Staying Alive

12

Max tried to ignore the pain in his leg, but it was almost impossible. He’d been using it far too much already. Now he was trying to run towards the house, away from Mandy.

James had been hotheaded enough to try to move the van by himself. What he hadn’t considered was that since Max was with Mandy, it was James’s responsibility to guard the door.

And apparently he hadn’t thought that starting the van would cause the attackers to leave the house, to see what was going on.

A shot rang out on the other side of the house. There was nothing Max could do about it, except to hope that it was from Georgia. Likely, it was, since it was a single shot. But still, there was no way to know for sure.

The red rear lights of the van were on, and James was backing it up, moving it away from the house.

The door to the house flew open.

Max already had his Glock out. He raised it, ready to fire.

The attacker was raising his assault rifle.

Time seemed to move in slow motion.

Max felt a searing pain through his leg, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground, before even getting a shot off.

There was a noise as a shot was fired.

Max though he was a goner. He thought he’d be dead.

But he was still alive. His brain was still working.

He managed to look up, trying to ignore the pain in his leg.

The man with the assault rifle had fallen to the ground. He’d dropped his gun, and he didn’t move.

The door of the van opened.

James got out, moving quickly to the man on the ground.

“He’s dead,” shouted James.

The pain in his leg was too much for Max. He shouldn’t have been trying to run around on it.

Before passing out, Max vaguely remembered seeing Georgia and Sadie appearing. That meant that things were OK on their side—the gunshot Max had heard had been from Georgia, most likely. They were alive, and the attacker must have been dead. That was what mattered.

The last thing Max saw before his vision went black was Chad standing triumphantly on the roof, holding his rifle. It had been Chad. Chad, who everyone had thought was useless… he had saved the day.

Max woke up in almost as much pain as before.

He was back in the farmhouse, lying on his bed. He didn’t know how much time had passed. It was dark outside. Candles lit the upstairs bedroom.

Mandy was sitting in a chair nearby.

“You’re awake,” she said, getting up.

“What happened?” said Max. “Is everyone OK?”

“Typical,” said Mandy. “You want to know about everyone else first. Don’t you want to know if you’re OK?” She was smiling at him as she spoke.

“I must have passed out from the pain,” said Max.

“Your stitches came out,” said Mandy. “It’s amazing you did as much as you did with that wound.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Well, as you can tell, we’re back in the farmhouse. The guys who came in… they’re both dead. Georgia shot one at the front of the house.”

“You mean the back of the house.”

“I’m going to let that slide, considering your condition.”

“And Chad shot the other one?”

Mandy nodded at him.

“Where’s everyone else? Who’s on watch?”

“Georgia, James, and Chad are all outside.”

“Don’t tell me Chad’s still on the roof.”

Mandy shook her head. “Georgia’s up there.”

“I hope she got some rest or something to eat.”

Mandy shook her head. “I gave her some more caffeine pills from the supplies.”

“We’re going to be running out of those soon enough,” said Max. “I’m glad there are three people on watch. I don’t know what we were thinking having just one person on the roof. It’s clearly not enough.”

“That’s what we decided,” said Mandy.

“I’ve got to go talk to them,” said Max, starting to rise up in bed.

“It took me forever to get those new stitches into you,” said Mandy. “You’re not going anywhere. If you do, don’t think that I’m going to stitch you up again.”

Max grunted, but he sunk back down into the bed.

“Sadie’s sleeping,” said Georgia. “We can bury the bodies tomorrow.”

“We need food,” said Max. “Everyone’s running on empty. I don’t know how much longer we can last like this.”

Mandy nodded. “Georgia said she had a deer in her sights before she saw the other men. There’s food out there…”

“It’s going to be tougher than I thought,” said Max. “I guess I was naïve. I thought we’d just bunker down here, set up defenses for the occasional intruder, and that’d be that. But there are more people arriving than I’d thought, and sooner… Even if we can defend the farmhouse, it’d going to be too dangerous to hunt. And forget about growing food.”

“What are you saying?” said Mandy.

“I’m saying we take that van and leave,” said Max.

“Are you crazy?” said Mandy. “This is the only place we have. This is it.”

“I know,” said Max. “The farmhouse was my whole plan, but we need to get farther out.”

“This is just your mania of getting to the absolute least populated area.”

“Well, it worked so far, didn’t it?” said Max.

“Fair point,” said Mandy, bending over to examine Max’s leg. “I wish we had those painkillers of Chad’s.”

“I’m fine,” said Max, gritting his teeth. “That guy needed them more.” Max was referring to the man who’d no longer be able to get his dialysis treatments.

“I don’t get it,” said Mandy. “What makes you think that anywhere else would be any better than here? You’ve been saying that the EMP must have hit the whole country, maybe even the whole world.”

Max nodded. “Definitely,” he said. “If it was just our area, we would have heard about it by now. They would have sent the army, or something.”

“So the rest of the country is in the same condition? But you think it’ll be better?”

“Think about,” said Max. “We’re just a day’s drive from Philadelphia. And we’re not that far from New York City. Two densely populated cities. And don’t forget about the surrounding areas. It’s not like everyone’s been wiped out all at once. But if we can get farther out…”

“Where? Kansas? New Mexico? We don’t even have maps. How would we even survive the journey?”

“The college kid who owned the van made it pretty far,” said Max. “Maybe it’s not that bad in the middle of the country. There are fewer people, and that means less chaos.”

“I don’t know,” said Mandy. “What do you think the others would say?”

“I don’t know,” said Max. “They can stay here if they want. It’ll be their house. It’s not like property titles mean anything anymore.”

“They all look up to you,” said Mandy. And she added, in a softer voice, “And I do, too.”

Max didn’t say anything.

“We all know we wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you,” said Mandy. “Whatever you decide, everyone’s bound to follow. Do you think we can get everyone in the van?”

“Yeah,” said Max. “But I need to think about it. I need to talk to Georgia, too. And Chad.”

“Chad?”

Max knew that Mandy had never had a high opinion of Chad. And apparently the fact that he’d shot the attacker hadn’t changed her mind.

“Yeah,” said Max. “He’s traveled the country more than I have, probably more than any of us.”

Mandy moved away from Max, headed towards the window. She stood there and looked out at the dark night.

“Are you OK?” said Max.

“My finger’s fine,” said Mandy. “It’s just a cut. It’ll heal.”

“I don’t mean your finger,” said Max.

Mandy turned to look at him. She didn’t say anything. But there was a far-off look in her eyes.

“It’ll pass,” said Max.

“I’ve never felt so bad about anything I’ve done,” said Mandy.

“It was either you or her,” said Max. “There was nothing else you could have done.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier.”

“It doesn’t have to,” said Max. “You’ll get used to it.”

Max knew that it was likely that Mandy would have to kill again. He knew that they all probably would.

If they stayed at the farmhouse, they would kill and kill until they themselves were killed.

Max was embarrassed about the amateurish operation he’d been running here. There were no real defenses. A single person on the roof wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

At least Max could now recognize his own weaknesses. His strategic weakness.

But if he wasn’t good at defense, there were still things he was good at.

If they could get farther away, maybe they could thrive.

“Look,” said Max. “I’m not saying we abandon the farmhouse forever. Maybe we just need to get away until things calm down more. Then we can turn it into a homestead. If we don’t find something else better, that is.”

“This was supposed to be the place to come to get away from it all,” said Mandy.

“I know,” said Max. “Trust me, I know.”

Mandy didn’t say anything for a moment. She continued to stare out the window.

“Do you ever think about the people you knew?” said Mandy.

“Sometimes,” said Max.

“I do,” said Mandy.

“It’s only natural,” said Max. “It’s your brain trying to make sense of this all.”

“How can you say that?” said Mandy. “You’re saying my thoughts and worries aren’t real?”

Max shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not really up for a philosophical discussion right now. We’ve got things to do. We’ve got plans to make, food and water to get before we’re ready.”

“Do you have any family?” said Mandy. There was a tone of annoyance in her voice. Max didn’t know what it meant, but he wasn’t about to get too concerned about it. There were more important things right now than people’s feelings.

“Yeah,” said Max. “I have a brother.”

“And…?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t think about him? You don’t want to know what happened to him?” Mandy spoke like she wasn’t going to give up without an answer from Max.

The easiest thing to do would be to answer her.

“I’ve barely talked to him in ten years,” said Max. “I think he was pissed that I inherited the farmhouse. Not because he really wanted it. He had all the money he needed, and then some. He’s a resourceful guy, and he always looks out for himself. It’s one of his worst characteristics. Or it was. Maybe it’ll serve him a lot of good now. I don’t know.”

“I have a sister…” said Mandy.

“Look,” said Max. “We need to save our energy. We can’t really get into this right now.”

Mandy gave him a look that was more than mere annoyance. “How can you say that?”

The sound of a gunshot rang loudly outside, interrupting the conversation.

“Stay in bed,” said Mandy. “Don’t you dare move. I’ll see what it is.”

“At least hand me my gun,” said Max.

Mandy was peering out the window. “I can’t see anything. I’m going outside.”

Mandy took Max’s Glock and its holster from his clothing on the floor and handed it to him.

“Actually,” said Max. “You should take it. You might need it.”

“I have my rifle.”

“Take it,” said Max, holding out the gun and holster for Mandy.

She took it wordlessly, and left the room.