Core Punch

by Pauline Baird Jones

  Joe drifted closer. “Are you all right?” A crease furrowed his brows.

  “Was thinking, if we got the eye, Captain Uncle could send someone down.” If they could spare something. And they were still there. She figured things must be so bad up top that no one had come down yet. That, and they only had a few craft that could handle the high winds adequately. When this was over would the budget priorities change or would someone make the case that this wasn’t likely to happen for another fifty years so…yeah, probably that one.

  In the meantime, they needed to try to stay alive for the duration of the storm. They had their 72’r packs with crapeau food and water for themselves. She itched to take off the flotation things but didn’t dare. Floating was not yet out of the question. The kits wouldn’t go far if this bunch hadn’t set something aside besides gumbo.

  She could be grateful she wasn’t dead and still wish for a not-gross place to sit down. Did that make her shallow? She crouched, shining her light on the floor and wished she hadn’t. It was beyond gross and wet. The wall was slightly less so, so she leaned against it, feeling waves of tired pass through her. She might be able to sleep standing up. If she weren’t too scared to close her eyes. Right now this little band of scary was united against them. Maybe she should introduce a little discord and see what shook out. One of them had to be their killer. If Bazoo had been murdered. Which they weren’t likely to ever find out since Bazoo would soon be one with critters of the bayou. She wouldn’t bother, but she needed a reason to stay awake.

  “So, you’ve all been here together for the past week?” She managed to summon a bit of her Look, though it felt seriously off its game. “Well, except for Little Bit.”

  Speed Bump puffed up, her akimbo arms getting more so. “What you saying?”

  “Well, someone did for Bazoo.” Vi used their term for a killing, and softened her accent as she let her gaze travel to each one of them before saying, “When did ya’all see him last?”

  “Told you, matter o’days,” Jimbo said, a hint of grim in his voice. Vi’s brow arched and he added, “Mebbe four, mebbe five.”

  “Five,” Speed Bump put in. “Said he had business, but he’d be back afore storm hit.”

  “Business?” Joe sounded surprised and she scowled.

  “We has some. On occasion.”

  “No one’s been doing much business ahead of the storm, ‘cept for storm supplies,” Vi added. “Was that his business?”

  “Don’t know.” Speed Bump sounded sullen.

  “Anyone?” Jimbo shook his head. Little Bit just looked at her. Did she talk? Did Vi care? Not that she could do a lot here, other than try not to get done for, too. She looked at her watch and realized something. “Felonius has been gone a long time.”

  Jimbo started a bit and looked around, as if he hadn’t noticed or had forgotten him. He scowled again. But he had saved them, she reminded herself. If he had secrets to bury all he’d had to do was leave them for the storm. The air felt thick with something. It could be WTF, but it felt like more. She glanced at Joe. His gaze seemed to be making a circuit between the motley crew and Vi. He jerked a bit and looked away. He didn’t—distrust her, did he? What, did he think she’d sabotaged their skimmer for some alone time with him? Did he think she was a crazy stalker girl?

  She lowered her lashes, watching him. Sure enough, she was in his gaze circuit and just as long as the others. Okay, now she was pissed. That’s why her chest hurt like it had been punched. Because they were partners. It was them against crazy. Not—

  She realized her hands were clenched. Her eyes stung, but she was not crying over the jerk. She was tired and sitting dirt side in an epic storm, and she was worried about her family and she’d banged her head. Not her heart.

  Jimbo straightened, his scowl deepening to a worried frown. “Gonna go help Felonius.” Fido rose as well, his tail wagging. He trotted out ahead, as if he knew the mission and was on it.

  “I’ll go with you,” Vi offered.

  “Let’s all go,” he suggested.

  Speed Bump looked at Jimbo. He shook his head. “I’ll stay with Lil’ Bit,” she said, not happily, worry taking the edge off belligerent.

  Vi nodded and in that instant, Little Bit moved. With surprising speed for such a large woman she was on her feet and lunging toward them with a huge, carving knife. Training helped. And that her weapon was already unstrapped. She pulled it and backed, firing once. Joe did, too. Little Bit staggered, but kept coming. They both fired again. This time she stopped, swaying in place. She looked surprised. Her hand lost its grip, and the knife clattered against the hard floor. She clutched her chest, gave a half cry and fell forward on her face.

  Joe covered her with his weapon while Vi approached from the other side, her weapon also ready. Little Bit shuddered and cried out again, like a wild animal in pain. Something bright, like tiny sparks of energy flickered against her skin, then faded away as Little Bit quit moving. Vi directed her gear light along the body. There were spots on her hands and face, spots like Bazoo’s. The look of horror was pretty close to Bazoo’s, too.

  “What’s wrong?” Joe asked, stopping when he reached her side. His gaze met hers, a mix of puzzled and relieved in their dark depths.

  Why was he relieved?

  7

  Jimbo threw a dirty blanket over Little Bit, his expression closed. “Is this what killed Bazoo?”

  Their obvious grief made Joe feel guilty, but relief overbore most of it. It couldn’t have been Vi. She hadn’t touched the woman. Joe felt worry emanating from Lurch like heartburn.

  I am sorry, my friend, but this is not proof she is not infected.

  He rubbed his chest surreptitiously. Tried to think of a rebuttal.

  Both weapons were set to stun. That should not have been fatal. It killed her, but I do not believe it was in her.

  Four shots on maximum stun, Joe reminded him. That had been their settings when aiming at the raccoon. He hadn’t had time to change them. Didn’t believe Vi had changed hers either.

  “Until we can autopsy her, we won’t know. He did have similar spots on his body,” Vi said. “If it was a virus, maybe it affected her brain.” Her gaze met Speed Bump’s without flinching. “Our weapons were set to stun. They didn’t kill her.”

  “She had a bad ticker,” Speed Bump admitted reluctantly. “Or so she said. Might a’been true.”

  The virus theory was something of a relief to all of them, Joe noted. It gave them an explanation to cling to in the face of the disturbing unknown. Everyone but Vi. He could see she was not comforted or relieved. And she kept her distance from him. He knew why. She’d sensed or seen him withdraw. This had damaged the trust between them. And he could do nothing to repair it until—

  Do you think those flickering lights were it attempting to reach Vi? It might be an indication Vi had not been taken over.

  Or it was another test designed to expose me.

  Joe could make the case that Lurch was paranoid—and that he, Joe, was not paranoid enough. He sensed a flaw in the nanite’s reasoning, but was too tired to disconnect the dots weaving together the case against Vi. He did not believe. Or he did not want to believe.

  Where is Felonius?

  Joe looked around. Little Bit had distracted them from that worry. Perhaps Fido had located him, still… “Where is Felonius?” Joe asked aloud. He did not ask about the canine. It was a relief to have it gone.

  “We should go look for him,” Speed Bump said. “He might be sick, too.”

  Vi did not look happy, but there was no reason she should.

  “Joe and I can go look for him—”

  “We will all go,” Jimbo said.

  He has trust issues.

  He should. Joe had them, too.

  After a pause, Vi nodded.

  “You’d better let me go first,” she said to Jimbo. “Joe will cover our rear.”

  It was procedure. He knew this, but felt troubled by it. And rejected. But he nodded,
switched on his gear lamp and half raised his weapon. Neither Jimbo or Speed Bump objected to occupying the middle. No one spoke as they retraced their steps. It was too noisy. WTF’s winds made the old structure shudder and sway. It slammed objects into it. The loud bangs also inhibited speech. If this world had begun with a Big Bang, it now seemed it might end with one.

  Joe put his hand on the low wall by the escalator, to steady himself, and it crumbled from his touch. Vi had already started down, or he might have asked her to reconsider. Before his turn he did see something metal buried in the thick concrete. He told himself it helped. Because there was no safety high or low in this here and now.

  He stepped on last, waiting until Speed Bump was almost down. He had to pause a couple of times for the swaying and creaking to stop. He fought back the urge to rush down and was surprised the escalator was still attached when he made it. There was ankle deep water inside now, though whether it had been blown in or was flooding in, he could not say with any certainty. Vi had not moved beyond the escalator yet. Instead, she used her gear light to try to scan the space, but it failed to penetrate far enough to be that helpful. It was evening, and they were deep in the storm’s clouds.

  “Joe, go right,” she said, without looking at him. “I’ll go left. You two stay here.”

  He started away from her, sloshing through the muck, but hadn’t gone far when she gave a startled shout. He splashed over to the small circle of her light. It was Fido. He lay, not quite drifting in the rising water. There were singed holes dotted across its hide. His widened eyes indicating an unpleasant end.

  Joe stared down, unable to formulate a comment for many seconds. The canine did it?

  Or it was framed.

  It framed the dog?

  It does seem unlikely, Lurch admitted, his worry an uncomfortable addition to Joe’s. It felt puzzled, so much so Joe wondered if he had heartburn medication in the 72’r kit. Could the canine have tampered with their skimmer? Joe experienced difficulty wrapping his mind around this thought.

  It could have flown it, had it wanted to. That is why I did not dare attempt repairs of any of the systems. It could have been the skimmer. Become one with it.

  “I’ve never heard of a virus that can be passed from people to dogs.” Vi kept her voice pitched to reach only him.

  This was not difficult. The rain stopped with an abruptness he was becoming accustomed to. The wind eased some, too, though it did not improve enough to render their situation bearable. She looked at him, clear suspicion in her eyes. And worry. He understood both. They were trapped by the storm in a possible contagion zone. And he could not tell her that if it were so, that would be good news. The real news, the worse news, a megalomanic nanite was loose in her world. One that had almost wiped out the population of the last world it visited.

  “It hasn’t been that long.” She frowned. “Maybe five minutes since Little Bit—”

  The canine most likely infected her with drones when we arrived. You will recall it put its head—

  I recall, Joe thought hastily, though he wished to forget.

  They were probably triggered to react at the mention of Felonius.

  Who is still missing. He could be it.

  “Let’s see if the boat’s still there,” Vi said, tiredly. She looked around. “I don’t see any sign of Felonius. Though I’m not sure what would qualify as a sign.”

  The water continued to rise, though it was slower than when they’d been trapped on the belt loader. As they neared the place where the boat had been secured, he saw openings in the walls, as if the water had dug through the concrete, exposing the metal—

  Rebar.

  —that had been inserted to give it strength. How secure is this structure?

  Are you certain you wish to know?

  Lurch had a point. There was not a lot they could do about it if it collapsed. There was no high ground high enough—or secure enough—for this storm. That is why they’d been sent to evacuate these people. The scene outside was wild, even minus the rain. Most of the flying debris appeared to be tree branches, but it was hard to be certain. Other items passed too quickly for identification, assuming he’d recognize them if they passed slowly. Most debris was small, though it stung when it struck exposed skin. They sloshed over to where the boat had been tied. It was there, though the wind and current tugged fiercely at the rope. The wind was strong enough that they had to lean into it to hold their place and waves were high.

  So Felonius never made it to the boat.

  Or he’d been returning to seek help and run into the dog….

  “If we’re not in the eye wall, it has to be close!” Vi shouted to be heard. Their lights failed to penetrate the deep dark for very far, but lightning flashed against the horizon. She grabbed his arm, then let it go as if it burned her.

  “I think someone is up there!” She pointed in the direction of the parking structure.

  Joe looked, but saw nothing—lightning flashed again. “Felonius?”

  “Who else could it be?”

  She had a point—if they had all available information, which they did not.

  “Why would he be over there?”

  If it is my enemy, it might have some kind of escape craft parked over there. Earlier the top level appeared open.

  Joe felt somewhat abashed. He should have thought of this.

  “It does seem a bit eccentric,” Vi said. “Maybe he thinks it’s safer there. Or he is sick.”

  Jimbo and Speed Bump splashed over to them. Vi pointed at the top floor of the garage and gestured her question.

  “What he doing there?” Speed Bump punctuated her shout with a frown.

  “He must be sick, too!” Jimbo’s wild brows drew together.

  It could be a trap.

  Only if they walked into it. Joe tried to think of a good reason to do that.

  If there is a ship there…it will be one capable of flying in the storm.

  That might be a good reason, assuming they could get from here to over there and get control of the ship. Which may or may not be a trap. Outside, what had been the ramp now looked like an unruly river. The tops of the wall lining it were barely visible as waves broke against and over them. The water was not flowing over the broken window frames yet, they were higher than the wall, which had stopped well before the front of the building. Water had breeched the interior, however, possibly seeping through the old seams or going in where the walls had fallen away.

  “How did he get over there?” Joe shouted the question.

  “There is a walkway that connects the buildings!” Jimbo used his chin to point where.

  Joe had noticed the upper bridge when they arrived, but had forgotten about it. Was it made of the same materials as this crumbling building? In a lightning flash, he studied it and realized they would need to go back up the nearly collapsing escalator to get to it. Was that the route Felonius had taken or had the water been low enough for him to cross here? He could see an entrance point across the river of water. This is insane.

  Probably. A pause. It could be here watching us, to see what we will do.

  So we’re back to Vi as it.

  “If he sick like Little Bit, he need help,” Speed Bump said, truculently.

  “Storm’s getting ready to smack us down again,” Vi said. “If there’s another break, we could try…”

  Or hope they wouldn’t have to, Joe presumed.

  “I helped you,” Jimbo reminded them.

  Vi rubbed her face. “So you did.” She looked at Joe.

  That gives you a reason to go.

  Were we looking for a reason? Joe did not remember that.

  This is why we are here. If we lose it again…

  So what’s our plan? We do have a plan?

  Right now the plan is to get it. If we can do that without dying then it is a good plan.

  Joe understood that planning was difficult when there was so much they did not know. And the one thing he knew was not comforting. Ge
t it. Kill it or die trying.

  I have tried to reach it other ways. I am sorry.

  Joe looked at Vi, seeing only her. How could he do this if—

  “I believe we must try.” he told her.

  Vi’s eyebrows lifted. It seemed long that she stared at him. Finally she nodded. Her expression seemed to say, “It is your death ceremony.” But she shouted, “We should get across before that gets here then.”

  Joe could not argue with that. It looked like a dark, solid wall approaching.

  * * *

  They had to get back to the second floor. It wasn’t as easy this time. The building seemed to be dissolving around them. At the bottom of the weird stairs, Vi looked at Joe. She still couldn’t believe he’d backed this craziness. It was very not Joe Friday. Maybe he had the virus, because it was insane.

  “I’ll go first. You’ll want to keep an eye on me,” she told him. He might have flushed. It was hard to tell in the uncertain light from her gear lamp. He opened his mouth and she shook her head sharply. “Later. If we’re still alive.”

  He flinched. If they made it he was going to talk to her. She turned and started up, wondering what she risked having him at her back. It was a new thought, an unwelcome one. Whatever was bothering him was bigger than commitment issues. Then she forgot Joe and his issues. The structure shuddered and chunks of cement fell off the upper floor, splashing into the murky water. She almost turned back then, but if the roof was coming down, no floor in this place was safe. She stowed her weapon, and used to her hands to climb as quickly as possible. It wasn’t that fast. Gravity had a good grip on her, helped by being kicked to the curb and back all day.

  She made it, was surprised about that. Didn’t stop to wait for Joe. If he wanted to shoot her in the back, he’d have to keep up. Jimbo had said it was to the right up here. The sludge on the floors held more water than it had before. Her light picked up heavier streams coming down the walls. If the concrete was crumbling, that would not help. She waded through the sludge, using her light to find the entrance to that walkway. Doors, minus their glass, sagged off the sides. Pieces of metal poked up out of the sludge, too. The rain hadn’t started up again, but the wind had let-me-make-your-last-minutes-of-life-miserable covered. A piece of debris slammed against the outside, not far from where she stood. She jumped. Or the building did. The building lost another chunk of itself. Vi didn’t wet her pants, but that was probably because she was dehydrated.