Exterminators Infected (The Exterminators Book 1) (14 page)

Fred shook his head. He felt his whole body sweating. He felt his heart pounding. He felt his shoulder burning. “I can't...it reminds me of the wolf hybrid. I can't fight that thing,” he said almost crying. Nick grabbed his shoulders. Fred jumped and pushed away his hands. He could feel the burning pain grow in his shoulder. He grabbed it like he was grabbing for dear life. “It hurts!”
Carl couldn't see behind the barrack. He had no clue when he told Silver to go. “Silver, take them down. Make sure to show them how brutal Unknowns can be.” Silver howled even louder, before stalking his way towards the group.
“We need a plan now.” Peter stepped back. Looking at the now panicking Fred. “What are you guys doing?”
“Fred isn't doing well,” Nick said. “He's scared of that thing. It reminds him of the first creature we killed.”

“We don't have time for that.” Marshall put his hand on the barrack that Fred and Nick were hiding behind. He had his back to them, watching as the wolf slowly made his way towards them. “This thing is getting ready to attack. If we don't go on the offensive soon it's gonna get us.”

“He has a point,” Peter agreed, now watching the Unknown observing the gym. Trying to find an opportunity to slip away and strike.
The wolf stopped looking around and dashed. Silver's speed was almost unmatched. “It's heading right for us! This thing is fast!” Marshall grabbed his Rod, Peter did the same. The brute was only a few yards away from them when he ran to the right. His speed was so quick it took both boys by surprise as they jumped back. The wolf flew towards the pillar, then back around, coming full speed. Silver was building up momentum.
Peter focused on his Rod. He created the elemental gloves he'd been training with the past few nights. Marshall watched as the black glove molded onto Peter's arm. Once armed, Peter concentrated. He knew the words. “Fire” he muttered and the flame grew in the palm of his hand. He grabbed it like a baseball, forming it into a ball shape with his fingers and flinging it. The ball of fire was small and Silver easily dodged it to his side. The ball of fire blew up giving off a small little explosion of flames. The wolf still came at full speed.
“Good try,” Marshall said as he ran towards the wolf. “Let's see how you deal with this.” Marshall concentrated for just a split second, and his arm slowly became the metallic arm he was getting used to it. The second it was completed he threw his arm forward, it made full contact to the wolf's face, knocking it to the left. Silver's momentum was so strong though it made Marshall slip to his side and roll over a few times. The speed at which both were running was a sudden clash that knocked both of them back.
“Well, that hurt me more than I thought it would,” Marshall said coughing, pulling himself up. Silver was already on his feet again. The beast shook his head, brushing away the hit he’d just suffered. “I think I'm more hurt than this thing,” Marshall joked.
“Nick, we need help,” Peter said looking at them both again. “Silver is strong. We can't beat him by ourselves.”

Nick studied Fred. He could see no matter how much talking he did Fred just wouldn't listen. “All right. Fred stay here and lay low. We're right here.” Nick got up and walked next to Peter. “All right, let's do this.” Nick grabbed his Rod and formed it into a spear. “I'm going to head over to Marshall and use defensive maneuvers while he strikes offensively. You focus on support. Throw those elements whenever you see an opening.” Nick’s plan seemed simple enough. Peter nodded; he could feel some of his energy leaving him after the last attack.

Nick darted towards Marshall. Marshall slowly rose to his feet. Silver was already on him though. Before Marshall could throw up his fist the beast pushed him down with his left paw. He slammed Marshall to the ground, Marshall gasped for air. Nick did a 360 turn and twirled the spear's side towards Silver. Silver was already expecting it and jumped back. The spear missed completely. Nick now stood over Marshall, spear in hand. “Get up. This thing isn't playing around.”
Marshall grabbed his chest, coughing. “Ya think? Damn thing almost crushed my chest.” He rose up slowly. The wolf slowly walked around the boys, trying to pick which prey he would strike at next.

Fred fell to his knees. He couldn't hear anything. He just felt weak. He felt his heart pounding, he felt his shoulder burning. It felt like it was going to rip open and something wanted out. A beast that wanted to fight more than anything.
“Join me in the room. I can take away the pain. You won't be scared anymore,”
he could hear himself think. He felt his thoughts, as if they were another persons’. Like someone was talking to him. He shook his head. He had to focus, had to help his friends. Yet he sat there, unable to move an inch.
Nick swung the spear again; the beast slammed his paw down on it. Silver speed and aim were perfect, it launched itself at Nick. Marshall threw his fist forward, the wolf moved just slightly to right, dodging the fist completely. Marshall's face was now side to side with the beast. Silver slammed his head into Marshall's, knocking him over. He then swung his paw sideways into Nick. Nick let go of the pinned spear and flew to his side, slamming down hard. Silver howled in victory, but it was short-lived. A ball of fire flew into the beast's side, knocking it to the side and leaving smoke drifting into the air from his fur. Silver sent out a small cry of pain. Peter fell to his knees; the elemental attacks were beginning to take a toll on his body.
Marshall pushed himself back up again, this time a lot slower. He could feel his body's energy getting eaten away. He bit his lip and rose up. He wasn't about to back down just yet. Silver was already back on his feet, growling now. “Oh you gotta be kidding me. How strong is this thing?”

Nick slowly rose. His whole left shoulder was shooting up with sharp pain. “This isn't good. We're doing minimal damage and he's knocking the crap out of us. This isn't working,” Nick said back on his feet. He walked over to his spear and picked it back up. The wolf was ready for another fight, darting his head back and forth between Marshall and Nick.
“Fred, snap out of it,” Peter said as he got back to his feet. “Without you we might not win.”
“I can't,” Fred responded. He was scared.
“You have to help. What if this was a real fight. What if we were really in danger!?”
“I can't-” Fred began.
“Enough of this can't stuff! Push those thoughts out of your mind. Push all of your thoughts away. Wipe your mind clean. Let yourself be free,” Peter spoke kindly. He knew being rash wouldn't solve anything. “Please Fred. Help us.”
Fred tried to listen. He heard most of what Peter was saying. He could feel his body ease.
“Do not listen to him. You go out and fight and you'll die.”
The thoughts came rushing back to him. He ignored them. He stood up, his shirt soaked from sweat. He looked at Silver, who was trying to eye which boy he wanted to attack. “What do you want me to do?” The voice came cracking out of Fred's mouth.
“Attack him head on. I'm support. I got maybe one more shot with this thing. I'm going to try something new, so keep in mind I might not be of any help. Get his back turned to me though. That will be my only chance to strike.” Peter kept calm. He knew how to release his stress. He didn't let emotion cloud him. He didn't have many emotions for that to happen anyway.
Fred walked towards Silver. He wasn't sure what to create. What could hurt a beast of that size? Nothing. He remembered reading the guide though. Something came to mind. If he couldn't hurt the Unknown, he could keep it distracted. He placed his Rod next to his legs. “Zoran,” he muttered. The image of boots came to mind. The Rod attached to both feet, forming around his shoes. It became two boots with lightning bolts engraved on the sides. Fred smiled and dashed.
He'd only been using this weapon for two days but he already got the hang of it. His speed was increased tenfold so he moved like he was flying. So light and free, Fred felt great. He dashed yards in seconds, and was already on Silver before he knew what was happening. Fred wasn't strong by any means but the extra boost of speed made his fist hitting the wolf more painful than expected. Silver moved back, shaking his head violently. Fred stood with both Marshall and Nick now. Ready to join the fight.
“I never seen a fat boy move so fast,” Marshall joked.

“I swear I'm going to punch you right in the face when this is over,” Fred responded.
“Now, let's do this. Fred move to the side, keep him distracted. I'ma try to strike, if I miss, you’re up Marshall.” Nick stepped forward. “GO!” They dispatched, following the plan.
Fred darted forward. Silver snapped at him but he already changed his course of direction before getting close enough and dashed to the right. Nick flung his spear forward; the beast expected it and dodged to the left. Marshall was already aiming for that spot and swung forward, the wolf met the fist head on. A crash and the wolf was able to push Marshall backwards despite the arm hitting it head on. Marshall fell backwards, tumbling over. The wolf then went to snap at Nick from the side but Nick already swung the spear. It nailed Silver on the side but didn't move the mighty beast. Silver growled as he went to snap again. This time Fred was already there. He jumped on top of the beast and grabbed hold of Silver's hair. Silver roared in anger. Nick swung back his spear again before striking. Silver saw it coming and knocked Nick down with his paw. The Unknown pressed hard, showing Nick he was defeated. Marshall was back up but Silver used his tail to whip him across the face. Marshall went tumbling down before even fully getting up. Fred kept punching Silver from up top. The pain was minimal. Silver growled and then rolled over. The pain Fred felt as the wolf rolled on him was almost unbearable. He let go of the beast and laid there, pain everywhere.
Then the blue ball hit the beast on his right lower leg. It blew up into an electricity field. Silver howled in pain. It went on for a few seconds and once done smoke was coming from the wolf. Silver looked like he was about to fall over. “Fall...” Peter whispered, letting his voice flee from his body. He felt his whole body shutting down. He felt weak, impossible to keep his body up much longer.
Silver didn't fall though. The beast shook his body off and turned to Peter. The Unknown began walking towards him. The other boys were lying on the ground. Most in so much pain they couldn't get up or lacked the energy to move. Peter kneeled, waiting for what he knew was coming. He didn't have any other energy to fight back. Silver came up to Peter's face and stared into his eyes. It then licked Peter's face. Peter didn't know how to react. He just sat there for a few moments in silence. Then he laughed before falling over, exhausted.
“That will conclude the training for today!” Carl walked towards the boys. “Boys this is just the beginning. As you can see it's gonna be tough. We'll be facing plenty of creatures far more deadly than Silver here. However, with Silver here the training will go quicker than expected. Together we'll make you into fighting machines. You did well.” He walked over to Fred and helped him up. “You fought as a team.” He helped Marshall to his feet. “You fought like you were fighting as a team forever.” Silver nipped Peter's shirt to drag him to his feet. Peter patted the beast as he helped him up. “Best of all. You worked together as a team that I'm proud of. From today on I'll help you to become the strongest Exterminators in this organization.” Carl smiled as he helped Nick up.
All boys looked beat up, tired, exhausted, but happy. They worked as a complete team for the first time. They felt the connection that they needed for these hunts. Now they had to harness this teamwork and sharpen their skills. It was time for the real hunts.

Chapter Fifteen – Halloween Dance

Weeks have passed by since school started. The boys all began their training in the beginning of September. In the past two weeks they had started heavy training; using thirty pound book-packs to weigh them down while they did laps in the gym. Every morning Fred and Marshall also did their additional three mile run before school. They did it four times a week, skipping between the days to rest. Four days during the week they all would head to the gym together and formulate new strategies. They learned how to use certain weapons together.
Nick would use his spear to keep the monsters at bay. The spear made him feel swift and agile. Peter would then use his elemental gloves to be on the offensive. He was learning to use the gloves and shape them into the perfect weapon. It was both fun and challenging for him. Marshall would work with Fred in ways to better suit their teamwork. Fred focused on using his Zoran weapon, which created boots to make him run at a far quicker speed than humanly possible. To him it was almost like gliding in air. While doing that Marshall would move in close and use his metallic fist to do some serious damage. He felt like he has a boulder for an arm.
They switched on and off, using different team work methods with each other to get better results. They trained so much that school became a second thought, even to Peter, who always obtained straight A's. By October they all got their progress reports. The boys mostly did C's with the exception of Peter who scored B's. Still, these were lower scores than expected.
Nick felt his relationship growing with Kelly in ways he had only hoped for. Any free time Nick had he spent with Kelly. After the first few dates they began to hang out around the house, in the parks, walk along the bay. Any ways they found to spend time together they took advantage of. They sometimes spent whole days together just walking around the city. Nick had never felt closer to anyone before in his life.
Peter focused solely on training. He read as much as he could from the guide but spent most of his time training his mind. He was able to form elemental balls much easier than he could month ago. He created them far quicker, they were more destructive on impact, but the true achievement was the fact he could throw over five now before feeling a real type of drain on him instead of just three. Carl promised the more stamina building, the more training, the more working out, all of it would increase the body's resistance. Upon increasing their stamina, the more they used the Rod the more it fuses with the body. This enabled them to become one with the weapon.
Fred kept up his daily routines in training. By the end of October he had dropped over two pants sizes and was working on the third. He was reaching the other boys' weight faster than any one could have expected. He began changing his eating habits, working out, as well as training. All of those factors had contributed into creating a much healthier Fred. He was still dealing with the voice in his head though. Some nights when he went to sleep he was back in the white room. However, he was able to block it out most of the time. If not, he suffered through it before coming back to reality.
Marshall kept working on using his fist. Upon hours and hours of training he was able to fuse the metallic arm up to his shoulder. He could feel it was becoming stronger. The more he trained and used the weapon, the more it filled his body with a powerful force. He envisioned his whole body one day being this unstoppable metallic body. He worked towards getting to his goal every single day.

“I killed that Rockus so easily last week. I'm kind of eager to fight something different,” Fred said taking a bite of his banana. Nick looked to the side of the gym. He still hadn't gotten his first mission. Fred got two more as did Peter, even Marshall got another one. Nick was still waiting to be called on his first mission.

“Yeah, I'm still waiting to fight anything,” Nick said. Fred nodded in agreement., slapping his friend hard on the back.
“Don't worry buddy, soon you'll be one of us.”
“I'm already one of you guys!” Nick spat.
“I'm kidding man. Listen, let's get out of here. I'm tired as heck and want to go home and play some video games. Wanna come?” Fred stood up and wiped the sweat off his face. They had both just finished training in the gym; a quick running spree and a warm up spar between the two. Fred felt great, he slapped his stomach. “Just about all gone.”
Nick got up, wiping off his pants. “Yeah man, you're looking great. Keep it up!”

They both began walking out of the gym. Fred looked at Nick oddly. “Hey so, you coming over or what?” Nick forgot he already asked him that.
“I'm sorry, I'm out of it today. Nah man, I'ma head over to Kelly's house. Her mom is cooking dinner.” Nick smiled at his friend. Fred smiled back, a bit forced.

“All right, no problem. Are you sure you're okay though?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.”
“All right, just making sure.” Fred was concerned about his friend. More so, he really wanted Nick to still come hang out. He wanted to make sure he himself was doing alright. The voice in his head was growing louder and louder each day.

Peter bit his lip as he conjured the ice crystal in his hand. He let it rest in his right hand where he had the glove on. He held it tightly and it started to become mushy. Peter then imagined the crystal becoming hard again, it almost instantly did. He was training his mind to imagine the shape of the elemental he held. He threw the ice crystal against the empty alleyway wall, shattering and freezing over a sizable portion of it. Peter's elements were growing stronger by the day.
“I see you're always training aren't ya?” Jin walked down the alleyway.
“I have to. I need to become strong.”
“You are strong.”
“I need to be stronger then.”

“Pushing yourself over your limit can be bad. Remember to take it easy every so often.” Jin leaned against the wall behind Peter. Peter let his fingers rest; he could still feel the ice cold freezing over his fingertips in the palm of his hand.

“Thanks, but I think I can determine my own limits.” Peter began to walk away.

“You want power, right?” Peter stopped. Jin had caught his full attention. “I can show you power. The kind of power you can gain.”
Peter turned fully around to face Jin. “What can you show me?”
“This,” Jin replied. He grabbed two rods and created two elemental gloves. He smacked his hands together and pulled them apart slowly, a large shard of ice formed between his hands. Once it was a foot long he grabbed it with his left hand. “Let me show you what happens when you harness real power.” He slammed the large ice crystal against the wall. The entire wall began to freeze over, the ice crawling up the entire building. Peter stood back amazed at the area the ice was reaching. After a few seconds the ice stopped growing. It covered over twenty feet of the wall - enough to freeze two or three people over.

“That's amazing,” Peter whispered in shock. He was used to this feeling but didn't feel it often. He touched the alleyway wall, it was ice cold. The area effected was beyond anything Peter had hoped to create with his own weapon. “I need that power.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you need this power?” Jin walked up to Peter. He cocked his head to the left.

“I need it because-” Peter started but didn't know how to finish. He wanted the power. It would give him something that he could use. He never thought why he actually needed it. He just knew he wanted it. “I need it to protect people.”
“Is that really your reason? I find that a bit hard to believe,” Jin said skeptically.
“Of course it's my reason. Why would I lie about that?” Peter tried to throw in a crying voice. He knew people felt bad whenever he did that.
Jin laughed and waved his hand. “Listen, I'm just asking a simple question. You want the power but you don't know what for. The only way to gain this power is to figure out the reason of why you want it. Once you do that, you'll gain the power. It's pretty simple really. It's like math.” Jin walked past Peter. “Once you're ready to figure it out, come to me. We'll start figuring it out together.”
Peter turned to watch Jin go. He never thought much about the young hunter besides the fact that he was Carl's friend. Maybe even another student of Carl’s. He never cared to ask before. Now that he witnessed the hunter wielding such tremendous power, Peter was intrigued. He was amazing at math, but this wasn't a problem he could figure out on his own.

“Listen girl, let's just go to the dance tomorrow,” Marshall said, leaning against a store shop. He was talking to a girl from his class. While her name wasn't something Marshall cared to remember, he still found her cute none-the-less. The Halloween dance was tomorrow night and he still hadn't found a girl to go with. “I'll even pick you up. I might even get us some dinner. Whatcha say?”
“I say you should get lost. I'd never go with you, anywhere.” The sting in her voice hurt.
Marshall laughed it off. “Hey, I'm offering you a little slice of the Marshall pie. You don't take a scoop now you'll miss the best meal of the night.” Marshall gave a wink. She gave him a throw up motion in return.
“I'd rather not go out at all, thank you very much. Everyone knows you're a slime ball. Just stay the heck away from me!” She stormed off; offended that he'd even ask her. She felt she was far above anything Marshall had to offer.
Marshall wasn't a ladies man. He never hit it big in that department. He never really cared though at rejection, he just got used to it. He shrugged and walked away from the shop. If she wasn't going to go with him he was probably going to end up trick-or-treating with his little brother. It was something better to do on Halloween instead of sitting around at home all night. Still, he much rather be with a hot chick at a dance than walking around with his little brother picking up candy.

The next day everybody at school was talking about the Halloween dance. Tonight was the night everyone dressed up in the craziest looking costumes they could find and come to a school dance with the best partner. Most girls were asked to go with someone weeks in advance. In the case of the four boys, Nick was the only one to have a date, so far. Marshall tried desperately but no one seemed interested. Fred didn't bother, since he still had a poor self-image of himself. Peter just didn't care. His sights were set on training. It was one out of four for the crew.
Marshall walked into the lunch room. He saw Nick sitting a few tables down from the door. He began walking in that direction but stopped two tables short, bent over the empty spot and looked towards Lucy. Lucy was the girl no one was friends with. She never talked to anyone; she drew most of the time, and ignored almost all school activities. She was the loner of the juniors. Marshall found that as a perfect choice. “Hey Lucy, mind if I sit down.”
“I do,” she said simply. Her blond bangs covering her eyes while she drew.
“You mind if I sit down?”
“That's what I said.” She kept her eyes on the paper she was drawing on; completing the left hand of one of her characters.
“You know, I like the ones that are hard to get.”
“I'm impossible to get.”
“That's even hotter,” he replied as he sat down next to her. She gave a quick glance towards him before returning her attention to drawing. “Listen, I'ma be honest. Can I be honest with you? No girl wants to go with me. I really don't care about this dance but I don't want to go trick-or-treating with my little brother and his annoying friends. So I'm asking you if you could do me this favor and go with me. I'll pick you up. I'll take you to dinner if you want. I'll get you home. I just want to go and have a good time. Whatcha say?” He rushed to get his words out and then sat anxiously awaiting her answer.

Lucy finished the other hand and looked up at Marshall. She looked at him oddly, not sure how to answer. Normally she would just ignore him until he went away since she had absolutely no interest in him. She really hated school activities. Yet somehow, she was intrigued by the way he asked her to go so out in the open. “Pick me up at six. Do not wear anything too gross or I will shut the door right in your face.” She went back to her drawing.
“You got it!” He slapped the table in happiness. Then he stood up and walked away from the table, making his way towards Nick. He couldn't be happier. Finally he had found somebody to go with him to the dance! Not to mention no one really knew Lucy, he didn't even know Lucy, which meant he could talk with her plenty to find out more about her. He was excited.
“Hey, why do you have the dumbest smile on your face right now?” Nick asked, putting down his food. Marshall slid into his chair, his smile getting even bigger. “Okay, now you're freaking me out. Joker much?”
“I got someone to go out with me to the dance. It's gonna be awesome!” Marshall was so excited he sounded like a five year old getting a shiny new toy.

“Really? Who's the unlucky lady?”
“First, kiss my ass. Second, her name is Lucy,” he said proudly, pointing behind him to Lucy drawing. “She's kind of a quiet one, but she's pretty cute.”
“Well, good for you. Please try to be on your best behavior. You aren't too good around girls.” Nick went back to eating his lunch.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Why are we friends again?”
“Probably ‘cause you couldn't live without me,” Nick mumbled.
“Oh, I'd somehow manage, trust me,” Marshall retorted. He was beyond excited. So excited he ignored any insults Nick threw at him for the remainder of lunch.

Fred walked with Peter towards the Station. Marshall and Nick went to their homes, getting ready for the dance tonight with their dates. Fred didn't bother asking anyone. He didn't feel like getting rejected. Peter wanted to focus on learning new elements and work on creating stronger ones. “So how's the training with the elemental glove coming?” Fred looked at Peter.
“It's going well. I still can't create large impact strikes but I can use over seven summonses before I feel drained. My goal is to hit twelve by the end of November,” Peter answered happily. If any true emotion was to come from Peter it was almost always in relation to his power with the Rod.
“That's great man! Keep at it. I'm sure you'll be able to do it. I'm trying to focus on using these boots, but also began training with the sword play. Nick and I were dueling the other day with ‘em and it's pretty amazing how great they feel. It's like whenever we create a weapon they just fit us so well. They flow with our body motion, you ever noticed that?”
“I have. I think it’s part of the Rod. The more we use it, the more it becomes infused with our body. The more it infuses with us, the more it becomes part of us and enables the weapons to work as an extension of our body. It’s how we can use them so smoothly, it becomes a fluid motion with our body instead of just a weapon.” Peter pointed to his Rod. “Soon they will be an extension of us the more we use them.”
“As weird as that sounds, it probably is exactly that,” Fred said laughing. “Hey, so why didn't you go to the dance? “
Peter shrugged. “I'm not interested in any of the girls in my classes.”
Fred's eyes grew. “None?”
“Not really. Is that really hard to believe? Marshall gave me the same look.” Peter was beginning to wonder if he stood out more than he wanted. He tried his best to understand other people’s emotions and follow along. When it came to girls he just couldn't fit in. He hadn't found any girl in any of his classes attractive at all. He focused on his studies usually. At least until the training came along; now that took up all his thoughts. He felt there was no time to date a girl.