Exterminators Infected (The Exterminators Book 1) (33 page)

As they walked through the doors they could hear the chatter grow ten times louder. There were easily over fifty people in the room all talking at once. The stands were set up like a gym stadium with eight rows going up. A bunch of people, who the boys assumed were Exterminators, sat on the benches talking. Some people stopped to look at the boys then pointed and began talking again. “Seems we're popular here,” Marshall whispered to his friends.

“This trial must be big news. This is a lot of people,” Nick said, both worried and sad. If the story spread this quick through the organization it meant bad news for Fred. He must have broken the rules so bad people had to see the outcome.

“Let's find seats.” Jin walked forward and the boys followed.

The room was brightly lit. It was as clean as it could possibly be. As the boys shifted and began to climb the steps Nick took a look around the room. In the center were three chairs. A few feet in front of that was a huge table which contained six chairs. “That's where the judges sit?” he asked Jin. Jin looked and nodded. “So why are there three seats in front of the table?”

“It's for Fred,” Jin answered.

“Why are there three though?” he asked. The doors opened and Fred walked in. Nick and Marshall stood up. They could see his face looked a bit better from yesterday but he kept his head lowered. The blabbing dropped to a very low volume yet everyone kept talking. Nick could feel his heart pounding as he watched his friend walking towards his seat. Carl walked right behind him.

“We're right here man! Don't worry!” Marshall yelled from the seats. Everyone looked at him, pointing and talking. “What the hell are you all looking at!?” he yelled. They all kept talking about him, now looking the other way. He sat back down, pissed off. “These people act like he's an animal or something, getting ready to put on a show.”

“Just ignore them and keep calm,” Nick said sitting back down. He felt nervous. He was watching one of his own being put on a trial for something he knew he couldn't have done. He had a lot to learn about his teammates, his friends, but they were not betrayers. They wouldn't hurt their own unit. That's what he kept reassuring himself with.

Carl let Fred sit down. He put his hand on his shoulder and pressed in. He bent down and whispered, “It'll be okay. Keep calm. I will vouch for you here.” Carl then went around and took a seat himself.

The room was still chattering, though a lot lower. “It's like a sport to these idiots!” Marshall roared. “They’re being disrespectful. That's one of their own up there!”

“They are curious Marshall. No need to get upset,” Jin said calmly.

“That's a human being!” he yelled.
“That's your best friend,” Nick said softly. They looked at him. “So, it means a lot to you. You want nothing more than to run down there and take him out of here. Save him from all this. You still sit here, though. Upset you can't do just that. Isn't that right, Marshall?” Nick now looked at his friend. Marshall felt a tear forming. He looked away and rubbed his eyes.

“I just want to get this over with.”

As if it was on command the doors on the far side opened. Everyone went silent as the judges walked in. In the lead was the Gada, Ross. She led the group, closely followed by her Protector. Three older men followed and one young girl coming up last. They all sat in their respected seats and began shifting themselves to get comfortable. Fred looked up from his chair, his stomach feeling empty despite eating less than an hour ago. He could feel a ringing in his ears from his heart pounding so hard making it so he couldn't hear.

“Today we are here to place judgment on a fellow Exterminator. Fred Sinco, please stand,” the Gada ordered. Fred got up slowly. He felt as if his insides we're going to come out of his mouth. He looked up at the judges, scanning each one.

“My name is Fred. I am an Exterminator under my Bora, Carl. I am-” he lost his train of thought. He wasn't sure where he was going with it. He looked around the gym to see dozens and dozens of faces looking at him. He felt he was about to throw up. He sat down, his legs shaking violently. “-I...I...” He didn't know how to continue. He sat there looking at his Gada wondering if she took pity or was disgraced. Yet she sat there with no emotion on her face.

Carl stood up. “He's only a boy. I will continue for him, if that pleases you Ross,” he said firmly. Ross nodded, Carl continued. “Yesterday, we were to bring Fred in for questioning. Some questionable events have been happening as of late. We figured going to him and talking would help us to determine what to do. When we got there Fred got nervous and ran. Only natural for a boy to be scared when he is told he was being taking into custody.”

“Why did you run?” she asked. Fred could feel all the eyes in the place on him now. He looked back up at her.

“I...was scared,” he said in a low voice.

“You thought you're own Bora would hurt you?”

“No.”

“Then why did you run?”

“I was afraid I'd hurt him.” The gyms chattering exploded as everyone began whispering. The Gada watched Fred flicking his fingers back and forth.

“Did you know at that point that you were dangerous?”

“I didn't know what I was capable of,” he said sadly. It was true. At that point he didn't know what was happening to him. Just something was changing and not for the better.

“So you ran and Maria was able to catch you.”

“I hid out of sight. So they split up. She came my way. She heard me behind the garbage can. I told her to stay back. I told her to stay away from me! I could feel it! I could feel whatever it was wanting out! Why didn't she listen!? Why...Why?” He began crying. He hadn't cried at all the night before. The whole time before the trial he felt his body was in a shocked state. As if he didn't know how to deal with the situation he was dealt with. Now, as he told his story, he felt the events happening again in his mind. The terrible feeling of anger. The feeling of clawing someone’s face and tearing it apart. He wanted to vomit right there.

“You gave her warning and she still continued?” the Gada asked. She hadn't heard this part.

“What does that matter?” Now Aric walked into the room from the pod section. He made his way towards the final free chair. The voices grew in volume as he made his way forward. Nick watched him. He wanted nothing more but to jump off the stadium and attack. He felt nothing but hatred towards him.

“This man attacked a fellow Exterminator. He dug his claws into her face and swiped. She didn't even have time to react. She could feel her face getting torn apart, losing complete sight in her right eye.” He looked around the room. “We made rules. If you attack an innocent or a fellow Exterminator you are guilty. You must be held accountable for your actions. We cannot let him go simply because he says he doesn't remember.”

“He wasn't himself. It's different than claiming he doesn't remember.” Carl now stood up.

“You believe he's some kind of Unknown then? Isn't that even more reason to put him down?”

“We don't put down our own. We don't know what happened to him but we're gonna figure it out.”

“We figured it out already. He attacked a fellow Exterminator. Judgment is plain as day now.” Aric sounded smug while saying it. He felt like he was in the total right. He wouldn't even listen to what Carl was saying.

“It isn't your decision. It is the judges,” Carl said firmly. He turned back towards the Gada.

The Gada looked at the judges who sat by her. She could feel the sudden pain of placing judgment soon. As a Gada, it was always her obligation to see things fairly. She looked at Fred. “Please continue, young man. After you gave her warning, she still came towards you.”

Fred took a moment to remember. The part after that became a blur. Flashes of what happened came up yet he couldn't see them clearly. As if it was watching a fuzzy old movie. “I...I think I turned to her. Struck forward. She tried backing away. I was far too fast for her. There were claws digging into the side of her face,” he said. He felt he would throw up at any moment. He could remember her eyes widening right before he swiped. “I swiped....I...I cut...I cut her face right across...I...” He got up and vomited in front of him. He stumbled backwards as he heard the crowd giving disgusting grunts. He was beginning to feel dizzy. Carl grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

“I remember...I remember it...it was horrible,” there was pain in Fred's voice. Carl heard it as well. It pained him to see his student like this.

“He's not doing too well. I think we need to rest.”

“What? Rest!? This is a trial. He doesn't need rest he needs to be convicted!” Aric stepped to the side of the vomit and faced the crowd. “Do you believe one should be set free for his actions? He remembers the events clearly! If it truly wasn't him, how could he remember!?” The crowd roared in agreement. Only a few shook their heads. The boys sat there, stunned.

“We must place judgment on the ones who do wrong. It's that simple.” Aric faced the Gada. She was displeased by his performance, but the crowd wasn't. They agreed with him. How was she to pass judgment against her own people? She looked at Carl, she could see the sadness engulf his face.

“We will decide that together. It is not your choice Aric. Now sit down before I have you removed.” The Gada wasn't playing favorites. She simply didn't like people rallying up everyone and getting them into screaming matches.
“Oh, I will stay quiet.” Aric sat down. “I have already shown that everyone thinks this man deserves death. He has done wrong. He now must be held liable for it.” The crowd nodded in agreement.

“This is an organization!?” Marshall rose from his seat. “We're supposed to work together. Fight together. Stop the Unknowns from coming into our world. We stand here now convicting someone who didn't do anything.” He put out his hand. “He said multiple times it wasn't him. Don't you understand that?”

“If I kill someone, boy, can I say it was me sleep-walking? I wasn't aware I stabbed something? I mean honestly, if we believed everyone's murder stories there would be no judgment to pass,” Aric said smugly from his seat. He laughed. Some of the people in the crowd followed his example.

Marshall felt so angry. So upset. Yet he didn't know what to say. He wanted to yell at them all. Tell them how stupid they were being. He instead sat back down looking at his friend watching him. He could feel tears falling down his cheeks but didn't make a move to wipe them away. He could feel the sense of loss.

“I am the leader.” Nick stood up. He began walking down the steps. People moved out of the way so he could make it to the base floor. Everyone in the gym kept quiet. Not a word was spoken. They were all focused on Nick.

“Young man, please remain in your seat,” one of the old judges ordered. Nick ignored him completely and walked over to Aric. Aric sat there staring up at the young Exterminator.

“Do you lead anyone Aric?”

“As one of the head Protectors, I lead over thirty people.”

“And when one of them is out of place, do you yell at them?”

Aric shrugged. “Of course I do. It's my job. What are you getting at?”

Nick walked over to Fred. He lifted his head and looked at him dead in the eye. “Did you intend on hurting Maria?”

“What?” Fred didn't know how to answer.

“I said. Did you intend on hurting Maria?”

“No...” he whimpered.

“This thing inside of you. What is it?”

“I don't know.”

“It changes you, yeah?” Fred nodded. “Into what? You get claws. That much we figured out. Your eyes are red. What else?”

“Oh this is horse s-” Aric began but Nick talked over him.

“You change into something far stronger. Evil maybe? You aren't yourself.” Fred nodded. “Gada. Judges. This is Fred.” He pointed towards his friend. “This is the Fred I know who I fought with. This is the Fred, I know, who saved my life before. This is the Fred I know who I go to school with. This is the Fred I know who is my brother.” He placed his hand on Fred's shoulder. “The Fred that attacked Maria was not this Fred. It wasn't Fred at all. It was something else. A demon.”

“A demon? Oh, come on now!” Aric screamed in disbelief.

“Riven,” Carl said. The Gada looked at him. “He called himself Riven.”

“Riven?” She questioned the name. It sounded so familiar.

“You can't be buying this! Demons do not exist!” Aric was on his feet now.

“We fight monsters that are made of rock. Wolves ten times the sizes they should be. Even dragons from what I've heard. And you question demons, of all things?” Nick got a few laughs out of that one from the crowd.

“Sorry, if I'm not religious boy. I just find it absurd and convenient that you thought of a demon right now,” Aric grinned menacingly. “Do not believe this, judges. Demons do not exist. I've been hunting over twenty years. If there were demons out there, I'd know of it.”

Nick watched the man fighting against every word he said. He wanted to transform his Rod and stick his spear through his head. Such violent thoughts were passing through his mind but he shook them off. “I'm not sure, but I've been studying up on it. Carl let me know about the name Riven last night. I looked back and there are stories of this thing. This creature that attaches itself to peoples bodies and lives in them till they decay like a parasite.”