The Infected: Ripped to Shreds (Book 1): Hush

by Power, P. S.

  So Cin shrugged, which the woman understood easily enough.

  "I really only need to eat every few days. Then I eat a lot, but not every day. This isn't a food day for me, but I'm new, so I tagged along with Bridget. She needs some food. We're going to be setting up a watch for the base here, I think." She knew it, but people didn't talk that way.

  Olga, who was kind of new herself, was actually in the loop, and had been brought up to speed on the whole coup thing. She'd also been cleared. All the Soviets had. No one had even tried to bring Spetnaz Ultima into the whole thing. Some of the agents had been felt out, they thought, which might provide some leads as to who was really behind it all.

  The Team Two second looked at her, and wondered how she could get some of her people on that special team. They were just training and sitting a lot, since things had been really quiet since the conflict had stopped a few months before. There were occasional problems, but her best guess was that Bridget had killed most of the biggest Infected trouble makers, so it would be years before Team Two was really needed. So it was on her to find a place for them.

  Most of them were a little bit low in self-esteem however, and needed regular work to make them feel like they were worth anything. It had been bothering her for days, since most hadn't been able to leave for the holidays, not having anyone in the world that wanted to see them. Like her.

  Cindy could see that, after a fashion.

  "Say, do you have people that can help with that? We need to clear them, for... The thing? I can do that part. My power... I read people? Like books. So I can see if they're with us or not pretty easily. They don't even have to know about that part, if it will bug them." She didn't care that way.

  Neither did Olga it seemed, who was smarter than she looked, and worked it all out, including that Cindy had gotten that info from her. She ate for a few seconds, kind of attacking a mound of coleslaw, then smiled.

  "That would be fine. We can bring nearly thirty, if that will help? Varied skills. Patrols, and searches. You clear all? We should do the rest. Whole base. Bridget is in charge of this?"

  It was the girl that answered, coming from the food line with three large trays of food, stacked high with food. It took super powers for her to manage it, and she'd probably need to go back for more, later.

  Still, she'd heard the whole conversation, so was up on things.

  "Yeppers. We can use the help, and I agree, we need to do our own check of everyone. I'll take Cin around later to meet them all. Oh, um, she's a serial killer, so if you see her killing someone that she isn't supposed to, stop her." She was dead serious, but it came out sounding too playful.

  That threw Olga off. The woman figured that the tiny pretty lady with her golden hair and normal brow ridge was soft and weak. A being incapable of doing more than sitting and talking.

  That was fine with her.

  Bridget started eating, since they had a plan, and Olga finished her own food. Instead of being bored, Cindy started reading people as they came in. The first one that really got her to smile was an all blue man that was staring at her. His story was a bit dull, and of course, all done up in blue, on a different colored light blue background. She smiled anyway, since exciting or not, he just kind of wanted to have sex with her, which was refreshing to see. He was also not in on any kind of plan, even though his power, a force field that protected him from any kind of physical event was pretty strong. Some people couldn't even touch him if he didn't want them to.

  She waved at him, but he looked away, instead of trusting that his natural looks would be enough for any normal looking woman. It was a bit too much of a negative reaction really, given that he was exotic, not ugly. A lot of women wouldn't have had a big problem with the guy in bed for instance, though he didn't really have much luck there, failing to even ask most of the time.

  Then, as Olga had pointed out a lot of the funny looking Infected there really did kind of have low self-esteem. Rather, her story had shown that to Cindy.

  The rest of the people that came, at first, weren't that against the rest of them. Oh, some hated almost everyone, but they weren't trying to take them down to get at Bridget Chambers. It wasn't until a fairly familiar woman came to sit with them, personally, that Cin noticed the first of the people who were actually in on things, coup wise.

  She was the girl from the Infected cooking show. Kerry. One of the incest twins. Not that her and her brother were twins, but they did look a lot alike. Incest could do that, it seemed.

  Her nose was a bit buttonish, and her freckles brighter without all her makeup on, but she wasn't ugly or anything. She was, in fact, fit, and while not a great fighter, she had some skills there. She was also one of the better telekinetics on the planet, and was dating Tobin Peterson, the famous singer. He came to sit down next to them too, holding a lightly filled tray.

  He was right next to Kerry, who was near Bridget, which meant the third in their group, Denis, who had short, but very curly, brown hair moved in next to Cin. He bumped her lightly, doing it, but he'd meant to, trying to cop a feel of her breasts. Worse, he'd missed, but really wanted to have sex with her. With him it wasn't just attraction however. There was a powerful greed involved that ached inside of him for a moment. Then, suddenly, turned off completely. When that happened a single word showed above his head.

  Meditation.

  It was very similar to what Bridget had done to control her own first mode that one time.

  Everyone was kind of curious about her, and were waiting to see if she was new, or perhaps a visitor. A relative of someone or other, slumming by eating with them. Tobin, who wasn't nearly as shy as he used to be, thanks to the treatment he'd gotten from Dr. Burrows, smiled at her. His lips were thin, but almost seemed to split his face in two. He was totally bald, and a mix of green and brown at the moment. His skin had tiny color changing scales all over it, she noticed.

  "Hello! I'm Tobin. This is Kerry, and Denis." He waved in the right places for each of them, but didn't finish with the normal greeting.

  That would involve going over their various powers and first mode, since that kind of thing could come up. You weren't supposed to ask, really, since it could also be personal, so you told people if it were a problem.

  That was news that only Tobin was going over in his story, for some reason. The reason he didn't do it was because they had a lot of new people around and not all of them were Infected. To him she was a pretty woman, like Olga had thought about. Normal and even good looking. That could mean she'd be insulted if he suggested that she was wrong, like the rest of them were. The only reason that he'd come over was because the others had. Olga was right there too, which he realized probably meant that this new woman, whoever she was, might not be all that bothered by him.

  She smiled again, and tried to do it right, the way he was thinking.

  "I'm Cindy. Mableton. Former Research Librarian. My power... I read people. Like books? Their thoughts, hopes, dreams, emotions. Who they are, and were. What they hope to be... That kind of thing. I don't know where they plan to put me really. With Christian Pours? Team Three?" She looked over at Bridget, who nodded, her cheeks puffed out with food.

  They all got that one, and Denis blinked.

  "Okay. So you're powerful, or they wouldn't bother with that. Given what you just said you should be on either Team One or in admin somewhere." The words over his head filled in why that was. She was cute, and not threatening. That worked for Team One, which was pretty much the front piece for all of them. The pretty people that did photo ops.

  Also, Team Three was where the most powerful people were put. For her information power to be at that level meant something. That she was actually considerably more than she seemed. His leg bumped hers, but this time it was actually on accident.

  Out of all of them, it was Kerry who was quietly panicking inside. She'd betrayed them all, or planned to, and while so far Chris hadn't read her mind about it all, not that she'd heard about, she had no clue wh
at this new person might do. Not that she didn't have her reasons. Rage shook her then, or tried too, and she had to fight to keep the table from rising up and smashing Cindy down into a fine red pulp.

  Things had been a lot better before they'd taken all her drugs away. That was why she wanted to help shake things up. Dr. Clinton from medical had promised her drugs, if she helped him protect them all from Impulse. Not that the girl was a bad person, but Kerry needed the downers in order to keep going. There was only one man willing to help her out that way on the base. The stuffy doctor that worked nights.

  Why he wanted to do that didn't make a lot of sense to Kerry, but that wasn't the point. He'd already given her some pills, to help take the edge off her rage. It wasn't enough, but she was holding on. Meditation didn't work for her, even though she'd tried it. Prayer, oddly enough did, but it also brought flashbacks and fear, so she didn't like doing it.

  That story was long and involved, though well written, and almost artistic. It involved Denis, too. Her half brother. They shared the same insane, Infected, father. Or had before he'd been murdered. Neither of them were sad about it, since he'd been a horrible monster.

  She went on, since it was a good distraction.

  "I'm here to get that first mode gene therapy thing. Like you had, Tobin?" The big headed little guy nodded, his mouth full. He had pretty good manners as far as eating, so waited to speak.

  "I don't think any women have tried it yet. I was told that might be dangerous, which is why Kerry hasn't been offered it?" He was about to get mad on her behalf, even though he didn't really know how to get that done yet.

  Cin cleared her throat, and let her hand rise a bit. Like she was in school.

  "I'm a serial killer. It's probably my first mode, since I wasn't like that before. Also a psychopath, but that might have been there all along, just without the killing. So I get a choice of being the first to try this out, or dying. If I live, you can try it next, Kerry."

  That got a slow nod and wide eyes from the other, as Denis swore under his breath.

  "Fuck." Then he looked at her directly, and shook his head. "That thing in Brian's hometown? Those men?"

  "Yeah. You should all be safe enough. Anyway, Denis, you can make people feel anything? So you're in on the guarding of the base with us? And Tobin, you... Sing?" She got how it worked as a power, but had caught a little of it in the news, since it kind of stunned people when he wanted it too. Really it made them see psychedelic lights at the same time, which sounded interesting.

  They both nodded, so she turned to Kerry, and smiled.

  "Kerry... If I can get you more drugs, you'll come back over to our side? We might have to steal them, but that works for me. Like I said, psychopath. I don't care much if I break the rules."

  There were two things that nearly happened then. One of them caught her totally unaware. The first was that Kerry was about to cause her to slam into the ceiling with her mind, and then run for the door. The other was that Denis slammed a sense of pure calm and control over his little sister without hesitation, causing her to not do anything.

  Bridget got it first, her eyes wide.

  "No way. Kerry?" It was easy to see it took her by surprise, but someone had to be in on it.

  Others were looking at them, but only a few understood what it really meant, since most weren't in the loop.

  "She's just in it for the drugs. A, um, Dr. Clinton? Gray hair and glasses? He's been giving her some drugs to help with her first mode. She hasn't done anything for him yet, not even given him a BJ or anything, but she's supposed to be in on the whole thing. The takeover? So, seriously Kerry. I'll get you those drugs, but we need you to work for us. We'll get you the good kind too, and not be too stingy. Are you in?" Not that anyone would be good with that, but Cin didn't really want to know what the ceiling of the place tasted like, given a choice.

  There was a slow, dazed, nod then. The voice that came already sounded drugged.

  "Can you really do that? How?"

  That got a hand to be held up while she tried to work that out. It wasn't that hard really, since Marcia Turner, who didn't like Cindy much, personally, thinking she was a bad investment that would bite them in the ass later, was pretty good with the idea of drugging the fuck out of people that needed it. It was even inside the rules, it just had to go through medical, which was all Clinton was really doing. It was even in the official paperwork, and not the big secret that Kerry had been told.

  As con's went it was a pretty good one, more or less.

  "I have a plan. You'll have the drugs today, from another source... Only... Let's have Clinton keep giving them to you for now, too? That way he won't know what's going on. We need to get with Turner on this." It was hard not to call the woman a bitch, but she was in charge, and that kind of thing got back to people.

  Really, that reminded her that she needed to call Glenda at work, her old job, and quit. Then she had to do all the rest of the things to end her old life. Cancel the phone and all that.

  Everyone was watching her, silently, except Denis, who was still looking at Kerry, though the girl wasn't planning anything really. As long as she had her drugs, it was going to be good with her. That she might be in trouble for betraying the government was a consideration, but not one that seemed real to her. Then, so far she really hadn't done anything. Taking drugs that were, in the end, legal, wasn't a crime. She'd thought it was one, and that she was acting like a crack head, but it wasn't the actual case.

  Bridget stood up, walked away and made a call, which had Turner there at a run, it seemed. A thing which didn't take her long. Three minutes later she was standing by the big table, with Brian not far behind, coming through the door. The only difference was that he was a bit out of breath from his sprint. Marcia wasn't.

  It was, interestingly, Tobin that explained the situation. He wanted to defend his girlfriend, but didn't do anything except repeat what Cindy had said. The words got her glared at by Director Turner, which was nearly funny, but Brian interjected almost instantly.

  "That's right. If you need something, for pain, or to control your mode, you can get it. It just has to be controlled. I think... We should go with Cin's plan for now. Keep this under wraps." Then he looked around, at the fifty or so people in the room with them. It was most of Team Two, and a bit of Team One, though most hadn't heard them talking, since they weren't screaming about the whole thing.

  Those that had were all on their side.

  That she had a side was just common sense. The people in on the coup weren't going to help her out. They couldn't, really. They'd probably just kill her, given a chance. She would have.

  She waved around.

  "The people that heard are with us. You should have a meeting. Maybe five or ten at a time? Then I can go over everyone. Bridget has a plan for that? With Olga?" They'd been talking about it, and Marcia smiled, being happy that her people were stepping up to defend them. It wasn't totally expected. A lot of people in the IPB just sort of marked their time, not having anyplace else to go.

  "Niiice. Good. Keep me informed on this. Is this your team for it?" She waved at the room, as if that made sense. Then again, it kind of did.

  They had people there, and if they were in with the IPB, then there was no need not to use them. Bridget smiled too, and so did Brian. Olga started trying to think about how to really go over everyone there, since it would be needed.

  Her plan was to lock the doors, and do it right then, but that wouldn't work, since people would need food that weren't there yet. What they really needed was for the people that understood what was happening to come and talk to them first, close up. In case Cindy had a limited range.

  She really didn't, or so it seemed. Still, the easy thing to do was wave people over, even if she didn't know them.

  "Hey! If you can hear this, come on down!" She whispered the words, which got about seven bodies to move toward them. Olga laughed.

  "Ha! Good plan. Yes, come."

 
; It took a minute and two of them had to be waved over, given they didn't want to get involved. Cin didn't blame them, but they were able to finish eating, and then, at the end of the meal, Olga led them all into a little conference space that was hidden off to the right.

  Then, without saying anything, feeling embarrassed, she waved at Bridget, who turned and looked at Cindy. Marcia and Brian were still there, but weren't saying anything. The goal wasn't about letting, or making, the new girl do all the work. Impulse just wanted to ensure that she was ready to go.

  Nodding, she started reading. It was a lot of people, but having just the one theme it wasn't too hard to go over it all again, searching for any kind of gap, or loophole that might let a person escape notice.

  Kerry wasn't in the room with them, having stayed with Tobin and her brother.

  She was a bad guy though, so it made some sense to everyone that she not be in on the planning.

  Bridget smiled at them all, twitching a bit.

  "There's a coup coming. Some of our own people are in on it. They, whoever they are, can't take me down, so they're going after the leadership here. We probably won't like who they put in after that, so... Are you in with us or not? If you aren't, let me know now. We can keep you out of the cool planning sessions." There was no real threat, but if anyone had said they weren't with them, Bridget was planning to kill them.

  Luckily that didn't come up. It would have made a mess, after all.

  The place was really tidy otherwise, so it would be noticed.

  That no one died left her feeling a little sad, but Cin knew that she'd get over it. Eventually.

  Chapter eight

  It was a lot harder to get through everyone on the base than it seemed like it should have been to start with. They had about five hundred people there in all, but a lot of the IPB members were actually off at remote bases around the country. That part had been Brian's brilliant idea to keep them from all being killed at one time. Which, Cin had to admit, was probably a good one, even if it made her life harder at the moment.