by P. S. Power
It was risky and sloppy, but Howard wasn’t going in on that one. Not if he could help it. Strong arm work was a good way to end up dead. No one shot at cat burglars. Not if they were doing their job right. That, the name of his old profession, got him to take a mental step back.
After all, if Kate wasn’t just trying to throw him off, or tease him, then he was part cat now. That sounded unholy and like a good thing to freak out about. He didn't, but not doing that almost didn't make sense to him. Instead he felt like it was… Fine. He was younger and stronger now, so worrying was ridiculous. Right up until he ate a mouse. Then he was going to be a little put out, he was willing to bet.
Instead of doing anything like that in the moment, he tried to look wise. It probably didn’t fit his face now, lacking proper wrinkles, but everyone looked his way.
“We also need to practice some things. Tonight. Kerry, you’re with me on that. I have to jump off things, while you catch me. In low light. We need to work out timing for that. Some kind of radio?”
There was a head shake then, from Denis.
“No. It was in the papers we read. They have the outside of the building jammed that way. So, something else. I don’t know what.”
He had to think for a bit, but had some ideas for it.
“Light? I can flash a light out. It’s that or a count after the explosion. I’m not going to break that window out with a hammer, I bet. Not even being a bit stronger than I used to be. Though we need to check that out.” He didn't know how much stronger that was really. It needed to be tested again.
Before he could suggest that part, Kate stood up.
“In the basement I have a gym. You can jump off the shed out back? Try not to blow anything up yet though. We need to practice that someplace else. The homeowner’s association here are a bunch of piranhas.”
Plus, they didn’t need the cops out, because of explosions. By that same token, they had to practice it all first. They needed to know what they were doing, before they went in on a job. Otherwise they were going to end up being stuck and not knowing what to do at all.
It wasn’t dark out yet, but some of them had things to do. Instead of just sitting around he tried to come up with something to keep busy, but on task. To that end, he glanced at Kerry, then Denis.
“We should go for a jog. Being out of condition won’t help us on the day.” It had been a while since he’d done anything like that, himself. About two decades.
Interestingly, they both stood up, then looked down at their outfits. As if that was going to be the part that stopped them from exercising. They had the right clothing for it. Good enough anyway, in their uniforms. Still, Katie waved at them all.
“I have some things you can wear for that? Kerry, you can do the alterations needed for it, right? That’s really cool, by the way. The thing with the clothing you did, earlier?” The woman hadn’t been there for it, but she probably understood it better than any of them, regardless.
Brian snorted softly and waved at the other man.
“Denis needs to get in touch with Chris or Cindy. After all, you have a power that should be able to do that. At least if you focus enough. I’d go for Cindy.” Why that was, he didn’t say.
Den smiled anyway.
“That’s new. I can’t see it working, but I can try. Wouldn’t calling be easier?”
Brian nodded, seeming happy about it.
“Yep. It would also be tracked. So, get going on that telepathy. You’re a projective empath. You can do this. That line of sight thing was always just you lacking discipline, you know that, right?”
The other man gave them a sour look. Then sat back down.
“Fine. I’ll give it a shot. When I fail, we need a backup plan though.”
Katie moved in and patted him on the arm.
“We can do that, but you won’t fail. I’ve been meaning to mention this part for a while. I just haven’t been around for it. You’ve had this power all along, Dorothy, now go and click your heels for us, like a good kid.”
If she was lying, just trying to prop the man up or get him out of running, Howard couldn’t tell.
Chapter eight
The jog, and fortunately for him it was one, instead of a race, wasn’t as easy as he recalled that kind of thing being when he was younger. He didn't wheeze, thankfully. Really, he didn't even get that out of breath. It was simply that, by the time Kerry and he were at the beach, moving slowly on the packed sand, his calves and feet burned. The thing was, he didn’t have to stop at all. He just felt like he wanted to.
The girl next to him, boxy and thick with muscle, kept the pace up easily. She wasn’t breathing hard at all, either. Howard hated to admit it, but the gal was probably going to kick his behind on the run, if he got competitive with it. Instead of trying to be a big man, hiding the discomfort, he grinned.
Even in his old life, being willing to admit when you were in trouble wasn’t a horrible thing. You had to reach, but over-reaching was generally a poor plan.
“It’s been a while since I went out like this. About thirty years, or a bit more. I’m breathing all right and my heart feels good. Strong, but not working that hard. My feet are killing me though.” It sounded a bit weak, but only got a smile from his companion.
They were dressed differently from each other. Howard was in gray sweat pants and a pale blue t-shirt that said he liked a group called Living Proof. A thing that he’d never heard of at all. The running shoes were the ones that he’d had with him. Kate had the clothing there at her house, which, disturbingly enough, fit him almost perfectly. Kerry had changed the shape a bit for him, since his hips weren’t the right dimensions for the sweat bottoms.
For her part, she was in more decorative clothing. Her tights had started out a pale green color, but had altered greatly, to become something closer to a pearlescent blue. Her boots had changed as well this time, so matched his shoes pretty well. They were the same brand, though hers were smaller by a bit. Her shirt was a plain white thing, that didn’t have any words on it at all. It had, if Howard understood things correctly, started the day as the tan shirt that went with her uniform.
Instead of making fun of his honesty, the kid exhaled a little bit.
“We can’t know what that means yet. Try to keep up, but if we need to slow down, call that out? You get more than a day to go from being bed bound to running marathons, after all. Even if you’re Infected. I have to admit, you don’t seem to be breathing too hard yet. I’m feeling this and I run every day, nearly.”
If that was the honest truth and not her just being kind to him, she was hiding the strain pretty well. Then, she probably did do it every day. A thing that he was going to have to start up again, if the whole being young thing played out for him.
They ran on in silence, heading down the beach. It wasn’t getting dark yet, and was his second trip that direction for the day. The sky didn't open up on them, but the gray clouds did start to spit in their general direction. It was late enough in the summer that the lack of blue sky was probably ruining vacation for some of the people walking along with them. More to the point, it was doing that to the ones that had stayed in their rooms.
He’d never loved the rain, but to him it had always just been another part of life. Sometimes the sky had water falling from it. You dealt with it and moved on. The biggest difference now was that he noticed every shiny scrap in the sand and glint on the water. Each one called to him, offering him a portal into that other world. The thing there was that it just didn't really have a lot to offer him.
In the distance, about two miles away, or a little less were a lot of very large rocks. The rest of the beach seemed to be made of fine sand with bits of shell in it. There were seagulls, but only five of them. That part was different enough that he pointed at the feathered menaces.
“When I was a boy, really, when I was in my sixties even, we’d have huge flocks of those things all over the place. Hundreds of them, all the time.”
It
was just making conversation, but Kerry took a deep breath and then nodded. Her face was a bit worried seeming.
“I know. It isn’t just them. A lot of things are gone now. I heard that the fishing this season in the Pacific pretty much just didn't happen. It’s like everything is dying. That will probably be blamed on us. The Infected? It isn’t that. This is just what we’ve been being warned about. Pollution and radiation. Climate change and all that. I don’t know what to do about it.”
The words were probably true enough, and he didn’t know what to do about it either. The idea that either of them would have to seemed off though.
“That isn’t up to us. I mean, no more than it is anyone else. I guess we… Call our congressman and tell them to work on it? That or some scientist.” It sounded like a cop out to him, but then, the idea he was in charge of that kind of thing was plain stupid. There were people that probably weren’t supposed to have died in a flood the day before that could handle that kind of thing.
If they needed something stolen, then he might have a place in the whole thing, but other than that, he was the wrong man for the job.
Glancing over, he noticed that his new blonde pal shifted nicely in all the right places as they moved down the beach. He didn't let himself stare, even if the old hormones were starting to kick back in. After all, the only thing worse than being too close to someone you were on a job with would be sleeping with them. Not that she’d offered that kind of thing.
Changing the subject, he decided to ask about the others. He kind of knew Katie, though that had been a long time before, he realized. Thinking that she hadn’t changed at all would be stupid of him. The others were even more of a mystery, so he decided to start there.
“Have you known the fellas long? Denis and Brian?” He still wasn’t out of breath at all. The bottom of his left foot had caught fire for some reason, and his right calf was aching nicely, but the rest of him didn't feel too bad. Even his legs were fine so far.
The woman jogged with him pretty easily, finally just shrugging.
“A few years? Which… You know, there’s a story to parts of it. Brian though… We aren’t close. I kind of know him from work? He’s important in the IPB. Kind of like a team leader, except that he isn’t officially. Sort of a behind the scenes person?”
That sounded different than Howard would have figured, which he just admitted to. They were either on the same side or not. Kerry at least was making it easy to do that, for her part, so he needed to do the same.
“Yeah? I would have figured him for an officer of some kind. A captain maybe? Locked on and hard all the time. When we were ambushed ala Sam’s delusion, you all hit the enemy pretty hard. I just hid. Which, by the way, is my go to move for that kind of thing. I don’t want you to think that it’s going to change up suddenly, with me taking on the enemy alone or anything foolish like that. I was a thief my whole life. Most of it. After the war. I was in the Marines for that.”
It was probably sharing too much, but the kid didn’t ask which war, just working the math for herself, at a guess.
“We’re all kind of trained to fight. You did the right thing. Really, the perfect thing, since you figured out that the illusion was one. Before anyone got hurt even. That’s a risk, working with people like us. I mean…” She stopped talking, looking out at the water, with a fine hint of mist or ocean spray making her skin glisten just a tiny bit. It was attractive on her.
“Like with me. If I get mad for too long, my power will start throwing a fit. Hurling objects around, making rocks appear out of thin air… Even setting things on fire. That or causing gouts of water to come from the walls. That used to be worse, but I have anger issues still.”
He didn’t ask her to go into that part, since she either would or wouldn’t. After a moment about ninety seconds of jogging along, she started again.
“Den… I didn't know it at first, when I started at the IPB. I was on Team Two, which… You know, we’re basically the grunts? Team one is the public face. Prime and Argos, Lady Glory, Pixie, Shiva and Sure Shot. Ice Queen and Tobin, my boyfriend. They’re mainly okay, to tell the truth, even if we like to make fun of them. Anyway, Denis was on Team Three. That’s where the really powerful people are put. At least back then. It came out about three years ago that Denis is actually my half-brother. Different mothers. It was a creepy Christian cult thing. Before you ask, yes, I was married to my own father, with all that meant, before I got out. All the girls were. I guess that’s why we both hate pedophiles so much. Why I used to be angry all the time, too. I had gene therapy to get rid of my first mode, then later, got Cindy to brainwash me, so I wouldn’t be as bitchy all the time. It pretty much worked.”
Again they traveled in silence, both of them watching the other people on the beach, as they got to the rocks. Without waiting Kerry turned and headed the other way, speeding up a bit.
“How do you feel?” Her voice was soft and didn't sound bitchy at all to him. Then, she’d said that Cindy had fixed that for her. Along with the other stuff. Whoever that lady was.
“I bet my feet are going to be sore tomorrow. The rest of me is surprisingly fine.” It was the truth, more or less.
The girl cleared her throat at him, as if he were being dense on purpose, instead of the truth, where it was clearly just him honestly being stupid. At least he didn't know why she was doing it at any rate.
“I meant about being Infected. You’d lived your whole life a different way, then in an instant, things changed. Are you holding up all right? That could make people angry or scared. It’s only been a day or so, too. It took me about a year to really get used to the idea that I was different.”
“Oh. That kind of how are you feeling. Well… I don’t really know? Being healthy again, strong… That’s huge for me. That mirror trick is interesting, but I need to work with it more. I don’t feel angry over it. I guess because it didn’t really cost me anything? This, being Infected, it might mess with me in the long run. I mean, I’d always liked to steal. Even as a kid. It just wasn’t this strong of a thing for me. I wasn’t stupid about it. Now I really feel like I could be, if I let my guard down for even a minute. The power part is fine. The deal with me being part cat now… That’s strange.” He grinned, smirking a bit. “If not for, how do you all keep putting it? Popping?” He looked over at her, his right foot finally starting to feel a bit better on the bottom. The calf as well. It wasn’t good yet, but it was better.
There was a slow nod, that didn't keep up with the running movements.
“Right. You pop Infected, even though I have no clue where that came from. It wasn’t a medical test or anything that had a button. I think it’s just that it always comes on really fast. One second you’re you, like you always were, then bang, Infected.”
“Like that. When I popped, well, I was probably two hours away from drowning to death. Maybe less. I could barely move anymore. If Tabby hadn’t come and woken me up… You know, the water… It was so high that I’d thought I’d wet the bed at first. If you can help it, you should remember to never get old. It’s a horrible thing.”
That got a polite chuckle. One that sounded a little winded. Not truly though. He was breathing a little harder himself. Then, they were moving a bit faster, so that made sense. The rain had started to come down on them harder, after all. It kind of indicated it was time to run in life.
“I’ll keep that in mind, in case I live that long. Anyway, I got out of Faith Home when I was about fifteen. A bunch of us escaped then. I’d popped not too long before, but it was getting hard for me to hide my powers. The others covered for me, but there were a lot of small fires and things going on. A lot of us are Infected. Dad was, and it kind of carries that way.”
That part was confusing to him, but Howard knew that he wasn’t alone in that regard. The Infection could run in families and did, often with similar powers. Then, if a kid were adopted, they might have the same thing. Or if a natural child was adopted out, they might still sh
ow similar abilities, having never met mom or dad directly. It was, over all, a confusing mess that even the best scientists didn’t get. At least they hadn’t when he’d paid attention to things like that.
She went on, filling him in for a while as they moved.
“Now… Brian is different. He was Infected by another Infected person. That, passing the Infection was her power. His old roommate, Doug, he caught it at the same time, from the same girl. That was all set up by Braid. You know about that? It was in the news.”
Which it probably had been.
“I missed most of that. Katie… Brie? She told me that Brian killed her? Devorah and I… Kate too, we all used to be friends. I wouldn’t have thought that Devie would go off the deep end like that. She was always pretty stable seeming.”
Informed as well. More than once she’d walked into a room with a game plan that told each of them exactly what was needed. It always worked, too. Even down to ridiculously random seeming little things. That was part of her power. Knowing what was going to happen. At least Kate had suggested it was.
“You knew her? That isn’t that big of thing, I guess. Brian had her all over his life. Starting when he was about four or five, I heard. Tobin, my boyfriend? His mother Christian gave him up for adoption, because of her. Braid, I mean. She suggested it. So it wasn’t like the woman was just walking along and one day Proxy went for her or anything. Braid was also behind most of the Anti-Infected hate groups over the years. I mean, she actually started over half of the big ones, herself. We were in a real war, for a long time, before she passed.”
There was a certain hardness in her voice. It wasn’t actually defensive, either. More matter of fact. Also like she understood that none of that might mean much to Howard. Then again, he hadn’t seen her in long enough that it didn't matter that much to him. They’d been friendly, for a little over a year, but clearly the woman had been working an angle that involved him, even back then.