The conversation droned on with Alex and Rafe arguing about better options. Max was able to win most of the scenarios. When they finally admitted Max could accomplish what they needed, the conversation moved to plans for where she would go. Smith explained the scavenging schedule as he recalled it. It seemed to Max that she would have decent luck running into a group if she just wandered around Rapid City for a time. Smith warned that most of the soldiers sent on scavenging runs were not those that were in Callahan’s inner circle.
“It could be a complete waste of time and risk to go after some of these soldiers and try to question them. They could know absolutely nothing. You would be risking your lives for nothing,” Smith said.
“It’s a risk I’m taking. While it’s possible we could learn nothing, there’s also a chance we could get enough to go after Callahan,” Max replied.
“And find out more about our dad,” Easton interjected. Max hadn’t confirmed, just nodded her head. She would ask the questions, but it wasn’t her first priority.
When all was said and done, Griffin and Max took their packs to the storage area and started preparing to be gone for a few days. Griffin was silent as he shoved MREs into his pack. Max was more gentle with her items, packing things carefully and giving Griffin a side eye. She grabbed some of the freeze-dried foods she liked, figuring if Griffin was going to give her the cold shoulder, she wanted to eat well still. She turned away to grab a LifeStraw and water purification tablets.
“You’re an inflexible ass,” Griffin said.
“You say this as if you didn’t already know that.”
“We’re alone now, Max. I tried to not fight with you too much in front of your siblings, because I know how you feel about being embarrassed. But seriously, this is a ridiculous plan.”
“You don’t have to go. I’m fine by myself,” Max said with a shrug.
She had her back to Griffin, but the silence was deep and she knew she had hit a nerve. His hand was a steel band on her arm when he grabbed her and forced her to swing around. Max’s eyes widened when she looked at Griffin. She could see the blaze of fire across his features and she immediately regretted her suggestion.
“Everyone knows you are oh so fine by yourself,” Griffin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, with no invitation to Max for comment.
“But maybe at some point you’ll understand that not everyone is ok without you! Do you think after all these years, that I am just fine with watching you walk away into danger? How do you think Jack would feel, knowing you could not come back and there would be no explanation?”
“You’re being melodramatic,” Max mumbled.
“I know your heart is well guarded. I realize it will always be a battle for a piece of that heart. But I didn’t realize you cared so little for Jack and I,” Griffin said, suddenly releasing Max’s arm.
“That’s not true,” Max replied.
“Yes, it is. If it wasn’t, you would be thinking twice about this ridiculous plan. We would be working with the rest of the group to come up with a smart plan. A plan that didn’t include two people taking the brunt of the uncertainty. And before you say something completely idiotic about going alone again, know that no matter how stupid you are, I love you and will not let you die,” Griffin said.
As Max stared at him with stunned eyes, Griffin slung his pack over his shoulder and picked up the duffel they were taking. He stalked out of the room without another look back at her. Max felt her body deflate, leaning against the table with the cooking utensils. She looked down at the items they had scavenged from houses they went into during the week. There wasn’t much regarding portable items, but Max already had everything she needed in her bug out bag. She ran her fingers along a pretty teacup, just one piece from a set that Alex had scavenged for the girls to play and drink from.
She knew she couldn’t hide in the storage theatre forever, so Max zipped up her bag and slowly left the room. Margaret was leaning against the wall in the outside hall. Max winced for a moment, wondering if the woman had heard Griffin. One look at her face and Max knew she either heard him, or she had her own strong feelings about the situation. Max gave Margaret a tight smile as she set off to walk down the hall.
“Max?”
Max didn’t respond, just spun to face Margaret again.
“Are you going to leave, without settling things with Alex?”
“There’s nothing to settle,” Max replied.
“Everyone knows that’s not true, Max. It’s part of the reason you’re running out on this dangerous task. You are going with one other person to confront scavenging groups, when you have no idea of their size or location,” Margaret said in her quiet, firm tone.
“I don’t need all of that information to make the right decisions. I’m just as trained as my sister and brother. I know how to get all the needed information before making any moves.”
“No one doubts your ability. But right now, you aren’t capable of working with your family. And that’s what worries me,” Margaret said.
“Did Alex send you to talk to me?”
“Does that sound like Alex? No, Max. She doesn’t know I came to talk to you. She would have told me to not bother, because you’re pigheaded and difficult, and unlikely to hear anyone other than the voice inside your own head.”
“Don’t mince words, Margaret,” Max said, her voice taking a defensive tone.
“I’m not insulting you. I’m just telling you how I see it,” Margaret replied.
“You haven’t known me long enough to make any sort of assumptions of my behavior.”
“That may be true. But want to know something about the apocalypse? The people you survive with, the ones you work with daily to stay alive, those people become like family. They become important. You care for them. Even love them. So if you think it’s easy for me, or Isaac, or Cliff to watch you leave the way you are, you would be sorely mistaken.”
Max could feel her sails deflate. She wasn’t good at relationships with people. Though she would never admit it to them, she was very thankful for Alex and Rafe. They were the two people in the world that knew her best and could handle the way she could be. Griffin was getting there, but their relationship was so new, again, that she still worried about losing him. Having Margaret explain her feelings put Max in a place she wasn’t comfortable with. The look on the woman’s face told Max that she knew exactly what she had done, that it was her entire reason for finding Max in the hallway.
“I’m going to be fine,” Max finally said.
“I hope so. This group can’t take another loss right now.”
With that, Margaret walked away. Max decided it was in her best interest to not walk down the hall behind her. She didn’t want to risk the conversation being continued. Instead, Max moved back to her tent. She folded clothes tightly, stuffing them into a duffel bag she planned on taking. She worked to put aside the feelings of the group, so she could focus on the task that was coming. The last thing any of them needed was distractions causing bad decisions.
“So it’s real. You’re leaving again?” Jack’s voice floated on a wave of disappointment. Max pivoted to face her daughter. She wasn’t surprised to see Griffin approaching as well.
“You know I’m straight with you, Jack. I need to do this. I need to find the information we need to defend our family and protect us from attack.”
“Why does it have to be you? Both of you?” Jack said, looking between Griffin and Max.
“Jack, I need to protect your mom. You know I won’t let anything happen to her out there,” Griffin replied. He reached out a hand to brush over Jack’s curls, but she stepped back. Her face was a mask of young fury, and Max knew where she got that look.
“And who’s protecting you? I just got a dad. I don’t want to lose him already.”
“That was a low blow,” Max interjected. She knew Griffin tried to prevent it, but she could see his face fall with sadness. He didn’t want to disappoint her.
“It’s just the t
ruth,” Jack argued.
“We will watch out for each other, take care of each other. That’s what people do,” Max said.
“Not everyone does. And there’s only two of you. Anything could happen. And we’d never know if you don’t come back.”
“We are coming back. I promise that,” Griffin said. Max wanted to caution him against promising something he had no control over, but she couldn’t find the words.
“This isn’t to hurt you. I’m sorry you don’t understand why we have to go. But we only do what needs to be done to protect you and everyone else here,” Max said.
“Why does it always have to be you?”
Max didn’t have an answer for that. And she knew rationally it wasn’t always her. Just a few weeks prior, Alex had been kidnapped while on a supply run. Just a few bad choices and she was almost forced into servitude at a brothel. Everyone in their group took equal risks during their work to survive the apocalypse. To a child’s mind, watching their parents walk out the door, those risks didn’t seem as equal.
“We’ll come home soon,” Griffin said.
He glanced at Max, realizing she wasn’t going to say anything. Jack looked between them both as well, before throwing her arms around Griffin’s waist. He unwound her arm for a moment before bending to lift her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek before laying her head on his shoulder. The scene was so normal, so sweet, that Max felt forced to stay on the outside. The two of them were finding their bond, their way to being father and daughter. Max was happy for them, though she had a twinge of sadness to lose the solitary relationship she and Jack had for the first nine years of her life.
Griffin turned Jack toward Max, and the three of them shared a hug. He pulled Max in with one arm, while supporting Jack’s weight with the other. Jack wrapped an arm around Max’s neck and pulled her close until the three of their heads were pressed together. Her hazel eyes were dark and stern as she looked between her parents’ faces.
“We are a team now. This team needs three. So you have to come back,” Jack said.
Griffin’s hands gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. Max chose to not say anything to him, knowing he was angry with her for making them leave the safety of the theatre. She wanted to snap at him. I didn’t make him come with me, she thought to herself. Even when she knew she was being stubborn and difficult, she still had the thought of telling him off for giving her the silent treatment.
Instead, she thought about Jack and how she called them a team. Max thought about how serious their daughter was and how Griffin had promised to come back. She wished he hadn’t done that. Now, if something happened to one of them, it was possible Jack would never recover. Max knew she would always be provided for, loved, and protected if she was orphaned. Her emotional stability would be in question if Griffin didn’t return as Jack expected.
“You shouldn’t have promised,” Max said, breaking their silent competition.
“I meant it,” Griffin replied. His quick words told Max that he was thinking about it too.
“I know you meant it. But you know things can happen What happens to her if we don’t return?”
“We will. I won’t break my promise to our daughter. I haven’t had the chance to even make promises to her. But this one I will keep,” Griffin said.
Max fell silent again. She watched the scenery pass the truck windows as they roared down the small highway. Private Smith gave them enough information that Max thought starting on the outskirts of Rapid City was their fastest avenue to information. Finding a scavenging crew, kidnapping one of them, and getting the information they needed was the basic plan. The first step was likely the most difficult, they had to find the random men in a city of infected.
The sun was sinking low in the sky as they pulled off the highway into the first small trailer park they passed on the border of Rapid City. They had mapped out their route clearly and would only deviate if it didn’t prove fruitful. Their first order of business was to establish a safe house within an empty trailer. They chose the area because they hadn’t seen mobs of infected in the area on previous trips. It was no different now as they drove slowly into the center of the trailer park.
Griffin pulled to a stop outside of a bright red trailer, with a small Kia in the driveway. The doors seemed secure, and the windows were all intact. Max joined Griffin at the door as they knocked loudly, waiting for any sort of answer. When one didn’t come, Max used her lock picking kit to get them through the cheap deadbolt on the front door. The door swung in and Max pulled her 9mm. She pointed the weapon into the dimly lit trailer, still waiting for any sort of reaction to their entry.
Nothing popped out of corners, bathrooms, or closets. The trailer smelled stale, but not in a dead way. Max studied the photos of an older woman with numerous other people along the walls. She smiled widely with what Max assumed was her family. A frame with the word “Grandma” confirmed Max’s suspicion. Max hoped one of the loving family members had picked up Grandma before she could be eaten by the infected that might have found her.
The kitchen was clean and bright with all of its white counters and silver appliances. Max smiled slightly at the apple wallpaper runner that circled the top of the kitchen. The towels had apples and there were apple shaped salt and pepper shakers. The woman clearly loved apples. A bowl full of rotten fruit confirmed that suspicion. Griffin took the rotten fruit and threw it into the overgrown backyard. He then slid a few windows slightly open, allowing a cross wind to blow some of the smell out of the trailer.
“We should get some of these to put at the compound. Let people have their own spaces,” Max said as she rummaged through the pantry area.
“I like that we are all so close,” Griffin replied.
“So do I. I was just thinking Margaret might like to get out of sleeping in the RV, and maybe Cliff and Isaac would be more comfortable.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense,” he said.
“I’m not completely detached from my family, Griffin. I do love them,” Max said, exasperated with his attitude.
“You sure have a weird way of showing it. It’s a good thing we all know you well enough to not want to throw you to the infected every moment of the day,” he said, with a slight grin on his face.
“I know you think about it,” Max responded with a laugh.
And that was it. Griffin’s anger was diffused and Max was forgiven for the moment. They had an easy comfort together, and neither of them could stay angry with the other for long. Max appreciated that about Griffin. If she had to worry about him hating her all the time, she wasn’t sure how she would function. After he had time to stew and let things out, he was ready to move on. Max knew in her head there was a part of her having a hard time believing he wouldn’t move on without her. Even with the explanation of him writing her and calling her after he left for boot camp, Max still felt doubt cloud her judgement at times. She reminded herself that Griffin wasn’t responsible for Mitch Duncan’s actions. Her father was determined to keep them apart, and he had succeeded for his entire life and beyond.
Max laid out the items she found in the pantry. She was surprised that no one was trying to live in the trailer. But the old woman who owned it was definitely too old to survive on her own. Griffin sat on a couch, which squeaked from the plastic covering the furniture. He grinned over at Max as he shifted and continued to make noise.
“You are like a teenage boy half the time,” Max laughed.
“Good thing you knew me then too,” he replied.
“Pretty sure you were less annoying back then.”
“Ouch, you injure me, Max,” Griffin said with a grin.
They bantered a bit more as Max planned out the meals they could make from the items in the pantry. Max choses a box of crackers and processed cheese, and she sat on the couch with Griffin to share. They reminded Max of the snacks she and Alex used to share when they were kids. Their father always had process
ed stuff along with the fresh stuff off the farm. The processed foods just lasted longer, even if their nutritional value wasn’t perfect.
Max crunched in silence, thinking about their plans going forward. She wouldn’t admit to Griffin, but she knew the plan was weak. But now that they were in Rapid City, she couldn’t bear the idea of going back now. The pantry was well stocked with items they could eat for over a week. The biggest challenge was the family would worry if they took that long. It would be stupid for Alex to come looking for her, but Max knew that was exactly what would happen if she went missing. The Duncans didn’t give up on each other. Her siblings would need confirmation that she was dead before they would stop trying to find her.
“We should set this place up as our home base for now. It’s comfortable and there’s plenty of food that’s edible. No dead bodies, which is nice too,” Max said.
“Far enough from Callahan’s Camp USA that we won’t be detected by them either,” Griffin replied.
“We should cover all the windows, so when we are here at night we don’t attract attention with light.”
With a direction to go, they both began to gather extra blankets and towels. It took over an hour, but once all the windows were secured, Max felt as if they had accomplished something. The atmosphere inside the trailer became murky as the light of the day was cut out. Max and Griffin walked through and prepared lanterns and a few scented candles they found. Once she felt the trailer was ready enough, she pulled out the map they had of Rapid City. Together, Max and Griffin created a list of likely scavenging places. They chose large locations that, if not already cleared out, would prove to be bountiful for Callahan’s camp.
“We just look at each of these for any sign that someone has been there, and hopefully we can check some locations off the list. Once we can slim it down, we’re bound to run across a group,” Max said.
“Seems like a shot in the dark.”
“True. But it’s the only shot we have right now,” Max replied.
The next morning they carefully left the trailer, checking all corners to make sure there were no infected in the area. The neighborhood was eerily quiet, which was almost harder to manage than a street full of dead bodies. Max could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she looked for a threat that had to be there. They easily made it to the truck and left the neighborhood without anyone seeing them. Moments later, they were winding through small roads toward their first destination.
Sundown Series | Book 5 | Vengeance Page 5
