The Divide: Origins (29 page)

“What
are you doing?” Troy asked.

“Making
it look like I’m dead in case someone comes here looking for you. At the very
least, they won’t be suspecting me when they can’t find their leader. Now, put
my clothes on him.”

“Oh,
God! You’re going to kill me here, aren’t you? No one will ever know it was
you, though. They’ll probably just think it was some bandit who got the best of
us.”

“Whether
I kill you or not depends on how our next conversation goes. Walk with me,” Max
said as he finished buttoning his shirt.

He
forced Troy to get the ropes out of the bedroom, and they drove the car across
the neighborhood to another vacant house. Max led him inside where he made Troy
lie down in the bedroom. Then he hit him in the side of the head with his gun.
For a couple of minutes, the world went black for Troy. When he woke up, he had
been tied down to the bed.

“Why
are you doing this? I thought you were above revenge,” Troy said.

“Maybe
I am. Maybe I’m not. I’ll decide in the next few minutes,” Max said and held
his head.

He
was starting to get dizzy. He was in bad shape, and he hadn’t slept in a long
time. Max had no idea how he was still going.

“Maybe
you should rest now,” Troy said in hopes that Max would sleep, giving him an
opportunity to escape.

“Nice
try. Just so you know, there’s no way you’re getting loose, even if I do go to
sleep. Before I do any resting, I need to talk to you first. You hate me for
three reasons. I’m going to make it clear why those reasons are ridiculous. I
killed your brother, and we both know he was twisted. He raped and killed a teenage
girl. I stood by and let it happen. That’s the biggest regret of my life. I
could’ve stopped it then, but I did nothing. I don’t hate that I killed your
brother. If I hadn’t, he would’ve killed Zoe. I would do anything to protect
that girl. She might not be mine by blood, but she’s mine. Jerome was my
cellmate for several years, but I couldn’t let him hurt anyone else, especially
her.

The
second reason you hate me is because you think I killed your nephew. Here’s the
truth about what happened. Timothy tried to rape Zoe, and your wife walked in
just in time to keep it from happening. Zoe didn’t even tell me what happened.
She told Liam, and he confronted him about it. Timothy almost killed him, but
Liam fought back. They were both hurt badly, but Timothy got the worst of it.
When I found Liam, he looked like he was on the edge of death. I knew you would
kill him if you figured out he
was
the one who killed
your nephew, so I took the blame. You have to look at things from his
perspective, Troy. He loves Zoe, and that boy tried to hurt her. What would you
expect him to do? If a man tried to rape your wife and then he attacked you,
how would that end? He did what both of us would have done. I covered for him
because he had done nothing wrong, and I knew you would overreact.

Finally,
you hate that I took part of your town with me when I left. That was my only
play at the time. I had to rally people behind me to try to build a new city
because you were kicking me out of the one I had helped build. What choice did
I have? I could leave with the three
people
who would
always stand by me, and we could scavenge again, or I could rally people around
me, and maybe we could have something like Raines again one day. I chose what
was best for the people I loved, and so did the people who came with me. You
were willing to execute me in the streets without a second thought. They knew
they didn’t want to be in a society where stepping out of line automatically
meant death. You can’t blame them for that.”

“You
really didn’t kill Timothy?”

“No.”

“Then
why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“Would
you have spared Liam if I did?”

“I
don’t know. Why are you telling me this now, though?”

“Because
I have two options here. I can gut you and go back home, or we can come to some
sort of agreement for the future. You took an ear, eye, and finger from me.
That makes me want you dead more than anything in this world, but I’m a
reasonable man. I know that revenge would only cause more problems. If I kill
you, Raines will seek vengeance on Norak just like my city is seeking vengeance
for me right now. This feud has to end somewhere, but I have to be convinced
that it’s truly over before I let you go. Think it over, and ask yourself if I
really did anything wrong. I’m going to get some rest for a while. We’ll talk
more in a few hours,” Max said and stumbled out of the room.

He
hadn’t realized how bad his body was worn down. Everything on him hurt, but it
wasn’t the pain that was so debilitating. It was the fact that his body was
literally shutting down. He didn’t have a choice. It was go to the next bedroom
and rest or fall asleep in the room with Troy. As soon as his head hit the
pillow, Max was out.

Chapter 29

Forgiveness

Max
awoke several hours later. He hadn’t meant to, but he slept nearly twelve
hours. That wasn’t anywhere near close to normal for him. Max was lucky if he
slept seven hours on most nights, but his body had been too worn down throughout
the day. If not for Troy yelling out, he wouldn’t have woken up even then.

“What
is it?” Max asked sleepily as he slowly walked into the next room.

“I’m
going to piss myself if you don’t let me up. You’ve left me here all day with
no food, water, or a bathroom. If you’re going to kill me, do it, but don’t
make me lie in this bed any longer.”

“Fine,”
Max said and took the ropes loose from one of Troy’s hands.

After
he was done, Max took a step back and aimed the gun cautiously at Troy as he undid
the other ropes. Troy wasn’t going to try anything, though. He knew he was at
Max’s mercy. All he really wanted was to go to the bathroom. After Troy was
done, Max let him get some water before they went back to the bedroom.

“Don’t
tie me up again. We can talk about this man to man,” Troy said.

“We
can’t leave here yet, so I’ve got to tie you up. I’m too weak to travel on my
own, and I can’t trust you to take me back to your city. You might have me
killed as soon as I get there. Keep thinking about what your relationship with
me and Norak is going to be like in the future, and I’ll talk to you in the
morning about it,” Max said before hitting him in the temple with the gun once
again. Then he tied him up just like that morning. Afterward, Max walked to his
room and lay back down. He felt like he could sleep twelve more hours. That’s
not what Max did, though. He stayed awake for a long time and thought about
what he should do with Troy. It would be so easy to kill him, and that was what
he really wanted to do, but it probably wouldn’t have great results. The body
he left in the other house looked a lot like him, but someone would figure out
what happened to Troy eventually. Then Norak and Raines would be right back
where they started, and Max would have a brand new enemy. He was struggling
with what was right and what he felt. It would feel wonderful to kill a man who
had literally taken parts of him.
Would it be right, though,
if he could find a way to make Troy Leland leave their city alone?
Was
revenge just murder? Max was amazed at how far he had come over the last few
years. Back when he first met Zoe, he could’ve killed just about anyone without
a second thought. He was a better man today, though. Even someone who had
harmed him wasn’t necessarily worth a bullet, if he could find a way to make
peace. That’s what the world needed then. It needed men who could swallow their
pride and put the world back to the way it used to be. Maybe that was supposed
to start in that room with his worst enemy. If he could make Troy see that he
and the citizens of Norak weren’t their enemies, their communities could work
together to survive. That’s what it was going to take to maintain their cities.
Building some walls or even an indoor city was going to be easy compared to
maintaining
order.
There were enough madmen in the
world. It would be nice to at least have some allies. Max didn’t think he and
Troy would ever be friends, but maybe the citizens of Norak and Raines could be
one day. It was worth trying to build a better future for Zoe and Liam, wasn’t
it?

He
thought about that all night, and in the early morning, he finally fell asleep
again. He awoke a few hours later to hear what sounded like a bomb going off
several miles away. When he rolled over, he saw Troy with his gun.

“You
got loose. I guess I shouldn’t have trusted you,” Max said and sighed.

“No,
you should have,” Troy said and handed the gun to him.

“What
are you doing?” Max asked as he took it.

“I
planned to kill you if I ever got loose, but it took a long time to get out of
those restraints, and I was able to think about things. I don’t blame you for
killing Jerome. I hate that you did it, but I might have done the same thing to
save the girl’s life. I can never forgive Liam for killing Timothy, but I’ll
let it go. It’s already been two years, and you took his punishment for him
over the last few days. Finally, I’ll always hate that you took part of my city
with you before, but I did force your hand. My city is under attack right now,
and I really want to go back there and see what’s going on. Here’s what I’m
proposing. I’ll forget any bad blood we have between us. We won’t ever be
friends, but I won’t attack your city again or try to kill anyone you love. In
return, you’ll make sure Norak does us the same courtesy. What do you think?”

“I’ll
take that, but I have one more request before we make this deal.”

“What
is it?”

“We’ll
trade with Raines in the future, but it’ll be on equal ground, and no matter
what happens with the fight in Raines today, you can’t retaliate. Do we have a
deal?”

“We
do. Let me ask you something, though. Why didn’t you kill me before? I made you
suffer for something you didn’t even do. I would’ve killed you in the same
situation without even thinking twice.”

“Because
we need men in this world who are looking to rebuild it, not burn it down.
Revenge wouldn’t have ended the war with Raines. Your people would’ve
retaliated, and I didn’t want blood. I want peace. The world’s already chaotic
enough without us trying to kill each other. Lead your people, and I’ll make
sure mine are headed in the right direction. Maybe between the two of us, we
can insure that these cities survive, and whatever bad blood there is between
our cities will just fade with time. That’s my goal anyway.”

“I
apologize for what I did to you. You’re right. Instead of waging wars, we
should be building cities that can withstand this world’s conditions.”

“I’m
sorry for killing Jerome, too. I don’t know what I could’ve done differently,
but he was your brother. I wish there had been another way.”

“I
know. Now that we’ve got everything settled, can I ask for one more favor?”

“I
guess. What is it?”

“I
want to go back to the city alone. I’ll send your people here after I’m done,
but I have to get there and stop the attacks. I can call my people off and
explain the situation to everyone if I go now. It’s the best way to prevent
loss of life on both sides.”

“Okay,
but why do you want to go alone?”

“Because
we just agreed to peace. If you die, I’ll have no proof of that. Everyone in
Norak is going to think I killed you and made up this story. I’ll set the
record straight, and your people will come get you right after that.”

“How
do I know I can trust you?”

“I
could’ve killed you just a second ago. That’s how you know.”

“Fine.
Go, but Troy, don’t make a fool out of me. If we ever have to do this fight
over again, I
will
be out for
revenge.”

“You
won’t be a fool. Trust me.”

“Okay.
Go,” Max said and handed him the keys.

Trust
was necessary for this to work, but Max wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t going to
wait there. If Troy was lying to him, he would send someone back there to kill
him. Max didn’t plan to wait around for that to happen. Even if he was weak, he
thought he could make it back to Raines. As soon as Troy left, he started
walking. It took some time, and he nearly collapsed multiple times, but he
eventually made it to the city walls. There were several holes in it, so it was
easy to get through. He walked straight into town, and that’s when he saw her.
Rebecca was only a few yards away. He was actually going to be reunited with
her. It seemed so unlikely, but a happy ending might be within reach. As Max
took another step toward her, his body gave out, and he fell to the ground.

* * * * *

“Let
me get this straight. Troy nearly killed you and tortured you in terrible ways,
and you just let him go,” Rebecca said in disbelief.

“It
is
kind of hard to believe. You
should’ve killed him,” Liam said from the front.

“That
would’ve been the easiest thing to do for sure. I wanted him dead, but look at
what this sets in motion. If he was telling the truth back there, then we just
turned an enemy into an ally. This is bigger than just me, and I had to make
things right for everyone,” Max said.

“If
it worked, then why didn’t he show up at Raines?” Rebecca asked.

“Probably
because you guys had the place locked down. He would’ve been killed on sight if
he showed up.”

“True.
I would’ve done the deed myself. I’m still going to.”

“No,
you’re not. If he’s not true to his word, I’ll kill him myself. For now, Norak
needs all the friends it can get, though.”

“You
really think we could ever be friends with those people?”

“There’s
no doubt about it. I don’t think I’ll ever call Troy Leland my friend, but look
at history. Nations all over who used to be enemies formed alliances for the
greater good, and that was before the world was in a state of chaos. We need
people on our side more now than ever. This is no time to annihilate each other
with petty war games. We’ve got enough forces in the world trying to kill us
already.”

“I
get that, but Max . . .”

“I
know. He hurt me, and if he hurt you, I would want to kill him just like you
do. We can’t do that right now, though. A lot of our citizens died because of
this fight, and it looked like even more of theirs did, too. The funny thing is
that most of the people who died had nothing to do with what happened when we
left Raines. They were innocent in all this. We can’t stay stuck in the past
and keep fighting the same battles over and over again.”

“That’s
not what I’m talking about. I could care less about when we left Raines. I want
revenge for what he did to you now.”

“I
haven’t learned much in life, but over the last two years, I’ve figured this
out. Bad situations can change you easily. They can poison your soul, and
things like hate and revenge start to come into your heart. The woman I married
took the biggest disaster in human history in stride and retained all the love
in her that was there before. I know you don’t like to see me hurt, and it’s
normal for your first instinct to be to seek vengeance, but that kind of
thinking can poison your soul. I know. I’ve been there. Don’t let what happened
to me change you. I’m not going to let it make me any less of the person I used
to be, and you shouldn’t either.”

“That
doesn’t . . .” Rebecca managed to say before Liam cut her off.

“He’s
right.”

“What
do you mean he’s right?”

“When
I killed Timothy, there might have been other options. Maybe he always had to
die, or maybe there was another way. I could’ve told someone, and maybe we
could have handled things differently. I wanted revenge for what he did,
though, so I took him out into the woods with full intentions of ending his
life. I didn’t think about the fact that it would probably get us kicked out of
Raines. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do the same thing again because I would, but
Max isn’t wrong. Sometimes it’s better to see the big picture and leave revenge
behind if you can. We hold all the advantages right now. Troy trusts Max, we killed
their soldiers, and we have a trade partner. They’re weak, full of resources,
and the most powerful man there knows Max could’ve easily killed him. We’re
right where we want to be. If Troy goes back on his word, I’ll be with you
lining up to kill him, but if he doesn’t, I think this situation is too good to
pass up. Max did the right thing, even if it seems wrong.”

When
Rebecca looked down at Max, she saw that he had passed out. She shook her head.
The man she loved had an amazing heart. She just had to hope it wasn’t a stupid
one. This could put them in a good position, or Troy could have just been lying
to save his life. Time would tell, but either way, it left a bad taste in
Rebecca’s mouth.

“Don’t
look that way,” Liam said while glancing in the rearview mirror.

“What
way?”

“Like
we’ve lost here. We haven’t. We have a trading partner, Troy is back in his
place, Raines’s military is gone, and something I never actually thought was
possible happened. We got Max back. He’s not in one piece, but he’s alive.
You’ve got to call that a win, no matter how it came.”

“You’re
right. We’ll follow whatever direction Max wants in this area. It really
doesn’t matter if any of this works. The only thing I care about is that I have
him back.”

For
the first time since Max was taken, Rebecca exhaled. The anger wasn’t gone, but
she did listen to what Max said. Maybe revenge wasn’t the answer. Maybe the
best thing she could do was just
live
her life with
the man she loved.

When they finally got back to Norak, Max
was immediately taken to a doctor who tended to his wounds. After he had done
all he could for Max, Zoe came to see him. It only took one look at him for Zoe
to realize how close the man she thought of as a father had been to death. She
immediately hugged him.

“I
thought we had lost you,” Zoe said as she pulled back.