My Angels Have Demons (Users #1) (15 page)

As if on cue, Walt entered the room down a set of stairs.

"How are you feeling?" Walt asked from across the room.

"Like I just had my ass handed to me," he answered.

"Sounds about right," Walt said coming over to stand at his bedside.

"I'm screwed. I'll never beat Alaric," he said.

"Did you think this was going to be easy?" Walt asked. "That you would show up, train for a few days, and suddenly be able to take on one of the most dangerous men on the planet?"

"I can't even beat a kid. How will I ever beat a near immortal like Alaric?"

"All men have their weaknesses. You just have to find his."

Chapter Eight

Part 7

Part 7

Chapter 14

Carter spent the entire day at rest, but as the sun rose that next morning, he could hear the bell's toll, and the users outside going over their daily exercise routine. Prompted by the General's words, he slowly shifted on the hospital bed to a sitting position. He tore the oxygen tubes from his nose, and the sticky event monitors from his chest. Carter watched his shaky legs dangle on the edge of the bed for a moment before placing his right foot on the floor. He tested his body weight against his right leg before deciding to stand on two feet. Carter wobbled for a moment, but quickly found his balance.

He took it slow across the room, stepping gingerly, but was walking at a somewhat normal pace as he reached the door. Once outside he strolled over and got in line with the rest of the users as if nothing had happened. Evan, at opposite end of the line, had burn marks on his face and arms, but he smiled and nodded as Carter got down to join in their push ups.

"What are you doing?" Walt asked when he saw Carter was out of bed and exercising.

"I'm training. What does it look like?" Carter answered with a question of his own.

"All right then." Was all Walt had to say.

While unable to keep up with the rest, Carter completed the entire days exercises. As he finished Barber came up and slapped him on the back and threw him a toothy grin.

*****

"Come on. I wanna show you something," Dan said later that same day.

"What?" Carter asked.

Without speaking a word, Dan turned and walked into the forest away from the prying eyes of the rest of the compound.

"Hey wait up," Carter said.

In his hobbled state he could barely keep up with an old man.

"Walt said you did something strange with your powers the other day," Dan said as Carter finally caught up with him deep inside the forest.

"Yeah, I threw a fire version of myself at Evan," Carter said.

"That's not strange," Dan said.

"Well it was strange for me and everyone looking on." Carter took a seat on a broken tree stump to rest his battered body.

"I was barely ten by the time I learned how to do that," Dan said. "That and a whole lot more."

"I don't even know how I did it."

"Well I'll show you how. I'll teach you to control it."

Dan seemed so convincing in that moment that Carter beleived he may have hit his head harder than he thought. Carter must be out of his mind, thinking that he should take lessons from this crazy old man. Dan was run down and haggard. How could he possibly teach Carter anything?

No.

He had to get past that mindset. The same mindset that had been holding him back for his entire life. The addict brain that told him he didn't need to listen to anyone. The addict brain that ran on skepticism and negativity. He had to fight past his instincts.

"Okay. Teach me," Carter said.

"First I need to see what you can do," Dan said.

Carter summoned the fires within him and lit a fireball in his hand. He threw the fireball and it burst as it hit a tree. Calling on the heat deep within him he lit up both fists into flames like fiery boxing gloves before going full blast and lighting up his entire body.

"What do you think?" Carter asked in full flame mode. He was pretty impressed with himself, but Dan's lips were turned upside down in a frown.

"We've got a long ways to go."

"What do you mean? I think that's pretty good," Carter said.

"Pretty good? Are you shitting me? You're way behind," Dan said.

"What? You think you can do better old man?" Carter let the fires die out before there was nothing left of his clothes.

"Old man? You fucking punk." Dan growled, his wrinkled face going taut with rage. Suddenly the old man's body burst into flames, but Dan was just getting started. Fire hit the ground around Dan's feet and spread like a blooming flower. Flames rushed toward the layer of twigs and leaves surrounding him, and the debris crackled under the immense heat. A tunnel of fire like an igniting rocket roared to life beneath Dan's feet and lifted the old man free from the forest floor.

"What the fuck?" Carter asked in astonishment, but his words were drowned by the roaring fire Dan emitted as he soared through the air. Within seconds Dan was flying among the tree tops. Using the fires from his hands, Dan was course correcting on the fly, and steering his direction to avoid the trees.

Carter almost shit his pants as Dan landed unharmed just yards from where he stood.

"That was unbelievable. You can fly?" Carter asked.

"So can you," Dan said.

"Oh no way. I'll never be able to do that." Carter shook his head furiously in denial.

"Yes you will," Dan said with certainty in his voice. "And you'll be able to do this." Dan grew a ball of fire in his hand, reached back like a big league pitcher, and threw the fireball. The flaming ball raced toward the same tree that Carter had hit with his fireball earlier, but it turned at the last second going around the tree, and exploded as it hit a tree hiding behind the first.

"No. Fucking. Way," Carter said.

"Try it," Dan said.

Carter narrowed his brow, deep in concentration. He called forth the ball of fire. He imagined it swerving around the tree and exploding into the tree behind the first. With as much force as he could summon, Carter threw the ball. The flames twirled end over end as the ball of fire spun, but instead of swerving around the tree and hitting the tree behind it, the ball flew wide missing both trees completely. Carter's fireball hit a tree top far off in the distance and the leaves burst into flame, causing a small forest fire, but the flames quickly burnt out in the evergreen vegetation of the Northwest.

"We're going to have to practice that one," Dan said.

Carter and Dan spent the rest of the afternoon going over and practicing the different uses for their powers. Carter paid close attention to every detail. He didn't want to miss a thing. He may never have an opportunity to meet another scorcher again in his lifetime and he wasn't about to waste the opportunity to soak up all the older man's knowledge.

They continued until late in the afternoon, until a voice, Walt's voice called for everyone to gather around.

"Come, let's not keep him waiting," Dan said.

They strolled through the woods in silence, enjoying a pair of birds singing back and forth to one another.

When they finally emerged from the forest, the rest of the users, around thirty in all, were gathered around the fighting pit. Carter had to squeeze between Walt and Evan to get a view inside the concaved bowl.

"Where are you going?" Carter asked when he noticed Dan heading away from the pit.

"Back to my cabin," Dan said his tone suddenly turning sour. "I don't watch the fights." It struck Carter as odd that the grizzled old man, who seemed to be such a hard ass, wanted nothing to do with the fights, but he shrugged it off.

"Suit yourself," Carter said as Dan skulked away toward his cabin. Carter didn't particularly enjoy the fights either, especially when he was getting his ass kicked, but he could see Walt's reasoning behind them. They had to train after all.

"Fight!" Walt shouted.

Inside the pit Barber faced off against Rick, a powerful screamer, but Carter wasn't so sure how well the man would do in hand to hand combat against the spiky bones of Barber.

The two men circled each other and Carter assumed this would be over quick, that Barber would put Rick down the same way that the kid had put him down with a vicious stab to the leg. In a flash, Barber closed the gap between him and Rick, bringing out his barbs as he rushed the older man. Barber had his bony spikes extended and aimed for Rick's shoulders. He meant to pin the man down Carter assumed, but Rick was faster than Cater thought. The man simply opened wide and let out a single ear piercing yelp aimed at Barber. Carter and the other onlookers covered their ears. Even with the scream aimed directly for Barber it reverberated off the concave bowl, sending sound waves echoing out, be it at a much lower decibel it was still enough to cause pain in the ears of those standing around the pit.

Barber took the brunt force of the sound wave and was knocked back through the air. He was slow to get up.

"You done?" Rick asked.

"He's not done," Walt said. "Get up."

Barber, loyal to a fault, rose to his feet, and charged across the pit. This time Rick waited until the last second to unleash a prolonged scream that shook the ground beneath Carter's feet and sent Barber once again flying away. The boy landed awkwardly, his arms and legs flopping about like a rag doll in the sand. Rick sauntered in Barber's direction. Barber, seeing the man coming, tried to get to his feet, but stumbled and fell.

"Okay, he's done," Carter said stopping Rick in his tracks.

"No, he's not," Walt said. "Barber, get up."

"What?" Carter asked. "What do you mean, he can't stand up."

"I said get up!" Walt yelled.

Barber groaned as he pushed up to get on all fours. Then he leaned up and faced Rick from his knees, still unable to get all the way to his feet. Even from that position, Barber wobbled like a bobble head, clearly unable to defend himself.

Rick, still frozen, gazed up at Walt with an unsure look splayed across his face.

"Finish it," Walt said.

Rick let out a half hearted scream that was still enough to knock the unsteady Barber flat on his back with blood running from his nose and ears.

"Get him out of there," Walt said and a mass of bodies rushed into the pit to help Barber.

The users hoisted the boy above their heads and carried him out of the pit, across the yard, and into see the doc.

"Hey," Carter said when the other users had gone inside.

"What?" Walt asked.

"What? Is that all you have to say?" Carter yelled. "What the hell was that shit man?"

"Fights have got to be finished," Walt said.

"He's just a kid you asshole!" Carter got right in Walt's face, so close that they were exchanging hot breath.

"And he's got to learn to fight just like anyone else!" Walt spat back, not backing down an inch.

"You're lucky he wasn't killed!"

"That's where you're wrong. I'm the only thing keeping these kids from being killed. I'm the only thing from keeping the world from chewing them up and spitting them back out. I'm the only thing keeping them from ending up like me!" Walt screamed at the top of his lungs.

And there it was.

"You think that you've got to fight them to the point of death to keep them from ending up old and alone?" Carter asked.

"I'm not alone. I've got a compound full of people who depend on me," Walt said.

"You may have a compound full of people, but you've got zero friends," Carter answered. "We're not going to disappoint you the way your friends in the army did. We're not going to use you to kill a bunch of harmless women and children. Why don't you learn when to give people a fucking break!" Carter turned for his cabin. "They may surprise you," Carter said to Walt from over his shoulder as he slammed the cabin door behind him.

#

Chapter 15

The days turned into weeks and Carter began to find a rhythm to the compound. The mornings were for strengthening his muscles, the afternoons were spent training with old Dan to master the use of his powers, and in the evenings he either fought or studied a fight in the pit. And of course there were the weekly meetings at the Elks Club.

The wound on his leg began to scab over and no longer caused him any pain. The routine fit him nicely, never giving him too much free time to ponder his situation or worry about the future. Idle time was the death of many an addict, and Carter reveled in keeping his hands thoroughly busy.

Carter strode to Dan's cabin as he did every afternoon to drag the old man out back into the woods for training. He knocked on the door.

"Go away," Dan croaked.

"Come on now, Dan," Carter called through the thick wooden door of the cabin. "Get up. I need to train."

It was the same thing each day, with Carter having to practically pull Dan from his cabin kicking and screaming. The old man rarely came out of the cabin, except to train Carter, he holed up by himself, not allowing anyone in or out of his cabin. Even his food was brought too him, Barber set a plate out on his porch at each meal.

"I don't feel well," Dan said.

"Do you want me to get the Doc?" Carter asked.

"Hell no. Just leave me the hell alone," Dan said.

Carter stared blankly at the closed door for a few moments, unsure of what to do. The old man usually put up a fight, but then conceded with a bit of prodding. Carter believed the old man secretly enjoyed training him, but doubted that Dan would ever openly admit to it.

"Well...I hope you feel better soon," Carter said through the door, but there was no response.

He turned to find that Walt and Barber had been waiting quietly at his back.

"Jesus, how long have you two been standing there?" Carter asked.

"Do you need a partner to train with today?" Walt asked.

"Yeah...I do."

"Great, you'll train with Barber," Walt said. "You'll need more than just your powers as a User to defend yourself against Alaric, and Barber can help you there."