Chapter 5: Raider’s bane
The sun beat down on the Arizona desert. The air itself appeared distorted from the heat given off by the sand beneath. Not a creature could be seen below, every one of them hiding from the intensity of the summer heat.
All save one human boy stumbled weakly across the rocky sand.
This newcomer had attracted quite a bit of attention in the air. The shadows of numerous vultures fell upon the sand below, following the boy wherever he went. As time passed, more and more appeared, coming closer and closer as the boy’s pace grew slower. Some had even dared to hop along the ground at a distance, with hopes of reaching him first at death.
Anticipation was high. The skinny boy looked like he would fall over at any moment. More vultures began to descend, following at a safe distance. This dragged on for nearly an hour, the mob hopping behind or flying just above, waiting patiently for the heat to finish its work.
The boy’s body began to waver, wobbling side to side. His leg began to give out, unable to go any farther. He fell face first into the sand, lying motionless on the baking sand. The moment the birds had been waiting for finally arrived. Still cautious, the scavengers approached the body, wary of any movement. One bird was brave enough to come near his face.
The boy’s eyelids shot open, revealing a pair of wild violet eyes. At that moment one brave vulture realized it had made a terrible mistake.
Like lightning, the boy’s hand shot out, snapping the vulture’s neck. The other birds cried out and alarm and began to flee. The boy whipped himself off the ground and pounced on a second bird, killing it as well. A third’s wing was slashed off as it attempted to escape, sending it back to the ground where it met its gruesome death. The rest luckily escaped, one missing a number of tail feathers.
Caleb looked up at the fleeing birds in disappointment. He had hoped to catch a few more. His injuries were definitely still slowing him down. He limped over and grabbed the bloody carcasses of each bird by their feet, throwing them over his shoulder. He grunted and continued trudging across the sandy desert, still maintaining the appearance of a ghoul.
Later that night, Caleb sat in front of a campfire, finishing the preparations on one of the birds. The entire area smelled awful, rank with guts and bile. Some coyotes were attracted closer by the smell, but upon taking one look at the source, they bolted. Caleb let out a groan of disappointment. If they had come a little closer, he might have had the chance to catch them. They were much smarter than the birds.
He cooked the meat over a small fire and hungrily bit into it. The taste was awful, but compared with starving he didn’t have the luxury to be picky. This was the first time in nearly a week he’d had the chance to catch anything. If he’d gone much longer without food, he really might have ended up as vulture chow.
By the time he had finished, nothing but bones remained of the carcass. He looked over at the other birds hungrily. He knew he probably needed to save them for later, considering his rather paltry food supply, but a hungry twelve-year-old was a hungry twelve-year-old. In the end, his stomach won over his willpower and he began cleaning the second vulture, thickening the stench of the air around him as more entrails spilled to the ground.
It didn’t take long for him to finish off this bird either. Now led completely by his stomach, he didn’t even hesitate to prepare the third. Caleb placed it over the fire and began to cook it as well.
As it cooked, he tenderly tested a bruise on his ribs, wincing as the black and blue skin erupted in pain. His entire body was covered in cuts and bruises from his latest run in with settlers. The cuts had mostly healed by now, but a couple were definitely going to leave scars, especially from the nasty burn he’d received to his back from the Molotov. The worst one was a bullet that had torn through his calf, bringing about his current limp. His face was a rainbow of bruises and cuts, rendering his appearance unrecognizable even to himself.
He didn’t know why he kept trying. Even after the incident on the farm, he never stopped making the same mistake of trying to get close to others. Sometimes they started out friendly other times hostile. He was usually better off when they shooed him away immediately. The friendly ones were always the ones that hurt him in the end, after discovering his power. In mere moments, they turned from friends into mortal enemies.
This last time, he hadn’t even made it a week. Some scoundrels passing through the small town attacked an old woman for a mere bag of flour. In order to stop it, he’d used some of his strength to chase them away. The reward he’d received for his goodwill was a mobbing. He had taken countless attacks in his attempt to flee, barely escaping with his life.
He could have escaped without injury, most likely. All it would have taken was for him to circulate a little more power. However, the more power he used, the greater his killing intent seemed to increase. If he had tried to use his power to flee, it was more likely he would have turned around and massacred them all. Not wanting to go berserk and hurt anyone, he allowed himself to suffer, barely escaping with his life.
He felt the scars on his chest, running his fingers lightly over the smooth tissue. This was still his most vivid, most painful memory. All the injuries over the years, all the betrayals, he’d almost come to expect them, even if he’d hoped that time would be different. They were scars that represented a risk he’d taken.
This one, on the other hand, was something of true betrayal, representing the murderous intent of the woman he’d fully trusted, never doubting her feelings for him. She was a woman who’d he’d considered a mother. To this day, he still could not understand why she’d done it. Why? How could she try to kill him? They had been so close, and all he’d done was try to protect her.
Was his strength really such a terrible sin?
It wasn’t fair. Every time he’d used his strength, he’d only been trying to help someone else. It wasn’t as if he was running around murdering others for no reason. Besides the four bandits four years prior, he’d always stopped short of killing. He only used enough power to frighten away trouble, always keeping the rage under control. But even the smallest display of abnormality was enough to turn anyone he knew against him. There had not been a moment after his secret was revealed that other viewed him in a light other than fear or hatred.
Monster. Freak. Most often, aberrant. It was a never-ending cycle of hatred.
This is the way of the human heart. The mysterious, savage voice said quietly. They will always fear you, because you are stronger than them. They understand that to you, they will one day be no more than prey.
Caleb felt a chill go down his spine as the voice spoke. In these four years, this bloodthirsty tone it spoke with had been gradually increasing. Especially recently, its words were becoming clearer and clearer. He quickly tried to divert his thoughts away from the voice, looking back at the roasting vulture.
As the bird finished cooking, he removed it from the crude spit. However, before he could take a bite something in the distance caught his attention. He stopped and turned his head toward the noise. It was faint, but his ears were exceptionally sharp. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the sound of hoof beats coming towards him.
His face darkened. They were almost certainly raiders or bandits. It was rare for people to travel night, probably hoping to take advantage of him after seeing the campfire. This wasn’t an uncommon problem for him. He’d come to realize that, in many ways, humans were far stupider than coyotes.
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Sure enough, a few minutes later three horses plodded up to the fire. Caleb looked up at them with hostility, but the three men barely paid attention to this. He was just a kid after all. They were far more concerned with the fact that there was nothing of value, and also with the awful smell.
“My God, what did he do to this place?” The first spoke up, covering his mouth and nose with a hand.
“We came all the way here and for what? A little brat surrounded by guts? Whose idiotic decision was this?”
“I think it was yours.”
“Don’t blame me. I wanted to stay in camp. You’re the one who was trying to avoid a gambling debt by coming out here.”
Caleb just stared at the trio as they argued amongst themselves in a mixture of amusement and confusion. He couldn’t decide whether these people were stupid or crazy. Perhaps both.
Eventually the conversation got back around to him.
“Well, whatever. We’ll just play it off as securing the area, how about that? Kid, you’re in our territory. If you want to stick around, you’ll have to pay. I suggest you head back to where you came from.” The gambler ordered.
Caleb didn’t bother to listen, and just began to eat his bird. Idiots like this were everywhere. If he was stupid enough to come any closer, he’d beat them like the rest to send a message. Bandits were cowards by nature. His powers always frightened them off.
This didn’t go over well with the gambler. His quickly became furious and drew a metal pipe from his belt. “You have a steel pair, don’t you, you little punk? You really need to learn how to respect your elders.”
“Oi. Don’t bother. This kid’s basically a wild animal. It’s not worth the effort.” One of the gambler comrades said. He gave Caleb a look of pity.
“If that was true, he should have run off the moment he saw us coming. He isn’t even afraid. You telling me to ditch my face for this piece of crap?” The gambler sneered.
“Just do it and let’s get a move on. It stinks here, I’d rather go back to camp than deal with this any longer.” The third man urged.
The second man looked like he wanted to protest, but stayed silent in the end. It made sense. Majority rules after all. Who would risk their relationships for a starved corpse like him?
Trash. A bunch of trash that needs to be disposed of. Don’t hold back. Teach them their place. Kill them. The voice urged.
Caleb’s hand twitched slightly. Part of him really wanted to heed the voices egging. In the end, however, he chose to ignore it. They’d learn their lesson soon enough. There was no reason to push it to an extreme. Beat one up, show off his strength, and all three would ride off on their horses without any thoughts of troubling him again.
Thinking of this, Caleb’s eyes began to glow with newfound energy. Horses? Those had meat on them, right?
He looked over at the three bandits. More accurately, his eyes were trained on their steeds. They weren’t especially well fed, but all three looked healthy. Imagining the amount of meat on them, he almost started drooling.
Once again, his stomach decided his actions.
“Hey, you listening brat? I’ll let you off this time if you get down and beg for forgiveness. Otherwise I’ll beat you into an even worse state. What do you think?”
Caleb completely ignored him. “Hey, bandits. I have a proposition for you.”
The gambler, already angry, only grew angrier. “You think you’re in a position to ask for anything?”
“If you leave the horses behind, you can leave without injuries. Sound good?”
The three men were caught off guard. Their faces became a little more serious. “I don’t think I heard you right, so I’ll give you another chance to do what I said before I teach you some manners. Now, are you going to beg, or am I going to have to use this pipe on you?”
“Do whatever you want. I just want horse meat. I’m hungry.” Caleb replied dispassionately, taking another bite of the vulture.
The third man had reached his limit as well. “It looks like this little trip has an added benefit after all. I’ve been needing a little stress relief.” He snarled, dismounting his horse. A furious and sadistic grin stretched across his face.
“All you had to do was beg, and yet you dared to make threats. You can only blame yourself for what comes next.” The gambler said menacingly.
Caleb’s eyes became cold hearing such familiar words.
The gambler had chosen to reignite a hated memory in Caleb’s past. Unconsciously, Caleb’s eyes changed to a dull purple. He gave the man an angry glance and motioned for him to attack. “Have it your way, then.”
The change wasn’t evident to the furious gambler, but the second man had apparently noticed. He cried out urgently, to stop his comrade.
“Stop! It’s a trap! He’s an-”
Before he could finish, the gambler had already attacked. Caleb’s arm shot out
Before the man could react, Caleb’s arm had already struck out twice. Two sickening cracks echoed through the desert. The bandit collapsed to the ground in immense pain screaming at the top of his lungs. His shattered femurs jutted through the skin. He screamed and tried to get away in a panic, but only succeeded in worsening the damage.
“Weakling.” Caleb muttered. He didn’t attack others often based on his principles, but a piece of scum like this wasn’t worth holding back against. Even if it was a little further than he’d originally intended to go, it was less than he deserved after his earlier comments. Having ended the fight, he casually went back to eating his roasted vulture.
“A-aberrant!” The third man was in shock for a moment. Being an idiot, he tried to draw a firearm. The second man had been shocked speechless, unable to move. Even if he’d realized ahead of time, the power Caleb had just displayed had left him without the slightest courage.
Caleb’s eyes darted towards the third man, now gleaming a brilliant shade of violet. “Take your friend and leave the horses. Otherwise I’ll leave all of you here to stare up at the clouds until the vultures come for you. You fire that gun and the offer expires.”
The second man was shaking. Caleb paid little attention to him. It was clear he wouldn’t try anything. On the other hand, the third man seemed to have a death wish. Although also terrified, he’d decided his best option was to kill Caleb.
And thus, a stupid decision was made.
The rifle went off. However, the shot just buried itself in the dirt. Caleb was already long gone from the spot he’d been sitting. In the blink of an eye, Caleb was on top of the first man’s horse. The rifle shattered under the force of his grip. His knee impacted the man’s chest sending him spiraling uncontrollably of the horse’s back.
The remaining tried to run. He urged his horse to sprint away, hoping to outrun Caleb. Before he could, he realized the world seemed to be spinning. He tried to find solid ground, but nothing appeared. Then his received a sudden intense impact, knocking the wind out of him. When everything stopped, he was lying on the ground. The third man’s dead horse was lying on top of his legs.
For a moment, he tried to struggle free. Caleb hopped on top of the horse, his wild violet eyes staring at his pathetic attempts. Under the pressure those eyes emitted, the bandit could do nothing but shiver in fright. From Caleb’s perspective, it appeared he’d caused the man to pee himself.
“I’d like to say that people would thank me for getting rid of you, but past experience has proven otherwise.” Caleb said bitterly, crouching on top of the dead horse.
Seeing death as an inevitability now, the man summoned his courage and tried to grab the on his back. It wasn’t there anymore. During the previous bout, the boy had removed it when throwing the second man to the ground. Caleb nonchalantly grasp the barrel and tied it into a knot and threw it aside.
“I’ll let you in on a secret.” Caleb informed him. “I was shot point blank in the chest when I was eight and still lived to tell you. It really hurts. If you’d actually managed to cause me some damage, who knows what your fate would have been, hm?”
“You can’t do this. I-If you kill us, the boss will come after you!” The raider said in a panic grasping at whatever straws he could. “You won’t live much longer than we will!”
Caleb raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have any intention of killing you. I even left that metal pipe guy alive, didn’t I? By the way, I’m taking your stuff. I’ll leave you a little water, though. I’m not a complete monster, after all.”
Caleb jumped off the horse and began picking the supplies off of each of the dead horses. He looked around for the remaining horse only to discover it had run off. He frowned. Looked like he’d have to do some tracking. Another animal that was smarter than humans, it seemed.
“You! You can’t leave us here! That’s as good as killing us! The boss will-”
“Yada yada yada. The boss will this, the boss will that. I gave you water already, and your friend only has some cracked ribs. Don’t get greedy. Since your camp is close enough for you to venture over here out of curiosity, you’ll be fine.”
Caleb looked over towards where the first man had landed, discovering he had begun to run away, abandoning his comrades. No loyalty among thieves seemed to be a very accurate phrase.
“Never mind, you’re in trouble. I hope your boss knows more about loyalty than that friend of yours, or you really will end up as vulture food.” Caleb said with a hint of irritation. “Oh, and don’t follow that guy’s example and try to run off again. Abandoning those who trust you is a good way to get yourself killed.”
Caleb bolted after the retreating man, closing the hundred-meter distance in mere seconds. The man fell to the ground, his throat slashed wide open by Caleb’s claws. He didn’t even have a moment to realize what had happened before the life faded from him.
His brilliant violet eyes shined with chilling malice as he looked down at the corpse. “I really hate betrayers.” He muttered, flicking the blood from his hand.
An ominous voice cackled gleefully in his head. Well done, kid. Well done.
Caleb paid no attention to the voice. He slung the last of the raider’s belongings over his shoulder and disappeared into the darkness after the fleeing horsemeat.