in case they had to pick someone off,
not that Max actually expected to be doing any shooting.

“I
can’t believe we’re out in this,” Zoe said as she shivered.

The
temperature was obviously in the negatives, and a snow and ice mixture was
falling. It
did
seem insane for
anyone to be outside that night. Then again this was an every night thing. For
all they knew, the weather might never get better than this. It was summer, so
odds were that it would actually get worse.

“It’s
just a couple hours. We’ll be fine,”
Max
said.

“Maybe
you
will. I’m freezing. What’s the point
of this anyway? It isn’t like the military would attack tonight. They had their
hands full this morning with everyone on the outside. I doubt they would go
looking for a fight so soon after.”

“I’m
not so sure about that. I don’t think they’ll attack soon, but I would if I
were them,” Max said and wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close to
share their body heat.

“Why?
That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It
makes more sense than you think. They have a giant hole in their fence, and
that will leave them vulnerable to any outsiders who might stumble onto their
base. There’s plenty of metal and even fencing in this town. They’ll come here
eventually, no matter what happens. Then think about something else. They’re in
a secluded area. Who are the closest people who could hurt them?”

“I
get it. We’re the potential threat who has all the supplies they need. Maybe we
really should be out here. I don’t know what we’ll do about it if the military
shows up, though. We’re only two people.”

“Just
between you and me, I know exactly what we’re going to do. If it’s just a few
of them, we’ll cut them down. On the other hand, if it’s an army, we’ll sneak
out the back of the place and go to the school. We’ll warn everyone and get
Rebecca and Liam. After that, we’ll steal one of their vehicles and get out of
here.”

“Wait
a minute. You would just leave all those people to die?”

“I
would rather do that than endanger you and Rebecca. If there’s one thing I
don’t want to do, it’s put us in a situation that we can’t get out of, and if
they come here in full force, it’ll be suicide to try to fight them.”

“All
right. I can get on board with that. What about Liam, though? You didn’t even
mention getting him out. Why is that?”

“The truth is that I’m not even sure if
he’ll be around when we have to escape.”

“Why would you say something like that?
He’s going to be fine.”

“Zoe,
I see the way you look at him. You two aren’t in love. In fact, you barely know
each other, but you’ve both lost people. That makes you feel close to him. It
might even make you think you can have something more with Liam one day. That’s
a good thing, but it could also get you hurt. Liam mentioned that he wanted to
die. Don’t get attached to him until we know if he’s going to be with us for
the long haul. You’ve been hurt enough.”

“I
could say the same to you. I saw the way Rebecca looked at you when you two
were talking, and that little kiss on the head seemed innocent enough, but
there’s something going on with you two. Be careful that it doesn’t end badly.”

“Do
you think it’s a bad idea for me to open myself to that possibility?”

“No.
I even suggested it to Rebecca one time. We should all try to find happiness,
even if it’s unlikely that we’ll find anything other than pain. I guess what
I’m saying is this. I don’t know what Liam and I could ever have. It’s probably
nothing, and I never even thought about this kind of stuff until today, but I
believe it’s worth thinking about. If not, all we have to fill our minds with
is everything that’s happened lately, and I don’t want that. I don’t think you
need to dwell on it either.”

“I
never thought I would be taking lessons from a thirteen year old. Actually, I
guess I’m talking to a fourteen year old now that it’s after midnight. I know
it’s probably not very great, but happy birthday, Zoe. I snagged this off one
of the shelves downstairs when you weren’t looking. I hope you like it,” Max
said and handed her a book.

“What
is this?” she asked.

“It’s
something I read when I was a kid. It’s kind of sweet.”

“You
read this? It looks like a romance,” Zoe said in surprise.

“It
is, but it’s a lot more than just that. Destiny is about a guy’s entire life
and everything he’ll do for one girl. On
my
fourteenth birthday, my parents were too busy working to make an appearance
most of the day. I suppose I shouldn’t complain because their jobs gave me
pretty much everything I wanted, but I didn’t feel great about it back then. I
found this book in my parents’ room. I guess my mom had been reading it. I read
every word of it that day. It might seem a little odd, but it took me to a
different reality that was a lot better than my own. I know it isn’t much, and
the last thing a fourteen year old wants for her birthday is a book, but I was
hoping it could take your mind off all this sometimes.”

“It’s
incredible. I’ll read it whenever I need to get away. There are still a few
things I don’t understand, though.”

“And
what are they?”

“Number
one, I can’t believe you actually remembered today was my birthday after
everything that’s happened.”

“Of
course I did. Mine’s only a few days before yours, and you better remember it
when it rolls around, too,” he joked.

“The
other thing is that I can’t stop picturing a fourteen year old you sitting on
your bed and crying your eyes out while reading the most romantic story of your
life. I can picture it all up here. You were a big softy growing up, weren’t
you?” Zoe teased.

“I
wouldn’t have told you that if I knew you were going to make fun of me.”

“I’m
just messing with you. Thanks. It’s really thoughtful. I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“All
right. Since you reacted so well to that, I’ll give you your real present,” Max
said and pulled a computer out of his bag.

“It’s
great, but what will I even use it for now? The Internet doesn’t even exist
anymore,” Zoe said.

“It’s
got a CD burner, and as far as I can tell, there’s a world full of CDs, video
games, and movies that no one is using. Sometimes it might be nice to just be a
teenager and slack off. When you want that, you’ll have the book and more
importantly, a computer that could lead to a lot of entertainment. As a matter
of fact, there’s a store full of CDs and movies downstairs. I can keep watch if
you want to see if any of it is salvageable.”

“You
would be okay with that?”

“I
don’t see anyone else using the stuff. Go ahead.”

“Thanks,
Max,” she said and headed downstairs.

He
smiled. It was amazing how something so small could feel so good. Bringing Zoe
a little bit of joy on her birthday had really been more for him than anything.
He needed to know he could do that. Max had never gotten the chance to see his
own daughter grow up and spoil her on her fourteenth birthday. In a way, he had
gotten an experience for himself that he never thought was possible, even if it
was in the coldest environment he had ever been in.

When
he looked back out the window, his smile quickly faded. The military was moving
into town, and they weren’t just bringing a small force that Zoe and he could
take care of. They had brought an army that could easily crush everyone at the
school. He had thought they had more time, but they had to move. He quietly
rushed downstairs and found Zoe. Then he placed one finger up to his lips to
signal for her to be quiet.

“Put
everything you’ve found into my bag and follow me. We’re going out the back,”
he said.