Chapter 45: Offer
Ryan’s eyes widened at the boy’s words. Still, he scratched his hair awkwardly, taking it in stride.
"Well, we’ve been through hell getting here."
His low voice remained audible due to the silence of the room.
"Yeah, no shit."
Maxwell nodded indifferently, then shifted his gaze to Brandon, ignoring Ryan entirely. A little smirk drew across his face as he stared at the tired boy.
"I thought you’d have died out there with the rest of ’em. Must’ve been a hell of a nightmare you went through. I mean, to even buddy up with this little shit, really. Must’ve been something."
He pointed his chin at Grimm dismissively. The boy in question didn’t reply, merely dragging his gun closer to his chest.
Maxwell pressed on, shifting his focus to Grimm.
"Always knew you were one of those, you know? I was wondering what day you’d finally snap. Damn shame the apocalypse stopped you, right? Bet you would’ve killed yourself once you were done. Would’ve been a sight to see."
Grimm still kept his mouth shut, though if looks could kill, Maxwell would’ve died a thousand times over.
His smirk grew wider.
"Touched a nerve there, didn’t I? Your..."
"What do you want, Max?"
Brandon interrupted him, growing irritation on his exhausted face. Maxwell’s smirk turned a bit crooked at that.
"Now he is protecting him. You do remember what sort of crazy we’re dealing with here, right? What? You killed a few monsters and now you’re all..."
"Look."
Ryan rubbed his forehead frustratedly.
"We just came here from the gym, alright? We’ve all been through shit, and..."
He glanced at the bloodied floor.
"...I assume you have as well. Miles said that the pylon is here. We just need to know if it can help us. That and supplies."
Maxwell looked back at him, scanning the boy up and down as though just seeing him for the first time. Then, as though something clicked in his mind, he began speaking again, still in a low voice.
"Ah. Bryan, right?"
"It’s..."
"Bryan. Never really liked uptight fellows like you. I’m just greeting some friends, you know? I also don’t enjoy being interrupted. But, I suppose you do have a point."
His gaze slid off the boy and onto Miles, who’d been watching silently from the sidelines. He met Maxwell’s gaze head-on, looking impassively into the boy’s black eyes.
Maxwell studied him for a bit before glancing to the side at Jayce.
"Is this your guy?"
Jayce replied with a nod and a barely audible ’Yeah’.
He glanced at Miles, then turned his gaze away, just looking to the side as he replied to Maxwell.
With that, the blond boy gave a light nod, resting his hands on the crates in front of him. He tilted his head a little before speaking, eyes back on Ryan now.
"Fine. If you want to get straight to the point, I can get straight to it. The pylon is here, there is food here, and hell, there’s even a way out of this hellhole."
Ryan’s brows perked immediately.
"The..."
"But it isn’t free."
He frowned, brows coming down.
"What do you mean?"
Maxwell shrugged his shoulders.
"Everything’s got a price, you know. For this, I’m willing to take something you don’t even need. Your points. You weren’t using them anyway."
’The system points?’
Those were the only possible points he could’ve been referring to. The thought spurred a question, one that quietly left his mouth before he realized it.
"Points can be transferred?"
Maxwell smirked again at that, elbowing Jayce before speaking.
"Would you look at that, we have a genius on our hands."
The sarcasm practically dripped off his voice. Jayce stiffly looked at Miles, not saying anything.
Brandon scoffed lightly.
"That’s bullshit. Why don’t you let us check the pylon first, and we can come to a decision afterwards?"
The boy shook his head, glancing at him.
"Talking back to me, Brandon? Never thought you’d have it in you. But no can do, you have to transfer the points first. Though, I might let you keep yours if you join us. For old times’ sake."
Before Brandon could come up with a response, Morgan finally spoke up for the first time since entering the room.
His face grimaced as he spoke, trying to push through the pain.
"W-what nonsense. What gives you the right to make such demands? This... this is a school cafeteria, and under emergency situations everyone has a right to it. You can’t just..."
"Shut the fuck up, old man."
Maxwell shot him a glare but didn’t shout, still keeping his voice low and controlled. He continued.
"What do you think this is? The school is gone. Rules, society, that old world... none of it matters anymore, dumbass. Are you going to give me detention, or maybe call the damned cops? It’s pointless."
He paused there, a cold light entering his eyes.
"I will tell you now. You either give me those fucking points, or we kick you out of this room."
Maxwell made no moves, nor did he pull any weapons out as he said so. Yet he spoke with the certainty of a man with enough force to back up his statement, even as he stared at Grimm’s gun.
A tense silence settled in the room.
Miles kept his gaze solely on Jayce, even as the faces of those around him hardened in response. The boy looked anxious, his eyes darting between Maxwell and himself.
Catching Miles’s gaze for a moment, he paused. Then he let out a breath before gently placing a hand on Maxwell, right in time to stop him from pressing them further.
Maxwell glanced at him, then nodded slowly as though remembering something. He smiled again, though it didn’t reach his eyes.
"Right, where are my manners? Forgive me, I’ve been on edge with everything that’s happened so far. But we really can’t help without those points; we need them to activate the way out."
’Right.’
Miles didn’t trust his sudden change of attitude, and he doubted anyone in the group did either. Met with their silent, suspicious stares, Maxwell could only shrug before continuing.
"Fine. Don’t trust me. I’ll let one of you see it for yourselves."
Suddenly, Miles felt those dark eyes on him again.
"How about you, Miles?"