Chapter Twenty-Eight
1537 Words
"What did you just say?" Max snarled.
Paulo shifted uneasily, his strange sense of confidence short-lived in the midst of Max's bubbling rage.
"I said we need to get her back..." Paulo repeated.
A disbelieving smile washed across Max's face, as he paced away from Paulo's bed, then sharply strode back. "Let's get things straight, arsehole. I am not your friend, I will never be your friend, nothing about that pulpy mess of a face says friendship. The only reason you're lying in that bed and not in a shallow grave is that you may be my only hope of tracking her down, if she isn't dead already."
"Max, Joey gave me no choice, I had t-"
"Don't give me that bullshit! Joey didn't make you do a thing! No one could make you do what you did, it was a choice; your own selfish choice. And hey, if you swapped a young girl's life for your own, that's something you have to live with, not me. Just tell me everything you know about where they went next before I decide you aren't worth my time."
"Max, I-"
"I don't give a s**t! You wanted to talk to me, now talk!"
Paulo sighed. Any dream of making things right with Max was clearly just that, a dream.
"I can't be sure where they've gone-"
"Are you f*****g joking me? You call me in here for this?" Max seethed.
"I said I can't be sure," Paulo admitted. "But I did overhear some things before I left."
"Carry on," Max ordered.
"Joey had me treat Lizzie. Her wounds were bad, you saw what a state she was in after your last fight. It was touch and go, but I managed to keep her stable and replace the blood she'd lost..."
"But why would Joey even waste time and supplies on her? What did he stand to gain?" Max questioned.
Paulo gulped, "He wanted to...experiment on her."
"Experiment? What do you mean f*****g experiment? Like some lab rat?" Max yelled.
"I don't know, Max. He kept talking about a cure, and how the person who discovered it would have control over the new world. New world this, new world that, that's all he ever talked about. He wanted to be a King."
"And even after all this, you still left her there," Max stabbed.
Paulo bowed his head in a feeble attempt to hide his own shame, "Yes."
Max simply looked on in disgust, any respect or friendship he once felt for this man evaporating in an instant.
"So, he needed her alive?" Max asked finally.
Paulo glanced up once more, "As far as I could tell, yes, he did."
"Where do you think they went next?"
"I can only guess. Joey was so unhinged, it was hard to tell apart reality and fantasy. He was obsessed with this idea of leading the new world, almost as much as he was obsessed with your misery. But one thing he did keep coming back to was the word 'castle.'"
"Castle? What the f**k do you mean?"
"He wanted power, Max. As much power as was humanly possible. He wanted to be a King, a God, in a brand-new world of humanity. And in his head, a King needed a palace...a castle," Paulo explained.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Max scoffed.
"Let's not pretend like this man is completely sane, my friend," Paulo retorted.
Max glowered back intensely.
"Sorry, Max. Slip of the tongue," Paulo apologised.
Max rubbed his head frantically, "So, you're saying Joey packed up all his equipment, supplies and people, and carted them off to some pipe-dream palace?"
"I think so."
"But why would they follow him?" Max asked.
"Fear, Max. Fear can sometimes make a far stronger ruler than respect and democracy, I know this better than most."
Max paced the length of the caravan, letting the information filter through his mind as he planned his next move. He promised Lizzie that he would keep her safe, and if there was the slimmest chance of her being alive, he intended to keep that promise.
He thought about the family on the other side of the metal walls, willing to follow him into a war zone purely for revenge, he was sure they would be ever more determined with the new objective.
It was no longer a suicide mission. He wanted Joey dead, but Lizzie and the group's lives took precedent, always. If he was to lead, it would be through respect and democracy, not fear as Paulo had said.
"Take me there," Max eventually demanded.
"I assumed this would be your answer. But there is something else I must tell you," Paulo clarified.
"Go on," Max urged suspiciously.
"You remember I told you that this was a temporary home?" Paulo said.
Max nodded, "Yeah, just while you gather supplies, right? Where are you heading?"
"We've been hearing rumours, whispers from passing travellers, and stories from around the camp..." Paulo began.
"This sounds promising," Max sighed.
"Please, let me finish," Paulo insisted. "There are rumours of a safe haven, a place untouched by the c*****e and death, fenced off from the rest of reality. It's said that a large group managed to set up a perimeter before the worst of it went down, and have been holding it ever since. Think of it, Max! Somewhere to start again."
"Sounds too good to be true. Sometimes stories and rumours are nothing more than fabrication and exaggeration. Nowhere is untouched by this," Max disregarded.
"Normally I would agree, but the sheer amount of accounts from completely different sources, I don't know, we're starting to believe. We have hope."
"And what has this got to do with me?" Max asked.
Paulo ushered his hand towards the door, "I've seen the group you're travelling with. A young boy, two teenagers, strangers who have no quarrels with Joey, and no attachment to Lizzie. Are you really going to drag them into all of this?"
"They chose to be here, believe me, I always intended to do this alone," Max insisted.
"They would be more than welcome in my group, Max. They would have a second chance at Novus, think about it, a new life for them!" Paulo exclaimed.
"Novus?"
"That's what people are calling it, Novus, Latin for new."
"You're starting to sound like Joey with your fantasies. Maybe I hit you one too many times on the head after all," Max mocked.
"I know, I know it sounds crazy, but just think, what if it's true."
Max pondered for a minute, despite being almost sure that this haven was nothing more than a dream forged through desperation, it was not his decision to make. Paulo was right about one thing, Dawson and the guys had no businesses following him into certain death. Sure, they wanted to find Han, but there was no guarantee he was with Joey, or ever had been.
This was something they would have to decide on their own. Max pushed open the creaking metal door, the slightest of noises sending the group scampering to their feet.
"How did it go?" JJ asked.
Max beckoned them in, "You need to hear this."
"Hear what?" Dawson questioned.
"Just come and listen," Max said simply.
Paulo explained again to the caravan's new five occupants, who shared the same look of transparent scepticism.
"I have to agree with Max, it sounds like bullshit," Karl piped up.
"I have to admit, I shared your opinions until a few days ago," Paulo acknowledged.
"What changed," Dawson enquired.
"On a supply run, we bumped into a family. Two parents in their thirties, and a little kid, not much older than this one," Paulo described, pointing to George as he did so. "It was the third or fourth time we'd heard the name Novus, but these people were different."
"How so?" Dawson asked.
"They claimed to have seen it."
Max leaned in slightly, intrigued by this development, "How is that possible? It doesn't sound like the kind of place you would leave."
"Not voluntarily, no," Paulo explained. "But they didn't leave of their own accord. They were infected you see. Not far gone, but enough to notice, and as soon as the people as Novus did, they were gone."
"They kicked them out, just like that," Dawson said in disbelief.
"Think about it. If you're planning for the future, a new world untouched by the apocalypse, what else can you do with the infected, short of finding a cure," Paulo argued.
"s**t. So, this place is legit?" Karl bubbled with excitement.
"If you trust the words of a couple of people slowly losing their minds, then yes," Paulo stated.
JJ, who had remained silent throughout, finally called out from the back of the huddle, "Why does this make a difference?"
"Pardon me?" Paulo said.
"Well, like you said, Joey has Max's daughter. He might even have Han too. Why are we discussing this as if there's a decision to make?"
"I wouldn't blame you kid," Max spoke gently. "You've come with me this far, but if this place is real, just imagine. You've got so many more years ahead of you."
"That sounds great, and I'm sure it will be a wonderful place to go after we get Lizzie and Han out, but we're not about to f*****g bail to save our own skins. That's not who we are," JJ maintained.
"Shall we have a vote?" Dawson suggested. "All those in favour or going to this Novus place..."
No hands were raised, not even Rodney who clutched the hand of little George.
"Then that settles it," Dawson said. "Show us the way to this castle."
- Writer
