by Riva, Aline
“We can't get out,” Tara said quietly as she stood over by the open doorway to the former surveillance room then looked to the others, “They've locked us in the place where store detectives used to to take the shoplifters. That door is the only way out, its solid and electronically sealed... In other words, we're fucked.”
“And it's your fault!” David said bitterly as he shot an accusing glare to Maxie, who sat down at the table and put his head in his hands.
“No amount of sorry can change this,” Maxie told him, the he looked up from the table and suddenly the older man looked very much older, aged by worry in a matter of minutes, his gaze shifted to Lauren.
“I was trying to help you, this is the last thing I would have wanted, I just pulled the trigger...I wasn't thinking straight...I guess after shooting down so many of the dead I forgot myself for a moment – I should have kicked out or punched him, I never should have pulled that trigger!”
“And your regret, like you said, is worthless,” David added coldly, turning away from him as he met Tara's nervous but disapproving gaze.
“We have to get out of this situation,” she said, “We've been through worse when we were stranded out in the Arctic!”
The thought They are going to shoot us all ran through David's mind, then he went over to Tara, looked into her eyes and then put his arms around her, giving her a reassuring hug, all the while keeping his back to the table where Maxie sat, because at that moment, he couldn't bear to look at him – Maxie had dropped them in the shit and they were all going to pay for his mistake – landing him a punch might have been satisfying personally, but it would have done none of them any good, they would still be stuck here, still be prisoners...
As she joined him at the table, Lauren shifted her chair closer to Maxie, then spoke, keeping her voice low.
“You defended me because you love me.”
He looked at her. Their eyes met, and then he looked away.
“Don't bother.”
Lauren placed her hand over his.
“You just killed someone to defend me now give a straight fucking answer! I need to know, Maxie!”
He slid his hand away from her, pulling it back slowly and carefully as he looked at her again.
“Don't bother asking because it's a waste of time. Thanks to me we're all going to die - just remember when they put that gun to your head, it was my fault, okay? And as for love...why bother asking? Did you do it to lift the mood and have yourself a laugh? As if you'd want an old man like me!”
“You think I'm making fun of you? How could you -”
She stopped abruptly as Maxie got up and paced the room, then he looked up at the camera on the wall.
“I think it's dead,” he remarked, changing the subject, “Looks dead to me.”
“All the working surveillance equipment was moved,” David added, “There's no monitors in the next room. Used to be, but they've been taken out.”
And as they spoke together, Lauren gave a sigh, looking down at the table as she felt completely alone in this mess. Then she looked over at Maxie and silently wished he could have at least been honest with her, even now when it seemed all hope was lost, better late than never seemed like a phrase that had never meant as much as it did at that moment as she watched as he spoke to David about the monitors, then Tara joined the conversation, and she knew for certain that Maxie was doing this in what could be their last hours, just to avoid the subject of his feelings – something she had tried to discuss with him for a long time now, as their friendship had deepened and he had got closer, but not close enough, always avoiding the chance of intimacy of any kind... At least if he had put his arms around her, told her not to be afraid, told her that he loved her and said it without holding back, it would have been a comfort at this time. But he was over the other side of the room, talking about monitors – anything to avoid a repeat of the confession he had made after firing that shot...
“Maxie?” Lauren said.
He turned around.
“Yes, Lauren?”
“Come and sit down,” she offered.
“I don't have time for this,” he replied dismissively, then looked to David and Tara.
“Eventually that door will open and the first one they will come for is me. I'll go with them, I'll tell them what happened and even if they don't believe me I will make sure they know the rest of you had nothing to do with me firing that gun, okay?”
Lauren stood up.
“No, Maxie! If they take you, they're taking me as well.”
Sadness reflected in his gaze.
“Please don't do that for me,” he said quietly, then looked away.
Then the door opened and they all turned to see Rick enter the room, flanked by heavily armed guards. He cast his gaze over the group, then settled on Maxie.
“You're coming with me,” he said in a low voice, “We're going to have a little chat, Just the two of us.”
Maxie offered no resistance as the guards cuffed his hands and led him from the room, but as he reached the doorway he turned his head, looked at Lauren one last time, and then he was led away.
“If you harm him -”
One look from Rick silenced David's words as he turned back to face him, as a waiting guard hovering by the open doorway to ensure no trouble.
“Are you threatening me?” Rick demanded, walking over to David and squaring up to him, locking eye contact as behind him, the guard kept him covered, weapon ready.
“Don't!” David heard Tara say, and he pulled back on his anger enough to remember at least fellow humans had the ability to be reasoned with – most of them did...
“You won't give me orders,” Rick said darkly, “I heard how you took that horde out – like trained professionals -”
“We learned to survive out there just like every other survivor had to!”
Rick shook his head.
“No, I think...someone sent you to destroy me so they can take over my fortress! That's what I think because it's been tried before from the inside – I had four of my own people shot over it and that will NEVER happen again!”
His eyes were wide, he was on the brink of launching into a rant as he looked at David and his paranoia was clear to see -obviously, after that betrayal, the man they called the the Mall King trusted no one...Which meant he couldn't be reasoned with, and that was very, very bad news for Maxie...
“I'm sorry you were betrayed,” David said in a low voice as he kept his gaze locked with Rick's, “But it was nothing to do with us. I can tell you've been through a lot, maybe more than you can handle, I think we're all traumatised, right? Am I right?”
Rick's glare intensified.
“No one tells me what I can and can't handle!” he said sharply, “Life wasn't always wonderful before the dead walked the earth, some of us have had shit to deal with all their lives – I can cope, I wouldn't be leading my people if I was off my head, would I?”
David shook his head, hearing the tone in his voice, noticing the way his mods jumped about erratically like his anger rose and fell – yes, he could believe Rick had not exactly been stable before the virus and the reanimated corpses – having one of his own try and kill him must have really tipped him over the edge...
“I don't trust you,” Rick stated, “I don't trust her,” he jabbed a finger at Lauren, “Or her,” he indicted to Tara, then he looked back at David and the kind of rage he saw burning in his eyes made David truly afraid for Maxie.
“And I don't trust YOU or the guy who killed one of my men!” he raged.
“Maxie made a terrible mistake,” David replied, staying calm no matter how angry Rick became, because he realised now that even verbal aggression would only be seen as another reason to mistrust.
“Yes, yes he did! He came here, you all came here...it was all a mistake! I'll get the truth out of Maxie, whatever it takes.” Rick turned away and left the room, and the armed guard standing watch closed the door behind him and locked it.
Lauren looked to David and Tara.
“We have to help him! That man is off his head, he'll kill him!”
David thought of the secure door and shook his head.
“We are locked in a solid room with no means of escape,” he said quietly, “I'm sorry Lauren, there's nothing we can do but wait.”
Maxie had been taken to a room across the corridor, another secure room, where he was sat down on a chair, his hands were tied behind his back, two guards stood over him and the Rick entered the room. The door locked behind him and he walked over to the man in the chair and looked down at him.
“Maxie...” he said, “You and your friends...you were sent here to kill me because someone on he inside wants to take over the mall, am I right?”
Maxie looked at him, utterly bewildered.
“You want the truth about me? I'm a thief, I was a thief and a con man before the outbreak! That's all I am, I'm no hired gun and neither are the others! Tara was a tutor, so was David – Lauren used to be one of their photography students! The rest of the group died out in the Arctic!”
As he looked up at him in desperation, as Rick stood over him, he laughed off his story.
“The fucking Arctic? Ice and penguins and shit like that... you expect me to believe that?”
Maxie gave a cry of pain as Rick used his human hand to grab a handful of his hair, then as he held his head back sharply, he balled his metallic hand into a fist.
“You're a liar,” he stated, and slammed the prosthetic hand into Maxie's face.
The crack sounded as metal connecting with bone as skin split and blood ran from his wounded cheek, there was another crack and Maxie coughed and spit blood from a split lip as his cheek began to swell.
“It's the truth...I'm not lying!” he gasped.
“Try again,” Rick stated, and hit him a third time, then he stepped back, gave the chair a kick and Maxie was slammed to the ground as it toppled sideways, his head bouncing off the concrete floor as he gave a weak cry of pain and felt more skin split as he blow to his head made it swim.
Rick stepped closer.
“The truth. I want it now or I'll put a bullet in you,” he stated, “People have been sent here before to try and kill me so others could take over the mall. Those traitors are dead now. So will you be, if I don't get the truth. Now you'd best start talking because my patience is wearing awfully thin”
It was almost impossible to start talking as he lay painfully on his side, battered and bleeding still tied to the chair as Rick's polished shoes were perilously close to his face and perfect for a well aimed kick. Maxie looked up at him, the view distorted as his left eye had started to close up from the swelling to his cheek. A punch from that metal hand had felt like being smashed in the face with a brick.
“Please...” He begged weakly, “Don't hurt me...I am telling the truth...I just want to see Lauren again...please let me go back to her!”
Then his head sank against the hard floor making bruises throb as he lay in his own blood, sobbing helplessly.
Rick looked down at him, listened to him weeping and then took a handkerchief from his pocket and started to use it to clean Maxie's blood from his prosthetic hand.
“For now,” he announced, “I'll consider your story. But you're not free and neither are your friends...” he looked to the guards, “Untie him and take him back to the others and don't let them out just yet...keep them locked up for a while, at least until I've cleaned myself up and had a rest, my wrist is killing me!”
he looked down at Maxie again, as suddenly his aggression and mistrust had vanished.
“If you think that hurt,” he said, “You should try punching someone wearing a prosthetic like this one! I really need to fit some kind of shock absorber into the connection... it hurt like hell!” claimed Rick as
Maxie strained his neck to looked up at the man who was clearly rather deranged.
“I'm glad you believe me.... yes, give us all the time you want. Then you will see we are being truthful - “ he gave a gasp as his hands were untied, then as the guards hauled him to his feet, he was glad for the support to stand as his bruises ached and his cuts flowed crimson and he felt unsteady on his feet.
“I don't hold it against you,” Maxie added, “You're scared, we all are...I just want to be back with my friends now...please?”
Rick nodded.
“You can take him back to the others,” he said to the guard, “And on the way out can you ask Fiona in the cafe to bring me over a strong tea and a valium? It's been one of those days...”
“Certainly, sir,” the guard replied.
Then as Maxie was led out of the room, Rick went over to a nearby table, pulled out a comfortable chair, slumped into it and took off the metallic hand, wincing as he rubbed at his wrist stump and old pains came back to haunt him as he recently healed wound protested at the shock of dealing out those punches. As he thought of Maxie and his companions he turned over all he had been told and wanted to believe the stranger's story – he had certainly been convincing, taking that pounding and still repeating the same statements...
“I hope you're telling the truth, Maxie,” he said as he rubbed at his aching wrist while the hand lay on the table still bearing traces of blood on its metallic finish, “I'm not a bastard, not at all, I hate killing people...”
Then he gave a heavy sigh, and as Fiona, a young woman responsible for hot beverages and his personal medications from the pharmacy next door entered he room, he smiled.
“Thank you very much,” he said politely, then as she set the tea down with a pill beside it, he felt thankful for the fact this mall had a large, well stocked pharmacy, or he would have been screwed because he wasn't the most stable of men and now all the doctors were dead or at least hard to find, at least he could get by and his frayed nerves would not make him fall apart, even under these circumstances.
“Do me a favour,” he added, passing her the metallic hand, “Clean this properly for me – be careful with it, don't get it soaked, okay?”
She nodded, and then she left the room, taking the hand with her. Rick paused for thought as he considered Maxie's story, then he sipped his tea, took the pill and drank more tea, remaining in the quiet room by himself until the throbbing in his wrist subsided as he then turned his thoughts to other important matters – like the fact that he needed to fit shock absorbers to the wrist connector, because he couldn't throw a decent punch without it and if Maxie was lying, he was sure he would be hitting him again, and the others, too... Or maybe he would just shoot them.
Yes, that decision rested comfortably in his mind as he sipped his tea and watched the steam rise from the cup, shooting would be best if it came to it – but he hoped it wouldn't because after taking a beating like that and coming across as sincere, he was starting to believe Maxie's story and he hoped he was right about that, because if they were innocent, he knew they could fight – and if they wanted to join him, they would just have to prove themselves first – if they could get over what he had just done to their friend...
Chapter 4: A Cry for Help
As Maxie was taken back to the room where the others were held, all he could think about was the pain he was in, which increased as he was dumped on the hard floor. The others heard him hit the ground but all he could hear was his own cry of pain as flesh throbbed and bones ached. For a moment he could barely move.
“...And you tell that bastard to come back and try it with me, see how far he gets with me!” David yelled in anger, but his only reply was a closed door and the sound of an electronic bleep as it locked securely once again.
“Maxie?” Lauren sounded scared.
He wondered why, because revealing his love for her had made him a total fool in her eyes, that thought ran solidly through his mind, even cutting through his pain as he heard the fear in her voice and felt confused by it. He didn't want to look at her, and not just because of his swollen eye.
“Oh shit!” Tara exclaimed, “Maxie? Ma
xie, can you hear me?”
He turned on his back as pain seemed to radiate through his body, then he opened his eyes, partly blinded by the swelling from the blow to his injured cheek that had left the injured eye barely able to open at all.
Tara had been looking down at him, then she dashed away. He heard water running in the next room and guessed cleaning him up was kind of her, but it really wouldn't do anything to put the damage right, Rick had beat the shit out of him.
“Rick did this? Or was it his thugs?”
David was kneeling at his side, he looked utterly shocked and Maxie guessed it was probably worse than it looked even if it did hurt like hell.
“I've been in fights before,” Maxie said weakly, “In jail...but that was one on one, not me tied to a chair...” he gave a groan of pain as David helped him to sit, then to stand, then with Lauren's help, they moved him over to a chair, where he sat down, thanked Tara for the wet cloth and then took it from her and held it to his injured face. His eye was still partly closed and the bruising and the cut to his cheek throbbed but the cold cloth was better than nothing as he kept it over the wound.
“He hit me a few times with that metal hand of his -tried to make me admit I was sent here to kill him. He's paranoid. Said we're all here to get rid of him so his enemy can take over. Apparently it's been tried before...I...” he caught this breath as a wave of dizziness swept over him, “I...I need to lie down...”
As he struggled to stay upright, Lauren put her hands on his shoulders. As he met her gaze he noticed tears in her eyes and despite his pain and bruising, the look in his eyes softened as it suddenly struck him that he had been wrong – clearly, for some reason he couldn't fathom, she did care deeply about him...
“Lauren,” he said as he took in a shaky breath, “I think I'm going to pass out...” he gave a gasp, swayed and then as he slumped forward, Lauren held him up, leaning him back against the chair as Tara joined her and with David's help, they laid him on the floor, Tara took off her jacket and folded it and as she placed it beneath his head, his fresh wounds glistened raw and scarlet as blood began to dry and bruises started to deepen.