Danger’s Vice

by Amanda Carlson

  I moved my arm as Lockland came back, but before he could hand me the water, Daze took the cup. “Here’s more water.” The kid’s face was endearing as he set it into my open palm.

  When I was done drinking, I placed the cup next to my head and tried to sit up. Then thought better of it and stayed put. “Nice going, Daze.” I turned to glance at him. His whole face was one big smile.

  “It was easy,” he began to jabber. “I just had to think like a bad guy would think.”

  “Is that so?” I murmured. “And how do bad guys think?”

  “Well,” Daze continued, “they’re not exactly smart like you, or…or Lockland or Bender. If somebody like you hid it, it would be tricky to find. But for a bad guy, they just look for the easiest place they can guard.”

  “It sounds like you figured it out good,” I said. “That’s the same way you salvage for stuff.” It was time to come back to the here and now. I braced my arms beside me, struggling to sit up. Darby tried to help me, but I shook my head. “Let me do it.” Once I was up, I met Bender’s gaze. “Please tell me somebody took care of Dill. If not, we’re all going to be radioactive pretty soon.”

  He gave a short nod. “We made a couple of the guys take him out of here. Locked them all in a few blocks away.”

  Lockland leaned against the platform bed, crossing his arms. “I didn’t know you had access to a radium ball. Those things are lethal. Before the dark days, they were for government use only, highest access. They’re super concentrated, the ultimate form of chemical warfare.”

  “Yeah,” I said as I ran a hand over my face. I still felt like hell. “I know. I found it a few years ago. It took me a while to figure out what it was. I was lucky I didn’t set the damn thing off myself. I knew one day it would come in handy. I guess I chose the right day.”

  “How did you get it on him?” Lockland asked.

  “The asshole was easy to play. He wanted my vest. I reached in and activated it before he took it. Then I baited him to put it on.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Suddenly, I remembered something and shot Darby a questioning glance. “Tell me you gave the cure for that woman in the next room. The seeker who was bound to the bed?”

  He nodded, sheepishly glancing down at his feet. “I actually tried it on her first. I didn’t…I didn’t…want to kill you.”

  “And?” I knew what I wanted him to say.

  “Well, she’s not doing as well as you are, I’ll put it that way. But she’s better, more coherent. She can understand some rudimentary things. I’m not sure how long she’s been a seeker, but it’s been long enough to significantly change things in her body. By my guess, she’ll need quite a few more doses to come close to healing as well as you. Then we’ll have to just wait and see.”

  “Okay, then give her the doses.”

  He shook his head sadly. “There aren’t any more.”

  “What are you talking about? They had all those darts.” I locked my arms and jumped down off the platform. My legs weakened for a moment, but they held up. Thanks, legs. I leaned against the bed next to Lockland. Darby stood in front of me, Daze next to him. Bender stood about a meter behind, arms crossed.

  Case was nowhere in sight. I’d heard his voice earlier. He must’ve ducked out. I was fine with that.

  “Actually, they only made a few,” Darby said. “At least that we could find. They were low on everything. I went back to the lab that I’d been using with Marta. That’s definitely where they’d put the darts together. Most of the ingredients were there, but the missing link for a total cure is the sodium alginate. It used to be abundant before the dark days. It comes from a water plant called seaweed. The alginate prohibits absorption and binds the drug in the bloodstream so it can exit your system efficiently.”

  “How in the hell did they know all this?” I asked. “Is it all in the data on the drive?”

  “Not all of it. According to Case,” Darby said, “Tandor’s father was a scientist who worked for the government. Finding a cure was his life’s ambition, but he did it in seclusion, somewhere in the South.”

  “And Case knew this because he was in league with them all along?” I ran my hands through my hair, but didn’t get very far. My gloves were gone, as was my helmet and vest, which I would never see again. So many things to fix. But I was alive. That was something. “He was playing both sides the entire time.”

  “Possibly not,” Lockland replied with an edge, which caused me to turn and look at him, crossing my arms, a pissy look on my face.

  “Explain.” This I had to hear.

  “It seems they’d been pursuing him from the beginning, wanting his allegiance. He led them on just enough, so they never knew where his loyalties lay. It was pure luck that no one survived Tandor’s death at the gorge and came back to tell the story. Or they’d have known he was responsible for killing the others with his craft. Once he came back to the city, he picked up where he left off and infiltrated their inner circle. When you procured the drive, and it showed the formulas, he knew we had to get the powder Hutch bragged about before he could kill them.”

  “And you believe all that crap?” I huffed.

  Lockland inclined his head about three centimeters. “He told me this tale last night in this very room when he refused to leave your side.”

  “So that’s it? Now you trust him? Hutch told me he was responsible for blowing up my fucking residence.” I pushed off from the platform and stalked away, thankful my legs kept me up, even though they shook like they were made of elastomer. “He was sitting in the main room when I arrived, all smug and pompous.” I jabbed my arm into the air. “And before Hutch infected me with Plush, I confronted him. He told me he was doing whatever it took to stay alive, which I believe is the truth. He wouldn’t hesitate to turn on us. I’m not ready to trust him.”

  “Fine, then we don’t.” Lockland’s voice was even.

  “I agree with Holly,” Bender said. “We take it real slow. He’s out for himself. If Hutch had taken us out, would he have killed him? Or would he have stuck around to make some coin on the new enterprise? Hard to know.”

  Darby had taken a seat, ignoring our back-and-forth, the pico open on his lap. Daze stood in the middle of the room, looking a little forlorn. I went over and slung my arm across his skinny shoulders. “What do you think, kid? Do we trust the asshole or not?”

  Daze inclined his head, his mouth falling open. “You really want my opinion?”

  “Sure. You’re one of us now. Aren’t you the one who found the key ingredient needed to save my life? By the way, you didn’t finish telling me where you found it.”

  “It was stuck in the bottom of his boot.”

  “Shut up,” I said. “You’re kidding me.”

  He shook his head solemnly. “He should’ve put it somewhere random, in a building someplace. If he’d done that, we never would’ve found it in a hundred million years. But I knew he wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t smart enough.”

  “How did you know to check in his boot?” I asked.

  Bender cleared his throat on the end of a chuckle. “The kid damn near stripped him naked. When it wasn’t anywhere to be seen, he started ripping apart his helmet and his boots. He was a machine.” Judging by Bender’s tone, the kid had impressed him. That was a hard thing to do. I was happy for Daze.

  Daze reached out and tentatively grabbed my hand. “I didn’t want you to die.”

  “And I didn’t want to die, so thank you very much.” I gave him a squeeze. “Now, back to Case. Do we trust the asshole or not?”

  “How about asking the asshole himself?” Case stood in the doorway. An arm was casually propped halfway up the jamb. He was projecting a don’t-care attitude, but I noticed the tightness around his eyes, his telltale giveaway.

  I settled my hands on my hips. “That’s dependent on whether or not I’m even interested in talking to the asshole, which, frankly, I’m not.”

  Before he could respond, a cry filled with anguish
came from the other room.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  I made it to the room first, rushing over to the raised platform in the corner. I was disheartened to see the woman still restrained, but at least someone had taken the time to get her dressed.

  It took me a moment, but I realized she was the seeker I’d seen in the street with Dill. Her name was Mary. I hadn’t recognized her before. “It’s okay,” I soothed, rubbing her arm. She was delirious, her eyes closed, her head thrashing. I set the palm of my hand on her forehead, which was fiery to the touch. “We’re going to help you.” She seemed to calm a bit at the sound of my voice, her movements easing.

  Darby came up behind me, the others gathered just behind. He laid two fingers on her wrist. “Her pulse has increased.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “It’s hard to know for sure. She’s been asleep most of the time. It could be that the effects of the cure I’ve given her are beginning to diminish.”

  “Has she ever been fully aware?”

  “Not really,” he said. “Although some of the words she’s been moaning have been more coherent, and she’s been calmer.”

  At the sounds of our voices, she turned her head, her eyes rapidly blinking. I leaned forward. “Mary? Is that your name?” One of her hands reached out and clawed my arm. She tried to bring the other one over, but it was tethered. Darby gripped my shoulder to try to guide me away. I shook my head. “No. I think she’s trying to communicate. Let’s give her a chance.” I brought my hand up to her forehead once again and stroked it, smoothing her hair back. “Mary, we’re going to help you. I swear. We’re going to figure out a real cure and get you back to normal. It’s just going to take a little time.”

  She stopped struggling.

  I placed my hand in hers. She gripped it tightly. She stopped blinking as her breathing evened out. “Yes…my name…is Mary…”

  I’d had to lean over to catch her words. “It’s nice to meet you, Mary. I’m not lying. We’re going to help you.” She lay quiet, possibly asleep. After a moment, I pulled back, trying not to wake her. I glanced around the group. “How are we going to do this?”

  “I want to help her, too.” Darby nodded vigorously. “We all do. But that might be out of the question.”

  I steered him away from Mary’s bed so we wouldn’t wake her. Everyone followed us out to the main room. Hutch and all of his men were gone, but the aftereffects of the fight were still apparent in the form of overturned furniture and dried blood.

  I turned to Darby, taking a seat on one of the chairs. “Tell us what you need. Whatever it is, I’m sure we can find it. Not only do we have to help Mary, we have to help them all.”

  Darby held the pico under his arm. He walked over to a table, put it down, opened the top, and began to type rapidly.

  “I’m in,” Bender said, taking a seat across from me. “Whatever you need, we’ll figure it out.”

  “If we can do this,” Lockland added, “it will change the course of our world as we know it.”

  “Change what as we know it?” The familiar voice came from the doorway.

  I jumped out of my seat. “Claire!” I met her halfway, giving her a big hug. I was almost a meter taller than she was, but her stature more than made up for it. She was tough as titanium and had never taken any of my crap, which was why I’d gravitated toward her. I’d been nine years old at the time. She’d just turned twenty-five. I’d been missing my mother, and she’d filled that role on the occasions I’d needed it most.

  I tried to pull back.

  “I’m not finished yet.” She embraced me for a few seconds longer, and when she was good and ready, she held me at arm’s length. Her dark hair was wrapped up in a compact bun. For the first time, I noticed a few gray hairs wisping at the sides of her temples. “I heard we almost lost you, not once, but twice. That’s completely unacceptable. Haven’t I taught you anything?”

  I gave a full-throated laugh. “Hey, I’m alive, aren’t I? If you could’ve seen me in action, I think you would’ve been proud.”

  “I’m always proud.” She gave me another smile as she moved around me, nodding around the group in greeting. “I came here to tell you all that things are happening. The government is fractured. I can’t stay long. They’re monitoring my movements. They know I smuggled Darby out.” Her eyes rested on Case. She moved forward, holding out her hand. “Are you the man who ended this Hutch person’s life?”

  “I am.” He reached out and shook her hand, his eyes meeting mine over her head, one eyebrow rising, a told you so look on his face.

  I snorted. “Just because she’s shaking your hand doesn’t mean everything is fine. Any one of us could’ve killed that piece of shit.”

  “But you didn’t, I did.” His voice was firm.

  Before I could explain to him how wrong he was, Claire interrupted. “And who’s this young man?” She stood in front of Daze.

  I nodded at the kid to introduce himself. He stood ramrod straight. In Claire’s presence, that was an automatic response, mostly because anyone who was paying attention knew she’d call you out for it if you weren’t on your best behavior. “I’m Daze. My real name is Robert, but everyone calls me Daze. I’m Holly’s sustainee.” His chin stuck out, defying her to say otherwise.

  I barely contained a giggle.

  Claire’s expression didn’t change. She was a pro. Her job in the government was to deal with street kids and help keep them alive. She bent over and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Daze. You landed an excellent sustainer. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” He blushed as he shook her hand.

  Claire stood, back to business, turning to address us all. “I’m incredibly relieved that you’ve taken out this threat. It was a major one, but I’m sorry to report that there’s been an infiltration inside the government. I’m just learning bits and pieces about it now. I don’t know if it originated from the group you just took out or not, but the people on the inside have been swaying attitudes and loyalties, using threats and tactics to try and convince the workers it’s time for new leadership. Based on what I’m hearing, there could be an uprising at any moment.”

  “How can we help stop it?” I asked. An overthrow of any kind would harm this city—a city holding on by the thinnest of filaments, ready to topple once and for all. Just like Tandor and Hutch, anybody sneaking in to stir up trouble never had good intentions for the people. It would just bring more misery.

  Claire took a seat and folded her hands in her lap. “I’ll let you know. I’m working on it from the inside. I’ve amassed a small group of loyalists who are willing to fight any threat. But it’s hard to stand up against something when we don’t know who they are and who’s calling the shots. They’ve been very discreet, but effective. With the dismantling of this group here, it could be the end of it. Or not. Time will tell.”

  “Has Lockland told you about the cure we’re working on? The one for Plush?” I asked.

  Her gaze snapped from me, to Lockland, to Darby, then back again. “What cure? All Lockland said was to come to this location and that you had almost died. Twice.”

  Lockland interjected smoothly, “I couldn’t very well broadcast what was happening. We don’t have any code for what’s going on here.” He shrugged. “So I made do.”

  “Is it true?” Her voice held excitement as she rose, gripping the sides of the chair. “If it is, it could change the game.” She began to pace, her arms moving animatedly. “Most of the government would rally around a cure, even those who are beginning to turn in favor of the new aggressors.” She scanned the room. “I say most, because there’ve been rumors in recent months—on top of these new allegations about infiltrators—that a top-secret government group no one has ever heard of before, called the Bureau of Truth, has been making Plush for years. This alleged group reportedly distributes the drug to all these poor addicts to keep them contained.” She stopped moving, her head angling down as if her b
rain had to process a few things before she could continue. No one dared interrupt. When she was ready, she lifted her head and continued, “The gossip has only spread recently. So, to me, that means things are reaching a boiling point. In my nineteen years of service to the city, I’ve never heard a single thing about the Bureau of Truth. The rumors are that its creation started after the Flotilla departed, before my time in the government. So, until we figure out what it is they do and who is involved, we won’t know what we’re up against. But for the rest of the government, I can safely say that finding a way to bring people back from Plush would infuse new life into this city.” Her face was a mix of excitement and relief. “If a cure happened, I’m certain we could gain the support we would need to prevent any coup. I can’t believe a cure is even possible.”

  I shifted my gaze to Darby, who cleared his throat. “It’s true,” he said. “It worked on Holly, but she’d only been infected for a short time in the scope of things. In going over the formulas we found on the quantum drive, I can see they’ve been tampered with to omit the sodium alginate powder. That might not be the only omission. It’s my feeling that whomever Tandor got this from, they either changed it because they were worried about it getting into the wrong hands, or they were purposely trying to mislead. Either way, it’s incomplete. The only place I can figure it out for certain will be in the lab. But acquiring all the ingredients will be tricky at best. As far as I know, seaweed doesn’t grow anymore, and that’s not all I need.”

  “We’ll get whatever—” I started.

  “You were infected with Plush?” Claire moved quickly toward me, concern straining her voice. “How did that happen?”

  “I’m okay now,” I assured her, grasping her outstretched hands. “I wasn’t infected for long, and Hutch won’t be infecting anyone else, because we took him out.” Case snorted, and my eyes shot to his. “Hey, you’re going to have to stop taking credit for something we all could’ve—”

  “He’s the only one who could’ve killed him,” Daze interrupted, surprising me. “Well, without all of us dying, too.”