The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Chapter 30: Brad - Pull Back the Veil

“I’m sorry.” Brad said. He took a deep breath right after he said it. It was a truly difficult thing for him to say. Andrew just looked at him as if he was uninterested.

“About what?” Andrew asked. He seemed sincere, but Brad could detect a hint of sarcasm, as if Andrew was playing with him.

“For making you do something I was too afraid to do myself.” Brad said. Andrew looked at him, laughed, and then straightened his face.

“f*** you.” Andrew said. Cold, near emotionless. Brad was shocked, completely caught off guard.

“What did you say?” Brad asked, dumbfounded.

Andrew stood up, “Man, I said f*** you. f*** you for what happened to Zach, f*** you for bringing the horde down on us, f*** you for the barn, f*** you for being a shit leader, f*** you for being the shittiest leader we could have asked for at a time like this!” Andrew shouted. He stumbled ever so slightly as he did.

“I’m doing my best!” Brad shouted back, he tried to stay calm and still, but could feel his muscles clench up as he raised his voice. “Do you think you could do better?”

“I didn’t f***ing say that!” Andrew shouted, “But I don’t think you could get much f***ing worse!”

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!” Brad said. As he shouted his voice faltered. Andrew had struck a chord, and it was gonna be hard to keep retaliate.
“Well guess what? Guess what man? It did! So what are you gonna do? Get a good nights sleep, grab a beer, and wait for this all to blow over?” Andrew asked, mockingly, “I live everyday in fear for my groups lives, kids I didn’t give a shit about just a month ago I will now do anything to keep alive, but you can’t seem to give a shit about anyone here!” Andrew shouted, Brad was absolutely enraged at this point.

“You’d do anything, huh? Does anything include sitting on your bed, making no attempt to keep yourself clean, and being perma-drunk to deal with the depression of one terrible thing you had to do? Does that really sound like a way to keep kids alive? f***ing ask yourself, does it? If you really care so much for these kids, why do you selfishly take care of your own needs and feelings rather than theirs!” Brad shouted right back at Andrew. Andrew’s expression suddenly changed, he stumbled back a bit. Brad had hit something inside of Andrew, and he’d hit it hard. Brad didn’t want to be mean, he didn’t want to be the bad guy, but he had to keep pushing. “Criticize my leadership all you want, I’m just trying to do what’s best for my people. You, you can’t even do what’s best for your group. You’ve just let them free roam for the past three days while you became a mess of a person. These kids need you, Andrew. And I need you on my side. I’m not losing you too some bullshit like this. When you feel better, come talk to me, and we’ll get things sorted out.” Brad calmly said. Andrew collapsed back on to the bed, and Brad turned to leave. As he walked out the door to the porch, he heard the cap to another bottle twist off.