The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  There was a knock at the door, which got Brian to spin, firearm coming out from behind his back. Doug looked at it and forced a jovial expression.

  "Might be the food, right?" He just walked to the door and opened it, showing that it really was a delivery man. He was a medium build older fellow, wearing a mustache and a restaurant t-shirt. It was for the Red Dragon, which was the place they called, even though he looked pretty darn white. Still, his job was to deliver food, not lend authentic scenery to their meal. Brian got the money out and tipped the man twenty percent. It was enough the man seemed to mean it when he said thank you.

  "All right, we can cover that later and make some calls to the base. Let's eat this first, before it gets too cold." Egg rolls were best served warm.

  Everyone knew that though, so Brian didn't get any argument.

  Not even when he dished up a smallish plate for Doug and handed it over instead of letting him get his own. The guy made a face and tilted his head, looking first at the plate and then his friend several times.

  "What, I look like an anorexic ten year old girl?"

  "No... You look like a future super-hero, and with your powers they'll want you on Team One, which means losing weight and getting in great shape, because otherwise you'll look horrible next to Prime and Argos." Brian held the plate out with a plastic fork and a napkin.

  Lancaster took more food, but not a lot, looking at his own middle, which was so solid you could see abs through his shirt.

  "Medical will also get you some drugs for that. We won't have to treat you like Brian either... Maybe get him on the riot squad with Marsh and Den? His ability should work well there. We can use him to replace Clark and just forget about him for a couple of months."

  Doug made a point of eating slowly, holding his food on his lap, slightly hunched over, using the one comfortable chair in the room. After a few slow bites of egg roll he spoke softly.

  "Is it nice there? I don't really want to sign up for the military, or have to kill anyone. I've heard some pretty bad things about the IPB. Taking kids in the night and executing anyone that doesn't do what they want. Plus, how safe is it? Didn't people try to bomb the base there a few days ago? With nukes even..."

  Brian took a deep breath before speaking, using the move to buy a little time.

  "Well... What do you mean by safe? If those bombs had been dropped here you'd be dead now and the world would probably be on its way to a nuclear winter. Our Director handled that for us on his own. He lives there, so pretty good security that way. Nice though? Well, you have to work out a lot, running and stuff, and learn to fight, both with and without your powers, but that isn't so hard really. You're smart enough for it and they have some good people there. You can work with Hobbs maybe. He's great. Always really happy and kind. From an alternate reality too, so how sci-fi is that? The pay is better than the factory and the people are decent most of the time. There are some troubles with first modes occasionally, but we all try to let that go. Just like I'm trying to let go of the idea of killing those cops that beat me before and tried to kill me. There might be more to it, I guess. So that's something to keep in mind. If someone insults you or something, try not to hang on to it."

  Doug looked at Lancaster as if waiting for the real news, no matter how dark it was, but he just agreed with Brian for the most part.

  "Lots to do there, if you don't mind working. Brian never mentioned you as being lazy at all, so I doubt it will be a problem for you. And, if you can't get pissed when we push you too hard, well, that should make you pretty easy to work with. Carl will love him too, don't you think Brian?"

  The man would. At least after he got in better shape. He was the hyper fit, nearly insane level fifteen trainer. If you went to that floor you'd better be ready to be pushed to your physical and mental limits. He decided not to mention that part.

  As soon as the food was done, which didn't take long, because they weren't eating seconds, which Brian assured by throwing the rest of it out, getting a pained look from Doug. Agent Lancaster pulled out his cell and started dialing. The one sided conversation was interesting, but didn't let him know who was on the other end at first. It could have been almost anyone at the base.

  But it wasn't.

  "No, Marcia," the large agent added clearly so that they'd all know who was on the other end.

  "Brian worked out that at least a couple of the people might not have been in control of their minds at the time... exactly our thought. We're staying with his friend Doug..." Hand going over the phone he waited.

  Brian filled that part in with almost no pause, "Tibs" He said it loud enough for the woman on the other side of the phone to understand.

  Then Lancaster continued, "he's one of ours. A class three at least. Maybe four, but we need to test that. Controls gravity." There was silence for a while, with a few hems and un-huhs.

  "We can have Ellen for this? Great. Brian's first choice for it, actually. Yeah, you'll like Doug. Seems really nice. Easy first mode too. Seems to just not feel anger, annoyance and possibly jealousy at all. I have to ask about that last one..." He grinned as if he wasn't teasing, but Doug just kind of sat there, suffering the fact that he was being talked about as if he wasn't in the room.

  "I agree. Sure, hold on a second." Then the black standard issue rectangle got held out to Brian.

  "It's for you."

  Of course it was. He took a deep breath and grabbed the device as if it wasn't a possible trap.

  "Yi here." It sounded dark and raspy, but Marcia laughed anyway.

  "So, complications there. How are you holding up under it all?" She sounded serious, so he waited a beat and answered the same way.

  "I hate them all, Marcia. I wanted to just execute their whole police force for so long, and I nearly did it today. Half a dozen times. I broke their Captain's arms at the elbows even, both of them. He was getting in the way of me serving the warrant, so it was legal. Then his boyfriend tried to kick my ass later at the hospital. That isn't a problem though, I probably deserved it, at least from his perspective. Keep that on the down low though, that he has a boyfriend. Not common knowledge here. One of the cops ran, which could mean anything. It's suspicious, but if Stillness has a hold on him, he might do anything. He might just be guilty and know it too. The other guys... As much as I hate to say it, and I really do, it sounds to me like they're innocent."

  "Good." The voice wasn't playing again yet or anything. Then, she was the Deputy Director of the IPB, a thing that Brian hadn't really been aware of for certain until recently. It was her job to keep up with the politics of the situation too.

  "I know. If it leaves them alive, you're happy." He rolled his eyes at Doug who just looked confused, as if Brian was speaking theoretically or something.

  "Sure, that... and the fact that you're being reasonable. Way more so than the psych guys said you would be in this case. The betting pool has you freaking out and starting a blood bath as the most likely outcome of all this. Denis had me put all his money on a relatively peaceful resolution you know. That pays out a hundred to one, so if you think it's going that way, let me know?" Now she played.

  "I don't know. Things are so tense here they'd better be defining all these things pretty carefully. Just the people on the street... We aren't staying with Doug because it's cheaper. None of the hotels we checked would let us in. Not just me, but Lancaster. Once they saws he was IPB... Yeah. So maybe some back up is in order, if we can spare anyone? They might have to stay here." He looked at Doug, who shrugged, then looked around at the mess.

  "Let us know when to expect everyone?"

  "On it. Sending a team now. Not a lot to choose from that can pass easily... I'll work on it though."

  "OK. Let them all know that they're sleeping on the floor though. We'll pick up some air mattresses if we can, or something."

  "Got it. Field conditions. We should have them out inside twelve hours. So early morning your time. Give me back to Agent Lancaster?"


  The phone handed over, Brian looked around and then went to the kitchen to take a peek under the sink. There were almost no cleaning supplies, of course. It had just been the way they'd lived for years. They were guys and really, for the most part, they'd lived like it. No matter how much of a bitch Carla had been, that was one thing she'd really helped with by being around. She insisted things be at least clean enough to touch without fear of disease. That didn't mean she did the work herself, but it got done. Normally by him.

  "OK, I'm on a store run then. Doug, I know it's a pain in the butt having a bunch of people coming in like this, we can probably find someplace else if we have to." Brian knew what the answer would be, but he waited anyway just to be polite, feeling just a little surprised again.

  "We're good. I just wish I'd cleaned first. Where else would they be staying though, other than here? We can't make them all camp out."

  Lancaster was still talking on the phone, but was clearly listening to them too, his hand suddenly slapping over the mouthpiece.

  "We'll want something to sleep on, bedding of some kind and enough food to keep Argos from dying."

  Brian nodded, wondering if he should keep the receipts and make Moore reimburse him for the stuff. It wasn't that he didn't have the funds for it. Really he didn't spend a lot of money and probably would never have another chance, but it seemed like what should be done anyway. Heading to the door he went to the window first, checking as carefully as he could. It didn't feel like there was a problem, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful, since they had no clue where Shaw was. A single man with a sniper rifle could still kill any of them if they weren't careful after all.

  It looked clear and there were no obvious lines of sight for an attack like that. It had started sprinkling just a bit, but not enough to bother with a coat. Especially since the only one he had was really heavy and warm. It must have been nearly forty degrees outside, even though it was starting to get dark. It wouldn't be snowing though, being too late in the year for that. Back on the base it might happen still, but not here.

  Doug actually just followed along, climbing into the passenger's seat as if he were playing spy, looking around as if he expected to be attacked too. Brian didn't make fun of him. He wasn't wrong to do it after all, and it was good practice, as long as he took it seriously. The odds of anything happening were pretty small, but that didn't mean non-existent.

  "Um, so anyway, just something to keep in mind... I tend to kind of attract dangerous situations. So if something starts happening, back off and let me deal with it. It shouldn't, since we're just going five blocks to the local store, but if it does..." It was only fair to mention it, right?

  "You always were getting in trouble." Doug shook his head, black hair not moving at all.

  "Though that was normally in video games. Same basic idea though, right? Except that if we lose here the pain and death is real?"

  Considering it for a second Brian pulled out onto the street carefully, heading a few blocks down to the first light.

  "Pretty much. I think you'll fit in pretty well you know. I just wish I knew who the infector was, if that's what happened at all. No one really understands how this all works. I did some research into it about half a year ago, but even the best theories are just guesses without proof. We don't even have a primary location for it having started."

  "Right, but it seems to me that it's pretty clear, isn't it? I mean, if it wasn't one of us doing it, then it had to be Carla. At least we should check that out first. I guess it could have been someone from work, so if we find everyone at the plant has super-powers then that's a sign, but Carla didn't work there and no one's been rampaging around the city or anything." He shrugged, looking a little sad about it all, but not upset.

  Brian could see that. After all, for all he disliked Carla, as bigoted as she was, Doug had liked her well enough to date for months. He probably knew that for her, suddenly being Infected would not go over well. It might explain her abrasive behavior at least. Plus, the fact was, if her ability was spreading the Infection like it seemed... They'd have to kill her. The government would at least. Probably not him or Doug, not even Lancaster, but they couldn't allow someone to create a whole bunch of new Infected like that. The problem was bad enough already.

  The trip to the store was actually three of them, first getting cleaning supplies, sleeping bags and all the air mattresses the sporting goods department had, then going back twice for food, toilet paper and new towels.

  "Everyone will have their own toothpaste, but I don't know who all will be here. Some have special needs." He scanned the steak in his hand at the self-check out, so that no one would instantly know that he was with the IPB. A few people gave him funny looks anyway, and not all of them were looking at the heaping full cart of food either. The six guys standing in the parking lot with two-by-fours and baseball bats certainly weren't at least.

  Brian sighed.

  "Here we go. It looks like bigots. Someone must have recognized me from T.V." He forced a smile and handed the cart over to Doug, then stopped for a second and looked back.

  "You know, why don't you handle this one? Maybe make them weigh about five times what they normally do? Can you be that exact?"

  "I don't know. I might start crushing them into paste." Since he actually sounded nervous about the idea Brian shrugged and let his old friend off the hook.

  "The hard way then."

  He didn't get five more feet towards them when the first one started yelling at him.

  "Filthy Infected! Murderer! We don't want your kind here. Get him!" The man was clean shaved and looked like he was ready for a day of office work, rather than a hate meeting. His buddies were mixed, some of them with tattoos and piercings that were a horrible idea if they were going to go around attacking people.

  Especially since they weren't very good fighters at all. Most people weren't, luckily, so Brian just jumped in and poked the first man in the eye with splayed fingers after grabbing the bat from his hands, holding it in his left. There was some screaming, but the back of the weapon going into the man's throat helped to quiet that.

  Then he took out the next two in line at about the same rate. The others just stood, watching, uncertain as to what they should be doing. It took an act of will not to kill them all, so instead of doing that he started hitting them in the knees and taking their makeshift weapons. The whole thing took about ten seconds and not a single one of the six had bothered to even try to back up.

  Morons.

  He turned to Doug, not even out of breath yet and smiled. They were all still alive after all, which meant it was still a good day. Three fights, no need to kill anyone yet. Who could ask for more?

  "Here, let's load up quick in case they have friends coming. I don't want the ice cream to melt." They moved fast, but no one got to their feet and the police didn't show up. That wouldn't have mattered for most IPB Operatives while on duty, but Brian wasn't exactly on anyone's list of best buddies that way. It would probably turn into a pitched battle if they came and that could endanger Doug.

  So instead they just left.

  Halfway home, looking out the window as if he was certain that the bigot hordes of the world were going to come for them at any moment, his friend spoke, sounding jazzed and nervous from the fight. Brian could sympathize. Oh, he didn't feel it anymore, especially from something that lame, but it used to happen to him too.

  "Dude. That was six armed guys, all of them bigger than you and you just... took them out. I couldn't even see half of what you did. How did you do that?"

  The answer was simple, but not something he wanted to dwell on overly. Still, Doug needed to understand what was really going on, didn't he?

  "Practice. Almost every day for months I've had to fight. Most people get scared in fights and it slows them down. I mean, I do sometimes too, but these were just some guys that didn't belong in the conflict they picked. You could have taken them out too, I just didn't want them to accidentally end up dea
d, because I'm here on other business right now. As it is we'll have to do the rest of our shopping at some other store. We need to hide the car too. Otherwise it will give away where we're staying. Can we put it in the garage?" That would mean putting Doug's old car on the street. The neighborhood wasn't awful but it also wasn't that wonderful as far as keeping personal property safe.

  "Yeah, your car is in the back yard, but if we move it we can put mine in next to it."

  That got Brian to blink.

  "You and Carla didn't just sell it? I kind of figured that when I was gone all my stuff would be too."

  That got a gentle chuckle from the man next to him and they circled the block through the gravel alley behind the house, parking just a ways back from the garage.

  "Funny, you weren't even all the way out the door before she mentioned that. Part of why I broke up with her. What kind of reaction is that anyway?" He still sounded shaky, but opened the door to the single car space and then looked around, smiling.

  "OK, let's see here..." Without starting the car, with only one hand on it, he let it rise into the air gently, just a few inches. Then, grabbing the back bumper he slowly pulled it out.

  "I can't go too fast, because it still has inertia. Well, you get it, objects in motion wanting to stay that way. We can take it right over the fence though. Your Honda is just on the other side here, so we need to go over that. Let's see..."

  The whole thing was kind of cool to watch, almost like a slow motion ballet with Doug lifting the vehicle like it was a lithe ballerina. Then they both floated up and over the wooden fence that was about six feet high, an unpainted thing that had seen better days. He kicked off the top gently, causing both him and the car to float past the other one, finally sinking to the ground gently, barely making a sound as they did.

  Doug grinned then.

  "I know, showing off, but it's night, I don't think anyone saw."

  "We're good I think. Let's do the rest of this normally though, just in case. I'll pull the rental in." It was a small space and a decent sized luxury sedan, which meant he had about a foot of clearance on either side. He just went slow though, and kept the wheels straight. It took a minute, but he was used to parking stuff there.