Infected 8: Impulse: A Whole New Day

by P. S. Power

  "We were told of no plans. Were we to wait somewhere? Or merely be at our domicile? If the IPB base has been demolished, does that mean all within are lost? We should go there, and seek to give aid, if we can!"

  He didn't try to move however, which was in part due to the fact that he wasn't a complete moron, even if he did seem like it at times. The other part was that the large boy with them started to disagree even before the statement was finished coming from his lips.

  "No. Whatever happened, us going there to poke around won't help anything. The radiation alone would kill us. Me at least. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't have any super powers. If I get hit with something like that, I'll just die."

  Bridget felt a sense of relief, the topic having changed enough so that she didn't blurt out the whole plan in front of strangers. Charity and this boy... She needed a name for him.

  Sticking out her tiny hand, she moved in a bit, which got him to shake back. It was part of her training in how to deal with the public. Don't hit them, and assume that they'll be polite if you follow normal social conventions. Like a good firm handshake. Even if she was so small that his hand nearly swallowed hers. That was normal for her, so she wasn't caught off guard.

  "Bridget Chambers, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" There, that was the right thing to say, wasn't it? She sounded like herself again, which meant high pitched, and speaking a little too fast, but the boy understood her, and took her warm hand in his much cooler one.

  "Will. Will Dominic. Um, like I mentioned, I don't have any powers." He held her hand however, not letting go for a while. It wasn't flirtatious, however. He didn't let his face look pained, but did look down at his hand, which Bridget realized was turning a lovely shade of red.

  With white around the edges from her squeezing it too hard.

  "Oops. Sorry. Infected, as you might have guessed, Super strength, speed, good senses. First mode impulsiveness." She let go suddenly, and watched as the guy carefully didn't try to shake his hand to restore function. That meant he was pretty tough, she bet. Some kind of athlete, most likely.

  She realized her mistake about five seconds after the words came out. Regular people, ones not in the IPB, didn't just admit to being Infected, most days. They hid it carefully and protected the secret with their lives. At the base, well, everyone was infected, for the most part. If you met someone new, you just told them what your mode was, so they'd have some idea as to how to deal with you. In her case that meant being ready for strange behavior, as the right kind of stray thought took her. It used to be that way, at any rate. Lately she'd been doing a lot better. It was hard, and took all the skill that she'd learned from Hobbs, but in the main she held together, even under stress.

  She didn't take the information back, just moving to Charity, who shook hands like a girl. She looked down at Bridget's hand too, but the whole thing went better this time. No one nearly lost their fingers, for instance.

  "Charity Peetz. Um... I..." She looked away and then out to where the base had been, the giant cloud still billowing up into the early morning sky. "Empathy. I can sort of read minds too. I... Guess that my first mode is compassion? Like Lady Glory. Only not that strong, I don't think. From what I've read it isn't even a quarter of what she has to put up with." She waited then, cringing before anyone even had a chance to react.

  "Cool. So you manage to pass? No one here will tell on you. Right Will?" She managed to make it sound friendly, as if she knew for a fact that the boy simply wouldn't do that. To her surprise he nodded.

  "Yeah. I was stupid, on the bus. I should have kept my trap shut. Sorry Deidre. I didn't know, and it took me by surprise when you started humming like that. I nearly got us all killed, and left behind here. We'll probably be dead from the radiation, soon. It's all my fault."

  Bridget wanted to nod in agreement, but her mouth had other plans, blurting out the truth. It caught her unaware, which meant unfiltered, when the words came.

  "It wasn't a nuke. I just told people in town that to buy us some time to escape. Everyone there is fine. Mary took them all out. Elizabeth helped with that, in case we needed her skills. Really, these two should have been with them. I don't know why you weren't. Probably to keep Ed from volunteering just yet. I had some things to do in town, to muddy the waters. So, no radiation." Then, by forcibly biting her lower lip, she held off on saying anything else.

  That was good, since she was about to offer both the boys handjobs, and they really didn't have time for that. Plus, Ed was too young. Illegal, and everything. So was setting off bombs in town, but that had been toward a good cause. There was no way to justify things like that given the situation. Her parents would be a bit upset to find out about her giving away sexual favors like that, and it was pretty hard for her to keep a secret for too long. Even now, when things were better.

  It wasn't a real issue, since everyone had their own reactions to things then. Ed and Deidre both looked happy, getting that everyone they knew hadn't just died. Will looked up at the cloud that was still rising from the no doubt smoking hole that had been her lifelong home, and sighed.

  "Good. We don't need that kind of thing. I could do without any of it, to tell the truth." It sounded heartfelt and honest. There wasn't so much as a sidelong glance at Charity, either.

  Bridget wondered about that, but didn't ask. It wasn't a huge town, and the two kids had to know each other, and probably had for years. That meant that Will was so certain of the other girl that he felt no particular fear of her. It was both brave and a good plan, given that overreacting was about the worst thing anyone could do when finding out that someone they knew was Infected. For some reason, this boy was playing it nearly perfectly.

  Charity made a hard face, and then wiped at a tear.

  "So, this is really bad, isn't it? Like... people are going to die, bad?"

  There was time for a quick shrug, which she managed to hold long enough to let everyone else see it. Then she nodded.

  "Really, yeah, it is. We need to get you two off to someplace safe, while the three of us wait for a pickup. I have a rendezvous point outside of town. There will be someone there in three hours. Less than that now. We need to keep the civilians clear of our mess however, if we can. If not... Well, then leave the fighting to me, and run. Right now we need a car or something. Unless you're all up to running across town? I have my tennies with me, here, just a sec."

  She'd kept her tall shoes, since they were fun, but couldn't do her job in them very well. That meant she'd shrunk suddenly, and Charity was looking down slightly into her reddish brown eyes. If the girl was five-one, it would be a massive shock to find that out. Still, she was a lot bigger than Bridget now. Slipping her shoes on didn't take long, so half a minute later she was pushing everything into her bag, and realized something as her hand hit metal.

  "Ooooh, right, guns. Anyone know how to shoot? Nine millimeter." She pulled three of the five she had, and tried to pass one off to Charity, who just shook her head.

  "I couldn't shoot anyone." It was definitive, which made sense, with something like compassion as a first mode. There were probably times when she could do something like that, if pushed, but making her carry was just mean.

  Grunting a bit, she changed to give that one to Will, half expecting him to turn it down as well. That didn't happen, and he popped the magazine, opened the chamber, and checked it pretty professionally. Not perfectly, but it was clear he got the basic idea, and kept the safety on after he put the thing back together. With a round chambered. Ready to fight, after taking the safety off.

  Ed and Deidre took theirs, but didn't seem to get the idea, which meant they needed a little class on the topic. Otherwise they'd end up shooting each other and Mary would be upset with her for giving them dangerous things.

  "These fire single lead projectiles from the hole in the front. This button on the side ejects the clip, which holds the bullets in place. The little lever on the other side here turns the safety off and on.
Keep it on, unless you need to shoot. Thumb it forward, like this, if you need to. Then squeeze the trigger." She demonstrated several times, so that everyone would get the idea. She felt pretty official and like she knew what she was doing, suddenly. It was mainly that she was copying Lancaster's tone and cadence, since he'd showed her how to use them himself. He was her partner for the time being, so had gotten the job. He had been at least.

  That was so she could show him all about the wonderful world of being an Infected Operative. He'd been an Agent for years, one of the un-Infected kind, until he'd gotten caught up in something that changed him. A woman that was going around and altering people every time she got scared. Carla Morris. Brian had ended that by killing her, while she sat in a cell, locked up and helpless. It should have made her feel bad, she knew, but the woman wasn't very nice, from all that she'd heard. She'd been Doug Tibs old girlfriend.

  He deserved better than that.

  For one thing he was really sweet. All the time. He didn't get mad or angry at all, and tried really hard to help everyone, which was a lot more than some people could claim. Plus, since he'd lost all that weight, he was starting to look sort of cute. Not hot, like Lancaster or her dad, but definitely good looking enough to be on Team One.

  Not that they had that anymore, she didn't think. No, that kind of thing was gone now. There was only war left, and the need to survive. She knew that for a fact, since eight helicopters, the big troop carrying kind, started flying over the city about then. It was nearly as if they were looking for someone. That was silly of course, since everyone sane had left already, or at least were trying too.

  Will, who was both normal and a bit braver than most, stepped out into the open and waved at the passing vehicles. She nearly jumped out to tell him not to be an idiot, but there was no gun fire from the dark green things. A soldier, clearly not much older than any of them himself, waved back, as the thing flew off toward the other side of town. Where, after a few minutes, it was clear they were landing.

  She grinned.

  "Right on top of our pick up location. Naturally. That so has Braid written all over it." She growled the last half of that, but before Charity could ask who she meant, Ed explained.

  "Braid is the war name of the evil witch, Devorah Timberland. Her family came from the same world as Deidre and I. They all posses strange precognition, which is hard to demonstrate clearly to most. It's a level of knowledge as to what will happen that few can even comprehend. Right now there is a massive battle for the fate of this world, being played between her, and Advocate Yi, the protector of your people." He seemed pleased enough with his own explanation, but Will cleared his throat, which got Bridget to step in and go over it all again. It wasn't wrong after all, just a bit muddled, due to the lack of some information.

  "Advocate Yi is Proxy. Braid is trying to start a war between the Infected and the government, or the hate groups, so that billions of people worldwide will die. Brian is trying to stop her. Right now though the government kind of works for her side, even if they don't know it, and has been set up to attack the Infected, which will start things going in the direction that she wants. She's hard to beat, since she's always so far ahead of our plans that we can never tell what we're supposed to do. She's insane, and kind of knows it, but can't help herself. We have to stop her."

  Charity clenched her jaw and looked away then. It was hard to tell why, really, and could have been anything from nerves to the stress of the day or even that someone had just personally insulted her, without realizing it.

  Bridget looked at her, and waited for an explanation. It beat trying to drag one out of her, after all. They did move out, toward an empty, and still locked, hardware store, and stood in the front of it, under the awning so that they wouldn't be noticed from the air as easily. It was a nice brick red thing that seemed new, or at least well cared for.

  The other girl wiped at her cheek, seeming like she was testing the even brown surface of it for moisture. There were no tears, however. Just a mildly annoyed look. One directed at her, for some reason.

  Finally, Charity spoke, her voice tense and low. For a girl.

  "You're telling me that these two are actually aliens and that another alien is trying to take over the world? That has to be bull. It's too stupid to... I don't know. It makes more sense that this Braid person is Infected, doesn't it?"

  Ed bowed a little, his face dark, but not mean.

  "Aye, it does. That is not the case, mayhap. She is of the Timberland line, and as such, is truly mine own problem to take care of. That of Mary Wyrdcraft at the same passing. I am but an Elcampayn, however, and though she is of my world, I fear that I am unequal to the task of preventing her diabolical plans. So it has fallen by agency of the divine, that Advocate Yi must face her in my place. It is shameful that I cannot be of more use in this, but I must tip the hat to a man of greater skill and powers than mine own. But in answer to the question meant, while it may make greater sense, it is not the state of things. Devorah Timberland is from a far off realm, as are my sister and I. Our friends too." He paused, which seemed weighted, as if he were ready to be called a liar.

  Charity looked up at the awning above them, her big brown eyes slightly moist seeming. Glinting gently in the morning haze. It wasn't going to be bright that day, thanks to all the smoke and ash in the air.

  "Um, sorry? I'm pretty sure I don't know what you just said. Aliens are real?"

  Bridget patted her shoulder.

  "Close enough. Some aliens are the real enemy, but most of them here are our friends. The Infected are fighting them, but some of us are bad people too, since they can't help themselves. The government is... Well, pulling in more than one direction. Common sense and justice on one side, fear and the machinations of our enemies on the other. Which is a big problem right now. I need to get across town and make sure that my pickup isn't taken in by those soldiers that just flew past a bit ago. Can you all stay here? Or... I guess get out of town. We can meet up later."

  She got ready for the arguments. For someone to tell her she shouldn't go, or to claim that they were armed, which meant the equal of those stupid soldiers and all their training. After all, video games. It almost made sense, and Ed, to his credit or detriment, started to speak, when the shooting distracted him.

  The others all ducked, being clever people that didn't want to die, but nothing was coming for them at the moment. The noise was too far away for that. It wasn't even over on the other side of town, but rather on the base side of things. Mary's was out that way, but the fact was, if there had been shooing that far away she was the only one that would have noticed it.

  "That's... About two blocks over. I can't tell how many weapons, but it sounds like the police mainly. Who'd they be shooting at, if it isn't us, I don't know. All I hear is gunfire." No cars being thrown around, or anything that could be an energy blast, at least. That didn't mean they weren't going after an Infected person, deciding that the war was taking too long to start, but it had the feeling of a gun fight. The sound had at least two points to it. "We probably want to get out of the area then. Let's see... We should head back into the woods, and go that way, away from the base as far as we can. Try to steal a car, or something. I don't suppose any of you know how to do that? I can drive, but hotwiring something is a bit out of what they taught me in school." She tried to look hopeful, but Charity and Will both shook their heads and Deidre actually snorted.

  "I can't even start one with a key. I've ridden in such things here, but how they operate is still a mystery to me. They use dinosaurs? Advocate Hobbs tried to explain it to me, but I think that I must have misunderstood."

  She was about to try and explain the concept, when Will did it for her. Better than she could, actually.

  "Mainly old plants that have turned into oil, over the millennia. It burns pretty well, so we can use that to make the cars work. How do they do it where you come from? Or... don't they have cars?" He glanced at her, locking eyes for a bit, ei
ther failing at being smoky and bold, or succeeding in seeming a bit like he was just playing along with her tall tale.

  "Tis the same, sir. I mean, it's pretty similar, except that everything is powered by Elcampayn energy. That... I think it's more like what you use to power the houses here, if I understand it correctly. It isn't that, but closer?" She winced as more gunfire came, sounding like it was a bit closer.

  Bridget smiled, not wanting everyone to get too tense to run away.

  "Let's chat about this later? Right now, everyone follow me. I'll go first, in case people want to try and kill us. If they do, then you four need to run for it. I can catch up, after I take care of things."

  After some people died, most likely. They were rapidly getting into the part of things where people actually started to die, she didn't doubt. That it hadn't already happened... Well, it had been for a while, hadn't it? Both Braid and Brian had been killing people for over a year, jockeying for position, even if no one else could really tell what they were doing. She wasn't even certain that Proxy really knew, to be honest.

  She didn't wait for anyone to confirm that they understood her. They did, and if they went all Scooby gang on her and insisted that they go and fight the armed and clearly insane people out there, then they were morons. The dead kind. The only one of them that she knew could fight for certain was Ed and he was kind of bad at it. She'd sparred with him a few times, when she went to visit, and even though he tried hard, he was maybe ready to take on one of the local cops. Possibly two at a time, but no more than that. That was if they weren't armed, too. Since they made sure that didn't happen too often, he really wouldn't have much of a chance.

  If anything real happened, then the rest of them were probably best off not being there. She scouted the area, trying not to draw attention, in case there were snipers set up. There was no reason for that kind of thing yet, but that didn't mean someone wouldn't do it anyway. If it turned out they were dealing with people that had super powers, or thought they were, or who might be better armed than they were, then standing back and using skill was about the best thing they could do. That, or leave. She was too hot headed that way, most of the time, but it might be best to play it safe for the day.