The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  “Silence!” A female voice tore from the back, the sound angry and hard. “Don't give away more you fool! We haven't even gotten to the interview yet!”

  Ah. So there would still be an interview? Interesting. All right... He'd been wondering if it was just going to be an attack.

  It was pretty clear that these people weren't exactly afraid of the Infected. It was also clear that they weren't pros after all. This entire approach was messed up. That didn't mean they weren't dangerous or committed. It just meant that what they were doing might be very different than the IPB had thought.

  Three forms... no four, all small, walked toward them slowly, in lock step. If any of them were over five-four Denis would have been shocked. All women? Hard to tell really, they had on dark black ski masks that probably had been special ordered, since you couldn't even buy those anymore. Not since the laws had been passed in the late eighties making wearing a mask in public illegal. The police could shoot you on sight for hiding your face now. It had been to stop people from using Infected abilities in secret of course. The idea was to prevent criminals from using their powers without being identified. The net effect being that those few Infected that had been willing, as private citizens, to go out and use their powers to stop other Infected from hurting people all stopped doing it. Being known as Infected was just too dangerous. Better to let little kids and grannies die than be known. Denis didn't blame the people that had just gone into hiding either.

  After all, look how people treated little, totally inoffensive, Tobin?

  The two on the outside stood with hands outstretched, as if ready to use powers on them if they twitched wrong. The two in the middle just stood.

  Staring.

  First at him, then Hobbs. After a few seconds the terror in the room left. The relief felt wonderful. Delicious. A calm rushed over him that could have been a rebound effect, but wasn't. It came from the one on the far left. Almost as if coming from her palm directly. This effect was far stronger than the terror of a few moments before.

  What, the holy fuck? They had a team of Infected that approximated his own abilities? Sure, he wasn't God's gift to emotional projection, or sensory imaging either, but a whole group with similar abilities? That seemed... rare. Unlikely. Then two did not a group make. After a few moments a sense of conviction started to roll over him, before words had been spoken. A slightly familiar tone to it that Denis had felt before. A lot.

  It was “the holy spirit” what he used to feel around the Prophet Darren as a child. Fuck! Denis got ready to fight himself, if Darren was behind this, the man wasn't leaving the room alive. Yeah, he wasn't a killer, but there was one person that he'd take out if he could. Then he realized that the sense of conviction, of desire to do what was asked, came from one of the women in the center, the one right in front of him. Ah. Well, not Prophet Darren then. Not unless he'd had his legs surgically shortened. Good. Maybe.

  Sure, they still had a group of women trying to dance all over their emotions and trying to take control of their minds, but maybe it would work out. Obviously The Pure weren't what they seemed. They also weren't all that strong.

  Denis could have taken them all to the ground with a thought. Hobbs could probably take them all out without much work at all too, including Denis if he wanted. The women didn't even have guns out yet.

  As a joke, one totally inappropriate to the situation, Denis pulled the cross he wore from around his neck and held it out toward the small black figures.

  “Back demons! The power of Christ compels you!” His tone didn't sound as wry and funny as he'd intended. It sounded like a pretty good imitation of what a real Christian would have wanted to sound like, if faced with so many “unclean”. No fear, just power in the words. Faith. Conviction that rang in the air like passing thunder.

  Hobbs held up both hands and yelled, “Praised be the Almighty!”

  His voice held that same level of power and faith. Heh.

  Denis had to fight to keep his face still, and not laugh at the whole scene.

  Oddly, almost comically the women stopped hitting them with their powers and froze for a bit. They looked at both the men uneasily for a moment. Then the woman that had been using her powers hardest, the one compelling them to trust or whatever... snorted. It was soft but a little derisive sounding.

  “We're not demons. God granted us powers to smite those evil ones that would harm his children unfairly. Please, there is no need for alarm, we don't mean harm to you or your friend. We merely wish to stop those that wish to harm us and our kind. Surely that's not so hard to understand?” The sense of compulsion came back, hard, but Denis was able to block it out.

  It occurred to him, for the first time, that he could do the same thing... Make people want to trust what he said. Make people believe him.

  It was just a bit creepy though.

  “Um, sorry, not trying to be rude here sister, but what? I'm not certain what you said made sense at all. Are you guys The Pure or not? And if so, why the fuck are you all Infected? Not that I have anything against taking out evil people, but I'm not exactly sure who that would be for people like you.”

  The woman in front took a few steps forward and nodded, black head showing light blue eyes and pale skin under the mask. She didn't say anything for a long time, and a soft sense of compulsion to trust her and do what she asked came again before she said anything. Denis got it, this was how they turned bigots into people that would help them. Quick and dirty brainwashing. Like what Prophet Darren used to do. Only without the evil. So far.

  “Stop that.” Denis said firmly, “just explain. We aren't unreasonable people. If you tell us the truth and it isn't completely insane, we may still be able to work together.”

  The two men in the background had sat again, the feeling of calm coming from the masked lady on the left effecting them still, but not targeting Hobbs or him. It was a very interesting way to do things. Maybe that woman thought that he and Hobbs were immune to her abilities?

  The woman spoke softly then, the mouthpiece, the compeller.

  “Have you ever heard of Senator James Hooper? Or of the Reverend Darren Jones? These men are not what they seem. We don't have proof that Hooper is Infected, but Jones is. He's also a monster, a true one that has nothing to do with Infection. We can provide proof of this if you need to see it. The Pure is a front organization... to try and use the Christian community to get close to these men in order to take them down. We're all good Christians here, but Christ compelled us to protect children, didn't he? These men would harm the most innocent among us. Please, at least let us give you our evidence before turning against us... We know this isn't why you came to us, but I promise you, this is the Lord's work. Even if you hate the Infected blindly, helping us is truly aiding Christ.”

  The woman didn't sound desperate. Just a bit pissed. Well, Denis could see that. Especially since he had an inkling of who these women would have to be. Well it explained the similar powers, didn't it? Not all powers ran cleanly in families, but it happened about half the time. The rest of the time they tended to be related, a flying man having kids that could glide or produce force from their hands or something. No one knew why that was.

  The freaky thing was that it could affect adopted children too. So it wasn't genetic, but if a child was taken from their parents at birth, it could happen the same way. So it wasn't just proximity either. First modes were always all over the place, that seemed random as far as anyone could tell.

  “All right. Let's say we want to help you take these men down and decide to go along with you. What do you plan to do with them? Kill them?” Denis could get behind that, but the whole situation just seemed... Wrong. Backwards or sideways suddenly.

  “Yes. We aren't married to that for Hooper, but Jones has to die. Too many of us have suffered at his hands. We... may be able to have Hooper arrested by the IPB, we have a person on the inside, one of us.” The woman took a deep breath, slightly shuddering. “Look, we can't stop yo
u from leaving, or even going to the government with this, so... I beg you not to. This isn't about hate groups or even the Infected at all. This is about so much more. Wrongs so great that I can barely speak of them. I... please, don't stop us. It was wrong of us to try and use you and your friend through force, using our powers, I can see that now. But... We've earned the right to kill this man, the Prophet Darren. He... raped us. All of us. Well, us women. He's... our father.” She said the words as if it should come as a huge revelation.

  Denis blinked as it all fell into place for certain. Of course. Who else would hate the man that much?

  “Holy fuck.” He said lightly. “Holy mother fucking shitfest.”

  That kind of confirmed his earlier thoughts, didn't it? How likely was this? The words “not very” came to mind. Then, Proxy was involved wasn't he? A lot of weird stuff happened around him.

  Denis started laughing, which made the room hold still and stare. Hobbs moved in front of him then, as if to protect him from the powers or attacks of the women, all the daughters of their enemy after all, and Infected, which meant at the best of times unpredictable until you learned what their first modes were. No one went for him.

  That was good. It would have made things awkward later, wouldn't it? Then again, they might go for him later anyway. Once they learned who he was.

  Den straightened and made himself focus on his breathing, which got the laughter to stop abruptly.

  “All right then, off with the masks. If we know that much, you might as well get comfy. Hobbs, don't hurt any of them please. I think... we can work together here. We really would love to take down Darren Jones after all. Hooper too of course. The guy is a terrorist, so if they have anything that can help with that, we need to hear it.” He nodded toward the woman in the lead, wondering which one it was.

  The reveal was slow, the ones on the outside going first. He recognized Bethy but not the other girl, who looked young, one of the babies? If she was twenty he'd be surprised. They were both kind of homely, but in that cute, button nosed way that all the daughters of the Prophet Darren had. Bethy projected calm at them again, which he waved away with a smile.

  “No need for that. We're all friends here after all.”

  The feeling stopped and the girl blushed. Woman. She hadn't been a girl for a long time he realized. She was what, six years older than he was? Near forty now. Next to her came another face he didn't recognize. This girl was another new one. Really new. Just a kid really, maybe seventeen. So born about the time he'd left Faithhome? Holy fuck.

  The last one, the compeller, he recognized pretty easily.

  She didn't seem to get who he was at all though for some reason. Go figure. Did he look that different? Well, he'd lost weight after he left, about seventy pounds. First living on the street, then hustling to make a living would do that to a guy. The IPB didn't hurt there either. Talk about a culture that focused on fitness. On top of that, well he'd probably have ended up thin anyway. His power just ate up energy when he used it. Most high level abilities did.

  Denis walked to each and held out his hand, shaking in turn, Mindy, his full sister, obviously their leader, looked both perplexed and like she wanted to hit him. He smiled at her and held his hand out to her last.

  “We're both from the IPB.” He said gently, as the girls all stiffened in fear.

  Right. As far as the Infected went, it seemed like the IPB just showed up and started kicking their asses all the time. Pretty much true. They only bothered with violent types and mainly went after those that were class threes or better, leaving the rest to the police, but feelings like that could be understood. All that made the news was about them taking out bad guys, and Prime kissing babies. Denis used to be afraid of them too. He still was on alternating Wednesdays or if Scott wanted to shake hands.

  “I think we can work together, though. We came to stop any anti-Infected violence by infiltrating your group. If you can work with us on that end, I believe the Director will be more than willing to help take down Darren Jones. Hooper too if we can manage it. If not I'll throw in with you anyway, myself.” He let go of her hand and waited, hoping no one would decide that it was all a trick.

  Bethy held out her hand, a wash of calm coming from it, then she pulled back as if slapped down. Shy then? Not too bad, she spoke easily enough.

  “Um, sorry, I think I missed something. The IPB is willing to back us? But we're Infected, well, some of us are. Shouldn't you be arresting us for, I don't know, being Infected or something? I guess I find this a bit hard to swallow. Since when is the IPB our friend?” She looked down, not really making eye contact now that the masks were off.

  Denis shrugged.

  “Since always? We're the Infected Protection Bureau. The IPB doesn't go around killing Infected without reason, just taking out real dangers. You all seem nice enough, you just want to take out a man that tortured and...” It took a lot to say the next words. It hurt. He had to say it anyway. “Raped you all. Took you as his “wives” as little children and forced you to do things in front of the others...”

  He couldn't hold still and started to pace a bit. It was fucking hard to face these girls. These women. He'd run away, which was understandable, but he never went back to help them, which wasn't. Denis hadn't even tried. After a few seconds the youngest looking one held up her own hand, he waited for a power to flow over him, but it turned out to be a simple gesture.

  Nice to know that she was sane at least.

  “How do you know all that? Mindy didn't...” The older woman gave her a sharp look.

  “Silence! Now he knows my name!”

  He nearly smiled at her, but didn't want to trigger whatever her first mode was. Probably anger from what he'd seen, maybe something else.

  “Well... Um, I kind of already knew it, didn't I?” Denis looked at each of the women in turn, his stomach flip-flopping around a bit.

  She glared at him, her face hard and ice like daggers.

  “What? Why would you already know my name? How?”

  “Um... I'm your brother. Denis.” He smiled when he spoke the words, hoping she wasn't too mad at him for having left her all those years ago.

  Mindy punched him in the nose.

  10

  The second blow got avoided when Denis danced back holding his hands over his face. Not exactly high level martial arts, but enough to get Mindy to stop slapping at him. After about ten seconds the small brown haired woman stopped and glared at him menacingly. Right hand open she pointed it and narrowed her eyes, allowing a wave of confidence and feeling of trust to overtake him.

  “Who are you really?” She said, voice so blistering it would have curdled milk if any had been nearby.

  “Denis Tompkins. IPB... Your younger brother? What are you looking for here? Um, I ran away from Faithhome seventeen years ago? My mother's name is Jennifer, just like yours? Um, when I was nine you told me that rats come and eat people's fingers and toes at night? I still hate rats because of that. That, and being locked in closets.” He shuddered a tiny bit for affect.

  “Dennis? Denny?” She moved on him again and he cowered a bit. It wasn't like he could just smack her down. He probably deserved to be beaten for leaving them all.

  The hug that came was sudden and nearly as violent as the hitting had been. She started crying and then, after about five minutes of it, everyone watching a bit amazed, Hobbs cleared his throat.

  “I think I have enough to understand the basics here. I take it that our secret attempt at infiltration is no longer in play? That, or the method to be used has gone beyond my humble abilities to ken. If it's the first, I may have to relate that we aren't very good at it yet. We should add such to our regular practice. Don't you agree?” He asked this with his normal accent, and sounded a little like a pirate from an old movie rather than a newscaster from the mid-west.

  “Yeah. Um, Hobbs, these are my sisters. A few of them at any rate. Bethy, I recognize, and Mindy, who's my full sister. The other two have
the right look, but I don't remember names, if I ever knew them.” He nodded to the others who smiled at him.

  The youngest one went flat and stared for a bit before saying anything, “I'm Ginger. This is Felicia.”

  Nodding Denis tried to memorize that. God, how many of them were there now? Fifty? More? The whole thing left him feeling sick and more than a little weak. So, yeah, he'd help them take down their father.

  Fucking freak.

  Hobbs examined each blankly, staring and memorizing so powerfully they all started to get uneasy and the two men in the back finally asked if it was safe for them to leave.

  “If we aren't going to be arrested or killed out of hand, we have some work to get to. The bigots won't recruit themselves you know.” The thicker man said this with a slightly happy, amused tone. Mindy sighed and then grunted testily.

  “Go. Dennis won't hurt us and I doubt all of us together would stop two IPB agents if they wanted to take us out anyway. How the heck did that happen Denny? You must have figured out that Prophet Darren was Infected way back then... But to get yourself into place as an IPB agent must have taken a lot of work. Especially starting as a short fat kid.”

  It occurred to him that she didn't know that he was Infected too. She thought he was a non-Infected agent. He explained carefully. Denis really didn't want to scare them. Normally the only time the Infected operatives were sent was when something really bad had to be taken down. He didn't want them to panic, thinking that the IPB had come to kill them all.

  “So... I'm actually here because of my bible knowledge of all things. We thought this was a big bigot group, “The Pure”, so we were sent to infiltrate and stop you if need be. Um, Mindy, I'm Infected... Team Three with the IPB? I don't know if that means anything to you at all, it's kind of secret...”

  The younger girl, Ginger, chimed in, her voice fairly cheery now that no one seemed ready to kill or even arrest anyone.