Free All American Rejects (Users #3) by Stacy, Jennifer Buck

simple. You give me Barber and Ryker...you and Evan can go free."
    Carter burst into laughter. "You know I'd never agree to that." Carter cracked his knuckles as if he were preparing for a fight.
    "Suit yourself," Alaric said, turning to walk away. "But the clock is ticking. Your twenty-four hours are almost up, and then we're coming to take them, one way or the other."
    "Bring it on."
    Alaric stared at him as if Carter were a fool. "I will not hesitate to kill you this time. I have shown you mercy up until this point, because in the past you have done the same for me, but I will not do so again," Alaric said. "Just think about it."
    "Fuck off and die."
    Alaric let out another heavy sigh. "I'll be seeing you soon." And with that, Alaric rounded the corner at the fence and was gone.

Chapter 10
     
    Alaric departed without saying another word, leaving Carter to contemplate his own, as well as his friends futures. Not that he had much to contemplate. He would never allow Barber and Ryker to just go to their deaths without a fight, but the whole situation left Carter with the taste of shit in his mouth.
    Off in the distance the sun was beginning to set, but a thick layer of clouds was moving in over the Puget Sound.
    "Looks like a storm's coming," he said to himself.
    Truer words he had never spoken. The storm was coming, and he was going to be ready for it. He would batten down the hatches and at the right moment, he would unleash a fiery hell on the All Americans. If they wanted a fight, he was going to give them one.
    With renewed vigor, Carter stepped over the pile of broken debris that he and Alaric had made of the fence, and went back into the house.
    "So, what did he want to talk about?" Ryker asked before he had even stepped foot in the living room.
    Two of his companions were seated on the floor, while Evan stood leaning against the far wall. The single candle in the middle of the room flickered as Carter entered. The wick was burning low, and Carter could tell they would soon be sitting in the dark.
    "He wants you and Barber," Carter said getting right to the point.
    "Yeah, I know," Ryker said, but Carter was shaking his head before Ryker even finished.
    "No, you don't understand," Carter said. "If you and Barber go with him, Evan and I can walk free."
    "It's settled then," Ryker said, very matter of fact. "I know what we have to do."
    "Me too," Carter said, but something told him that they weren't on the same page.
    "Barber and I will turn ourselves over to the All Americans," Ryker said.
    "Have you fallen off the wagon or something?" Carter asked. "Because you're talking like you're high as hell."
    "There's no reason for you and Evan to get hurt because of us." Ryker said, plainly. The candle light illuminated one half of Ryker's face, but Carter didn't need to see the other half to know that Ryker was dead serious.
    "Well we'll just put that at the top of list of things that are not happening," Carter said. "I won't let you two go to your deaths to save my own hide. I'm not some self-serving pussy like Alaric and I refuse to lose another single User to this, we've lost enough friends already," Carter said. "Even if they let Evan and me go, there's still the little situation with them killing all our friends that needs to be settled, and I'll be damned if I let that go without punishment."
    "And that's exactly why we must turn ourselves over," Ryker said. "You're going to get yourself killed."
    "Then it looks like I'm going to die one way or the other!" Carter shouted.
    Barber meanwhile sat in silence, neither agreeing or disagreeing to either argument.
    "Argh!" Evan growled. "We should have run while we had the chance."
    "They would find us," Ryker said, but Evan waved him off as if he were full of shit.
    "It's not too late. Let's just get the hell out of here," Evan said.
    "Are you not listening to me? They will find us," Ryker said. "And then they'll capture us and kill you and Carter anyway."
    "I agree," Carter