The Divide: Origins (22 page)

“For
starters, my nephew is dead. I can’t help but suspect the man who killed my
brother. We all saw you and Rebecca go into the woods yesterday. We found him
in the same direction you were walking. What did you do?”

“Nothing.
I explained why your brother had to die. This is different. You have to trust
me.”

“How
can I when you’re carrying my personal notes? I need the truth, Max. If I don’t
get it, I’m going to start hurting the ones you care about most.”

“Are
you sure you want the truth?”

“Why
wouldn’t I?”

“Because
craziness seems to run in your family. Timothy tried to rape Zoe. He choked her
and told her if she said anything he would kill her. Liam found out about what
happened before any of us. He took Timothy out into the woods to have a little
chat. I think he wanted to defend her honor. When I found out, I was worried. Rebecca
and I went into the woods. We split up about a half-mile in to try to cover
more ground. Shortly after that, I found them. Timothy had Liam pinned to the
ground, and he was beating his face in. I couldn’t let him kill someone I’ve
come to think of like a son. I didn’t have a weapon, so I picked up a
well-shaped stick and walked up behind him. From there, I shoved it into his
neck and grabbed Liam. I never wanted it to come to this, but I had no choice.”

“It’s
the same excuse every time, isn’t it? Do you really expect me to believe that
when you killed my brother and nephew in two separate incidents it was only to
protect a little girl?”

“What
can I say? You need to teach future generations of
Lelands
to respect women a little more.”

“We’ll
let the people judge you. Guards, take him,” Troy said, and they drug him into
the streets where a crowd gathered.

It wasn’t long until most of the town,
including his family, was there. Troy announced his charges, and Max told his
story. The people seemed sympathetic at first. Then Troy explained how this
wasn’t Max’s first time killing.

“The man you’re feeling sorry for is
nothing more than trash. I should’ve never let him in here. He was a prisoner
before he came to me for help. He was incarcerated for killing his own wife.
Then he killed my brother. He fed me some story about self-defense, and I
believed him. No more! Max took Timothy’s life, and he has to pay for it. I’m
asking you as the man who gave all of you purpose again to bring justice to
this great city. Don’t let Raines slip into the trap of allowing snakes to
poison our beautiful city,” Troy said.

“Can I have a word before you sentence
him to death?” Rebecca asked.

“By all means, go ahead. For the record,
I won’t be doing the sentencing today. Our citizens will.”

“Max recruited most of you. It’s true
that he’s a killer, but you need to know why. He killed his wife because he
walked in to find her holding their dead baby girl. She had stabbed her. His
wife was mentally ill, and maybe he should’ve been able to understand, but he
couldn’t. Max snapped and stabbed her to death. How many of you would’ve done
the same thing if you had found your spouse holding your dead baby?

The second person he killed was Troy’s
brother, but he was a child molester who was trying to hurt Zoe. He had already
hurt another girl. Max ignored that. He once told me that he doesn’t regret
killing Jerome in any way. The only thing he regrets is that he didn’t do it
sooner. Zoe’s best friend died because of that man. I wish I had been the one
to kill him.

Finally, there’s Timothy. He tried to
rape Zoe, and . . .”

“No one is buying this. Timothy was a
good kid. We all know that.”

“I can’t stand by and say nothing any
longer. Mrs. Leland, you saw how shaken up I was when I left your house. There
was a reason for that. If you hadn’t come home when you did, he would’ve raped
and killed me. He almost strangled me to death before you got there. You know
I’m telling the truth. You could see that something was wrong, couldn’t you?”
Zoe asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I could . . .”

“Shut up, Helen! They’re trying to
confuse us. The facts are simple. He killed one of our own, and the price for
that is death,” Troy said.

“I recruited most of you. I fed you lies
about how this place was a democracy when the truth was far from that. Troy
Leland sets the curfew, gives you jobs, and even decides how much you can have
to eat every week. Is that what you want? I can do better. Come with me now.
We’ll leave Raines behind and create an equal society of our own. I’m not
saying it’ll be easy to start over, but you know I can find members. I did it
here. We’ll have elections and everything once we get enough people, and just
so you’re sure I’ll never become a power hungry man like Leland, I’ll guarantee
that my name won’t be on a single ballot. How many of you will join me?” Max
asked.

“We’re still holding a trial. How many of
you want to see him strung up today?” Troy asked.

Very few seemed to be in favor of it. Max
had been the one to bring most of them to Raines, and they felt a certain
amount of loyalty to him. Not many of them were willing to start over, but at
the end of it, just over seventy people were standing beside him.

“Fine. We’ll give you cars and a limited
amount of supplies to get started. Anyone who doesn’t want to be here is
welcome to go. Just get the hell out of here before I change my mind,” Troy
said and walked away.

Max met with the people who decided to go
with him and told them to meet him at the north gate. They would ride north
until they found a suitable town. He had to hope that they found one before
nightfall. Otherwise, he might just be leading these people to their deaths. As
he walked back to his house with his newfound family, Liam gave him a thankful
nod. It would have been easy for Max to turn him in, but he had taken all the
blame to keep him safe. He always would, too. Their things were already loaded,
and although Max wasn’t able to keep the blueprints, he had a good feeling
about this trip. They were going to build something special, no matter what.
Before they could get to their car, Troy stopped him, however.

“I want to give you fair warning. I
wasn’t willing to start a fight in the streets, but one is coming your way. You
better find a place far away from us. Otherwise, you’re going to die a slow and
painful death when my people find you,” he said.

“Not
if I find you first. I don’t take threats lightly, and you need to watch
yourself, Troy.
I’m a murderer
,
remember
?
I could kill a piece of shit like you and never think twice about it,” Max said
and walked to the car.

As
they got in, a man stepped beside the vehicle. His name was Jacob, and he was
an architect they had found a few weeks before. He and Troy spent countless
hours discussing the city they would build.

“If
you’re going to start a new society, you might need an architect. I remember
all of Mr. Leland’s plans for an indoor city. Take me with you, and I can make
it a reality for your group, too,” Jacob said.

“You’ve
got it. Thank you for this,” Max said.

“You’re
the one who rescued me from an unlivable situation a few weeks ago. This will
make us even. Besides, this wasn’t really the place for me anyway.”

Everything
was falling into place. As Max drove them to the north entrance, he knew the
only thing left to do was find them a permanent place to live. It might be
easier said than done, but these people were his responsibility now. Max was
going to do whatever it took to make sure that the people who backed him up in
those streets found an even better home than before.

Chapter 22

Norak

They
drove for hours without finding a place to stay. They had to stop to clear
debris from the road on many occasions, and they were making terrible time. It
was already starting to get dark. They had to find a place soon. Otherwise, not
everyone would survive the night. Just in time, they pulled into an old town
that looked like it had been abandoned. Max stopped and had everyone get out of
their
cars. They were sure to find shelter there.
Hundreds of houses were located within a relatively short distance. At least a
few dozen of them had to be using an alternative heat source. While he told
everyone to pan out and find the best shelters, he noticed a shade being pulled
back in one of the windows of a house across the street. Just as quickly as the
person peered out at him, they let go of the blind and moved away from the
window. Max couldn’t ignore what he saw. That person could be a threat to their
new society. Then again, this wasn’t their home originally. They were guests.
If this person would be welcoming to them, then he would certainly consider
making them a part of their new life.

Max
walked to the house and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He sighed,
knowing that he would have to kick the door in. Things could have been so much
easier, but he just knew this was going to end in meaningless bloodshed.

“Hey,
what are you doing?” Rebecca asked.

“Someone’s
in this house. I saw them look out a window earlier. I’ve got to make sure
they’re not a threat.”

“Why
don’t you let me try?”

“I
can kick a door in just fine.”

“That’s
not what I had in mind. Watch and learn,” she said and took his place in front
of the door.

“We’re
not here to hurt you. We came from another settlement where there was a
disagreement. All we want to do now is find a place to call home. We have some
supplies we would be willing to share with you, if you let this be our new
town. I know it’s hard to trust people now, but we’ve found that it takes a
village to get anything done in this world. What do you say? Will you take a
chance on us?” Rebecca asked.

The
door opened, and a woman pointed a shotgun out at her. She looked nervous but
not like she would actually pull the trigger. Max reached for his gun, but Rebecca
motioned for him to stay calm.

“What
can I do to make you trust me?” Rebecca asked.

“I
want to see those supplies,” she said.

“Okay,
Max will get them for you. If we give you something to eat and some blankets,
will you let us stay here at least for the night?”

“I
guess so. If you try anything, though . . .”

“We
won’t. We’re trying to make a society in all of this chaos. If you want, you
can be a part of that.”

“You’ll
stay with us so I can keep an eye on you. The others in your group can find
houses to call their own for the night. There are plenty of them. I’m Madeline,
by the way.”

“I’m
Rebecca. Thank you for this. You won’t be sorry.”

“I
hope not.”

When
they went inside, the first things Rebecca noticed were two small children.
Madeline had a boy and a girl. Neither of them looked to be any older than
four. It was no wonder she was so protective of this place. She had children to
look after.

“Can
we talk in another room? I’ll give you the supplies, and I can explain why
we’re here,” Max said.

“Fine,”
Madeline said, and with the wave of her hand, signaled for her kids to go into
the back. Then she and Max walked into the kitchen.

He
handed her some supplies and told her what happened in Raines. He explained
what they wished to accomplish, and she burst into laughter.

“You
think society can go back to the way it was? Are you crazy? An indoor city . .
. now that’s a good one. I’ve got to give you credit for dreaming big, but what
makes you think something like that is even possible?”

“We
have an architect with us who says he can build it. We don’t have the numbers
to even attempt it right now, but I was a recruiter back at Raines. I can give
us those numbers in a few years.”

“Years?
We don’t have years in this world.”

“I’m
telling you that we do. We’ll get the lights back on in this neighborhood and
collect supplies for everyone. We all have jobs, and we’re quite good at them.
Hunters and scavengers will find everything we need to survive until we can get
out of the harsh elements of this world.”

“I
want to believe that’s true for my children, but it sounds like a wish more
than an actual plan.”

“It’ll
work. Let me ask you some things now. This place seems like a ghost town. What
happened here?”

“The
military came. They were gathering people together to go to the coast with
them. There’s a base there, and they thought they could keep everyone safe. My
husband, Robin, was sick, so we were delayed. We arrived two days late, and
it’s a good thing we did. The base was gone. As a matter of fact, the whole
town was. From what we could tell, I think a bad storm must have hit. We did
the only thing we could after that and came back here.”

“I
didn’t see a man. Where is Robin?”

“Where
do you think?” she asked and looked down at the floor.

“I’m
sorry for your loss. We’ve lost people, too. What happened to him?”

“He
never got better. I think he needed to have his appendix taken out, but there’s
no doctor around here, and I couldn’t save him. When it got to its worst point
and we were sure he was going to die, I tried. I had no experience with surgery
or even anatomy, though. He bled to death on our kitchen table within five
minutes. I must have nicked something,
and . . .
” Madeline
said before she had to stop and clear away a tear from her eyes.

“It’s
not your fault. You did all you could. Let’s not talk about painful memories.
You and your children are going to have people now. We’ll become as close as
family before this is over. You’ll see.”

“I
hope you’re right about that. I still don’t know if I can trust you.”

“How
about this then? You can keep my gun for the night. That way you hold all the
power in this situation.”

“That’s
a good start. Where is this architect who’s going to fix all of our problems,
though?”

“He’s
in the living room. You’ve already met Rebecca. The two kids are Zoe and Liam.
They’ve been through a lot lately. Jacob is the other one. He’s a borderline
genius, and all of our hope lies within his head, so we’ll pretty much do
whatever it takes to keep him safe.”

“That
guy? He doesn’t exactly look like a savior.”

“I’m
not. I can just draw up designs. It’ll be a lot of other people who build our
home,” Jacob said as he stepped into the room.

Madeline
was immediately struck by how soft spoken and innocent he looked. Jacob seemed
like a person who should have died several months ago in this world.

“I
know what you’re thinking. It sounds ridiculous for me to think we can build an
indoor city. After all, you would think a structure that big would collapse
under its own weight,” he said.

“Exactly.”

“Think
of it this way. We’re actually going to be building about a hundred structures
and then connecting them, making it like building several stadiums with a flat
roof.”

“Do
you know how long it used to take people to build a stadium?”

“We’re
shooting for five thousand people. With that many motivated individuals, the
impossible becomes easy. Trust me on this. It can be done. All you have to do
is buy in. The more people who do, the better chance there is that we’ll be
able to convince others to follow us. Enthusiasm is catching.”

“All
right, let’s say I believe you. What then?”

“Our
people move into this town, and we get it back into good shape. After we do
that and get some more members, we’ll hold an election and start a new society
with rules made by the people,” Max said.

“I’m
sure putting one person in power could
never
go wrong,” she said sarcastically.

“It’s
not perfect, but it’s as close as we can get in this world. What do you say?”

“I’ll
buy into your concept. Just understand that I’m not a construction worker, so
you’re not going to get much help out of me.”

“Thanks,
Madeline.”

“My
friends call me
Maddy
. If we’re going to be
neighbors, I guess that qualifies you as the closest thing to a friend I’ve had
in months. We don’t need to sit around here any longer, though. It’s almost
dark. We’ve got to get the heaters going,” she said and stepped out of the
room.

After
it was warm in the house,
Maddy
told Max that they
didn’t have much room. She welcomed Zoe to stay in the extra bedroom, but
everyone else was going to be camping out in the living room.

“That’s
fine. We’ve slept in worse places than a living room since this all started.
Thank you for your hospitality,” Max said.

“It’s
no problem.”

“I’ve
got a question. There’s a big bed in that room. I’ve got room for one more. Why
doesn’t someone join me?” Zoe asked in hopes that Liam would be coming with
her.

“That’s
a good idea. Rebecca can go with you, and the guys can camp out on the floor in
here. Just remember that I’m starting to trust everyone, but I have the gun.
That trust shouldn’t be taken advantage of.”

“Understood.
You have nothing to worry about,” Rebecca said.

She
and Zoe went to their room, and Jacob quickly grabbed the couch. Max and Liam
lay down in the floor and listened as Jacob began to snore.

“Man,
how does this happen? First, I lose my bunkmate, and now I’ve got to listen to that
guy all night,” Liam said.

“Things
could be worse,”
Max
said.

“How
exactly?”

“We
could be out in the cold. Have you already forgotten what it was like to be on
the road overnight? Besides, you’ve got me as a bunkmate now.”

“Yeah,
well, let’s just say you’re not as welcoming as Zoe.”

“You’re
not exactly Rebecca either, but this is as good as we can do for now. We don’t
know that woman. She might be offended if we have teenagers sleeping together
in her house.”

“And
here I was thinking I was a man at this point. I mean
,
I’ve been working like a man. I even learned how to hunt.”

“You
are a man. In fact, you’re more grown up than most people ever were in the old
world, but you still look like a kid to us. It must be rough to have adult
expectations but never be treated like one.”

“It
is sometimes, but it’s not the worst thing in the world.”

“How
so?”

“I
was so ready to grow up before everything happened, but then I had to after I
met you guys. I’ll do whatever it takes to survive and most importantly,
protect Zoe, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t rather be a kid. I wish
Zoe and I had met under completely different circumstances. We could’ve grown
up together instead of just having to act grown automatically.”

“I
get what you’re saying. This society that we’re making can be a lot like the
old one, you know.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
mean that you have a voice. Do you think fourteen year olds should be working?”

“I
think we should do what we can, but we should have some time to develop who we
are, too.”

“How
would you do that?”

“People
under eighteen should work part time and study the rest of the day. I have no
problem hunting for food in the mornings, but if we don’t learn something at
some point, then our future is going to be filled with a bunch of idiots. We’re
building a society. Isn’t education just as important as building those walls?
How will we keep them up if we don’t even understand basic math?”

“Good
point. I think you just gave me the second thing I’m going to talk to our
people about.”

“What
was the first?”

“Tomorrow
we’re all going to be given jobs, but they won’t just be assigned. Maybe you
think you would make a better scavenger than hunter. You’ll be able to apply
for that, and I, along with a committee that I’ll make, will review all
applications. Hopefully everyone will be able to do what
they
want. We all have to work and make some sacrifices to survive, but it might be
easier for people to do that if it’s their choice.”

“I
think that’s brilliant. Don’t be surprised if everyone volunteers to be with
the welcoming committee, though. An air-conditioned job is always going to be
the first choice for anyone.”

“I
think our people will surprise you. They didn’t come here to sit under an air
conditioner. They want to build something great.”