The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  Until he disappeared, off to actually fight someone, half crippled, fresh from more beatings than a person should ever have to take, and totally untrained. Oops.

  He should have realized, when Yi came back alive and not even more injured, that the guy was tough, despite the pudge around his middle and not knowing how to fight. Then... it just got worse, because, as a rule, Denis was a prick. That being the case, Brian Yi and Denis had been going round and round for half a year nearly, each time they met there was a fight, Denis starting it, and class four or not, one of the top few thousand most dangerous people on the freaking planet or not, Brian Yi finishing it.

  Hard.

  The guy didn't even have a real power! Teleporting away at random to get your behind beaten over and over again didn't mean you should be able to take out a class four like he'd done so many times.

  It was aggravating.

  Scary too.

  A class four was categorized that way for one reason, and one reason alone. They were tough. Their powers let them do things like take down a full squad of armed military men or more. That was the basic rule for it. If you could take down thirteen or more trained and armed men at once, you were a class four. Do a hundred and you were a class five. That a chubby Chinese gamer kid kept beating him down was more than embarrassing. It was... humbling. Yi simply shouldn't have been able to do it. Not at all. He was no better than a class two, like a guy with a stick or something.

  Really that only even counted when his power kicked in, because of the element of surprise he got, just showing up out of nowhere ready to throw down to try and save someone. He'd never even used his power against Denis at all. No, he just walked through Denis' ability and kicked his ass. The first time Denis had even had a gun trained on him. It was fucked up. He just sat and thought about that for a while, for about the hundredth time in the last two months.

  He still couldn't really figure it out.

  After a while he exercised, sit-ups and push-ups, deep knee bends and every other exercise that could be figured out that would work in the tiny cage of steel. Then he meditated for an hour.

  That was a new thing. Zen. He didn't know if it would help, the idea came from one of the books the guards shoved through the hole in the door at him on the fastened down stainless steel tray that required him to eat his meals sitting on the floor. No fork or spoon even. He had to use his fingers. Like an animal. Another punishment.

  He liked the Zen idea though. The Buddhist mindset. Accept what was and be happy with it, so that there was no suffering. If he could get that shit down he'd be home free wouldn't he?

  It was almost impossible to master a first mode, still, he knew people that had. Some with things harder to get a handle on than greed too. Worth a shot. Plus there was nothing else to do in here. Even writing a manifesto wouldn't work. The cell didn't have toilet paper in it, leaving him nothing to write on. No pen or pencil either.

  “Stand away from the door. Prisoner Tompkins, stand away from the door!” A loud and stern voice came from the speakers in the twelve foot high ceiling.

  Denis snorted and stood up, walking toward the back of the room, book left on the bed. They liked to do this to him about once a week at random times, probably just to entertain themselves. For a second he wondered if they actually jacked off while they did it, or if that came later, in bed at home?

  It wasn't that anyone was coming in, they just used it as an excuse to boss Denis around and humiliate him, knowing that they could run an electrical current through the floor at any time if he didn't obey instantly. The walls and bed too, the whole place was designed to take away all options and all control a person might have over themselves. Part of the time they liked to do it, shock him, even if he did exactly what they said. They'd left it on for a while a time or two, just to show him who was in charge. That little bit of fun had started about two and a half months back, after Prime had trashed the upper levels of the place and everyone had to go outside in case of a collapse.

  Taking advantage of the situation Denis had tried to make a bit of trouble for Yi, which ended with him being beaten again. Of course. The guards claimed he tortured them, but honestly, he didn't. There was a blank spot and he'd woken up having been beaten, pretty solidly too, but no way did he hurt any of the guards. Before then they'd even gotten along all right mainly, the worst he'd do was something like put them to sleep so he could run away.

  Now, he had kind of gotten several people to attack Prime, but it wasn't like the ego obsessed super-being heartthrob to millions had been hurt or even been in real danger, he was practically invulnerable for God's sake. All he'd gotten out of it was a kick to the head by Brian, who he really almost didn't recognize by that point. The first time they'd fought the guy had been chunky, but now was freaking hard, and his eyes had gone all scary. Psycho. None of that translated into hurting the guards or anyone else of course. Why would he do that? Maybe call them names or something.

  Yeah, he'd do that. Sure, there was that blank spot in his memory, and that might mean he'd done what had been claimed, but should he be held responsible for something he couldn't even remember? How could he defend against the charges? Or take responsibility for something he knew nothing about, and didn't think even sound like an action he might take?

  They seemed to think he should and punished him for it regularly. Now it was time for “screw with the prisoner pain calisthenics” again. Denis got ready to turn around, put hands on head, the wall, or whatever. If he took too long they'd zap him. It fucking hurt, so he just did what they wanted if he could, and tried not to cry out if he couldn't. That was why he was locked up twenty-four hours a day though, he knew. To punish him for whatever they thought had happened.

  The shocks brought on flashbacks of Faithhome too, which was worse than the pain itself, but he tried to stay calm and not think about that. Had Christian told them about how to best get to him? The specific use of cold water and electricity seemed pretty exacting, didn't it? She didn't normally use her telepathy for crap like that, but she wasn't his biggest fan in the whole world either, so... maybe?

  After all, even trying to be all Zen now, those guys were going to get a taste of what they'd been dishing out as soon as he saw them, even if it meant getting worse later himself. It would be a lot worse than a few jolts too.

  Instead of calling out to him like normal, the door actually clicked and slowly began to open. Denis blinked.

  It had been so long since they'd opened the door he was a little surprised it still worked. The very thick silver door slid to the right after moving toward him into the room. The thing was at least six inches thick, meant to hold violent super humans in if they had above normal strength or energy powers. It worked pretty well on him too. Early on, frustrated at being locked up, he'd punched it. The thing hadn't even rang. Barely even made a thud even. It had hurt like hell though, so he hadn't bothered trying it again.

  When it slid to the side he kind of expected a couple of guards to be standing there, ready to shoot him if he twitched wrong, or maybe even if he did what they wanted. Instead, dressed in black military fatigues and wearing dorky looking IPB issue tennis shoes, stood the kid. Brian Yi.

  His nemesis.

  Before Denis could attack, Brian waved to him happily enough, taking him off guard.

  “Hi Denis. Say, I know we'd traditionally have some kind of big fight about now, but how about we save that for later? Or maybe just forget about it altogether and chat instead?” His voice struggled to be gentle and didn't make it, sounding tired and worn. Harshed to tell the truth. A bit dark too. Even more so than the last time they'd met. The man was also lean now. Almost skinny, but carrying just enough muscle to hold that state off, like a swimmer or free climber. One of those types of people that got their own exercise videos, but never made any money because when you got down to it, no one sane could keep up with their workouts.

  Denis just stared for a bit. What was he supposed to do here? If he said anything,
he'd be a dick to the guy. He knew it.

  Really, for all the books he'd read on the topic, Denis couldn't think of a single thing in any of them that would help. Since the man had just asked if it was all right not to kick his ass, the least he could do was not poke the guy. Crap. What to do?

  Taking a deep breath he tried falling into a Zen state. It didn't work, not really, but just trying helped calm him, the pattern a bit familiar and all that now.

  “OK.” It wasn't exactly War and Peace, but it beat the “fuck you queer” that had tried to come out. Baby steps. One little thing at a time. First move, don't get beaten unconscious. So far so good.

  Yi nodded and walked a bit further into the cell. He looked around for a bit before starting to talk.

  “So, um, here's the deal. You stop trying to kill people and torturing them and all that kind of thing and be more polite to everyone, as a rule at least. In return we get you your old job back and a place on a new special team. It's crowd control, so I used that to suggest you'd be a good person for it. There's travel involved, so you won't be locked up on the base, but it's sensitive, so you'll have to be good with the public, even if they don't always deserve it. Trust me, they won't deserve it.”

  Denis, feeling blindsided, really wanted to cover with a quip, something about how they finally realized they needed him. It wouldn't come out right, he knew, nothing ever did. Kind of like his mouth had been hard wired to do an end run around common sense. So, he decided, don't try to be funny at all. Don't accuse or anything like that. If nothing else, it was a chance to get out of the cell he was in. Maybe it was a trick, but in the few times they'd met, Brian had never lied to him. Beaten him pretty badly, sure, but no falsehoods.

  It took an act of will to do it but he took a deep breath and dove in head first. Gently and kindly. After a fashion.

  “Well, that sounds like a nice offer. Is there a catch?” The words weren't what he'd meant to say at all, having been planning to just agree and try to get out, but there it was, his mouth just running on its own. Fuck. Hey gift horse, mind if I check your fucking dental work? Brilliant.

  The other man didn't look put out at least.

  “Yeah, several catches. You have to be nice to everyone. Like I said. The old way won't work now, things are too tense for the time being for anything less than kindness from the people here. We have to support one another. So that's in there, and it's real too. If you can't or won't do it, the Director said the deal's off. You'll be watched too. Free, but observed.” Yi smiled, it didn't reach his eyes and seemed to promise a beating. Another one. Still, the mouth made an effort to curl up on the sides. That had to count for something.

  “Then, that's all of us here, isn't it? Watched. So, you know, watch out with the chronic masturbation if it's an issue. Just a warning, I don't think that the IPB is the only group looking at our tapes and records anymore. Hooper and McCreedy have gotten some emergency anti-Infected stuff put into play, which makes everything a lot more volatile. Basically, even if you're losing your cool, don't say anything. Not even that you dislike someone. If you really need to fight it out, take it outside and off base. For that matter if you need to chat about more than the weather, do the same thing. This is serious.” The man in black leaned forward a bit and stared at Denis, as if trying to convey extra meaning to the words. It wasn't that obvious, but it made the point clear.

  This was real.

  A billion questions flashed into Denis' head then, but what he said, finally, thankfully, came out being what he wanted. Close enough at least. The tone could be better.

  “All right. Anything else?” He didn't even sound like he was being sarcastic for once. Suspicious though.

  “Lots, but the only basic thing is that. Be nice, don't try to kill people. The rest is negotiable. Um, though, a lot of people aren't too fond of you right now. I got yelled at a few times when I told people about this plan. So, you know, I suggest you just start apologizing to everyone and basically bending over backwards to make this work. It won't be comfortable for a long time, but...” He gestured to the cold and ugly walls. “It's not in here either. If nothing else you can wait six months and then just quit. That's the probation period. Get past that and you're free to do what you like. I'd suggest making contacts here first though, even if you plan to get out. Things are... dark doesn't exactly describe it. You'll want friends in the near future, keep that in mind.”

  It was a lot more than he ever expected. Really, waking up under a hail of bullets or poison gas being pumped in had occurred to him more than once. If this was all real, it might be worth giving a try. What's the worst they could do? Kill him while trying to “escape”? If they wanted to do that, it would just happen anyway.

  “All right. I'll try.” Denis took a deep breath, tried to relax and swallowed hard. “Sorry I tried to kill you all those times.” It sounded sullen and grudging, but Brian didn't seem to care about that. The guy looked down for a second and nodded.

  “And I'm sorry I didn't get down here and try to fix things sooner. Would have stopped a lot of trouble if I had.”

  That nearly made Denis lose control of his mouth again.

  Freaking-A right! If the guy had come and settled things in the first place, he wouldn't have lost six months or longer in this God forsaken hole. The words nearly came out, but even he could tell that wasn't really true. A newb on his second week, training past exhaustion all the time, should have gone off and found him, hidden away from everyone else, then smoothed things over with a guy who had introduced himself as an asshole and then tried to kill him with a gun?

  Fucking brilliant to even think it. Given all that Denis kind of wondered why Yi had even bothered to come now. No one in the world would expect a person to forgive someone that kept trying, no matter how ineptly, to murder them. He wouldn't have.

  “Not your fault. The screw up was mine and I know it. Um, what now?” It was a good question, because Denis didn't have a clue about how prisoners were released from here.

  Yi shrugged and stepped back, “now I go and convince the Director that you really mean to try your best, and that we're all buddies now. This could take a bit, but I'll do my best.”

  Then, without notice or another warning to step back, the door shut fast enough to kill him if he'd been trying to exit at the time, making a loud and reverberating clang that shook the very walls a bit. Denis shrugged. If it was a fucking con job, well... at least he'd had a visitor. That was the first person that had come to see him the whole time he'd been down here. Just that had to count as a treat, didn't it?

  He read more for a while and put the book back on the tray after dinner. It wasn't a huge bit of text and they'd given it before, so it was simple enough to finish in one day. A book of little sayings about kindness. They were sweet.

  The lights went out, dimmed really, and Denis slept, not knowing if it would be weeks, months or even years before he heard anything else.

  Maybe never.

  If anyone in the world had a right to jerk him around it was Brian Yi. Plus, the guy didn't seem the same anymore, not from the first time they'd talked. Maybe not exactly sane? No big. After all the isolation Denis probably wasn't either. He'd just be all Zen about it and see what came. A tiny sliver of hope wanted to creep into his soul, which got pushed down hard. None of that, he schooled himself, start hoping again and who knew what the hell would come of it? Let downs probably. Just accept the moment and let it be whatever it was.

  The next morning when the lights brightened – they never went all the way out here – the small metal slot on his door opened. It didn't have breakfast on it, or a book, just a pair of blue jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. Under the pile was underwear, another thing that the guards had taken away to try and punish him, and some tennis shoes. No socks. Jerks. Who forgot socks?

  Denis grinned anyway.

  “OK Tompkins, get dressed and get the fuck out of here. If you attack any of us on the way out, I swear to God I'll shoot your ass r
ight here.” It was one of the voices that liked to play electrocution Simon Says with him. That kind of thing made an impression, he really doubted he'd forget that voice for a long while.

  All right fuck-nut, Denis thought, changing clothes as fast as possible, I won't attack you on the way out. What he did later depended on a lot of factors, but that guy was freaking going down. Or at least would be feeling like his balls were in a vice for a while. Torturing someone like that was low and petty. At least when he did it he'd have a good reason. They'd done it to him first.

  As he slipped on the white and blue running shoes and rubbed his hairy face, Denis grinned again. Did he really have a good reason for what he did most of the time? Yeah, sure, people treated him like crap, so he responded in kind, but half the time he started the cycle, didn't he? More than half he corrected. Most of the time. Being a prick wasn't helping too much so far in life, was it?

  “Look at me, I'm being all insightful and shit.” He muttered as he walked to the still closed door. It opened with a clang and a sudden rush of air.

  None of the guards came out to say goodbye, even after all these months, so Denis waved to the air behind him where the silver mirrored glass guard booth was and then started walking out as fast as his little ex-con legs could carry him. That he even managed to keep his mouth shut was impressive. A gold star or a smiley sticker should be in order no doubt. No need to let them shoot him after all.