The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  Penny sighed. It made sense, but she didn't understand how they knew that she was going to say that. She didn't know why she had. That part didn't bug her that much. After all, Denis wasn't that bad, and she agreed with what he and the others had done. It did occur to her that she was getting Marsh off the hook, and that she'd probably been about to take the credit for it all, but the way it had been said... That part was odd.

  Like something, or someone, else had been in control of her.

  There were a few people in the world that could probably do that to her. One of them was among the list of the IPB's arch enemies. Technically Denis could have, if he'd been able to see her. A few other people might have.

  But...

  Really she thought it was Brian. Somehow.

  That would mean it wasn't anything he'd done on purpose, but rather that he caused to happen just by being there. She'd never noticed anything like that before, but it was her best guess at the moment. That, or Stillness really wanted her out of the way. It was possible, but locking her up for a few weeks didn't accomplish much, did it?

  Even from a prison she could probably leave almost at will. Unless they put her in a solid room and just never opened the door again. That would do it.

  "Spy novels. Write that down, you'll forget otherwise." She nearly argued that she was innocent, or at least mention it, but that would mean there would be a recording of her saying that Denis was likely guilty. That just might, someday, be used against them. It was almost cute, but Marcia scrambled around for a second and pulled a pad from the top right hand side, making a note of her request in pen on a yellow legal notepad.

  "There we go, spy novels. So, this will be fourteen days. We'll try to check on you, every day. Is there anything in particular you need? You might want to stop on the way down and get that."

  It was all done pretty efficiently. After about three minutes the Director had called down to thirteen, the floor with all the cells on it and set up her incarceration. That part didn't sound that bad, since she was supposed to report on her own and just go. The only sucky part was that she needed to actually do it, since it was pretty clear that she was going to be watched. Cameras would be tracking her after all.

  Marcia walked to the door and stood in it, her face set, almost hard, which didn't fit it really. Her nose was a little off for it, being a bit round at the end, but that was more of a personal taste thing, Penny thought, and the woman would have looked a lot better with a smile. Most people did. They also didn't bother in private.

  "So, I guess we should go now." There was no hint of her sounding smug or anything, and no one tried to do anything silly like handcuff her. Or even take her by the arm.

  "OK. Let's stop at the store first. I'm getting some supplies, in case they forget about me. I don't want to go without food for a week, you know?" It was a real danger. One that the woman next to her actually seemed to simply agree with.

  "I'll buy. Let's get this done. I have to say, I'm surprised at you, ordering something like that. What were you thinking?"

  Penny grinned, it was role playing time? How fun. She almost never got to do anything like that.

  "That the IPB takes care of its own. We police ourselves because no one else can. Yeah, I overstepped, I admit it and if I have to be locked up for it, then so be it. We can't let someone as powerful at Torque get away with crap like that though. Or anyone else here. If it was one of the janitors that had taken advantage of Karen like that, they'd be going to prison for it. Hard core butt rape prison, too. IPB operatives aren't subject to arrest, not like that, but people need to know we won't just let it stand either." She tried to make it sound like she was a detective in a nineteen-forties film, just for laughs. The woman next to her just grunted a little though.

  "I hear you on that one. Still, Rob's high profile. This probably wasn't the best way to deal with it. I can't think of a better one though."

  It took a bit for them to get to the elevator, and a shorter time to get to the fourth floor. She had to talk to the other woman every few minutes or she'd start to forget she was there at all, but that was all right, it wasn't like she really wanted the attention.

  True, she probably could have faked her way through the whole thing, taken off her clothing and just hung out in her bedroom for a few weeks, coming out only when she needed to, but this whole thing felt like it might be important for some reason. What that was she didn't know.

  She helped herself to a lot of free things from the store again, taking most of the snack foods they had out. That happened here, since the people on Team Two and Jason from the first Team, ate a lot. Bridget and Rachel did too. She wasn't certain about Prime, but at a guess that was probably the case with him as well. More food than was easily handled by the dining halls. It was a lot to carry, and filled ten sacks. She had Marcia pay for two more and handle those, and then rode back to two, to go to the special elevator that required the men on the thirteenth floor to activate.

  Leaning in to the little intercom on the right hand side of the golden brown sliding elevator door, Marcia spoke, her voice hard suddenly.

  "Turner and Cooper coming down. Make sure you have the listening gear ready."

  Because, of course, they'd have to use that, wouldn't they? She'd be watched constantly as well. Not that she couldn't vanish anyway. Penny decided not to make too big a deal out of it. After all, she was the prisoner, it only made sense for the jailers to try and keep tabs on her. It would be a little awkward when she went to the bathroom, but that was just what she had to put up with.

  Denis owed her though. Even if he didn't know it yet.

  When the door opened the atmosphere changed a lot. There was no one waiting for her, but a voice spoke almost instantly.

  "Inmate Cooper, move to cell seven. The door will open in five seconds."

  "Okey-doke." For some reason it came out sounding young and a little bit chipper, which got a soft chuckle from the glass booth at the far end of the rather drab looking gray hallway. One of the doors powered open, making an ominous sound as it did its job. When she got to it she looked in. It was a pretty small space, about five by ten, so not a luxury suite or even econo class. The bunk inside was a gray, slightly shining mattress on a very heavy metal frame. There was a unique looking metal toilet with a water spigot on the top, and pretty much nothing else in the space. The floor was a nice flat cement thing, broken up with cracks as if someone had stomped around with force a few times. Someone a thousand times stronger than she was.

  Not that it would be hard to do, but she certainly wasn't going to break out by force. Not that she'd be trying to do that at all. The space was a little small inside, but not so much so that she really thought claustrophobia would be a vast problem. Still, it wouldn't hurt to fix that.

  "Um, hey, could you leave the door open? I mean, if that isn't against the rules?" It almost had to be, even if she was innocent of what she was there for. Who'd leave the door open on a prisoner's cell?

  There was another chuckle from the back, but a few seconds later a man spoke over the intercom again.

  "All right. Let us know if you plan to leave though. You're on lock down. I'll make a note to leave your cell door open for the next two weeks."

  There was a high pitched groan then, coming from one of the other cells, the one across from hers she thought. Walking in she turned, expecting the door to clank shut with force, teasing her with the whole thing, but it didn't move at all.

  "That's no fair! I'm locked in all the time. Why should that new person get special privileges?" The man's voice was really whiny. Annoyingly so.

  "Ah, I see. This is my real punishment isn't it? Two weeks of putting up with this guy? Does he complain all the time or just when things change?"

  "All the time." This came from the hall, Marcia turning to look at the far cell door. She also raised her voice when she spoke, making certain Clark could hear her. "We should have killed him when we had the chance. Not that a certain invisible woman
couldn't make sure he passed quietly in his sleep one of these nights. Especially with the door left open like this." Then she spun on a heel, walking out while making little "tisking" sounds that no one else would probably notice at all. Penny did find two plastic bags on the floor, those having been the ones she didn't steal personally.

  Penny walked out and got them, just in case the door was about to slam shut on her. Again, it didn't, not even after Marcia left, the elevator door opening very slowly, and then slamming shut the instant she was inside. That was interesting. It meant that if she was ever sneaking out she'd need to go through the door before the person that was leaving did. Otherwise she'd end up chopped in half. Lengthwise.

  That was nifty. The idea got her to smile, even though she really didn't want to try it herself. Penny had to wonder if she'd leave a visible mess or not. Her blood didn't show up when she got hurt or anything, not to anyone except herself, but no one knew if that would hold if she were dead. Or even if everything inside of her was invisible.

  After about three minutes the men in the booth seemed to forget her, but left the door ajar like they'd promised would happen. She consoled herself with a candy bar. There wasn't a lot to do here really. Those books that had been mentioned seemed like a pretty good idea now. It wasn't exactly a good time-fun spot here.

  Which was the point. People in lockup were normally in real trouble. She was there for supposedly planning an assault for instance. That was a real thing. More, she'd claimed that it was all on her orders. That technically made it what... Conspiracy? That would have a normal person in prison for a lot more than two weeks, wouldn't it? More like five to ten years. After all, the men who'd done it all had super-powers. That made it armed assault, even if they didn't use any of their abilities. Like how beating someone with a handgun made it a firearms charge, even if it was only used as a club.

  She decided to avoid that kind of thing in the future if possible. It kind of sucked. She was getting special treatment too. Why though? For a few seconds she nearly just sat and let it go, but there wasn't much to do anyway, was there?

  "Hey, uh, why am I getting the friends and family plan? Not that I'm complaining, just curious." That was too vague, she thought, but the man that spoke sounded pleasant enough when it came.

  "Heh, sorry, forgot you were there. We have orders from the Deputy Director. Give you whatever you want. We have to keep you on camera the whole time, but other than that, carte blanche. Do you want us to pop the door on Clark's cell?"

  There was more chuckling then. Followed by a whining moan.

  "God, they're going to kill me."

  "He can't hear me, can he?" She got the game, or part of it. They were using her to hassle Clark. Probably because they were bored. That made sense, the place was dead and they were IPB Agents. That meant they couldn't just sneak a television in, because their job was to watch Clark all the time. That meant actually paying attention. All the time. It had to be mind numbing and enough to make them want Clark gone for good.

  "Miss Cooper, we haven't given Mr. Clarkson an ear piece, should we?" He seemed interested in that at least.

  "Sure. Why not? I have to listen to him, he might as well have the favor returned."

  Penny just hoped that wouldn't turn out to be a mistake.

  Chapter four

  "Clark... I don't want to seem mean, but have you ever considered that a lot of people here want you dead?" Ok, so she was being a little rough, since, clearly, he had thought about it. A lot. It didn't seem that he got the underlying problem though. "I mean, seriously, it's... you know, if you didn't keep sleeping with Bridget, people might like you a little better. Not much, since you're a whiny bitch of a man, but a little. A tiny bit."

  Normally it would have been too hard to carry on a conversation with a person, but the fact that she couldn't see anyone helped greatly. It was almost like talking to an imaginary friend. One that was twitchy and more than a little annoying at times, but not that bad, once he got the idea that she wasn't really going to kill him that day.

  "It's no use. I mean, a guy like me can't get a lot of... female attention. Everyone acts like it's so easy, and then they compare me to Ichabod Crane or a stork. It's not the same for me as it is for most people. I'm not Prime or something. A funny looking, awkward and tall guy is just a geek in this world. Being Infected just makes it worse. I knew it was wrong when I did it, but..." There was a sigh, or something similar enough to it that Penny couldn't tell the difference even though it had to be a lot louder than normal. Otherwise it wouldn't be audible at all. Not through the four inches of steal or the little grating that allowed the sound to pass through over the meal slot.

  "You aren't that bad Clark. Lots of women could get drunk enough to take a shot at you. Hell, Georgia from Team One would do you just for asking about it. I'm kind of surprised you didn't try there first. She's cute too. Hardly someone to avoid." It wasn't the first time that the thought had occurred to Penny. Her code name was Pixie, but that was only because the IPB didn't think that having a prominent operative named "Nympho" would play well in the bible belt.

  That she was friendly was kind of a given.

  "You'd think, but no. I asked, and she wasn't interested. I wasn't kidding when I said it was hard for a guy like me. Everyone thinks they understand, but almost no one really does." The words weren't smooth or calm, but they didn't have his normal tone either. He was actually being reflective, thinking about things. At least that's what it sounded like to her. "Plus, too late now. I'm not stupid. I know, it's hard to tell. I never should have touched Bridgie. She's a good kid and was willing, but... I knew it was wrong the whole time. It... was kind of like I couldn't help myself. I can't think of a good reason why that was now. I mean, yeah, hell, I wanted to get laid. Who doesn't? But she was, she is, just a girl. I don't sit around thinking about kids or anything, you know? I like women. Adults."

  Pestering him on the issue wasn't really going to do anything good, she could tell that. There was no way she could fix what was wrong with the man, and even if she could, his life was so messed up he couldn't really recover from it. Not there.

  "You should leave Clark. As soon as you can. Just get out and run. It isn't safe out there and..." There was a secret that she'd heard whispered, and didn't know for certain, but more than almost anyone she had access to all the information. The Director had more, but not much, she didn't think. Marcia, of course, but then, spying on her was one of the ways Penny got most of her data. "It... Look, Clark, when you leave... if you do, you can't trust anyone. No one. The government, I can't prove this, but if you go, I think they'll kill you. The same is true for the rest of us too, but you can't afford to stay either."

  This would be picked up on camera, the audio was clear enough that her words would be known, but it had to be said. Clark was right, most likely, someone would kill him if he got out and stayed. They'd go after him if he left. It didn't leave a lot for him to do, did it?

  "Fuck. I mean, that was always the feeling on Team Two, but... we didn't know for certain. No one ever bothered to leave. A couple people talked about it. No one did it. Where would we go? Where will I go? I can't leave. I can't stay. I should just kill myself and save everyone the trouble."

  From the back of the room there was a male voice that came over the speaker. They liked to do that every now and again. It broke up the day. Or the five hours. She hadn't been there long. It wouldn't be bed time for another hour even.

  "Feeling suicidal Mr. Clarkson? Do you need me to call you a counselor? Or, you know, get you some pills, or a razor?"

  "Ha, ha. Very funny Millstone. Like you'd do anything to help me. Penny, if I die tonight, if you aren't really here to kill me, it was probably Millstone here. I'm not planning to kill myself." He went silent then as laughter came over the speaker.

  "Too true, kiddie-diddler. My only regret is that we don't have any big inmates here to rape you a few times a week to teach you not to do that shit. I can get you a
strap-on Penny, if you want? I bet you wouldn't even have much of a fight. Clark's been a little hard up lately, nothing but the hand, you know."

  "Kind of a mean thing to say, don't you think? Clark made a mess of his life, but you being nasty to him won't fix it now. I... don't think it can be fixed. Maybe killing yourself really is your best option? I wish I had something else for you, but I can't see it. Not unless you can figure out how to just get out."

  For some reason saying the words out loud made her feel awful. Of course telling the man that his best bet, in his tiny little gray box of a cell, was to end it all, that couldn't be a smart thing to say. Not when it was all said and done.

  Clark just grunted, "fine, let's change the topic, you gloomy invisible witch. What are you in for? I wouldn't have thought that anyone could actually find out that you've done anything. Not with enough evidence to make a sentence stick."

  Penny was sitting on her bed, a flat and hard thing that seemed to have strips of steel woven through it. They weren't sharp, but she wasn't going to love sleeping on it. There was no blanket or pillow at all either. It was nearly like they wanted her to not sleep at all. Just sitting on it was making her butt hurt. Not as much as Clarks would be if she got that strap-on...

  "Oh, I confessed to having Torque beaten up. He slept with Karen Young. She was dating Brian at the time, you know, Proxy? Anyway, it had to be done. So here I am. Your new girlfriend for two whole weeks."

  Millstone tapped back in.

  "Are you sure that isn't backwards? I wasn't kidding about that strap-on." He laughed. It was kind of funny, in a prison sort of way.

  Penny snorted, "either way. I was out on a mission earlier, so I should get be debriefed on that. Marcia promised to bring me some books too. I have snacks in here, so there's that. We can work out or something, in the morning. Do some sit-ups or whatever. Jog in place."