The X Factor

by Bella Street

  Seffy tamped down a skitter of apprehension. “Where are we?”

  He put out his hand to help her down. She clambered from the jeep and looked around.

  “Is this familiar to you at all?”

  She looked at the building again. “No. Why would it be? I've never been here.”

  “When you described the spaceship, were there a lot of colored lights?”

  “Yes. Inside and out, I think.”

  Trent pushed open the door and motioned for her to follow. She entered the dim and dusty space and spotted a mirrored ball hanging from the ceiling. “Is this a disco?”

  Trent watched her reaction. “Yes. It was anyway.”

  Her eyes widened as a new thought occurred to her. “Hey, is this the one where all those dancers came from?”

  “Probably.”

  “So people came here for a good time and were kidnapped to be turned into zombies?”

  “I don't think the zombie thing was intentional.”

  “What does that mean? Popov continued infecting people even after he knew what the virus did to them.”

  “Right but initially, the stuff for injection was meant for a different outcome.”

  Seffy put up her hand, too traumatized to hear more bad news. “You know what? Forget I asked.”

  Trent sighed. “Okay, then, tell me how you feel about this place.”

  Seffy looked around. “This isn't ringing any bells, if that's what you're waiting for. ”

  He went to a small metal door on the wall and flipped several switches. Lights flooded the space and the mirrored ball started turning from the ceiling. “Does this seem familiar? Could it be the lights that you saw last night?”

  She craned her neck and took it all in. All that was missing was some Bee Gees music. Lani would love this place. She turned to Trent. “I don't know. Maybe—if the fog machine was going and creepy alien people were freak dancing.”

  “I'm just trying to explore every idea here.”

  “Okay, let's say I really was in the wheat field and at this disco. Why wouldn't I remember being transported? That bumpy jeep ride would be very memorable.”

  “I don't know. It could also be that the evidence was planted on you to make you think you were in those places.”

  “That would mean someone is messing with me.”

  “Exactly.”

  The knot of tension tightened in her gut. “Why would they do that? Who am I? What do I have that would make someone go to such lengths?”

  “That's what we need to find out.” He saw the lights then looked back at her, his eyes glinting. “While we're here, wanna dance?”

  Seffy bit her lip, wondering why he continued to flirt with her. “If your hair was feathered and you wore a white suit with a black silk shirt, I'd consider it, but for now...I think I'll pass.”

  She turned and headed back out into the pink sunlight. The driver of the jeep winced when he saw her. Stifling a sigh, she approached the back of the vehicle and climbed in. Trent was right behind her. As they began the long drive back to the compound, watching the sky glow pink, she went over who could be wanting her to lose her mind. At this point it wasn't like she needed anyone's help.

  Fiona was first and foremost a suspect. She wore an air of conspiracy like perfume. Beyond that, Seffy could only imagine faceless people who had it out for her. She wracked her brain during the drive, but came up with nothing.

  On some level, she could understand people wanting her infectious self out of the way—but to go to such lengths to make her crazy, well, that was just juvenile. She was a nice person. The patients at the clinic loved her. People smiled at her on the street. Generally speaking, they did not want to hurt her.

  Seffy struggled to sit upright as the jeep bounced along the dusty road. Her head kept leaning towards Trent's shoulder. God, she was tired.

  Finally, the compound came into sight.

  As they passed the garden, she noticed a lot of children running around. “Hey, is there a daycare or kindergarten here?”

  Trent tapped on the driver's shoulder and asked. They talked for several minutes over the noise of the engine. Trent looked at Seffy and nodded. After parking in the garage, he led her back into the building and along unfamiliar hallways until they came to area that immediately jolted her memory. She stopped.

  “Are you taking me to the school area?”

  He nodded. “Just trying to follow up on every lead.”

  “I was here, I think.”

  “That night?”

  A sensation of queasiness gripped her. “There's a mural down there, right?”

  He peered down the hall. “Looks like it.”

  “Go and see if it has a...farm motif.”

  She waited—heart thudding—while Trent walked further down the hall and studied the mural. He looked back at her. “There's a farmer, a barn and a fence.”

  “Is there a cornfield and cows?”

  “Yes.”

  She pressed a hand to her stomach. “Are the cows...bloody?”

  He sent her a questioning look. “No, they're, uh, smiling.”

  Fighting for calm, Seffy joined him at the wall and trailed her fingertips along the rough painted—but bloodless—cement. “I remember now that the girl brought me past this. Everything's the same except the cows were all chopped up and bleeding and there were green alien thingies in the corn. And it looked like they were moving.”

  They both stared at the painted cornfield. Trent regarded her with concern. “I just see corn.”

  “Yeah.” She furrowed her brows. “So what does this mean? I've never been to the daycare before but I could describe the artwork.”

  “I wish I knew.”

  They left the area and Trent smuggled her back up to his room. She happily peeled off the coveralls and shook her hair free from the baseball cap.

  Once she was settled on the couch, Seffy watched him as he made ham sandwiches with supplies from his mini fridge. It was a better way to pass the time than to obsess over Gareth or her strange nighttime adventures. “Do you happen to have a panini press?”

  He sent her a mocking look.

  She shrugged. “You just seem to have everything else.”

  “I don't think panini presses have been invented yet.”

  “At least not for sale at WalMart.” She leaned her head on the back of the couch. “I have a humidifier. Bet you don't have one of those.”

  “No, but now I know where to get one.”

  She smirked. “So, do you have any theories about my little excursion?”

  “Not really. But I think to be on the safe side, you should stay here for the time being.”

  Seffy narrowed her eyes. “What if you're the one behind this? Maybe the conspiracy leads back to you.”

  “That would be a dramatic turn, but I'm not that complicated.”

  She suppressed a smile. “Does everything have to have that double meaning with you?”

  “It's called UST.”

  She made a face. “What?”

  “Unresolved Sexual Tension.”

  Seffy laughed. “Wow, you are uptight.”

  “There's only one way to deal with it, you know.”

  “So where did you hear that silly term? From one of your sci-fi shows?”

  “There's only one sci-fi show as far as I'm concerned. And...maybe.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “So do the characters in the show ever...resolve?”

  He handed her a sandwich. “No.”

  She looked up at him, amused by his woebegone tone. “Well, consider that a foreshadowing to our little story.”

  He plopped onto the couch next to her. “We'll see.”

  After they ate lunch, Trent proposed playing cards to pass the time.

  “So we're not going to do any more investigating?” Seffy asked, worrying that she was becoming too comfortable around someone who had once, at least, hated her guts.

  “I already asked around as much as I dared
today. We don't want to raise suspicions.”

  His answer left Seffy dissatisfied. She hated the helpless feeling of just sitting around. “You know, I think last time I was too freaked to go through my medical records properly. Maybe I'd like another look.”

  Trent leaned back against the couch cushions and surveyed her from under heavy lids. “You don't ask for much, do you?”

  “Think about it. Part of the pretense of them keeping us here is whatever oogie-boogies are in my blood. I know if I just ask I'll be stonewalled. So this time I'll really concentrate—maybe even write some stuff down so I can look at it more logically.”

  “Well,” he said slowly, “you could ask Olga for help deciphering the hard stuff, but apparently she doesn't want to be exposed to your oogie-boogies either. And her loyalties will, by default, lie with the compound powers that be.”

  She frowned. “Yeah.”

  “Honestly, Sef, I don't know if I can get the key again. And even if you did know everything floating around in that delicious bod of yours, what would it really change?”

  “Can't you just get all palm-greasy like last time?”

  He smiled derisively. “I can see you're impressed that I've taken the initiative here, unlike your oh-so-gorgeous but couch potato boy toy Gareth.”

  Seffy raised her brows. “Ouch, somebody sounds a little jealous.”

  He snorted. “Not even close. Until then, let's talk theories.”

  She slumped against the couch cushions. “Maybe someone is doing all these experiments on me and messing with my brain for the betterment of mankind.”

  He arched his brow. “Try again.”

  “Okay, they want to exploit my abnormal blood for fun and profit.”

  “You're getting closer, Abby Normal.”

  She grimaced. “Don't call me that.”

  “It's funny.”

  “No it isn't.”

  “It's from a movie with Gene Wilder, ergo, it's hilarious.”

  Seffy blew out a frazzled breath. “Okay, tell me your theories.”

  Trent studied her face with a serious expression. “I think there's more at stake here than the fact that you survived a zombie virus.”

  “Like what?”

  “Fenn acts weird when you're around. Fiona is extra bitchy to you. Now Gareth is getting twitchy, and I'm guessing Addison has always had it out for you. So, you're the common theme here.”

  Seffy looked down at her hands. “The three of us have always been close...until recently.”

  “Before the blast?”

  She nodded. “Except that Gareth met a girl and things started getting weird.”

  He smiled knowingly. “For you or everyone?”

  Seffy lifted her chin. “Okay, I didn't like it, but it started a whole chain of weirdness in our little group. Addy seemed thrilled when Verity showed up—”

  “That's because she's in love with Gareth and can't have him. And he paid you more attention than to her, so she'd rather him have someone else than you.”

  Her jaw slackend. “What? Did she tell you? You can't know that.”

  “Trust me, I know.”

  Seffy shook her head. “I think you're nuts. Anyway, Gareth seemed hesitant to start anything with this girl, but she was very aggressive.”

  “I like her already.”

  “You would.”

  “When did she appear on the horizon?”

  “About a month before the blast.”

  “And she and Gareth began dating?”

  “Only a little, I think. I sensed that I was being kept out of the loop.”

  “Maybe Gareth was torn between New Girl and Abby Normal.”

  “I said stop calling me that.”

  Trent leaned close and gently tugged on a lock of her hair. “I wouldn't be torn.”

  Seffy had to laugh. “You are relentless, and yet I know this is all a game to you.”

  He sent her a simmering look but said nothing.

  She settled deeper against the cushions, determined to ignore his flirtation. “Okay, here's something I've wondered about: why did me and my friends, along with you and the others end up here? Why are we all from WeHo? What's the connection?”

  Trent considered the question. “I've thought about it too. I'm from Montana but I don't know—”

  “What? You're from here?”

  “I was born here, but my family moved to L.A. when I was two.”

  Seffy's heart began to pump hard. “We're from here, too—Gareth, Lani and Addy. And Eva and Cynthia mentioned they were also.”

  Trent furrowed his brow. “Clay and Jared only mentioned that they were from the midwest.”

  “Isn't Montana more west than midwest?”

  “I'll find out. But it still doesn't make sense. It's just another freakishly shaped puzzle piece. I say we forget it all and just make love.”

  She tried to repress a smile and failed. “Sorry, that little UST of yours will remain unresolved.”

  Sighing, Trent brought out a deck of cards and dealt them onto the cushions of the couch between them. He pushed for strip poker, but she managed to hold the line at five card stud.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Seffy spent the night on Trent's couch again. It didn't take much persuading. Alone in her room at night she'd be prey to dark thoughts and fears. In the morning, after a pancake breakfast compliments of his kitchen thievery, she returned to her own room to brood.

  Worries about her friends mingled with her growing intimacy with a guy she could never really trust. Sure Trent had been helpful, protective, and provided her with nutrients—of both grain families—but he was...Trent. Agenda Man to her Anomaly Girl. A scary-bad combination.

  Seffy showered and then cleaned her little room and bathroom. The compound housekeeping staff skipped her place—what with her mutant germs and all. It gave her that special glow to know she was being singled out. Mmm mmm.

  As she cleaned, Seffy wondered how her friends were doing, wondering why they'd all turned against her. Didn't the craziness of time travel, zombies, and capture translate to some kind of friendship slack? They'd been through so much and had, she thought, become stronger through it. Why did it threaten to dissolve now when they needed each other the most?

  Every time she decided to march over and demand what their problem was, she quailed at the thought of a complete and irrevocable rejection. Maybe they were going through a rough patch—a period of adjustment to their new, stymied surroundings. If she gave them some time to chill, perhaps they'd come around.

  Perhaps.

  Once everything was clean, organized, and sanitized, Seffy slumped onto the bed. I really need a couch. I wonder if Trent can get me one.

  Trent. She really needed to stop thinking about him—or looking to him for help...of any kind.

  Seffy decided to go talk to Cynthia and Eva and ask about their connection to Montana. As she rose from the bed, her door opened. When she saw the Haz-Mat team, she realized even Trent was preferable to this.

  “Miss Carter, this is unacceptable. If you're not going to be in your room, you need to make arrangements with us.”

  Seffy addressed the taller silver suit. “Why? I'm more or less better. Why keep checking on me...especially in that space gear?”

  The shorter one answered. “I don't think you appreciate the effort the leadership of the compound is going to for you. You should be more grateful to be receiving this kind of medical attention.”

  “What kind would that be? Experimentation? Exploitation?”

  The two figures turned to each other before facing her. “Can we please simply fulfill our duties?”

  “Which is?”

  “Taking your blood pressure and temperature.”

  “Any blood tests?”

  Again the shared look through their little red windows. “Not today.”

  As Seffy submitted to the check up, she tried to see their eyes. “Why does it take two of you? When Olga was my nurse, she could handle me all
on her own—and she never used all this paranoid protection.”

  Neither medic answered. She tried a different tack. “So, what's the damage?” At their confused movements, she said, “My temp? BP?”

  “That's classified, Miss Carter.”

  “What?” she sputtered. “How can it be classified, it's me!” Seffy noticed the other suit had paperwork in his/her hands. She reached over and grabbed it, causing the suit to emit an outraged squawk.

  Before they could act, she quickly scanned the information. Her BP was low, her temp and respiration, high. That was as far as she got before the paperwork was snatched from her hands.

  “We'll be reporting your aggressive behavior through the proper channels,” the short one said stiffly.

  “Hey, you're the aggressive ones—you and your needles. Tell your channels that I'm done being a guinea pig!”

  The Haz-Mat team left in a huff. Hopefully she'd seen the last of them. Her little spurt of rebellion gave her the courage to head over to Cynthia and Eva's next.

  No one answered at Eva's, but when Cynthia opened her door, Seffy saw Eva in the room. “Hey, I was wondering if I could come in and talk to you for a bit.”

  Cynthia's heavily made-up eyes got squinty. Seffy realized she wasn't the only one who'd requested makeup.

  “What kind of questions? And aren't you under some kind of quarantine?”

  Deciding to ignore the second part of the question, she offered a smile. “Can I come in?”

  The blonde looked over her shoulder at Eva, who shrugged. “Just for a minute, I guess. We don't want to catch your disease.”

  Seffy tamped down a stinging retort and kept her smile plastered on her face. She entered the room and looked around. Clothes were strewn about the bed and hanging from the two chairs. A stack of videos leaned precariously from the top of the little TV set.

  “What do you want?” Eva said rudely.

  Seffy balanced on the edge of one of the chairs while the girls sat together on the bed, staring at her with suspicion. “Uh, when we were in the bunker with Malone, you mentioned you were from Montana. I was wondering when and what town?”

  The girls looked at each other and seemed to share a conversation through eye contact alone. Seffy was forcibly reminded of the alien communication from her dream/hallucination.