Wanted for slaughter

Max the menace

David woke up to the sound of soft rustling. He peered around the dark room from under his blankets, body too sore from weeks of hard labour and injuries to do anything else. The sight of a mass of black curls bobbing in and out of his desk drawers caught his attention.

"um...Good morning, Max?"

The rustling suddenly stopped and an uncomfortable silence stretched between the two of them. David scratched the back of his neck and willed his body to sit up in bed. His calloused hands ran through his mess of auburn bed hair and the motion transitioned into a stretch. He checked his glow in the dark watch and his eyes almost popped out of his skull in shock.

"It's almost 3am! What on earth are you doing up? Is everything alright?"

There was movement again and the child climbed out of the drawer, slowly backing up towards the door, not saying a word.

David watched Max retreat and sighed when he realized the boy had to be escorted back to his tent. He stood up slowly, trying hard not to bump any of his injuries as he did so. He quickly made his way out of the cabin and into the cold night air. He could still see the child's retreating form, but it was moving faster now, disappearing into one of the tents.

David scratched his head. He really didn't understand these kids.

His droopy eyes demanded he go back to bed and he wanted to obey them, but Max's behaviour was just too strange to ignore. He had to check up on the kid.

David limped towards the children's tents, being sure to not make too much of a ruckus as he tiptoed his way to Max's tent. He carefully opened the tent flap and was immediately greeted by a fork flying towards his face at the speed of light. Reflex stepped in and he got out of the way fast enough for it to only nick his ear instead of taking out an eye. He looked at the boy with a shocked expression and the boy looked back at him with wide eyes.

"Get the fuck out of my tent you fucking pedo!"

David instantly lifted is hands up as if in surrender "What? No! I just trying to see if you're alright."

"Get out or I'll call the cops on you. Do you think they'll believe the kid or the grown ass man who was crawling around in their tent?"

David would've found it funny if he wasn't being accused of something so terrible. "What were you doing in my cabin, Max? I'm just trying to help you."

"That's none of your fucking business, Camp Man."

Frustrated and not knowing what to do, David sat down. "David. You can call me David, thank you very much."

"I know your name asshole. I'm not using it cause you're not worth it. Only people with worth get called by their name."

David frowned and subconsciously leaned forward, concern etched into his features. "Hey, who told you that? That's not true...Not to mention very mean."

The boy blinked at him "you don't know anything. You don't even know how to be an adult. How the fuck can you tell me it's not true."

"I AM an adult, Max. I'm 24."

"Well you sure as shit don't act like one."

"How should an adult act?" David propped his head up with his palm, head adopting a slight tilt in interest.

Max frowned, taking a step back and sitting down on his cot. "I don't know. Not like you?"

David stayed silent. A useful trick he learned in training for getting someone to talk. He could tell it was working, because soon, the boy was trying to explain himself further.