by Stacy
Carter did his best to remain as cool as possible in his father’s presence and finally, about the same time he could stand no more of Jack’s snake charmer discourse, he rose to leave. The awkwardness crowded the room and made Carter claustrophobic. He headed toward the exit, with Barber and Jack following close behind. They chatted softly and as they reached they door, Jack offered future legal assistance should he need any. Saying his goodbyes to Barber he turned to Carter and motioned for him to escort him back to his car.
The walk to his vehicle was short and silent. The night had closed in and the Compound lights twinkled like scattered stars, which were not visible through the canopy of clouds above.
“Well, I guess I’ll see ya ‘round” was all Carter could say, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand and looking to the ground.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jack offered his condolences. “I can see Walt meant a lot to you, Carter.”
Jack leaned in and hugged Carter, catching him off guard. “I love ya” he stated as though there was no dissonance between them.
His casual disregard of the past just pissed Carter off more, but he knew that the fight wasn’t even worth it and conceded.
“I love you too, drive safe.”
Chapter 14
They had not seen the sun in many days, and this bitter cold morning was no different.
“Everyone line up,” Carter shouted to the Users of the Compound as if they hadn’t done this a hundred times before.
It was the ass crack of dawn, which meant morning exercises, and Carter had every intention of running the Compound just as Walt had for years. That meant Mondays they would play capture the flag, and every other morning they would do their exercises. It was important, especially for the newly sober, to get in the habit of getting off your ass and doing something. It also helped to work out whatever poisons were coursing through their veins. At the very least they need to work up a good sweat. Some of the newer members had toxins coming out their pores. Carter could smell it on them.
Carter called out to them, counting with each sit up, push up, or jumping jack as they went through their routine.
“What’s the matter Evan?” Carter asked, noticing the lackluster effort the Mover was putting into the push ups they were doing.
Evan was barely going half way down and was lagging behind the rest of the group in number of push ups completed.
“Nothing,” Evan answered.
“Then what’s up with the half ass job you’re doing?” Carter meant to make an example of Evan before others got the idea it was okay to slack off on his watch.
“I’m tired.”
“Oh, you’re tired. Well are you too tired for a round in the pit?”
“Come on, man. It’s too early for that shit,” Evan groaned.
“How come you were never tired when Walt was running the exercises?” Carter asked. “Get in the pit,” Carter said before Evan could offer a response.
“With you?” Evan asked.
There was a hopeful tone in Evan’s voice as if he wanted the chance to take a shot at Carter, but he wasn’t going to give Evan the satisfaction. No, he was going to pit him against someone else, and he didn’t have to spend much time thinking about who it was.
“How about we see what the new guy can do?” Carter asked. “Ryker, you’re up.”
He led the way over to the pit with the rest of the Users hot on his heels. This was the first fight under Carter’s watch and no one was going to miss this. Evan was a powerful Mover, but there was a buzz of anticipation regarding Ryker and what he could do.
Carter wasn’t even sure what kind of User Ryker was now that he thought about it. The pair entered the sandy pit and the rest of the Users circled around them like a knife fight was about to happen between the Jets and the Sharks. A round of encouragement went up from the crowd for Ryker, cheering him on.
“You got this Evan,” Lucy, a Blinder who was particularly fond of Evan, said.
Evan looked up at her and nodded, despite the overwhelming support for Ryker from most everyone else.
“You ready Greenie?” Evan asked, referring to him being the new guy in camp.
“I’m ready, but are you?” Ryker asked with a smirk.
They sized one another up, circling each other around the pit. Evan had a good half a foot height advantage on Ryker and with Evan’s lanky arms, a substantial reach advantage as well, but in a User fight, that didn’t always spell victory. In a User fight, the smallest woman could easily beat the largest man if she had honed her powers to a level above her opponent.
“Five bucks on the new guy,” Barber said coming up to stand next to Carter at the edge of the sandy pit.
“You really want to throw away all that money already?” Carter asked. “Your on.”
Evan and Ryker charged one another, but Evan pulled up short, blasting Ryker with a wicked uppercut that was backed by his Mover powers. Evan’s fist didn’t even physically connect with Ryker’s face, but an invisible forcefield surrounded Evan’s fist like a boxing glove made of psychic energy. Ryker was knocked back on his ass, and it looked like the fight was going to be over before it had even started, but there was more to this pretty boy than Carter had imagined. Ryker was slow to get to his feet, but he dug his heels into the sand and got back into a fighting stance. Evan, instead of jumping on Ryker, waited patiently for him to find his bearings.
“You okay?” Evan asked sarcastically.
“I’m fine. How about you big guy?” Ryker asked, but he had to straighten his jaw with his hand.
“Just making sure. You look a little wobbly.”
“Enough talking!” Carter shouted.
“Well, you heard the man,” Ryker said. “Let’s get it on.”
Evan burst into motion, swinging his arms, and sending the sand at his feet hovering above the ground. The air around the pit tingled with energy as the wave of mental power built within Evan. Carter almost felt bad for what was about to happen to Ryker.
Then Ryker simply extended a hand in Evan’s direction. In the blink of an eye ice shot from Ryker’s hand and Evan was frozen stiff, encased in a layer of solid ice. The ice was form fitted to Evan’s body, following his every curve and sinking into every crevice, turning him into an Evan popsicle. Evan looked ridiculous with his arms extended to his sides, his eyes wide and his mouth open.
“Holy shit!” Barber shouted. “That was awesome!”
The rest of the Users, including Carter, stood stunned, nearly as frozen as Evan. None of them had ever seen…whatever it was that Ryker was. He must have been the first of his kind, a User able to use ice.
“A little help over here,” Ryker said motioning to Evan.
“Who me?” Carter asked.
“You think you could thaw him out before he suffocates please?” Ryker asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Carter threw fire from his palm like a flamethrower, melting the ice encasing Evan’s body. Moments later, Evan fell to his hands and knees, gasping for breath and drenched from head to toe in cold water, but was otherwise no worse for the wear.
“What the hell happened,” Evan asked once he had regained his ability to speak.
“He froze you in a layer of ice,” Carter answered.
“He can do that?” Evan asked in astonishment.
“Apparently.” Carter’s suspicions that there was more to Ryker than meets the eye was confirmed.
He was more than just a pretty face, much more. Making the situation worse, was the fact that Ryker’s powers appeared to be the exact opposite of Carters. Carter had to assume that their powers would essentially cancel one another out, but he wasn’t eager to find out, just in case Ryker’s powers were more powerful than his own.
“Did you see that?” Barber was like a child at a magic show. “The guy is an Icer!”
“A what?” Carter asked.
“An Icer. I just came up with it,” Barber said proudly.
“I think we can come up wit
h a better name than that,” Carter said, but Barber wasn’t listening.
Barber ran up to Ryker and extended a hand to help pull him out of the pit.
“Thanks,” Ryker said taking Barber’s hand.
Carter could only watch as Ryker led the way with Barber following close behind, asking him all sorts of questions about the man’s powers. This was going to be a problem.
*****
“Thanks for bringing me along,” Barber said as they crossed from one empty alleyway into another.
“No problem. I could use the back up anyway,” Carter said as he sank into a nearby shadow.
“For what? We haven’t seen any action tonight,” Barber said while tightening the strings on his hood to shield his face from the bitter cold. “It’s too damn cold for anyone to be out committing a crime.”
Carter couldn’t deny the fact that the streets were almost entirely empty. There was the occasional homeless person asleep on a bench or in an abandoned doorway, but overall the city was like a ghost town. He hadn’t brought Barber out here to really help him fight crime anyway, he just wanted to get Barber alone, which had become nearly impossible back at the Compound. It seemed as though every time Carter turned around, Ryker was there, haunting his every move and spending more and more time with Barber.
“You never know when something big is going to happen.” Carter spoke in vague terms.
Carter had to keep Barber close. The young man seemed infatuated with Ryker, and Carter didn’t like it one bit.
“What made you change your mind?” Barber asked.
“About what?” Carter asked.
He was playing dumb, he knew exactly what Barber was talking about, but Carter didn’t want to come right out and say it.
“About bringing me on patrol with you.”
“I was wrong. You need the experience. If you’re going to run the Compound someday, you need to face real life obstacles too,” Carter lied.
Carter darted from shadow to shadow back and forth through the alley, with Barber following his lead. They took a brief respite behind the cover of a dumpster full of foul smelling garbage, thrown out by the restaurant that occupied the building’s front. A rat scurried past their feet, stopped, and looked up at them as if they were bothering it before disappearing through a hole in the side of the building.
“Oh, that’s gross,” Barber said.
“No shit.”
“Have you even busted any drug dealers since we took down the factory producing the Pow?” Barber asked.
“No. I haven’t seen any real shit going down since then,” Carter answered.
He didn’t even bother with the guys he saw selling weed or other small time drugs. While he wasn’t exactly excited for them, Carter didn’t consider weed or mushrooms to be of any real harm to the city, so he left those guys to go about their business.
“So what have you been doing out here night after night?” Barber asked.
“Honestly? Sometimes nothing. Sometimes I just come out and sit on a rooftop in the rain. Other times I stop a car jacking or a robbery. There’s more to crime in this city than just drugs.” Carter leaned up against the wall and stretched his legs.
“Well it seems like all you focus on at times,” Barber said.
“Drugs have had a hugely negative effect on my life. I’m either doing them, or I’m fighting against them. Either way, its a war,” Carter said. “I’ve tried to ignore them in the past, but that just feeds my demons. If I don’t face them head on, they always sneak up and bite me on the ass.”
Carter was laying his soul bare for Barber to see. He wasn’t sure if that would strengthen their relationship or scare Barber away. He hoped for the former.
*****
They returned back home from their patrol just in time for the morning exercises.
“You’re late,” Evan said as Barber and Carter hopped out of the rickety old truck.
“We arrived just in time,” Carter argued.
“Whatever,” Evan said flippantly.
Carter yawned. He was exhausted from the night’s patrol.
“Why don’t you run the drills this morning,” Carter said to Evan.
“Me? Are you serious?” Evan asked.
Everyone was lined up, nearly fifty strong, waiting not so patiently to start.
“Sure, why no-” Carter stopped mid sentence. From the corner of his eye, he could make out Barber greeting Ryker. The two men clapped hands in greeting. Ryker wore a big smile, then he laughed at something Barber said before scooting over to make room for Barber to join him in line.
“Nevermind,” Carter said. “Get back in line.”
Evan wore a puzzled expression at Carter’s sudden change of mind. But Carter wasn’t about to leave Barber alone with Ryker. Carter rubbed his weary eyes. It was going to be a long day.
Chapter 15
Something burned at Carter’s nostrils as he slept. It had a thick, pungent smell he knew well. Despite the familiarity, he awoke startled. He immediately searched the surrounding area for some sign that he had caught fire while asleep, but there was no glowing fire, just a dark room.
“Smoke?” he asked still half asleep.
He yawned, sucking in a lung full of smog. Carter coughed hard. “Smoke!”
In the darkness, he threw off his blanket and jumped out of bed.
“Fire!” Screams erupted from beyond the big house walls.
“Doc! Doc!” Carter burst out of his bedroom, into the living room, and right through Doc’s door.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” the weary eyed Doc said sitting up in bed.
Much to Carter’s relief the old man was wearing his PJ’s. He cringed at the thought of what he would have just seen had Doc been one of those naked sleepers.
“Fire! We’ve gotta go!”
Carter rushed to Doc’s bedside and pulled the old man from his bed. Together, they rushed across the hardwood floor of the living room and to the dining room door. Carter grabbed the door’s handle and, with his near impervious fire protection, the heat permeating off the handle didn’t even register with him. Flames arched around the door’s edges before Carter even had the door fully opened.
“Get back!” Carter shouted as he pushed Doc behind him and took the brunt of the blazing inferno that used to be dining room.
“Quick, down the stairs,” Doc said. “Just pray the fire has not spread to the houses lower levels.” They ran down the stairs and into Doc’s office. Luckily, there was no patients occupying the hospital bed currently, and the room appeared fire free. Doc was first to exit through the office door and move out into the yard.
“Oh, no!” Doc said turning to face the house.
“What? How bad is it?” Carter asked. His head spun around to get a good look at the house. “Oh, shit!”
It was bad. Really bad. Half the big house was going up in flames. The kitchen, through the hall, and all the way into the dining room was ablaze. Fire spouted from holes burned in the roof and out the windows that had been shattered by the biting flames.
“Do something,” Doc said.
“Like what?” Carter asked.
“I’ve got this!” Ryker came seemingly out of nowhere wearing nothing, but a pair of boxer shorts. The man was even more impressive to look at in the nude. It made Carter’s blood boil, but at that moment he had bigger things to worry about. Ice shot from Ryker’s hands, turning to water in midair from the intense heat coming off the house. Ryker got right up next to the kitchen window and blasted ice into the house. Steam rose in wisps off of Ryker’s icy skin. Black smoke from the smoldering flames billowed from every opening and as quickly as it had all started, the fire was out. Within seconds, Ryker had completely put out the fire.
By now, the entirety of the Compound’s occupants had gathered on the lawn to watch Ryker put out the blaze. They cheered him on, all of them, except for Carter.
“How did this happen?” Barber asked coming up to stand next to
Carter.
“I don’t know,” Carter answered. “But I’m going to find out.”
*****
The sun rose early for Carter that morning, and its shine blinded his sensitive eyes that were so accustomed to the marine layer of gray clouds that seemed to constantly hover over Seattle protecting it’s inhabitants from bright orb. The dew covered grass glistened in the sunlight, reflecting like thousands of tiny little mirrors on the ground. Doc and Carter had taken up residence in a pair of unoccupied cabins. Luckily, a couple of Users had just recently left, leaving vacancy for those displaced from the big house.
“Nice day,” Barber said. “Even if half the house is burned down.” Unfortunately for Carter, the house was one of the only objects shaded by the nearby trees and he could clearly see the burned out husk of dining room and kitchen. Red hot coals still smoldered and smoke rose in wisps from the roof.
“Very funny. You realize that’s your house right?” Carter had to squint just to make out Barber’s silhouette against the sunlight. Blinded by the sun, Carter couldn’t tell if Barber was smiling or grimacing at that moment.
“No, shit sherlock. I’ve had the house for a whole two days and you’re already trying to burn it down.”
“This isn’t funny. Someone set that fire. They could have killed me and Doc,” Carter said in all seriousness.
“Are you sure you just didn’t leave the burner on or something?” Barber asked.
“I’m sure. This was arson. That fire was intentional”
“Who would set the big house on fire?”
“I don’t know…Ryker maybe,” Carter said.
“Are you serious? Ryker? No way!” Barber shouted.
“Keep your voice down,” Carter said looking over his shoulder to make sure no one had overheard their conversation.
The rest of the Users had skipped their morning exercises, and were busy gutting out the house. They boarded up the holes that had burned through to the outside with fresh plywood. It’s bright wood was a stark contrast to the charred structure.