The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  Then, as if realizing that he wasn't very good with small talk that involved women, or even other people, she changed the topic.

  "As for the other thing..." She actually made a point of looking around carefully, for cameras or people listening. When she was relatively certain that no one was, she leaned in her mouth almost on his small, still green, left ear. "We have a project. Team One does. We've gotten some land, and are fortifying it, as a secondary base. I can't say where, because it's a secret, but we have room for everyone in the IPB. Even the Agents. You seemed concerned about Bridget and her starving, but we've all been putting our money towards it. I didn't know that anyone from Team Two would be all that concerned."

  That was almost stupid of her, and Tobin decided not to spare her feelings too much, even if it meant not getting that promised sex. Of course it came out sounding soft and gentle, since he was whispering back into her ear, his lips almost on her skin. It was hard to think about anything else and his body was already responding, since her power was waking up a little.

  "Why? If a war comes, we're the ones that can't easily hide. I can't go out in public now, without a team of people to watch my back. I couldn't before either, before the tour. It isn't fame, just about how I look. Most of Team Two is distinctive and only about ten of us... Of them, can hide at all. Most of us just figure that it will go into a battle and we'll fight until we can't anymore." It was the consensus at least. They didn't have the resources to do anything else.

  Unless Georgia was being honest and Team One actually had their backs?

  She moved closer to him, her body touching his warmly. It was nice and more than that, felt like they were already doing something a lot more adult than he'd ever imagined without being locked in a shower stall.

  "So, do you think that they'll help? Team One, we have some powerful people, but none of us are really fighters. I mean, half of us tried to just hold Proxy back once and he nearly kicked our team's collective butt. He's better at fighting now too. Prime is OK, and so is Shiva. Sure Shot is good, but other than his aim and ability to calculate ballistics, he's a normal person. Snow Queen is basically a walk in freezer. I mean that too. If you want to have sex with her, bundle up the boys, if you know what I mean. Lady Glory... Well, you've worked with her." She tilted her head as if to say you know how that goes. The thing there was that he really did.

  She was powerful enough, but blasting enemy forces with feelings of love and compassion only did so much in a real fight. Even his singing was more effective that way and he was low powered. He could throw down unarmed and even shoot weapons, but it wasn't the same as some of the people.

  "You have Jason and Marcia. Bridget too. I think she's probably the most dangerous person alive right now. At least in a regular fight. People forget that, since she's so little and cute, but... don't. If the first move the government makes isn't trying to take her out of action, they're fools." He meant it, having seen her train, but Georgia seemed to think he was being kind to the girl. At least that's what he thought her facial expression meant.

  "The other new kids are both powerful enough, but soft. Worse than me and my power just has people stopping to screw. Doug can't get angry, or annoyed. Jealous either, which makes him about perfect boyfriend material for me, if I can work that out. Jess is... Well, she's hot. We should protect her, if we can."

  Then, as if she were hungry still she moved on him, her lips moving to his, and then, almost as if she were possessed, they did a lot more than that, right there by the little stream, for a lot longer than he thought it would take normally. People in movies made jokes about things being too fast the first time, taking minutes or even less. They were just finishing an hour and a half later.

  Georgia purred at him.

  "That was fun! We should get together often for it. Say every other day? That will leave you time for a girlfriend or two." She was kidding, but he managed a response feeling bold for some reason. It was enough that he looked around to make certain that Denis wasn't there, staring at them, since they were both still naked.

  "That sounds good. I need more practice anyway."

  Then, smiling and laughing a bit, they got dressed, packed everything back up, including the used condoms, and headed back, with Georgia touching him about every minute or so, as if to reassure herself. That or him. Either way it worked and he felt comfortable when they got back to the base, even though there was yelling in the front lobby.

  At him. It was Charlot Chamber's and she was clearly not happy with him.

  "You!" She ran across the large marble stone floor, past the fountain with the fish in it, and actually made a fist with her right hand, which started to glow white, in a menacing fashion. For a second he figured that she thought he'd spent the night with her daughter, but she stopped and caught her breath before speaking. She was still mad however, that came across without the use of powers even. "You have a photo shoot in ten minutes and you aren't dressed at all! It's your job young man and if you won't do it, we can find someone else that will!"

  Then she glared at Georgia.

  "You, Trampy McGee, I don't need a map to get what you were doing, making him late on his first real day of work! I don't care who you sleep with, but from now on I expect you to make sure that your fellow team members aren't so distracted that they can't make their schedules!" She almost screamed this last bit, and then pulled on Tobin's arm, hard, taking him away to the elevator, leaving a shocked Pixie standing there, with several reporters nearby, taking pictures of her.

  Once they got into the small box, Mrs. Chambers hit the button for the floor below them, and laughed.

  "Sorry Tobin, you aren't late. I just realized what you two had to be out doing that and, well, Karen and Georgia got caught a few months ago. Just Karen coming out of her room in the morning, but it won't hurt to link you two in the press. Throw in some confusion. Women have friends and even sleep over occasionally, but that isn't a wholesome combination, those two. It looks bad, even if it's totally innocent."

  "Oh. OK. So you aren't going to blast me through the front windows?"

  That got him a pat on the back, which she let linger for a while.

  "Not today at least. Just a word of warning, I will if you show up late for real. I don't make the schedules for my health after all. Now, we need to get something for you to wear. Bridget was in running up the design for it this morning. Her father was half panicked, thinking that she was off sleeping with you. That's saying something you know. Of all the men here that she might try to seduce, his mind went instantly to you."

  "But what does it say?" He thought that the words were too low for her to hear, but she giggled a bit, like a girl. It didn't fit her face or the frown lines there, but it was better than being yelled at.

  "I think it says that he thinks of you as a rival and true peer. That's very rare for Scott. Most of the time he just assumes that everyone else is below him, at least in social standing. He isn't foolish after all. He knows that Brian can beat him in a fight and that you're a better singer than he can ever be. He simply thinks that those things balance the equation out, so that you're like he is." She let her hand move a little lower. It wasn't so much that he blushed, but it wasn't motherly either. "He isn't wrong."

  When the door opened he felt both a sense of sadness and a bit of relief. He really didn't want Prime to think he was hitting on his wife, or the other way around, if it could be helped. The man might, apparently, look the other way in regards to his daughter, but his wife? That probably wasn't happening.

  "This door leads to where the magic happens." It was closed, and looked like a plain enough thing, made of plain wood and with a handle that seemed about right for a supply closet. When it was pulled open he saw the back of a woman, one with black hair that hung back, who was topless, with another woman doing something to her breasts. They looked nice, from what he could see of them. The other woman looked up and didn't seem concerned, but kept dabbing at the lady in the chair's chest.r />
  "Just a bit, sorry, running late. I have that outfit for you, Mr. Peterson."

  The words did cause something like magic, making the woman in the chair vanish totally. It took a second, but he got the idea. Penny was having her skin dyed, so that she could be visible part of the time. That she was being done all over... That probably meant that she was going to be dating soon. If she wasn't already. Otherwise they would have just done her hands, face and neck.

  It was a bit of a shock to him, but he didn't feel jealous about it. Even if he did kind of like her. She was a good person and deserved to have someone in her life.

  "Sorry Penny. I'll wait in the hall." He was a brilliant green again, and that got Charlot to make a face. After she pulled the door shut. It wasn't a pleasant thing, but that was the woman on the best of days, so he tried not to take it personally.

  "Oops. Well, she's rather more nicely appointed than I thought. Clari will be out with your outfit in a bit. I want her to look at you as far as makeup goes as well."

  She didn't have to wait long, the door opening just as she finished talking, with the thin woman that did everyone's makeup coming out, carrying a white clothing box in her hand.

  "We'd invite you in, but the rest of this will be hard enough for her without an audience." She stared at him and then nodded. "Makeup isn't needed. He has flawless skin. Look at this Char." She ran her fingers over his face in a way that would have made him love her a bit, if he hadn't just been with Georgia, who'd showed that this kind of thing was pretty normal, for most people. At least ones like Clari, who put dye on his friend's breast like that. Still, he was willing to bet the woman was friends with a lot of people on the base.

  Charlot took a turn too and then nodded.

  "Perfect, but we need to control his color. He keeps turning green. I was thinking that we'd save that look for the teen magazines and go with all black for today."

  The other woman nodded along, but didn't offer to make the changes. Instead she held the plain white cardboard clothing box out.

  "One costume. Don't worry Mr. Peterson, Charlot doesn't really want to be a demanding bitch, she just can't help it. You look good. If anything we should get you in as many colors and shades as possible, not have you go all dark and broody right off the bat."

  Closing his eyes, he focused, trying to forget that anyone else was there at all, it took a while but he settled into a nice black and dark brown. That got the makeup lady to smile at least.

  "See Char? Not a problem. Don't push him. It's his first day, and this is only for some posters. Let him actually have fun with it."

  Which seemed to be the plan, right after he was shoved into a real supply closet, and told to change. The all black outfit was kind of cool looking. A bit sci-fi, with a lot of pockets and being tight to his body, while letting him have almost a full range of motion. There was body armor built in, on the chest and thighs, which would look like fake muscles, he knew. When he came out he was ready for laughter, but Charlot just smiled, and even tried to make it seem real.

  "Not bad. Now, let's get into the room. The others will probably be waiting for us."

  That was the case, though he'd only been expecting to find Doug, Bridget and Jess. Instead, it was all of Team One. There were fifteen of them, and while it didn't fill the room too much, he hadn't really expected that. He knew who everyone was, naturally, since he'd been around longer than most, but given everything they hadn't exactly spent a lot of time chatting.

  The various teams didn't really.

  He was put in the front, next to Bridget at first, and then they broke into different groups for pictures while the rest watched and talked quietly. There was a set of him with Bridget, in which they took a lot of poses, including ones with their arms around each other. It wasn't naughty, but the photographer rolled his eyes after a while.

  "Try kissing."

  That got Bridget to open with a salvo of things that were probably illegal, until the man clarified, about twenty shots later.

  "Or, you know, on the cheek? This is meant to go on tween girls' walls you know. Get too racy and their parents won't buy them." That got a chuckle from the room, but Tobin ended up with almost everyone at one point or another, several of them alone.

  Debbie, who was codenamed Snow Queen, actually spread a chill from herself the whole time. It was bad enough that on their breaks she had to drink her handmade soda quickly, so that it wouldn't turn to solid ice. She was pretty however and looked like her name implied. Tall, blonde and pale.

  Shiva was a man, even if the name was wrong, and Sure Shot was a guy named Mickey that seemed to have joy as his first mode. He was really nice.

  "Welcome to the team! We should all get together soon and chat." It was so genuine sounding that everyone nodded. Most of the people on the first team were actually pretty nice. He was kind of shy and they mainly knew enough not to push him that way. Prime did a bit, insisting that they do a few pictures together too.

  "After all, we're practically identical." It should have been an insult and a lot of people in the room took it that way, but Tobin didn't. The man really seemed to mean it. Yes, it was clearly insane, as well as wrong, but it was like he just didn't see what everyone else did, or something.

  Like his world was better, cleaner and everyone was friendlier than they seemed to the rest of them.

  Tobin grinned back, nodding.

  "Separated at birth."

  For some reason that got the golden man to make a face, and go very still for a bit. Then he shrugged.

  "I don't think so, but... Well, it might not be impossible. We should check the DNA scans in medical." Again, people glared at him a bit, but he seemed to be serious. In fact as soon as the shoot was done, which took way too long to be fun anymore, he waved for Tobin to follow and went to the tenth floor directly, to see to that idea. He actually went all the way to the front desk and waved at the pretty Asian Doctor. Burrows.

  "Kiko! Could you check and see if Mr. Peterson and I are related?" It was just said as if it was so obvious that it was nearly certain. Instead of mocking the man, which seemed like the natural response, the lady Doctor went to a computer and started tapping and clicking with the mouse.

  "Sure, let's bring the samples up for comparison... Here." Then the woman stared and didn't break away from the screen, a nice flat one that was large enough you could watch television on it. Whatever she saw in the strange lines of gray in front of her earned a big frown, one that turned into a questioning look with a furrowed brow. Then without explaining she hit more buttons, and worked a different visual up.

  "Well... crap on a stick. That is not what I expected at all." She had a Japanese accent, but looked at the screen for a while longer. Not explaining. Finally she looked at Prime and smiled. "He is not directly related to you. I noticed some other things though, so..." She made a purse with her lips, and stopped talking altogether.

  After a while she waved at him.

  "Go away. Both of you. I need to look into some things. It won't take long, but..."

  Then she went to work and waited for them to walk away picking up the phone as they got to the door. Her face was not happy.

  "Well, it was worth checking. I wonder what she found?"

  They were DNA test results not x-rays, so it wouldn't be cancer or anything. Tobin didn't think. Really he didn't have a clue as to what might be going on. It could have been anything almost. Instead of worrying too much he decided to get to dinner, dressing in the new suit that was hanging up inside his closet, which was all white and had a note for him to try it on for the meal, so he didn't save it for another occasion. It had a clip on tie, which was white as well, and looked like a bow. He'd have to be very careful, eating in it, he thought, walking in the black, perfectly fitting shoes that were there with it, hoping he wasn't going to embarrass himself.

  At the door his reception was still a bit cool, the woman there, who looked about forty, staring at him nervously as he walked up.
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br />   "Table for one?" She was polite at least, so he nodded, knowing that no one was really expecting him. Except that he was waved over by Mark, who was busily writing and sitting next to Kerry and Denis, who had his hand wrapped. The left one.

  "Over here!" It was a happy sound and got the hostess to smile nervously again, her face pleasant enough. Professional. "Tobin, we haven't ordered yet. Just doing some last minute holiday special related things. You can help."

  They moved a chair around for him and a place setting, a rather nice one, showed up, along with a waiter, who took their orders, looking at Mark first.

  "I'll have the lamb, with broiled potatoes and asparagus." It sounded like a very plain meal to him, but Tobin decided to play it safe and get whitefish with a rice pilaf. It sounded sophisticated, and like it would taste good. Oh, he could eat asparagus, but he didn't really enjoy it.

  The show related stuff was all about food, but he did get to add the thing about Prime learning to sing for the show.

  "I don't know how he'll do in the time we have, but it's worth trying. If he keeps at it he can be pretty good I think. Eventually."

  It was strange, but everyone acted like the man was being pushy, trying to learn something new. That was silly, and Tobin was about to mention it when Kerry sighed.

  "I was accosted by Charlot Chambers earlier. For like the seventh time in the last week. Apparently I need to get a boyfriend. That or come out, and admit I'm a lesbian and start dating a girl. Otherwise everyone is going to say that Denis and I are a sick, back country couple. I swear... your dad's a sick child molesting creep and everyone thinks that means you just can't wait for the family reunion, in the wrong way." She didn't seem to think that the odds of her getting someone in time were all that good. It sort of made sense, if she forgot that she had all of Team Two to choose from.

  Then, really, the women there outnumbered the men, and while not everyone had someone, most of the good ones sort of did, didn't they? It meant that there were always way more women that needed guys than the other way around really. That was probably because men had a harder time in general, when they were Infected. The authorities would harass women that were, but they most often tried to kill the men. That meant that most would fight, or run, and the attrition rate was really high. A woman with a good first mode might just make friends, if she weren't too odd looking though, and that could make a big difference.