The Divide: Origins (23 page)

“I
hope you’re right.”

“I
know I am. Let’s get some sleep. Everything will work itself out in the
morning,” Max said and closed his eyes.

In
the next room, Rebecca and Zoe were having a conversation of their own. They
could hear Max and Liam talking in the living room, and they had overheard him
say that they were going to take job requests the next day. That got Rebecca
thinking. What did she really want to do? For that matter, did it make sense
for Zoe to be going with Max every day? It was dangerous on the road. It was
certainly no place for a child.

“So
what are you going to apply for?” Rebecca asked.

“Isn’t
it obvious? Max and I make a great team. I’m not going to give that up.”

“If
what Liam suggested happens, then you’ll only be working part time. Max might
not be able to bring you back in the afternoon. You’re going to have to choose
something else.”

“I
don’t want to. What’s the use in school anyway?”

“Like
he said, we don’t need our society to be full of stupid people. You and Liam
are going to be the future of our town. We’ve got to make sure you know your
stuff.”

“I
don’t know what I want to do then. What about you?”

“I’m
not a very welcoming person. I hate that job. I was thinking I might go on
trips with Max.”

“You
know it’s life or death out there, right? You haven’t been in a deadly
situation in a long time. Are you sure you want to do that?”

“I’ll
be fine, Zoe. Besides, I know Max is going to need a hand, and there’s no one I
would rather work with. Jacob seems like a smart guy. Maybe his job should be
educating our youth. What do you think?”

“I
don’t even want to think about it.”

“What’s
going on with you? You’re the one who said you wanted things to be normal
again. Part of your ideal life involved going back to school. What changed?”

“Everything.
That was a dream about a normal life. Nothing we have will ever be normal
again.”

“That’s
the purpose of this society. I’m telling you that we’re going to build a life
where everything can be great again. Just give it some time. You’ll see.”

“If
you say so. How about I take your old job? I can clean houses and welcome
people to the neighborhood part time.”

“That
sounds great. Always remember not to lead with your thoughts about life never
being the same, though,” Rebecca said and smiled.

“Yeah,
that might be best,” Zoe said and laughed.

As
they drifted off to sleep, they had a lot of hope. They were about to be
starting a new journey together that could lead to stability. In the world they
were living in, that was the perfect dream.

* * * * *

The
following morning, Max gathered everyone together in the middle of town and
announced that they were taking job applications. He also explained that
children would never work, and teenagers below the age of eighteen would be
allowed to work no more than four hours a day. People were happy that this new
society truly would be centered on choice. Throughout the day, Max received
many requests from the people for jobs. They weren’t selfish. They decided to
apply for exactly what they were best at, no matter how hard it might be. Max
had Jacob help him decide on who got to follow their chosen direction, and
surprisingly, they were able to grant everyone’s requests. The town was even
named that day. Liam suggested they call it Norak after some town that was in a
comic book he read as a kid. Norak was as good a name as any. It hadn’t been
easy to get there, but it was finally real.

The following day, they would begin their
tasks. Hunters and gathers would go out and find what they needed while
educators taught their children what they needed to know. Meanwhile, he and
Rebecca went out to find people who could join them. A select few even worked
on getting the power back on in the town. It was all falling into place. They
would make progress steadily for so long that they forgot what it was even like
to struggle. Nothing could mess their new lives up . . . could it?

Chapter 23

Written In Blood

Two
Years Later

A lot changed over the next two years.
Max and Rebecca, and eventually several other recruiters, were able to get many
people to come back to their city. They had just
under
five thousand citizens now. Over those two years, a lot of things fell into
place. Within six months, they held an election. Jacob was elected their
leader. He was the one who knew how to build an indoor city, and honestly, he
was the most intelligent of them. A year into their city’s existence, they
decided to reestablish marriage. There were no fancy clothes or documents, but
they gathered together as a town to see people profess their love to each
other. The first to marry were Max and Rebecca. Their lives were full of so
much joy over that time. The world was still in chaos, and they had to battle
through unpredictable weather and even earthquakes, but life was as full of
love and laughter as it had been in the past. For them, it was even better.
Before Rebecca met Max, she was just someone who surrounded her life with work,
and he had been in prison. Against all odds, their lives after the disaster
seemed better than anything they had known before. Nothing can stay perfect,
though, and their peaceful time had run out.

As Max stepped outside to make another
trip out to look for survivors, two of their scouts approached him.

“We have a problem.”

“What is it?” Max asked.

“There’s
a group of people about ten miles north of us. We parked away from them, and I
don’t think they noticed us, but I’m doubting that they’re heading our way to
be friendly.”

“Why
do you say that?”

“We
recognized some of them from Raines. We didn’t exactly leave them on the best
terms, and Mr. Leland hates you. What if they’re hostile?”

“Then
we’ll deal with them. How many of them are there?”

“I
can’t be sure, but I would guess between two and three hundred.”

“That’s
just great. Most of these people aren’t trained to use weapons, and we only
have so many guns. If this turns ugly, we might be in trouble.”

“That’s
what we’re afraid of.”

“If
they were that close and they plan to hurt us, then why aren’t they already
here?”

“I
think they must have stayed there overnight. They’re in what’s left of the
neighboring town. They probably arrived yesterday and spent the night to do
some planning. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve had people scouting our
location throughout the morning.”

“Have
you told Jacob about this?”

“No.
He’s the
brains
of this place, but he’s no fighter.
That’s why we came to you.”

“All
right, I think we should gather everyone who knows how to shoot and arm them
immediately. Then we can meet at the gate. If they haven’t arrived by then,
we’ll fight this in the next town to avoid anyone dying here. Run all of this
by Jacob first, though. He’s our elected leader. I might know a little more about
combat than him, but we should read him in before we do anything.”

“Agreed.
We’ll get right on it,” he said and walked away.

About
that time, Rebecca, Zoe, and Liam came outside. Max filled them in on what was
happening. Rebecca and Zoe looked worried. That was nothing new with Zoe,
though. For the last week, she had been walking around in a panic. Max couldn’t
figure it out, but something was going on with her. The only calm one in all of
this was Liam. Max thought that was strange. Liam wasn’t known for his composure.
In a situation where all out war was about to be at their door, even Max felt a
little panicked.

“What
are we going to do?” Rebecca asked.

“We’re
going to fight. I’m not risking you three, but I’ll take the men who can shoot
to their location, and we’ll keep everyone safe.”

“You’re
crazy if you think I’m staying here. I’ve become a pretty good shot over the
last two years, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I
know you have, but I love you. People could die, and I can’t let you get hurt.”

“I
love you, too, and that’s exactly why I have to go. We can talk about this all
you want, but it’s only going to end one way.”

“Fine,
but keep your head low when the shooting starts.”

“I’m
going to be there, too. I might be the most useful person here,” Liam said.

“You’re
not going,” Zoe immediately said.

“I
have to.”

“Wait
a second. What makes you think you would be the most useful person there?”
Rebecca asked.

“Max
lied for me two years ago. He told Troy he was the one who killed Timothy. Odds
are that he’s only ordering his people to come here to hurt Max. Before I let
him or the people of this town get hurt, I’ll turn myself over to them.”

“That’s
ridiculous, Liam. Nobody is going to let you do that.”

“She’s
right. That would just be throwing your life away, and I can’t let you do
that,” Zoe said and grabbed his hand.

“Why?
If I don’t, it’ll be Max who’s throwing his life away. This is what’s right.”

“No,
it’s not. I took responsibility for that, and we’re going to stick to my story.
You’re one hell of a shot, and I would welcome your aim. No one is sacrificing
themselves
, though. I mean that,” Max said.

“Fine.
I’ll come with you and keep our secret unless we can’t fight them off.”

“Liam,
you’re
not
going. I have to . . .” Zoe
managed to say before he cut her off.

“I’ll
be fine. Just trust me.”

“If
you’re going, then so am I.”

“No,
you’re not. Walk with me for a second,” Rebecca said while grabbing her hand
and walking away.

“Do
you have any idea what’s up with those two?” Max asked.

“No
clue at all. What we need to be concentrating on is how we’re going to fix this
problem with Raines, though.”

“Agreed.
We should be able to take them on. Only about ten percent of the citizens can
fight, but
that
’s
more than enough
to defeat them
. We’ll have them outnumbered, and they’re in our
territory. If they want a war, we’ll give them one they’ll never forget.”

“All
right. What do I need to do?”

“Gather
as many men as you can and tell them what’s going on. I’ll do the same.”

Liam
started to rush off, but Max stopped him. If he was coming with them, then one
thing had to be clear.

“Liam,
I mean it when I say you better not turn yourself in under
any
circumstances. You mean too much to us for us to lose you. If
you’re coming, I also need you to stay behind me at all times. I’m not getting
you killed on this trip.”

Liam
nodded and went off to find as many able-bodied people as possible. Meanwhile,
Max did the same. After three hours, they had everyone who could fight. They
gathered with guns and vehicles at the gate, and Max made sure that Jacob approved
of their course of action. Then he gave a speech.

“Listen
up, everyone. I don’t know what we’re going to find out there, but there are
some things I need to say before we go. My wife and I recruited a lot of you.
You’ve been invaluable members of our community. Without you, this place
would’ve crumbled by now. I even remember a few of you from back when I was
almost executed in the streets of Raines. You believed in the vision I had, and
now all of this is possible. I’m asking you to stand up for our community one
more
time
. All of us probably won’t make it back. We
can pretend that this is Raines’s attempt at peacefully reaching out, but they
wouldn’t have sent so many unless they were here to start trouble. We outnumber
them, though. We also have automatic weapons that we recovered from military
bases last year. We can win this with ease. Given that loss of life is
inevitable, I want to offer you a choice. No one in this community is a slave. If
you don’t feel up to this fight or you’re just too scared to think that you
could help us, you can leave now. I only want the people who feel it is their
duty to fight this battle with us,” Max said.

No
one left. He could see determination in their eyes. They had truly built an
incredible community that was more together than any group of people Max had
ever seen.

“You
humble me. I’m in this fight because I’m responsible for it. This grudge with
Raines started with me, so I have to finish it. If I were in your position, I
might just give me up and walk away from all of this. You’re great people,
though, and I’m proud to say this is my city. All of you have backed me up
every time I needed you, and I want to promise you something today. I will lay
down my life for any of you. Thank you for standing with me here. Now, let’s
defend our home from the scum who want to end our way of life,” Max said.

A
cheer rang out from the crowd. He had only estimated that they would have
around five hundred people, but there were easily a thousand. People who had
barely held a gun volunteered to keep them safe. It was amazing. They even had
to turn people away because they were running out of guns to give them. As Max
got into his car with Rebecca and Liam, he felt a swarm of pride. If Raines
wanted a fight, then they were about to get one that would go down in history.

“How
do you think this will really go?” Rebecca asked as they drove away.

“We’ll
be fine. Hopefully, we won’t even have to fight. If we do, I know we can win. I
just need you two to stay down. The worst thing that could happen is for one of
you to get hurt,” Max said.

“I
could say the same to you. If you expect us to hang back and be careful, then
you better do the same.”

“Some
of us are more important than others. Zoe is going to hate me if something
happens to Liam, and I think you’re a little too great to die right now. I’ll
be fine, though. I always am.”

“There’s
a first time for everything. All I’m saying is take your own advice, and be
careful.”

“All
right. Of course I will be. It’s not like I want to die. Hopefully, this will
all be a misunderstanding. I doubt that, but it would certainly be nice.”

“What
are you thinking back
there, Liam? You haven’t said a
word. I figured you would have some input about what we’re going to do,”
Rebecca said.

“I’m
just thinking about Zoe. Why am I allowed to be here while she’s forced to stay
at home? I mean, that’s how I want it, but you guys normally don’t control what
she does. Something’s off.”

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about. She’s a sixteen-year-old girl. She’s not
built for combat. That’s all there is to it.”

“Oh,
really? What did you and her talk about when you walked away earlier?”

“It
was private.”

“We
don’t normally keep secrets. She tells me everything. That’s how I know
something’s up. If she’s keeping a secret from me, then it must be really bad.
I could die today. I need to know if something’s wrong.”

“It’s
the opposite of something being wrong. She should be the one to tell you,
though. I think you’ll be happy. Don’t talk about dying either. You’re not
going anywhere while we’re around.”

Max
looked at Rebecca curiously. Just what had she and Zoe talked about? She gave
him a look that clearly said he needed to ask about it later, and he tried to
put it out of his mind. It still nagged at him, though. They were about to be
fighting a battle, Zoe was keeping a secret, and for some reason, his wife had
put herself in danger by coming with him. There was a lot to think about, and
none of it was good.
Just when Max felt like he was going to
lose it, Rebecca laid her hand on his and stroked it encouragingly.
She
could always tell when he was stressed, and just a simple touch from her could
bring him back to his old self. Everything was going to be fine. Max would make
sure of it, no matter what he had to do.

When
they arrived at the town, they saw several armed men waiting on them. They
didn’t have heavy weaponry, and Max’s people outnumbered them. It was perfect.
They parked in front of them, and all of Raines’s men stepped behind what
appeared to be their leader. Max stepped forward and addressed him.

“Why
are you here?” Max asked.

“We
were ordered to bring Max Green back to our city along with any supplies we
could commandeer from your town.”

“You’re
looking at Max Green, and I’m not willing to go quietly. We raided a military
base about a year ago. We have superior weaponry, and we outnumber you. If you
fight us, you’ll be slaughtered. Nobody wants a blood bath. Can we convince you
to go back to Raines?”

“No.
We have our orders, even if they lead to our deaths. If we went back without
you, we wouldn’t be welcome.”

“So
be it,” Max said and walked behind their car.

He
motioned for Rebecca and Liam to get down, and he did the same. Then he ordered
his men to ready their weapons. About the time he told them to fire, so did
Raines’s commander. It was exactly what they wanted to avoid - a bloodbath. Max
kept his head up and aimed carefully. The first person he took out was their
commander. By the time he was done with that, Raines’s soldiers had ducked into
cover. They were being pounded with automatic weapons. At this pace, the battle
would be over in no time. Max was patient, and every time he saw someone pop
out to lay down fire, he fired a single shot into
their
head. This might have been war, but in the world they were living in, every
bullet was valuable.