Off the Wagon (Users #2) (2 page)

“Very impressive,” Lillian, the head of the bank’s security, said, but a rail thin man in a white coat was not as impressed with his handy work.

Carter smiled and nodded, ignoring the angry glare coming from the rail thin man’s direction.

“This new vault was built to withstand an atomic bomb,” a second man said.

“Well it wasn’t built to withstand a Scorcher, so what good is it,” Lillian said.

She stared at the skinny man with contempt as she passed him on her way around the glass wall and into the mock up bank.

“We’re living in a new world gentlemen. A world filled with Users with powers of all types, and some of them are bad people,” she said. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Carter said. He was fully aware that Users, like any other group of humans, came with a diverse moral character. Carter at one point had been a member of the most elite team of Users in the world, the All Americans. But he had also seen the darker side of Users. At one point, he and a handful of his User friends had been heroin junkies. Heroin was illegal, immediately making them criminals in the eyes of the law, but along with the expensive habit came petty to the not so petty crimes they had done to provide for their habit.

“If we can’t keep our money safe then our customers won’t feel safe, and if they don’t feel safe they will start burying their money under their mattresses,” she said. Her high heels clapped across the tile floor as she moved to examine the hole Carter had burned through the vault door. “No, this will not do, not at all,” she said.

Men wearing fancy suits that were more expensive than any object Carter owned, nodded in agreement.

Lillian was a hard ass and everyone in the room knew it. Her blouse was low cut, but her skirt was all business, reaching down past her knees. She wore a thin pair of glasses that sat snugly on her sharp featured face. She exuded confidence and Carter found himself weirdly attracted to the woman. He didn’t normally go for the take no shit type of woman, but she was something different. She commanded the room and demanded everyone’s attention all at the same time, and Carter liked it.

“We’re doing the best we can,” the rail-thin man said, then shrunk back like the weasel he was.

“Well your best isn’t good enough,” she snapped back. “You’ve got two weeks to design, build, and complete a vault that Carter won’t be able to burn through.”

The thin man and his colleagues looked at each other doubtfully, and Carter couldn’t blame them. He was yet to find a substance that he couldn’t burn through, and these eggheads didn’t look up to he challenge.

“That’s not enough time,” the man said reaffirming Carter’s suspicions.

“Mr. Donovan, everyday we delay is another day we are vulnerable to an attack on any one of our two thousand locations. As the nation’s largest bank, we are expected to have secure vaults, and if you can’t provide them we will take our business elsewhere.”

“About the business…when can I expect to get paid?” Carter asked.

“The money has already been deposited into your account,” she answered. “But I expect to see you back here in two weeks to test the new vault.”

“I’ll be here,” Carter said. “Don’t worry about that.” And with the amount of money they were paying him, he meant to keep his word.

*****

The alarm bell rang, signaling the end of class and Barber’s head snapped up off the desk. He had been face down on the desk sleeping for most of the class. Using his sleeve, Barber wiped up a trail of drool that had formed in the corner of his mouth.

“First day and you’re already falling asleep,” the teacher said as Barber strolled past her desk. Barber hadn’t truly been asleep, but he might as well have. He had been and still was in some sort of a daze, and he hadn’t heard a single word she said the entire class.

“Yeah…I didn’t sleep well last night,” Barber lied. He was tired, but it wasn’t because he didn’t sleep well. He had been up all night playing video games and drinking soda. Making matters worse, he hadn’t so much as stepped into a classroom in almost a year and he really had no desire to be there. Walt had never made him go to school during his time at the Compound, but Carter had insisted that Barber return to high school if he wanted to come and live with him in the city.

The teacher removed her glasses so she could look Barber directly in the eye.

“Try and get a better nights rest tonight please,” she said.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Barber said. “No problem.” Barber exited the classroom and went right for the bathroom. His bladder was full and he needed relief. He pushed open the door and entered a bathroom covered in square blue tiles all the way to the ceiling. Barber took the first stall he could find, but he wasn’t alone. A trio of boys about the same age as he was were already waiting in the bathroom near the sinks.

“You try that new batch?” the dark haired skinny one asked. The boy had a wave of black hair that partially covered his face like some kind of Justin Bieber wanna be.

“I did. Tried it last night and I didn’t sleep all night. Shit had me up and feeling like a rock star,” the other boy said. The second boy was a muscle bound jock wearing a letterman's jacket. The two boys high-five’d one another and the clap of their hands smacking together echoed off the tile walls.

“Yeah, I tried it too. I was higher than a mother fucker,” the third boy said.

Barber finished his business, zipped up, and turned toward the sinks.

“Excuse me,” Barber said politely.

“Hey, ain’t you new here?” the dark haired boy with the twig arms asked.

“It’s my first day. Why?” Barber asked.

“Don’t worry. We ain’t gonna haze you or nothing,” the jock said. “Just wondering if you get down?”

“Get down?” Barber asked as if they were speaking a different language. The boys looked skeptically at one another in turn.

“Yeah, do you get high?” the jock asked.

“I have before,” Barber admitted. In truth he had got more than just high, he had been a full fledged heroin junkie. This was the kind of scenario that gave an ex-junkie nightmares. It was the kind of situation that would wake Barber up in cold sweats. He knew the inevitable question that was coming before the other boy even spoke it.

“You wanna try some Pow?” the jock asked. “It’ll make you feel like a superhero.”

Barber almost laughed aloud, but managed to stifle his outburst. These guys were oblivious to the fact that he was a User, and he needed to keep it that way.

“Naw, I don’t think so,” Barber said. He tried to remember the steps he had learned, tried to dig deep in his bag of tools to find something to keep him from making a big mistake, but this was his first opportunity to do drugs since he had sobered up. He didn’t know how he would react up until this exact moment. He had done the right thing telling them no, but he knew too what was left to come.

“Come on man,” the jock said. “This shits brand new and better than any of that garbage you’ve messed with before.” They started in with the peer pressure.

“What’s it called again?” Barber asked.

“Pow. It’s like a cross between every drug you’ve ever tried all wound up into one ball.” The jock pulled a bottle from his jacket pocket and extended it to Barber.

“Just take a swig,” the boy with the dark wavy hair said. “It only takes one. It makes the time in class fly by.”

The boys were saying all the things that Barber’s addict brain wanted to hear. It was right there in front of him. He only needed to reach out and grab the bottle. After that, it would be easy. Barber felt the cold sweat beading on his forehead. His lips were dry.

“Maybe just one swig,” Barber said grabbing the bottle.

“That’s it,” the jock said. “What did you say your name was again?”

“I didn’t,” Barber said. “But it’s Barber.” He put the bottle to his lips and took a quick swill of the foul tasting liquid. It was thick like cough syrup and tasted like hell.

“Taste that?” the jock asked.

“Yeah, it tastes like shit.” Barber wiped his lips with the back of one hand as he handed the bottle back with the other.

“Naw, that’s the taste of pure bliss in a bottle,” the third boy said.

“Well, I think it tastes like hel-” Barber froze as it hit him. The Pow popped something in his brain. A rush of ecstasy washed over Barber, starting with the hair on his head and it didn’t stop until it reached the tips of his toes. That was it, he was hooked.

Chapter 2

The door was not locked as Carter had instructed before he left. Alarm bells rang in his mind. Maybe it was just the paranoia that comes with having survived multiple assassination attempts recently, or waking up one morning to the world’s most dangerous man sitting on the end of his bed only a few short months ago, but either way, Carter wanted the damn door locked.

“Hey, man. I thought I told you to lock this door when I left,” Carter said as he slammed the door to a close behind him.

“Sorry, I forgot,” Barber said, but the damn kid didn’t even bother looking up from his video game to acknowledge Carter as he spoke the words.

“How was school?” Carter asked.

“Fine.” Again Barber kept his eyes peeled on the television screen.

Carter dropped his keys on the counter and stepped into the kitchen to grab a drink of water. Carter could practically see his reflection in the shine that came off the brand new faucet. It was a stark difference to the dingy sink with the leaky faucet he was used to. The whole apartment was far beyond anything he had previously occupied. From the drug dens with the blacked out windows covered in cardboard to keep the light from shining on the sunken in faces of his junkie companions. To the run down one bedroom apartment with the smoke stained walls he had shared with his ex-girlfriend. None of them came close to the plush digs Carter had secured last minute, knowing he had a fat payday just around the corner.

The job with the bank, testing their vault’s security, paid more in a few weeks than Carter could make in a year working a nine to five. Sure he had to give away trade secrets, but he was one of the good guys. And if some User scumbags, who used their powers for nothing better than to knock off a bank got caught in the process, that was just a job well done as far as he was concerned.

“Did you finish your homework yet?” Carter asked.

“I’ll do it later,” Barber answered. “I’m about to beat the boss on level three.”

This kid and the video games. He practically hadn’t stopped playing since they unpacked the damn box it came from yesterday. Granted they had literally just moved into the joint. Walt was kind enough to float Carter the money for the down payment and the deposit, on the condition that he would pay it back as soon as he got paid. Carter’s previous apartment had been shot up, blown up, and probably condemned on account of the assassins Fox sent after him that had trashed the place.

“Do you wanna go get some dinner? There’s a Chinese place down the street that makes a mean sweet and sour pork,” Carter said.

“No, I had a bag of chips earlier,” Barber said.

“Then go get your homework done,” Carter said doing the best impression of an authority figure he could come up with. He didn’t have a lot of experience in that arena. If his father wasn’t beating him, he was off drinking and drugging, and his mother was practically catatonic for most of his childhood. Neither of his parents left Carter with much of an example that he could set for Barber. He was going to have to play it by ear.

Christ, how was this kid even alive, let alone playing video games. With the shit he eats, he should be dead. Barber just stared at the television screen as if Carter hadn’t said a word.

“Hey man, did you hear me? I said get your homework done,” Carter repeated himself, but Barber just stared blankly at the television screen. There was a glassy look in the boy’s eyes. It was a vacant stare that told Carter that no one was home. “Come here a second.”

“What? Why?” Barber slid across the couch as Carter approached.

“Let me see your eyes for a second,” Carter said. “You on something?”

“God!” Barber slammed the controller down on the coffee table and stormed off to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Carter stood stunned, unable to believe what he had gotten himself into. The young man had been loyal to a fault when it came to Walt, but he apparently wasn’t the ray of fucking sunshine that Carter assumed he was. Carter stomped over to the door and pulled on the handle, but Barber had locked his bedroom door.

“Oh, so you can remember to lock a door. What’s your god damn problem?” Carter found himself talking to the door. “Walt would have whooped your ass for acting like this.”

“Walt never made me do homework!” Barber yelled from behind the door.

“Yeah, well the fun and games at the compound are over. It’s time to get back to real life. I’m a sponsor not a god damn mother,” Carter said.

“Then why don’t you quit acting like one!” Barber was acting like a total shit and it caught Carter seriously off guard.

Suddenly, Carter was beginning to realize that he had spent very little time with Barber back at the compound that did not involve training or fighting, and he may have bitten off more than he could chew by moving a moody teenager in under his roof.