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Part 4, Chapter 18

Carter

Provo, Utah

10 hours before Swipe's injury

Carter was relieved to get some breathing room. He sat on a bench at a park and looked up at the beautiful snow capped Mount Timpanogos. The base was fine, it was just good for him to go outside every once and a while. He was driven here by a valet, and he didn't really talk too much. He learned that the base was located on the Utah/Nevada border, about halfway north in both states. It was built underneath a huge unnamed mountain. The deepest recesses of the base were over half a mile beneath the surface. During the car ride, Carter admired the majesty of Utah. Its deserts, its mountains, its raw beauty. It seemed at some parts, that it was entirely untouched by man. Unexplored. Wild. The car ride was a little over two hours, and it wasn't at all too long. Carter appreciated the land, and it felt like the land appreciated him.

So there he sat. In the city of college students and Mormons. Several times, he saw LDS Missionaries walking down the lane, or biking. It was Sunday, so they had free time. Utah didn't get hit very hard from the solar flares. The members claimed that God had protected them because He needed them to be healthy enough to help others. Carter had never been religious, but he wasn't Atheist. When it came to religion, he was on neutral ground. He wasn't sure if there is some higher force that created Earth, but he wasn't sure if the Big Bang theory proved anything either.

A bell rang and bunches of students funneled out of a stake center in suits, ties, and dresses. Carter didn't know a lot about anything, but he knew a little about everything. He knew that at BYU, the stakes were busy enough that there would be another meeting in a couple of minutes. A few stragglers left the building and Carter felt a strange feeling to go in and participate in the next meeting. It was a strong feeling, and at first he resisted. But then the feeling became stronger. He tried to resist it as much as he could, but it eventually overwhelmed him. He fingered his gloves, and his clothes morphed into a suit and tie, fit with black loafers. Just to add a splash of color, he formed a little pin of the United States flag and pinned it to his suit. Students started going into the building to prepare for the meeting at hand. Carter got up and blended in perfectly with the worshipers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Now that's a mouthful. He thought.

All of the pews were taken by couples sitting next to each other, with an exception of 8 young men, spread out across the whole room. This was when Carter realized his critical mistake. This wasn't a Young Single Adult ward. This was a couples ward. He looked around for a place in the back where he could skulk without anyone noticing. No dice. He looked around and finally, he saw her. The only girl among the crowd that was sitting alone. The prelude music was diminishing, and so was his time to sit down. Making a bold move, he went up to the third row and sat next to the girl he saw previously.

"Hi." He whispered. She jumped, clearly startled.

"Oh, hi." She whispered. She was devastatingly beautiful. His 18-wait no, I turned 19 sometime in the base. His 19 year old mind went blank when she smiled at him. She was brunette, with sea green eyes, high cheekbones, a semi-hard jawline, and brilliant white teeth. Very few people looked like that these days.

"I am-" His addled mind was about to say single, but through sheer willpower, he finished with "-sorry I startled you."

"It's alright. I was just thinking really hard."

" 'bout what?" He was being nosy.

"My boyfriend just broke up with me and left the church."

"Oh, sounds harsh."