Infused (Book 2 of The Pioneers Saga)

by William Stadler

  Gardiv picked up the mug. The foreign particles mocked him as they bobbled on the peaks of the waves. He closed his eyes and inhaled, bracing himself for the inevitable. In two swallows, he gulped down the toxic fluid. The flavor wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, but the aftertaste was horrendous. The tang of rusted metal and rotten eggs had merged together. He was sure that the water left a slimy film on his tongue. He spat into the cup, and sure enough, his saliva was discolored and murky, strung together in one long, continuous stream. What had he just put into his body?

  He wiped his mouth and looked at the old man. The old man was laughing. Howling laughing, actually. “What’s so funny?” Gardiv asked, expecting the worse.

  “You! You stupid idiot!”

  Gardiv jumped to his feet and grabbed the cell bars, shaking and banging them. “What did you have me do?”

  The man was laughing so hard that he couldn’t say the words. His tongue hung out between his missing teeth. He coughed a few times, barely managing to catch his breath. “You really are gullible, kid. How old are you? Twenty-four? Twenty-five? How did you ever get to be this stupid? You’re in for the worst feeling of your life now.” The man was still laughing, as he slid against the wall of his cell, holding his chest.

  Gardiv kicked the bars. He punched through them. His knuckles cracked. He barely felt the pain. Then he calmed down and threw himself on the floor in aggravation. Why did he listen to that man? If he ever got out, that old man would surely be dead.

  =====

  A few hours passed, and the vigor in his bones drained into minor aches. His muscles felt weak, and cutting pains raced through his head. His joints squeaked when he moved. His cell was warm, but he felt so cold. There were no blankets nor were there any extra clothes. Each breath was followed by a violent coughing fit. Phlegm coated the back of his throat.

  When he sneezed, blood sprayed into his hand. What was happening to him? His stomach tightened, and he squinted his eyes while he crawled around on all fours. No matter where he moved, he couldn’t escape the agony. He puked all over his hands. The sour smell of stomach acid diffused throughout his cell. His body trembled. His eyes and skin warped into a pale yellow.

  Weeks passed, and he only wished that he could stop throwing-up. Physicians came by to check on him, and he wasn’t getting better.

  “Just kill me already!” Gardiv yelled, holding his stomach. His breath was rancid from the vomiting. His once well-built frame was now fading into meat and bones.

  The physician kneeled down in front of his cell, staring at Gardiv face-to-face. The man’s jaw was sharp, and his brown hair rested just above his brow. “We’re going to make you better, buddy.”

  Gardiv puked, then he nodded to the man. “Why do you want to help me?”

  “Because death is too noble a punishment for a murderous swine like you.” The physician spat in Gardiv’s face. “Open his cell. His kidneys are failing. We need to remove one of them.”

  They replaced his kidney and kept him healthy by destroying any toxins that could enter his body. Then they threw him back in the cell after his recovery so that he could rot. His body made every effort to readjust for weeks, but The Poison was too intense. The puking didn’t cease.

  Sitting down in his cell with his head against the wall, he slouched his hand in his lap and closed his eyes for a momentary relief. The putrid taste of acid rested on his tongue. His stomach jerked in and out to hold back more heaves.

  The sound of laughter filled the walls. It was small at first — like a chuckle. But then it escalated. It was the old man. The man really thought this was humorous. Gardiv’s suffering was amusing to this scoundrel.

  “Hey, Traik!” the man called down the hall with his face against the bars. His vein-lined nose bulged through grate. “I got another one!”

  “You’re a mean old rascal,” said Traik from down the hallway.

  Gardiv stared across the cell. The scoundrel grimaced back. Gardiv had found his inspiration — the death of the old man.

  Weeks passed, and Gardiv concentrated on his hatred. He longed for the man to laugh. The laugh kept him going. It reminded him of the reason that he needed to escape. The vomiting fits lessened, but he still couldn’t keep down enough food and water.

  He made himself eat, and whatever the guard brought he consumed, knowing that he was going to puke it up. Perhaps some of it would stay down and give him the strength he needed. The wound on his chest had healed, and the scar on his hip from his removed kidney had closed evenly.

  He managed to keep down more food over time, but the old man kept laughing. Months of live entertainment Gardiv had been for him. Wait until he sees the finale.

  The guard came with more food only to find Gardiv lying in an awkward position in the back of his cell.

  “Wake up, kid! We’ve got more slop for you,” said the guard.

  Gardiv didn’t move.

  “I said get up!” the guard yelled.

  Still no movement. The guard fumbled with his keys and burst into the room, rushing over to Gardiv. The old man was howling. The raspy laughs and coughs echoed throughout the corridor.

  The guard grabbed Gardiv by the shoulder. “Get up! I sai…”

  Gardiv shoved a broken piece of the wooden cup into the man’s throat. The guard’s body surged with fire, trying to scorch Gardiv with the power of his auburn emblem, but it was too late. Blood spilled from his neck. His wide eyes stared into Gardiv's as the guard struggled for his life.

  Gardiv released the puke that he’d been holding back, throwing the man to the side. He tore the wooden shank from the guard’s neck and snatched up the keys, without taking his eyes off the old man.

  The laughter switched to panic. “Help! Somebody! Traik!”

  Traik called back to him. “I can’t help you, but even if I could. I wouldn’t. I told you to leave these new guys alone.”

  Gardiv flipped through the keys, inserting each one into the old man’s cell. But Gardiv was in no hurry. The ones that didn’t work clanged against the others. After three tries, the bolt unlocked. Click, click. The creak of the grate scratched against floor. Gardiv took slow, intentional steps to get to the man. The keys rattled with each stride.

  “Help me! He’s gonna kill me!”

  “Serves you right, old man,” said Traik.

  Gardiv put his hand around the man’s throat. The man struggled for his life, but he wasn’t strong enough. Gardiv sliced the wood into his neck, cutting across the scoundrel’s windpipe.

  “A man who can’t breath, can’t laugh,” Gardiv said. He turned and walked out. The silent sound of a gargling choke mystified the prison.

  Gardiv pulled out the keys and walked down the hallway. The inmates watched him with fear in their eyes.

  “Please don’t hurt us,” they begged.

  He walked over to Traik’s cell and let him free. “You deserve this more than I do,” Gardiv said.

  They both escaped.

  THE PRESENT: TWO YEARS POST EXTRACTION

  The sunlight had faded, and the spirits moaned and wailed throughout the night in Broughtonhaven. Caleb tried to block it out, but the shrieks of the apparitions were relentless.

  “How did you know that the guard was going to try to save you?” Caleb asked.

  “I figured they wanted me alive, with giving me the kidney surgery and all. And what the physician said to me was what sparked the scenario in the first place.”

  “You mean telling you that death was too noble?” asked Sarai.

  “Exactly.”

  “Why did you kill the old man?” asked Caleb. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

  “I was young and I let my rage get the best of me. Just hearing that same annoying cackle for months on end was enough to drive you mad. I could have taken the sickness. But the nagging. It was too much.”

  Caleb listened to the entire story so that he could prove the point that he was making earlier. “And you are willing to let Shauna endu
re the same thing that you went through?”

  Gardiv spat on the ground. “I wish there was something that I could do, Caleb. I do. But I have to weigh the costs. What if we tried to save her and then I lost you both. That wouldn’t be worth it. Not to me.”

  “It would be worth it to me.”

  “When you lead your own people, you may feel differently about that.”

  The three of them didn’t have much else to say. The tensions amongst them eased, and Caleb seemed satisfied by Gardiv’s reply although Gardiv’s words didn’t remove the concern that he had for Shauna.

  “Do you regret killing the old man?” asked Sarai.

  Gardiv sighed after not answering for a while. “That man’s face...the fear and the terror…is a face that I will never forget.” He rubbed his chin and kept trudging along, not looking back at the two of them.

  CHAPTER 4

  THE DISMISSAL

  “Anise said she is sad.”

  “Anise, I miss you. Do you miss me?” Caleb asked.

  “Anise said she doesn’t understand.”

  “I love you, Anise,” he said.

  “Anise said she doesn’t understand.”

  “Do you love me, Anise?” he asked.

  “Anise said she doesn’t understand.”

  Caleb rolled over in his bed in Juten. The dream woke him up, or the nightmare. He couldn’t tell either way. It was early morning, and the raindrops tapped on his roof singing a somber melody that his heart wasn’t prepared to sing back. It had been two years, and he still missed her. He had accepted that she was gone, but he knew that he couldn’t ever stop loving her.

  Anise’s spiritual language was so incomplete. Despite what Shauna said about Anise’s emotions being full, he disagreed. She seemed so empty. He had to move on, even though he would never forget her, but he hoped that he would not have to dream about her spiritual self ever again.

  He prepared himself to get wet as he stepped outside into the rain. He ducked his head, and the water soaked into his hair, dripping onto his shoulders. The steam from the bonfire lifted into the air as the rainfall stamped out the last few dying embers from the night before.

  Caleb headed up the street to meet Sarai, who was sitting on her porch under her roof. He chose to sit with her.

  “Trying to catch the worm, I see,” she said.

  “What are you babbling about?” he asked.

  She threw her hands up in playful disappointment. “You’re up early. The early bird catches the worm.”

  “Never heard of it. What’s an early bird?”

  “You’re hopeless,” she said.

  He grinned, but the smile seemed forced.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “What makes you think there’s a problem?”

  “The long face. The heavy eyes. The short answers.”

  “Well it is pouring down raining at dawn,” he said.

  “True. But there’s still something bothering you. I think I know you by now.”

  “I had another dream.”

  Sarai crossed her legs, bracing herself for what he was about to tell her. These dreams had plagued him for as long as she could remember, and he always seemed depressed after them. “What happened this time?”

  “It’s the one that I hate having. The one where she is dead...lifeless...just a spirit. She’s so empty, Sarai. That wasn’t her.”

  Sarai didn’t know how to comfort him, but she understood his pain. “How do you feel about it?”

  “It feels horrible. I miss her, but it’s different. I know that she’s gone. I know that she’ll never be back. I just don’t like seeing her like that, and I feel like somehow she’s still hurting even though I’m sure that she’s at rest. But that experience just makes her death too real. It reminds me of seeing those wretched Screechers tearing into her body.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Can you?” he asked. His voice was harsh, soaked with pain.

  “Caleb, don’t treat me like the enemy. Don’t go back to how you used to be.”

  “You’re right,” he sighed. “I guess I just want to lash out.” His chest throbbed. He didn’t touch it. “It’s tough though...seeing someone you cared about get abused like that. Do you ever dream about your parents?”

  “I do, but I don’t remember the dreams. Whenever I wake up, I’ve already forgotten what happened. The emotions linger, and I feel afraid for them. I just hope to Shahrach that their deaths were easy. But I know they probably weren’t. It was a war. Who in war ever dies peaceably?”

  “Maybe they did,” Caleb said, suggesting something that he had no confidence in himself.

  Sarai put her hand on his back, smiling. “Are you trying to comfort me, Caleb?”

  “It’s not working?” he asked, smiling back.

  “Just looking at you, comforts me,” she said, her face close to his.

  He closed his eyes and kissed her. Her lips were soft and gentle, but firm. The stress of his night seeped away, and the raindrops’ splatting on the terrain seemed to disappear. All that existed was Sarai.

  She didn’t kiss him back. “What are you doing!” She screamed and pushed him away. “What’s wrong with you?”

  He balanced himself so that he didn’t fall out of his chair. “What do you mean?” he asked, looking up, trying to figure out why she was so upset.

  “How dare you!”

  “What’s wrong with you?” He was still confused, and he tried to keep calm. His heart pounded from the kiss and from the rush of adrenaline.

  “You don’t get it! Just leave me alone, Caleb.”

  “Why are you pushing me away?”

  The raindrops splattered on the side of her porch. Heavy drips plopped into puddles that surrounded them. “I don’t want to be with you.”

  “Sarai.”

  “Just leave, Caleb. Go back home and leave me alone. I don’t have anything else to say to you.”

  “Why are you being like this?”

  “Leave!” The veins in her neck bulged, and her eyes were red from the hot tears that sat at her eyelids.

  Baffled, Caleb gazed at her, lips moving with no words crossing the threshold. The melodic tappings on the roof had now become an orchestra of chaos.

  “Go…” she said again.

  He turned and walked away. His chest throbbed — partly because of the kiss and partly because of the humiliation. Why was she treating him like this? Why had it seemed that they were progressing towards a relationship, but now she felt so far away? What had he done or not done that had made things go awry?

  ====

  The afternoon came, and the rain clouds had scattered. The sun shined brightly over the Training Ward, and the humid smell of mud and grass filled Caleb’s nostrils. He didn’t wear his waterproof boots, so his feet squished inside of his shoes.

  Focusing on the target downrange, he pulled off his bow and set his shoulders. “Guide Shot!” he yelled. The tip cut through the center of the target. The tail of the arrow vibrated back and forth. This was second-nature to him. He could see some of the new recruits watching him, so he showed off a little. But he had to be careful. If he missed, then he would have to jog the nonstop day trip around the island.

  Holding his breath, he shot an arrow, then he sprinted towards the target, releasing another. He jumped and shot another. Then he rolled and released one more. Four thuds, all in the center. The recruits clapped and whistled. Caleb didn’t acknowledge them, making the thrill even more exhilarating.

  Heading back to the target line, he noticed that Sarai had come to the field. She didn’t look at him, and he ignored her also.

  “Guide Shot!” she yelled. Her shot split into the bull’s eye. She fired a volley of six arrows, dove on the ground, turned the bow sideways, and released a seventh. Seven thuds. All centered. The recruits applauded.

  Now Caleb felt the sense of competition. He didn’t want to miss the target, but he would not be outdone. He pulled out three arrows and
shot two high into the air. The third, he charged with the Materialist Anaerobia and fired it straight downfield. The charged shot hit first. The target warbled and disintegrated along with the two arrows that had come from the sky. The recruits hollered and yelled. Caleb still didn’t look at them. He kept his bow pointed at the target, then he jerked away and stepped back from the line, not looking at Sarai.

  Sarai inhaled. Her chest inflated. She pulled four arrows and focused on another target ahead. The Domination Volley would be her next attempt. Four shots: one Spiritualist, one Polarist, one Naturalist, and one Materialist. Spirits surfaced on the target, releasing shrill screams. The temperature dropped, and the shrieks faded behind a wall of ice. The Naturalist shot hit, and the ice melted. Sarai turned around and released a Materialist shot. But she turned too fast. The shot skidded off the ground near the target with an orange streak of Anaerobia burning into the damp meadow.

  Sarai slammed her bow on the ground. Caleb and the recruits were silent. He couldn’t believe that she missed such an easy shot.

  “Pioneer Alma!” Gardiv yelled. “You pick that bow up off the ground, and you make the trek around this island like you have some dignity.”

  “I’m going!” she yelled back, snatching her bow out of the mud.

  “You wanna’ repeat that?” Gardiv asked. His tone demanded that she adjust her attitude.

  “I’m on my way, Pioneer Baroq.”

  Sarai ran off the field with her head high. She didn’t look at the recruits as she ran out to the Housing Ward. Caleb raced after her. She picked up her speed, keeping away from him, but he caught up with her as she slowed down at her house.

  “Sarai, what happened?”

  “Just leave me alone, Caleb,” she said, as she gathered the items that she needed for the day journey.

  “That was such an easy shot. How did you miss it?”

  “You can be so annoying,” she said.

  A few Pioneers nearby laughed at them, asking whose turn was it this time. Caleb didn’t answer them, but he kept badgering Sarai.