All American Rejects (Users #3) (3 page)

"We've gotta go," Ryker exclaimed.

The back of Carter's shirt ripped as Ryker yanked him to his feet.

"Just let me talk to him," Carter said.

Ryker looked at him doubtfully.

"This is a bad idea," Ryker said, but it was too late, Carter was already approaching Alaric.

"What the hell do you think are you doing here?" Carter asked.

"We're here to bring you in," Alaric said. "You and all your friends who haven't registered."

They were surrounded by an all out panic. Those who hadn't registered either fled or fought back. Most of those who had already registered, fell to the ground with their hands behind their heads, but a few joined in on the fight to help their friends. Several fights between the Compound's Users and the All American's had broken out across the yard. Carter flinched as one of the All Americans Screamers, Stella, laid a couple of the Compound Users out flat with a scream that took them and a nearby cabin to the ground. Chunks of wood and roofing shingles were thrown across the yard by the force of her scream. This scene played itself out all over the Compound. User faced off against User. Powers were being thrown around like liquid in water fight, and by the looks of it, the Compound Users were losing their ground.

"And this is how you go about it?" Carter asked pointing to the helicopter and the ropes.

"You've had your chance to come in peacefully," Alaric said calmly.

"So you rappel in here, like some G.I. Joe on steroids and demand us all to comply with your bullshit fascist registration? Fuck you!" Carter didn't like Alaric's attitude one bit. He, for one, didn't much care about registering either way, but now Alaric had crossed the line. He wouldn't register if it was the last thing he did, just for the principal of the thing. He was a bastard like that sometimes, and he enjoyed any opportunity to piss off Alaric.

Alaric's steady expression changed to a Cheshire cat grin. "Don't ever say I didn't give you the option. Now we do it the hard way."

"You got that right," Carter said, and he threw a right cross that almost connected with Alaric's firm jawline, but Alaric snatched Carter's fist in mid-swing. "You've gotten faster," Carter said.

Carter noticed that since their last fight, Alaric looked bulkier too, as if having the body of a Greek god were not enough for Alaric. The dude looked like Vin Diesel fucked The Rock and they produced a child on steroids.

"I've been training," Alaric said casually and he started to squeeze Carter's fist and bring his arm down to his waist. "While you on the other hand have been getting fat."

Carter couldn't deny that he hadn't been training as hard as he should as of late, but he had a compound to run. Maybe being the leader was turning him soft, or maybe he just didn't have the same sense of urgency that Alaric had after their last fight, but either way, Alaric literally now held the upper hand.

He was left wide open and Alaric took advantage of it by snapping forward and hitting Carter with a head butt to the face. Carter's nose crunched.

"You done talking?" Ryker asked sarcastically between hitting one of the All Americans with a block of ice and dropping an ice ball on another's head.

"I've beat him before. I can do it again," Carter growled in defiance, but he knew he was telling a half truth. He set fire to his fist and Alaric grimaced in pain, but did not let go.

"I've seen enough." Ryker stepped up and blasted Alaric with a blizzard of snow that left Alaric encased in a frozen layer of ice.

Carter used the flames to thaw only the ice on Alaric's hand before he pulled back and was finally able to free his hand from Alaric's grip.

"Don't move, or I'll explode your head like a cherry bomb." A voice from over their shoulders threatened.

"Stella," Carter said. "Long time no see."

"Not long enough," Stella said flippantly.

"You always were the smart ass," Carter said.

"Better a smart ass than a dumb ass," she said with a wry grin. "Now lay down on the ground with your hands behind your back."

Carter threw Ryker a mischievous grin.

"You're not thinking about running from a delicate little girl, are you Carter?" Stella asked. Her chin was tilted down, she looked up at him innocently through thick black lashes with stunning green eyes.

Though she stood only slightly over five feet tall and weighed maybe a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet, Carter knew this precious little flower was anything but delicate. Her Screamer powers had been honed to perfection, earning her the status of second in command on the All Americans team.

"Nope," Carter answered taking a step forward threateningly.

"Yes, you are." Ryker pulled on his arm, bringing him in close. "Live to fight another day," he whispered in Carter's ear.

Carter growled in anger. If he left, he would be abandoning all those left behind, but if he stayed, they would no doubt lose the fight. They were in a lose-lose situation.

Without so much as another word, Carter turned and ran as fast as he could, but Ryker needed no warning. He was right on Carter's tail.

"You always were a fool!" Stella hollered after Carter before unleashing a blood curtailing scream that swept them off their feet.

Carter was thrown forward as the wave of sound hit him from behind. The force of impact was doubled as Ryker came crashing into him, but the two froze in midair; grabbed by some unseen force.

"I told you it would end like this," Evan said from the side.

Carter turned to see Evan with his hand out preventing them from falling flat on their faces.

"Now let's get the fuck outta here." Evan set them down on their feet in mid-stride.

Soon the three of them were in an all out race for the gate. Lucky for them, someone had thrown it's double doors wide open. Behind them a catastrophic battle raged on, and was being lost by their friends. Most lay beaten or were soon to be joining those in defeat. Others had fled. Carter had no way of knowing how many had escaped, but as he reached the gate, he looked over his shoulder to peak at the Compound and found nothing but ruin. In the fight many of the cabins had been all but destroyed, the fence had been knocked down in a number of places, and the big house had a giant hole through the wall of the kitchen.

"What took you guys so long?" Barber appeared from behind a bush just beyond the fence. "Let's get the hell out of here already."

The four Users turned down the road, taking the few effortless strides before they easily disappeared into the thick underbrush of the dense Washington forest.

Chapter 4

Alaric took the steps leading to the basement in stride. He and the other members of the All Americans had entered through a side entrance that avoided the prying eyes of the security that monitored the twenty plus floors of office space above. The lab that filled the basement appeared to run the entirety of the building's width. It was far from modest. The Federal Government had spared no expense to fill the lab with the most cutting edge technology, all at the behest of one extremely talented scientist and doctor by the name of Heath.

"Hello, Alaric," Heath said.

"Good morning," Alaric said with a nod.

The man was older than Alaric by at least a decade. Heath looked the part of the nerdy scientist, complete with thick glasses and a white lab coat. He had a thin frame and a long beak of a nose. His hair was going gray along the sides, but was still a dark brown across the top.

"How's the hunting going?" Heath walked with a slight slump to his shoulders as he came over to shake Alaric's hand.

"Don't call it that." Alaric warned him. "I don't like it." Alaric left Heath's hand hanging until Heath finally pulled it away.

"So sorry," Dr. Heath bowed with sarcasm, rolling his right hand over a few times before extending it out as he bent down. "How would
you
prefer I reference it?" he asked, looking back up from his hunched position.

Alaric couldn't help but notice how socially awkward the scientist was. His attempt at a joke, came off with him sounding like a real asshole.

"We are arresting those who have broken the law. We are doing what is in the best interest of the American people, and doing our part to aid in the government's effort to maintain public safety and order." Alaric boasted patriotically. "They are common criminals as far as I'm concerned...But they are not animals."

Alaric looked back to his companions for support, but they were milling about at the bottom of the stairs, heads down; obviously uncomfortable with their surroundings. Beyond the sometimes volatile and, in general, disturbing demeanor of their host, the large laboratory boasted a major feature reminding them all of the current state of their world. Along the far wall from the side entrance was a row of seven foot tall glass cylinders built to house the non-compliant Users they had apprehended. Most of them were occupied by the Users they had caught the night before at the Compound.

Some of the Users banged on the glass, others screamed, but Heath, Alaric, and the All Americans on the outside of the small containers heard nothing. The barrier was nearly a foot thick; built to withstand the deepest depths of the ocean. The individual holding cells were bullet proof, fire proof, and essentially User proof. The perfect prison for Heath to keep his subjects in.

"We're almost finished. These new specimens you brought me are perfect," Heath said. "As soon as I've siphoned their powers, you can be done with this farce of a registration."

The government was utilizing the User Registration Act to gather up Users and drain them of their powers. Heath had found a way to isolate and extract their special abilities from their DNA, he was then able to divide and duplicate them, before injecting them into humans where they would infuse into that person's DNA. This would enable the transfer of User powers to hundreds of ordinary humans. Of course, as soon as he had presented his findings, the American government couldn't wait to get their hands all over it. Their dreams, of having an unstoppable super-powered army coming to fruition, were well worth the projected costs and whatever tools the doctor requested, he was given.

Alaric frowned. Being used as a chess piece in the government's game, was not his idea of being the great hero he had worked so hard to become, and he didn't like it one bit. Of course, he liked the idea of losing his powers even less. Better to be a pawn than a Guinea Pig. That was the deal for the All Americans, they put on the public show of support and bring in the Users who didn't register, and in return they were granted amnesty from the power extraction.

"Where are the Barber and Icer?" Heath asked as he walked the rows of glass cylinders with a notepad and pen, jotting down notes as he went.

"You mean Barber and Ryker?" Alaric asked, knowing full well who Heath was referring to. "They have escaped."

"Escaped?" Heath hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What do you mean escaped? This is unacceptable. I need one of every User."

"Okay, we will get you a different Barber and Icer then," Alaric said, but Heath stared at him as if he were some kind of asshole.

"Ryker and Barber are one of a kind Users," Heath said, steadily raising his voice. "There are no other Barbers or Icers, you musclebound dolt. You will get them for me, and you will get them for me now."

With his crescendo, he slammed his clipboard to the ground and stomped his foot like a petulant toddler. The remainder of the All American team, still doing their best to avoid any interaction, jumped at his outburst.

"Finding them may be difficult," Alaric said, remaining calm. The fragility of their own status was ever at the forefront of all of his interactions with the good doctor.

"I want them now and I want them alive," Heath said in a threating tone.

Without so much as another word to Heath, Alaric turned his back on the man and headed for the door.

"Let's go," he said as he passed his companions on the way out. "We've got work to do."

*****

Alaric watched a wall full of monitors for any sign of Barber or Ryker. After leaving Heath and the government lab, the All Americans went straight to their base of operations, a secret facility built into the side of Mount Rainier. Upon arrival, Alaric sent out a series of drones to search the woods outside of Seattle for the two missing Users. Alaric watched the feed from the drones in real time on a massive arrangement of screens that stretched from floor to ceiling, but so far he had found nothing.

Alaric slumped back in his chair, kicked his feet up on the table, and watched in fixated silence.

"Any luck?" Stella asked as she came around the chair and put a hand on Alaric's shoulder.

"No sign of them...yet," Alaric answered.

"Do you think we will find them?" Stella asked.

"Oh, we will find them." Alaric confirmed. "We don't have a choice. We have to find them."

"About that," she said. "Do you really think this is a good thing to be doing? The right thing?" She walked over to face him, staring intently into his bright hazel eyes and blocking his view of the screens.

Alaric leaned to the side in his seat, trying to see around her, but she simply stepped in front of him again.

She was an eccentric dresser, wearing a tight pair of leather pants, a purple vest, and flowing silver colored blouse. Her hair hung over one side of her face, highlighting the fact that it was dyed bright purple.

"This is what we do. We stop the bad guys. It's what we've always done."

"This time it feels different. Doesn't this feel wrong to you?" Stella placed her hands on her hips. "I mean the way Heath said it was precisely right, we're hunting them down; like animals. Don't we have a similar duty to protect our own kind from becoming lab rats for the mad scientist's twisted experiment."

"Our kind, these are not
our
kind. They are breaking the law, and if they can't behave in civilized society, perhaps they don't deserve to have their powers. Did you consider the lives we may be saving?"