The Cost of Being Special (Survival of the Fittest Book 1)

by Shawn Keys

Megan shrugged. “If anyone is the leader around here, it would be Kyle. He started this, and we all owe him and are attached to him.” Her smile turned a little cunning. “I do what I can to keep all the ladies remembering their manners. My past life gave me a few skills that make me a good choice for that.”

  Delving too deeply into that was going to make Jackie blush again. Instead, she turned back to Lily. She couldn’t help her insatiable questions. This was too fascinating. “How long have you been practicing?”

  “Not long, though I’m pushing to become a nurse practitioner and maybe even a full doctor. If we’re going to be locked up here, we’ll need all the help we can get.” She grinned. “For obvious reasons, I am focusing on pediatrics, but I’ll branch out.”

  Jackie grew suspicious, “How are you training? I mean, medical training takes a hospital.”

  Lily nodded. “I’m doing it part-time. I drive in to the nearest town three times a week to get some hours at the local clinic and attend a couple courses.”

  “But… your implant. They’d see you don’t have one! Surely someone would notice.”

  “For certain. Medical places often require implant scans just to get into certain wings. But Dazz is our computer expert. I brought some blank implants with me from my clinic back in Lionsgate. She found out certain implants can be turned on and off again, like yours, right?”

  Seeing the secret was well-and-truly out around here, she nodded without any effort to hide the fact.

  “Well, she cooked up a couple false identities and made some adjustments so ours could be switched in the same way. She has to use a needle to flick the switch, as ours aren’t true ‘G8’ models like yours. But it works. If an FDPC agent walked by, maybe we’d get caught since our false identities probably wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny, but as long as I stay below the radar, I can make it work.”

  Megan nodded. “It gives us all a little freedom, though the chance of being discovered keeps us from using it too much.” She sighed. “Where are you heading, Lily?”

  “Over to see if I can help Claire. She’s been stuck in the lab all day.” They filtered down the hallway, leading into a small T-junction.

  From the left, they heard a woman’s cry of passion.

  Jackie’s eyebrow rose. “That’s… well, that’s going on pretty much all the time, isn’t it?”

  Megan laughed openly. “Wouldn’t you, if you had us around?”

  Once again, Jackie was at a loss for words.

  Megan considered the ongoing sounds of panting sex to the left, then giggled. “Maybe we should give Kyle a few more minutes. We didn’t expect you’d make sure good time, Jackie. Why don’t you step this way? I’ll introduce you to Claire.” The matron guided her after Lily, who was cracking the door into the set of rooms on the right side of the “T”.

  Stepping in, Jackie saw this entire area had been set up as a laboratory. It wasn’t nearly as advanced as the standard setup Jackie had seen in FDPC offices, but there were a lot of similar equipment pieces – just the cheaper, smaller variants that this crew were able to truck up here into the back woods. The agent was certain it must be incredibly frustrating to work here when you were used to so much better.

  Lily was in the lead, and so handled the introductions. “Claire Erinson, this is Agent Jackie Moraker, come to visit as promised.”

  Claire was so far the most normally dressed: in a lab-coat draped over a comfortable green dress that complemented her soft brown hair nicely. Though she was wearing sensible shoes and her hair was gathered in a conservative ponytail, her pleasant figure was softly emphasized enough to hint at her charms hidden beneath. She broke her concentration on her work, reaching a hand out for a welcoming shake. “Hello, Agent.”

  Taking her hand, Jackie said, “Oh, please, call me Jackie. I don’t even know what to think anymore, but I know I’m not about to stand on ceremony any longer around here. None of you seem to.”

  Claire grew a wry smile. “It surprises me, too, from time to time.”

  Jackie had to ask, “What are you doing up here?”

  “Kyle wasn’t the only one the FDPC tried to kill. You have to listen to Kyle, Agent Moraker.” She deliberately used the title, making a point. “We tried to act inside the law, and it nearly got us killed. Don’t judge what we’ve done until you’ve heard it all.”

  Jackie began to understand what was at stake here. She had thought Kyle was a lone maniac with a couple of loyal followers in love with him for his fertility. But that wasn’t true. Others had been hurt. Others had their own reasons to be here. This was all more complicated than she had originally thought. And maybe… easier to understand. “Alright. That’s why you’re here. But what are you doing here?” She gestured around at the equipment. “What are you trying to prove?”

  Claire leaned back against the table behind her. “How much do you really want to know?”

  Jackie insisted, “Everything.”

  She shrugged. “If you’re sure.” She tugged off the sanitary gloves she had been wearing. “We have evidence that suggests the Persterim research element of the CDC has been largely subverted by the organization Kyle described to you. We can see two possible reasons for this, and we don’t know which is the truth. Either they are actively preventing a cure from being found, or they utilized the resources there to create the virus in the first place.”

  Disbelief showed on Jackie’s face.

  Claire empathized. “I know how insane this sounds. Honestly, it seems far more likely they are simply taking advantage of a natural plague. I can’t believe anyone would be so callous as to engineer a sterilization disease of this severity. But I need to know for sure, not guess. I’m trying to figure out which it is.” She smiled. “I’d love to say I could then stumble toward a cure, but with these resources… well, that could take decades.”

  Jackie pushed back her judgement. She forced herself to reconsider this from a different point of view. Claire wasn’t acting irrational. In fact, she sounded exactly like a scientist challenging her own hypothesis, fighting to uncover the truth no matter where it led her. Except they all sound utterly certain that this ‘shadow organization’ exists and has the CDC under its thumb. Why are they so damned sure? Shaking her head, Jackie asked, “Does Hutchings make you sleep with him, too?”

  Instantly, the room chilled a little.

  Claire stepped in quickly before Megan could snap at her. “If you had talked to Megan and Lily for a little longer, you might know better than to ask questions like that. But listen to me. If you want to stick around long enough to see what this is about, you need to understand; Kyle hasn’t made us do anything. If anything, I’d say us women have been pouncing on him since we found out he was fertile, and he’s done as right by us as possible. He isn’t perfect, but he’s a good man.” She shook her head. “No, I haven’t been with him…” A few cries of passion floated in through the door, making Claire smile in spite of herself. “…though, well, I have to admit it’s been tempting. I’ve heard the others say he is getting fairly talented.”

  Megan was recovering from her spurt of anger at Jackie’s judgement. She smirked. “He learns quickly. Always has. He just needed someone to show him his potential.” She gestured for the door. “I think it’s time you go see him. Enough hearing about him. He wanted to talk face-to-face. Now’s the time.”

  Jackie wanted to wait for after the cries of passion ended, but Megan wasn’t hearing anything now. She goaded them out of the lab, leaving Claire and Lily to tuck back into their work.

  Jackie was struggling to sort this all out. “I can’t believe you’re so casually talking about the father of your child sleeping with yet another woman!”

  Megan sighed. “Why? The FDPC has been working to help spread our genes, right? They’ve worked so hard to make sure men can do that and then walk away, leaving the woman to fend for herself or adopt or whatever. Why is it so strange that we might stick around and support each other?”

  “But�
�”

  Megan held up a gentle hand. “We all share him. We all get to have him. He takes risks to give us what we want, and he never asks what we aren’t willing to give.” She smiled. “Because of that, we’re willing to give him anything he wants. Wouldn’t you happily give yourself to a man who would move mountains for you if he could?” She shrugged. “Jealousy doesn’t even factor into it. We’re a family.” She gestured ahead. “Come meet the last of us.”

  They meandered down another corridor which opened into a large living space. To the right, there was a kitchen and a dining area. From the general sense of clutter, this was the communal area the ‘family’ had been sharing as their primary living area. To the left, there was a sunken sitting room with several couches and a television which was, at the moment, switched off.

  There was a young woman scooched into one corner of a couch with an “Advanced Organic Chemistry” book open on her lap. Brown hair with long bangs shrouded the sides of her heart-shaped face. She was dressed skimpily in her own way; an army-green halter-tank top, white cotton panties and thick woolen socks as if her feet were the only thing about her that got chilly. Her willowy legs were tucked together under her as she leaned against one of the arm rests. She said quietly, just above a whisper, trying not to interrupt the erotic scene playing out on the far side of the room. “Hey Megan. This the DOJ agent?”

  Megan nodded.

  Chloe gave a small wave, then went back to reading. She kept peeking over the top of her book at the couple on the far side of the sitting room: which was hard to ignore, as it was a sexy red-headed woman in her early-twenties straddling a man and riding him with furious passion. The energetic girl was using her lithe, dancer’s body to its utmost. She was completely uninhibited, screaming out in joy, hair flying and breasts bouncing for the delight of her lover.

  Megan whispered, “That’s Chloe reading. She was studying chemistry at U of T until she lost her scholarship. We asked if she would go back if we paid for her, but she wants to learn on her own and help Claire.” She pointed at the other side of the room. “That’s Laura with Kyle.”

  Jackie shook her head in disbelief, whispering, “Is Chloe… watching?”

  Indeed, Chloe seemed to be focusing more on the sexy action across the room than on her reading. She was biting her lip, and one of her hands was rubbing discreetly at the moist cotton of her panties concealing her sex.

  Enjoying the sight of the young woman teasing herself, Megan grinned. “Better than TV.”

  “Has she…?”

  Megan shook her head, very certain. “She confessed she was tempted to use him to get back into school. But since then… well, it’s probably only a matter of time. After all, wouldn’t you be tempted after seeing this?” Megan gestured toward Kyle.

  Jackie looked across the room, and for the first time saw the living face behind the voice on the phone: Kyle Hutchings. No-one would ever call him a heart-throb, though there was a confidence to his roguish features that was half-natural and half-learned from the never-ending proof that he was wanted by women. She was shocked to see how toned his body was. He wasn’t thin, but she would certainly describe him as wiry. Corded muscles rippled with strength as he supported the luscious red-head dancing on his lap.

  Not to mention…

  Laura screamed one last time, and Kyle let out his own grunt of pleasure as he climaxed hard inside of her. They kissed furiously one last time before Laura slipped to one side and collapsed to the couch beside him in a breathless laugh.

  She grasped at a blanket to pull over them, but before she could…

  Jackie caught sight of the throbbing, semi-hard weight of his cum-slicked cock laying on his thigh. Oh, sweet lord… that… well, that explains… Coherent thought escaped her for a second longer.

  By then, Laura had found a plush red blanket and tugged it over both of them. She snuggled into him, looking very, very content with the world in general.

  Kyle took the time to kiss the top of her head, then sighed.

  Megan gave a polite, “Ahem. We have company.”

  Kyle’s eyes darted up toward them, a surprised look on his face. “Oh… oh, shit! I didn’t hear the door.”

  Megan laughs, coming over to lounge on the other side of Laura. Petting her hair, Megan said, “She can be a little noisy, can’t she?”

  Laura purred, unashamed, and just snuggled in deeper between them.

  Kyle darted a look left and right, seeing where his clothes were all scattered. Then, realizing he was as covered as he was going to get, shrugged and let out a sigh. “Guess you get to see me as exposed as I’m ever going to get, Agent Moraker.”

  Megan said, “We’re supposed to call her Jackie.”

  Kyle returned the smile. “Jackie.” He turned to face his visitor. “Short for anything?”

  Jackie drifted in, sitting on the part of the couch nearest to the exit, as if ready to spring away and flee at the merest hint of… of…

  Of what? What could possibly be weirder than this?

  Swallowing hard and doing her best to focus only on his eyes, Jackie admitted, “Jacqueline. Restricted use to nuclear family only. Fair warning.”

  Kyle chuckled. “Understood. I really do apologize. I don’t make a habit of entertaining like… well, like this. Most of us can’t make the trip up the trail in less than three hours. I’m impressed that you made such good time.”

  “Hazards of the occupation, I guess.” Jackie struggled to push down her sense of how weird this all was. She thought about each of the women she had met, and the general sense of contentment hovering over all of them. She decided that Claire was right; the FDPC wanted fertile men like him to give generously of themselves, and yet Kyle was taking the next step. He looked willing… eager even… to give these women affection. Maybe even love.

  Not aware of her inner turmoil, Kyle said, “Well, I wished I had been there to welcome you.”

  Relaxing into the couch a little, Jackie offered, “Megan has been lovely, as have all the others. I am beginning to understand what you are going through. But I admit, I won’t be able to decide for sure until I see this evidence you are talking about.”

  Kyle smiled. “Well, we’ll show you as much as we can. But like I said over the phone, nothing is going to be as convincing and damning as seeing that training camp.”

  “Have you seen it?”

  He shook his head. “It’s back near Tacoma. We have no idea what we’re going to find. Not only that, but we aren’t experts at this sort of thing. We could make a wrong move, alert them to the fact we’re on to them, and they’ll scatter to the winds before I could show you anything. This is the only hard lead we’ve been able to translate.”

  “Translate?”

  He waved that away. “Long story for later. Point is, we’re confident that we’re going to find some bad guys, and we don’t want to screw this up. We’re amateurs, Jackie. We’ve gotten lucky so far. We’re learning fast, but that doesn’t equal experience.”

  “Which is why you called the DOJ?”

  Kyle laughed. “You make it sound like I have a plan and know what I’m doing.” He shook his head. “We hoped to push the DOJ into some kind of action. But the more I talked to your colleagues, the more I knew it wouldn’t work. People trust the FDPC. This other organization counts on that. They helped build its reputation so they can even commit murder behind its good name and no-one will even see it.”

  He shrugged. “I was about to give up. Then you answered. For the first time, I heard someone willing to make a small leap of faith.” His eyes lit up with a little more fire. “We’re doing this blindfolded. We don’t know what the next five moves are. None of us are that good at chess. We’re struggling to work out the next one or two moves before we get crushed. But we know we need to see inside that camp. And I want you to go along for the ride. See what we see. We’ll show you the background work we’ve done. Walk you through our reasoning. By the end, I know you’re going to be as curious as
I am to see what’s hiding at the end of Range Road 4, 47 miles Southwest of the Tacoma city limits. Because whatever is there is going to hold a hell of a lot of answers.”

  Jackie swept her eyes over to Chloe, who wasn’t even pretending to read her book any more, then back to Megan and Laura. All of them were peering at her in nervous anticipation, hoping she was going to be part of the answer to their puzzle. On the surface, they seemed so confident, but there was a desperation lurking under it all. They were a handful of loners against the world right now. And they were hungry… starving, in fact, for any chance to win over another ally.

  It was all insane.

  But Kyle was right. Her curiosity wouldn’t allow her to turn away. “Show me what you have.”

  Kyle grinned. “Welcome to the hunt.”

  Then, Megan smiled, and said something that made Jackie blush one last time. “Welcome to the family.”

  The story will continue in…

  Risk it ALL