Chapter 15: Recruits
"Foolish boy you shall never defeat us!" yelled a sinister voice. Max found himself running away from something, but he didn't know from what. He tripped and fell down in a field of grass. He closed his eyes and reopened them. Max was now standing in the middle of the town surrounded by thousands of Red Death. A disembodied voice shouted, ”We told you boy, you have no purpose!"
“Beep, beep, beep,” went Max's alarm clock. He jumped out of bed and realized he was sweating. "It was just a dream Max, pull it together," he reassured himself. He put on some new clothes, which were still there from when he had left. His parents weren't awake yet, and no one had known the town hall was going to have a meeting that day. Max walked outside and saw that a police car was already parked in front of his house.
"Hurry up boy!" yelled Mayor George. Max ran over to the vehicle and jumped in. "You hungry Max?" asked Rock. "I didn't have time for breakfast this morning, so I guess you could say I was hungry." Rock eyed down Max, still a little angry from losing the gun match, “You don't need to be a jerk about it boy, just wanted to know if you were hungry."
"Well now I guess you know I am, don't you big guy." Rock gave a sneer to Max handing him a plate with two donuts, an apple, and a cup of coffee. "Drink up, your going to need all the energy you can get." They drove to the Town Hall, and had started to brainstorm about what they should tell the residents of the town. "Now you boys listen up. You can't immediately tell the people about the Red Death. They have no idea some other force even exists, they think our town is safe," said the mayor.
"Well Mayor, I guess you shouldn't have lied to the people all this time," Max replied, still grumpy from a lack of sleep. The Mayor felt guilty and uneasy about having to tell the whole town they were in serious danger. "Mayor George,” Max said, “I'll do it. I will tell the people you didn't know either."
"No Max, I've done enough lying in my lifetime. It's time to stop covering up my problems, I need to set things straight." Max nodded at the Mayor, he was happy he was finally admitting this mistake. "I need to do some confessing of my own Mayor, so you won't be alone in this," Max replied in a shaky voice.
"Sorry to interrupt your therapy session, but we need to signal all the people to come to the town hall. How do you reckon we do that?" Rock asked. "We still have the town bell that can signal all the people to come to the center of the town,” Max replied.
Rock went up to the top of the building and started ringing the bell, eager to get the citizens to come in as quickly as possible. After a few minutes, all the people started filling into the town hall. Every man and boy arrived regardless of what they were supposed to be doing. When all the chatter died down, Mayor George went up to the stage and addressed everyone.
"Citizens of the town!" boomed Mayor George. "You have all been chosen to save our town!" There was a lot of murmuring and whispering going around after he said this. "I'm afraid you have all been lied to. You need to know that it’s not all safe here. There is an evil outside of the town coming to kill us. It is called the Red Death. The Red Death is made up of creatures infected with disease and their soul purpose is to kill as many normal people as they can. We need your help to help fight against the Red Death and bring this place back to safety. You will all be taught how to use a firearm, and then you’ll be put in different posts."
The people sat, mouths open wide, and completely shocked. Nothing bad had ever happened to any of them, there had only been peace. "How many of these things are there?" yelled a man in the audience. "Over twenty-five thousand of them!" Max yelled back. "Wait, aren't you the kid who left the town? Who killed one of our best officers?" The people around this man agreed, shouting at Max, calling him names and telling him to leave.
"Give him a chance to explain himself citizens. You might just want to hear what he has to say!" yelled the Mayor. The audience quieted down, and Max took the stage.
"I left this town to find my purpose. I left my family, my sister died for me, and all of you hate me. After I left, I found out that I was chosen. Chosen by a higher power to stop this great evil that is heading our way.”
"You’re crazy, your purpose was chosen for you just like everyone else. What makes you more important than any of us?" an outraged citizen announced.
Max looked at the man and smiled. "You're right sir, I'm not any more important than any of you. But I can assure you, I was chosen for this specific purpose. I am the only person alive in the world that is immune to the Red Death, and I cannot be killed except by someone chopping off my head."
The crowd laughed, he heard people saying he was crazy and a fake. Max was getting tense, his face heating up. “I’m going to save you whether you like it or not!" He aimed his gun at his chest and pulled the trigger.
“Bam!” He shot a bullet through his chest and fell motionless to the ground. The crowd was silent, not making a sound. They watched in amazement as Max's chest started reattaching itself back together, and in less than thirty seconds he stood back up. "Any questions?" Max yelled to the crowd. The crowd remained speechless, hardly able to believe what they had just seen.
"Good, then,” Max said, “Now maybe we can get started." He hopped off the stage, and the people formed a path where he could walk through. He walked through the line and flashed back to what happened in the fountain. He remembered shooting that thing at the bottom of the fountain and how its body repaired itself just like Max did. Max now realized the thing he saw was really him. He opened the door out of the building and already the Mayor was outside waiting for him in a car. “You were great in there Max, we’re going to start training the people with target practice in a bit and we could really use your help."
"Alright sir I can help. But first we need to divide the people into three different groups. The first group will be the younger boys, they will be in charge of the lookout posts and getting supplies to the troops. The second group will be our older boys and regular men. They'll be the main shooters, and will be attacking the Red Death. The third group will be our strongest and fastest soldiers. They will consist of officers and good athletes. These people will be our scouts, bait, and sharpshooters."
"That can all be arranged Max, but first we need to see who can use a gun. I will not allow any person under the age of thirteen to use a gun." Max and the Mayor drove over to the firing range near the police department. When they went in they saw a small boy shooting at a target. The boy was hitting every target perfectly in the middle with ease. Max had a huge smile on his face and whispered to the Mayor, “I guess we’re going to have to make a little exception." The Mayor looked back at Max putting on a fake smile, “Hey boy, how old are you?" The young kid turned around putting down his gun, “I'm twelve sir and my name is Clay."
Max walked over to Clay and asked, “How the heck did you get so good at shooting? I didn't think people had even used guns here." "Well,” said Clay, “My dad’s really athletic, and I like pretending to shoot stuff. But I've never shot anything before, it’s my first time. So when I heard you could go shoot stuff, I ran down here as quick as I could." Max laughed aloud and said," Well you've got quite the gift Clay, but Mayor George here says you have to be over thirteen to use a firearm. Somehow, I think he'll make an exception just for you." Clay beamed with delight, but the mayor looked flustered. "Well go back home for now boy, be here bright and early tomorrow morning.” Clay nodded his head and started running back to his house with a huge smile on his face.
Max and the Mayor walked around watching all the men shoot targets. Some were pretty good, but others couldn't hit the backside of a barn. "Well, we have about fifty guys with good shots, and not to my surprise they’re all officers. On the other hand, most of the people here are going to need a lot of training,” the Mayor said. Max looked at the Town wall and replied, “We have six more days, we have to start combat training as soon as possible."
"Get some rest boy, I'm going to need you to be in your
best shape.” Max shook hands with the mayor, and started walking back home. Once he got back he immediately went up to his room. He was exhausted and drained of energy so without saying anything, he went straight to bed. Max fell asleep easily, but was not able to sleep well.
"Six more days and everyone will die, and it'll be all your fault," said that mysterious voice. "No! I will not lose, I will defeat you!" Max shouted. Max heard laughter and it was growing louder every second. "Foolish boy, you will die!" As he heard these words, Betty appeared in front of him screaming, he was able to make out the phrase, “It's all your fault." Max begged her for forgiveness, but she repeated the awful phrase, “It’s all your fault!”
Just as he reached out to grab her, Max woke up. He took deep loud breaths, and looked at his clock. He still had four more hours to sleep. "Goddamn, I really have to loosen up," Max said aloud as he slowly fell back to sleep.