The Divide: Origins (27 page)

I don’t expect you to be able to let go
in a day or even a month. I do want you to find forgiveness and peace within,
though. It’s the only way you’ll be the beautiful and absolutely captivating person
I fell in love with. I know you’ll get there soon. I love you, Rebecca. I wish
I had some type of statement that would make it all better. I was never very
good with words, though. That was your specialty. Here’s what I do have. I want
you to take comfort in knowing that I’m in a world full of peace now. There are
no storms, thieves, or murderers in rival towns. All that’s left is love. I’ll
see you again in that place, too. I can’t wait. I love you, and just know that
no matter what, I’ll always be thankful that I got to spend even the shortest
of time with someone as wonderful as you.”

“I’m sorry, Max. There’s no going back to
how things were. Maybe I’ll be able to rest after everyone in that town,
including Troy Leland, is dead. For now, this is the best I can do. I do love
you with all of me, though,” Rebecca said as she took another drink of whiskey.

The night passed by slowly as Rebecca
simply stared at the ceiling and thought of times gone by. There could be no
sleep on such a cold night. All that kept going through her mind was why she
hadn’t made an escape earlier. She could have saved him. Wouldn’t Max have come
for her immediately? What did it say that she had allowed herself to be
imprisoned for two days? She could have killed those guards if she’d really
wanted to, but she trusted in Matt Nolan’s plan instead. That was another man
who had to die. His actions had also led to this. If she could infiltrate the
town, then so could his men. He just didn’t find Max’s life valuable enough to
risk anyone.

When the sun finally started to rise,
Rebecca went to the backyard and found a storage building. She opened it to
find a few tools that the scavengers from Raines didn’t think were valuable
enough to take back. One of them was a shovel with a handle that was starting
to rot. It would have to do for what she had planned. Rebecca walked to the
middle of the yard and started digging. As she did, the sun got brighter, and
the temperature increased until it was almost unbearable. She didn’t stop,
though. Max deserved a proper burial, and she was going to lay him to rest.

By the time Rebecca was done, she was
covered in sweat. With barely any energy left, she dragged Max’s body out to
the hole and laid him in the ground. Then she cried while she stared at him in
his final resting place. Rebecca knew what she needed to do. All that was left
was to cover him with dirt, but that was saying goodbye forever. How could she
do that after all they had been through?

When there were no tears left, she stood
and did what she had to do.

“Max, I love you. I’ll try to be the
person you saw me as after I get revenge for what they did to you. Rest
peacefully. I’ll see you again sooner than you think. Thank you for being the
great love of my life,” she said and started covering him with dirt.

As she did, the world grew darker and
colder. By the time she was done, all that was left was a stinging chill and a
darkness that had completely clouded her eyes. Max had been her light in every
possible way, and now that he was in the ground, she was blind. She walked into
the house and cried herself to sleep knowing that soon she would have to
transform into something totally different than herself in order to make the
people responsible for Max’s death pay. Soon Rebecca was going to become one
with the hate and grief stewing inside her, and those responsible would feel
all the pain that had buried itself inside her.

Chapter 27

A Shell

Back
in Norak, they were about to leave for the fight. Before Liam could, Zoe
stopped him and wrapped her arms around him.

“You
better come back to me. We don’t know where Rebecca is. She could be dead, and
Max’s fate is looking worse by the minute. I can’t lose you, too,” she said.

“You
haven’t lost anyone. We’re going to rescue Max, and I’m sure Rebecca is fine.
She’s probably just laying low somewhere right now. I’ll find her and bring her
back, too.”

“Okay,
I trust you. Just keep your head low, and don’t try to be a hero. They tend to
end up dead.”

“No
worries there. I learned from the same person you did. Max taught me how to
survive, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. We’ll be back by tomorrow.
Hopefully we can finish things up even sooner than that. I love you,” Liam said
and gave her a goodbye kiss.

As
he walked away from Zoe, he doubted the promises he made. There was no
guarantee that Max was even alive, and Rebecca should have been back by then.
She had probably been found. Even if they were successful in the battle, how
was he going to break the news that two of the people they loved most were
dead? He sighed and looked down. As he started to get into a vehicle with
another man, Matt saw him. He noticed that he looked defeated already. That
wouldn’t do for the fight they were headed into.

“You’ll
ride with me,” he told Liam.

“Why?
I disagreed with everything you said yesterday. I would think you would want me
as far away from you as possible.”

“It’s
true. I probably should, but there’s value in men who speak their mind, even if
they
are
a little young. We have some
things to talk about. I think you need to hear what I have to say. Come on.”

“Do
I have a choice?”

“Nope.
It’s an order.”

Liam
got into the back of the Humvee with him, and as the driver was taking them to
Raines, they talked about everything that could happen when they arrived. Matt
talked strategy, but Liam didn’t seem to be responsive. He neither showed
enthusiasm or his usual disagreement. Liam was just blank.

“All
right. What’s going on with you? You’ve barely said two words since we left,”
Matt said.

“I
don’t think your strategy is perfect, but it should work. I’m too distracted to
think about it, though. We both know that Max is probably dead, and Rebecca
hasn’t come home. Something probably happened to her, too. I don’t know how I’m
going to break the news to Zoe when I know for sure. For that matter, I can’t
imagine a world without them. I was really lost at one time. I just wanted to
die. They helped me through it, though. I owe Max and Rebecca my life, and if
they’re gone, I can never repay that debt. Plus, I’ve been thinking about you.
It doesn’t seem like we’re living in much of a democracy now. The majority of
people being marched to war are doing it against their will. Some of them are
no older than fourteen. I’m not complaining because I would be here no matter
what, but this isn’t what we envisioned when we broke away from Raines.”

“I
can see why you’re distracted. Let me start by telling you that your suspicions
about Max and Rebecca are likely true. I should tell you to hold out hope, but
that will only lead to more hurt. They’re dead, and the only people you and Zoe
have left are yourselves. We live in a harsh world, and that’s the new reality.
People die. That’s why this society can’t be how you originally envisioned it.
Norak needs a strong leader who can make the tough decisions. I’m leading many
people to their deaths today, and I’m not doing it without great thought. These
people will die today so that no one ever has to face a threat from Raines
again. You see
,
I’m saving lives in the long run. A
town with choice would decide to delay this fight, and everything would be
worse in the future. It takes one man calling the shots to get things done,
especially in a time of crisis. Do you understand?”

“I
think so. I can’t say I agree with your perspective about ruling people, but at
least in times of war, it seems like there should be a person or group of
people that can make the hard decisions for everyone. I just hope things will
go back to the way they were before when all of this is over.”

“And
how was that?”

“Our
town should be a democracy again. People who want to fight against small
threats should be able to, and people who don’t should serve in a different
way. Choice makes us human. When you take that away, we become something
different.”

“I
wouldn’t count on things going back to the way they were before. At least until
the world stabilizes, we need to have strong leadership. Let’s change the
subject, though. What do you think about our plan to use the tank to take down
the wall? After that, we can storm in with superior numbers and take the town
within a couple of hours.”

“I
think it sounds like a pipedream. I agree with us taking the wall down with the
tank, but it won’t be so easy to take the city. They’re going to fight back,
and if we just storm in there, we’ll lose a lot of people.”

“I
realize that, but we’re sacrificing a few to save many. Just stay close to me.
We’ll be the safest of everyone because we’ll go in last. That way you’ll be
guaranteed to get back to Zoe. The worst thing that could happen is for her to
lose everyone. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about her, though. We needed
everyone we could get for this fight, and that included her. She refused to
fight, and given everything that had happened lately, I made an exception for
her. She’ll have to accept that Norak is changing soon and follow my direction.
Can you convince her that I can be trusted, so I don’t end up having to make an
example out of her?”

“An
example? What does that even mean?”

“Nothing
horrible. We might have to put her under house arrest or sentence her to hard
labor for a week if she won’t cooperate with our new government.”

“So
it really is going to be a totally different type of rule with you as our
official.”

“It
has to be, Liam. Just talk to her for me, so we can avoid any ugliness.”

“She’s
pregnant. That’s why she refused to come.”

“In
that case, I understand. Next time, clue me in on something like that, though.
I guess I should congratulate you on being a dad. We don’t have enough good
news anymore, but this is great.”

The
two of them talked the whole way to Raines. Matt Nolan wasn’t necessarily a bad
man. He just had different philosophical views than Liam. He believed that
people needed to be ruled in a time of crisis so they would have a clear
direction that gave them a better chance to survive. In the world they were
living in, there was never a time when they weren’t in a crisis, so that
required the city to be under his control at all times. He might have been well
intentioned, but Liam saw some deep-rooted problems with his approach to
ruling. He could have been right about being able to save more lives by taking
choice away from the citizens, but he was also stripping them of their
humanity, and in a world of chaos, that was the most important thing to Liam.

When
they finally got to Raines, the tank blew a hole in the city’s wall, and they
flooded into it. Liam was supposed to hang back with Nolan, but it wasn’t in
him to sit back while others sacrificed themselves. He bolted for the city with
his rifle raised. Guards fired from the walls, but they were quickly picked
off. Once Liam was inside the city, he saw a complete warzone. There was no
direction.
Norak’s
soldiers simply fired into crowds
of people. Some were soldiers, but others were civilians trying desperately to
get away. In that moment, Liam froze. There was too much death around him, and
for the first time, he felt wrong. It had been Raines that invaded them
originally, but did this really settle the score? As he watched mothers and
fathers shield their children from oncoming bullets, a realization hit him.
They were no longer human. All humanity had been stripped away from these two
towns, and the dreams they had for a normal society were gone.

He
quickly snapped out of his initial shock when he saw several Raines soldiers
marching into the area with guns raised. He fired three quick shots into the
crowd of men and ducked behind a car. It was pelted with bullets, and it seemed
pretty hopeless for him. He looked to his left to see that two more men had
gotten the same idea as him and hid behind the vehicle. They nodded to each
other. Hiding would accomplish nothing, and they would be picked off eventually
if they stayed there. They had to move further into the city. One of the man
motioned toward a building in the distance. Their forces seemed to be gathering
there to make a stand. If they were going to stand a chance, they had to get to
that location. At the same time, they bolted for it. One of them was cut down
almost immediately. Liam didn’t slow down for a moment to see if he could help,
though. He only fired as he ran toward what he hoped would be safety. As he
did, he heard the other man yell out as a bullet pierced his chest. This was
it. He was going to die, and there was nothing that could be done.

Just
as he lost all hope, he heard an explosion and looked back to see the tank
pulling into town. It had just taken out several of Raines’s men, but more
importantly, it had drawn everyone’s attention away from him. Liam ran to
safety with the rest of his comrades.

“What’s
the plan? What are we doing here?” Liam asked.

“We’re
laying down cover fire for anyone entering the city. If we can clear this area
and get our forces inside, then half the battle is won. Anyone who isn’t one of
ours dies.”

“Anyone?
What about civilians?”

“We
need this area clear, so yes, everyone,” the man yelled over the sound of
shots.

Liam
sighed and found a good vantage point in the alley
beside
the building. From there, he picked off everyone he could that he thought was a
threat to their people, but he left murdering unarmed civilians to colder men.
Even if this was the reality of war, he refused to accept it. Clearing the area
of threats was one thing, but gunning down unarmed people crossed a line that
made them into something monstrous. He wasn’t willing to go there.

After
a few minutes, they had cleared the area, and Mr. Nolan walked into town. He
instructed two thirds of the forces to group together and push north behind the
protection of the tank. The other third would stay and guard the ground they
had taken. If things went wrong up ahead and they needed an escape route, that
group would make sure they had it. As Liam started to walk away with the
fighting force, Nolan motioned for him to come to him.

“What
were you thinking back there? You just rushed in. You could’ve gotten yourself
killed. You’re about to be a father,” he said.

“Yeah,
but that doesn’t give me an excuse to be a coward. Some men are fine with
coming in after people have paved the way for them, but not me,” Liam said in
disgust.

He
didn’t understand how Matt could walk in after everything had been done and
give orders as if he had been there the whole time. People were dying, and he
was taking no risks at all. Something about it was sickening, and Matt picked
up on how Liam felt pretty quickly.

“Fine.
Go get yourself killed, if you want. There’s no room in my society for an
ignorant kid who can’t follow orders. It’ll be a blessing to see you go,” Matt
said and turned away.

As
Liam followed the others, he couldn’t help but be bothered by something that
Matt said. He called Norak
his
society. They had built that city from the ground up, and no one was going to
take it from them. Max wouldn’t have allowed it, and the first chance Liam
got,
he was going to make sure that Matt’s rule ended
prematurely.

The
city would end up being taken fairly easily. Once they broke Raines’s back at
the gate, the majority of their forces simply gave up. They were outnumbered,
and they stood no chance, so with little choice, they gave away the city within
a few hours. The job had been done, but one more surprise still awaited. An
unexpected person was going to show up and change everything about the invasion
of Raines.

* * * * *

Rebecca
awoke that evening to the sound of an explosion in the distance. She knew what
it was. Norak was attacking, and she was going to be there for it. She shook
off the hangover from the liquor the night before and grabbed her pistol. Then
she started walking toward Raines. She felt strange about leaving Max’s final
resting place, but there were things she had to do. Avenging him was at the top
of that list. She couldn’t stop thinking about how she wanted everyone in that
town to die. As she walked, logic began to creep into her mind, however. Was it
really everyone in Raines’s fault? The citizens had nothing to do with Max
being taken. They could have revolted, but the same was true of any other place
led by a tyrannical leader. She had made up her mind. Some people would get to
live, but every soldier would die. As soon as Rebecca could find Troy, he was
going to be treated to a truly special death, too.