After the World's End

Chapter Nineteen

When Max heard the roar of the crowd, he rushed to the nearest window in the cabin to watch the townspeople filter back into the town. These panicked, angry people looked nothing like the peaceful community the friends had experienced before. Even when the some of the townspeople had aimed their accusations at them, claiming that they were spies within their community, they had still looked like sane, rational people.

Now everything had changed and it did nothing to quell the worry the friends had experienced waiting for them to return. Max almost preferred the waiting that had seemed unbearable a few moments ago. The crowd was more an angry mob than anything else. He could hear the angry buzz of their voices through the glass windows of the cabin.

Men were arguing with each other loudly; about what Max couldn't tell. There were too many voices shouting over each other, the waves of noise crashing against the walls of the cabin and threatening to burst through. He took an involuntary step back, trying to calm the racing of his heart. He still wasn't used to the noise of the crowd, especially arguing as they were now. Many of the men were on the verge of blows, shoving at each other and shouting in the other's face.

Meanwhile, women were hurrying through the streets, scooping up their children and running into their homes.

The councilmen and women were scrambling around everywhere like chickens with their heads cut off. He couldn't hear what they were saying exactly, but from the tone of their voices and the way they were motioning towards the village center, it was apparent that they were trying to call a town meeting. Their urgings didn't even put a damper on the arguments. After one of the more indignant councilmen took a rather hard punch to the jaw, the others quickly gave up and stormed towards their own homes.

Max could feel Arden's presence behind him only a moment before he wrapped his arms around Max's waist, making the younger boy flush at the intimacy of the touch. Arden either didn't notice the way his touch could be misconstrued, or he didn't care. Max was beginning to think it was the latter, but he quickly decided that he really didn't need to be adding any more confusing thoughts about Arden to the list of things he needed to worry about. "What do you think they're doing?" Max asked Arden, quietly.

"I don't know," Arden murmured, resting his chin on the top of Max's head and drawing an involuntary frown from his friend at the knowledge that he was still being short enough for Arden to do that. "I can only assume that whoever the people were, they weren't good news. We'll have to wait until people calm down or that old doctor comes back to learn what's going on."

Max frowned, but he couldn't argue with what Arden was saying.

"You two, come sit down. I don't want you standing by the window right now. It looks like the townspeople are on the verge of a riot and we'd be popular targets right now since we're already seen as outsiders," Alexander murmured, quietly but sternly. His tone left no room to disobey.

Arden and Max walked back to the bed to sit together. Arden kept his arm wrapped around Max's waist the entire time and didn't remove it even as they sat down together near the headboard of the bed, seeing as Caroline and Cohen were sitting at the foot of the same bed. Alexander settled on the bed across from them, with Stasia following a moment later.

It was strange how the dynamic in their group had changed. Sure, Alexander was still the leader and the others all still trusted him with their lives, but it was apparent from the way they were grouped that they had different loyalties now too. Cohen and Caroline had apparently resolved their problems and couldn't have looked more like a happy couple. Alexander and Stasia, for all that they were both reserved and independent, it was apparent that there was more going on between them than Max had originally thought.

'Then, there was Arden and I,' Max thought. 'I didn't really understand what was going on between us, but I knew that I felt different with Arden than I did with the others. I trusted and cared for all of my friends, even Cohen, but it wasn't like what I felt for Arden.' Max kept telling himself that he didn't know what that emotion was, but he was lying to himself and he knew it. 'I just not ready to tell Arden yet. It's not the right time yet. I'll know the right time when I feel it.'

"A riot?" Caroline murmured, surprising us all. "There haven't been riots since…" Her voice trailed off, but they all knew what she meant. There hadn't been any riots since the end of the war. Whether it was because there weren't enough people to stage any real kind of riot, or because there was no longer any real authority to rebel against no one knew, but riots were supposed to be a thing of the past.

"I know," Alexander replied. "It's only to be expected with a town this large that some of the things from the past have returned."

The group all fell silent at his words. Max now understood why Alexander had never gotten really comfortable in the city. He was the only one old enough to have seen the world fall apart. Seeing it before, had made it much more possible for it to fall apart again.

"It won't happen," Max said, breaking the silence. His eyes were pleading with the others to agree with him. "People can learn from their mistakes. They won't let this happen again."

"I hope so," Alexander said over a sudden roar in the crowd. "I certainly hope so."

The friends huddled together for the rest of the night. None of them could fall asleep with the sound of the crowd rising and falling. Sometimes the angry voices sounded so close to the cabin that the friends were sure the furious townspeople would bust down their door at any moment, but the townspeople never came, nor did the old doctor and her apprentices. There was no news, but the friends were beginning to think that might be for the best. After all, no news can sometimes be better than bad news.