The Divide: Origins (9 page)

“Why
should I? It was my father’s fault for letting strangers into our home. I did
what he wouldn’t have, and then he wouldn’t hear me out. As for my stepmother,
I never liked her much anyway. I did what I had to in order to survive. If I
hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have any supplies right now, and I might even be
dead. Now, can we go?” he asked.

Zoe
nodded, but she knew one thing then. Landon couldn’t come with them. He was
obviously crazy. How did she know he wasn’t going to kill them the first time
they found some supplies he would rather keep for
himself
?

Once
they were at the truck, Zoe got out and told Max what was going on. She told
him about the supplies and that Landon was going to help them out. She even
told him about what he had done. Then she asked him to do something for her.

“I
need you to give me your gun,” Zoe said.

“What?
Why?” Max asked.

“Because
you’ve got to look after Rebecca. I can take care of the threat in front of us.
He has a gun, and he’s crazy.”

“Are
you guys coming?” Landon yelled from the car.

“Yeah,
we’ll be right there,” Zoe said and discretely took the pistol from Max.

She
tucked it in her jeans behind her back, and Max scooped up Rebecca and put her
in the back of the car. Before getting in himself, he asked Landon to step out
of the car.

“Do
we have a problem?” Landon asked while clutching his pistol.

“Not
at all. I appreciate you doing this for us. I’m not comfortable with you being
the only one with a weapon, though. We had guns, but all of our supplies were
lost when the house we were staying in collapsed. Will you hand that pistol
over?”

“No.
That would make
me
uncomfortable.”

“How
about this then? I’ll keep the bullets, and you can keep the gun. That way,
we’re on equal ground.”

“Do
you actually expect me to believe that you don’t have a weapon?”

“Search
me if you want. It’s the truth.”

“Fine.
Take them,” Landon said and unloaded the gun.

Max
had set Zoe up for whatever she was planning, and now he had to concentrate on
Rebecca. Once they were on the road, he focused on the wood sticking out of her
leg. The bleeding had turned into a manageable trickle, but that debris still
had to come out.

“This
is going to hurt, but I’ve got to get that out,” Max said.

“Wait
a minute. If you take it out, won’t I bleed more?” Rebecca asked.

“Yeah,
but that’s what we have bandages for. I can’t leave it in
there
forever. I’ll wait if you want, but this has to be done sooner or later. I
think you’ve got a better chance of getting an infection if we don’t do this
now.”

“Fine.
Do what you have to,” she said and gritted her teeth.

Max
pulled it out, and she cried out in agony. He didn’t have time to comfort her,
however. The bleeding had worsened, and he had to act fast. He disinfected the
wound and wrapped it as best he could. Then he put pressure on it until the
wound started to clot. It hadn’t looked good, but somehow Rebecca was going to
live. They were already half way to their destination, too, although if what
Zoe had told him about the camp was true, then he had no idea why they were headed
that way.

Suddenly,
Zoe did something shocking. She took out the gun he had given her earlier and
placed it against Landon’s head.

“Stop
the car now,” she said.

“You
stupid bitch! After I helped you, you’re going to do this.”

“That’s
not the best language to use if you’re trying to change my mind. Now, stop the
car, or I’ll shoot you right here.”

Landon
did as she said, and then Zoe made him get out of the car without ever taking
the gun off him. For some reason, he was smiling as she clicked the safety off.
Zoe thought it was strange. Before she finished him, she had to know what was
going through his head.

“What
are you smiling about?” she asked.

“You’re
not going to kill me. I murdered my family, and even I couldn’t pull the
trigger when you were in front of me because I saw that you weren’t a threat in
any way. Can you really kill an innocent person?”

“I
can do what I have to.”

“Think
about it, Zoe. I’m someone who will do what’s necessary, and we’re close to the
same age. You’re going to need someone to protect you and to grow up with.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone like me around when the world’s ending?”

“That’s
where you’re mistaken. I don’t need
anybody
to protect me, and I’m not shooting an innocent person. You were right. We have
to eliminate threats in this world, and you’re the worst threat we’ve faced
yet. You would kill anyone if you thought it would get you ahead. You even
expressed that it was better that your family was dead because you had
supplies. Why would I want anyone in my group who thinks like that?”

“Because
I know what it takes to survive.”

“Yeah,
well, so do I,” she said and pulled the trigger. He fell to the ground in a bloody
heap and shook for a few seconds.

Zoe could have put another bullet in him
to ease his pain, but she didn’t. They might need that bullet for another
person they met on the road. She had done what was necessary to protect her people,
but that was the day when Zoe truly lost herself. Nothing was the same, and she
knew in her heart that whatever traces might have existed of the girl she used
to be were gone forever.

Chapter 9

A Light Amidst The Chaos

Once
Zoe was back in the car, Max got into the front seat and drove. There was a
haunting
silence
as they got closer to their
destination. Rebecca was understandably worn out, and she had fallen asleep
almost immediately. Max, on the other hand, didn’t know what to say to Zoe. She
was obviously upset about shooting someone at point blank range, but what do
you say to make that better?

“Are
you going to talk at all?” Zoe finally asked.

“I
don’t know what to say.”

“Anything.
You can call me a monster or whatever you want. I just can’t stand the
silence.”

“You
did the right thing.”

“Why
doesn’t it feel right then?”

“Because
it’s something we never would’ve done before. If that kid was really glad he
killed his family and a bunch of other people, then what do you think he
would’ve done to us when we dropped our guard? It wasn’t pretty, and a young
girl like you should never have to do something like that, but it’s the world
we live in now. I’m glad you could pull the trigger when it mattered. Being able
to might just save your life one day.”

“Yeah,
at the cost of my soul.”

“Enough
soul business. I don’t know if God could blame anyone for what they do in this
mess. You kept us safe from a threat. That’s all there is to it. Any feelings
of guilt need to be pushed to the side. We can talk about it right now, but
after tonight, you have to see with clear eyes. You’ll need them.”

“I
guess you just don’t get it.”

“How
wouldn’t I?”

“Because
you’ve never killed someone who wasn’t posing a threat to you. I killed that
boy when he was unarmed. That should mean something to me.”

“You’re
forgetting who you’re talking to. I killed my wife after she had come to her
senses, and if we’re being honest, I could’ve talked Jerome down when he had
you. I wanted him dead, though. It seemed easier to kill him than keep an eye on
him for the rest of our lives. Let me ask you something. If you could go back,
what would you do differently?”

“I
guess nothing. He would’ve hurt one of us.”

“Then
there’s no need to feel guilty. You did the only thing that made sense,” Max
said as they pulled up to the camp.

Thousands of people were camped outside the
gates. Fires burned all over as people tried to stay warm. Landon had told the
truth. There was no refuge to be found. Max had just about made up his mind to
move on when a soldier stepped beside his window and motioned for him to roll
it down.

“You
obviously don’t have room. We’ll just move on,” Max said.

“No,
you won’t. We’ve been ordered to take all supplies, and that includes this
vehicle and any weapons you might be carrying.”

“You’re
joking. What are we supposed to do then?”

“Make
camp. We’ll eventually figure out what to do with the people who arrived too
late.”

“You
know more will keep coming. This is ridiculous. I’m not giving you anything.”

“If
you don’t, you’ll die. I’ve been authorized to kill anyone resisting,” he said
and raised his gun.

“And
what if I shoot you first?” Zoe asked as she pulled her pistol out.

“Do
you see that tower over there? We have men watching me right now. They would
love an excuse to take out a little frustration on everyone in this vehicle. If
you kill me, you’ll all die. Now, hand me your weapon, and get out of the car.”

Max
nodded for her to do as he said, and they got out. He grabbed Rebecca from the
backseat and pleaded for the soldier to take her. She was wounded, so if anyone
got to go inside, it made sense that it would be her. It did no good, though.
They weren’t taking anyone, no matter how injured or sick they were. Max
ultimately decided to take Rebecca and Zoe into the sea of people camping
outside the gates. As he walked, one man nodded for them to come over. He lay
Rebecca down on some blankets that the man and his family had laid out. Then he
sat down by the fire with them.

“I’m
Max. Thanks for letting us stay with you. What’s the story here?” Max asked.

“It’s
nice to meet you. I’m Eddie. It’s just what it looks like. They took all our
things, and now we’re forced to stay out here. A few people have been lucky
enough to drive away before they were caught. Others haven’t been so lucky. A
lot of people were killed for refusing to give up their supplies.”

“What’s
everyone waiting on? Does the military have some type of plan for the people
out here?”

“Not
as far as I can tell. What can we do about it, though? They have weapons, and
we have absolutely nothing. Then there’s the fact that we’re in the middle of
nowhere. We could walk, but in these conditions, we wouldn’t get far. At least
they give us matches so we can build fires and try to stay warm at night,” he
said and sighed.

“Are
these people your family?”

“Yeah.
This is my wife, Susan, and these are my children, Liam and Emily.”

“It’s
nice to meet you all.”

“I
don’t know if anything is what I would call
nice
anymore. How about you? Are they your family?” Eddie asked while pointing to
Rebecca and Zoe.

“Not
by blood. We met each other after everything happened. We’ve had to band
together, so in that regard, we’re definitely close. This is Zoe, and that’s Rebecca.”

The
two continued to talk while Zoe simply sat on her own and shivered. It was
freezing outside. She didn’t know how these people had survived out there over
the last couple of days. The fire Eddie had made did little to fight off the
biting cold. Just when she thought she was going to lose it, Liam put a blanket
around her and sat down beside her.

“You
guys look like you’ve been through a lot. What’s your story?” he asked.

“I
don’t really think that’s any of your business,” she said coldly.

“I’m
sorry. I just thought since we let you stay here and everything that we could
be friends. It
is
the end of the
world. If you’re not going to make friends now, then you’re pretty much going
to die friendless,” he said and smiled.

Zoe
thought he looked trustworthy. He was around her age, or so she thought. Liam
had an innocent face and eyes that didn’t lie. This guy wasn’t like Landon. It
didn’t hurt that his blond hair and chiseled jaw made him look like someone she
might want to be around. Suddenly, she realized how she was thinking. They were
probably going to die out there. What was the sense in admiring someone’s
appearance or even thinking of them in a romantic light? All that mattered now
was survival, and as far as she knew, Liam didn’t look like he had much to
offer in that regard.

“Well,
I can see that I’ve made you uncomfortable. We have more blankets if you need
them. That’s the only thing they let us keep. I guess even those guys have hearts,”
he said and started to get up.

“Wait.
I didn’t mean to snap at you. We
have
been through a lot. Over the last few days, my best friend and entire family
have been murdered, we’ve had a house cave in on us, and to top it all off, I
just had to kill a boy about your age.
We
just
got robbed by the people who were
supposed to protect us and give us shelter
. Even if I should put on a
fake smile and have a friendly chat with you, I just don’t know if I have it in
me.”

“It’s
okay. I don’t know why I was smiling anyway. Like I implied, this is probably
the end for us. If you don’t mind me asking, though, why did you have to kill a
boy?”

“He
was a threat to us. I think he was going to hurt one of us before it was over,
so I killed him before he could do that. I didn’t want to, but there was no
other choice. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,
I do. How old was he?”

“Sixteen.”

“Then
you didn’t kill someone my age because I’m only fourteen. How about you?”

“I’ll
be fourteen in one day and a few hours, not that birthdays matter much
anymore.”

“Maybe
we can still celebrate. I probably shouldn’t even say anything, but this place
could be ours by tomorrow.”

“What
are you talking about?”

“Some
of the men have been talking about rushing the gates. There are so many of us
that they couldn’t possibly take all of us down. We’ll climb the fences and
jump over. From there, we can take down people by hand until we get weapons.
After that, the place will be ours. My dad says he’s not going to participate,
and he’s convinced that he can stop me from helping them, but I’ve got to do
something,” he whispered.

“Are
you crazy? Do you see those guard towers in the distance? There are men with
automatic weapons in them who won’t hesitate to cut you down. There might be
two to three thousand people waiting outside these camp walls, and maybe half
of them will participate in this plan. They’ll have rocks and fists to fight
with. Meanwhile, our enemies will have enough guns and ammo to take out a
well-trained army. Everyone who participates will die, even if the fences do
come down. Your dad is right to keep you away from it.”

“So
what if we do die? At least the people who don’t participate will be able to
sneak through the fence afterward.”

“Anyone
caught doing that will probably be killed, too. It’ll be suicide. Given, that’s
actually not the craziest idea in the world right now. It seems more insane to
want to live than die.”

“Tell
me about it. We have to do something, though. You haven’t been here from the
start. We’re starving, and in these conditions, we’ll die even if we can find
food.”

“I
get it. I don’t know you, but I can already tell you’re not a bad person.
You’re brave to even consider a plan that’s suicide . . . or stupid. I can’t
figure out which. Regardless, I don’t think you should throw your life away.
There are people this world is better off without. You’re not one of them. Do
you mind if I tell Max about this?”

“Not
at all. Just don’t let on that I want to participate in it. That’ll make my dad
completely flip out.”

Zoe
told Max everything, and then he thought for a second. There had to be a way to
use the situation to their advantage.

“It’s
a dumb plan, isn’t it?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah,
and I’m not going to be a part of it. There must be a way we can use the chaos
it’s going to create to our advantage, though.”

“What
do you mean?”

“Bear
with me here because I’m just making this plan up on the spot, so there might
be some holes in it. We can observe what happens in the morning. If they manage
to get over the gates and cause the soldiers to fall back temporarily, we can sneak
in there but not to fight. All we’ll be doing is stealing a vehicle. From
there, we can drive it out and pick up everyone else. It all hinges on them
being able to do anything against automatic weapons, but I think it’ll work.
They only have a couple dozen men patrolling the gates. Even with superior
weaponry, they’re not going to be able to take more than a couple hundred out before
they have to fall back and take a defensive stand with the others.”

“It
might actually work. Where would we go once we had a vehicle, though?”

“We
were on our way to Texas to see a friend who might be able to help us. Your
family is welcome to come. What do you say? Will you help me do this?”

“Definitely.”

“I’ll
go, too,” Zoe said.

“No.
You’re staying here with Rebecca,” Max said.

“You’re
crazy if you think I’m staying behind. You might need help.”

“And
Rebecca might need you, too. We’re not discussing this. If we run into trouble,
we’ll deal with it ourselves.”

“What
about me? Can I go?” Liam asked.

“No.
You’re my son, and I’m not risking your life for something that’s nowhere near
a sure thing,” Eddie said.

“I’m
fourteen, Dad. Let me go.”

“No,
and that’s final.”

Liam
and Zoe looked unhappy about their role, or lack thereof, but they did the only
thing they could. They accepted it and lay down for the night. Soon after, Max
and Eddie followed suit. Max started to simply lie back and try to sleep
through a cold that was eating away at him, but then he saw Rebecca shivering.
She was awake, and she looked exactly like he felt. They were both freezing,
and she had enough blankets for two. He lay down beside her and asked if it was
okay if he shared the blankets with her.

“Do
you even have to ask after you saved my life? Come on,” Rebecca said.

“Thank
you,” he said and covered up.

“Why
did you dig me out of that? In the same situation, I might have left you. I
wouldn’t have thought anyone could survive that earthquake,” she said.

“I
didn’t think you could be alive either. Zoe wouldn’t accept your death, though.
I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I’m glad I found you. I can’t believe
you’re still with us after all that. Then again, I don’t know how any of us are
alive.”