The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  “Would you like to help? I need a couple of assistants for the show, behind the scenes stuff, mainly. Infected would be better than not right now, though I want both. We need people to see that we can all get along.”

  Denis froze again. Did he look like a freaking Keebler elf to the guy or what? Did the man want him to run around in a little white apron and curtsy too? He took a deep breath and forced a smile. Mark hadn't meant it that way. This was something actually important to him and he'd made a point of inviting Denis too. It wasn't an insult, it was... a compliment? Or at least an offer to prove himself. Denis nodded.

  “Sure. I mean, if I have time? I don't know what all I'm expected to do now, but I can wash dishes or whatever. I have no cooking or baking skills though, so be forewarned.” He'd never learned to do more than open a can of something, not even to heat it without a microwave.

  That was women's work, according to Prophet Darren. But then he was a giant freak, so maybe using him and his ways as a reference point wasn't the best idea ever?

  “No problem. I can show you what to do. It's mainly about paying attention anyway. Good. Now I just have to get two more people for my shows team and we'll be ready. The first taping is tomorrow. The pilot. It's just to give to the network to see if they're interested at all.”

  The next people through the door Denis didn't know at all... at first. One looked funny, black and green skin, totally bald and slightly shiny looking like a frog. Big head and skinny little body. Maybe four foot tall. Team Two uniform, a dark navy blue jumpsuit. The other person made him blink though.

  Clark.

  Until a few months ago the guy had been a fellow inmate, one cell over to the right. Telekinetic. A powerful one too if Denis had it right. Also a perv who'd been locked up for diddling a twelve year old girl. True the girl had been asking for it, literally, even sneaking into people's rooms and doing them in their sleep, but Clark had taken it too far, and kept sleeping with the girl even when it had been found out. Nice guy other than that, tall and stork like. Ichabod Crane made real.

  Hard to look past child abuse though. Denis really didn't want to be a prick right now and get sent away again, but that kind of thing really ate him up. It took work not to at least start calling the monster names.

  The man stumbled into the room hard, pushed by Marcia. Apparently she didn't love the man either. It wasn't a friendly move at all, not even as much as the gentle toss he'd gotten into the hallway earlier, and Clark went sprawling on the floor face first, skidding a little as he fell flat with a “woof” sound being forced out of him from the impact.

  “Thank you all for being so timely. Well, we all know what the deal is, but I'll recap anyway, so no one gets lost. Get in a chair Clark.” Her tone had gone cold and she pointed sharply.

  That was a new one, Denis decided, for the first time in years he wasn't the most hated man in the room. Things were looking up then.

  “Last month our “best friend” in congress, Senator Hooper, used the Canadian event to rush an emergency powers act into place. Thankfully most of that got shut down, so we don't have to relocate to internment camps which was the original idea. But what remains is designed to make all that happen ASAP and turn the public against us.” She waved her right arm at the table of people as she sat, delicately near the door side.

  “We've been forced, by an act of congress no less, to put together an “anti-riot squad” to deal with unrest. Since most protests right now are made up of Hooper supporters and diehard anti-Infected bigots... Brilliant move overall, if the goal is to try and fan up even more hate. We are now required, by Federal law, to have at least two people from each team here and at least two “less than perfect” looking members to round things out. Not trying to be rude, but that's Tobin here and LG. I know that most will count Clark too but just in case, we're claiming the blue glowing woman is it, if anyone asks. Supposedly it's an equal rights thing, but it's really just meant to get the bigots riled up. So yes, it's a freaking trap and we're required, by law, to walk into it.”

  That sounded like fun to Denis, so much so that he wondered for a second if his old cell was still open. It wasn't just a trap, it was such a bad idea that they might as well just slit their own throats and get it over with then and there. This fact wasn't lost on the others either which kept him from having to be the one pointing it all out.

  Karen took a deep breath and let it out with a shudder, looking at their new team leader, a slightly scared thing.

  “It's insane Marsh. The second we show up at a rally... Plus, we probably won't get any real backup from the local police, depending on where we go. If they start trying to actively sabotage us...”

  Marcia nodded, but it was Clark that spoke next.

  “And if we do anything at all, the Hooper clan will claim we were attacking innocent people. What are we supposed to do? Stand out there and die? Beg the would-be rioters to go home, pretty please?” The voice cracked and sounded nervous, which it was, that being his first mode. He still said what was needed though, even when it was hard. Denis had seen him do it more than once, anxious or not. It probably meant the freak was a lot braver than he seemed. It was easy to stand up to people when you felt calm, or even angry. Harder when flop sweat was breaking out all over your forehead.

  The new squad leader glared at the guy, mainly because she wanted to kill him for being a pedophile, probably, but didn't get up to strike the man. She didn't even hurl a chair at him.

  “Pretty much. We have to be low key and keep things from getting out of hand as much as possible without anyone knowing about it. The kicker is that, again, we're required by law to help the local goons out if they start something. If we use any overt powers though, all hell breaks loose most likely. That's why we're stacking the deck and bringing a secret weapon with us.” A single finger jabbed toward Denis' chair. “Him.” She grinned. “Mercy. And don't look at me Denis, the PR guys came up with it. It's all about selling you as some kind of soft little nice guy, instead of a thug that's come to kick their collective butts.”

  That did it.

  Denis nearly stormed out right there. They could kill him, but fucking him around like that wouldn't play, not at all. He stood up and started to walk out when Marcia started laughing at him.

  “Oh, I told them you wouldn't go for it. If you've got something better I'll let you run with that. But really, Itch won't work. It's too aggressive and annoying. Mercy's really not that bad, as a propaganda name.”

  Maybe. It was however a girl's name. Were they trying to make him look gay on purpose? Probably, people did that kind of shit. He opened his mouth to tell her to go fuck herself with a broom handle, when he remembered all that feel good self-help crap. Breathe. He tried it, going slow and exhaling in a steady fashion, then he made himself relax.

  “All right. Well, I guess I'd rather not have a girl's name. I always caught shit about looking too girly and soft at home growing up and it's an issue for me.” He turned and went to sit back down, only to find everyone was staring at him when he did. “What? Oh! Sorry, I meant to say I always caught guff over that at home. It was a lot worse than that, so, yeah, there you go, push that button and I won't be able to play nice. I'd guess the psych people know that already, so this is probably someone's clever way of trying to get me killed.” Probably Marcia or the Director, but no one said anything for a moment.

  “How about Gabriel? Like the angel? That's got a ring to it and everyone likes angels.” This came so softly that Denis nearly didn't hear it. He winced and turned to face the little green and black man that had said it.

  “Kind of another girl's name.” He said, trying to keep the ass out of his voice as he spoke, the little man grinned.

  “That's Gabrielle, but really... I know. I'm making fun of you. The last time we met you tortured me and a half dozen other people for nearly ten minutes. It really hurt. I deserve to get some payback.” The little man looked down, very shyly, but didn't take back the words.
<
br />   He had? That... Denis had no memory of it and said so, which got everyone else to shrug or look at him funny, Jay just nodded though.

  “Oh, that makes sense, you were given a drug to put you out by one of the doctors, Midazolam? Something like that. It's basically the junior cousin of Rohypnol, you know, the date rape drug? It wipes your memory of events for a bit. Doctor Clinton said that it would keep you from forming long term memories of the event. From what I heard though you kind of did a number on a bunch of people then opened all the way up on Proxy, not holding anything back at all. Luckily the doctor was there or Brian would have probably just killed you. It sounds like it was pretty close really.”

  This got a general agreement from around the table.

  Well, that was fucked. Great, so he had to apologize for that too now? He didn't even remember it at all. Damn. No wonder the guards turned into such dicks to him, off torturing people. Fucking hell. Why would he be doing that? Even if they were kicking his ass he wouldn't have done it.

  Would he?

  “I don't remember it, not in the slightest, but um... I'm really sorry if I hurt you or made you uncomfortable. I promise not to do it again.” It wasn't much, and Denis kind of expected the man to come at him across the table or use whatever power he had on him. It would be fair. He forced himself to relax and decided to just take whatever the guy threw at him, as long as it didn't kill him. Instead the man just nodded.

  “S'all right. Not your best day. Happens.” The little man didn't smile, actually he looked down at the table a little embarrassed.

  Marcia raised an eyebrow.

  “I'd chime in on a new name but all the things I can think of are just as bad. Anyone else have anything?”

  No one did for a while, so they kept talking about the plan.

  “We send in Denny here with some physical backup, me or Argos, the rest of you hold back out of sight. Then we pacify the crowd, got it Den? Peace, love, all that kind of thing, then we bring out Karen and Ichabod here to chat the crowd up and get them all to go away. Clark, you're Karen's physical backup, so that means you protect her with your life if need be. Kare, try not to go all blue girl on us if possible. Everyone knows what it means and there's been talk about you being able to drive people insane after the whole thing with Brian. That could be used as an excuse to treat your little love ray as a dangerous weapon.”

  The boss looked at the short multi-colored guy and took a deep breath. There was just a hint of a wince in it. Denis could tell. He got why when she spoke.

  “We basically have to hide you Tobin, sorry about that. Maybe get you to a bullhorn or something in case it hits the fan. You can sing them into submission that way. I hate to do it but...”

  The small guy, Tobin, nodded and spoke gently, softly.

  “Yes. If the monsters see me, it could be an excuse to frenzy.”

  “Pretty much.” Marcia looked at him directly.

  Denis took a deep breath and fought to not talk. This whole thing was a fucking set up and basically hinged on him? What kind of genius based an entire, nationally important, plan on a single guy, especially one that was locked up in prison at the time, he wondered.

  “Then I guess I better practice up on being all peace and light.” He said, hoping it didn't sound stupid. He'd mainly focused on really obvious effects though and it really did take a bit to master new sensations for broadcast.

  “Do that.” Marcia said, not even showing a hint of a smile.

  2

  When the meeting broke up, Denis felt a little lost. It was too early for dinner and really, if he could make it happen a real shower and some fingernail clippers would be nice. If he didn't reek it was probably because he'd gotten used to the smell of his own sweat and his fingers looked like they were ended in talons practically. He didn't even know if he had a room anymore. Before he could dwell on it too much Karen came over, smiling sweetly.

  She looked good. Of course about now all women did, but with her it was a real thing, constant. Her trim body practically begged to be...

  Denis stopped the thought and tried to smile back. There were at least three people in the building that could read minds and while no one had said his thoughts had to be perfect, he didn't want to force anyone to tattle on him either. Clean, or at least nice, thoughts only. As best he could at least. Fucking telepaths.

  “Hi!” The redhead said brightly, “you're down on nine with the rest of Team Three, I don't know if anyone told you? Brian asked me to make sure that you got settled all right. He'd have done it himself, but he has training all afternoon. Marcia's off to fight with him right now. Do you want me to lead you down?”

  It was only meant as a kind offer. Even Denis knew that, but it wasn't like he hadn't lived there for years. All he'd need was a room number. When he asked it turned out that the bright haired and lightly freckled girl didn't know at all.

  Grand. That meant checking in with Chris, who at the best of times couldn't stand him. Probably the strongest telepath in the place too, if not in the whole world. After all, she was a class five and that meant a lot for someone that basically just read minds. He'd never figured out how that was supposed to work and hadn't asked. Really Denis figured he didn't need to know, since it probably had to do with the fact that she could get nuclear codes on a whim or something like that. Well, it had to be done and not facing her wouldn't make things run any smoother later. Denis mentioned all this in a hushed voice to Karen, who just grinned. At least it was a sympathetic one, her compassion leaking through.

  “I can see how that would be daunting. I'll go with and run interference if you need, besides I want to change before the daily afternoon press fiasco.” Still smiling she winked at him. “Brian and I are dating. He said I should tell you right off so that you didn't accidentally hit on me or something. We share a room down there.”

  Things really had changed then. Well, good for Yi. Karen was definitely a catch.

  “All right. Thanks for the warning, because otherwise I totally would have been hitting on you by the end of the elevator ride. Instead you can just point me toward all the still single girls. Well, if I can manage to not be a complete...” He stopped just before the bad words came out. It still wasn't easy, but he felt like he was getting a little better now. “Um, you know, how I was before?” He ended lamely.

  A firm hand pushed him from behind. Lady Glory wasn't huge, about five-six, so actually shorter than he was by a tiny fraction of an inch. Denis reveled in the contact, but didn't say anything. After all, he knew for a fact that Brian could, and would, kick his ass if he stepped out of line.

  They used the elevator which was an express if not as fast as the one from the jail area and rode in silence. It was safer that way, he decided. He'd just keep his mouth just from then on, as much as possible and hope that no one pushed him too hard about anything.

  They didn't get ten steps off the elevator before someone did push him. Literally, and without warning. It wasn't Karen, since he'd let her go slightly ahead of him, not wanting to seem bossy or anything. The force took him all the way to the ground, and he'd felt the hands on his back, but when he spun no one could be seen. Sighing he tried to keep his cool and get up.

  Penny. No one else he knew was either invisible or had as good a reason to be mad at him, not really. Maybe Clari from the make-up department, but she didn't have a power. Unless make-up skill counted that way and if it did, she still probably couldn't make herself invisible with it. Maybe ubber camouflage though? Moving his left arm under him and trying to stand only got him kicked in the ribs until he fell again. Karen looking on at him baffled as he rolled in a ball and tried to protect his head.

  “Um, Penny? I'm sorry that I said we were seeing each other when we weren't. It was very rude of me, and it won't happen again.” He waited hoping it had sounded sincere enough for the girl, but caught another shoe to the side for his trouble. A tennis shoe it felt like, not a boot, so he thanked goodness for that small favor and tried
to protect his head and ribs at the same time with his hands and arms.

  He couldn't even use his power to calm her down, her ability to not be seen or heard totally trumped his. Denis needed to see the target, otherwise he couldn't do squat. No more kicking came for a while though.

  After about twenty seconds a voice came from within the dining room, hard to hear, but they were near the door, about fifty feet away. Karen helped him up and then held his hand, leading him in. A female voice seemed to be coming from a radio or speaker on a side table that didn't used to be there.

  Karen cleared her throat.

  “Penny? Would you like to start over? Denis is here now. It was kind of hard to hear you from out in the hallway.” She sounded calm and a little amused, but then it wasn't her butt getting kicked by the amazing inviso-girl either, was it?

  Penny may not be Prime in strength or speed, or even Marcia, but the girl had her talents. It was freaking hard to fight something you couldn't see. Denis knew that for a fact at the moment, he'd been worked over halfway well already and hadn't been able to do more than get beaten up.

  “I said; I'm not worried about you claiming we slept together you asshole, you tried to kill Brian like three times and nearly got Prime and Charlot killed too! They should have just killed you and buried the corpse in the desert like Marcia said. If you ever go after any of my friends again, I'll personally hunt you down and kill your smug bow tie wearing ass. I have a knife and know how to use it. Understood ass-munch?” The voice sounded cute, if angry.

  “Penny? You can talk? How? This is great! Um, about the rest, yeah, I know that I have some fences to mend and that a lot of people will probably hate me. I'm trying to make amends, which is a lot harder than it sounds. I guess I need to talk to Prime and the PR lady too. I did already talk to Brian and we've kind of started to patch things up I think. Those other people I screwed with as well... Great fun. But well, um, sorry?”