by P. S. Power
“That works. We have another person here. I’ll go get her. We can meet out front in… Call it ten minutes?”
The others seemed to think that was going to work, well enough at least. It didn’t give them a third vehicle or anything like that, however. Taking one from the parking lot was doable, but their drivers would be close by, if they tried that. The best plan would be to go past an auto dealership and see if they’d left anything outside that seemed likely. Normally that was a poor plan, since dealer plates would be noticed on the road, but in the conditions they had at the moment, it would work pretty well.
After all, the police really weren’t going to be on patrol and even if they saw them, he had several IPB people to use as a shield, making his actions seem legit. There were other options as well, he knew. He ran over several of them as he and Tabitha moved to the parking lot. He hadn’t eaten yet that day, but wasn’t hungry yet. If the cat was, she kept that part to herself. It was early in the day still, being about eight or nine in the morning.
That Katie had called for him was still amazing.
More than he could have told anyone there, even if he tried to explain it. Howard had lived for a long time and for most of it he hadn’t really had people. His mother and father had both died in the fifties, of different causes. They’d been state side, but the war had really hit them hard. An only child, he didn’t have any siblings or nephews and nieces to round things out that way. It meant that his life had mainly been lived alone.
At the end that had been a bit lonely, but the truth was that if you lived a certain kind of life, that was how it had to be. You had work acquaintances, even some friends, since risking your lives and freedom together tended to make that happen. Things like wives and kids didn’t go with being a thief, though. Not if you were going to do it right on either side.
So, he’d picked early and never bothered to settle down. Not until it had been too late for him to take up another way of being. Now he was starting over. It should have given him a real chance to be something new, but the truth was that the urge to steal the world was so strong that he really doubted he could be anything except an amplified version of what he had been before.
The trick would be in not letting himself make a bunch of stupid mistakes, thanks to his burning, rather consuming, desire to steal. It kind of ached inside of him, which was a bit over the top. Then, that was how things were for the Infected. Whatever their thing, their first mode, was, they kind of lived it. Which was dangerous for someone like him. He’d always had a desire to simply take what he wanted, but it had been moderated with discipline and rounded out with planning.
Now he was considering grand theft auto, like an amateur.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem all that needed, since Tank and Sam pulled up in two large vehicles, both a bright red color and a nice sturdy looking woman with blonde hair and a snubbed nose came up behind them. She was in an IPB uniform, and had Brian with her, driving a rather powerful looking green and black truck that had government plates on it.
If the other automobiles had a feeling of being compensation for something, probably manliness, given they seemed to belong to Tank and Sam, who were married, then this one seemed to be quietly stating its desire to subjugate small countries. The tires were huge though and it had good clearance. He had to love that.
Brian hopped out, lightly, as if he were used to doing that kind of thing.
“Hey. We’re all ready to go? I was thinking that we could take the big one here first?”
Howard had to smirk a bit at the kid. He meant well, it was clear.
“Nope. Do that and you’ll drive us all into trouble. The lightest and smallest one needs to go first. That way we don’t end up with the second car being stuck someplace it can’t get out of. Plus, that way we can tow it out, at need. We should use this one last. You can drive it?”
Howard thought that he might be able to, since it was probably just a stick shift. The other man nodded though, letting him know that his abilities probably weren’t going to end at the parking lot.
“Yeah. I shouldn’t though. Its… My powers. I might have to leave suddenly. I can do it, in a pinch.”
There was no explanation for that part.
“Let me see then? I can probably handle this. You can ride shotgun with Tank? He did a good job yesterday. You’ll need to scout for him though.” He was about to go into what was needed that way, when the others all came over. Brian, just nodded.
“Rick has the assignments then. I’m in the lead with you, Tank. Sam, you and Den can take the middle. Kerry, Rick and Tabby in the rear, in case any of us start to get stuck. Does that work for everyone?” He glanced at them all, getting nods.
Including from the cat. It was adorable, but a bit unsettling. She hadn’t been like that before their trip into the mirror world. Not that he’d ever seen.
If it had changed her that way, he had to wonder if it might have done something to him. Mentally, that was. Clearly, he’d been changed in a lot of ways on a physical level. They both had.
When he climbed into the beast he was supposed to drive, Tabby jumped up through his door. It was an impressive leap, to be honest. Enough so that Kerry seemed to notice.
“That’s a jump! Especially for a little cat. I’m Kerry.”
He nodded, having worked that one out for himself.
“Richard and Tabby. Just so you don’t mess that up later, I’m Richard. Pleased to meet you. Now, it looks like we’re getting under way. Let’s see if I can recall how to drive this kind of thing in time not to look like I’m full of hot air?”
It was harder than it sounded. The transmission was easy enough to master, but it had been a long time since he’d driven anything at all. The skills came back as they slowly moved out into town. Then, fifteen minutes later they were on the freeway. It wasn’t covered with water in the direction they were driving. There were cars across the expanse however, up ahead.
Which looked incredibly wrong. Off and, of all things, like a trap.
“Crud. That isn’t right. We need to…” He started to back up, just as several decently sized trucks pulled in behind them. Civilian looking things. “Seriously? Do they think we’re carrying a gold shipment or something?” He was about to ram one of them, knowing it might not work, since it was a garbage truck and pretty heavy seeming, when the girl shook her head.
“Probably not. At a guess? They want to kill Brian. Which is a very bad plan. We need to get you out of here though. Tank and Sam too. Before the shooting starts.”
They didn’t have enough time for that, of course, since it started almost instantly.
Howard shrugged a bit, picked up his cat and nodded.
“I’ll take care of myself. What about the others?”
From the look on her face, the woman didn't know.
Taking that as a sign, he reached out the window and touched the side mirror. For half a second he wondered if it was going to work or not, but it did.
At least the world flashed and then went dark.
He took that as being a good sign.
Chapter four
The view from inside the mirror was really interesting. There was darkness all around and points of light, though they ran along the road for a good long way. Mainly as reflectors, off to the side. The vehicles all had shiny bits on them, too, which was useful, really.
Interestingly, even though he’d started from inside the truck, and Howard could see the door next to him, he was able to push right through it. It felt a bit like moving damp clay, but it really didn't take that long to get out. Then he was able to walk at about the level of the floor of the large truck he was in, even though that would be about three or four feet above the road surface.
The interesting bit didn’t start until he looked through the mirror though. That shining and bright portal to the real world. He could see Brian jumping around, fighting something. It looked like Denis was doing the same thing and Kerry was out on the far side, hold
ing her hand up, behind them.
Nothing else was there though. There were no fighters. No barricade of cars and no bullets doing anything. What there was, he noticed, was a Sam ducking down in the second car, looking panicked. Tendrils of light came off of him. Reaching out to where the people were.
It took a few seconds to figure out what was going on that way.
“Illusion, Tabby.” The cat was in his arms, nodding at the words. Since that made perfect sense.
He moved forward, and nearly just tapped a shiny bit. One that was below him by several feet, when he realized that everyone else was still fighting. Tank was shooting at the road block ahead of them, that didn’t exist, for instance.
Knowing where the fighting was going on just made sense, given all that. In the end, the best place he found was actually right next to Sam, just outside the red Range Rover. Tapping the driver’s side mirror worked for that, allowing him back into the real world.
There was the sound of shooting though, not just visuals. Automatic weapons, as well as the semi-autos that the IPB people and Tank were providing for their side.
Looking in the window, he smiled.
“Um, Sam? You’re doing this. How about you stop now?” There was a large crashing sound from behind them, which got the man to sit upright.
“I am? Fuck. Okay. Let me see… Um, calm… Deep breaths…. Relax Sammy… You can do it.”
It took a bit, but about fifteen seconds later the noise of fighting died down. Everyone eventually moved to them, since he was standing right outside the window, in the open. Interestingly, it was Brian that spoke first. Happily enough to seem nearly real.
“That’s…” He nodded, looking at the glowing man, seeming to get it first. “Impressive! Well, try to keep that to a minimum for now? We don’t want to lose too much time. We should load up?”
Denis shook his head then.
“Actually, I need to make a pit stop? Thanks for that, Sam. I do want to point out that I heroically didn’t wet myself. Man, freaking Infected, with their cool powers and scaring me like that… That was… Epic, actually.” Interestingly, the guy didn't sound upset at all. None of them seemed that way. Denis walked to the side of the road. There was nothing to hide him, but he turned his back, as Howard went to the rear vehicle to get set up again. Kerry was climbing back in already, not looking over to the side of the road where the man had his trousers open at the front. It probably meant she was polite. Not that anyone wanted to see that kind of thing. Not anyone you wanted to spend time with.
She looked over at him, instead.
“I didn’t really get all that. What happened? I was pretty much failing to lay waste to things back there, my powers not working for some reason… Which is a bit annoying, then everything vanished.”
“Sam made an illusion. I think on accident, from his response. It shouldn’t be a big issue now. Probably a subconscious thing? He got control of it, so he should be good, I think.” Howard didn't know that at all, but telling her that wouldn’t set her mind at ease. Plus, she was the professional in that kind of thing, being that she worked for the IPB. That, dealing with the Infected, was their whole job.
Though it was kind of clear that these three had powers of their own, of one sort or another. He’d worked out the bit with Brian and the teleportation, but the others were a bit sketchier than that so far. They’d been trying to do something, it was clear, but he hadn’t been able to tell what that was.
For a minute he just sat, making sure he had enough fuel, which looked good so far, and then checking to make certain Den was getting back into the second car. Losing someone out there would be a problem, after all. Probably not a fatal one for any of them, but walking around haplessly for several days, trying to get a ride would be less than fun.
When they were underway again, Kerry started talking. She had a good voice. Mellow. A little drugged sounding.
“I didn’t know that you were Infected. Me too. I mean, the uniform gives that away. Psychokinetic. Class four. First mode anger. I had that taken out though. Genetic treatments? How about you? If… You don’t have to tell me. People tend to, in the IPB, but it isn’t a rule or anything.”
There was a shyness to the words, near the end. As if it were some kind of big deal to her. That or she thought he was going to freak out, having been caught like he was. Which was a point, but not the secret he needed to hide from her that day.
“Psychokinesis? I’m not up on that one.” Which was true. He grinned then. “Also, not up on what class four means. I’ve only been Infected for… What time is it?” He tried to seem playful and charming, but the woman actually looked at her wrist watch.
“Nine-fifty-three… now.”
That got him to nod. It was good to be precise, after all. Especially if they were going to be working together.
“Less than a day, then. Probably twenty-two hours or so? That means I don’t have all the rules down yet.”
“Oh? That’s… It happens. We never really get a choice as to when it does either. I was fifteen when I popped, myself. Anyway, I move things with my mind. I’m pretty good at it. Class… It’s really a military designation. That or a threat level, I guess? It starts at one, which is pretty much a regular person’s fighting ability. If you can be expected to take out an armed soldier one on one then you’d be a class two. If you can take on five to thirteen of them you’d be a class three. A hundred is four and so on, up the line. A class ten would probably be able to fight everyone, including all the other infected. First mode…”
He nodded at the words, looking straight ahead and driving at about thirty miles per hour. The highway was decently clear. They had to go around a few cars, but there were no obvious traps again yet.
“That one I know. My thing. That…” He nearly didn't tell her, then did, since he was supposed to get in good with these people. Lying to them wasn’t the best way to start. He’d save that for later, in case it was needed. “I pretty much feel compelled to steal things. So far, I’ve mainly managed to control it. I stole a cat and some old folks from a home. Some clothing from a pile of things, but other than that I’ve kept on top of it. It’s… I’ve always had it, but this is stronger.”
The woman next to him touched his arm. It was a gentle thing, and kind of flirtatious. She was cute enough that he noticed it, even if she was young enough to have been born in a different century from him. Though probably not, once he thought about it. He was probably only seventy-five years older than she was.
She spoke softly.
“That could be worse, then. What can you do? Power wise?”
That got him to shrug. As far as he knew there was no specific name for it.
“I can go into mirrors and walk in the other world there? I can only take or carry about fifty pounds with me when I go. I also kind of got younger, when I went in. Tabby did as well. Stronger, too. Probably twice as much as when I was working out, back in the day.” That sounded about right to him though he wanted to test that out a little more.
It was important to know what you could really do, before you took risks, counting on your abilities to get you through.
“Neat. How old are you, then? I was thinking you looked to be about seventeen or so. Maybe eighteen?” She’d slipped into making small talk, instead of informing him about the Infected world.
Not that he didn’t need that kind of information. Fast, too. Katie would probably have some of it for him, if she didn’t force him out the door, to run off and steal whatever it was she needed. Not that it didn’t sound like there was a bit of a time table on that one.
It couldn’t be too tight though, or she would have had Brian get him to her earlier.
Instead of taking a car trip first like they were.
“Ninety-four. I was born in nineteen-twenty-three.” He stopped then, waiting for her to not believe him. That or respond in some kind of big way. To him it was the largest part of what was going on. By far. Being able to go into mirrors was nice
enough, but being young again… That was a miracle. Maybe even a real one.
“Really? Nice. Well, that means you’re probably going to look like this from now on. That seems to be the way things like this work, anyway. Could be a lot worse. My friend Bridget is pretty much going to look like she’s fourteen for the next seventy years, I think. Worse, she’s tiny. It makes it hard for her to get guys, even if she’s old enough now.”
There was a glance at him, from the side of her eyes. He saw it happening, and risked a glance over, then went back to the road. Not crashing was his whole job at the moment.
“That’s Impulse? Bridget Taylor?”
There was a nod. Also a correction.
“Chambers. Yes, though. Bridget is nice. A really great girl.” She sounded a little defensive, as if he might have missed the part where she single handedly saved the country on several occasions. He’d actually gotten that, though a lot of the others at the home had been really scared that Impulse was going to come for them.
As if the kid were going to bother with them like that. She didn't need to, since waiting a few years would take them all out just as well. Except it seemed, him, now. So, it might have been an oversight on her part, not coming for him earlier.
“I’ve seen her on television. A few years ago, during the mess? She did good work. Really fine. So… I’m what, do you think? A class one?” He was changing the subject. The woman next to him stopped and let herself be distracted by it.
“Tell me a bit more about what your power is? You go into mirrors? How?”
“I have to touch them. Then I’m there. It isn’t like here. Not another world. I can only see what is reflected, on that side. The rest is dark. I can go anywhere, but I have to walk the distance, which takes about the same amount of time as it would in the real world. Then I touch a mirror on the other side to come out.
“That’s pretty limited then. You can get around doors though, if there’s a mirror on the other side?”