Immortal

As Lucas started to peel his eyes open, he could feel his hands were bound. "Not again," he thought. His body felt fine, but he was exhausted. His eyes adjusted and he could see metal bars in front of him. He looked around.

(Lucas: "What the…")

He was surrounded by metal bars. He could see the hinges of a door on the bars, and a lock on the outside. A cage? He was locked in a cage?!

The realization caused him to jump up perhaps a hit too quickly. He'd forgotten his hands were bound and the chains pulled him back down.

(Lucas: "Angel? Angel!")

The Guardian Angel answered the summons and appeared before him outside of the cage. Lucas turned his back so it could his manacled hands.

(Lucas: "Cut them!")

Without question, his hands came off and blood poured from his handless arms. He pulled his arms free of the shackles and let them reconstruct. He stood up, free of any restraints and grabbed the lock and stared at it. He backed up, ready to put a hole where the lock was, but then a voice spoke to him.

(???: "It's not going to work.")

Lucas stumbled backward, startled by the voice. He looked to his right and saw another cage. Another man was locked up and in shackles.

(Lucas: "Who the hell are you?")

(???: "I'm Ben. I'd shake your hand if I could.")

Ben didn't seem bothered by the fact Lucas just had his hands cut off and regrown. Not even in the slightest. Ben had bags under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in years. Lucas wondered why he was locked up. Maybe he was a criminal?

(Lucas: "What's going on here? Who locked us up in here?")

(Ben: "The good people of Riverbed did that. Actually, one of the companies, I should say.")

(Lucas: "Riverbed? I've never heard of a city called 'Riverbed'")

(Ben: "That's 'cause there is no city around here called Riverbed. This is a camp.")

(Lucas: "A camp?")

(Ben: "A camp.")

(Lucas: "And they call it Riverbed?")

(Ben: "You got it!")

Lucas got back into his stance. He got ready to punch a hole in the lock. Then something occurred to him. He got out of his stance and looked back at Ben. Ben was no longer looking at him, but instead at his legs. He was slouched over where he sat.

(Lucas: "You said "that won't work." How did you know what I was going to do?")

Ben looked back up and Lucas. He seemed confused by the question and shook his head.

(Ben: "Well… I-I guess I don't understand the question.")

Lucas tried to find a way to put it. Even he didn't know how to explain it.

(Lucas: "Do you know about immortals?")

Ben laughed.

(Ben: "Of course I do. You think I'm locked up in here for fun?")

Now Lucas was confused. He cocked his head and got closer to Ben. He ticked his finger at him.

(Lucas: "You? You're immortal?")

(Ben: "Sadly.")

(Lucas: "Jesus, I thought I was the only one.")

(Ben: "There used to be another, but he's gone.")

(Lucas: "Hah! I can't believe I thought you were locked up for breaking the law or something.")

(Ben: "Oh! How nice. I wish that was all. But their idea of law and order is a little different around here. No. Around here, they just kill whoever breaks the law. It's pretty effective, actually. You never have repeat offenders.")

(Lucas: "Oh.")

(Ben: "Yeah. But hey, me and you never have to worry about that. The most we have to worry about is getting tased. There isn't much we have to worry about. Oh! Except for when an apostle get in the camp every once in a while, but that almost never happens.")

(Lucas: "Almost?")

(Ben: "Almost.")

(Lucas: "What do they do when an apostle gets in?")

(Ben: "They usually send me out to deal with it. Since I've got my angel, they think I'm better at fighting off apostles.")

An Angel appeared behind Ben's cage. Lucas looked at both his angel, and Ben's. This was all too much. Not even a day ago, he thought he was the only man on earth to be immortal. He hadn't even seen another Guardian Angel before.

(Ben: "Hopefully, they'll just use you. Or they'll use both of us. Who knows?")

Lucas finally relaxed and he backed away from the bars and sat in the middle of the cage, holding his knees to his chest.

(Lucas: "How'd you find this place?")

(Ben: "I was wandering around at night and then they put the spotlight on me. They had a company come after me. I didn't know anything about them, so I let them come up to me, and they put all their guns in my face. I wasn't afraid though. Why would I be? I'm immortal! I tried to act all high and mighty. Some dude has his barrel right up to my nose. I took my index finger and pushed it to the right. They didn't enjoy that. They all lit me up. I'm pretty sure I've still got fragments of bullets in me. How about you?")

(Lucas: "Whats a company again?")

(Ben: "They're basically search parties. Like the Retrievers for the H.S.A., but they call themselves companies. They form a group and that's a company. They usually use their leader's surname to precede it. Like my surname is Donovan. If I had a company, it would be called the Donovan Company.")

(Lucas: "Ah. Okay. It doesn't make a lick of sense to me, but that's alright.")

(Ben: "So are you going to tell me how you found this place?")

(Lucas: "I didn't. They tased me until I fell asleep.")

(Ben: "They like doing that. Get used to it. Sometimes they'll just come in here and do it to me if they've got steam to blow off.")

(Lucas: "Jesus.")

(Ben: "That isn't even the worst of it. Most of the people here are nice. They're just stressed and angry. If I was them, I'd do it to me too. Hah, sometimes I actually do.")

(Lucas: "You hurt yourself?")

(Ben: "Sure. Why not?")

(Lucas: "It ain't a healthy habit.")

(Ben: "So is getting tased until you fall asleep, but I digress.")

(Lucas: "Why do you do it?")

(Ben: "Sometimes, I don't even have a reason. I just do it. Now sometimes I get a little sad, so I get my angel to lop off my head to get my mind off things. Hah! Get it?")

Lucas didn't laugh. Ben cleared his throat awkwardly.

(Ben: "Tough crowd. That's fine. I didn't even plan that joke. I'm somewhat of a comedian.")

Lucas turned away from Ben.

(Ben: "Oh, lighten up, man! I jest! I jest!")

They sat in silence for a while. Lucas had forgotten about breaking out. He still considered it, but thinking about all the people outside of the tent that would be ready to shoot him down unnerved him. Janice's words lingered in his mind. He didn't want to risk getting shot.