The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  Lancaster did something similar, which meant that only three people had to share two twin beds. After a few minutes of looking around shiftily, Tobin asked Denis if they could share. Of course he wanted his own bed, but that wouldn't change if he had it, so shrugging, he agreed. Why not? At least the guy wouldn't take up the whole thing. Besides, in the chain of command Tobin clearly outranked him and could have just told him to sleep on the floor.

  Really Jay and Lancaster probably should have had the beds, but Lancaster was stepping up, being in charge and Jay was just that humble. He really figured he should be the one on the floor.

  Tobin gave him a guilty look as he explained. Eyes going to the floor as he whispered.

  “I'm sure Clark's really all right, but I've heard stuff and... I kind of look a bit childlike. Small and skinny, so, I don't want him to get confused in the night.” He sounded very contrite when he said it.

  The line forced Denis to leave the room for a bit, trying not to scream with laughter. A valid enough point, if a little over the top, since Clark had only slept with the one under aged girl, and not gone after boys at all. Tobin probably had that info too. Then again, Denis wouldn't have liked risking it either, come to think of it. The tall stork like man just felt creepy at times. Off.

  Wrong.

  Everyone decided that sleep would be the first order, being nearly six in the morning when they got into the rooms. They needed to get up by noon to get out and survey the expected hate rally routes and meeting places, that kind of thing. Denis felt his eyes close finally, and barely noticed the depression made by Tobin's tiny weight on the rather wrinkled sheet next to him.

  The knock that came had a stern pounding cadence that made them all wonder if they were being rousted by the police. Instead it turned out to be Marcia and Karen with three dozen donuts and masses of coffee balanced in little cardboard drink carriers. Marcia had been kicking the door, hence it being so loud. The java was horrible and bitter. Really honestly awful too, not just “coffee snob” bad. The stuff had caffeine and that was about the only selling point as far as he could tell. It worked with the pure sugar and fat they'd brought at least, Denis decided, as he took a plain cake donut and dunked it into the swill.

  The variety was there in the boxes and even the quality, what the place lacked in coffee they made up for in their prime sales item it looked like. Denis just didn't like fried food overly. It was a personal thing so he didn't complain about it. It just always left him feeling a little ill for some reason and he needed to be sharp for work. He preferred meat, if he could get it. Bacon and eggs, over waffles or toast, that kind of thing. The girls had grabbed what they could and everyone else seemed happy enough. Jay had a whole box sitting on his lap, obviously slowing down so that he wouldn't finish before everyone else had their first one.

  “Thank you.” Tobin said around a raspberry filled glazed thing that looked both good and disgusting at the same time.

  That got Denis to nod. Manners. That had been in at least one of those books he'd read, right? The one with the lady that kept writing about how horrible everyone's manners were. That was it. Of course her being a grumpy old bag didn't mean that she couldn't have a point, did it?

  “Yes, thank you both for thinking of us. I appreciate it.” Denis spoke after taking a bite of the donut in his hand, but waited until he'd swallowed first.

  That got a smile from Karen as if him being halfway human seemed special. A bit bitchy of her to think really. Or it would have been, if it hadn't been true. Denis tried not to react at all. If you couldn't get along with Karen Young, it was time to put a bullet in your brain-pan.

  Then all he had to do involved sitting and waiting for Marcia and Lancaster to come up with a basic plan which took about an hour, then go and walk the whole potential riot area with them. That part turned out to be a lot more fascinating than he'd figured it to be. Not because Chicago held such wonder in and of itself.

  It didn't.

  Really the whole thing smelled a bit and seemed grimy in most places, like any old city would. It wasn't an evil place or anything either, just not the kind of place he'd want to live. Denis had lived in cities and knew too much about what really happened to like them anymore.

  The team leader and the agent just viewed the world so differently than he did.

  Pointing Marcia indicated three high rise buildings.

  “If we can set Denis up in one of those it would give him a good visual on the crowd, as long as they stick to their routes. We can stay mobile though. I think that's the best first placement. Karen and Clark back a ways as our second line? Tobin in third with Jay.”

  Lancaster nodded and promptly reminded her of the rules set out for them.

  “We're supposed to have a presence at the site, to “calm” the crowd and help handle any difficulties that come up for the police. Are you sure sniping positions count as a presence?”

  “Hell yes. We all know this is a set up, but if Hooper tries to make an issue out of us doing our job correctly instead of starting a deadly riot, I'll find the guy and hand him a piece of his own liver. We're doing this smart, or not at all. If I have to quit over this I will. Go start a farm or something. Raise chinchillas.” She grinned herself, earning a chuckle from the large man in his suit, one which looked awfully good considering no one had a razor or change of clothes.

  Except him.

  Jerk, Denis thought a bit sourly. Not that it would be his fault his luggage traveled with him in a single small bag or that no one had bailed on him while they were flying leaving all his worldly possessions to go down in a ball of fire somewhere. If the pilot had tried it, Lancaster would have just landed the plane. Sigh.

  The first two thirds of the event, the whole hate riot thing, turned out to be a disappointment, that or an incredible triumph, depending on who you asked. The one time a scuffle broke out Denis saw it and just caused all the people in the area to feel really calm and peaceful suddenly. Everyone in the area just walked away then. Later, when a brick got chucked at the police line it veered suddenly and landed to the side in a way that no one seemed to notice except him, sitting off nearly a half mile away. Clark? Probably. That or some other Infected was working to make sure nothing too bad happened that day. If so, Denis could accept that. They could use any help they could get.

  That's all they did for the entire day. Just made sure that no one got too anxious or hurt anyone severely and, something nearly as important in the end, Denis made sure the police didn't start attacking people either. The cops sent in a young man, one with a black cloth over his face and standard issue boots to throw some debris harmlessly at their “control line”, to give them an excuse to use force. For a half second Denis felt like just letting them do it, not really liking either side overly at the moment. All of them were probably bigots anyway. Sighing he calmed everyone so much that the whole crowd started to just mill and murmur. The police held their position, but didn't keep tapping the sides of their shields to provoke and intimidate the crowd.

  If nothing else it seemed more peaceful.

  It went so well for hours that when the shooting started Denis almost didn't get it. He thought firecrackers or a car backfiring, not a deadly rampage about to start. Argos headed toward the men instantly, his speed and reflexes such that he got the idea a full five seconds before Denis really understood what had happened. All the attackers were dressed a bit like Mormon missionaries for some reason. Or like Lancaster, though the men were younger looking from what he could tell at a distance. Smaller and less imposing too. Marcia took up the rear, moving at a crawling pace compared to Jay. A total illusion most likely, since Quartz could run at over sixty miles per hour. Argos was just that much faster than anyone else. Denis focused on them and made the men all drop, paralyzed.

  Except for one.

  That man just smiled up and pointed a finger at the window Denis had hidden behind. Not really knowing why exactly, Denis ducked, fear suddenly ripping through him. That sav
ed his life. The glass window exploded inward, shards of razored death scattering like ice on the floor. The glass shouldn't have done that, he knew. Not at all, being safety glass, which meant tempered. The most it should have done was make small pellets that weren't particularly sharp or dangerous. That was what the safety part meant after all.

  This of course, wasn't normal.

  The glass suddenly reformed into the loose shape of a man, probably the man pointing, but that didn't matter. Even if it turned out to be the guy's grandfather or second grade teacher, the effect looked freaky and made his bowels tighten uncomfortably. Den ran. The crystal being didn't follow exactly, it just cast itself outward, a pattern like a paper fan held flat at waist height. A sheet of death hovering in the room. Denis saw it happening and dove to the floor, covering his head with the arms of his blue sweater. That ended the attack, for the moment. Popping up to look casually, he got the why of it. Marcia and Argos were handing the attackers their butts. The only problem being that it all took place in a crowd of anti-Infected bigots.

  They saw the whole thing as an attack by Infected agents on “the good God fearing folk” of America. Them. Probably why the men had dressed like they had, in order to get the crowd on their side. That or camouflage. Kind of brilliant really.

  Not waiting, he started again, peace and calm for the whole crowd wouldn't work. Marcia and Argos might not be able to react properly then, and the Mormon glass wielding guy seemed to be able to function even under paralysis. Marcia might survive the man, but Jay needed to be at least able to run if he was attacked. The trick then would be to create calm and peace, never letting the two agents be overly affected. No problem. All he needed would be another thousand years of dedicated practice or so and he could get right on that.

  It took more skill than he had in order to do that, so finally Denis opted for calming the back and front parts of the crowd, leaving the attackers and his squad free to fight as they may. The guys had to be Infected, since several of them showed powers. One fellow grappled with Quartz for a while, until she got a hand free and hit him so hard he didn't stand back up. Another cast lines of green into the surrounding people. If that did anything in particular Denis couldn't tell. Having an idea, Denis dropped his focus on the crowd and then hit all the black clad men. It took all the focus he had and sent a brief pain shooting through his forehead, right between the eyes.

  This dropped them all except the glass guy instantly. Then Denis skipped back and forth, first the attackers, then the crowd when they got worked up. In the end Marcia and Jay had the men subdued, the glass man probably needing a hospital stay after Quartz had finished, just in time for the police to come, and try to take custody.

  Of super-powered Infected that had nearly held off two of the strongest IPB assets by themselves. No help from the experts needed at all. Not for the good officers of Chicago. Nope.

  Morons.

  That, of course, wouldn't work. The protocol said that the locals needed to let the IPB take care of such things and they even had agents on site, ready to go. They could hold them until IPB Chicago local there to take over. Kind of a no brainer. Their squad had the law on their side, but short of fighting it out what could they do? Denis listened on Lancaster's cell phone as Marcia filled them in, still standing half a mile away, hearing most of the conversation, since the man had taken up a position right behind him after the first glass man attack.

  “The dumbots here think they can handle these guys pretty easily, since we did. I tried to explain, but the guy in charge here, Captain Holst? Not budging a freaking bit. My guess is that they're planning on either killing the guys in custody, or want to help them escape. Since that's what's going to happen, these guys just walking away, I don't think we should let that happen without at least lodging a protest with whoever's in charge here. Lancaster?”

  “Fine, let them take them. We don't have time for this crap right now, and someone could be setting us up, distracting us with bureaucratic crap in order to start something bigger. Make the guy sign a release waiver that says we told them it's a bad idea first. We can't do our job here and fight with the locals about it, but when this comes down on us, we need the protection legally.”

  Marcia grunted over the phone and repeated what Lancaster had said to the police captain exactly. If Denis had been in charge he would have wanted to dump the whole thing on the IPB, himself. Why borrow trouble? Plus, it really was the IPB's job. Still, if the police here thought they were capable, wouldn't it be rude to tell them otherwise? Denis shook his head. The hardest part of not being a complete ass all the time was the stupid people. Politeness said you couldn't just tell them when they were messing up. Not that letting people know that had ever helped in his experience, but it did make him feel better.

  Finally, after hours of nerve wracking waiting and not knowing what to do Denis had an idea. It felt so simple he didn't think it would really work at first. Could it even be worth trying? Shrugging he decided to give it a shot. Worst he could do would be fail.

  “OK Lancaster, I'm going to end this now. Maybe. Probably not really, but you have to admit “I'm going to end this now” sounds way cooler than “I hope no one gets hurt”. Though really that still sounds kind of tough, doesn't it? I think it's worth trying, so you know, cross your fingers or whatever you agents do for luck... shoot something or whatever... here we go.”

  Focusing on the feeling he wanted to project, a complex emotion, Denis made everyone in the whole crowd really want to go home. Bad. At first nothing happened, the chanters still chanted, the police still stood waiting for violence. Then, slowly, a bit at a time, it started to take hold, the crowd, all feeling suddenly home sick, left.

  Not all of them, but so many that the remainder just figured things to be over, following along after a few minutes.

  The whole thing took maybe half an hour, leaving a line of bored looking police to pack up as the very last of the stragglers wandered about seeming a bit lost. Maybe they were the ones too far from home to easily reach it? Or the homeless.

  Lancaster whistled a little.

  “Not bad. Not bad at all. Subtle. I kind of thought you were planning to make them all think they were on fire or something. This worked though. Can you do that first next time?” The man grinned, a dark thing that looked calculating and called Marcia at her forward position.

  Denis shrugged.

  “Well, yeah. Still, they came to exercise their free speech rights and they really got a chance this way, so no one should be too bothered about it. We didn't stop them from making their point right? I hope not at least. I don't want anyone thinking that the government stops crazy a-hole bigots from spreading their hate.” He knew that wasn't true. If he'd used his powers to save this crowd's life, they'd have complained about it if they knew. Bigots were like that. Idiots were too.

  Denis had a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the protesters fell into both categories pretty firmly.

  The orders were for everyone to stay put for the time being, then, if nothing else happened for four hours, they were all getting the hell out of there. For one thing, they hadn't had enough in the budget for new clothes, so they were all starting to stink a little. Except Lancaster.

  Jerk.

  All better than them, with his clean shirts and ability to shave and crap. Denis grinned a little as he thought it again, but wisely kept his mouth shut. On the whole trip the only ones that Denis had really felt at ease with were Tobin and the non-Infected agent.

  Karen was sweet, but that got a little cloying after a while, especially since he both really wanted to have sex with her and also really didn't want to die. Marcia had just been a bit bitchy. Jay was so humble that it grated, which was hard to deal with, because how could he blame the guy for being nice and self-effacing? Especially since he couldn't help it at all? Denis spent a huge amount of energy not talking and resisting the urge to make everyone feel nice and happy the whole time.

  Once the operation finished and
they got to the airport, a private jet waited for them, which got a smile from Denis and applause from Tobin and Karen. Happy clapping that spoke of pure joy, like the kind real little kids showed on television shows sometimes.

  You could say many things about Christian Poures, but selfish with her possessions wasn't one of them. The classy and expensive looking commuter jet sat gleaming on the tarmac, the stairs put down, folding out, so that everyone could just climb on board. They even had stewardesses, well one, a woman in military tan, short haircut and a glassy look to her eyes that spoke of drug use to Denis. Maybe nothing illegal.

  As long as she wasn't the pilot he didn't care. What adults did that didn't affect him wasn't his business, government agent or not.

  The law said that they couldn't use any special perks or private funds other than what came out of their own pocket, but Chris had found a loophole and this was just a return trip for the plane, coming back from taking someone else to New York. Some old friend of hers that was rich, but who didn't own her own plane. She simply offered a ride to anyone that was going the same way as the plane, they were just the only ones that knew about the idea. It worked for Denis. He just hoped the pilot wasn't going to jump out halfway there.

  When he mentioned it Lancaster just shrugged.

  “I can fly this, so not a problem.” He said calmly. Then he sat and paid close attention to the safety briefing the attendant gave. Denis did too, wondering if Lancaster knew something he didn't. No one else but Marcia paid any attention though. That was a little strange, since she was the only one that was guaranteed a safe landing, no matter what, but it could have been a first mode thing. Her suspicion making her extra careful maybe?

  They got sandwiches and chips, nacho corn chips for him with a turkey club, and soda, water or booze. No coffee, since the machine had broken on the trip over. Denis went for water since flying and drinking carbonation had never worked for him, making his stomach ache after just a bit, due to pressure changes he guessed. Also, if he wanted to dance around and make a fool of himself or insult everyone, he could do it without chemical help, so no alcohol either.