The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  She did something she very seldom did then, if just checking on information, she vanished. Normally she just stood there for a few seconds as if watching something unfold. Whatever this was either had to be pretty darned hidden or else it was...

  She popped back, grinning.

  "OK Brian, two things. First, I was right, you need to get with Mary, it's important and you will not believe why it is until I explain it later, but you have to make it happen. Soon, before you go." She paced a bit and then turned to him.

  "Also, Stillness and Earthling are coming to try and kill you. They'll be here in about an hour. You might want to set up for them. I don't know, across the street? Otherwise I think Earthling will trash this place. Mary doesn't deserve that." She shrugged and then smiled again.

  "I won't tell you how to do things, I'm sure you'll figure it all out."

  She tried to vanish again, as if that meant she wasn't still there. He stood and stretched, warming up a little before he went to fight. He did take time to slip into his armor, which he'd taken to not wearing, and then the military outfit that he'd had on in the first place. After slipping his shoes on he walked to the shop, knocking on the back door before entering. It was dark out, so after eight or so, but not so late Mary wouldn't be up at all.

  "Brian?" She said just loudly enough to carry through the closed door. After all, he didn't normally knock just to use the bathroom anymore.

  "It's me, may I come in?"

  "Certainly. Is there a problem?" Her words were normal enough but when the door got opened her face held concern. A deep thing that seemed more than a little strange, as if she had an inkling of what was going on too. Or thought she did. That look changed when she took in his clothing.

  "Oh? Is it time for you to leave already? I'd hoped there was a little more time. I... come in." She moved back enough to let him pass, then closed the door after him, to keep the heat in. It was pretty chilly out already, even though it was only late September.

  She looked down a bit and smiled, shaking her head.

  "I was hoping we'd be able to... get closer, before you had to go. I know, I moved too slowly. You've been so proper with me too. I hope this isn't out of turn? I know that the rules here are different, but I haven't really been able to understand them all yet. Are women supposed to approach men here first or..." She blushed charmingly, her favorite blue top tied at the waist, like it always was, not showing any flesh, but looking cute. Definitely a different style of clothing now that he knew to look for the signs.

  "Um, Mary... I... Well, first, if you're talking about sex or a relationship, then I guess men are still supposed to go first. Even when I'm from. I'm just not that forward myself. Um, yes though. I'd like that. I kind of have someone, back home, but we have an open relationship and she hasn't been born yet. So if that's all right with you, we can do whatever you like." It sounded soft and shy to his own ears, and she blushed again, making him wonder if she'd meant something else and he'd just totally alienated her. After a bit she kissed him though, which kind of changed that thought pretty fast.

  They held each other for a bit, which was a lot more comfortable than he'd figured it would be, warmer and more interesting too, even though she was a nice enough looking person. Lean enough and while not in superhuman shape, she had a little muscle on her. Her blue eyes were pretty too. The hair was straight and brown though, in a style that went out in the seventies.

  Her body moved closer to him, grinding gently at first, then harder, thrusting into him.

  "Wait..." He tried to pull back, but she clung on tightly.

  "No. You said it was all right and I don't want you to get away."

  It was said so sweetly he laughed a little and kissed her again.

  "Sorry, we also have some people coming to try and kill me. You might want to leave before they get here. They have powers. A guy that can make you do anything, and a woman that has total control over the ground. As in she can bury towns and things like that. I know that I don't kill them, because they're both alive later, but I still need to give it a good solid try or they'll think it's OK to go around trying to assassinate people and we can't have that." He smiled, which was a mistake, because it took him a few minutes to convince her that he really meant it.

  Finally she tilted her head and nodded at the same time.

  "So the Timberland was correct? You do have powers like hers? Foolish to try and attack you directly then. You cannot take a person with strange precognition from the front. You have to come at them from areas that they cannot see, those lacking in... Oh." She stared, eyes wide and face blank. "Is that why you're here? To come at her from a different angle? She said she can't see you. If that's true, which it may not be if she knew you'd be there to hear her, then you already have something she does not. Which would explain her sending lackeys instead of making an attempt on you herself. Very few can beat a Timberland in battle." Mary walked to the front of the little shop and looked out the front window.

  "I can go. Do you need help? I have some friends I can summon that might aid us in dire times. They are no match for these people, but they are brave and of good heart." She looked ready to spend an awful lot to make that happen, even after he shook his head.

  "I don't think so. Earthling might be a problem, but Stillness is just a guy if he can't influence you, and I'm able to resist him. Maybe permanently, since I'm pretty sure the last time we met he did brain damage. I should be fine. At least the ghost that lives in my head said that's the case. She can lie though, so you know, I can't really go with that as something that's certain."

  "A shade? And she plagues you not?"

  "Um, no plaguing really. More like mild annoyance at times. Generally she's pretty nice."

  For some reason that got a chuckle and then she bowed slightly.

  "I'll be back in three hours then. If you die, I will try to avenge you." Her words sounded very serious suddenly, so he bowed back.

  "If I die, make sure to protect yourself. That's more important. My job means I'll die eventually. My power does. Don't get yourself killed over that."

  She didn't answer, just vanishing, so that she wasn't there anymore. It was interesting but left him feeling just a little lonely for some reason. They were friends, he guessed, but the rest of it still left him feeling bad, like he was betraying Karen. He couldn't help but think about it as he waited in the brush across the street from the store. Occasional cars went by, but the one he wanted, a small blue Japanese car, was pretty darned easy to spot. He didn't know how he knew it was theirs, but it was so certain he locked on to it even before it slowed. They turned so that they weren't directly in front of the place, parking on the other side. Nearer to him. It was almost perfect.

  Three people got out. There was a street lamp, so he could see them, but they didn't look his way at all. Which was strange since one of them was Trivia. Katie. The girl who looked like Brie from the bookstore even more now. She sounded like her too. It was way too close to be coincidence. She knew everything too, so things like disguise and making herself look young probably weren't that hard for her to figure out.

  "I'll go around back. That's where Yi lives." She said it loudly enough that Brian could hear her clearly, meant to warn him no doubt. That was...

  Nice of her really. Apparently she actually was on their side. The good guys. Not only that, she always had been. Interesting. It might even mean he didn't have to hate her for being the girl he'd had a crush on.

  "Screw it, I'll just bury the whole thing. Have it done..." Earthling looked at the place and raised both her hands overhead.

  So focused on her task that she didn't notice the sounds of Brian's footsteps as he ran up behind her. He carefully slammed his elbow into the back of her head. The nano armor tightened, held his arm in a bent position and probably felt like a lead pipe to her skull. Stillness got an upward rising blow with the side of Brian's hand that knocked the man out with the one gesture, then he squared off with Katie, shaking his
head.

  "Really? I would have thought that Braid would have been more clever. Have Tesseract bring in a nuke or something. Not that I want her to, but... It's what I would have done, if I had to face an unknown like me that keeps winning against her." Not that he really had, but then, Katie got that, didn't she? She even probably understood that he was about to attack her. Not because he didn't like her, but because no one would believe her cover if he didn't make it look good.

  It was a problem though. The woman wasn't just a good fighter, she was one of the best to have ever lived. It was kind of what having her power had to mean. That meant that he needed to have a reason for winning. Some kind of edge she couldn't beat. Which he did, thankfully.

  Her first blow, which hit along the nerve path on the inside of his knee showed that. The armor stopped her cold and she lacked the physical ability to push him back. She was strong for a woman her size and did everything just right, but that wasn't the same as having armor or being bigger and in good shape.

  "Stalemate then? I told Braid it would be hard to beat you. Worth a shot though, she said. Give it a try... As if we really had a chance? She's so worried about you I don't think she's in her right mind." She did her best though, which proved it wasn't really a stalemate at all. She had a very limited target range, and even when he got hit in the face, or hands, the only places worth striking on him for the moment, Brian didn't back off. After three passes he connected with six shots that took her to the ground and then a soft kick to the head that put her all the way down as Stillness fought his way to his feet... and tried to tackle him.

  It was clumsy, and slow, which got the man knocked out again in about three seconds. It was also pretty brave of him. The man could have run and probably should have, knowing that his power wasn't going to work at all, seeing someone he knew to be one of the best fighters in the world go down in front of him like that... But he decided, probably by instinct, to try and protect her anyway. Even if it was wasted effort.

  He'd liked the man when they talked before. Rather, he'd talked to Brian when he was locked in the IPB psych ward, trying to kill himself constantly, bound and gagged. Now though... he thought a lot more of him. He was, at his core, a hero. Not someone that Braid should have been able to lead into something like the murder of millions, especially not over the course of thirty odd years.

  Earthling got another kick to the head to, a hard one. She might get to survive all this, but she was too dangerous to let have a chance to kill him. Trying not to look like too much of a dick, he moved on Katie again, slapping her until she woke up. He leaned in, voice low. Braid couldn't see him, if that was honest, but the other two could, if they woke up. It wouldn't be long. The thing in movies where people were out for twenty minutes didn't happen. Not unless the person had some pretty severe brain damage going on.

  "Good work. Do you think this is enough for Braid or should we do something more? I have a really sharp knife, I could cut you a bit if you want. It won't really hurt. That kind of seems like overkill to me. I don't need to torture anyone. I really wouldn't know how if I tried." Except, well, he did. He had a really good idea of what hurt. Brian had even done it before, when he needed to get information from people before killing them. He just doubted that torture would break the woman in his arms.

  She smiled, then spit at him, missing even from the close distance.

  "You're good. Tough. I don't suppose you have a good reason for me to go and spend the best part of my life working for a crazy woman, do you?"

  "No. I know that you do it, but not why. I also know that you end up around me later. Working at the bookstore I went to for years, probably using your secret knowledge and charm to make me like you..."

  She hiccupped then and he realized that she was crying. Not from the pain either, most likely. It was probably the idea of giving up almost her whole life like he was asking her to.

  "You think you can't like me just for my regular charm? I'm a good conversationalist, or so I hear. Kind of cute too."

  "What did you think I meant by secret skills? Secret girl skills no man can resist. Anyway, I don't have any answers for you. You have to find them for yourself. I'd tell you if I knew... Um... Buy Apple computer stock? Then Microsoft." He didn't explain why, but her eyes went big, getting it. If she did it right she'd be rich inside fifteen years, all of it legal.

  "Oh."

  "Yeah. OK, um, message for Braid then? Just so she knows why I sent you all back alive. This time. Tell her that if she tries to do something this close to Mary again, I'll just hunt her down and kill her. I really will, so, you know, it's honest enough." Brian would do it even if the woman stayed away, if he could. Just to save the world, but that wasn't the point of the moment.

  Then without saying anything else, they loaded the other two into the car and Katie drove away into the night.

  Chapter seven

  He slept in the little shed that night, fitfully, making a point of getting up every hour or so and walking around the property, just in case anyone came back to finish the job. Even Dharma was convinced he was losing it at that point, since she was pretty sure she could tell if anything big was going to happen. That didn't really make him feel any better at all for some reason. She was the one also saying that he had to sleep with Mary.

  "I mean really Becky, you think I don't get what that means? She's supposed to have my child, isn't she? I've watched movies you know, so I get the idea of narrative causality. I get her knocked up and then in thirty years some person comes and tells me that I owe decades of child support payments." He was kidding with the ghost as he looked off into the darkness, but she actually appeared to him, her face set.

  "What? You think that you're going to get a lot of other chances? You have to do it. The future requires it and this is a big thing. So, yeah, get in there and make her pregnant. Or, well, not right now, that would be creepy, it must be four in the morning. But soon. You don't have a lot of time. Besides you like her and honestly Brian, you have to stop holding out for me to make it OK for you to sleep with Karen. I've tried and it isn't happening. You both need to move on and find some way to be happy."

  Right. That just made perfect sense didn't it. He had to involve her in his mess.

  No that Mary hadn't done a pretty good job of that herself, but they were going to have to talk about this and do it honestly, because anything else would be too much to dump on someone. If it changed history, her not doing it, then that was what would happen. It would have to be.

  He let things set for a while though, until several days had passed, though he did make a point of hugging and even kissing Mary a lot, which she seemed to like. It was in the morning, after he helped wash the breakfast dishes and the morning rush, all ten people that normally came in, had finished their shopping when he finally worked up the nerve. Brian realized it was about as good a chance to talk about what Dharma had been saying as any. Not discussing it probably made the odds of it happening better and he really wanted to avoid the topic, but there was a real sense of things coming to a close inside of him. It was just a feeling, but it grew stronger with each passing day. He was strong enough to go home now and if he didn't get to what was needed, he'd eventually just go.

  He just didn't belong here, even though he kind of liked it. In the nearly two months since he'd come back in time he'd only had the one real fight and had barely been hurt at all during it. He wasn't a hundred percent physically, and probably wouldn't be again, but he felt better. Mentally as well. He was nearly happy for once. It kind of surprised him, but this place was a lot more peaceful than what he was used to. No one fighting all that much, even in the news, and the death of Bravo Squad wasn't being talked about in the daily paper any more. It had been mentioned, but a lot of it was covered up. That was probably why it hadn't been covered in history class in school.

  That or he'd skipped that grade and just missed something everyone else knew.

  "So, Mary. Um, about sex." It wasn't the smoothe
st line ever, but he wasn't trying to talk her into bed, he just wanted to discuss the things around it.

  She blushed anyway and looked away, smiling.

  "We can't right now, but tonight?" She glanced at him and away, batting her eyelashes just a little.

  "OK, I... kind of wanted to go over some other things though. Um... I think you're supposed to have a baby and... well, I'm going home soon I think. Maybe in another month, or it might be two, but I can sense it coming. I won't be around to help you raise it. That isn't fair to you, but I keep getting messages, from that ghost in my head? She says that it's important to the future." That should, he understood, pretty much finish the idea of him getting any in the past, but the woman across from him just nodded.

  "We can do that. I... It's not possible for me to raise a child, not here. The Wyrd, my entire family line, can't travel until they are old enough. It will kill them to try. We generally give them up for adoption at an early age, unless they show the family trait, which has them moved to a special school for training instead. It isn't nearly as cozy as the way that children are often raised here, but it has to be done." She waited, clearly holding her breath.

  "So in this world or another, that will probably have to be done. Does that... ruin things? I don't think I could be a real mother. Not the way you mean. I've never learned how."

  Becky moved in next to her, eyes going big and finally looking at Brian and nodding, her black lipstick and pierced nose giving her a slightly sinister look. Like a demon that was appraising a victim for the slaughter.

  "Jeez Brian, I'm right here. You know I hear everything you think... That's... It's what happens I think. I don't know how, but... Yeah. Only... ask how long she's been here?"