The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  That said they waited calmly enough and then moved in, exactly as planned. Or, perhaps not totally, since Tobin was actually tagged by Hobbs, who managed to walk through his singing effect, using force of will. That meant he had to stop and was captured, so he went peacefully.

  One by one they were picked off and put in a "holding cell", which was just a square made of cardboard boxes in the lobby. The "flag" was just sitting right behind it, not hidden well at all. Lancaster rolled his eyes when he noticed that, but didn't comment.

  When Doctor Kern was caught and put in with them, the exercise seemed to be over. That was when, very naturally, Jan walked over with her cart of treats, and set it up right by the flag.

  "So was this the goal? Or did you use a decoy flag to throw them off?" She just walked past Bridget and Rachel and picked the towel up, it had "Flag" written on it in paint and seemed to be the right thing.

  Bridget grinned.

  "That's the one!"

  Then the woman went wide eyed, and carried it back to her cart.

  "Wow, then, you all just lost? How embarrassing for you."

  It took them all a while to catch on.

  Chapter seven

  The next day, early, Tobin and Kerry were woken up by pounding on the door, since that seemed to be the way it happened on Team One. Sure, Team Two as well, but only in an emergency. It didn't happen often, but both of them sat up in the dark, panting a bit, and Tobin scurried to the door in the other room. It wasn't Prime there this time, but Mark again.

  "Hey. We leave in an hour." He stood there for a second and Tobin figured out that he might not be up on the new sleeping arrangements. Sure, he'd been there for the decision, where Kerry and he were dating, but that could have been a lot more fake than it seemed to be.

  "Kerry and I will be ready. Do we meet at the tarmac?"

  Mark didn't seem shocked, but did skitter in place, which meant that he'd lost control and come back several times in a row. Probably from surprise. Then he simply smiled, like he normally did.

  "Great. The plane is going to be ready by seven."

  That meant they had to hurry, but not so much they couldn't do some fun things in the shower. It was really nice and Kerry seemed to think it was fun, even if he did look like him. Tobin was willing to go along with the idea that some women thought he was cute, and that he wasn't threatening, which to someone like his new girlfriend probably made him just about perfect. She could say no to him, and he wouldn't even be able to pressure her really. It was very safe that way.

  She didn't say no to anything, or at least hadn't yet, but that might fade with time. It seemed like what most people did at least.

  They were on the plane, with everything loaded, well before most of the others made it. Rachel and Bridget came in with Charlot and Prime. They were leaving on Christian Poures' jet, which was very nice, looking like it belonged to someone with perfect taste and the money to back that up, done in cream and gold colors. The seats were real leather even, he thought. They only had seating for ten though, and that meant it was strange that one of them was Chris herself. She was with Mark, but normally didn't bother leaving the base. Denis and Warren came in at about the same time, and so did Brian, though he looked like he hadn't had much sleep at all.

  Prime stood and put his hand out, to stop Proxy it seemed.

  "You can't go without medical support. Unless... are you getting a free period?"

  He shook his head.

  "Not really. It shouldn't be too bad, but I won't turn down anyone keeping a first aid kit handy." Then he moved past the larger man, his eyes looking hard, daring Scott to say something else, it looked like. The man didn't, just smiling instead.

  "Well, we can do that. Does the plane have one? We should run in and get something from the base." He started to get up to do that, but Bridget rolled her eyes.

  "I have one already. It's with the luggage up front." Because, Tobin knew, it actually made perfect sense for her to be the one to have thought of that.

  The trip itself was a sleepy one, thanks to the night exercise, and Tobin managed to doze a little, sitting next to Kerry. It wasn't a long trip, and they didn't need to land for refueling. That meant they were in place two hours later, being picked up from the airport by three limos.

  That got a soft snarl from Brian.

  "Way to save the money Alan. We better not run short because of this."

  Christian seemed more understanding of it at least.

  "Part of the cost of doing business. You have two dozen celebrities coming in for this, donating their time. If they aren't given at least a few perks, they'll feel abused. They probably will anyway, since only about half of them are worth dealing with at all. So there will be nice cars, trailers, and craft services to see no one gets too cranky from hunger."

  Proxy looked at her as she climbed into his car with Denis, "there better not be. We have something like ten famous chefs working on it. If they can't keep people fed, there will be public shaming."

  Then Tobin had to load his things into the back of his car. There were three vehicles, but the names on the signs the drivers had were Mark's, Brian's and his, as if he were important enough for that kind of thing yet. Maybe at a concert, but for this? It seemed more than a bit off.

  When they got to where they were staying, about forty minutes later, wasn't a hotel, like Tobin had expected, but a row of trailers that had been lined up three deep. They were met with a man that had a clipboard, Alan Brown, and Glen Gillis. Also by several assistants that all had headphones on, so they could talk to each other.

  There were nervous smiles all around, except from Glen, who just started shaking hands.

  "Good to see you all, thanks so much for joining us. You're the first ones in, so this is our reaction test. You don't get hotels and hookers, just some cots and dried bread. Crumbs really, we didn't book anything better." He stood tall and had a smile on his face that seemed playful and charming, but the tone was off for a real joke.

  Alan, who was the more nicely dressed one winced and looked at the famous actor, and then nodded.

  "Yeah? We're really trying to save money. It was this, or not having special effects..."

  Prime walked forward, smiling hugely, a large hand going out to each of the men, but ignoring the scared looking people behind them.

  "I'm sure this will be fine! No one will complain about it, I'm certain. Not given how important this is." He seemed to really mean it, but he did that with almost everything he said, so it was hard to tell.

  Tobin shrugged and spoke softly.

  "Seems good."

  That got everyone in agreement, even after Alan cleared his throat.

  "One more tiny thing, not anything important, but... you all kind of have to share? Three to a unit, or we won't have enough room." The man truly looked like he was about to be beaten, and hunched in on himself. Since he was on television for a living, it was probably fake. That, or he figured the Infected were going to really hurt him.

  That meant, for everything to work, they didn't get to be in with their loved ones in every case. Tobin was in with Denis and Warren for instance. On the good side it was Denis that suggested that set up. Charlot, Rachel and Bridget were together too. Tobin didn't get who was with whom else, but trusted everyone there with his girlfriend. They were good people.

  They all set their things inside the fairly small things, and then met back outside, with Glen standing there beaming at them all.

  "Well I'll be tickled. Alan figured that it would be a three hour shouting match with half the first group taking off. I figured it would be all of you, except Brian. We should have known better. It isn't going to be as pretty when everyone else gets in. Not at all."

  That got Christian to step forward, smiling.

  "True. We can do a bit to smooth ruffled feathers, but that may not be enough. When is the next batch in?"

  Alan looked at his clip board and tapped it with a nice silver pen. It was clearly not so
mething being issued to everyone.

  "The next set is at one in the afternoon. Chef Bristol and his team. Followed by Martin Hess, and Sandra Tines. After that it will get really heavy. I don't suppose anyone wants to help put together some snacks? I wasn't kidding about not having this catered."

  Brian smiled, his eyes cold looking and fierce.

  "That's good. Can we afford food?"

  "Oh, sure, but we need to hit up the local grocery and my cousin isn't going to let us use the limos for that."

  They actually set to work right away, with half of them doing that, and the others working on a rough schedule for the program itself. Tobin was a bit shocked to find out that he was actually in on the planning for that, on music and dancing with Glen, since he was, as the man told him, smiling, his assistant. That had been mentioned before, but now it seemed real.

  "Which means, given everything, that you should get me a coffee. Black, since I'm a kind, and thoughtful boss. Not demanding or petty at all. Oh, also a cute blonde woman, if you happen by one?" He was kidding, but there was a machine going so he jogged over and got a paper cup of it and a lid, since they had them. It didn't smell that great, but it was a rare coffee blend that really did, to him.

  Glen laughed when he brought it back.

  "I..." He sipped the thing and didn't make a face. "Am going to enjoy working with you, Tobin. So, most of this will probably be taken up with recipes I hear. We can put songs in the background for those. Did you get a chance to go over the music I sent? I was thinking a few different voices for them. You're going to have a lot, but we need some women and different men in there too, or else why have all these other people involved?"

  It was a decent idea, and they started working with the others as to when the songs would be needed. For all the crying poor, they actually had a sound studio, and a full week to use it. The operator was hardly being paid for his work, but the man and his staff were famous. At least in the industry. For all they were possibly going to have to send people to panhandle in front of the store for food money, almost everyone involved sort of was. Even the production assistants were people that had worked on some of the biggest shows before.

  That was why they were all so nervous, Tobin figured out about four in the afternoon. They'd realized what was coming. It was very smart of them, though they failed to protect themselves very well really. That meant that when one of the actors, who was actually really famous at the moment, hit one of the women, slapping her several times, Proxy nearly killed the man. It happened so fast that only Bridget getting there first, and holding him back physically, stopped it from taking place.

  Mainly. Warren, of all people, jumped in and grabbed the man, who was clearly on some kind of drug. He started hitting the chef, and that did not go over well, since the skinny man worked at the IPB. That meant he'd been getting training, for the last several months. After all, he kept getting into fights with people that had powers, so he needed the edge it gave him. That made him seem like a hot head, but it wasn't the truth. He just wouldn't stand around while a person was in trouble. Powers or not.

  In this case that was most likely Wayne Burgess. After all, if he'd been trying to fight with Proxy at that moment, he would have just died.

  After a few minutes of decently sound beating, the man stopped.

  "Fuck! Fuck! What the crap? I just want a decent room, not to have some queer kick my ass."

  Tobin nodded.

  "But you get a tiny shared trailer. As for that... little scuffle, it was hardly a beating. That wouldn't even count as good training for most of us. Don't hit our people, and it won't happen again. Now, what are you doing for the show?" He didn't sound mean, but he was angry with the man, and kind of hoped he quit. Instead the guy stood up, shakily and made a sour face.

  "Just some background stuff. Playing a villager in 'The Christmas Carol' that kind of thing."

  "Oh? Fine, well for now I want you to get with Bridget, and see about cleaning up the parking lot. It isn't bad, but we should leave it better than we found it."

  The man glared at him, but still didn't leave.

  "Fuck. Fuck!" He said it for a while then glanced at Bridget, looking at her shirt. "So I go with Debbie Danger here?" It was the character on her front, though there was no name to go with it. That probably meant the man watched children's cartoons.

  She brought her chin up and took a fist on hips power stance.

  "That's right, Nocturne. Let's get to it before they realize that each of these things has to have their bathrooms emptied regularly. Chemical toilets... Blech." She wrinkled her nose cutely, and pointed toward the parking area, which got the man to follow her for some bizarre reason. It was probably the drugs.

  Well, he wouldn't hurt her, not if Warren could kick his butt that easily.

  Everyone was looking at him funny, but no one said anything, and Glen Gillis just nodded. Then they were needed to help keep the rest of the soft, whining celebrities that came in line. Or most of them.

  One of them, a girl that was about his own age just picked up her bag and carried it herself, only having the one.

  "Y'all got us the space, and the people to put it together. I recon we can handle the rest. This way?" She nodded in the right direction, so Tobin walked with her. She was one of the few that hadn't brought their own staff with them. Of course, she was a singer, like he was, only Country, not Pop.

  Haley Rogers.

  "Hey, you're Tobin Peterson, aren't you? We should get together and work up a duet album." Then she winked. "I bet you get that all the time, don'cha? People wanting to work with you?"

  Tobin nodded somberly.

  "All the time. Mainly in the gym, since my reach isn't as long as most of the others. I'd like that though, if you have time? You have a very nice voice. Do you want to do Country?"

  That got her to smile big and start a conversation, as well as getting her an audition for a solo in the show. Glen had never heard of her at all, and she just barely recognized the man, but still had the part five minutes later. She was good, after all.

  It went on like that for a while and only a few people just left and to be fair, spoiled or not, half of them were smiling and just saying that they'd go and pay for their own rooms, and drivers to get them back and forth. A few left, seeming really angry, but only until Roxy got there. Then that stopped fast.

  Her voice was distinctive, telling the world that she was from the Bronx and not ashamed of it at all. In fact, given the stress she always put on it, the heavyset lady with her broad and very white face had to be faking at least part of it on purpose.

  "Bunch of whiners! We came to work, not complain about things. Now, where do you need me?" Her voice carried, but from that point on, she handled everyone that came in, and no one dared to say anything about it. Not even when they were set to work cleaning or making food. Of course half of them came in to find that Wayne Burgess was apparently the janitor for the shoot, which changed more than a few perceptions pretty fast. After all, the guy had gotten so much money for his last movie that no one would even publish an actual amount.

  When it was time to eat, they all had to share some large indoor tables and the food, while not bad at all, was treated like it had cooties. Tobin didn't know what those were, but Mark explained that for him.

  "You know, the special germs that little boys and girls have that will do some kind of unmentionable damage to the other species?"

  It was like they were all insulted or something, but that wasn't really the case. They just wanted to take over and prove that they, personally, were the best. Tobin had thought that was what the food on the special was for, but no, it was going to invade all areas of their lives.

  Luckily, no one died or set anything on fire during the night, waiting until early in the morning for that. From the spread of the flames and the fiery missile that followed it, Tobin figured it was a Molotov cocktail. It actually wasn't however, being slower burning than that. He started singing loudly, and
walked carefully to the edge of the fenced area, where too men and a woman, all dressed in black that made them easier to see this early in the day, after dawn had broken, rather than harder, all just sat, one of them with a burning, oil soaked rag...

  Tucked into a smoking glass jar of coconut oil. He knew that to be the case, because he could smell it. Taking a few seconds he kicked the glass jar from the man's hand, he sighed, which broke the song, causing all of the sitting people to yell and writhe in pain.

  "Oops. Sorry, distracted by the flames you set." There was a long wait before people came boiling out after him, several of them armed, one of whom was Wayne, the Nocturne. It had been a good movie series, about a regular man that used his advanced martial arts skills to defeat gangs of Infected that terrorized his city. Right now he was using a gun, which he held nervously on the people who were still on the ground.

  "We should call the police, they tried to kill us!" There was real fear in his words, but the voice from behind him was relaxed enough.

  "I doubt that. The oil has already burnt out. It makes a lot of smoke, but isn't very effective. They don't have any signs or TCC badges. Did they say anything Tobin?"

  "Nah. They just sat there." And cried out in pain, but he didn't mention that part. The others had probably understood what it meant, at least the IPB people.

  The actor was jittery and looked about ready to kill some already downed attackers, but also more sober and in control than the night before. It was a good sign.

  "Wayne... could you step back and point the gun at the ground? If they move, shoot them, of course, but until then, we don't really need to." This came from Brian, and sounded so threatening that Tobin almost couldn't credit the words.