After the World's End

Chapter Five

Everyone was surprised that Max came back with Arden, even though no one was willing to admit it because they didn't want anyone else to know that they had been willing to let Max escape. Caroline smiled at Max when she was him, too happy to be deterred by the cold, distrustful looks he was giving everyone that spoke of his lingering uncertainty about his choice to stay.

Max and Arden had stood at the edge of the clearing, both feeling like the easiness between them when they were alone, wouldn't come so easily here. Max was questioning his decision again and Arden didn't like it at all. "I promise you can stay here as long as you want," he whispered. "I promise you're safe here."

Inexplicably, Max felt comforted by Arden's, a stranger still no matter how nice he seemed, words.

Max knew that everyone else was confused on why he was there and didn't trust him anymore than he trusted them. Cohen also seemed like much more of a threat in camp than he did when Max was on the road with Arden. None of that was enough to change Max's mind on staying. He enjoyed spending time with Arden and while he was still uncomfortable around the others he found that their company was soothing to him. Max had started trying to help wherever he could to prove to everyone that he was worth keeping there. He didn't mind helping out at all…that is as long as he was far away from Cohen.

If Max had thought he'd hated Cohen before, there were no words to describe what he felt for him now. It wasn't like he loved the others, but nothing could compare to what the complete and utter fury he felt every time he saw Cohen. Cohen was the one who made Max feel like an outsider. He was the one who ruined every moment that could almost be happy: laughing at and belittling Max every time he saw them, especially when he was around Arden or Caroline; telling Alexander (Max had finally learned their names, not that they had bothered to introduce themselves. They seemed to completely ignore Max's presence most of the time) that Max had done nothing to help all day, knowing that there was nothing more Max valued than his pride; and taking every chance he could to slam into, hit, kick, and hurt Max in any way he could.

Max hated him. At the end of his first, full day of freedom, which should have been a happy time for Max, all he could think of where the million things Cohen had done to him that day. It was made a thousand times worse when he tried to complain to Arden and had promptly been shut down. "Arden, why don't any of you make him stop?" he had complained. "You see him bothering me and you just let him keep on doing it."

Arden had glared at him and told him that he didn't want to hear Max complaining anymore, before turning back to his work. Max still thought that maybe there was a bit sympathy in them but at night he thought bitterly that it was probably just wishful thinking.

Things had gone downhill from there over the next couple of days. The group was worried, not that they told Max, of course. No matter what Arden had told Max about him being welcome there, it didn't seem to be put into practice very much. He was constantly reminded that he wasn't one of them, when he'd walk into camp and they'd all be sitting together, talking in hurried whispers, stopping the instant one of them spotted Max.

He knew they were going to be moving camp again soon. In one of the rare moments, when he and Arden were alone, Arden would talk openly with him like they were friends and he would tell him bits and pieces of what they'd been talking about as a group. Part of Max hated how two-faced Arden could be, but the other part, that was much bigger and louder, told Max to just be comforted that he had a friend.

Everything that had happened to Max over the last few days built up and built up until he snapped. It was over something stupid really. Cohen had just bumped into Max again just like he did all the time and Cohen had dropped the armful of firewood onto the floor. Cohen just laughed and told Max again how useless he was.

Max had always stayed quiet before, but he just couldn't this time. "Just because no one else cares that you act like a jackass all the time, doesn't me that I'm the same," Max snapped.

Cohen had been turning away before Max had said this, but suddenly stopped. "You're not one of us. You don't belong here and you're just a drain on the rest of us. I'll stop 'acting like a jackass" as you say, when you get the hell out of here," he snarled.

Max didn't know what to say to that. How could he argue with Cohen that he did belong here when everyone had made it so blatantly obvious that he didn't. Max looked away, wishing he'd never said anything.

"What? Nothing to say now?! Get out then," Cohen snarled, grabbing Max by the shirt and throwing him backward.

Max stumbled back a couple of steps trying not to fall over and feeling so angry and ashamed that he didn't even think about what he was doing as long as it all just stopped. His hands were clenched at his sides and it was all he could do not to hit Cohen.

Cohen laughed, still not taking Max seriously. After all, why would he? Max was only five feet tall due to malnutrition for nearly all of his life and looked like he would blow away as soon as there was a strong gust of wind. "No one wants you here," he repeated with a sneer.

A moment later, Cohen reared back in pain and surprise as his nose spurted blood. Max had him by the shirt, his fist back ready to hit Cohen again, when Arden and Alexander grabbed him and pinned him to the ground.

"Get off me," Max hissed, struggling underneath them. It wasn't any use though and it didn't take Max long to realize it and stop struggling.

"This is why we don't let children stay here," Alexander grumbled to Arden. "We don't have time to deal with this kind of behavior. If he doesn't grow up really fast, we're going to have to leave him."

All of the rage drained out of Max immediately. He was suddenly scared and even more ashamed than he had been before. It didn't matter that he didn't truly belong with them as long as he was allowed to stay. Now, he had probably ruined that chance. "Please, get off of me. I'm sorry," he murmured.

Alexander snorted, disbelievingly. He wasn't going to move, but Arden moved off of him. Max didn't hear Arden say anything to Alexander, so Max couldn't figure out whether Arden was doing anything to help him or not. After a moment though, Alexander let Max go too.

Max staggered to his feet, not making eye contact with anyone. All he could hear was Alexander saying that he would have to go if he couldn't behave. The clearing was dead silent as Max whispered, "I’m sorry, Cohen." He gathered up the firewood he dropped and put it with the rest of the firewood. "I'll go find more," Max said to no one in particular.

He walked into the clearing, half wondering if they would even be there when he got back or if he would find the clearing hastily deserted and if he would be alone again. Max sniffled, angry with himself and trying not to cry. He didn't want to care about what was going to happen to him anymore. 'It really sucked not to be able to control what was going to happen to you,' Max thought. Max found himself listening in the hope that Arden might come crashing through the woods after him, but he never did.

Finally, Max knew he had to go back and face what had happened at the clearing. Max was indescribably relieved when he heard the quiet sounds of the five talking; 'probably whispering about him again,' he thought. He walked into the clearing, putting the firewood down with the rest and moved to sit where he and Arden always slept, on the opposite side of the clearing from where everyone else slept. He waited quietly for them to stop whispering, which they did shortly after he got there, and went to lay down for bed.

Max smiled faintly when Arden came to sit down next to him like he did every night. Arden didn't look at him though and Max's heat dropped. "Arden?" he whispered.

Still not looking at Max, Arden murmured, "That was really stupid. I was starting to get them to trust you."

Max looked at his feet guiltily, "I know. I said I'm sorry, okay?"

"Because that makes everything okay. Just go to bed, Max," Arden snapped.

Max wanted to argue, but he didn't see how he could. Arden had sounded so final, like nothing Max said could change his mind. He didn't want to think about what would happen if Arden finally gave up on him. Max would truly have no one on his side. That is, if Arden was ever really on his side at all.

Max lay down, facing away from Arden, too wrapped up in his own misery to realize that he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep that night.

Over the next few days, Max was doing everything he could think of to show them that he was worth keeping around. The moment he noticed that there was something to do he would be off to help. Max was silent nearly the whole time to show them that he wasn't going to get in the way, or threaten their family at all. He'd given up on the idea of ever being part of their family; only realizing that that had been what he'd wanted after it was no longer possible.

Max didn't realize that his new attitude was backfiring on him. What he saw as being helpful, the others only saw as childish pouting and taking every opportunity he could to get away from them and the campsite. It was the same idea with his silence. They began to whisper about him even more and grow angrier with him every day. They had never let someone who wasn't one of them stay with them before and look at how it was turning out.

Max knew this and it hurt more than he could ever explain. He kept trying to do better, but he felt increasingly hopeless. Every day he woke up, expecting Arden to break his promise and tell Max to leave. That was what hurt the most. He had thought he could trust Arden and that trust had been destroyed. Arden hadn't spoken to him since the night Max had hit Cohen. Max had never thought he would regret hitting Cohen, but he did.

It was only a couple of days later that Max's fears were proved true. He came back from gathering firewood, just as Alexander was calling the others together for a meeting. Knowing that he wasn't invited to join them, Max sat in his usual spot where he slept at night. Max's heart sank as he saw the others hurriedly go over to where Alexander slept. This was only the second real meeting he had seen them have. The other times it was just like friends worrying, complaining, and talking. Now, it looked like a big decision was going to have to be made and Max had a feeling he knew what it was going to be about: whether he was going to stay or not. Max tried to pretend that he didn't care, but he knew that he was hiding his true feeling badly and couldn't help glancing up at them every few minutes.

They made no attempt to conceal what they were talking about. None of them really cared whether Max liked what he was hearing or not. After all, what could he do about it?

Unknown to Max, Arden was watching him, too. He frowned at him, wondering what it was about Max that made him so sympathetic towards the boy. Arden knew Max hadn't ever traveled with looters and he suspected that his friends knew it, too. How could they have forgotten so quickly how terrible it was to be unprotected and frightened of everyone and everything. It must have been even worse for Max because he was all alone while they had always had each other. Arden frowned at Cohen, knowing that the other boy was thoroughly enjoying the situation Max was in. He wouldn't have been able to believe that his friend could be like this, if he wasn't seeing it with his own eyes.

Alexander started out the meeting the same way he always did; after calling them each over individually, he'd just sit quietly and stare at each of them in turn. Arden knew he was just sizing them up and trying to figure out how they'd respond to what he wanted to say, but it still unnerved him. Then again, Alexander almost always made Arden feel uncomfortable. It was something about being around someone who was completely calm and confident at all times that does that to a person. 'Alexander was their leader, so maybe it was only natural that he was like this,' Max supposed. 'He was also the only one old enough to remember what the world was like before the war had really done it's damage.'

Stasia finally cleared her throat, having decided that Alexander need to let them in on his thoughts.

Alexander blinked - his only sign of surprise - but said, "We need to something permanent to do with the boy-"

"Max," Arden interrupted.

Alexander looked like he was repressing the urge to roll his eyes, but he would never do something so immature. That kind of irked Arden sometimes. He couldn't understand why Arden wouldn't just relax sometimes. "Anyway," Alexander continued. "The only options I can see are to either get rid of him, or to make him one of us." Alexander's voice was carefully even, like he was trying not to influence them. Cohen made an outraged snarling sound at the latter of Alexander's suggestions, but Alexander silenced him with a single look. "I'm going to ask each of your opinions on what we should do, but I'd like to make one change. Instead of out vote having to be unanimous, I think it should the majority because we only have two choices and I don't see how we can compromise…unless anyone has any suggestions?" Alexander paused to give anyone who wanted to the chance to speak, before continuing. "I'd like it if everyone gave their reasons for their vote because of the importance of this. Is everyone okay with that?" he asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, good," Alexander said. "Cohen, I'd like you to go first, if you don't mind. What do you think about the b- Max staying?" Alexander never showed any sign of an expression the whole time. On one hand, Arden was grateful that he was trying not to make their decisions for them or make them think he'd be angry if they disagreed with him; but on the other hand, he would have really liked to know what was going on in Alexander's head every once in awhile.

"He doesn't belong here," Max said, instantly. "He's not one of us and we can't trust anyone but ourselves. We've always been together and we can't start to ruin that by taking in strangers. Even if he hasn't done anything yet to hurt us, he will eventually. He does little to help us and we managed just fine without him before."

"Okay, Arden?"

"I want him to be one of us. It's hard to justify not making him one of us, just because he isn't one of us. That makes no sense to me. We've never been trusting, but we're the ones who dragged Max into our lives. It's not like he walked up to us one day, begging to join us. We owe it to him to give him a chance," Arden said and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Max look up at him surprised. Arden smiled at him a little, knowing that it had hurt Max when he'd stopped talking to him, but he had to do it. He knew this meeting was coming and when he told everyone what he thought he didn't want them to be able to say that he was only saying it because he was friends with Max. He continued, "Max hasn't done anything wrong and we can't operate under the assumption that he will without evidence. Max hasn't done anything, but help us. I don't see how you can pretend that Max hasn’t helped us. He's gotten firewood three times as many times as I have since he got here, he always out looking for supplies, and he's helped make every meal we've had since he's been here. What part of that is unhelpful to you? That's all I have to say."

"Thank you, Arden. Caroline, what do you think?" Alexander asked.

Caroline paused for a moment before speaking, like she was trying to gather her thoughts. "Of course you all know what I think about Max staying here. I want him to stay. I like having him stay. Now, the reasons…well, to be honest, when I made that decision I didn't have any concrete reasons that I'd actually thought about before now. I could just fee that Max hadn't done anything wrong and that I should trust him. I've thought about it while Cohen and Arden were sharing and I think I have a couple of good reasons now. Max hasn't done anything wrong. If he was with the looters and they were looking for him, I think they would have found him by now. First, I don't think looters would even look for him if he was kidnapped because they're not known for being remarkably loyal, are they? I don't think we can fault him for not being one of us either. He can't help that his family didn't or couldn't hide, like ours could. We voted to give him a chance a couple days ago and he's done nothing but help us since. Why shouldn't we give Max the same chance we had?" Caroline finished.

Alexander nodded. "Stasia, what do you think?"

Stasia looked like she was going to cry. "I don't know," she murmured. "Do I have to vote? I don't think I can be fair on this."

"I think this is something you should vote on, Stasia," Alexander said. "I can't make you vote though."

Stasia sighed. "I still don't think I can be fair, but I'll vote. I don't trust the boy. I'm sorry, but I don't. I don't have any reasons other than that I'm afraid and I just don't want to see him betray us. I'm not saying that I think he will; I just can't take that risk. I just wish I could vote so that everyone would be happy, but I know that's not possible when you all disagree so strongly. I'm sorry," she murmured, looking like she regretted he choice already.

"It's okay," Arden comforted her. "I know you're just doing what you think is right."

Everyone went dead silent when they realize that it was 2-2 and the decision was left up to Alexander. Even Max abandoned his attempt to pretend that he didn’t care what happened and openly stared at Alexander. It wasn't until that moment that Max realized how much he wanted to be there. He would give anything and work the hardest out of them every day. 'Just please let me stay,' Max pleaded in his head.

Alexander noticed Max staring and said, "Max, isn't it? Come over here and tell us your opinion. You don't get a vote, but I'm sure it would be helpful to know what you think anyway," he said.

"Thank you," Max said, hurrying over. He sat down between Arden and Caroline and murmured, "Is it okay if I start now?"

"Yes."

"I don't think I can convince you that I'm innocent. I don't have any proof and I know that must be frustrating for you, but I'm telling the truth. I'd really like to stay here and I promise I'll work hard to earn being here, if you let me stay. I don't know what else there is to say, so…uh, thanks?" Max finished awkwardly and fixed his eyes on the ground.

Arden took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm still not entirely convinced about Max, but there is no way to be sure and I'm not willing to essentially give Max a death sentence by sending him away. I vote for him to stay."