“So, we can assume Liam left base without permission just after Marcus was killed,” Alex said. Her voice didn’t break on Marcus’ name as it had done for days after seeing him murdered. But her eyes were still sad and slightly moist, making Max nervous that she would cry.
“Assumptions aren’t going to keep anyone alive,” Max interjected.
“Assumptions is all we have to make, since we can’t waltz up to the camp and question people. We know Liam left without anyone allowing it. He took a good vehicle that would protect him if he were smart. We don’t have enough information to believe he knew about the kids or knew anything until he saw Marcus killed. We all saw the photos and his face is clearly shocked at Callahan’s action. Maybe it was that moment that made him realize he was on the wrong side,” Alex said.
“That is just a far leap from knowing he left camp. Maybe he was sick of the food,” Max said.
“Don’t be difficult, Max. It doesn’t really matter was the assumptions are right now, because we don’t know where Reynolds is. What are we going to tell the kids?” Rafe asked.
“The truth. I promised them the truth and I won’t break that. We don’t know if their father is alive or dead at this point. We just know he’s not with Callahan any longer,” Alex said.
“Great news about Callahan, right?” Max said sarcastically. She knew she was starting a fight, but she needed to work off her nerves and it was safest with her siblings.
“Knowing something is better than having no information at all,” Alex replied. Her voice was weary, and she wasn’t rising to Max’s bait.
“Wouldn’t you agree that we need more information and need a way to get it?” Max said.
“Let’s go home with what we have. We’ll discuss it with everyone and come up with a plan,” Alex replied. She didn’t wait for an answer before striding to the door.
The drive home was heavy with loaded silence. Everyone had things to say, no one was going to say them and it was exhausting to Max. They drove the four-door pickup that Alex had scavenged from a FEMA camp. Max chose to sit in the back seat, between Cliff and Smith. Rafe gladly sat in the front with Alex, where he wasn’t pressed against two male bodies. Max knew her body naturally leaned away from Smith, putting her closer to Cliff.
The often silent man didn’t act like he noticed, but he patted her hand once while looking out the window. It was never lost on Max how Cliff could do the thing someone needed the most, without thinking about it. The man had lost everything before he found Max at an abandoned hotel. She tried to not see that broken man in her mind when she looked at him now. The dark smudges under his eyes from lack of real sleep never seemed to fade. As if he knew she was studying him, he lifted his arm and allowed her to put more distance between herself and Smith. He draped his arm casually around her, as if to protect her from the man on her other side.
A part of her felt guilty for always pushing Smith outside of the circle of the Duncan family. It just felt like a natural result of being around a man who had a hand in her abuse. Max didn’t believe he deserved to be killed, thrown to the infected, or as Griffin suggested, thrown back to Callahan. That didn’t stop Cliff, Rafe, and Griffin having serious issues with having Smith near the family. Cliff was always the most silent with his disapproval, but he was protective of the Duncans, including Max, who had literally slapped him into life when he tried to give up. Their relationship was unique and Max was thankful to have another trusted ally with them.
She settled into Cliff’s side, not feeling an ounce of weirdness in the movement. Together they watched as the landscape flew by. Alex drove fast, knowing what to expect on all the roads they had driven numerous times over the week they had been close to Rapid City. So it was a surprise to Max when the truck slowed and then Cliff had to catch Max as Alex slammed on the brakes. Alex’s muttered curse pulled the attention of everyone to the road. Max was partially surprised, but also all together not when she saw a mob of infected in the street.
“Why do so many gather together,” Smith wondered aloud.
“Attracted by vehicles, maybe? We are going to have to back up and go around somehow,” Alex said.
“And go where, Alex? We need to get to the other side of that group to get home,” Max replied.
“This truck can’t make it through that horde,” Rafe said.
“So we fight,” Max said.
“Max, be serious. That’s too many to handle on our own,” Alex said quietly, her voice not holding the conviction of her words.
“We could make a hole. Put me in the bed of the truck with the rifle. Cliff and Rafe can come up too,” Max said.
The truck had attracted the attention of the nearest of the horde and the sound of hissing and growls could be heard in the cab of the truck. Alex looked around and Max knew she was trying to calculate the risks. She finally nodded her head and the three adults jumped out of the truck and climbed into the bed.
“You better be right about this,” Rafe said. “Charlie will be pissed if I die.”
“Well, she’ll be pissed at me, and you’ll be dead, so what are you worried about?” Max responded.
Max double checked the ammo in her magazine, though she knew it was loaded. She stuffed the extra magazines into the pockets of her cargo pants. Cliff grabbed a shot gun and Rafe settled with a hunting rifle. Max took point, putting the buttstock to her shoulder. She aimed for the first five infected walking toward them. Seven shots later, the five were down. Rafe took aim at the right of the truck and Cliff took the left. As bodies fell, Alex carefully pulled forward, rolling over the fallen infected. The crunching and snapping of bone wasn’t lost on Max’s ears. The smell permeated the air, causing her to cough before trying to not breathe through her nose.
Max, Rafe, and Cliff cleared the way methodically, working together to ensure no zombie came close to the truck. Max felt the truck kick, and she realized Alex had thrown it into 4-wheel drive to press forward. The bodies were easily crushed under the tires, and Max made the mistake of looking backward. The black asphalt was barely visible under the gore that now stretched across its expanse. The infected that covered the ground were crushed beyond recognition in places. Max tried to not focus on the blackish intestines that seemed to be strewn from a body, apparently caught on the truck at some point.
As she watched behind them, infected continued to file from the trees on either side of them. They were drawn by the slow-moving vehicle, but couldn’t seem to find their way easily over their fallen brethren. Fast movement caught Max’s eye, and she saw one of the zombies move quicker toward the truck. She gauged its speed, and she realized if they continued the pace they were going, the infected would catch up with them. She spun to take aim and as she pressed the trigger, she swore the infected ducked.
“What the hell,” Max muttered.
“What is it?” Rafe said, letting loose one more round before turning her way.
“A fast one. It ducked my shot, I swear.”
“Try again,” Rafe said.
Max sighted up on the middle of the infected’s face. She thought he was a young man, maybe mid-20’s, but the pallor of his grayish skin made that judgement hard. His face, though screwed up in a grotesque mask of horror, was unmarred except for the blackness of his eyes. Max noted that his shirt was ripped from his chest and she could see chunks of skin missing there.
As she sighted on his face, it seemed he moved again, but this time Max followed and then squeezed the trigger. The bullet blew the man back and off his feet as it exploded out of the back of his head. Rafe looked over to Max, who watched to make sure the shot was actually accurate.
“He did move. Definitely faster than the others too,” he said.
“That time I made sure to wait. It was like he knew how long it would take me aiming before shooting. He moved when I would have pulled the trigger normally.”
“That’s weird. We’ll have to tell Charlie about it,” Rafe said.
“What good will that do?
She’ll want a sample. And I ain’t going back there,” Max said, motioning back toward where the body had fallen. Infected were tripping over the fallen bodies as they spoke.
“Nope. She’ll have to do with what we saw.”
With that, the two of them turned their attention back to the task on hand. They were reaching the end of the mob that crossed the road, though behind them was filling with the dead again. Once clear, Alex called out to hold on and the three ducked down to sit in the bed of the truck. Alex sped away and once they were a safe distance, she stopped and let everyone get back into the cab of the truck. Max’s shoulder was sore from where she had held the buttstock. It was a good sore, making her feel alive and in control of something.
That feeling faded quickly when they arrived back to the theatre thirty minutes later. Max didn’t want to see Easton and Candace’s faces when Alex told them about their father. Her sister’s face was set in sad, determined lines as they walked through their booby-trapped theatre. As soon as they entered the hallway, Max broke off from the group and headed straight for her tent. She found Griffin sitting in a lawn chair outside the tent cleaning his handgun. His eyes lifted as Max approached and a smile lit his face which quickly faded when he saw Max’s expression.
“What is it? Did everyone make it back?”
“Yeah. And guess what, Callahan is doing great. He’s healing up, instead of dying like he needs to,” Max exclaimed.
“Max, keep it down. Jack is playing with Billie and Henry in the theatre,” Griffin said, nodding toward the door that led to the place they had set up for the kids to have a place of their own.
“I don’t care. They should all know the threat we are under,” Max growled.
“You need to relax. Callahan doesn’t know where we are. I’m not sure why you are so angry now; we knew he wasn’t dead.”
“Knowing in my mind that he was probably not dead and getting confirmation are two different things,” Max replied.
“Not really, if you think about it. What’s really the problem?”
“Alex acts like it’s just information and it’s good we know. I can’t handle her nonchalance about this whole thing. We had to leave the safety of our home! We are living with our kids in a movie theatre. And instead of running the other direction or handling Callahan straight on, we’re delaying to find this Liam Reynolds who could be dead!” Max said.
“Dead?” A voice came from behind Max. Before she turned, she could see the grimace on Griffin’s face and Max knew she had stepped in it. She slowly spun to find Candace behind her, face pale and lips pressed together.
“Um, well… have you seen Alex?” Max stammered.
“Not yet. Did everyone come back ok?” Candace asked.
“Yeah. Uh, Alex is needing to talk to you,” Max said. She felt trapped, not able to run away from the situation she had just caused.
“Why would you think my dad was dead?” Candace asked.
“Alex needs to explain,” Max replied. Just as she was saying that, Alex appeared at the end of the hallway and Max was sure she was going to hear about this.
“Candace, I was looking for you,” Alex said as she walked up.
“Max said my dad could be dead. Why does she think that?” Candace asked, not taking her eyes from Max. Alex’s eyes flashed with anger before she masked the emotion.
“We should go sit down and talk with Easton. I’ll explain what we found out,” Alex said.
“I just want the truth, Alex. I heard what Max said about looking for my dad, who could be dead. I want to know now why she would say that,” Candace demanded. It was forceful for the young girl. She didn’t tend to push or raise her voice, but there was fire in her voice now.
“Max is just running her mouth, as usual. We did find out that your dad left the camp without permission. He hasn’t returned. There’s no knowing what happened,” Alex finally said.
If possible, Candace blanched even whiter than she was. Her eyes darted from Max to Alex and then she turned at the sound of Easton talking to Rafe behind them. She ran to her brother then, and Easton looked shocked when his sister buried her face in his arm. He looked up to Alex, panic on his face. Max could sympathize with his emotion. Alex had turned her glare back on Max, and she wanted to sink into the carpet. Griffin had stood and joined her, physically showing his support for her.
“What’s wrong, Candy?” Easton said quietly.
“Easton, let’s head to the living room. We’ll all meet and discuss what we know,” Alex said softly, as she guided Candace with her arm around her shoulder. They walked away and Max stayed rooted to her place until Alex looked back at her.
“Let’s go, Max. You don’t get to avoid this now.”
It didn’t take long for all the adults to gather. Candace sat next to Easton, and she leaned against him. Easton was clearly anxious and having a hard time sitting still, his foot bumping up and down and jostling his sister every second. Alex took a few minutes to explain the transmission and what they learned in the short moments they had. Everyone sat silent, Easton being the first to break the silence.
“So, why is Candace so upset?”
“Because Max said Dad is probably dead,” Candace said in a small voice. Easton glared at Max, and she wished she could avoid his gaze. But Max wasn’t one to just back down.
“It’s not an impossibility,” Max interjected.
“No, it’s not. But there’s definitely a better way of having this discussion, wouldn’t you agree?” Alex lectured.
“We need more information. What we have doesn’t tell us for sure what is going on,” Rafe said, working to keep them on track.
Max listened as the information they had was picked apart and she did agree with her brother. They needed more to go on. Max was difficult, but she wasn’t completely heartless. She didn’t want to waste time looking for Reynolds, but she didn’t want the children to suffer the loss of another parent. Max only knew one parent in her life and losing him had costed her the one connection she had. She never really admitted to anyone, but the pain of losing Mitch Duncan still haunted Max’s heart. Thinking about that and the feeling of suffocating under the scrutiny of her family, Max spoke up.
“I’ll go. I’ll get the information.”
Chapter Four
“Why can’t you just work with everyone else?” Griffin demanded.
“You can’t just go off alone,” Alex said.
“You’re always running,” Rafe interjected.
Max sat quietly as everyone had this opinion on her offer of getting the information they needed. Rafe’s opinion was probably the closest to the truth. Max could no longer sit still and do nothing about the threat that loomed over their family’s head. If she succeeded in getting information that could help end the Callahan threat, Max would feel as if she had done the best she could. The idea of getting away also didn’t include a large contingent from the group.
“I’m not running. Where in the hell would I go?” Max said.
“I think the real worry here is, Max, why do you need to be the one to go and why go alone?” Margaret’s voice was quiet, yet forceful as she stopped the siblings from continuing their bickering. Sometimes her role as a grandmother figure extended to the adults as much as the children. Alex turned to look at Max and her gaze held a well known “I told you so” look.
“I’ll move faster on my own. People are needed here to protect the larger group. No one here can do anything I can’t do,” Max replied.
“Except watch your own back. You are letting your stubbornness get in the way of smart decisions,” Griffin said.
“You too?” Max shot back.
“Yes, Max. I also care and love you. I also can’t allow you to just run off into danger without thinking twice about what you’re doing.”
“I’m not running into danger. I’d be driving,” Max replied.
“Good to know your sarcasm is never completely gone. You aren’t going alone,” Alex said.
“She doesn’t need to go at all. We can work together, find a better way to figure this out,” Rafe said.
“I can’t sit here anymore. I need to move, do something, anything, to help us. We are cowering a city away from Callahan in a movie theatre, of all things. We need to take this fight to Callahan’s door and move on with our lives,” Max exclaimed.
“We aren’t cowering. We are being smart and safe with the entire family. We are sticking together, that’s what we do. So you aren’t going alone,” Alex repeated.
“No, she’s not. I’m going,” Griffin said.
“No, you’re staying with Jack,” Max immediately replied. She had a feeling Griffin wasn’t going to let her leave without him.
“You don’t get to use our daughter against me, Max. I’m going so I can protect her mother. She will understand and will want that,” Griffin said.
“You know he’s right, so just stop fighting. I would forbid you to go, but everyone in this room knows how that would go. You would sneak out when everyone was asleep, even though it would be dangerous in the dark,” Alex said.
Max didn’t respond, because she refused to admit that Alex was right. Max wasn’t above sneaking out and breaking all the rules to do what she wanted to. It wasn’t that Max didn’t want to be with Griffin. His presence was a welcome bright spot in her days. However, she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t let her take any risks to get what they needed. She was also not lying when she said she wanted him to stay with Jack. They had missed so much during the time Jack was small, Max wanted them to make up that time however they could.
She looked at Griffin’s face, which was set in stone. Max had no doubt she would be digging herself out of a hole later, and she wasn’t going to win the argument.
“Fine. Griffin comes. Just the two of us. We’ll be less noticeable without a bunch of people following,” Max finally conceded.
Sundown Series | Book 5 | Vengeance Page 4
