The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  Prime didn't really buy that, telling Brian flat out that he doubted that anyone would even dare try it, but they both let it go on the assurance that Bridget seemed fine and that he'd go and talk to her in a few minutes, as soon as the people started coming out of the ruined building, sooner if he could. When the agents felt it was safe, meaning no one seemed to be paying attention to them anymore, Brian hurried over to the girl, who left Soar's winged embrace, the webbing having stretched around the girl in the cool air, to tackle him, taking him to the ground in her exuberance. The armor took most of the impact, meaning the girl had hit him faster than she'd probably meant to. Mark asked if he should check the building, now that the others had gotten the doors and upper stairwells clear.

  Brian nodded, noting that Mark didn't need his permission. “But yeah, that sounds like the best use of your time right now. I'll be here, waiting.”

  Mark suddenly gave a deep sigh, his image having jumped just a tiny bit to the left.

  “We have injured in the gym, fourteen, the ceiling collapsed near the right side, away from the elevators. Carl and the trainers from fifteen are working that, but they could use some muscle down there. Warren, one of the cooks that lives on eleven, had the bookcase in his room fall on him, but he should be fine, I got him to seven, which is untouched, however the physics of that worked. Everyone else is working their way up now.”

  It boggled Brian's mind a little when he realized that other than the slight jog of position, he couldn't tell how long Mark had been gone. Hours at least, maybe days. Possibly longer. Standing up he waved to Lauren, who just stood, not wanting to leave the surface, afraid that Prime would escape. She came over quickly enough and stood in front of Brian silently, Bridget refusing to even look at her, which took turning her back on the woman, because standing close she took up a large portion of the field of vision.

  He explained what Mark had found and that they needed some strong people to head to fourteen. She volunteered, but realized almost instantly that with everyone coming up the stairs, they couldn't use anyone too big. “Ideally we'd get some of the little strong people to do it. Tobin's OK, Lis would be good, the woman over there,” She pointed at a blonde with long hair, and a face that looked like a mummies, the skin brown, dry looking and cupping the bone underneath. “Well, and Bridget, but...”

  Bridget just stood and started walking toward the building, Mark following her. After about ten steps she turned and spoke, her voice low and deadly sounding.

  “Fine, I'll go and fix the mess you made. But... don't talk to me again. If you don't trust me enough to believe me on something like this, we can't be friends.” Then the girl walked away, not stomping, not running, not looking back. A hiss came from Lauren, a sigh, Brian understood after a few seconds, followed by a soft sob. After a minute the giant woman that looked more like a beetle than a kindergarten teacher turned and walked away herself.

  Headed directly toward Prime and Charlot, clenching her fists again. Brian scrambled to get in front of her, only to see her teammate Hobbs move into place first. He smiled and held out his right hand about half way, speaking loudly enough to be heard some distance away.

  “Lauren... I understand your grief and anger, but Advocate Yi has spoken for these people. He believes in their innocence enough to put his own life on the scale. I ask you to give him time to prove them innocent or show their guilt. If you attack now he'll be forced to fight you, and you know he'll do it... There's no way for you to win that battle girl. Either you kill him in your rage, or he kills you to uphold his beliefs. Don't let your anger lead you to things that can't be taken back. Please.”

  Generous of Hobbs to not simply assume that a fight between the two of them, Lauren and Brian, would just end in a Brian colored splotch of wetness on the ground after a half second. Brian considered what he'd said and realized the strange man with his odd accent and slightly wild hair was right. Brian didn't know if he could make himself fight Lauren, a friend, but he wouldn't let her kill people that might be innocent if he could do anything about it either. Where that left him, he didn't really know.

  The armored giant froze in place, regarding the red bearded man in front of her carefully, as if weighing his words against her own rage. Finally she turned and walked away, stomping a bit, which made the ground shake and shudder around her and left deep footprints in the hard soil, almost an inch deep in places, the tracks uneven and rough.

  Hobbs saw Brian walking up and dropped to one knee, head bowed, palms held up toward the sky, hands spread wide, eyes closed. He said nothing for a few moments, finally speaking softly, his voice humble.

  “Advocate... I know I've overstepped my role here and stand ready for your judgment upon me. The girl Lauren is of good heart and caring of soul. She... misstepped, but I offer myself in her place, if a price of blood or life is needed.” Then still kneeling the man went silent, eyes still closed, waiting, apparently for Brian to do something.

  Brian shrugged, then realized that Hobbs had his eyes closed.

  “No problem. Thanks for your help. I don't know if we can stop this from going out of control, but any violence we can head off is a good thing in my book.”

  The man stood, his clothing looked heavy and rough, part hand sewn, much of it repaired that way too, other things looking like stuff the Goodwill would reject. Stained in places, but clean, or as clean as anyone else around him looked given the mess that had been made. He bowed low to Brian and then stood, a large smile on his face.

  “Were we in my world, I'd invite you to join my own order. Your gift is a true one, none could doubt. With your permission I will attempt to calm things as I can with those here that I know?” His voice went soft and humble again.

  Chuckling softly Brian spread his own hands and bowed to the man, not even thinking about how odd the gesture would look. Hobbs may be crazy, but he seemed gentle enough about it. They could use more crazy like that around the place today. “Permission? Heck, more than that, I beg you to do it, please do what you can. We need to work together here, I think...”

  Bowing again the funny seeming man left without another word and began talking to those Team Two members not actively helping to remove rubble. The agents looking on had heard the whole exchange and gave him funny looks as he walked up, to update Scott and Charlot. One of the agents, the taller one standing on the right, cleared his throat.

  “This thing's balanced on a thread Proxy. Emotions are running high, way too raw. I've seen this kind of thing before, right now everyone's listening to you, but we haven't even gotten the situation settled down and everyone is still right here. We... could use some reinforcements. Level comes after us, all we can do is die. Same with half the people out here right now... Just a heads up, because you and that Team Two guy seem to be the only ones willing to do anything constructive right now to stop this cluster from going fubar.”

  Brian nodded and told the man he'd see what he could do. More fighters and intimidation didn't feel right to him, not in this situation. Team Two almost always faced off against threatening people, they wouldn't back down because of that, especially if they got worked up as a group again. They almost needed the exact opposite, a line of kittens in the way backed by puppies maybe. He'd have to come up with something.

  A sound rose up, a soft cheer, as people from inside finally started to make their way out. Karen was in the first wave, and ran over to him, limping a little. He didn't move, not wanting to leave Prime and Charlot alone for too long, even with the agents guarding them. The guys were tough, but they couldn't handle Team Two if they decided to move. Not that he could either, but he'd be darned if he was going to ask the agents to face them all alone.

  “Brian! I'm so glad you're safe...” She jogged over, face smudged and clothing torn on her right leg, a spot of blood showing, but the bleeding looked like it had stopped on its own, so just a scratch most likely. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close for a long time, then kissed him hard, for long e
nough that the agents started watching them instead of the dangerous people all around. Laughing a little, Brian gently moved her back, then winked.

  “Sorry, but things could go south here pretty quick and while hugging you is more fun than watching everyone, I don't think I should let my guard down that much yet. I don't know how much you know about what's going on but...”

  She rushed to fill him in.

  She and Penny along with a few others had found the amount of attention Scott and Charlot were suddenly giving their daughter suspicious, and Bridget was acting more than a little odd, reminding some of them of when she'd tried to hide clandestine relationships before, so they started following her, and eventually got Director Moore to liberate the video feed of Scott and Charlot's living quarters.

  “I couldn't stand to watch much of it, but Brian, the feed's real... they did it. No one could have faked that, not here...”

  Prime stirred, getting angry again as she spoke. Brian held out his hand to her and shook his head. “I don't know what's going on, but they all say they're innocent of this Karen. Scott and Charlot wouldn't do this, and if they did... well they'd try and lie their way out, we all know that... Who wouldn't?” Brian shrugged at them as they both bristled, sitting on the ground side by side, seething with anger.

  “But... Bridget wouldn't, not for long. You've known her longer than I have, but I've seen her lie, and while she can be pretty convincing at first, she can't help but blurt out the truth within a few minutes, especially if her emotions are high. That alone should be enough to get everyone to back off for a while, if they could calm down enough to actually think about things.”

  Karen looked around, a glimmer of fear in her eyes now that Brian had pointed this out to her, clearly not thinking that anyone would calm down soon at all. Leaning in he kissed her again, quickly this time and asked if she could check in with Director Moore and then collect the people they needed when they came out. Looking tired she pushed her sweat damped hair over her right ear and took a deep breath.

  “I can do that. Do you need anything else?” Her voice went soft when she asked, as if it were something private.

  “I'm good myself, but we're going to need to have food, water and shelter here, for everyone tonight at least. And to set up a hospital area for the wounded, that kind of thing, could you see if anyone knows about that kind of thing? One of the doctors by preference, but anyone with medical training, food service, military contacts that can have some MREs dropped in, anything? The Director's probably already on it, but anything we can do to help, yeah?”

  She hugged him again and walked over to where the Director stood, surrounded still by worried looking agents. Scott and Charlot sat behind him in the cool dirt, waves of anger building as time passed, especially from the large man who's wounds healed a little more each time Brian looked at him. After about half an hour it seemed to Brian like Prime was about to try and make good on his earlier threat to kill the people that did this to him.

  “Scott, I get why you're angry, I really do... I mean think of the things I've gone through myself, right? I know anger. But if you take off after people now, especially with the kind of rage you're holding, the same thing just happens again. You need to be calm and sharp now, no matter what happens. I'm trying to get people here that can clear your name, so hold on if you can, and for now at least if anyone attacks you, let me deal with it, OK? You're not alone here.”

  While he didn't know what he could actually do if they all attacked, Brian saw that this helped calm the other man down a little, which really wouldn't hurt if things went South. A calm Scott could probably at least get Charlot to safety while Brian tried to stall everyone else. The only other flyer they had was Soar, and Brian felt that she'd be willing to hold off chasing the golden man, if Brian asked.

  People were pouring out of the building, Bridget carried several out herself, her small size and high level strength making it easier for her to do it than almost anyone else. Lis, the other Team Two person that had gone in with her and Mark, carried someone in her arms as well, it took him a minute to understand who it was.

  “Penny!” Brian called out, worried. He couldn't leave his spot for long, but got the agents to cover for him for a minute so that he could run over to see her.

  “Are you OK? I mean, do you need immediate medical attention?” He asked, hoping he didn't sound too cold. Obviously she wasn't all right, or she would have walked out on her own. But if she needed medical help it would have to be him doing it and splitting his attention would be hard. Possibly deadly. Though maybe Mark could do it? They couldn't talk to her that way though.

  “Yeah, I'm fine, just sprained both my ankles on the stairs when things started happening, then managed to get stepped on a few times. Nothing major, but I was hobbling along too slowly and no one else could see me, so Mark had Lis here get me out of the way. Thanks by the way.”

  Brian had to repeat the words for the other woman.

  Lis shrugged, Penny still in her arms, “Don't mention it. You'd do the same for me. Except that then it would look like I was floating, which would be kind of neat.”

  Looking around Brian decided that he really didn't want a hurt Penny sitting at what could end up being the center of a major fight at any time. Medical would be all right, except that right now the best they could do toward that was military style sleeping bags laid out on the ground. He grabbed one from the pile and waived at Burrows. He hefted the green sleeping bag, letting her know he was taking one.

  “For Penny. I...can't keep her with me, she'll be by Director Moore. Two sprained ankles it sounds like.” He called this out and pointed to Lis, asking her if she'd please help him get Penny over to where people were clustered, many talking on cell phones already, arranging things for later.

  He waved at Lancaster and walked over slowly, trying to keep pace with Lis and Penny. The girl giggled.

  “Well, I could walk, but I guess if you guys are offering to carry me around...”

  He smiled and patted her shoulder softly. Lying out the sleeping bag on the ground, unzipping it so that it laid flat like a decent sized green comforter. Lis set her package down carefully, making sure she knew where every limb was as she did it, so that she wouldn't accidentally damaged the girl. The mummy looking woman asked him if he wanted her to stay and guard Penny.

  “Um, no. She should be safe here. You're too important doing what you are to stand around for now. Sorry, Penny, but it's true. Search and rescue has to be our priority right now.” That plus the fact that every Team Two member not up top when things happened would be one less person to kick his behind when they finally moved to lynch Prime.

  Lancaster gave him a look. “What's...” The man just pointed.

  “Penny. Sprained ankles. She can be mobile on her own if she has to. Right now I want someone to look out for her, make sure she gets food and water, that kind of thing and gets to the bathroom...” Brian looked around. They'd be out there all night if not for weeks to come.

  “Do we have bathrooms coming in?” The Director looked up from about ten feet away and shook his head.

  “Right... so we need latrines dug.” Brian turned around and yelled at a group of Team Two people and the smaller group that made up Team One standing a little ways off.

  “Can anyone here dig a trench fast? Energy blasts or super speed... Anything else that might work, and I'm not thinking of? If so, get over here quick please!”

  Three people came over, two from Team Two and Argos. Argos had super speed, as did one of the others, a woman that looked lean, hard and ugly, a bit like a hardcore crack addict, jumpy and tweeky, but nearly as fast as Argos in raw speed she said. Argos shrugged and murmured.

  “At least as fast. Maybe faster.”

  It made the twitchy woman smile at least, true or not.

  The other was Lauren. Who still glared over toward Scott and Charlot, looking like she wanted to kill them. Massive fists, each about the size of Brian's head flex
ed, making a soft crackling sound, armored flesh sliding on more of the same.

  He explained what they needed and why, Lancaster suggesting that they put it well off from the camp. People would grumble about the long walk, but a lot less than they would about the smell. It made enough sense no one questioned it. Several people Brian didn't know very well came over when they realized what was going on, one man he recognized from the stores on four, another was the morning cook, Burt, the one with the Tweety tattoo. With them was a small brown man named Emanuel who knew where the shovels and digging supplies actually were. He turned out to be the complex's gardener and main grounds keeper. He waived over a couple other men and women, one turned out to have a hurt arm, so he sent them back over to the hospital area, then turned to Brian, looking uneasy.

  “Good! OK, Emanuel, Lancaster has some specs for what we need. It's not glamorous work, but in about an hour things are going to get tense if there's no bathroom and with this many people it can be a real health issue fast. Everyone, Emanuel's in charge here. Obviously the operatives should do most of the physical work, but we need privacy screens and stuff like that too, Emanuel's in charge of that as well, so everyone please do what he says. Thank you all for your help. I know this isn't anyone's job...”

  Then he had to hurry back to where the Chambers were, getting there just in time to see a man dressed all in black running at Prime, with a sword of all things, coming up behind him fast. Not as fast as some people there might, but faster than Brian could cover the distance between them. His skin tingled and suddenly he stood in a different place, about fifty yards away from where he'd been, he dove to the right as a sliver of silver moved through where he'd just been, burying itself deeply into the ground. He bounced to his feet and stomped on the handle of the sword before the man could free it. Shock, it seemed, kept the blade down, not lack of strength, because instead of letting go of the sword the man kept his hold, the force of the stomp taking him to his knees. Pain ran through Brian's right leg from the force of the move, but he made himself to stomp the other man in the face without pausing, almost as if the action had been planned. The guy had deep tan colored skin and white hair. His eyes were a very similar color of white, giving him a strange look that probably would have worked well to pick up women in clubs, if the prejudice against Infected people wasn't quite so strong.