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

by Power, P. S.

  She sounded wary, and not exactly certain that she was right, but there was a slow, soft, nod from Bridget.

  "I know. I know that I need to let it go... But I can't. It's too hard." Then she held up her right hand. "I've heard all the arguments. That I need to rise above things. That they did it to try and protect me. None of it is good enough. Not even a little bit. Lauren helped make everyone think that my dad and I were having sex. That I was too stupid, or impulsive, to just say no. Even if I could forgive them all, that doesn't mean I should. No one even apologized to me for being wrong and thinking I was doing that kind of thing. I know that I'm supposed to be bigger than that, but I'm not. Plus, right now I don't know that we should be the big ones here. She, Lauren, did it. She betrayed us all. That's treason, right? She should at least have a trial for that."

  The words weren't smug. They weren't even harsh at the end. The thing there was that both Marcia and Bridget knew that Lauren really did betray them, and the country, since they were a federal agency. Given that, and the anti-Infected sentiment the world still had, she would be found guilty of it too. Then sentenced to death.

  It would all be legal, and above board. Maybe even earned.

  That happening would also weaken the IPB, and probably hurt Bridget a lot more than it seemed like it possibly could.

  Marcia thought that was the case, and while Bridget didn't, not in any kind of conscious format, her inner self was all over the idea, and already felt bad about it. The whole thing was silly to Cindy, but everyone else in the room had an opinion on it. Kerry wanted Lauren to live, since she was as guilty of wrongdoing herself. Worse, the large armored woman had done it trying to be loved. To make the loneliness go away for a bit.

  The whole thing got Cin to sigh.

  "This was a first mode deal. I heard that you don't punish people for those directly, do you? I mean, isn't that why I basically get a second chance? I clearly don't deserve one. Not by anyone's way of looking at things. I killed those men, and I don't feel bad about it in the slightest. But first mode, so I get cut slack. Should she get less than that?" It was just a question, and Cindy didn't really care, one way or the other, as long as it didn't have her killed out of hand.

  Bridget turned on her, and scowled, then shook her little head. The move was too big, and made it seem like a joke. No one was smiling, however.

  Instead she just let tears form in her eyes.

  "It's always let it go. Let it go. People keep saying that I'm dangerous and that I have to prove I'm not, but no one else has to prove shit, do they? No one has to be sorry for hurting me, do they? You'll always just let them walk." There was misery in the words, not heat, or anger. Like it was simply reality, and nothing she could do would ever change it.

  Worse, it was kind of clear that everyone else there was really thinking that it was pretty much true.

  Cindy shook her head though.

  "I wish I could tell you that life was different than that. It probably isn't. Not really. We have to all get by, as best we can. It normally isn't fair, or balanced. Things happen, and you do what you think is right for you, until someone stops you from doing it. The problem there is that no one can really stop you, not that people know about, and that scares them. Lauren is the same way. She's got to be close to being one of the only beings that people thought could stop you in a fight. That would be why they recruited her, I bet. Then, when it happened you nearly killed her, inside a minute. That's why we need you to march in there, get her out of trouble, and then get Kerry to fix her arm. It needs to look like it's all your plan, too. That you're the one making sure it gets done. Because otherwise even people that like you will become afraid. It will look like you aren't in control, and that won't play well."

  It was just common sense, but everyone else there was looking at the small girl like bombs of wisdom had been heaped upon her, and they were afraid she might not get it. Not until it was too late.

  Bridget Chambers worked it all out in her head however, and did so a lot faster than anyone else there, other than Hush, would ever know. She still wasn't going to be a Lauren fan, but she got the idea, and started to nod. Slowly at first, then faster.

  "Fine. I can do the PR thing. I expect real apologies from people though. It's been too long. I swear, if I don't get them, in writing, then..." What she was planning wasn't spoken out loud, but the guess that the others have, which invovled a tiny girl meltdown, didn't do justice to what she was actually thinking.

  That was all about death and mayhem on a level that few there would survive, if she had to bring it to bear. Worse, the whole thing with Prime having supposedly abused her was going to hit the air again soon. That would probably mean that some news people were going to die, if they didn't keep their mouths shut. Bridget had plans for that. It might mean losing her entire world, but she was ready. Things had been sitting too long already.

  Her mind was on fire with the possibilities. None of them were that great.

  Cindy read it all, then nodded. She looked at Director Turner, rather than Bridget.

  "Can I borrow Penny Cooper for this? We'll get the apologies from the right people here. Then... The rest we might have to handle differently. The press is about to be a pain." She didn't want to say that she planned to kill some people, not out loud. Oddly enough Marcia Turner understood her meaning, and even why she wasn't saying it.

  "Gene therapy first. Then... Yes. I can set that up, if we can't find a different way. I'm thinking that a person with your skill might just be able to work something out. I want several options as to how to handle things. In writing." There was a gentle smile, that didn't reach the pale woman's eyes. Her curly hair framed her face, making her seem a bit too pleasant for what she was thinking.

  That was about blackmail, and even framing reporters for crimes, which would get them out of the way, without killing anyone at all. As ideas went it really wasn't a poor plan.

  Cin nodded, then smiled at Bridget.

  "So, see, there will be some justice for you. Not what you want, but that's part of the system. No one is really ever all that happy about how others are punished, are they? We tuck people in prison, but they get out. We kill them, but even that is never really enough to make anyone giddy about it. Now, let's go and see about Lauren? We'll want her arm, if that didn't get tossed out?"

  It turned out that no one there knew what had happened to it.

  No one there. The people in medical, led as they were by an insane mad scientist, were running all sorts of tests on it. The interesting part was that the thing was still alive and didn't really seem to be dying in any way. That got her to think about things for a bit, and then nod her head. Fixing the armored woman wasn't going to be all that hard really, given that.

  The woman was in lockup, and was lying on an oversized pallet that seemed to be made of metal. It was all silver and had the look of stainless steel to it. The whole place did, which got Denis to start ranting in his story about being locked up for months in a similar place. His crime hadn't been treason, just attempted murder. Of Proxy. Really, of Brian, who had been a fat kid back then, with no particular fighting skills and a suck ass power. The ability to go places and have his behind beaten.

  Denis had gone for him, armed with a gun, which Brian had taken away from him, even while he made him afraid, and feel like he was on fire. Then the chubby fellow knocked him out, beating him well enough that it was hard to credit as having really happened. At the time. Now Den, as he thought of himself, could see it. He'd thought that fighting a class two would be easy for a class four like he was, but he hadn't accounted for the man actually being as tough as he was. Not even close to it.

  The whole thing, being there and seeing a woman that he was actually fond of missing her right arm made him feel close to panic. He glanced over at Bridget, who, despite what she'd claimed, was about to try and finish the job of the day before. Even if the whole world hated her for it.

  Sighing, being able to see what was needed
at the moment, Cin rolled her eyes.

  "Sit up. We're going to get your right arm put back on, then you're writing an apology to Bridget and Scott Chambers for falsely accusing them of being perverts. You should have done that already, but I can see from the story over your head that you were just too embarrassed to really do that before. Suck that up and do it now, understood?" Cindy was lying, mainly for Bridget's sake.

  The very large woman tried to think at her, like she was a telepath. It made the letters bigger than normal, and they were in all red, as well as all caps.

  Basically she was saying that she didn't feel that way, and that she didn't know if she could do that. Cindy made a considering face, and then nodded.

  "That's right, it's okay for you to admit to being ashamed for getting something like that so wrong. I guess that a lot of other people will feel the same way. You should start by doing that now." That part was just her being a bitch, but the woman actually still felt a little self-righteous about the whole thing, even if she'd maligned and nearly killed a man over it. Even knowing that the accusations were false, she couldn't let go of the idea that they weren't totally real.

  She was just about to send Bridget away, to try and get the arm, when a large male nurse walked in, guarded by two men in all black. The agents had firearms on them, and the same basic haircut. Short and bristly. It was a good enough look for them, and reminded her a bit of Brian Yi. Probably because they all used the same barber.

  Lauren sat up, wondering if she were about to die, and then took a long, hissing breath. Part of her wanted to announce that she'd never apologize for what she'd done, since it had been the right thing, morally. It hadn't been though, and unlike certain killers in the room, she was actually smart enough to understand that even if she didn't feel wrong, that Bridget might actually need to hear her say it. That she hadn't...

  Well, a big part of that was that Bridget hadn't been willing to listen to her for a long time. Not since that day, years before.

  "I'm sorry. I really am. I just... I made a mistake, and it led me to think the wrong thing. I know that won't help anything now, but I really didn't want to hurt anyone. I just thought... Well, you've seen those videos. We all have. Trivia made them to have a certain effect, and no one could tell that they weren't real. Not from the pictures. I should have waited, but I was afraid that you'd be hurt more." Some of that was even true, which got Cin to nod.

  "That's a good start. You'll need to redo it in writing." She read that Lauren knew that it wouldn't be as easy as that, since to have any chance of doing anything with Bridget. She'd have to grovel to her parents too, since they were the ones accused.

  Cindy hadn't thought of the mother, but there was a woman that she wouldn't have wanted to leave pissed off at her, any longer than was needed.

  She turned instead and looked at the nurse, who stood there still, holding the heavy appendage over his right shoulder like it was a log. He had paperwork too, held in his left hand. That was down to the whole thing being called in to medical by Director Turner.

  Bridget cared about that very little. Even after hearing the words from the armored brown and black form on the silver cot. Her tiny arms, looking no bigger around than Cindy's own wrists, which weren't huge, were crossed over her middle, the fatigues tight over her shoulders.

  "You couldn't say that earlier? You've had years. I don't think I'm buying it. You're lying, trying to stay alive." She was watching the woman carefully, as if she could read her face, or what she intended from her body, though both were impossible.

  It was Denis that shrugged then.

  "That's a good plan, isn't it? Not that she doesn't mean it. Look, a lot of people screwed up that day. Most of them were influenced by Stillness, and couldn't have helped themselves really." He rubbed his face, which was clean shaved and about as pale as Cin was herself. "I know, there weren't specific orders, but there didn't need to be, did there? If Stillness and Trivia planted stuff about me doing you, they would have all been down in the cells trying to lynch me for it. Even if I'd already been locked up for months and couldn't have done it. That really is part of our culture, and you know it. Accusation, especially of abuse against kids will be responded to, even if it isn't always sane."

  It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of what anyone had done, but did seem to be about right, as far as Cin could tell.

  People would hear the words, and think they had proof of something, even if they really didn't. The accusation was all the evidence that most people needed. It went without saying that most of those people weren't very good, inside, but it was so common that it was easy for the worst of them to hide most of the time. Even as they screamed for blood from innocent people.

  The real thing in this case was that Bridget had told them all that nothing was happening, and they hadn't believed her. True, the video proof really did sound pretty solid, but going after Trivia, who had been trying to keep the world from being half destroyed, wasn't going to work either. What really needed to happen was for the kid to let it go, but Cindy wouldn't have, if it had been her in that same place.

  The only reason she was doing any of this at the moment was so that she'd look good and useful to Marcia and Brian. That reminded her to get together with him when she could and have sex. It was mercenary of her, but he probably wouldn't let her be killed too easily if they were boning. Not as long as she didn't kill anyone again. Given that no one knew if the gene therapy would do anything to her at all, she might need to use that kind of leverage at some point.

  To that end she tried to really focus on what was needed at the moment, looking into the deep index of Kerry, and making sure they got the arm put back on right.

  Lauren apologized again, her voice subdued. Then, she didn't really get that she was going to get an arm going on again. She'd heard the words, but it didn't seem real to her.

  "Sorry. I really am Bridget. God. I never wanted you to be hurt. Not by anything." She sobbed, though nothing showed on the outside. It was real enough, but the lady couldn't really cry at all. Her eyes were hidden behind black shielded lenses. That left the whole thing feeling really fake to everyone else.

  Cin waved at Kerry.

  "Look at the file pictures, then, when you're ready we'll hold the arm in place and get that back up and going. Your subconscious mind will work out what to do, so it won't be a problem." The trick was really going to be about getting her to try, and not give up after a few minutes of work. That she was kind of planning on it was just about her low self-esteem. "It will take about two hours, so be ready for that."

  It wouldn't. Not even close. The real answer was probably a bit over twenty minutes. Setting the bar that high just meant that the girl wouldn't be as prone to giving up.

  Cindy got Bridget to take the arm and hold it steady, nearly in place, as Kerry looked at the pictures, then nodded, her breath coming fast, as if she were trying hard already. The armor itself flowed from both the shoulder, which had been closed off smoothly, and the ruined arm end, joining first. That took about a minute, but the internal stuff was what had to be done next. That part would take the longest.

  There was a moan from Lauren, because, it seemed, having raw nerves moved around hurt for some reason. Kerry nearly stopped then, panicked.

  "I'm doing it wrong!"

  Cindy shook her head, reading all about it from two different sources.

  "No, you aren't. Denis, can you help with the pain? It just gets worse from here." That idea had come from him, but he wasn't certain if he was supposed to do it or not. The instant his power killed off the discomfort, which was a nearly total thing, the armored woman sighed.

  "That's better. Um... Can I..."

  She needed to go to the bathroom, but didn't know how to ask. Cindy shook her head, since the woman could also hold it and not hurt herself.

  "No. Let her finish, this is going well. I can see it happening. Sort of, I mean, from what their stories are saying. Hold on." The weird part was that
no one called her on saying stupid things like that in the moment. Really, while it seemed okay, she wasn't getting half of what she was claiming, since no one there really knew.

  It was a bit of a risk, since Lauren could potentially die, or end up with an arm that didn't work, which seemed to be the real worst case scenario. Even that went away about fifteen minutes in, when the woman started moving her hand, getting a gasp from Denis.

  "It's working! Keep going, Kerry. You can do it!" He seemed proud of her again, which he hadn't been certain would ever really happen after the day before.

  He might not have always been the nicest or best liked person in the world, but he was loyal to the people that were loyal to him. It had been a thing that he learned when he'd lived on the streets.

  Cin wondered at the basic idea, but didn't focus on it at the moment. Instead she watched, getting ready to tell Kerry to keep going if she gave up too soon. About eight minutes after the first movement of the large, slightly rasping armored fingers, it was done. Kerry kept trying, focusing, but nothing new was going on.

  "That's it. Done! Way faster than expected. You should be able to go to the bathroom now. Or, actually the rest of us will leave. Call us back when you're done? We have some things to talk about." The woman really needed to use the toilet and there was one in the cell. It was all metal, and oversized, so that she could use it. They moved out into the hallway with the agents, who weren't really totally thrilled to have a fully powered Level there in the cell. The day before they'd worried, since she might make it out of there given her power level. Now it was simply a fact that she could do it.

  Tearing the walls down like they were made of thin wood. Cindy smiled at one of the men, who she didn't recognize yet, whose name was Mathews. Jeffery Mathews. Ex-Navy Seal. He also enjoyed reading, oddly enough. Glancing his way she shrugged.

  "She'll stay here for the time being. This is, at least in part, a first mode problem. It also kind of isn't. She was played, and that isn't totally inside her control, but she didn't seek out help when she could have, so I'm betting she's in for a tough time for a while." No one had said that, but it was going on inside of Bridget's mind. Since it was about the only thing that was going to keep another fight from breaking out it wasn't a horrible idea really.