Chapter Text
Max didn’t usually cry, but she was smart enough, even at six years old, to realize that she was an orphan now.
Her mind was swimming with more thoughts than she thought capable, some overlapping others and making her feel dizzy.
It had only been ten minutes since the mysterious men in the hazmat suits had stormed into her living quarters, dragging her mom away with them while Max panicked like the little kid she was. She still didn’t understand. They shouldn’t have even taken her mom, they’d only ever taken the boys.
This time was different from when they’d taken her dad, and then her stepdad after her mom had remarried and then Billy.
It had involved even more violence. The calmest she’d seen the guards be was when they took her dad, and he’d told her it was all fine, that he loved her, before following them out the door with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Then her mom had moved on, way too quickly. Neil put up a fight when they took him, but Max knew Billy, like her, had been secretly relieved when he’d disappeared from their lives. Neil hurt him more than he hurt her, and Billy took his anger out on her all the time.
When they’d taken Billy he’d begged her mom to stop them, but she’d just turned around and ushered Max towards the bathroom to get ready for bed. She still heard Billy begging sometimes. He’d only just barely turned nine, almost exactly a year after his birthday. She’d been four, just a few months before her fifth birthday, she couldn’t stop them.
Still, this time had been worse. She’d never seen them actually use the tasers strapped on their belts until tonight, and she never wanted to see something like that ever again.
Now, as she sat alone on the single bed, her back pressed against the wall and her knees pulled close to her chest, all she could do was notice more and more about her home and try to think about what it would be like to survive on her own.
The imprints of the men’s boots were still visible on the dirt floor, and dinner was still only half made on the counter in their makeshift kitchen, a single sink and a mini fridge. Wind seemed to find its way into the room, even through the concrete walls.
Everything about their home seemed that they were living in a tent with the bare minimum, except for the fact that the front door was three feet of solid steel, the only way in or out, and when opened it led into a hallway that took her anywhere and everywhere in their little village, but at the same time locked her away from all of it when necessary.
The tears ran numbly down her cheeks without any control as she thought about her mom, and how she wasn’t going to be coming back home this time. She knew she had to grow up, learn to take care of herself, but she didn’t want to.
She wished she could’ve been the kid that still cuddled with her mom so that she could fall asleep at night, or at least hug her when she was sad or scared, but it was too late to start. She was all alone now, and no one was here to hug her, or comfort her in any way. The worst part was knowing that no one would come.
She was shaking from fear now, the adrenaline from before wearing off completely. She’d tried to listen when her mom told her to be brave, to be a big kid, she really had, but as soon as that door had closed, locking her inside, she’d forgotten everything she’d ever lived by. She couldn’t help it.
She was scared.
The voice of her better self kept telling her that any second the men would come back and take her away too.
As if her mind was playing tricks on her, the door suddenly opened, and she flinched, hugging her knees tighter as she tried to hold back the choked sob already falling from her lips.
It wasn’t one of the bad men. As far as she could tell through her blurry vision it was a boy, a boy about her age by the look of it. He was wearing a t-shirt with details that she couldn’t identify, with cargo shorts and worn-out tennis shoes. His skin was the color of melted chocolate, and his hair was cut into a black, curly, short cropped ‘fro.
“Hey!” The boy said brightly, skipping over to the edge of the bed, the big metal door screaming shut behind him. Max just stared back at him, tears still building in her eyes even though she wasn’t crying them, because now her emotions were replaced with a confusion that was greater than her fear.
After a moment of silence the boy seemed to notice something was wrong, and crawled onto the bed to kneel down in front of her.
“Why’re you crying?” He asked, his voice so incredibly gentle for a six year old. She didn’t trust him. Why was he here? She’d never seen him before, not at the playground or even around the market.
The boy shifted uncomfortably when she didn’t answer him. “Um...what’s your name?” He asked, approaching her from a different angle. It would take her a while to notice how good he was at that, but in the moment she couldn’t concentrate on anything else but how suspicious she was of him.
“Max.” She said shortly.
“I like that name.” He beamed. Max felt an involuntary smile tug at the corners of her lips, her feelings about him slowly but surely changing.
“What’s yours?”
“Lucas Charles Sinclair.” He said proudly, puffing out his chest.
“Where’s your family?” His expression changed, not to sadness, but confusion as he thought.
“I don’t know.” He said finally. “I don’t remember.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s ok!” He said brightly, scooting a little closer to her. “I have you now.”
“You'll be my friend?” She wasn’t sure what made her say it, maybe that she just didn’t want to be alone right now, or maybe because he just seemed different than the other boys that were mean to her for liking what they did more than jump rope and hopscotch, but whatever the reason, she looked up at him desperately, hoping against hope that he’d say yes.
“Yeah!” He beamed. “I’ll be your best friend.” Max smiled, actually smiled, but that happiness was quickly replaced by guilt. Even with this boy here it didn’t take away the pain of her mom being taken away from her just like the rest of her family had been.
She’d never imagined she’d truly be alone, because even when her dad and Billy and even Neil were gone, she’d always expected her mom to be there with her, just like everyone else’s mom. What had changed that they suddenly had to take her too? After everything that had happened to her why couldn’t they just understand that she was just a kid, and needed someone to take care of her and love her?
Tears started to fall down her cheeks again and she turned away from Lucas, her breath catching. She didn’t even really know him that well and she still felt like she needed to be tough like she did with everyone else, it was expected of her, especially now that she was alone. She had to learn how to handle disappointment. Crying wasn’t exactly a great first impression, but it was getting harder not to the longer she sat here.
“What-what's wrong? What did I do?” Lucas asked as he reached out for her, pulling back before he could even touch her, starting to freak out while at the same time trying to stop whatever was making her cry.
“It’s not your fault.” She tried to assure him, burying her face in her arms. “They-they took my mom...the bad men. They took her.” Hearing the words out loud scared her even more, panic rising in her chest.
Lucas let out a small “oh”, slumping back against his feet a little awkwardly, like he didn’t know how to help her. “When did they take her?”
“Just barely, before you came in.” She managed, her breath catching halfway through.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered. Max nodded, but continued to cry without having any control. She hated it, it made her feel powerless, but her stomach felt unnecessarily empty with all the fear and anxiety and she couldn’t manage by herself. If Lucas was like any of the other boys he’d have this to use against her when trying to prove she was weak, but he didn’t make fun of her, or tell her to stop being a baby, instead he sat with her in silence, his presence more comforting than anything.
“It’s okay.” He said after a while, sitting up again and patting her arm, seemingly finding enough confidence to use physical contact. “We can be each other’s family now.” She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy, but hopeful.
“Promise?”
“I promise.” It was only two words, but he said them with such confidence Max had no choice but to believe him.
She found herself uncurling from her little ball, reaching out for him. When he hugged her she never wanted to let him go. She felt a sudden, almost instant connection with him that she’d never felt with anyone else ever before. Even before her mom had been taken she’d been craving for someone to show her any sign of affection, that they cared about her, because when Billy had been taken it had left her feeling empty, and scared, and she struggled to be brave when her mom acted as if everything was the same with him gone, like her life was normal. But now, as she squeezed Lucas impossibly tighter, her tears soaking into the fabric of his t-shirt as he held her, she felt loved for the first time in a long time.
1 Year Later
Lucas used all his weight to open the front door, bracing his feet against the concrete and pushing his shoulder against the heavy metal just enough for him to squeeze through.
“Max!” He called, tossing his backpack onto the single bed next to her open and abandoned one as the door closed behind him with a defined click. “I’m back.”
“You’re late.” Max corrected, emerging from the hallway that led to the bathroom, her arms folded across her chest. She was dressed in one of the old zip ups he’d grown out of since hers were getting too small, her blue jeans almost too worn to wear anymore, fading to gray.
“Oh come on.” Lucas said, looking at his watch. She was struck with the realization that she’d never seen him take off, but she wouldn’t realize how important that was until he was gone. “Only by three minutes.”
“You’re always home by exactly five-seventeen.” She said, setting her jaw as she glared at him. He felt smaller and powerless under her glare, even though he was a few months older than her.
“I know.” He said sheepishly, his face shielded by his hoodie and the dim light that lit their living space. Max was still eyeing him suspiciously. “What?”
“What were you doing?”
“Nothing!” He objected, shrinking under the look of suspicion Max gave him. “I swear Max I didn’t—”
She moved before he could react, pulling his hood off his head and revealing the large, dark purplish bruise forming on the side of his face, clearly visible.
She gave him a look mixed with disappointment and worry, making him drop his gaze.
“Again?!” She exclaimed. “You said you wouldn’t get into any more fights!” He couldn’t remember what having a mom was like, or even if he’d ever had one, but he guessed Max was pretty close.
“I know.” He said, hanging his head in shame. “But...but Troy was talking crap about you again and I just…” he risked looking up at her. She looked a lot older than seven with her hair tied up in a ponytail, he felt like he was talking to a more mature version of her, which didn’t seem at all possible. It made him wonder what she’d be like when they got older.
He ran a hand through his hair, which had gotten considerably longer in the past year, letting out a frustrated groan when he couldn’t think of a decent excuse.
“I just started it. I didn’t even fight back.” He mumbled, hanging his head.
“You don’t always need to protect me.” Max whispered. She sounded so scared, which wasn’t really like her.
“Yes I do!” He argued. “You’re my family and family protects each other.”
“Yes, but family also sticks together. What if they would’ve taken you?”
“They can’t yet.”
“Other boys have been taken before their eighth birthday, Lucas!” He locked eyes with her, seeing the panic shining clearly inside them. He was struck with the thought that if today had gone differently, he probably never would’ve been able to see her grow up alongside him.
“Lucas do you know what they would do to you if they found out how powerful you actually are compared to—?”
“It won’t happen again.” He said quickly, and he meant it. “I promise.”
The significance of a promise was what had solidified the relationship between the two of them. For a year they'd been using the word with the most serious of things between them, like not letting anyone else know they were orphans, just in case someone tried to separate them.
Promising meant you couldn’t go back on your word, and if you did, you broke the family trust, meaning you weren’t family anymore. They knew it was extreme, but it only made them want to keep the promises they made to each other even more.
“Good.” She finally said after a second, her expressions relaxing as she reached a hand out to ruffle his hair.
“I'll cut your hair after dinner if you want me to.” Lucas smiled, nodding enthusiastically.
“Just on the sides, like you did before.”
“Ok. But you should probably put an ice pack on that.” She teased, even so her voice gentle underneath as she gestured to the side of his face.
“Oh, yeah…” he said, his hand hovering over his face without actually touching it, having momentarily forgotten about the bruise and the headache it was creating. Max moved toward the small ice box before he could register it, pulling out a bag of frozen peas that had been in there since forever, always used for injuries and nothing else.
She grabbed the towel off the counter, wrapping it around the bag as she made her way over to him, gently pressing it against his cheek when she reached him. He flinched at how cold it was against his burning skin, then started to relax, taking the bag from Max’s hands and holding it himself.
His headache was receding, just a little, and now that he was home he didn’t feel as lightheaded or ashamed.
“Better?” Max asked after a moment. He smiled at her, nodding.
“Good.” She said, returning the smile. “Now what should we make for dinner?”
“Oh, I know!” He exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her hand and dragging her toward the kitchen. “Tonight, I’ll teach you to make spaghetti.”
“And...for a...mom-ent...he was s-st-ste…” Lucas sat up from the pillows, crawling to the foot of the bed to hold the book up to Max, pointing at the word.
“What’s that say?” She looked up from her sketchbook, where she was drawing what looked like a picture of him reading. Lucas had come to find Max could draw just about anyone and anything realistically from memory. That’s how he knew she looked more like her mom than her dad, and that he’d seen Billy before, before he’d been taken, at school playing basketball with the other older boys.
She could easily draw the landscapes described in his books, pulling him deeper into their worlds when he wanted to escape his own.
“Stymied.” Max said after a moment, reaching up to wipe a loose hair off the side of his forehead, leftover from his haircut. There was still a pile on the floor around the empty stool where he’d sat when she cut it, but he’d promised to sweep it up after he read a few pages of his story. “It means ‘stopped his progress’.”
“Oh, ok.” Lucas said, laying on his stomach next to her and turning back to the book. He was reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, one of the many books Max had given to him on his seventh birthday, thanks to her mom's untouched possessions hidden under the bed in a box.
Thanks to her he’d progressed a lot with his reading and writing in the past year, but he’d had to keep it a secret from everyone else, relying solely on Max to be happy for him when he started to get faster or learn a new word.
There were two schools in their ‘village’, as the two of them liked to call it, though it’s real name was Murkshore.
There was the one the girls went to, which was like every other public school ever in existence, where they learned to read and write and sew and do math, and then there was the boys’ school: the Survival Skills School.
At Survival Skills, everything was different from the girls school. For one, they were never in a building, except for when they were looking at maps on the projector, and they had to shove all one hundred or so boys into a small room about the same size as their living quarters.
There was a large gazebo-type roof that stretched across the whole schoolyard, giving them minimal shade but proving useful for when they had to put out a fire quickly.
There were constantly guards set up around the perimeter, watching the boys to see who was the most talented in their lessons, who could build and start a fire the fastest, or who could chop the logs most efficiently. Those boys always disappeared as soon as it was possible, usually after their eighth birthday, because that’s when the guards really started to watch them, but sometimes before, and Lucas was smart enough to know they went with the crazy men that had taken Max’s family.
His birthday was only a few months away, and he knew they were keeping a closer eye on him and the other boys about to hit the same milestone.
The boys were sent to be tested, the teachers told them, but none could tell them what they were being tested for. Frankly he didn’t want to know. He’d never seen a guard around town square that was his age, and he didn’t want to know where they ended up.
Most of the boys in his class strived to be one of the kids picked, especially Troy, who was only older than him by two months, but was built and acted like he was at least twelve.
Lucas purposely laid low, acting like he didn’t know how to read the chalk diagrams and maps drawn on the board when they called his name, or pretending to be confused with the fire starting, when in reality, he was the best in their class.
He was the strongest, by far, but he didn’t let it show, wearing baggier clothes to hide his sturdy build. He knew all the skills ten times better than everyone, because he had paid close attention and re-taught them to Max in exchange for her helping him with his reading. He was the most observant, he noticed who the armed men set up around his school were watching, and sometimes they were his friends, but he had to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to keep Max, his best friend, his family. Compared to her no one else really mattered.
He got bullied a lot for seemingly being so stupid, mostly by Troy, and it was getting to be very annoying. All he wanted was to show how strong and skilled he actually was, but he knew that wasn’t an option. Still, he hadn’t meant to punch the kid, he really hadn’t, but the way Troy even said Max’s name made his blood boil.
“She thinks she can do what the boys do.” Troy had said as they walked outside, the ringing of the final bell echoing around the fenced off courtyard. The sun started to beat down on them almost instantly as they stepped out of the shade, making Lucas sweat under his white dress shirt.
Max had insisted on playing soccer with them all after dinner in the abandoned field the night before, and after Troy had to physically force her to leave it was all the boys had talked about.
Lucas still felt guilty for not standing up for her, especially after she’d been shoved, but when she’d caught his eye from across the field, she shook her head, just slightly, signaling him to leave it alone as she sulked back to their living quarters.
He’d stayed an extra hour just so it didn’t seem suspicious following her back, but when he’d gotten home she’d seemed quieter than usual, hurt.
She didn’t show him what she was drawing, though he caught a glance of what looked like her mom. Sometimes she had those days, where things seemed to hit her harder, and the only way to make it better was drawing out her feelings.
He’d kept quiet, waiting for her to talk when she was ready, but she only whispered good night to him before falling asleep while he read his book at the opposite end of the bed, the covers pulled over her head, as if blocking her off from the cruel reality of the real, outside world. Lucas knew it wasn’t his fault, but he still had wanted to help her. She’d already had so much taken from her, and all he wanted to do was protect her from anymore hurting.
Troy’s words suddenly caught up to him, making his ears burn.
“She can do what we can.” He almost retorted, pulling himself back into the present, but he bit his tongue, holding himself back.
“What’s wrong with that?” He asked instead, sounding truly curious. A few of the older boys gave him a weird look, a couple others rolling their eyes as if he asked the question daily.
“What’s wrong with that?” Troy scoffed. “The girl’s job is to stay at home, make my food and do the dishes afterwards.” A couple of the boys surrounding Troy laughed, and Lucas felt his cheeks heat up along with his ears. He held back the urge to tell them that at home, he was the one that made dinner, and he helped Max do dishes afterwards. The girls didn’t have to do anything, in fact, Max was probably already better with the skills he’d taught her than Troy was.
She was a fast learner.
“But...boys can do that too right?”
“Well obviously.” Troy said. “We could do it a hundred times better, but we need them to have a reason to feel like they actually have a purpose here.” Lucas felt a chill run through his body, quickly morphing into a burning fire, making him see red. No one was allowed to degrade his best friend.
“But...she doesn’t have any siblings or anything, what if she just wanted to play?” He asked calmly, trying to stay inconspicuous about Max’s home life.
Troy scoffed. “So? She can go play with her dolls or something.” Lucas knew if he would’ve had half a brain Troy would’ve seen that Max wasn’t the type of person to own any dolls, and she didn’t. She did have a teddy bear, however, but she never seemed to use it when he was around, except for the bad nights, where he’d wake up in the middle of the night to find her asleep, clutching it close to her chest as she shivered under either from fear or the cold night air seeping through the cracks in the wall. By morning the bear would be gone, as if it never existed.
Max never told him about whatever it was that was happening, but it wasn’t hard to figure it out. Even with him around Max felt abandoned, he knew she did, because he did too.
“Alone?”
“Duh.” Troy said, knocking Lucas off balance as he nudged his shoulder roughly against his. He stumbled, rolling his eyes as he tried to keep his cool.
“Ooooh, I forgot,” Troy said innocently. “You’ve got a weird thing going with that little redhead girl don’t you?”
“No.” He muttered, continuing to walk. He kept his eyes glued on his feet, the black Converse material dusty and starting to wear thin from overuse. He knew he’d get a new pair if he asked, but he’d already gotten a new one a few weeks ago, which he’d given to Max, because hers had literally fallen apart, and she didn’t want to wear the flats they gave out at the girls school. Asking again so soon would be suspicious.
“You don’t?” Troy said in mock interest, as if he actually cared about Lucas in any way, shape or form. “Then you won’t care if I push her around a little, teach her not to mess with the boys?” A couple of Troy's friends laughed, giving him high fives for absolutely no reason.
“Don’t be a jerk.” Lucas said, stepping in front of him and stopping their pace, the surrounding boys eyeing him suspiciously.
“That’s my speciality isn’t it?” Troy asked, spreading his hands out wide. The boys around him laughed again.
“You heard about her family.” Lucas continued. “She’s just trying to be a normal kid.”
“So I should just treat her like the little snowflake she is, huh?”
“She’s not a snowflake!” Lucas yelled, his hands involuntary curling into fists as he looked up at the older boy.
“What’s wrong Sinclair? Did I touch a nerve?” Lucas didn’t answer, glaring up at him. “You wanna do your girlfriend’s jobs instead? Is that it?”
“She’s not my girlfriend—” Lucas started, but Troy clearly had no intention of listening to him.
“You’d probably be better at it,” he continued, turning to the boys around him as he did, all of them starting to get into it now. “Reading books or something else that’s just as useless. Oh, I know. Maybe you two could switch schools, then she’d get taken away just like the rest of her pathetic family for doing better—”
Lucas fist had hit him before he’d even finished. The crowd surrounding them went silent, a few of the boys surrounding Troy took a step back, surprised to see this side of Lucas.
“You just hit me, Sinclair?” Troy asked, splitting blood into the dirt, a fire burning in his eyes. Lucas stared back at him, standing his ground.
Troy growled, lunging for him. Lucas suddenly remembered what Max had said about not letting others know he could fight, but not in time for him to side step Troy’s tackle and sending the boy stumbling face first into the dirt.
He was hoping that somebody would make it stop, but the guards were just watching, looking cool in their black guard jackets, their guns at their side and their black motorcycle helmets glinting in the sunlight, as if waiting to see who would win this fight.
Lucas swallowed. Either he could get beat up and Max would be relieved he hadn’t fought back or, he could fight back, risk being taken away and at best have to face Max, who would be pissed. It wasn’t really a contest.
Troy growled as he lunged again, catching him off guard as he tackled his legs out from under him, his head hitting the ground below him hard enough to make his ears start ringing . Troy punched him in the stomach, once then twice then too many times for him to count. He could feel himself blacking out, the voices of the boys around him getting fuzzier and further away with each hit. He vaguely felt himself trying to push Troy away and received a blow to the face, followed by two more, but his strength was slowly dissipating as Troy pinned him deeper and deeper into the dirt.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, one of the guards pulled Troy away, and ordered everyone else to leave. The boys all scattered, some giving Troy various forms of high fives and fist bumps as they made their way out of the gate of the school grounds.
“—showed him—” Lucas caught Troy saying. “—like the little girl he is—”
The guard that had pulled Troy away kneeled down next to Lucas, helping him sit up as the younger boy clutched his stomach, groaning in pain.
“You ok there?” Lucas opened his mouth to answer, instead bending over and puking in the dirt, his stomach already feeling empty as he lurched forward. His ears were ringing, and the buzzing pressure behind his eyes was almost too much to handle.
“No.” His voice wavered, and he tried hard not to cry, because really, who would be okay at seven years old after getting pummeled into the ground by someone bigger than you for a solid ten minutes? He had just wanted to defend Max, just wanted to protect her after all she’d done for him, and none of the guards had tried to stop it when he’d first been hit, they’d just let it happen.
“Cmon kid. I know you could’ve fought back.” The guard whispered under his helmet. He sounded like he was just barely a teenager, but his stature under his skin tight suit said otherwise.
Lucas shook his head, resting it against his knees, feeling just a little light headed at the movement. “I can’t fight.” He lied.
The older boy laughed. “I know you can. I won’t tell anyone. Don’t worry. Just…take care of Max for me. Ok?” Lucas’ eyes widened, completely stunned, but he didn’t look up so that he wouldn’t give anything away. When he didn’t answer, the older boy patted his shoulder and retook his place at his guard post, leaving Lucas to struggle to his feet by himself.
“What’re you thinking about?” Max asked, breaking Lucas out of his thoughts. He’d been staring at the same page blankly for almost five minutes.
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying. You’re a terrible liar.” He was. He knew he was, but only with her. Anyone else he could get to believe him.
Lucas sighed, putting his bookmark in the last page he’d finished and sitting up. He scooted back until he was sitting beside her, his back against the wall and their shoulders pressed together.
“Just...the fight earlier. I didn’t fight back but, now I’m starting to think...I don’t know...maybe I should’ve?”
“Lucas are you crazy?” She laughed. “If you fought back I might’ve never seen you again.”
“I know but, Troy isn’t going to stop. Maybe if I had fought back he’d have learned his lesson. He’d learn to leave you alone, even if I’m gone.”
“Troy will never learn his lesson. I don’t care what he says about me, and neither should you. Not fighting back was the right thing to do. I know it hurts and it sucked but it’s better than disappearing. Right?”
At first he didn’t answer, and Max closed her pencil in her sketchbook, turning towards him.
“Right?” She asked again. This time Lucas nodded, agreeing with her.
“Yeah.” He whispered. “You’re right. I’m...not thinking clearly.”
She watched him suspiciously as he fingered the hem of his shirt, his gaze focused on his book at his feet. He hadn’t said anything about how much he was hurting, but she kept catching him clutching his stomach like he was about to puke, slightly out of breath every time.
“Let me see.” She said gently, reaching for his shirt.
“No. I’m fine.” He said, pulling away from her hand.
“Lucas.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. You’re hurt.”
“I’m a boy, Max! I can handle myself!” She shrunk back from him, her expression pained. He’d never yelled at her before, never had gotten mad. And he never had tried to prove superiority over her just because she was a girl. He wasn’t like that, never had been, which meant someone had hurt him so badly he didn’t have anyone else to release the anger on, and nowhere to hold it all in.
“I-I’m sorry.” He said immediately, his voice pained with regret. “I...Max I didn’t mean—”
“I know.” She said quietly, playing with her pajama shirt sleeve. “You’re just frustrated.”
“With Troy.” He clarified quickly. “Not you. I’m just...I’m sick of pretending I’m worthless, of being just a stupid little boy that can’t do his job just so I can live a somewhat normal life.”
“You’re not worthless.” Max said firmly.
“It sure feels like it sometimes.” He looked down at his hands in his lap, swallowing down the lump in his throat.
“Do you ever…” he could feel Max’s eyes on him, waiting for him to continue. “...ever wonder where they go?” He looked up at her, her eyebrows pressing together in confusion.
“Who?”
“The boys...your mom.” He let out a breath. “My parents.”
“Lucas.” Max moved closer, settling right in front of him and placing her hands on his knees. Her thumbs subconsciously rubbed small comforting circles through the fabric of his pants as she talked.
“We don’t know where they went, or if we’ll ever know, but we do know that we can’t lose each other. I can’t let them take you away from me too.”
“I know.”
“I need to know that you’ll come home everyday after school, that you won’t just...just disappear and I’ll never see you again.”
“It won’t.” He said confidently. “I promise. No more fights.” She gave him a small, forced smile.
“Promise me one more thing?” She asked.
“What?”
“If...if they do take you—or either one of us...for any reason...promise to say goodbye?” Lucas’ heart stopped. He didn’t want to imagine having to leave her, didn’t want to imagine what she’d go through after he was gone, how much Troy would hurt her, but she was avoiding his eyes, meaning she’d been thinking about it a lot, she was scared it would happen. He nodded, placing his hand on top of hers. She was shaking a little, tensing under his palm.
“I promise.” Her smile relaxed, looking a little less forced, though still scared, even with her trying to hide it.
“We should go to sleep.” He offered. She nodded, pulling away from him and standing up. It was only eight o’clock, but they were still kids, and both of them knew Max would be grumpy in the morning if they didn’t have a normal sleep schedule.
“Yeah.” She agreed. “But you’ve gotta clean that up first.” He looked over at the pile of hair on the floor, groaning as he stood up and grabbed the broom from the corner. Sweeping a dirt floor was harder than you would think.
Eventually, it looked pretty much back to the normal dirty floor, and he dumped the dustpan into the trash, wiping his feet on the carpet before climbing into the bed.
“Goodnight.” Max whispered from her place at the foot of the bed, already half-asleep with her back to him.
“Goodnight.” Lucas whispered back, settling against his pillow. He pulled his soft blue comforter over his shoulders, Max doing the same with her red one. Since there was only one bed they slept on opposite sides, with opposite blankets, their feet meeting in the middle so it wasn’t as crowded. Lucas turned off the lamp and settled into his side of the bed, and as his breathing evened out and the bed seemed to sink even more underneath her, Max felt everything start to fade away.
_______________________________________
“Max.” She sat up quickly, too quickly, her vision going slightly blurry as she looked around at her surroundings, blinking as she tried to focus. She was in a cave, the same cave she’d fallen asleep in last night after running for hours on end.
The sun just barely peeking over the horizon and casting an orange glowing streak down the middle of the dying trees outside told her it was just barely morning. She wasn’t the same little kid she was all those years ago.
Lucas was gone. He had been for ten years now. It’d hurt her so much to escape from that terrible place without him, but she didn’t have much of a choice.
“Hey.” She followed the hand on her arm and turned to face the boy that had woken her up. His mousy brown hair was a mess under the hood of his coat, and Max remembered hating it the first time she’d seen it. He was skinny, but Nate had always been small, ever since she’d met him when they were ten years old.
It had taken her a whole year to trust him, to even let him talk to her without blowing him off and just walking away. After Lucas she hadn’t trusted herself to care about anyone else, because the more she cared the more she had to lose.
But after he’d sat with her and made her smile in an attempt to comfort her after he found her sitting alone at the village’s mandatory birthday celebration, she’d learned to crave his presence almost as much as she’d craved Lucas’s.
Nate grew up along with her, not hitting his growth spurt until about a year ago, just before he’d turned 16, now he was just a few inches taller than her and still going.
“Was it dreams again?” He asked. “About Murkshore?” She nodded. She’d been having them more and more often. It was a little creepy dreaming about your six/seven year old best friend who you hadn’t seen in ten years, but she didn’t feel weird talking to him about it. She told him everything. She trusted him more than anything.
“Nightmares?” She shook her head, sitting up and climbing out of her sleeping bag without looking at him.
“No, the first time I met him.” She said, her voice still groggy from sleep.
“Oh.” Max started to roll up her sleeping bag, routinely checking the watch on her wrist without really reading the time. Maybe that’s why she’d been dreaming about him so much, but she’d been wearing his watch for ten years, so why now?
“We should hurry.” She said, trying to push away her wandering thoughts. They had to move. “No doubt they’ve already got a trail.”
“Don’t you get sick of it?” Nate asked, making no move to roll up his sleeping bag.
“What?”
“Running.” Max sighed, zipping up her coat.
“Nate, can we talk about this later? We need to go.” She said, quickly strapping her sleeping bag to her pack
“We’ve been running since we were twelve, Max. Almost five years.”
“And if we don’t hurry we won’t make it to five. Cmon.” She said shortly, throwing her pack over her shoulder. She packed up her stuff without looking at him, feeling Nate’s eyes on her the whole time.
He didn’t give in until she had turned her back to him, throwing her backpack over her shoulder and starting to walk out of the cave without caring to check if he was behind her or not. He quickly stood up and messily rolled up his own sleeping bag, strapping it to his pack and jogging her catch up to her, zipping up his coat and blowing into his hands at the dropping temperature at the front of the cave.
Max stood in the open-mouthed entrance of solid rock, scanning their surroundings as she did. She’d been the best tracker in their village before they’d run away, and Nate was secretly grateful to have someone that knew what they were doing, because he had no idea what he was even supposed to be looking for.
“All clear.” She whispered, leaving slowly in case she’d missed something, a trap or camouflaged sniper, but Nate had learned to trust her judgement, following her right out without any hesitation. She’d never missed anything.
They hadn’t gone more than a couple hundred feet up the heavily forested hill when they heard voices, followed by an explosion. When they turned around to look back down through the trees, their cave was smoking, hordes of men in black suits and helmets swarming the area.
“Told you.” Max whispered sadly, hoisting her backpack further up her shoulders and pulling her head over her head as she continued to climb the hill, Nate following along behind her without a word.
_______________________________________
“Does anyone copy? This is Wheeler calling out for any defectors. I repeat. Does anyone copy?” Nate reached for the radio where it was sitting on the large bench-shaped rock where they were settled in the back of their new hideout, next to their campfire, but Max stopped him, grabbing his arm halfway.
“It could be a trick.” She said. “If we answer they could track us.”
“We don’t know anyone named Wheeler.” He pointed out. “Besides, if they wanted to track us all they’d have to do is look for the smoke.” He gestured to the fire, and then the hole carved into the ceiling of solid rock above them, where thick, dark gray smoke was filtering out into the darkened sky.
Max hadn’t even wanted to start a fire, but Nate had made one against her will when she’d been shivering so much she couldn’t get up to stop him anyways. It was colder up here in the mountains, and her coat wasn’t holding much heat inside because of all the rips and tears from wearing it so long.
“Max, we’ve been running for five years with no sense of direction.” Nate started, as if presenting a proposal. “You said there was a safe place somewhere out there. What if this is it? What if this is our chance to go home?”
“We do not have a home.” She said tightly, her expression looking eerily creepy in the firelight. She let go of his arm, her eyes trained on the flames as the shadows flickered across her face.
“But it could be.” He said. She took another bite of the beef jerky Nate had given her, trying hard not to notice how scarily low their rations were getting, the plastic bag half sticking out of Nate’s open backpack where it lay on the dirt floor beside him. They hadn’t been able to hunt, and with winter coming they were seeing less and less animals for Nate to shoot.
Maybe he did have a point. Eventually they’d run out of food, their shoes would be too worn to wear anymore and their clothes would get too beat up. They’d already had too many close calls with the Tracking Squad, and she was exhausted. Running at least six to eight miles a day over every possible terrain and in every possible weather condition was draining her more than she thought possible, and with less and less food to eat afterwards each time, she wasn’t sure she’d hardly have the energy to get herself up in the morning if Nate wasn’t here. It wasn’t just her life she had to protect.
“Let’s just keep this channel on, listen to them for a couple days to see if we can decide if it’s a trick or not. Ok?”
“If we hear anything about them trying to find us specifically, we forget about it.”
“Ok.” He agreed. “Deal.”
She glanced at him over the fire, suddenly struck with the realization of how much he’d changed in the last five years.
He wasn’t the same shy and nervous boy she’d planned escape routes with every night until curfew for a year in a last minute desperate attempt to find Lucas again before she left for good.
He wasn’t the same anxious kid he’d been the night they’d run away, constantly looking over his shoulder every time he heard a noise in the dark forest, hoisting his backpack further up his shoulders and clutching the rifle in his hands tightly, sticking unnecessarily close to her side the longer the night went on, seemingly lasting forever.
When the sun had come up the next morning neither of them had slept, but Nate had been to one to suggest they keep going, the sudden change in his confidence happening overnight.
He was no longer afraid to talk back to her if he had to, the two of them equally as stubborn.
He was basically a full grown man now, protective, brave and daring when he needed to be but still careful and observant in a way Max couldn’t quite grasp onto yet. He’d learned to make more calculated decisions before he acted on them, not only to benefit himself but her too.
He was still growing, and not just mentally but physically. Not only was he now a foot and a half taller than when they’d left but he wasn’t as scrawny, his T-shirt’s were getting tighter around his shoulders and arms more and more everyday, and she tried not to notice how he was growing into his looks more and more everyday. She kept noticing how defined the line of his jaw was when he would look around the forest, or how tan he was getting. His hair was getting lighter and longer than the neatly short cropped, always buzzed haircut his mom would give him once a month back at the village.
Max had offered to cut it, but out of pure rebellion he’d let it grow just because he was free, and his mom couldn’t force him not to. It looked good on him, not too long but not too short, and especially when he pushed it back to put on his baseball cap—
She looked down at the watch on her wrist just so he wouldn’t catch her staring, the glowing green numbers telling her it was just past midnight.
“I’ll take first watch.” She said, standing up, rubbing her hands on her pants. Her legs hurt from sitting so long, her feet aching when she put pressure on them.
“No. You’ve taken first watch three nights in a row. You’re going to sleep.” Nate said firmly, tossing a stick into the fire. Max glared back at him, but he didn’t back down.
“Max. Sleep. Now.” She rolled her eyes, too tired to argue with him tonight. She picked up her backpack and unclipped her sleeping bag, rolling it out next to the fire.
“Listen to the radio.” She said as she laid down, her back to him. She could feel Nate tense that she hadn’t said her usual goodnight, replacing it with a command instead, which could only mean one thing.
“Look. I said I’m sorry about—”
“I know.” She interrupted, her voice surprising level, giving away no sign of any possible emotion. “I’m not mad at you.”
“Really.” He laughed bitterly. “Because you seem pretty pissed to me. You haven’t said anything more than one-sentence-answers to me all day and I’m getting kinda sick of it.”
“Do you want me to be mad?” She asked, sitting up and staring back at him. “Because that could change real fast.” Nate rolled his eyes, picking up the radio and sitting down on the rock.
“Maybe next time, you’d forgive me for saving your life.” He mumbled, picking up another stick and leaning forward against his knees to poke at some of the dying coals as the Wheeler dude repeated his phrase again.
“You saved my life?!” She asked. “You made me think you were dead!”
“Yes!” He exclaimed, just as harshly. “I pulled you under! And it was a joke, since when can you not take it a joke? You’re always pranking me! Always making fun of me, but I do it and suddenly it’s wrong?”
Max rolled her eyes and laid down again, closing her eyes. She let out a silent shaky breath, pulling her hoodie tighter around her.
She hated fighting with him, because he was her best friend, and literally the only person she had around. To make matters worse the day-long trek passed by much slower when they weren’t talking to each other.
He had a point, she did do those things, but it wasn’t him doing it back that had upset her, he’d just been stupid, forgotten that they were in danger, they both had. It’d been the only thing on her mind all night last night and throughout the entire trip today.
She was secretly grateful he’d pulled her down, that he’d had a plan and hadn’t left her behind, but at the same time she couldn’t let herself be the reason he’d get hurt, that they got caught.
She wasn’t mad at him, she was mad at herself.
She pushed the thought away, closing her eyes, trying to ignore the way her memories started to play like a movie in her mind even before they managed to slip into her dreams. _______________________________________
10 Years Earlier
Max was panicking. Lucas still wasn’t home, and it was almost six o’clock. Forty-three minutes late. Even if he wasn’t on time Lucas never exceeded the ten minute mark. Something was wrong. He’d had his birthday less than a week ago, and the thought of him being so late was making her internally panic, but she was trying not to let it affect her. Still, there were things she couldn’t control.
Her leg was bouncing at an abnormal speed, her eyes still locked on the steel door like they had been for the past half hour. She’d forced herself to sit down after pacing around for twenty minutes, now she wanted to get up and move again. Sitting still was the hardest part, not panicking came in a close second.
She squeezed her hands together tightly. Her breathing was shaky, like unusually shaky, and all she could think about was a nightmare she’d had just a few days before, when she’d been so sick that she’d been bedridden for a couple days.
It had seemed so real. She and Lucas were sitting on the bed, Lucas reading to her while she drew a picture, like they normally did before bed. She hadn’t noticed she’d been drawing her dad, her real dad, instead of Lucas until after she’d woken up.
Suddenly they were in the soccer field, the door to the main building that no one was allowed in unless they had an invitation, had suddenly been bust down like it was made of styrofoam instead of solid steel, four men in identical black jackets, black jeans and matte black motorcycle helmets rushing out into the field, training their guns at only the two of them, ordering them to freeze while everyone else around them seemed to be oblivious to what was happening.
While they were frozen and shaking in fear, two of the guards surged forward, and had dragged a struggling Lucas away, his image flickering from her dad to Billy to her mom and back to him again, leaving Max to listen to him screaming in pain all the way down the street, the ground swallowing up her feet so that she couldn’t follow him.
She remembered there being blood, lots of blood, though she wasn’t sure where it’d come from, Lucas or herself.
She’d woken up in a cold sweat, alone in an empty house while Lucas was at school, finding herself already clutching the teddy bear her mom had given to her on her fifth birthday. It wasn’t the same as her mom, not even close to Lucas, but holding onto it was comforting enough when she had nothing else.
The door squeaked open, breaking her out of her thoughts. She stood up quickly, her breath catching as Lucas appeared in the doorway. She let out a breath of relief, moving towards him, but he shook his head, just slightly, and she froze.
Two guards entered the room behind him, closing the door.
They looked just like they had in her dream, exactly the way Lucas had described the ones at school, from the motorcycle helmets to the combat boots. They were almost twice the size of Lucas, in both height and stature, making him look pathetically small as they stood behind him.
“Maxine Mayfeild?” One of them asked, his voice rough underneath the helmet. She swallowed, nodding. “You have five minutes.”
The other guard shoved Lucas forward by his shoulder, hard enough to make him stumble but somehow managing to stay on his feet as the two guards left the room, the steel door’s familiar scream echoing around the room as it shut behind them.
“Lucas what’s going on?” She whispered, finding her voice just as shaky as her breathing had been. Her feet felt like they were cemented to the floor, holding her back from moving towards him no matter how much she wanted to.
He swallowed, staring back at her with the same saddened expression. “I promised you...that I-I’d say goodbye.”
Her heart dropped, and she felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.
“No.” She breathed. Her chest was getting tighter, making it harder to breathe. Everything was going cold, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at him. She hadn’t cried since that day he’d first found her, but five words were repeating over and over in her mind, pushing her over the edge to the point she could feel herself breaking.
You’ll never see him again.
She started to panic, her breathing becoming shorter and less accessible. “No, no, no. Lucas please.” He moved forward, pulling her to him and hugging her closer than he ever had before. She could feel him shaking, how scared he was, and suddenly she was crying.
“I can’t lose you too.” She sobbed against his shoulder. “Luke. You’re all I have. Please. Please don’t go. Don’t leave. Please.”
“I’m sorry.” He choked, and suddenly she felt guilty. He was scared, and she was the one crying. He was being taken, and she was begging him not to go because she didn’t want to be alone. She was being selfish.
“I wasn’t trying to be found.” Lucas continued, his voice heavy with fear. “I promise I wasn’t, Max. I didn’t even do anything. T-they just took me out of school in the middle of the lesson and told me they were taking me. I had to beg them to come back here to see you, t-to say goodbye but...I-I don’t want to go, Max. I don’t want to go.” She felt a chill run down her spine when Lucas’s breath caught on the last words, his whole body shuddering. She squeezed him tighter.
“You’ll be ok.” She tried to reassure him, although her fingers clutching the fabric on the back of his jacket showed she thought otherwise. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my best friend.”
“You’re my best friend too.” Lucas managed. “I’m scared, Max. What do I do?” The door swung open again, and they both knew for a fact it hadn’t been five minutes. They pulled apart, Lucas moving to stand beside her, his eyes glued to his shoes as he struggled not to cry, not to be a baby when he was expected to be a man.
“Please.” Max found herself begging, her cheeks stained with tears. Because she didn’t care anymore. They deserved to see how much pain they put her in, how they were ruining her life. “I’ll do anything, just don’t take him.”
“Sorry kid.” One of the guards said, shrugging his shoulders. “We’ve got orders.”
“Screw your orders! I don’t want to lose him!” Max yelled, her voice breaking as she stepped in front of Lucas, shielding him. At first the men hesitated, glancing at each other through their darkened helmets as if they hadn’t expected such firm words to come out of such a small kid’s mouth, but she was used to it.
She was used to adults giving her weird looks when she showed up to town meetings without her parents, her mom. She was used to the boys pushing her away and treating her differently just because she was a girl. She was sick of the stereotypes, sick of the unfairness.
She felt anger swelling up in her chest. They’d taken her family, forced her to mature faster than she should’ve at such a young age, forced her to survive on her own, and now they were going to take possibly the only person that had kept her alive.
“Too bad. He’s coming with us.” The second guard said, clearly the more assertive one. He took a step forward, closing the space between them.
“No.” Max said confidently, taking an equal step back, pushing Lucas closer to her. “I won’t let you have him.”
“This isn’t a question.” His voice hardened under his helmet. “ Move over.”
“No!”
“Max.” Lucas warned, his voice laced in fear. They knew there were big punishments for refusing, but at this moment she didn’t care.
“I can’t let you disappear too.” She whimpered, turning around to look him in the eye, feeling the anger melting away when she saw him.
You’ll never see him again.
“I can't be alone again. Lucas please—”
“I’ll find you. Ok?” He whispered, somehow temporarily stopping her panic when he set his hands on her shoulders. “I’ll see you again.”
“I don’t want to wait that long.” A couple more tears rolled down her cheeks, and she didn’t make any effort to wipe them away. “I want you here, right now. I want to know that you’re safe. Please.”
“I’ll be fine.” He said, giving her a brave smile. “It’s ok. I promise.” She knew he was scared out of his mind just by the way his hands shook as he rested them on her shoulders. She knew just by the way his big brown eyes looked back at her, how he kept swallowing down the lump in his throat.
She knew him better now in only a year than she’d ever known her own family. He meant more to her than any of them had, and just as soon he was being taken from her.
“You have to let me go with them.” He said.
“No—” she argued, feeling the panic rising in her chest again. You’ll never see him again. He’ll forget all about you. Your family is gone. It’s all your fault. “Lucas. Please. I’m so scared. Lucas…”
“Hey.” He whispered, stepping closer. “It’s okay. Just breathe. It’s ok.”
“It’s not ok!” She burst, choking on the sobs she was holding back. “You’re leaving me too! They’re taking you just like they took everyone else and I can’t lose you!”
“I’m not leaving you.” He whispered. “I’ll come back, and we’ll get out.” She felt herself believing him, no matter how much her brain was arguing against him. She knew she couldn’t win, no matter how much she argued and fought and screamed, she’d never win, but she could give up.
“Lucas…”
“I will not let you be alone.” He said, so confidently it sounded true. She was beat, she couldn’t speak, couldn’t argue with him anymore, and she was scared beyond words.
“Promise you’ll come back, and we’ll leave?” She whispered shakily, just loud enough for him to hear. He nodded, then took off his watch, slipping it into her hands. She took it, looking up at him in surprise. He’d never taken it off.
“Promise.” His voice wavered, unshed tears building in his eyes. She stepped closer, hugging him again. She knew they’d take him soon, so she pulled him even closer than should’ve been possible, trying with every last bit of self-control she had not to cry anymore, for his sake. She couldn’t let that be the last thing he remembered of her. Her hand moved to the back of his neck, her fingers gently wandering into his hair the way her mom used to do with her when she was scared.
“I love you.” She whispered, and it was true. He was her best friend, her family. She’d grown to learn that that warm feeling she got when he came home wasn’t just relief, it made her more than beyond happy when he did, knowing that the rest of the day would consist of the two of them making dinner together and reading before they went to bed. She felt safe when he hugged her after nightmares and the extra painful days, or took care of her when she was sick, always comforting her even though she wouldn’t cry. She felt scared whenever he had to leave for school, because she didn’t want to lose him.
She couldn’t lose him.
Lucas shuddered again, reality setting in, a sob tearing out of his throat. “Max…” he begged.
“Ok. That’s enough.” One of the guards said, clearly frustrated as he moved to physically pull the two of them apart, pushing Max away as he dragged a kicking Lucas to the door by his arm.
“I love you Max!” Lucas called out, his voice underlined in fear as the two guards dragged him away, restraining him to very little movement. “I promise. I promise I’ll see you again. I promi—”
The door swung shut and instantly Max sunk to the floor, all her strength dissipating as she heard Lucas screaming for her all the way down the hall. She pulled her knees to her chest as she started to cry, panicked sobs falling from her lips as she tried to control her breathing, her fingers squeezing the watch in her hands tightly. She was back to the same place she’d been when her mom had been taken a little over a year ago: left to wonder how she would survive the rest of her life on her own, and if she could ever afford to care about anyone ever again, scared beyond the ability for her seven year old mind to comprehend.
_______________________________________
Max opened her eyes, making a conscious effort not to make any noise or move too suddenly to alert Nate that she’d woken up.
She closed her eyes, silently sucking in a deep breath and then blowing it out again.
“Look around you.” Lucas’ voice seemed to be telling her. “What do you see?”
Her eyes scanned their surroundings as best they could from where she was laying on her side.
She could see the stars shining brightly in the velvet black sky through the entrance of the cave.
She could see the almost invisible shadows of the flames from the dying fire behind her flicking across the wall of rock, Nate’s resting beside it, stretching towards the ceiling.
She could see the darkened silhouettes of the pine trees surrounding them on every side, hiding them.
They were safe. They were far away from Murkshore, far enough that she’d probably never have to worry about seeing it ever again.
As long as they didn’t get caught.
She swallowed hard, now allowing herself to remember how close they’d been yesterday, why Nate still thought she was mad, just so she wouldn’t have to hear Lucas’s screaming.
“Nate!” She’d yelled ahead, watching as he stripped off his coat and hoodie and let out a happy yell as he dove into the river they’d reached without a second thought.
The water splashed up the side of the bank, soaking the dry ground and instantly turning it to mud.
Max rolled her eyes playfully, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the side of a tree as she waited for him to break the surface again.
Except he hadn’t. He didn’t come up for several seconds, in fact, enough for her to start to get worried.
“Nate?” She called after a while, dropping her backpack on the ground as she kneeled next to the river bed to peer into the water. It was dark and murky, and she couldn’t see anything over the edge, just darkness.
“Nate!”
She swore under her breath, her fingers quickly fumbling with the zipper as she unzipped her coat.
Nate was a strong swimmer, she knew he was. But he’d been down there longer than it took for him to jump in and pop back up, and even though the current looked weak from up top, she knew from experience that the undercurrents could catch you off guard.
She stood up, pulling off her hoodie as she surveyed the area.
Where she was standing was the only spot where the river bed met right up against the water, the few miles surrounding them on either side was a sudden ten-foot drop off of shear dirt and rock that the river had carved through over the years.
If he’d floated down even a little bit he’d have to swim back upstream against the current or find a place to stop that was sturdy enough to climb out.
“Idiot.” She mumbled, unclipping the watch from her wrist and tossing it onto her hoodie where it lay on the dry patch of ground.
“Nate!” She was starting to panic now. There weren’t many options other than her wading into the water, but the rocks suddenly dropped off less than ten feet in.
“Dude it’s not funny!” When there was still no answer she kicked off her shoes and waded into the cold water, flinching when it rose just above her ankles, sending a cold shock through her whole body.
Even through the water she could see something rising out of the depths, a giant shadow, seemingly growing bigger and bigger.
Before she had time to realize it was getting closer, Nate shot out of the water with a scream, pulling her in by her arm.
She let out a yelp, the shock she’d gotten when she’d waded in was nothing compared to falling in completely, the water rising above her head temporarily freezing her until she realized she had to go back up again and breathe.
She broke the surface with a gasp, Nate laughing as he tread water next to her.
“I hate you!” She said, using all her weight to push his shoulders down, dunking his head under the water. Nate struggled against her for a minute, before popping back up and coughing out water, messily running a hand through his hair to push it away from his face.
“Not fair!”
“You pulled me in!” She objected, shoving him back by his shoulders, his black t-shirt clinging to his skin, the muscles flexing as he waved his arms to stay up. He laughed, floating back a little, just out of her reach.
“Oh, and made you think you drowned!”
“I can swim, Einstein.”
“Yeah well, with you I never know.”
“Hey, at least I know how to shoot a gun, you’d be dead without me.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Yes I wanna bet!” Nate said, lunging for her. She dodged him, using his momentum against him to push him under again.
The water wasn’t cold anymore, it felt kinda nice, and they started to get careless. They splashed around and laughed louder than they should’ve, almost pretending that they were normal kids, but they weren’t.
They were on the run for their lives, people were hunting them, and had been for five years. If they got caught they’d probably be killed, at best Nate would be drafted into recruitment.
“What was that?” Nate asked, Max had put him in a headlock and he was doing everything in his power to keep his face out of the water.
“Haha very funny.” She said, trying to push him down again. “I’m not falling for it.”
“No, Max I’m serious.”
“Sure.” Apparently Nate had extra leverage, because he managed to stand up to a height she couldn’t hold him down anymore, slipping out of her hold.
Max was about to object, tell him to quit messing around, but he was staring back the way they’d come with such concentration she started to believe him.
“Listen.” He whispered. Then, very subtly, she heard it.
Talking.
A whole group of people, one calling out orders as others yelled back responses.
“They’re sweeping the whole forest.” Nate said quietly.
“We have to leave.” Max said, starting to swim back towards the bank, but Nate grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
“There’s nowhere to go but across the river.”
“We can’t get out that way, it’s a ten foot cliff straight up.”
“Exactly, and we can’t go back. They’ll see us. We‘re trapped.” Her stomach dropped.
Trapped?
“What do we do?” She asked.
“Go under.”
“What?”
“Now!” She just managed to suck in a breath before Nate pulled her under, the sounds of the men reaching the tree line that opened up to the river muting slightly when the water covered her ears.
There were so many of them, at least six from the sound of it, their combat boots seemingly shaking the ground all around them.
“Scout the river!” One yelled, clearly the leader. “They couldn’t have gone far! Search the entire bank!”
Max glanced over at Nate though the greenish-yellow tinted water, his gaze focused upwards. His brown hair was a mess around his head, swishing back and forth each time he moved.
He caught her eye, holding a finger to his lips, a silent signal not to breathe too much and lose the air too quickly, or create too many bubbles on the surface that would make the tracking team suspicious.
Suddenly a shadow fell over the top of them, a figure looking into the water, and Max pulled him a few feet deeper by his forearm as she pushed further down the sides of the rocks, just to make sure they were hidden in the shadows.
Her breath was going fast, and she could feel herself starting to panic at the loss of air.
You’re in control. She told herself. Don’t let it scare you.
“Found this boss!” The shadow moved away from the water, and with a jolt Max remembered their stuff on the side of the river bed.
Their food, their clothes, maps, journals, her sketchbook, everything they’d used to survive for the past five years, was up there, out in the open. She glanced at Nate again, the same panic shining in his eyes that she knew for certain were in hers.
“They couldn’t have gotten far then! Let’s move out! Keep your eyes peeled.”
Max counted to a total of twenty more seconds before she couldn’t hold it anymore, swimming up and breaking the surface just before she ran out of breath. Nate followed a moment after, the two of them coughing up water and gasping for air. The area was empty, the men clearing out, true to their leaders word.
She could hear Nate asking if she was okay, but her sole focus was on their stuff. She scrambled toward the river bed, pulling herself out of the water. Her hoodie was gone, but there, in the dirt, she saw something glinting in the sun.
She reached down, picking up the silver wristwatch she’d had for the past ten years, letting out a sigh of relief as she wiped the dirt off the face.
“They didn’t take it?” Nate asked as he looked over her shoulder, his hair dripping down his face and onto her already soaked t-shirt.
“No.” She said, almost shakily, slipping it over her wrist and securing it into place. If she’d lost it...she didn’t know what she’d do. She made a mental note never to take it off again.
It was the only reminder she had of Lucas anymore, the only proof that he’d been real and not just a figment of her imagination. She didn’t want to forget him, and in a way, the watch was all she had left of him.
“Look.” Nate said, moving past her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder as he pushed past.
Their bags and coats were shoving haphazardly under some underbrush next to one of the nearby trees, as if they’d been hidden quickly.
“Did you do this?” He asked, kneeling down. “After I jumped in?”
“No.” She said, feeling the confusion writing itself over her face. “No they were…” she spun around, pointing closer to the river bed, where she’d dropped her bag before.
“They were right there.”
Nate leaned down, picking them up and examining them carefully. “No hidden trackers.” He said confidently. “Someone hid them before the others could find them.”
“Someone’s on our side?”
“I—I guess I don’t…” Nate looked around, scanning the deep woods. “I don’t know.” Max followed his gaze for a moment, before bending down and scooping up her own bag.
“We need to go.” She said, starting to shiver, her teeth chattering as she spoke. He nodded in agreement, tossing over her coat and standing up.
“Sorry about your hoodie.”
“It’s fine.” She said, still a little shaken up with the experience. It was close. Too close. “I have more.”
“But that was your favorite.” He said, studying her, as if determining whether she’d actually be upset or not.
“I don’t care. It’s fine. We just...we need to go, Nate.” He nodded, pulling his hoodie on over his head and ruffling his hair as the two of them moved downstream, the distinguishable combat boot footprints leading upstream.
As they walked, the same questions echoed through both of their minds.
Was someone with them? Did they have an inside man protecting them as they went?
Lucas. It’s Lucas. It has to be Lucas. Was all that ran through Max’s thoughts, but no matter how many times Nate glanced over at her, she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud, because the fear of allowing herself to hope could make her lose herself all over again.