Life After Death (#1)

Chapter Eighteen

Max stumbled into the kitchen, having just woken up from the deepest sleep he had had since this all began. It had been a while since he had been able to drift off without being met with dreams of death, John and Joey. Lizzie wasn't there when he had woken up and as he plodded past the front door he noticed her shoes were also missing. Henry sat in the kitchen, a solitary figure in the room which was filled with family the previous night.

"Morning," Max said simply.

"Morning? It's long past lunch time lad," Henry chuckled back, taking a sip from a blue mug labelled 'World's Greatest Grandad'.

"It's been a while since I've managed to grab a decent night's kip," Max laughed, slightly embarrassed.

"Where's Lizzie anyway?" he added.

"She went outside with Emily I think, wanted to have a tour of the gardens. It's good to see you're so protective of her," Henry replied with a genuine warm smile.

Max didn't respond.

"How was the room anyway? We haven't used the guest room in years, so you're more than welcome to stay," Henry said nonchalantly, although it was clear that he hoped they would.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Max said, pulling up a chair next to Henry.

"Sounds ominous," Henry chortled.

"I was wondering. You seem to have a nice set up here, you and your family seem lovely; not to mention the girls aren't too much younger than Lizzie," Max began.

"You don't have to bring out the old sales pitch lad, you're more than welcome to stay with us as long as you want," Henry said immediately, again with that warm smile.

"That's just it. I'm not staying," Max admitted bluntly.

Henry took another sip of his drink, processing the information.

"So, you want us to look after Lizzie until you get back?" he replied eventually, clearly puzzled.

"I'm not coming back, Henry," Max said, staring strongly into his host's green eyes.

"I see," Henry replied, with clear disappointment flowing through his words.

Just as Henry finished speaking, Lizzie and Emily walked into the room, knees dirtied with mud.

"We just came in for some lemonade, this one's quite the gardener," Emily laughed, with one hand reassuringly on Lizzie's shoulder.

"Come and see Max! We're planting potatoes and carrots!" Lizzie blurted excitedly.

Max hadn't seen her like this before. She was acting like a child for once, which, thinking about it, Max supposed she was.

"I'm good here thanks kid," Max replied with a forced smile.

The excitement was wiped from Lizzie's face immediately as she skulked back out the room, slamming the front door as she exited. Emily looked at Max, clearly wanting to say something but just about holding her tongue before following the young girl out of the house.

"So you're just going to leave her behind?" Henry asked as soon as the women were out of earshot.

"I've only been with her five minutes, she's not my responsibility. There's no duty of care there, okay?!" Max argued. "I've got my own stuff to do," he continued, but even he didn't believe that, looking at the ground as he said it.

The truth was he had become fond of Lizzie, which was the main factor towards his need to leave. It scared him. In this world, anyone you care for is ripped from you, and that wasn't a game Max wanted to play any longer.