"Max, what in the hell happened to you?"
"I have so much to tell you," Max said, slowly sitting on the ground, realizing her head was getting fuzzy and the pain in her ribs was increasing. Alex knelt with her, and let Max continue to cry into her chest, as she did when she was a little girl with a skinned knee. She rocked Max slightly, holding her lightly, as to not press on any unknown injuries.
"Auntie Alex," Jack cried as she ran up to them. The little girl collapsed next to her mother and Alex pulled her in for a hug and kiss as well.
"Billie and Henry are up the hill if you want to go find them," Alex said smiling at her niece. Jack's face beamed, happier than she had been in weeks. She dropped her pack and took off running for the group of people still waiting at the top of the hill.
"Blake?" Max asked. Alex just shook her head slightly, her eyes taking on a haunted look. "Oh god, Alex I'm so sorry." Max wrapped her arms around her sister. Behind her, she could hear Cliff and Griffin talking quietly. Max released Alex so she could stand up carefully. She wavered a little and Griffin was at her elbow quickly.
"Hi, Alex," Griffin said.
"Griffin?" Alex was clearly confused, and a little shocked to see Jack's father standing next to Max.
"It's a long story," Max said. She then motioned to the man standing still behind them. "This is Cliff. He lost his family and has come with us. I told him there was room for him."
"Of course. There's room for everyone. It's so nice to meet you, Cliff." Alex, the sweet one of their family, walked right up to Cliff and hugged him. He looked slightly taken aback, but he returned her hug.
Alex then turned to lead them up the path to the top of the hill. Max wanted to call out to her sister, tell her what Callahan had told her. She wanted her sister to prepare her for their home to be burned down. But she didn't say anything, just followed up the hill with Griffin's assistance. She could feel the adrenaline and strength leaving her body and she was nothing but weary now.
They reached the top of the hill and Max fell into Griffin as she slumped in relief. The house, the home her father had built and she grew up in, was still standing. Tears fell on her cheeks again and she scrubbed them away before anyone saw. Griffin, of course, noticed everything and he held her tightly, supporting her with the strength he had to share. They had both been through hell to get there, and now that they were, it was hard to comprehend.
"He lied," Max finally said.
"Of course, he did," Griffin replied.
Alex turned away from where she was introducing Cliff to the other adults in the group. Max noticed Alex also found people that needed her help and brought them home with her. Alex came to Max and stood by her while they looked at the house.
"Who lied?" Alex asked. Max smirked. Her sister heard everything and was so damn perceptive.
"It's part of all I have to tell you. Introduce us to your friends."
Alex led Max and Griffin over to two teenagers that were listening to the quick chatter between Jack and Alex's children Billie and Henry. The tall boy looked up when they approached and he smiled easily. The girl next to him was clearly his sister, their coloring so similar. And when she smiled, her face looked just like her brother's.
"This is Easton and Candace. Kids, this is my sister Max. And her...uh...friend? Griffin," Alex said. Griffin covered up a laugh and Max shot him a death look.
"Looks like you have stories for me too, Alex," Max said, smiling at the older kids. She could see the pride on her sister's face when she looked at them. Knowing her the way she did, Max was sure she had taken these children and cared for them as her own. It was just in her sister's heart to love all that came to her.
"This is Margaret," Alex motioned to an older woman, with gray spiked hair. She was a grandmotherly type Max figured, but she was tough too. The woman smiled and walked over to Max.
"Your sister has been worried about you," she said as she offered her hand to Max. Max took it with her uninjured hand and shook.
"I've been worried about her too. I'm happy to meet you."
"And this is Marcus, just a stray I seemed to have picked up," Alex said sarcastically, nodding her head toward an attractive man standing slightly off to the side. Max noted the fact that he looked uncomfortable in the situation and Alex seemed to enjoy giving him a hard time. She raised her eyebrow at her sister and Alex just rolled her eyes and turned back to the kids. She bent to hug and kiss Jack again.
"Nice to meet you, Marcus," Max said, waving slightly. He waved back and smiled. Max felt like she had to smile back because the man's face was so genuinely friendly. She could tell Alex had quite a lot she needed to share.
"Max, come up to the house. We need to talk. Margaret, would you mind getting Griffin and Cliff settled? We'll put them in the bunkhouse," Alex said. Max walked with Alex toward the house and she noted the damage to the front and the work being done.
"Was it a fire?" Max asked in a small voice.
"Yes. You seemed to think something worse was happening."
They entered the house through the side door. The house was clean, except for the work being done to repair the broken windows and burned wall portion. Max ran her hand along the kitchen counter, memories flooding her of a time when life was simple. No matter how strange it was to be raised by her father, their lives on the compound were clear and simple. They had one main goal, being prepared to survive. Everything else wasn't necessary.
Alex brought Max to the sofa and after working to get comfortable, Max started from the beginning. She told Alex about how they got stuck in the mall after being carjacked and the weather. When she got the part about saving Griffin and the fact that Jack knew the truth now, Alex was stunned. She didn't say a word, just listened as Max poured it all out. Max also told her about how their father had made sure she never heard from Griffin. That part seemed to make Alex quite angry. When Max got to the part about Callahan, Alex finally stopped her.
"Wait, this Major Callahan is looking for Rafe?"
"That's what he said. It's why he kept me locked up."
"And tortured you for information, that you clearly didn't have?" Alex's beautiful face was flushing with anger. She stood up and began to pace the room.
"He told me the house burned down. I'm not sure now if that was a lie, or whoever set the fire didn't wait to see how far it got," Max said.
"So, it was the military that came here, ransacked the house, and tried to burn it to the ground. I can't understand any of this," Alex said.
"I guess so. Did you know where Rafe was working? There was no sign of him when you got here?"
"No. He was gone when we got here. The last time I talked to him he just talked about the compound, nothing about work. He didn't act like there was anything important going on."
"That's not like him, Alex. If something big, like knowing about this plague, was happening, wouldn't he tell us?" Max asked.
"I want to think so. But he was living out here alone, or I think he was."
"What do you mean you think he was?"
"When I was cleaning up and trying to determine what was being looked for, I found some things. Women's things in the bathroom, some socks under his bed. I'm not sure he was sleeping in his room, but maybe in Dad's."
"You think he had a woman here and didn't tell us?"
"Maybe we teased him too much about having a woman in his life, so he just didn't include us in that part of his life," Alex replied.
"I'm worried. Where is he?" Max said.
"I am too," Alex admitted. "I've been wracking my brain on it. I've been to a few of the smaller towns in the area, thinking maybe he got stranded or hurt. I haven't found any sign of him."
Max stood then and headed to the hallway that led to her bedroom. She stepped into the room and noted it was clean. The bed was made, but not recently slept in. The closet door was open and the hangers were hanging neatly at one end. She left her room and went to Rafe's then, trying to visualize what Alex had told her.
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"Margaret has been on a cleaning spree. After I searched everything, she insisted on getting the house ready for you and Rafe. She's convinced he will come back."
"He got out of here before Callahan's men could get him. Or he fought his way out. But he got away. If he hadn't, Callahan wouldn't have done all of this to me," Max said, holding up her broken hand.
"You need to rest, Max," Alex said, falling into mothering mode now that Max was with her.
"You're probably right. The house is safe to sleep in, right?"
"Yeah definitely. Marcus has proved a little bit useful, after working construction at some point. We determined the burned wall isn't load bearing because Dad added onto the back of the house when he built the second floor. We're working on replacing that wall somehow. The house is sound."
"I'm going to bunk in my room then," Max said, heading back to that door.
"Max?" Alex called to her as she reached her door. Max looked back at her. "I'm so glad you made it. I couldn't do this without you."
"Me either, Alex."
Rest turned into almost twelve solid hours of sleep. Max was only awake once when Griffin and Alex came in and forced her awake to eat. She sat against her headboard and ate the soup Alex was feeding her since she couldn't hold the bowl and work the spoon at the same time. One thing Max hated was feeling like a patient. Her body had other ideas, pulling her back to sleep easily after her stomach was full. She curled to one side, finding Griffin with her, his hand playing with her hair as she slept. She sighed in contentment and fell deeper into the abyss.
The next day, feeling antsy to be out of bed, she emerged into the Montana sunshine. She found Jack with the other kids, pulling weeds in the garden. Her daughter was happy and waved at her mother but continued her chore. Easton and Marcus were working together on the outdoor shower that Rafe had started. She found her sister in the root cellar her father had built years before. Alex was cataloging what was in the stores and Max was sure she was planning for the year.
"Hey," Max said when she stepped in.
"Hey, sleepyhead. Feeling a little better?" Alex scrutinized Max's face, making her want to look away. She knew the bruises would take time to fade.
"The sleep helped. Where's Griffin?"
"Last I heard, he and Cliff were washing the clothes you brought with you. Jack mentioned a Turner. What happened to him?"
"He didn't make it. Lost him the day before we got here. He saved Jack when some infected surprised them. He and Griffin went through boot camp together. They were really tight," Max explained. Alex sighed and let her head hang down for a moment before looking at Max again.
"It's the story of this world. Losing those we care about. We are lucky to be behind these walls with those that made it here."
"Always the positive one, aren't you, Alex?" Max said sarcastically.
"It's the only way I can be right now."
"What's with Easton and Candace?"
"I found them outside of Las Vegas. Their mother was killed by an infected. Before she died, she asked me to take them. Protect them. So I have. They have made themselves part of the family," Alex explained.
"That was good of you."
"It's the same I would hope someone would do for Billie and Henry if I were to die," Alex said, shrugging and turning back to the canned goods she was counting.
Max stepped down to stand next to her. The root cellar was a room their father had dug into the ground himself with an excavator. Once he had it to the depth he wanted he built the cellar out of cinder blocks, plywood, and concrete. When Max was young, her father taught her how to can and how to make things like jelly from the produce they had on the compound. The root cellar was always full of goods they could eat, especially in winter when fresh fruits and vegetables weren't always available. Later, once Max was older, her father built a temperature controlled greenhouse, giving them the ability to grow some things year around.
"How was Dad so right about all of this?" Max asked.
"Don't you wish you could ask him? I've been thinking that since this all began. I can almost see his face. The one when he knew he was right and I was wrong. Almost as if I was still a child," Alex replied.
"He never prepared me for torture," Max said softly. Alex stopped her writing and looked over at Max with warm eyes.
"No, he never prepared us for that. But you survived, Max. And that's all he would have wanted," Alex said.
"What are we going to do about Rafe? We can't just wait for him to come back. Something more is going on here," Max said.
"I know. I've been thinking about it. My only other guess is he went into the mountains somewhere. A place he knew he could hide, where the Major and his men wouldn't know to look," Alex replied thoughtfully.
"It would need to be easily defendable. He wouldn't put himself somewhere he couldn't see what was coming at him before it made it to him. Especially since he's on the run from the military."
"Where does that leave us? You two camped and did things together more after I left. Is there somewhere you can think of?" Alex asked.
Max tried to rack her brain. When they were teenagers, their father would tell them to go camping. He wouldn't help them or tell them where to go. Rafe and Max had created some special places they enjoyed going. Places where water was plentiful, fishing was easy, or the small game was easy to catch. There were a handful of locations she could think of. Only two though, that she would call defensible and safe.
"Two that really stand out in my mind for what he would be looking for. Do we go for him? See if he's there?"
"We'll have to take a team, maybe four of us. The woods are full of the infected. I think at first the ones we were dealing with had been drawn by the military coming here. Now they follow the sounds we make. The walls keep them out, but we still have to clean it up every once in a while."
"So we will be faced with the infected in the woods, as well as possibly the military looking for Rafe, or me. Awesome. Sounds like a day at the beach," Max replied, rolling her eyes.
"Your sarcasm wasn't hurt apparently," Alex said laughing.
"You wouldn't know me if it wasn't working," Max replied, joining in the laughter.
"What is that strange sound I hear down there?" A voice came from the entrance of the cellar. Max looked over at Alex, just in time to see her roll her eyes in annoyance.
"What's with Marcus?" Max whispered.
"He's obnoxious."
"He's attractive." Max pointed out.
"Yeah. Well, I just lost my husband, I'm not really noticing that right now."
"I'm sorry, Alex, I wasn't trying to imply you weren't sad about Blake. I'm so sorry about him not making it," Max said, laying her hand on her sister's arm.
"I know. I don't really have time for mourning anyway. I loved Blake. He's gone. I'm heartbroken. But I have to be one hundred percent in the moment to handle all that we need to do."
Max climbed out of the cellar back into the sunshine, greeting Marcus at the top of the steps. Deciding to get herself cleaned up, Max headed into the house. Once inside, a thought struck her, and she climbed the stairs to her father's room. Pushing open the door she stood on the threshold just looking at the familiar surroundings.
Alex had been right to assume Rafe had been sleeping in the room. It was lived in, things were moved around. Items that were obviously Rafe's were also in the room. Max went to the closet, finding her father's footlocker where it always was at the bottom. The lock that used to keep the kids out of it, hung open on the latch now. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the box.
Sitting back on her heels, Max realized she wasn't sure what she expected. Maybe Rafe's things to be taking the place of their father's. Instead, when she looked into the footlocker it looked so similar to the way she remembered it from before. The kids were never allowed into their father's personal items, but Max had seen him open it enough times to remember how organized he was.
She first lifted the top shelf tha
t held small things, none of which were emotional items. Mitch had stored his spare pocket knife, flint, and a package of waterproof matches, among other survival items stored on the top. The items on the bottom were what interested Max. Setting the shelf to the side, she reached in to pull a pile of photos out. Flipping through them quickly, Max remembered looking through them numerous times when she was growing up. They were the only photos of their mother that existed in the house. Mitch stored them in the footlocker. Sometimes, if he was feeling sentimental, he would bring the photos out and let the kids look at them.
The locker was packed with other random items. At the bottom, Max finally found what she hoped would be in there. Taking the bundle to the bed, she sat down heavily. At least fifty envelopes were strung together with a piece of twine. Flipping through them, Max could see her name repeated over and over in Griffin's handwriting. She unwrapped the bundle and let the letters spill out onto the bed. She rifled through until she figured out which one had the oldest postmark, a date that made her heart squeeze a little. It was around the same time she realized she was pregnant with Jack.
Max wasn't sure how long she sat there, ripping open envelopes, reading the letters and then finding the next one. She tried to absorb the words of love being written to her by a young boy who was full of ambition and dreams. As the letters went on, and he didn't receive a response from Max, the letters became more urgent. He went through being sad, begging for any word from her. And near the end, the letters were angry and bitter.
"He kept them?" Griffin's voice came from the doorway. Max's head snapped up and she had to blink a little in the sudden light when he switched on a lamp. It had gotten darker outside, but she had been so distracted by the letters she hadn't realized.
"I thought, guessed really, that if he were to keep them he would have had them in the one place we weren't allowed to go," Max replied. Suddenly she felt very self-conscious and not sure of herself. The words had been written years before, but to Max, they were brand new. She knew they weren't for Griffin.
Survive (Sundown Series Book 2) Page 31