After finishing writing in his journal, Max went to the daily meeting. Their camp was located on the outskirts of a major city, so that everything needed to survive was close by. The city itself was in ruins due to extended fighting, but the buildings were mostly intact out here. The meeting was held in a former common room, which also doubled as a recreational and social hub whenever it wasn’t requisitioned for the assemblies.

I wonder what today’s argument is gonna be about, thought Max as he entered the building. After going inside, he sighed. It seemed he wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

“We’re running short of ammo again,” said Nigel. He was their combat specialist. Honestly he was just improvising, but then again, most of the others were too. He was the best person for the job though, given his basic military training. Nigel was probably the luckiest person of them all too, being able to avoid being drafted during the war despite his previous training. Either that or he could think for himself - so many people believed the propaganda and signed up just to die on the frontlines or during an air raid, fighting a pointless war that resulted in this.

“So stop using so much of it! I still don’t get why you’re so hell bent on keeping the surrounding area clear of any animals. It's not like we need more food and besides, you're constantly expanding the kill zone as if the only thing you're interested in is shooting,” retorted Sarah.

Those two always found an excuse to argue. It didn't even matter that they were literally living in a post-apocalyptic world. It could be a way to escape the reality around them, but Max wished they wouldn't go at it during meetings.

Might as well stop them before they waste any more time, he thought. Gathering his courage, he announced, "We're having the same argument every day. Can we get to more important matters already?"

The room fell silent. Max rarely spoke during meetings, and almost never was this direct. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever stopping a conversation like that before.

After a few seconds, Sarah spoke in an irritated tone, "So, do you have anything more important to talk about?"

Everyone in the room waited expectantly. It was obvious that nobody had an actual topic, and they didn't think Max had one either.

Well, there’s no going back now. With that thought in mind he gathered his thoughts and after a moment started speaking. “I was thinking about that lab we raided. We may have to go there again.”

“How can you say that after two of us just died there?!” shouted Victor, not giving Max any chance to continue, “What could we possibly get out of going in that death trap again? Apart from more dead bodies that is.” Victor was the rearguard during the raid. Supposedly he saw something when he was getting out of the building, but no one else could confirm it. The deaths didn’t help his paranoia at all. Not that I blame him, that place was something else.

Max tried to retake the initiative, “I know the risk. I was there too,” He raised a hand before Victor could interrupt again, “But I still think it’s the best thing we can do right now. We might all be terminally ill at this point and not even know about it. I know it’s a risk, but staying here is no different, and if I’m gonna die anyway I’d rather know why.”

Stolen novel; please report.

This got people thinking. Until now everyone either assumed that nothing would happen or deliberately didn’t think about the possibility, but after Max pointed it out they had to face it. This was not as obvious a decision as they had initially thought. To Max’s surprise quite a few people were arguing in his favour, and it seemed like there would be an actual discussion on the topic.

The argument went on for a better part of an hour, with people supporting either option. In the end neither side could convince the other of their course of action, but it seemed like the general consensus was to not do anything about it. Disappointed, but not entirely surprised, Max left the room and headed back to his place to sleep.

As luck would have it, the next morning he woke up with a headache and minutes after breakfast had to run to the toilet to avoid spilling the contents of his stomach all over the floor. While recovering from the predicament, he started thinking about yesterday’s meeting. He meant what he said - he’d rather die trying to find out what’s wrong than sit here and wait for his demise.

With that thought at the back of his mind, he started preparing for the journey. He briefly thought about inviting others, but quickly dismissed it - he couldn’t add another uncertain factor to an already risky plan. This meant he would have only himself to rely on, but in the end it was still the safer option.

There weren’t many items he needed to take, and his equipment boiled down to food, water and a weapon. Standard for pretty much any longer trek really. Weapons were arguably very valuable in these times, but still way easier to get than, say, medicine. If Max was careful, he would be able to get everything and not raise any suspicion - the hardest thing he would need to do is give a convincing reason why he needed to go out for an entire day.

As luck would have it, he had the perfect excuse today - he needed to clear his mind after yesterday’s discussion. What made it more convincing is that it wasn’t an outright lie either, since the meeting did give him some things to think about.

Excuse made up, he started packing food and water and headed to the armory. Luckily the person in charge of the armory was Nigel, who didn’t mind giving guns to anyone as long as they were returned at the end of the day.

Sarah did have a point, he really did seem like someone whose favourite pastime was shooting.

“Hi,” started Max awkwardly.

“What’s up?” Came the reply from Nigel.

“So uh… I can’t get yesterday’s meeting out of my head. I was thinking that going out for some time might help a bit.”

“Huh, never thought I’d hear that from you. So, I guess you’re here to get a gun?”

“Yes. I don’t know how long it will take, but I should be back today.”

“Alright… I take it you’re going alone then?” asked Nigel with a suspicious expression on his face.

At this point Max started getting suspicious too. Was all that standard procedure or was Nigel onto something?

“Yeah, I just need to be on my own for a while,” he said, hoping it would be enough to convince him.

“Well then, just make sure to not go to that lab,” advised Nigel with a conspiratorial smirk.

Max froze for a second, then deflated. “Is it that obvious?” he asked dejectedly.

“It’s only been a couple of hours since the meeting, you almost never go out on your own, and to top it all off, you request a gun even though you hate violence. I think it’s pretty obvious you’re up to something,” explained Nigel. After a second, he added with a smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Thanks. Hopefully I’ll have some answers when I get back,” answered Max, relieved. He may have failed to hide his goal, but it seemed to work out in the end.

After getting a pistol, Max double checked his inventory. Satisfied with its current state, he bid his goodbyes to Nigel and headed out to the lab through the ruined city. One way or another, this was going to end soon.