Users

by Stacy Buck

  "Get in the pit."

  "Yes, sir." Barber climbed down into the pit and stood across from Carter.

  That's a good dog, Carter thought, and he almost laughed aloud at the absurdity of Barber and Walt's relationship, but he thought better of it at the last second.

  "All right. You two ready to fight," Walt said.

  Carter's gaze shot from Barber, to Walt, back to the kid, then back up at the old man.

  "Wait, what?" he asked incredulously. Then he did laugh aloud. "You've got to be kidding right? You want me to fight a kid?" Carter asked.

  "I asked if you're ready to fight," Walt said.

  "Old man, you're crazy. I'm not going to beat up some poor kid just for you're sick enjoyment."

  Carter looked to the other Users for help, but they were all straight faced or smiling as if this was a perfectly normal thing for someone to do. Barber on the other hand wore a grimace. The kid's fists were put at his face protectively, and he paced back and forth like a wild animal in a cage.

  "This is crazy. You're all crazy."

  "If you don't fight then you're not training. If you're not training then you're not learning to defend yourself. If you're not going to learn to defend yourself you might as well walk out that gate, find Alaric, and get it over with," Walt said. "You might as well let him kill you and be done with it."

  Carter was really beginning to hate this old man.

  Without another word of protest, Carter slowly brought his hands up to his face and began to circle Barber. He didn't want to pummel the poor kid. He decided he would go easy on him.

  "Hey kid, why do they call your Barber anyway? That can't be your real name," Carter said bantering a little before he put the kid down.

  Barber just stared back like a pit bull eying a piece of fresh meat. When Barber didn't answer, Carter closed in on him. The kid was within his reach. Carter cocked back his right arm.

  Barber smirked as he bent his hand down to reveal a nasty spiked bone which emerged through his wrist at the backside of his hand, one from each arm.

  "What the fuck!" Carter stated more than asked.

  Barber plunged down with a nasty jab, sticking the spiked barb right into Carter's thigh. He didn't scream, not at first anyway. Carter just stared down at his leg and the bone that was not his, sticking in one side of his thigh and clear out the other.

  Barber jerked back, pulling the barb from Carter's leg.

  "That's why," Barber said, but Carter hardly registered the boy's words.

  He fell to the floor of the sandy pit, bleeding out both sides of his leg, and howling in pain. Carter tried to get back to his feet, but his leg wouldn't support his weight, and he dropped back down immediately.

  "All right. Get him out of there," Walt said. "I said get him out of there!" The old man shouted when no one immediately moved to help.

  Black spots appeared on the edge of Carter's vision. He was going to pass out from the pain, but not before a lanky Mover with long hair jumped down into the pit and held out a hand, lifting Carter from the ground. He floated in midair up and out of the sand pit with the Mover in tow. He was completely weightless, and had often wondered what it would be like to fly, but not like this. Not with his blood raining down on the grass behind him, leaving a trail of crimson even an unskilled Tracker could follow.

  "We got a live one for ya doc," the User said as they entered the big house through a door in the downstairs. There was a complete medical facility in the General's garage. Carter would have been asking why in the hell they have all this medical equipment if he wasn't so grateful to see a doctor right at that moment. An elderly man, who looked twenty years the General's senior got up from his desk and hobbled across the room.

  "Yes, set him down on the bed," the doctor said.

  "No problem." Using his powers of telekinesis the mover set him down gently on the hospital bed.

  Carter blacked out before his head even hit the pillow.

  #

  Part 6

  Prologue 6

  Carter hobbled up the concrete steps. The bandage wrapped around his leg was so tight he could hardly bend his knee. The doctor had sewn the gaping wound in his thigh shut. It took over forty stitches, and still he needed to have his thigh bound with gauze to keep the seeping blood from staining his pant leg.

  The halogen lights inside the Elks Club were blindingly bright compared to the dreary overcast sky outside. Outdated posters for old sober events hung sporadically from the walls like the world's worst wall papering job. Chairs lined almost every available inch of floor space in the cramped room. Vince sat in his spot at the head of a long table in the center of the room.

  "What the hell happened to you?" Vince asked as Carter entered the room and took the first seat he could find.

  "You don't want to know," Carter said throwing a hateful glare at Barber, who sat across the room smiling innocently back at him.

  "Ooookay..., well as you can see it's a full house tonight," Vince said starting the meeting.

  He was right. The room was packed, leaving Carter feeling more than a little anxious. He fidgeted with his fingers, rubbing them back and forth.

  "We've got some announcements tonight," Cody said, sitting at the head of the table next to Vince.

  The two men did almost everything together, and Carter assumed the two were lovers, although he didn't know for certain.

  "Judy is getting her one month chip tonight," Vince said.

  Everyone clapped and cheered her on as Judy walked proudly to the head of the table to get her chip.

  "And Bobby's getting his six month chip." Vince ran down the list.

  There were five members of the group hitting significant anniversary's today. The men and women held onto their chips like a badge of honor, and why not? They had practically stolen that extra time straight from death's hands. That's the way it felt for Carter at least. Every day he survived was another day he probably shouldn't have and probably didn't deserve to.

  "With the formalities out of the way, who wants to go first," Vince said.

  Carter was about to raise his hand. He needed to vent. He wanted to go off on Barber, Walt, and his entire stupid compound, but before he could move a muscle, Walt was up on his feet.

  "I'm Walt and I'm an addict," the general said.

  "Hi Walt," everyone in the room but Carter said.

  "As most of you know, I was a Sniffer for the military. What you don't know are some of the things that I did," Walt said. "It was in Afghanistan. We had a lead on a pack of insurgents. Special forces managed to seize a truckload of arms. They brought me in to do my thing." Walt paused, took a deep breath, and steadied himself before continuing. "I saw it all. One sniff and I saw where the guns came from and who had been holding them. The trail went right into the mountains and I led them there," Walt said. "Men...women and children hiding in some hole in the ground...it was a massacre. They killed them all, every last one of them."

  Carter swallowed hard.

  "That's when I turned to the drink. I tried to drown my guilt," Walt said. "I haven't Sniffed since that day. Not once."

  Carter was conflicted. He was relieved that his secret was safe from Walt. If he never used his Sniff powers, then he would never find out his secret, that he was only here to protect his own skin, but his relief came at the cost of another mans well being, and that he didn't like.

  Walt slumped down into his seat and stared hard at Carter from across the table.

  #

  Chapter 12

  "Walk with me," Walt said.

  It was late. Most of the other users had already gone to bed, but Carter couldn't sleep. He just kept thinking about the story Walt had told at the meeting earlier that day. Sure, Carter had his own skeletons in his closet, but nothing like what Walt had experienced. His wounds were more...personal. Carter scratched at one of the long scars running across his back as he stood to join Walt. He grunted past the pain in his leg.

  "Where are we going," C
arter asked.

  The compound was like a ghost town. Almost all the lights were out in the cabins and no one else was to be seen, having gone to bed hours before.

  "On a little tour of the compound."

  They strolled across the yard and over to the cabins. The light of the harvest moon illuminated the grounds of the compound. Walt wore a heavy jacket against the cold that set in every fall in Seattle, but Carter was fine in a T-shirt. His super heated heart kept him warm against even the most bitter of fall nights.

  "You see that one there?" Walt asked pointing to a nearby cabin. "That's Evan's cabin. He's the Mover that lifted you up out of the pit yesterday, been sober for almost a year. He's about your age too. And in that one is Lucy. She's a Blinder, one of a handful that keep this place shadowed from the outside world."

  "Yeah, so what?" Carter asked as he struggled to keep up with Walt despite the general moving at a leisurely pace. His leg ached and he was in no mood for an evening stroll.

  "Shut up and listen for a minute," Walt demanded. "That one there. That's Barber's. Barely sixteen years old and already an addict. I found him on the streets, brought him here, and got him cleaned up."

  "What about his parents?" Carter asked.

  "What parents? The kids been in and out of foster care since as far back as he can remember. He doesn't even remember what his real parents look like." As they passed the cabin, Carter could see Barber through the light shining in the window, sound asleep.

  "Some times having no parents is better than having real parents," Carter said making air quotes when he said real.

  "That bad huh?" Walt asked.

  "It wasn't all bad. Just mostly," Carter said and he scratched one of the numerous scars that ran across his back again. Just the thought of his parents made them itch.

  "The point I'm trying to make is we've all got our demons." Walt turned to look him in the eye as he spoke. "What matters is how we battle them. We're all fighting our own personal wars, and you've got a hell of a battle ahead of you."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Alaric. He's going to be gunning for you, and you can only hide for so long."

  "Look, I appreciate you helping me here, but I don't need any life advice or a lecture right now," Carter said.

  "You see that cabin right there? The last one on the left." Walt pointed at a cabin set back against the fence, nestled in the corner away from the rest of the cabins. "That's where old Dan lives."

  "Lives? You mean like he never goes home?"

  "He never gets better, so this is his home," Walt said.

  The two men locked eyes before Carter turned back to stare at the cabin.

  "What's his story?" Carter asked finally somewhat intrigued

  "Who, Dan? He's a Scorcher like you," Walt said nonchalantly, but he might as well have dropped a bomb on Carter's head.

  "Another Scorcher," he gasped.

  "Yes sir, and a down right mean one too. Grumpy old bastard has been living here since I opened the place. He keeps to himself mostly," Walt said.

  "I didn't know there was another Scorcher in the entire state, let alone staying right next door." Carter peaked into the cabin window. There was a reading lamp or something on, glowing inside the cabin. Much to Carter's surprise, Dan appeared in the window, staring out at him. The man was old, really old. The skin on his face was leathery and hung from his skull like curtains. A long scar ran down the side of his face from eyebrow to chin. He was withered and wrinkly. The guy looked like a walking Halloween costume and it scared the shit out of Carter. He diverted his gaze to his feet, unable to look the old man in the face.

  "Scorchers are one of the rarest of all users, but Dan's been a Seattle native for most of his life," Walt said noticing Carter's obvious discomfort. "You two should get to know one another."

  "Fat chance of that," Carter said under his breath.

  "What's that?" Walt asked.

  "I said, good chance of that," Carter lied.

  How was he going to get to know a man that scared the shit out of him? Carter wasn't even sure what scared him more, the man's appearance, or the that he may have just been staring his own future in the face.

  *****

  The next morning Carter sat upright on his bed, his shirt and pants on, his shoes tied tight, and his hat upon his head. The sun had not yet begun to rise over the horizon, but he was ready. The previous day had shaken him to his core. First a man he thought he hated had bared his soul in front of dozens of people. Then that same man revealed another Scorcher was living just a few cabins away from where he now sat. He had seen a glimpse of his own future, and it wasn't pretty.

  When Walt finally rang the morning bell, Carter jumped off his bed and ran out the door. He hit the yard and lined up. He was first in line for exercises this morning. Carter was shocked, he was certain that Barber, the little kiss ass, would be the first to arrive. Many moments passed and still no one had shown up for the morning exercises. He turned from the big house and back to the cabins to find the other Users hanging about the yard. Some talked over a cup of coffee, while others joked and laughed between bites of cereal.

  "What the hell is going on here?" Carter asked as Barber strolled casually past on his way to bathrooms.

  "It's Monday," Barber said as if that should explain it all.

  "So?"

  "So we don't do exercises on Monday."

  "Then why isn't everyone still in bed?" he asked.

  "Monday we play capture the flag. Just as soon as the sun comes up," Barber answered.

  "Will someone get me a fucking itinerary for this place? Jesus." He stomped off over to the big house to grab some chow, but before he could get through the door, out came the general.

  "Come on. The sun will be up soon. Time to play some games," Walt said. The old man was dressed in camouflage from head to toe.

  "But I was just going to grab a bite to eat." Carter pointed to the massive spread covering the table inside the big house. There was cereals of all kinds, bright red apples, oranges, and he even caught a whiff of some slow cooked bacon.

  "No time for eating. You wanna eat, you should've gotten up earlier. Now it's time to play," Walt said.

  Carter was about to protest, but Walt turned him physically and pushed him toward the yard.

  "Gather up now." Walt's deep booming voice carried across the yard. The users fell in line as Walt led them out back behind the cabins and into a forest of thick pines. "I want you to split up into your usual teams. Carter you're on Barber's team."

  "Oh, great," Carter said sarcastically. The two teams formed up with Carter following Barber and his team to the left, while the other team went to the right. They entered a two story makeshift fort made of two by fours and plywood.

  "Our flag is up the stairs, and the same goes for their flag," Barber explained. "But with your bum leg you might want to stay back and just play defense this time."

  "Yeah, thanks. I'll take that into consideration. Sound advice coming from the guy who did the damage."

  "Hey man, you left yourself wide open," Barber said.

  "So when do we get the guns?"

  "Guns? What guns?" Barber looked at him like he was a real asshole.

  "Aren't we using paint ball guns so we know who's in and who's out?"

  "No, we aren't using paint ball guns. We're using our powers," Barber said as if he was the dumbest person on earth.

  The kid was really getting on his nerves and his teeny bopper know it all attitude was wearing his patience thin. Carter was a few seconds away from shoving a fireball up his ass, but before he could act on his impulse a blaring horn echoed through the woods.

  "That's it. Let's go." One of the others, a dark haired Screamer that Carter recognized from the meetings as Rick said.

  The team moved as a unit. One by one they exited the fort and took cover behind the bushes and trees just outside the fort.

  "Go," Barber said motioning for Rick to lead the way past a bramble of ferns a
nd blackberry bushes.

  They rounded the bush and were gone from sight, disappearing behind the thick undergrowth of the forest.

  Carter waited back as instructed. His pulse pounded as he called forth the fires within him, just in case he needed them. The lava flowing through his veins was uncomfortable to say the least, but so was a screech from a Screamer or a blast from a Mover. Howls of pain erupted from over the bushes and Carter couldn't tell whose team it was coming from. The distinct crackle of wood exploding off in the distance followed by a tree toppling over and crashing through the dense forest.

  He took a deep breath. These guys weren't fucking around.

  The bushes that blocked his view shook as a wave of sound washed over them. The scream was so loud Carter's lungs vibrated in his chest. He cupped his ears with his hands to keep his ears drums from bursting. Then, as fast as it had come, it stopped. Replaced by raucous laughing.

  "Wooh wee! Boy that sure got'em." A voice hollered from beyond his sight.

  "Fuck this," Carter said.

  Hobbling over to the bushes, he bit his lip to keep from screaming out as he stubbed his toe on a upraised root. He kept silent though, refusing to give away his position. If these bastard's wanted a fight, he was going to give it to them.

  Their foot falls were heavy. They weren't even trying to hide their approach. They must believe that they had already taken out his entire team. He had the drop on them. He was sure of it. Carter held perfectly still, not even daring to breathe as the other team approached. A twig broke beneath one of their steps right on the other side of the bush.

  Carter leapt out from behind the bush as far as his gimpy leg would allow, catching them by surprise. A trio of men with bewildered looks on their faces froze in place.

  "Eat shit," Carter said as he threw a fireball from each hand.

  The spheres of fire were aimed perfectly, heading to each side to take out the man on the far right and left, leaving just the one in the middle to be handled. But the man in the middle, a wiry fellow with long blond hair, reacted at the last second. It was Evan, the Mover.