Death After Death (Book #2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Paulo, how the hell did you get out?" Max cried as he launched himself into tight embrace with his old friend.   

"I...I guess I just got lucky," Paulo replied, slightly uneasily.

Max pulled back from the hug and smiled, "I never thought I'd see your ugly mug again!"

Paulo ignored the joke as he ushered the newcomers towards the camp, "I think it's best we talk inside."

"What is this place?" JJ asked.

Paulo led them towards a clearing in the trees, holding up a piece of thick rope tied between two trunks for them to duck under. "It's a camp of sorts, a temporary home while we gather supplies."

"Supplies for what?" Max pried.

Paulo avoided the question yet again, "I'll explain that later. Let's just get you within the cordons for now."

"Are these the 'cordons'?" Karl mocked, sarcastically poking at the rope.

"Yes. We have ropes like these sectioning off the entire camp, ten metres or so all around. They all have cans tied to them, full of nails to alert the guards on duty. We know what we're doing, my friend," Paulo explained.

"Sounds hi-tech," Karl jibed.

"And yet I see you carrying a pool cue with a kitchen knife taped to the top."

"It's a f*****g spear," Karl grumbled as he ducked under the rope and moped towards camp.

JJ laughed at his brother's misery and ducked in after him, followed by Rodney and George, who simply walked under.

"What kind of set up have you got here?" Dawson queried, not filled with confidence by the makeshift defences.

"I can assure you, it's more than adequate for the time being. We have caravans and vehicles parked in a circle in the centre of camp to give us an extra barrier, then tents within that to sleep extra people," Paulo clarified, seemingly desperate to usher the inquisitive Dawson on.

"I'll go and make sure that lot don't burn the place down then," Dawson chuckled, clearly taking the hint.

Paulo looked Max dead in the eye as soon as they were alone, "We need to talk. In private."

"Of course we do, buddy," Max grinned, as he slapped Paulo on the back. "We have so much catching up to do! What happened to you back at the pit?"

Paulo shifted nervously, "Let's go talk somewhere else."

"Listen," Max said. "I'm sorry I left you back there. I had no idea you were still alive. When you didn't come back after so long, I just...I had to assume the worst."

Paulo beckoned Max towards the nearest caravan without saying another word, until the rickety white door slammed shut.

"You don't have to apologise, my friend-" he began.

"Of course I do! I left you there while everyone else made their escape, God knows what you went through!"

"Please, Max, I have to explain something," Paulo begged.

Max's tone changed as he realised what Paulo meant. "That wasn't your fault."

"Lizzie...I had to-" Paulo stammered.

Max cut him off before he could stutter a single other word, "Don't do that, Paulo. You tried to save her, I know that!"

A single tear escaped from Max's steely face, which he quickly wiped away.

"Please, let me explain. Joey told me that if I-"

Max threw his palm up to block Paulo's mouth, "I don't want to hear it, please. I just can't, I can't think about that, okay? She's gone, you tried to save her, but she's gone."

"I did save her!" Paulo blurted.

Max stared at his old friend with dumbfounded confusion, which soon turned to pure disgust. "Don't f*****g joke with me, she's gone," he whimpered.

"I saved her," Paulo repeated with far less conviction. "I'm sorry Max, Joey said that if-"

"What the f**k do you mean you saved her? You told me she was dead. Those words came from your lips," Max seethed as he squared up to Paulo.

"She lost a lot of blood, but she pulled through. I swear I'm not lying to you."

"Well, either you were lying then or you're lying now, which is it Paulo?" Max spat.

Paulo turned away, unable to look Max in the eye as he explained, "He said...Joey said that if I saved her, then convinced you she was dead...he'd...he would let me walk."

Tears began to fill Max's eyes as his paced up and down the caravan, "What...what are you saying? That he killed her afterwards, that he tortured her?"

"She's still alive Max, he kept her alive."

Max turned on the spot and charged at Paulo, pinning him up against the thin metal shell of the caravan, "Don't you f*****g lie to me, you piece of s**t! She's dead, she's f*****g dead!"

Paulo looked deep into Max's eyes with an empty glare, a look that said Paulo would rather be dead than have this conversation, a look that told Max he was telling the truth.

"Lizzie is alive," he just about managed to cry.

Max threw him to the ground and leapt upon his limp body, pinning him down. Paulo showed no form of resistance, still glaring at Max with those lifeless eyes, as if he were begging for what was about to come.

Max planted a heavy fist down onto the centre of Paulo's face, bursting his nose and plastering the caravan walls with blood. Max swung another punch into the middle of Paulo's face, then another and another, his strength growing with every punch.

The entire caravan was shaking on its unstable mount as Paulo began to cry out.

"I'm sorry! Max, I'm sorry!" he screamed between punches.

But he wasn't yelling for help, or for Max to stop. He wanted this, he deserved this and he knew it.

The caravan door flew open and two men darted inside to pull Max off his defenceless opponent. They each wrapped their arms around his shoulders and tugged him away, but Max planted a strong elbow into one of their guts and wriggled free for long enough to plant one final blow.

Paulo's face was unrecognisable, a mess of sticky blood, swollen flesh, and nasty cuts. The maroon lakes collected in the pits between Paulo's swellings, with blood erupting like spurting geysers as he continued to call out.

"I'm sorry!"

"You bastard!" Max screeched back, almost animal-like in his rage.

The two men dragged Max out of the caravan and held him down, his limbs thrashing around in every direction, desperate to break free.

"That was my daughter you bastard, my f*****g daughter!"

Dawson came sprinting around the corner, followed by the rest of the group, their eyes darting between Max's restrained body, his bloody fists, and the now still battered mess of Paulo.

"My f*****g daughter," Max finally sobbed.