Derelict

One Who Shared My Bread Has Turned Against Me

Chapter Twenty-Five

The implications took a moment to sink in. Wyatt's mind raced and he started to voice a question but hesitated; it all seemed so confusing. Finally he managed to ask, "You're telling me that these crystals, the very ones that turned me into a Speck, have also created people who don't die?"

Caddo drew in a deep breath. "We trade with the Outlanders and have for centuries. We get supplies, vital things we need to survive. And they get the crystals. They get life."

Wyatt scrunched up his forehead, not understanding Caddo's reticence. "I don't get it. You talk as though this were a bad thing. No sickness, no growing old, no death. What's wrong about all that?"

Caddo shook his head, in obvious distress. "So you'd think. The people of the North, the Outlanders, they grind the crystals into powder and mix it with liquid. People drink this concoction whenever their budget allows but the very rich drink it every day. They hope the brew will help them find an edge and gain an advantage over their peers. Sure it gives them long life, but it has also transformed them into monsters."

Wyatt looked from Caddo to the others around the table. Bono nodded in agreement. "You've never even realized it Wyatt," he said. "But you've got some first-hand experience with how the crystals change people."

It took Wyatt a moment before he realized the truth. "Boss?" he said, halfway as a question. "Boss came from Chicago to the shop after his pa died."

"You've seen the truth of it," added Bono. "They fight and claw each other seeking to dominate. They've enslaved those less fortunate and have no regard for anyone or anything other than themselves." 

Wyatt shook his head, fully understanding. Most of his life had been lived cowering in fear from such people. "I guess I can see that. Rich people having at each other, each trying to gain the upper hand. It wouldn't take much to see them as monsters."

Caddo drained his cup and set it on the table. "I didn't say I saw them as monsters," he said, reaching for the flask. "Those that drink the powder on a daily basis, they truly are monsters. They drink the crystals for centuries and change. They are no longer human, they become more like the Mandu with each passing year. Their bodies change, they transform as they lose their humanity."

"Boss lived in Chicago, that much is true," added Bono. "But he never had enough money to indulge in excess. He could only afford an occasional crystal. It made him mean and cruel, it gave him life, but he didn't turn."

Wyatt let all that sink in but a nagging thought kept rising to the surface. "What about me? I'm a Speck. Will I change? Will I become like them?"

Hoping for assurance, he was disappointed and afraid when Caddo shook his head and stated in a quiet voice, "I do not know. I don't think anyone knows."

A chill trickled over his skin, one that had little to do with the temperature. A mixture of fear and frustration fill him, slowing churning into anger. It was all so unfair! I just want to be left alone. Let me live my life. Away from zelinx and crystals and abuse and thirst. Leave me alone!

There was no one who could understand. No one who could feel what he felt. He was isolated and needed to reach out to Rison. Her secret always seemed to slip his mind. She too is a Speck! Even if she doesn't want to admit it.