DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.

John Carter
By
Lazlo Zalezac 
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezak, 2003


Part 1: Shield, Staff, and Compass
Chapter 16

John watched the sunset while sipping a cup of Greek coffee. He 
was reflecting upon his current situation. For the most part, he was 
satisfied with how his life was working out. He really appreciated 
the break from the constant heroism that he had experienced in 
Austin. He had gained some of his weight back. His skin tone was 
much better. He was still a scarred mess and would be for life, but 
he hadn't gotten any new scars.

He was standing on the back porch of the house he had rented for 
three months. The house had been rented unfurnished and, for the 
most part, remained that way. He had picked up a desk with a chair 
and that was in the living room. On the desk were his laptop and a 
printer. Around the desk were stacks of papers. He slept on the 
floor in his sleeping bag and used his camping cook set for 
preparing meals. He lived like a monk, but enjoyed every minute 
of it.

The house was located in a very small town in Arizona where the 
crime rate was low. The worst that happened in town was the 
occasional bar brawl. While a brawl might result in black eyes or 
broken bones, they did not result in deaths. Otherwise, the location 
was peaceful. Most surprising was that no one had even come by 
to interrupt him. He had expected the normal nosiness of a small 
town. Of course, for all he knew they knew everything about him 
already.

A high point of his stay was a nice conversation with Betsy who 
appreciated the fact that he was living in a much quieter area. She 
was still upset, but now was cooling off to where they could 
discuss things. She had stated that she was going overseas as part 
of a volunteer program that would operate in a refugee camp. It 
was something that she did every other year and found 
considerable satisfaction in it. He worried about her traveling to 
such a dangerous location, but accepted it as something that she 
needed to do for herself. 

His dissertation was now half written and would be finished in 
another month or so. He figured that he would write a first draft 
and then not read it for a week. Then he would revise it for a 
second draft.  Depending on the quality, he would go through third 
and fourth drafts before sending it to his professor for review. 

He had only been here two weeks, but he had worked the entire 
time without break. He hadn't even taken the time to get to know 
the neighbors. His only interaction with people had been at the real 
estate office when he signed the lease and the grocery store when 
he had stocked up on food sufficient for one month. Tonight he 
was going to walk into town and meet some of the locals. 

The sun finally set and he finished the coffee. Returning into the 
house, he rinsed the cup and set it aside to dry. He grabbed his 
walking stick and headed out of the house. At the end of the 
walkway, he heard the distinctive sound of a rattlesnake. He 
located it under a small bush next to the walkway. With a deft 
swipe of his walking stick, he lifted the snake and threw it into the 
street. It slithered away into the darkness. He gave it no further 
thought.

He examined the houses around his place as he slowly strolled 
towards the center of town. The majority of houses had curtains 
illuminated by lights from inside. A few were dark. None of the 
houses had grass lawns. The majority had sand yards that were 
plain with the exception of a cactus or two. Some yards had 
religious statues arranged in little shrine-like areas; statues of the 
Virgin Mary and Jesus were common. Houses were either painted 
white or beige. It was a mixed neighborhood of Hispanics and 
Whites. 

He entered the town square that represented the town center. On 
one side of the square was a squat building the served as the local 
police station and town hall. Two police cars were parked in front 
of it. The rest of the square was filled with small stores such as the 
hardware store, a feed store, a shoe store, two clothing stores, and a 
bank. There was also a restaurant with a handmade sign 
advertising homemade pies. A couple of stores down the street was 
a bar. Not feeling particularly hungry, he decided to try out the bar 
to get a coke.

The inside of the bar lived up to his expectations of a country bar. 
There was a juke box playing country and western music. In the 
back was a coin operated pool table. Around the pool table, a 
couple of men were gathered. One was drinking a beer and twirling 
a pool cue. Another was walking about the table looking at the 
placement of the balls. He carried the pool cue with practiced 
casualness. Another was sitting on a stool smoking a cigarette and 
drinking a beer. All were wearing blue jeans, boots, and western 
style shirts. Large belt buckles were the rule rather than the 
exception. A woman wearing the tightest pair of jeans that John 
had ever seen sauntered up to the pool table and started a 
conversation with the men gathered there.

Along the side was the bar with tables set in a casual manner in 
front of it. About a third of the tables were taken. No one was 
sitting at the bar. Behind the bar, a rather bored looking woman 
was washing some beer mugs. John decided that he stood a better 
chance of getting a little conversation if he sat at the bar.

Just after seating himself, a strong callused hand came down on his 
shoulder. John turned and looked at the individual standing next to 
him. He was a rather large man in his late twenties or early thirties. 
His skin was tanned dark from many hours of working in the sun. 
He wore the blue jeans, boots, work shirt, and huge belt buckle that 
were the norm in this area of the country. The man spoke, "Howdy 
neighbor!"

John replied, "Hello."

"You moved in across the street from my place."

"Oh. Let me introduce myself. I'm John Carter." John extended his 
hand.

The big man grabbed the hand and replied, "I'm Ed Biggers."

"Nice to meet you Ed."

"Nice to finally meet you. Let me buy you a drink." The big man 
offered the drink in a fashion that seemed to be more of a 
challenge than a friendly gesture.

"That would be very nice of you. I'll have a coke."

"Coke? What are you? Are you some kind of wimp?"

"No. I just don't drink alcohol," replied John in a stern manner. He 
wondered if things were going to get out of hand. Normally he 
stopped crises, not created them. 

Ed Biggers had a tendency to be a bully. Actually, it wasn't a 
tendency; he was a bully and had been his entire life. He felt a rush 
as he realized that he had a new victim in town to mock and make 
life miserable. He shouted out to the bar, "Hey, folks. We got us a 
wimp. He doesn't drink like a real man. He doesn't even drink a 
woman's drink. He actually wants a coke without the rum!"

The majority of people in the bar burst out laughing at the 
announcement. A few of the older folks looked away in disgust. It 
wasn't clear if they disapproved of Ed Biggers or John. John just 
watched Ed with dispassionate interest. Ed turned to the woman 
behind the bar, "Hey Shirley, set us up with a couple of whiskeys 
with beer chasers."

John interjected, "Don't forget my coke. Plain with no rum."

Shirley looked at both men with a bad feeling in her stomach. She 
had a very good idea what was going to happen next. She knew she 
wouldn't be able to stop it, but felt she had to try. She set a whiskey 
with a beer in front of Ed and a plain coke in front of John. Ed 
looked at Shirley and stated, "I said a couple. I'm buying the wimp 
here a man's drink."

Shirley shot back, "Ed, don't do this."

Ed repeated himself, "I said a couple. Now hop to it little lady 
before I loose my temper."

She relented and set the drinks in front of John. John picked up the 
shot glass with the whiskey in it. He sniffed it, nodded, and then 
set it down. He knew there was no way out of this situation except 
violence. John calmly stated, "I heard that some men drink in the 
hope that it will make their pecker bigger. I don't know if that's 
your reason for drinking. Since I'm already hung like a horse, I 
don't drink in the hope that it will shrink down to the size a woman 
can handle."

John noticed a number of people edging out of the bar. The few 
that remained were laughing. Shirley edged over to the telephone 
to call the police. Ed was turning purple. John picked up his coke 
and took a sip. He decided that if he was going to get in a fight, he 
might as well satisfy his thirst first. 

Ed was getting angrier by the moment. Finally, he pulled his right 
fist back to throw a punch. John beat Ed to the draw by grabbing 
his balls and squeezing with all of his strength. Ed doubled over in 
pain while John set his glass of coke down. He calmly asked, 
"Shirley, how much is the drink?"

She looked in delighted glee at the situation in which Ed found 
himself. Too many nice guys had suffered at the hands of Ed 
Biggers. She laughed, "It's on the house."

"Thanks," replied John as he winked at her. He added, "Have a 
nice evening."

Shirley smiled at him, "I'm having the best evening in a long time 
already. You take care of yourself."

John let go of Ed's balls and picked up his walking stick. Ed 
remained bent over and breathing hard. John walked to the door 
and turned back, "Have a nice night, everyone. Even you Ed."

John returned home and went to bed. He was disappointed that his 
first night in town had probably created an enemy. He had no 
doubts that Ed would try to get even at some point. He decided that 
he would just be careful and worry about that when the occasion 
arose. Tomorrow he would return to work on his dissertation.  

The next morning he was taking a shower when he heard terrified 
screams coming from outside. Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it 
around himself as he raced out of the house. In the front yard of the 
house next door, a kid was screaming in sheer terror. John raced 
around to the yard and stopped when he saw the problem. Others 
came running up and stopped when they saw the problem. The boy 
was surrounded by rattlesnakes. There were more rattlesnakes 
gathered in the yard than anyone could ever recollect seeing in one 
place. How he had walked into the patch of snakes sunning 
themselves without being bitten was a mystery. Luckily, he was 
standing still now. Unfortunately, the snakes had become riled.

No one moved. Cursing the fact that he had forgotten his walking 
stick, John took a deep breath and walked into the midst of the 
snakes. As he walked, an occasional snake would strike. He 
continued to walk without hesitation to the little boy. When the 
snake nearest the little boy struck John, he used that moment to 
pick up the little boy. Once the boy was clear of the snakes, he put 
him on his shoulders. Calmly, he walked out of the area suffering 
only a couple of more snake strikes. He hadn't noticed the shots, 
but six of the snakes along the path were dead.  He set the boy 
down next to a woman who appeared to be his mother.

The crowd of people was staring at John. It wasn't clear if they 
were staring at him for what he had just done or because of all the 
scars. The towel did little to cover his scars. One man finally broke 
the silence, "He just walked into there, picked the kid up, and 
walked back out like it was nothing. Damn."

A woman stated, "He must have been bit two dozen times."

John turned to the Hispanic woman, "Could you please call the 
hospital and ask them to have some anti-venom available for me. 
Gracias."

John turned to the crowd and spotted Ed Biggers. He decided that 
it was time for him and Ed to either become friends or settle it once 
and for all. He turned to Ed, "Ed, would you please drive me to the 
hospital?"

Ed was stunned. He had never seen anything that brave in his 
entire life. He had been a ground pounder in the army and had 
never seen anyone with the array of scars this guy sported. He was 
shocked that the guy he had tried to fight the night before was 
putting his life in his hands. He replied, "Sure, I'll get my truck."

Ed raced off to get his truck. John spoke to the crowd, "Could 
someone get me a six foot piece of rope and a very sharp knife?"

Once John started making requests that people could easily 
perform, it was as if the mass paralysis was broken. A couple of 
people raced away and returned in minutes with the requested 
items. John used two pieces of rope to create a tourniquet for both 
legs. He selected the sharpest knife that had been brought, 
promising to return it later that day.  He proceeded to make cuts 
into the bites. The cuts were single cuts in the direction of the 
curve of the snake fang. He was quick and efficient about it. He 
ignored the pain as he worked.

A number of other people had raced off to get guns. When a 
significant number had returned, they lined up in front of the 
snakes. For the next few minutes, it sounded like a war zone as 
men shot at snakes. Most of the men had pistols loaded with snake 
shot. A few had .22 caliber rifles. 

When Ed pulled up in his truck, John hobbled over to it and got in 
the passenger's side. Once seated, Ed drove off towards the 
hospital. John continued his treatment. Some spots were tough to 
reach, but he did his best. He searched his legs looking for any 
bites that he might have missed. Satisfied that he had gotten all of 
the bites; he took a deep breath. Then he went on to the next stage 
of treatment. He tied the loose end of the rope below the bite that 
was furthest away from the tourniquet. He started wrapping the 
loop of rope hanging between the two ends around the leg, slowly 
increasing the pressure inside the region of cuts. The cuts began to 
seep blood mixed with a pale yellow liquid. Some cuts had more of 
the yellow liquid than others. He repeated the process on the other 
leg. The amount of liquid expelled from the cuts was amazing.  He 
unwrapped the ropes and proceeded to wrap the rope between the 
ends again. More blood and pale yellow liquid seeped out. He 
repeated the process on both legs until no more yellow liquid 
seeped out and the blood ran clean.

Ed watched John work on his legs even as he drove at eighty miles 
per hour. He couldn't believe how calm the guy was about his 
injuries. He tried to imagine how hard it would be to cut himself 
the number of times that John had. Finally, when John appeared to 
be finished Ed spoke, "You're the bravest man I've ever seen. I 
know, I've seen quite few when I was in the army."

"That's nice of you to say. I feel more stupid than brave. I could 
have done this without a single bite, but I left my walking stick in 
the house."

Ed continued to watch as John worked on the bites. He was 
amazed by the technique that John was using. He'd never be able to 
laugh at the joke about the lone ranger being bit in the ass by a 
snake again. He now knew how to extract the venom without 
having to suck it out. Ed drove silently for a minute and then 
stated, "I'm sorry about last night."

"Same here. I hope that we can become good friends." John was 
silent for a minute. He finally asked, "Can I ask you to do a favor?"

"Sure."

"Don't tell anyone what you see or hear in the hospital."

"Is that it? No problem, I won't say a word about it. Let's just hope 
the hospital is just as quiet about it."

John laughed, "I've dealt with hospitals before. They are usually 
pretty good when they know that you desire a little privacy about 
such things."

Ed shook his head. He wondered what experience this guy had 
with small town hospitals. Even bee stings made it into the local 
newspaper. He didn't get a chance to answer as they reached the 
hospital. He slowed from eighty miles an hour down to a more 
appropriate speed as he directed the truck into the emergency 
drive.

As soon as the truck was parked, John opened the door and stepped 
out. The nurse on duty looked at the bloody mess around his ankles 
and called for a gurney. In seconds, a crew with a gurney arrived. 
The nurse kept calm and asked, "Your name?"

"John Carter."

"Have you ever been a patient here?"

"No, but I had my medical records forwarded here three weeks 
ago. All the information you'll need is in them, except for one 
gunshot wound that I received after I sent it."

"What are those cuts?"

"First aid for snake bites."

"All those cuts for a snake bite?"

"All those cuts are for about twenty snake bites."

"Okay, what method of first aid did you use?"

"Chinese rope."

"Never heard of it."

"Very effective. Chinese snake handlers use it when dealing with 
very poisonous snakes. They usually do not take anti-venom. I 
learned it because when you are hiking it is not always possible to 
make it to a hospital in a timely fashion."

"Okay, I'll get your medical history." The nurse walked off in a 
business-like manner to locate his medical history. She returned 
walking much faster and excitedly. "John Carter? The John 
Carter?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Wow, I didn't realize who you were. Just about everyone has 
looked at your chart. Doctor Hayes is coming."

A woman walked brusquely down the hall, her heels made a 
clicking noise with each step. She was tall, almost six feet. Her 
hair was blond and tied back. Her features were Nordic. Even the 
least observant person could see that she was the doctor on duty. 
Only a blind person could miss the authority with which she 
carried herself. Entering the examination area, she closed the 
curtain leaving John, Ed, herself, and the nurse crowded together 
in close quarters. She bent over the gurney and examined the cuts 
on his legs. She smiled and nodded, "Good job. It looks like you 
cut in the direction of the fangs and deep enough to get to where 
the toxin was deposited. Single cuts rather than X cuts. You did a 
very good job. Of course, I expected that of you after reading your 
record."

"Thanks."

She examined the tourniquet for a moment. She looked up 
surprised, "Chinese rope?"

"Yes."

"I doubt you really need the anti-toxin, but with that number of 
bites it's better to be safe than sorry."

She reached behind her and removed a syringe from a tray carried 
by the nurse in the examination area. She injected John without 
major comment or warning. John asked, "Aren't you supposed to 
warn me that this is going to sting a little?"

"You've had more than enough of these to know what is going on!"

"True. I was just wondering if you had failed bedside manner in 
medical school."

His comment was greeted by general laughter. Nonplussed, the 
doctor stood there for a moment and consulted the folder 
containing his medical records. She asked, "Would you mind 
standing up for a minute and allowing me to examine you?"

"No problem.

"Could you please drop your towel so I can see all of you."

"No problem."  John dropped the towel. He stood there completely 
naked. The only thing left was the medallion hanging around his 
neck. After so many trips to the hospital and being examined by so 
many people, John had dropped all modesty about his body. Ed, 
sitting slightly off to the side, realized that there were still more 
scars. He felt a little embarrassed at examining another man's 
body.

The doctor shook her head in amazement. She proceeded to point 
out scars and recite the situations in which they were created. As 
she recited each situation, she paused for an acknowledging nod 
from John. Ed stared wide-eyed as he heard the causes of each 
scar. When the doctor had completed her examination, she stated, 
"When I got your medical report, I assumed that some sort of joke 
was being played on me. I called the Austin Hospital and still 
couldn't believe it. I have never heard a hospital staff member rave 
so much about a single individual in my life."

"They are rather exuberant in their attitude towards me. I guess it is 
the fact that I heal rather quickly."

"Quickly? I understand that you were dead for three minutes after 
the shot in the shoulder and that you walked out of the hospital two 
days later."

"It was four minutes." John thought back to that occasion and 
smiled as he recalled the farewell line-up that sent him off. He 
chuckled to himself. "Nice hospital, very friendly."

The doctor noticed his reaction. She added, "Yes, I talked to them 
too. I heard that you taught some doctors new lessons in bedside 
manners. The doctor there told me I was to send you to a vet. I also 
heard about the little goodbye treat you received. I hope you aren't 
expecting all of our female staff to dress up in sexy nurse outfits."

"Darn, I was hoping for that. The least you could do for me is dress 
up in a sexy doctor outfit."

The nurse started laughing so hard that tears were coming from her 
eyes.  The doctor shot her a dirty look; it didn't stop the laughter. 
When she looked back at John, she observed that he had noticed 
the look. She explained, "Some people here think I'm an ice bitch."

John looked at her very seriously and shook his head, "No, I don't 
think so. You aren't an ice bitch. You are a consummate 
professional at work. At home, I bet you are a very focused and 
considerate lover. I would bet that you are a natural submissive."

The doctor's blush seemed to spread from her neck up until it was 
covered by makeup. The blush was definitely noticed by the 
people gathered there and surprised almost everyone. Ed looked at 
her speculatively for a moment and then discounted the possibility 
that a doctor would be interested in an old cowboy like himself. 
The doctor found she was looking at John's cock and then broke 
out of her thoughts. She snapped, "Enough of that topic. I'm going 
to ask that you stay here today and tonight, just in case."

John asked, "Will I be confined to bed?"

"Only if you start to feel sick. Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if there were any kids in here that might 
appreciate having a story read to them."

The nurse and Ed started at that. This guy was hurt, yet he was still 
thinking of others. The doctor nodded, "I heard about you doing 
that at the burn center. I don't think there will be a problem with 
you doing that. I believe there may be a copy of Tom Sawyer 
around here somewhere."

"Great. I'll need a hospital gown and robe. I would hate to have to 
walk around like this or in my towel." John laughed as he imagined 
the impact his current appearance would have on everyone. The 
doctor glanced back down to his cock thinking she wouldn't be 
able to get any work out of the women in the hospital if they saw 
him naked.

The nurse reached around and handed him the requested items. As 
John put them on, the doctor asked, "So how did you get so many 
bites?"

"A child found himself in a little difficulty. I did what little I 
could."

Ed Biggers spoke for the first time, "Bullshit. This kid had walked 
into an area of rattlesnakes sunning themselves. There must have 
been a hundred of them. He was terrified and screaming. John 
came running out the house just dressed in that towel. Then he just 
walked in as calmly as can be, picked the kid up, and walked back 
out. You'd have thought he was just taking a stroll through a park. 
Bravest damn thing I've ever seen. Everyone else, myself included, 
was just standing there too afraid to move."

The doctor wrote that down into the medical record. She nodded, 
"Sounds like John according to what I've read in here about him."

Ed turned to John, "I have to apologize for last night. I hope you 
can forgive me. I'll buy you a coke anytime you want."

This was the second time that Ed had apologized to him. John 
smiled and extended his hand, "I'll be proud to call you a friend."

The doctor looked up at Ed. She asked, "what was that about?"

Ed looked up at the ceiling for a minute and then replied, "I met 
him the first time last night and offered to buy him a drink. When 
he requested a coke, I'm afraid that I didn't react very nicely. I 
called him a wimp. When he made a smart-ass comment, I lost my 
temper and went to hit him. Let's just say, he won quite handily. I'll 
admit I was trying to think of some way of getting back at him, but 
damn he's no wimp. He's a better man than I am.  I was a real jerk 
last night and I'm man enough to admit it."

The nurse looked at Ed with more than a little interest. She had 
never heard a man give such an honest appraisal about himself in 
public like this. It turned her on. She moved a little closer to Ed. 
Ed looked around rather uncomfortably and then stated, "Look, 
you're gonna be in here until tomorrow morning. I'll head out now 
and be back to pick you up in the morning. If you don't mind, I'll 
pick up some clothes for you to wear home."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. My clothes are in the backpack. You 
can't miss it."

The nurse led Ed out of the examination area. There was a long 
whispered discussion between the two of them. It looked like the 
nurse had made a new conquest. Their mutual interest was clear to 
anyone that saw them.

The doctor was left alone with John. She looked John directly in 
the eye, "A natural submissive?"

John smiled. He took her hands and crossed them behind her back. 
With one hand, he held them together. His grasp on her wrists was 
almost non-existent, but she did not attempt to break his hold. He 
moved close to her and whispered in her ear, "Yes."

She didn't fight him. Her arms remained crossed behind her back. 
In a breathy voice, she stated, "I'll have to think about that."

John ran a hand across her chest just below her breasts. She gasped 
at the shock that raced through her body. Her entire body reacted 
to the touch; nipples stiffened, juices flowed, knees weakened, and 
breathing became irregular. He answered, "There's no thinking 
about it. You feel it."

She shivered. John caught the scent of her arousal. He released her 
wrists and stepped back. She automatically followed him. He 
changed the subject, "I have to wait here for the nurse to return and 
show me to my room. I guess you have rounds to finish?"

Her knees felt weak and her face was flushed. It took her a 
moment, but the doctor finally regained control of herself. She 
nodded, "Yes, of course. I'll order the nurse to wrap some 
bandages around the cuts. She'll take you to the room."

"Okay."

The doctor raced out of the examination area. John was left to 
himself.  He lay back down on the bed and wondered if he had 
turned off the shower before racing out of the house. He decided 
that Ed would notice if it was on and would turn it off for him. He 
almost laughed aloud as he considered what Ed's reaction would be 
to his living conditions. 

The nurse returned looking excited. She had that glow suggestive 
of a woman that found a new lover. John glanced at her and teased, 
"You like that cowboy, don't you?"

She attempted to frown and failed. She shrugged her shoulders, 
"What can I say? He's man enough to admit when he's been a 
jerk."

John laughed, "You're right. That's a rare man indeed."

The nurse cocked her head and studied John. She smiled, "We 
seem to have a run on rare men today."

She went over to the cabinet and removed two rolls of bandages, 
scissors, and tape. She cut several lengths of tape and hooked them 
on the edge of the table. She quickly moved down to his feet and 
started unrolling the bandage. She looked up as she worked, "Did 
you make these cuts yourself?"

"Yes."

"Must have been very hard to cut yourself that many times and so 
deep."

"It had to be done, so I did it."

The nurse shook her head and muttered, "Amazing. Simply 
amazing."




