My king-Lestappen

11. Look at the past

When Max got back from the store he panicked, Charles was nowhere to be seen. 

'Fuck' Max thought, before yelling out Charles's name. "Charles?" Max ran towards the place they hid. "Charles, where are you?"

He looked a bit around before letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding. There was Charles, laying on the floor sleeping. He looks so peaceful, so beautiful. 

Max sat down next to Charles, hoping he didn't wake him up. He probably needs his sleep after these couple days of running. The only thing they did was running, worrying about their safety, not a moment of peace. 'I will get you back to the Castle, my Prince. I promise.' Max thought. 

Max opened up the water bottle he stole and took a sip. The cold water hit his throat and he directly felt a bit better. They really did not had enough to drink these last days. Max took out a banana from his pocket and peeled it open, taking a bite and slowly eating the rest, hoping it will fill him up more.

Max felt something move beside him, he looked down and saw Charles turning around closer to him. Charles had wrapped an arm around Max's leg and was resting his head on it. 

Max tried hard not to move away from the touch, to move away from him. 

Minutes went by and Charles had only moved closer and closer not leaving any space between them. 'He must be really tired' Max thought.

Max looked at the prince laying in his lap. His hair was falling over his face, his beautiful face, his mouth was sightly open and low snores were heard. It was a great sight. 

Max didn't want to wake him up, but the sky was getting darker and he knew that it was going to rain any moment. He would find it really great if they stayed a bit dry, so they didn't die from the cold. Because that won't really be great, all did he thought that himself. 

Just as he had thought, started the rain a bit. Little drops were falling down and it turned into a lot very quickly. Soon Max's blouse was fully see through.

The bodyguard felt Charles move as the rain touched him. Slowly Charles's eyes began to open.

"Why is it raining?" The prince asked.

"I don't know," Max answered "I didn't pay attention in the geography lessons."

Charles quickly came to the sense about how close he had moved towards the other man, and directly let lose of the bodyguards leg.

" Sorry," He said embarrassed "I was tired."

"Don't worry,  everyone is sometimes."

Charles got off the ground and swept off his pants. "Maybe we should look for a hotel we could stay in, so that we won't get cold tonight." he suggested.

"As much as I love that idea, we don't have any money left.  I forgot to take it with me when we left the room," Max said. "I am sorry."

"Okay, well what do we do now?"

Max stood up from the ground and gave some food to Charles. "Here, you can think better on a full stomach."

"Thanks." Charles took the banana from Max and ate it, rinsing it away with water. "I really needed that." He finish the fruit before trowing it away in a trash can.

"Wait, if we don't have money anymore, how did you get food?"

"Nothing is illegal if you don't get caught." Max answered  "You just have to run hard enough and don't get caught."

Charles looked at the man in front of him. "Well when we get back and have money again, we are going back to pay for this stuff."

"That sounds great, but that is basically giving yourself away." Max said "Hey remember me, yeah I am that guy that stole that food from you and ran away" he acted.

"I don't think they mind the money, we will give extra so you don't have to go too jail."

"Thanks for thinking about me, but i won't get caught. I have never been." Max thought back too all the times he did things that were not exactly legal. 'That were good times' He smiled thinking about them.

"You're telling me you did this more than once?" Charles was stunned. He couldn't believe that someone would do that. Things against the rules.

"It is part of the job. Or I play nice and I would have been dead on day one. Or I could change the rules a bit and survive. You tell me."

"I think you can play fair and still survive. Why would you have to do that?"

"Fair play and Survival don't go together, sir, " Max said. "Maybe you never had to worry about survival, but I did. I did things I regret, things  way worse than stealing but that is how I survived. How I stayed alive all those years."

While Max said that he thought back to his time in the army. All the people he had shot, hurt, killed.

As Max crawled through the trenches side by side with his fellow soldiers, the noise and chaos of battle assailed his senses. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as his training kicked in. He clutched his rifle tightly, ready to fight to the death if need be. 

Max could see the enemy soldiers advancing towards their position. He took cover behind a sandbag and peeked over the top. He could see their faces, twisted with hate and determination.

Max didn't hesitate; he knew what he had to do to survive. He grabbed his rifle and aimed carefully before firing a round. The enemy soldier fell to the ground.

Max saw their lifeless body bleeding out. He was disgusted by what he had done, but he knew he had made the right decision. 

The soldier shook his head, trying to stay focused and stave off the panic that threatened to engulf him. 

 Then, with a sudden burst of energy, he charged forward again. He aimed his rifle carefully at the enemy soldiers and fired a round. It hit its target, and the enemy soldier fell to the ground. Max didn't have time to celebrate. He immediately dove to the ground as a volley of gunfire erupted around him, kicking up dirt and dust. 

"Keep moving!" he yelled to his fellow soldiers as bullets whizzed above their heads. 

 Max's unit had been under constant attack for days, and they were running low on supplies. There was no time to rest or catch their breath. They had to keep moving, keep fighting against the enemy, and keep their spirits up. 

 As the day wore on, Max became more and more aware of his own mortality. Every step he took, every shot he fired, could be his last. He was filled with a sense of dread and resignation, but he refused to give up.