Skyfall

Chapter 5

We walked for about fifteen minutes in complete silence. Just us, the open fields, and an overwhelmingly thick layer of thoughts. As he dragged his heavy shotgun along beside us, a swarm of thoughts invaded my mind, and we had plenty of time to think.

"Why don't you  believe Libertas is real, Maximus?" I questioned, swinging my arms and glancing at him. "There's no real reason not to believe in it. You've never seen it, so there's still a chance right?"

He sighed, picking up his gun and heaving it over his shoulder. He rubbed his sun burnt skin and looked at me sternly. "Haven't we already had this conversation before, Miss .... wait a minute, you haven't told me your name yet!" He grinned wryly.

"My name is Emma," I spoke clear and smooth, "and don't change the subject." He chuckled, the ever-present twinkle in his eye glowing brighter.

"Well, Miss Emma, Libertas is a Legend handed down through many generations. It has also never been found. When you find proof, trust me, I'll be the first person on the bus to wherever freedom is. I choose not to get my hopes up." He finished speaking and I tried to  stay silent. But I couldn't help but reply.

"What do you have, if not hope, Maximus? What is there to live for other than the thought that somehow, out in the world there is a paradise free of work, filled with love and happiness?" I could see him thinking for the moment, and then his emerald green eyes brightened.

"Family!" He smiled, scuffing his shoes as we walked. I took a sudden interest at the brown earth as he said that. I could tell without looking at him that he had lost that easy smile.

"You don't have a family, do you, Emma." It wasn't a question. He knew. I said nothing, and he sighed, looking ahead.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked, my eyes searching his. "You did nothing wrong, it's not your fault." He sighed, and looked at me sadly. I almost felt like walking away. He was making me feel so depressed.

He smiled slightly. "You've missed out on a lot, Em. A family is full of warmth, care, love, freedom. Everything you might find in Libertas."

I froze suddenly, and stopped walking. He stopped too and looked at me, confusion clouding his eyes. I stared at the ground, my Jaw clenched. I could barely hear him, but his voice slowly lulled me back into reality, washing away the tears forming in my eyes.

"Emma? What's wrong?"

I breathed out slowly, shaking the wave of sadness that had just overcome me.

"Nothing. Just, please, don't call me Em."

He questioned nothing as we walked on again in an awkward silence. I still couldn't shake the dirty feeling I had when He called me Em.

Only Daniel calls me Em.

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Suddenly Maximus' voice invaded my senses.  I glanced at him, and then over to where he was pointing. There was a small clearing, with a large wooden house, complete with a barn.

"I thought we were going hunting?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes.

"Ha," He chuckled, "I've decided against it. It's much easier just to bring you home and feed you." The twinkle in his eyes were back from it's disappearance during the conversation earlier. He led me in through the door, where me and him were attacked by two small children.

"Maxi, Maxi!" They screeched, bouncing on us both. There was a girl who was about six, with wild blonde curls, and a little boy who looked to be eight or ten. They gave us large pearly white grins, and then they were each held in an arm by Maximus.

The girl spoke first, her voice soft and sweet. "Maxi, You must be in love! You brought us a pretty girl, are you two gonna get married now?" Maximus only blushed, chuckling slightly as he was bombarded with questions.

"Do you love her?"

"Eww, Maximus has a girlfriend!"

"No, James, Maximus has a wife!"

"Girls are full of cooties."

"Are not!"

"Are too, you have the most cooties."

"No I don't! I don't even know what cooties are!"

A voice cut through, and I heard footsteps coming closer from what I assumed were stairs. I could tell it was a woman. She stepped through, wearing a pale blue dress, scraggly grey hair swiftly pulled into a bun and enormous dark green eyes. 'Must be Maximus' mother', I thought to myself.

"What's all this racket, Maximu- By George, Jim, get in here, Maximus brought home a lady!"

I heared a choking of sorts, and then a man with a plaid dress shirt and suspenders clattered down the stairs.

"Jeez, Dawn! You tryina' kill me or something? She better be real!" He stopped in his tracks when he saw me, but then about a millisecond later came out of his trance. He smiled at me, and I could see a few rotten teeth, probably from a bad habit of chewing tobacco.

"Well I'll be, Maximus has brought home a lady friend!" He shouted, and then two more sets of feet came clattering down the stairs, one of them miles faster than the other. It was a young girl about twelve years old with the same emerald green eyes as Maximus, and an old woman who looked like she should have been in a wheelchair.

They all stared at me for a moment, as time ticked on. It was quite hilarious, actually. Their eyes were nearly popping out of their heads. Maximus broke the silence.

"Come on now, Ma, you're scaring poor little Emma!" I crossed my arms and glared at him. I am not, I repeat, not little. He half smiled at me from the corner of his eye. A wave of questions bombarded us, and Maximus waited until everything had quieted down.

They all dragged me over to a table, sat me down, and placed a steaming bowl of oatmeal in front of me. I scrunched my nose up at it, but ate it anyway while Maximus explained my story.

"I found this girl a couple a miles back, drinking dirty water from that old watering hole. She told me she was running from GTG" He smirked, his green eyes landing on me. "She claims to be looking for freedom, in Libertas." A shocked silence filled the room. I looked up.

"What?"

His mother spoke, covering her hand over her mouth. "Lord almighty, not this again. Gosh Maximus, Grammie Jean's gonna be goin on about it for hours now!" She sighed. "Well Darlin, you might as well stay for a while. Looks like your in for some interesting stories.

I looked around, confusion dotting my senses. I didn't understand what they meant. Maximus smirked, sitting next to me. Then he brought his face close to my ear and whispered.

"Well Emma, you want to find Libertas, huh? Grammie Jean here's got all the stories you want to hear. He patted his grandmother on the back who looked half asleep. "Why, she's been there herself!" He leaned back and put his arm around my shoulder. I willed the red in my face to vanish.

"Libertas? I've been to Libertas." Said Grammie Jean. I hadn't even noticed she'd been listening!

She looked up, and smiled a toothless grin at me. I shivered slightly.

"It was a looooong, long time ago dear. I was, oh lets say about thirty. Maxi's mama was in my belly at that time, so she wouldn't remember it but I do. I fell in love with a man there."

Thus, began a long story of the Legend Libertas. Everyone else was half asleep by the end of it, because they'd probably heard it a thousand times. But to me It amplified my hope a thousand times more that someday I might make it to Libertas. For myself, for Daniel, and even for my hateful mother.