The next time we talked with Amy, she told me about the person they would send me. They wanted someone to be with me in case something happened. I excepted this as it would mean that I could talk to someone. The person who was parachuting down into my 'save zone' was younger than me. He was only 18 years old. I admired how young he was, but there was an air about him that made me realize he's been through a lot.
"Hello, I'm Noa Sanders," I said, reaching out my hand. The boy blinked and stared at my hand for a while before looking up.
"Max," He said voice bear of any emotion.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Max. I've been alone here for a couple of months" I said, bring my hand back. I didn't want to force him to shake hands with me if he didn't want to. There was plenty of time for us to get closer, maybe even become friends. He said nothing to that just watched me.
Max watching me became part of my routine. His eyes would burrow into the back of my head. At first the feeling was strange and uncomfortable, the weird air causing me to start blather about. Talking about everything and nothing. I told him about what I wanted to do with my home. What plants I wanted to grow, if the world was normal, what job I would try to get. My goals, all the way to stories about my childhood. All the while, he never said a word. Just listened and watched me. Like this, we cleared our way to the tower. A few times he would throw things at the force field, or dump the food I made him out. He was escalating, trying to get a rise out of me. Though I wasn't sure why. He could see everything that I had. There was nothing he could do that could hurt me.
"Max, where do you want to live after this?" I asked one day. I didn't expect an answer, but a strange rustling noise caused me to turn around. Max was covered in blood. Most of which were on his hands and splattered on his right cheek. Though that's not what scared me. I saw them, the plants. They were moving.
"MAX!" I yelled, running over to him. I only got a glance at his face, turning smug, like he won. Though I didn't have time to look further or ask questions about it. I wrapped my arms around him and pull him into a hug. Using all the focus I could, I commanded the plants to stop. I told them I knew Max had done something that he shouldn't have. That Max was a growing boy and humans need meat too. While yelling this through the connection, I felted Max freeze and not budge. It took a while to calm the plants and have them back off.
When the plants finally moved away, I attempted to do the same with max. Though I didn't get far as a hand grabbed onto me. He pulled me in closer while saying nothing. It reminded me of when I was kicked out. There was a gay couple that took me in right after. I was so lost and broken I held onto them just like this. Like they were the only linked to the world and I would float away. I remember that feeling so much that, instead of asking questions, I just hugged Max back and waited. He would let me know when he was ready to let go.
When he let go, I didn't ask him much. Just if he wanted to eat something or take a nap first. He didn't look up. "Nap," came a soft mutter. I almost couldn't hear him.
"That sounds like a good plan, Lets take a nap then get some food" I smiled at him. Being so far from my home, I broke into one house that was still standing. It was about an hour or two walk from where we were, but a bed was a bed. Max could get a good night's rest while I get a break from cleaning up so much. I hadn't had one since I first heard Amy's voice. I wanted to make myself useful to those waiting to enter the tower and escape from here.
Max didn't warm up to me right away after that event. When he woke up, he was still as quiet as he had always been. Deciding it was better not to push him into things he wasn't ready for, I went back to talking as I always had. I told him we would take the day off. I complained about being tired and my skills taking a toll on my body. When he nodded, I smiled, then showed him the books I found while he was sleeping. They were in good enough condition that I would read most of them. Though it was only because the books were further from the windows than the others. The others being burned to ashes or chard too much to read. He looked at me confused and I told him we were gonna read the night away.
He sat on the floor trying to read, then would stand up and move. After a few moments, he would move again. "Max, are you having trouble reading?" I asked. He froze in place. Getting up to look at where he was. I slowly took the book from his hands. In the last hour, he had only made it to page 10. Smiling, I handed him some flowers and vines. "Will you make something for me?" I asked, handing them over. He looked disappointed for a moment, but took the flowers and vines. Once he had them in his hands, I began reading aloud where he had been. Starting at the top of the page. I saw the way his head shot up to look at me before looking down at the vines and flower. He worked away weaving then, unwavering to fix whatever he thought went wrong. While I kept reading the story to him. Before I knew it, the sun had set, and I was struggling to read against the small candle that we had.
Stretching, I asked, "Max, how about we get some sleep?" Turning to look at him, I found him already laying on the ground with heavy blinking eyes. I smiled and started moving. He shot up, eyes wide and looking around. "It's okay, it's late, so we're gonna go to bed. You can take the bedroom again," I said asked, ushering him to the bedroom. He didn't protest as I tucked him into bed and left the room. Though I wasn't excited about sleeping on the couch again, I could handle it for another night.
The next few days went by quickly. Max now responded to my questions, even if it was only half answers or one word ones. I didn't mind,, as he seemed like he was opening up at his own speed. I kept going with the cleaning. Though the cleaning was going easier and quicker than before, so I widened my range of cleaning. Instead of being only a street wide, I cleaned two, then three until I had an entire block being cleaned at one time.
"Why?" Max asked me. Turning to look at him, I waited for more information. He shifted from foot to food. "Why clean so much? We only need a path," He muttered, looking at my feet.
"I can't do much. I'm not all that strong or smart. I just want to do what I can. If I make the path wider, maybe people will come to live here again. Then the homes and lives taken from this might not be so lonely." then laughed a little. "I… uh… that sounded cringe, didn't it?" I said, rubbing my hands again. Not having the words to make a speech or say something grand. "I just want to help," I muttered, looking back at the plants that were growing around us. I had done so much, but not nearly enough either.
Max didn't ask me anything else. Part of me felt grateful, but another part of me felt sad. I didn't want to push him away or make him feel like he wasn't doing enough. I had already lived that kind of life for too long. There's no need to push it onto someone else. Not when I could do so much more than this. Though we quickly feel back into place talking about everything and nothing again. This time with me asking questions for him to answer. His one-word answers became two or three to a complete sentence. I smiled as we walked past the tower to the other side.
"Where are we going?" Max asked, his body stiff.
"I'm gonna clean up around the tower, then make a path to the other side. That way there are two entrances," I said. Though truth be told, the other side of the tower was where the boot camp was. I wanted to check it out. See it for myself, the damage and what remained. If I found any…one, I would give them a burial. I know that it's selfish of me to do this, but I had to see. I didn't want Max to know just how selfish I was. Not when I told him how I want to help people.
Nothing. There was nothing left of the camp. I knew it would be like this. I knew it was too close to ground zero that it wouldn't have made it. It didn't stop me from looking at the small remnant that spoke of buildings and humans. The barracks were just a slab of concrete on the ground. There was a leftover melted tar where the tire steps were. I lost Max while walking around where home was for the last few months. Though it felt like years had passed. Even if there were terrible memories that I didn't want to relive, it didn't take away from the few friends I made. The friends that I made because of the boot camp allowing me to enter the tower. I found nothing of Sargent Payton and her unit to save or give a proper rest to. The pain stabbing my heart as I walked through the ruins.
I cleaned up the area growing the plants how I remembered them to be. If Max noticed the care of detail, he said nothing. Instead, he asked me about what I thought of pets. If I ever had one, and what I owned. I told him about a dog that my parents owned when I was young. Her name was Coco because of her brown fur. She was a small dog that would terrorize my older brother all the time. It was a good time watching her chance him around the house. When Max asked me what happened to her, I told him about how she went out with a fire in her eyes. Attempting to do a Scottish accent, I told him about the last fight.
It was the dead of night. Everyone was fast asleep, and she was making her rounds. When she saw it, a monster lurking. Eyes red and full of hate hunting humans down in their sleep. She gave a battle cry and leaped at the monster. Biting and screaming the whole time. The alarm woke the house, and we suited up, running to her aid. She pinned it in the corner, teeth bear. It lunged at her. She dodged back and swerved right. Biting the monster on the neck. We thought the battle done when its head reared up and bit her back. She yelped and started shaking the monster about. Moments later, the monster fell limp to the ground, with Coco huffing. We rushed her to the vet, but it was too late. She fought off that snake with the grace of a worrier.
"Why did you tell it like that?" Max asked once I finished the story.
Laughing "Coco was a good friend and a little nightmare. If I didn't tell it like how she saw it, then she would haunt me," I said, smiling. It had been a long time sense I last thought of her. She died when I was eight years old. Though she was my best friend.
It wasn't long after that we finished cleaning up. We made it all the way though to the other side. Lance was waiting just beyond the boundary of the radiation. In the safe area. I smiled and waved at him before cleaning up the safe zone while we talked. "Hello, it's nice to finally meet you!" I said.
"Yes, I've heard a lot about you from Zhen Seong Jin," Lance said. Hearing the name I hadn't heard in a while caused me to do a double take.
"You've talked to Zhen Seong?" I asked, looking around at the others. Most people didn't meet my eye as I looked around. I even saw someone flinch when I looked at them. My face fell the moment I saw that. The air turned sour as I saw that most people here looked afraid.
"We had a talk not long before I sent Max to you. He's currently working on getting the last run ready. We have to send in a large group of people if we want to beat the timer." Lance said, smile still plastered on his face.
"Oh, I see. Thank you for sending Max to me. He really helped me through the cleaning," I said, forcing a smile back. I wonder what's happening right now that I don't know about?
"Thank you for making a way for us to enter the tower again. We can start sending people into the tower in a few days once we get everyone moved to the US," He said, looking behind me.
Smiling still, I said, "I would like it if you could help me get to the next tower. I'll clean it up too." I had no intention of waiting around while people worked. Lance smirked for a moment, making his face cold and cruel looking. Though that look disappeared so quickly that I almost thought it wasn't real. However, Max touched my back, having gotten closer to me at some point. That and the connection with the plants pulled at me. Laying in wait for Lance to do one thing out of line to strike. Bial pulled at the back of my mouth. I had to get away from Lance if I wanted him to live for much longer.
"That would be very helpful. I'll send you to Mexico… or do you want to go to Canada?" He asked, his smile no longer fit his face.
Thinking back on when I spoke to Max, I knew he liked the cold better and sense it was nearing summer. "I think we could clean up Canada first, then head down," I said, keeping the smile on my face. Lance gave the okay and had us sent to Canada. Though I couldn't quite protect Max, as Lance called him to report to him. My mind sat a little at ease, knowing they wouldn't be left alone.
Max could follow me to Canada to clean that tower. I met with a few people that would do a survey of the areas I clean. They were gonna record the radiation that was left and see if they could engineer away to get rid of the radiation without my help. If they could, then they would head to another tower and we could clean twice as fast. I thought it was a good idea so I let them. Though I noticed Max said nothing to them, or anyone else. He would say the one-word answer to Lance. He would pull me over and whisper into my ear when he wanted to talk.
True to his word, Lance sent people into the cleared tower. He worked fast, shipping as many people into the tower as possible. On the first day, I heard he sent about 150,000 people into the tower. We only knew that much as people were comparing it to the largest stadium in the world. Which I didn't know could house that many people.
Though when I arrived in Canada, I felt a disappointing for not getting to see Zhen Seong. He was busy the whole time while I restocked on seeds and food. I wanted to meet him and tried once to set up an appointment to see him. Though I never got the chance. Max told me he saw Zhen Seong and told him I was there for a bit. Which I know Max only wanted to help, but it felt worse. I must have made him want to avoid me. Maybe it was that he wasn't interested in being friends with me. It was just me bothering him in the tower, after all. I tried to not let those thoughts take place while working. I didn't need them messing things up.
Half a year. Six months all it took for the world to almost collapse. Then another year to get four towers clean of any nuclear waste. Lance was sending people into the towers every day. Every time a new tower path was open, a town was set up outside of it. There they would train people and send them into the towers. When that one year mark hit, another thing happened. The tower made another announcement. We gained the first level.