The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  Then they unloaded the trunk, going through the back door, to find that Lancaster, who was off the phone, was busily cleaning when they got in. Doug blushed.

  "Oh, I should be doing that..."

  The huge agent just nodded.

  "Normally. This is a special circumstance and you're one of the team now. That means you get help. I cleared the fridge already. I left all the bills in a pile on the counter. Looks like it's a good thing we came along about now. You can swing this place for what? Another month? Maybe two?" He kept working as he spoke.

  The heavier man sighed and shook his head.

  "That's about right. I don't think I can make the next electric bill. I mean, I'm up to date on everything, but it's getting close." He sounded embarrassed by the idea, but they'd lived close to the bone when it had been two of them.

  So Brian changed the subject.

  "We were attacked at the store. Just some regular guys with bludgeons. Nothing serious. I managed to leave them alive, I think. Kind of proud of that, it wasn't easy. The rental is in the garage, to hide it. Oh, Doug is probably a Class four at least. He moved his car into place over the fence. We need to learn how big of an area he can affect that way." The real definition of Class didn't have to do with raw power, but ability, at least in potential, to kill. If he could crush people like it seemed he could it was probably an instant death sentence.

  So if he could affect a large enough area, that would mean taking out a lot of people at once. If he could crush a car sized object too, that was probably enough to take out the near hundred people he'd need for Class five. At least if he could move the effect around quickly enough. They'd have to check it out.

  For now it was best if they really pushed for him to be on Team One though. Otherwise he could be in trouble. The problem there was that you had to be pretty good looking to get on that squad. Doug couldn't make the cut. Not yet. He had good cheek bones and a pleasant face, but his weight would be an issue too. They'd have to get him into shape fast. Otherwise the IPB would put him on Team Two most likely, and that meant having to kill.

  Brian had no doubt Doug could do it if he had to, he just didn't want that for his friend, not if they could help it.

  Chapter three

  They cleaned for hours, but with three of them working on it, and by rather liberally throwing things out, they managed to have the place looking serviceable by midnight. That didn't mean it was perfect, but old wasn't the same as dirty and while there was a lot of accumulated grunge and the blue carpeted living room floor was stained in places, they did vacuum it twice and had things smelling a lot nicer. It had been a little stale when they'd first gotten there.

  Especially in Brian's old room, which was a little dismal to look at after all this time. Stacks of books, a mattress on the floor with a dirty sheet and blanket on it and a radio that barely worked, gotten at the Goodwill. There was a single vinyl covered kitchen chair, done in cracked green stripes and metal that acted as a table next to the bed with his old alarm clock on it. No one had touched anything it looked like. Seeing it again it suddenly made sense that Doug hadn't sold it all, even though he needed the money. It wasn't worth anything.

  He stripped the bed, laid out a sleeping bag and noticed that his old pillow was disgusting. Not that he couldn't handle that, but it reminded him to get some pillows the next day if they had a chance. He always felt better after a good night's sleep at least.

  That night he went from one dream of being beaten by the police to the next, most of them taking place in the living room, where there was a spot on the rug made by his blood after being handcuffed. He woke several times, shaking with rage. It wasn't a wonderful thing, not if someone else had made the initial attack happen, but he really wanted to kill the cops anyway. They were bad weren't they? The ones from the town near the base were straight out terrorists.

  Unless they'd been forced into doing it too.

  Brian didn't think so though. The Chief there was a prick that had ordered the attacks on the IPB... Which were all moronic. The man might be a fool, sure, but those things were so stupid that no one would have done it. Attacking a bunch of super-humans that had been put together to take out Infected that were too much for the Army to handle? It didn't even make sense from a moral standpoint. Even if you were anti-Infected in ideology, the IPB made sense.

  It was easy to believe that they were all bad, because a lot of police were. If you were Infected, or even just looked funny enough for them to think you were, you knew all about it. They'd attack without provocation at times. Most of the people on Team Two knew what it was like. The first team people a lot less so, since they were all normal looking. Team Three...

  Well, that was different as well. They were all regular looking too, but also so powerful that the cops didn't really play much of a part in their lives. Mark just left any situation he didn't like, being able to kind of freeze time for himself. Christian stayed on the base most of the time and was a good looking heiress, so even if she was stopped no one messed with her.

  Rachel was good looking too and could straight up kick any police forces butt on her own. No one messed with her, because again, she just wasn't a target. Penny was so invisible that she'd actually assaulted police officers without them realizing it had happened. Before that she'd been a cute and innocent, middle class girl. She didn't think the police could do anything wrong at all most days.

  Denis...

  He had an idea what the score was, from living on the streets for years, but that was about it. Of all of them only Brian knew how evil they could be first hand. It was frustrating having everyone else act like it was all just a few isolated cases. It showed up in the news and online each day. He'd watched some of that on the television in his room. He had one, but didn't have time to watch most of the time. The fact was that he'd forgotten it was there at all. Most of the time he just watched screenings of Steinberg and friends with the crew of the show and the conservative news station, since they were the ones most likely to be attacking the IPB at any given point.

  Oddly they were normally pretty nice to him personally. That was mainly because he'd killed a lot of Infected and saved a few right wing politicians. It hadn't been on purpose, his powers had just done it. His abilities didn't always ask him if he wanted to save a given person. Really, it never did.

  The night wasn't that restful, but it was no worse than most were now and at least this trauma was a familiar one that he'd been dealing with for a long time. It meant showering early, about four in the morning, with too little sleep, but everyone else got up to take a turn too.

  Lancaster made them some eggs, giving two of them to Doug and four each to Brian and himself. It got a funny look and a quick glance at the other plates as they sat at the little kitchen table. The Agent took a bite and went dead eyed.

  "Diet. Brian will take you for a jog later, if we aren't arranging to have people picked up from the airport. Maybe even if we are. If you work today you might want to call in and let them know you quit. Factory work, so you don't really have to give two weeks notice. Not unless they have you on salary?" He kept eating, watching the new guy carefully, since most people really didn't want to leave their comfort zones. It was hard to let go. Worse there was a diet involved. Doug hated dieting. It had never really worked for him. It wasn't going to be a fun thing this time either.

  "I guess. I'll have to do that later though, no one in charge will be there until seven-thirty. What should I say?"

  Brian thought for a bit before speaking, not wanting to scare his friend off or anything, but knowing that they'd probably need to question some people at the facility later in the day if they could. That was a job for Ellen Doer though, not him or Doug. Maybe Lancaster or one of the others could go with her, just in case it was a problem. She just looked like the kind of older lady that you were supposed to protect from harm, even as she insisted on running around solving mysteries or whatever it was she did.

  "Just that you can't wor
k there anymore, because you got another job that pays way better. Tell them that you'll come for your last check if you can and that you wanted them to know that you wouldn't be in, so that they can call someone else. Maybe suggest someone to replace you. That should cover most of the potential problems." They still might be mad, but there was a certain level of turnover at the plant. It wasn't exactly a thrilling job, making rolls of toilet paper and then packing them in boxes over and over again.

  They were kind of used to people just not showing up one day, so they wouldn't complain if Doug actually communicated with them about it all.

  The agent got on the phone and found that he did indeed need to pick the incoming people up at the airport, unless they were going to drop fifty bucks on a cab. There were only four of them though, which made it easier. Two agents and two operatives. Brian explained the difference as Lancaster headed out, wanting to be on location when they landed.

  That gave them almost an hour for a workout, which was probably all his friend was going to be able to handle to start with.

  "So, workout clothes?"

  They started with some jogging, just light stuff that Doug kept up with a lot more easily than it seemed like he should. It could be that his new ability gave him an edge that way, of course. A lot of odd things like that could happen, so maybe Doug had lucked into increased endurance too? After a few minutes Brian figured it out.

  "Hey, no making yourself lighter! You need the work. No cheating, not at this point. Later we'll work on that."

  "Killjoy." Doug sagged though after that, his body going to a normal weight, the footfalls heavier and the whole thing slowing down. A bit later he was breathing harder too. A lot.

  After about half a mile Doug stopped dead, waving at Brian and gasping.

  "Sorry, just... a few seconds..." It was hard to keep going when you didn't have enough air, so Brian stopped too, not really breathing to hard at all.

  "Sure, just take a few seconds and let me know when you're ready." It was longer than a few seconds, but they started again, going slower this time, as soon as they could. For another five minutes or so. Then they had to walk.

  The pattern went on that way for a while until just after five. They'd worked back to the house, Brian waving his friend toward the shower first. It was important that he make as good an impression as possible when the others got there after all. Whoever was coming. A lot of people were just too busy at the moment, being in D.C. or working on their own projects.

  They came through the back, all carrying bags with them. It was a different group than Brian would have thought at all. The "Agents" were Jason Montrose, who was the Team Three physical fitness trainer and Carl from level fifteen. As far as Brian knew they didn't leave the base as a rule.

  Behind them, almost as if trying to confuse him on purpose were two people he would have never expected to be sent out on something real like this at all. Georgia and Jason from Team One. He smiled though, since they were all good people. Ones that Doug should get to know too. Then he realized that Marcia might have sent them just for that. To her the big deal might just be the new talent, not Brian's little vendetta.

  He shook hands with each of them, or tried to. Georgia hugging him warmly, not letting him go for a long time, as was her habit.

  "Everyone, this is Doug Tibs. Controls gravity and doesn't feel anger or get annoyed. We don't have all the info there, but really easy going that way. Also my best friend." Meaning not a stranger or unknown. He didn't know if the others would get that immediately, but Argos moved forward, wearing a nice suit that looked good, but was clearly off the rack. Most of what he wore was really expensive, but this wasn't for some reason.

  It nearly didn't matter, he was so good looking. Something about his super-speed powers made him that way. It was often joked that if he ever got tired of being with the IPB he could go into acting without a problem. That would be hard though, because he didn't have the ego for it. As a rule the man was totally humble.

  "Hey, nice to meet you Doug. I'm Jason. Um, speed mainly. Team One." He didn't mention his first mode, but did shake hands easily enough.

  Georgia moved in just as smoothly and took Jason's place professionally. That was hard for her, but she was doing her best. She'd had a bit of a meltdown a month back or so, kind of setting off an uncontrolled orgy with Team Two. No one had gotten hurt, thankfully.

  "Georgia, I broadcast sexual arousal and responses. First mode is in that same vein, so be warned." She smiled though, making far more warm and significant eye contact than Doug was ready for, which meant he blushed again.

  Jason Montrose just shrugged.

  "Call me Montrose I guess, or it's going to get confusing. I'm here to check on Brian and make sure you all get enough exercise, without it being too much."

  Carl just nodded.

  "I'm here to test you." He looked at Doug almost as intensely as Georgia had, but with a far different reason in mind.

  "You already ran today, I see, so let's see what you can do ability wise while the others are out doing whatever they need to? Once Ellen gets here of course, we might have to back up the main mission, so we should get to it." He glanced at Lancaster and shrugged.

  "She doesn't fly. Or drive. We have her coming in by train. I didn't even know that we had those anymore. She should be here in... Seven more hours. Inconvenient, but..." The thin, hyper-fit man shrugged. Over all they looked like a sports team or something, Brian realized. Except Doug.

  That wasn't lost on him either. He kept pulling on his shirt, which was just a little tight around the middle, feeling self-conscious no doubt. Brian remembered that being the case at first at the base too, almost everyone there was in great shape. It made sense, being they were practically professional fighters. Not being in shape could mean dying if you got unlucky. It didn't assure anything either, but it helped. If you knew that your job involved going toe to toe with super beings on a regular basis you tried to stack the odds as much as possible in your favor whenever you could.

  Carl grabbed Doug and went to the back yard without saying anything else, and Lancaster looked at everyone else and sighed.

  "Montrose is with me. We'll head back to the police station and see if they have any clue where Officer Shaw has gotten to. The rest of you..." The fact was that for the time being they didn't have anything in particular to do. They might be needed later, but none of them was an investigator and Brian wasn't exactly the one to send to the police station if the plan wasn't going to involve serving a Death Warrant immediately.

  "We'll... Um, stay here and keep out of trouble? Or... I don't know, we could go to the book store or something? If it's still there." That used to be one of his favorite things to do. He'd read a lot, back when he'd had time for it and books, but it hadn't been the only reason he'd gone. There was a girl there that he'd always wanted to ask out, but never had, because she just would have said no. She didn't know that though, and it would be interesting to see her again.

  Sure, he had a girlfriend, even though they couldn't have sex, due to a certain pesky ghost that lived in his brain that he refrained from naming. It wouldn't have been that huge of a problem if Karen hadn't been her sister. Becky just refused to be part of him getting busy with any of her family members. Since she felt everything he did, it kind of seemed fair. Technically they had an open relationship, but he'd resigned himself to the idea that he was just never going to have sex again. Karen would understand if he did, but he'd have felt too bad about it. So he made the sacrifice and tried not to think about it that much.

  The blond Agent narrowed his eyes a little, as if something in what he said didn't make sense, but after a bit he nodded.

  "Sounds like a plan. Argos, you have a phone?"

  It turned out that everyone else in the room did, except Brian. They set up a time to meet, about noon. They had to feed the speedster first, but then they just needed to get his car started and they could take off. He changed into a long sleeved shirt, to cover
the armor he had on underneath it, and Jason dressed down to match. Georgia was harder to manage that way, since she didn't wear anything but skirts unless they were skin tight. She ended up in silver spandex and a cute white top that hugged her breast enough to show that she wasn't huge that way. Lean and with short hair, dyed a brilliant red. The problem with these two was that they looked like exactly who they were. Hopefully it wouldn't be an issue.

  He got Doug to free his car up and then push started it, since the battery had gone dead, sitting for nearly a year like it had. Nine months at least. It felt like longer, but it really hadn't been. He drove carefully, wondering if the insurance was still good on the car, figuring it probably wasn't. He'd have worried about that, except for the fact that if any cops pulled him over, he'd probably kill them instantly anyway. The flashing lights kind of set him off.

  The trip wasn't long, the big book store was next to the movie theater, so had a lot of free parking at this time of day. There were things playing he'd never heard of at all, but Georgia pointed a little and nudged Jason as they walked past.

  "Oohh. "Remembrance" I want to see that one. We should go later if we get a chance. Dare Willis is in it. I haven't seen him in years." She turned to Brian and smiled, moving so that her hand touched his arm a little familiarly. A soft tendril of desire flowed through him at the contact.

  "We used to date. He's a nice guy. Do you think we'll get a chance to see it?"

  "Maybe. I haven't been to a movie in a while. I hear the base has a little theater, but I haven't been able to go." It was just the truth, because most of his free time was spent training still. Technically this was his vacation though, so why not?

  They went into the book store first, Georgia not impressed since she didn't do books as a rule. Jason did though and actually started making a stack of things to buy. After a few minutes Brian smiled at him and pointed a bit.