The Recruits

Chapter 5

Georgie looked at Ozzie, who was mostly just sniffling. Matt turned and headed to the stairs. He took a step before looking back at Ozzie.

"I'll be back in a few minutes to treat you. In the meantime, no one go in a 3 feet radius of him or talk to him." he ordered, walking up the stairs. Georgie looked at Davin, who uncovered his ears and sighed. He crawled over to him, and Charlie stopped him at the edge of the mattress.

"What does rad-I-us mean?" he asks, tilting his head. Charlie muttered something under his breath and Davin glared at him.

"Just stay over here, okay?" Davin smiled, though it wasn't happy. It was a weak smile, a forced smile. Georgie remembers his mother smiling like that when talking to the neighborhood ladies. His mom. Now Georgie was sad. He put his head down, nodding lightly.

Georgie glanced at Ozzie out of the corner of his eyes. He was suppressing his screams, evidently. Tears were flowing violently out of his eyes at this point. His mouth was quivering, and he was obviously shaking, even from a far that was obvious.

After a while, Matt came back down. He stopped at the end of the stairs. He looked over at Georgie's corner and smiled, before turning to Ozzie and frowning.

"Come on." he gestured. Ozzie got up, gripping his left hand with his right. He walked slowly to the stairs. He looked up at Matt and whimpered, turning back to the stairs and taking slow steps up the stairs. Matt wasn't amused.

"Walk up." he growled. Ozzie mumbled a sorry and sped up a little. After they both made it up the stairs, Matt closed the door. Davin let out a deep sigh. Georgie looked at him, then at Charlie.

"Davin?" Georgie squeaked. Both their attentions turned to him. Davin smiled again.

"How old are you?" Georgie's curiosity peaked. Charlie growled at the question, which caused Davin to nudge him and Georgie to rethink his question.

"I'm fifteen," Davin pointed to himself. "Charlie's thirteen." Charlie hummed.

"You're six, right?" Charlie asked with a smirk. Georgie nodded.

"Interesting" he leaned in closer. Davin cleared his throat and drew Charlie back. Charlie rolled his eyes and slapped Davin's hand off him. Georgie rose an eyebrow.

"Are you two friends?" Georgie questioned again. Charlie and Davin looked at each other. Charlie nodded.

"I guess." he says, sounding unsure. Davin lies down on his mattress and turns his head to Georgie.

"So, kid." Georgie looked at Davin as he started. "what's your ability?"

"Don't have one." Georgie shrugged. He was starting to wonder what the deal was with the whole 'ability' thing. Charlie shook his head and looked bewildered. Davin only looked slightly confused.

"Do you know Matt personally?" he asked. Georgie shook his head. This confused Davin but he just shrugged and didn't ask further.

"What about you two? What are your 'abilities?'" Georgie air quoted the word 'ability.' Davin smiled.

"I can scream loud." Charlie announced proudly. Davin laughed when he said this, finding his confidence amusing. Charlie frowned.

"I don't quite remember mine; I think I can generate one of the elements?" Davin looked at the white bands on his hands.

"Fire, water, wind and earth?' Davin nodded. Georgie's eyes sparkled.

"That's so cool!" he exclaimed, grinning. Davin chuckled. Charlie huffed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, well it's not like I can use it right now." he said, smiling, for real. Charlie looked at the smiling Davin and smiled too.

"Do you," Georgie hesitated, "know the time, down here?" he looked specifically at Charlie. They both shake their heads.

"I don't even know what day of the week or what month we're in." Davin added.

"It's Tuesday, September 10." Georgie said. Davin nodded. The basement door opened and only Matt came down.

"Ozzie's staying upstairs for the night." he stated as he came down the stairs with a tray of soup, again. He placed them down and gestured for them to be taken up. The boys all went over to take one up each. After they were taken up, Matt wasted no time and got up quickly, practically running up the stairs. The door was slammed shut, which made Georgie flinch a little.

"Do we not need to greet him?" Georgie asked. Charlie shook his head. Georgie took up his spoon and took a scoop of soup. The soup only had two pieces of dumpling, a few pumpkin slices and a smaller piece of chicken. Georgie blew on the spoon twice and then sipped its contents.

"I'm guessing it's late," Davin spoke to Charlie. "My sense of time is worsening." Davin sighed with a slight chuckle. Georgie continued scooping and blowing until he finished the liquid parts, moving to the dumpling. He finished and burped at a medium volume. He grew red and said excuse me. Charlie blinked at him a few times before bursting out laughing.

Davin rolled his eyes at Charlies behavior. The both of them already finished their food, long before Georgie, too. Davin took the bowls up and stacked them. He put them beside the steps and tapped Charlie as he practically rolled on the floor. Charlie's laughter died down and he stopped.

He crawled over to his bed, and Davin did the same. Georgie followed their lead and went to his own mattress. He wondered if Ozzie was okay. He turned and looked over at his mattress. It gave Georgie a strange feeling seeing it empty. Hopefully, he thought, Matt wasn't doing anything bad to him.

Ozzie sat down at the bottom of the small white couch, while Matt sat on it. Ozzie was wearing a blindfold while the television played. The box television was playing a western film, that Ozzie couldn't watch. Matt still had to keep an eye on him, so this was the best solution. Ozzie had a cast on and a little brace to keep his hand in a specific position.

Matt had helped Ozzie eat, so he finished his soup swiftly. Matt was eating instant noodles with some chopsticks when he had an idea. He turned to Ozzie with a grin he wouldn't be able to see.

"How about a game for you four to play?"