Infected 8: Impulse: A Whole New Day

by P. S. Power

  "Tell them all that I miss them? Everyone else too. It's true. I wish they were here, and not on the other side. Luckily you can tell them things for us. We're doing the best we can, but it isn't easy. I really wish everyone was still here." She honestly did. Not that they were dead, she reminded herself.

  Not yet. Someday it would be the truth though, and she'd still be there, carrying on, without them. There was no other choice really.

  Changing the subject, she looked over at Marcia.

  "We should be getting some computers in later? I'm going to run out of money soon at this rate. I'm keeping my receipts, so I expect the IPB to cover most of it. That, and pay me more now. As super secret deputy sub-director in charge of babysitting I should be worth at least full time pay, don't you agree? I'm going to need it to get a car that's small enough I can see over the steering wheel. The van is cool, but not what I'd have picked for myself." Her gaze took in Becky too, who looked over at Marcia, meaningfully.

  The woman shrugged.

  "Yep. Full pay. Full time and hazard for anytime you see combat in that week. It's the standard arrangement. Chief of Operations Coordination is the title, however. Before you ask, that means you need to be on top of everything, all the time. Get all the numbers and names and guard that book with your life. Make sure the computers get encrypted and that everyone has what they need. Soap, soup and socks. The whole seventeen yards. Normally you'd get paid more for doing that job, but I haven't gotten into the accounts yet, since it will take ten days from the reported death of the Director to the first chance to change the codes by the Deputy Director. It would be thirty days if everyone was gone and some lower level person was trying to take over. It's designed that way to make sure no one just kills us all for a cash grab."

  Bridget clapped a few times, her face focused however, even as her body moved on its own.

  "Chief. That reminds me then. I need to go and see about our new Operative. The local Police Chief? The one that tried to have Brian killed? He's Infected. He has a kind of close time span precognition that I bet is part of the reason he kept going after Proxy like that. When things would start to happen, Brian would jam him up, like he does Braid, and the man panicked, not understanding what was going on, assuming that it had to be a threat to him personally. Maybe not though. Anyway, as far as I can tell, he's a complete tool, but he's ours now. It's the rule."

  Becky laughed, and then looked at Bridget and pushed at her shoulder. After a second she looked at Marcia and sobered a little.

  "Wait, you're serious? How many of the anti-Infected crowd are, um, our people then? At this rate you'd think that their group members would be starting to have some problems." She looked over at Impulse, and pointed to her black shirt, with its bright white lettering on the front. "Is that why you're wearing that? To convince the wannabe Nazi's that they're on the wrong side?"

  She looked down, having forgotten about the fact that she'd become a TCC billboard.

  "What, this? Not really. I just had to get some clothing and only the one place was open with anything that could fit me. Still, they sold it to me, and we chatted politely, even with them knowing who I was the whole time. There was no spitting or name calling either. If all of their kind acted like that, we probably wouldn't have half the problems we do with them. Really though, now that you mention it, and the thought has occurred to me, I think that a lot of the hate movement is actually part of Braid's plan. Every time we get to whoever is actually behind something, they all seem to lead back to her, don't they?" Holding up her right hand, she started counting things off. "Hooper was in thick with all of them, right near the top, and was working with Braid directly. Through Stillness, but they were in a meeting at one point, together." The one where Penny killed them both.

  Bridget wasn't supposed to know about that part. Marcia did, and she'd overheard Penny talking to Rachel about it, so understood what was going on there. The invisible girl, Cellophane, was their killer. The one that assassinated their enemies. She did it well, too. No one had even suspected that she'd taken out Hooper. Some had blamed the Infected, and one or two had tried to say it was the IPB, but that hadn't gotten any traction.

  "The Christian movements all linked back to the Prophet Darren Jones. At least as a chat room buddy or advisor. I... don't know much more than that, but it seems like a trend to me."

  Without waiting, since no one expected her too, she hopped up and started looking for a clean writing pad, to take her notes on. There was one left, in a plastic bag near the front door. It was yellow, and like the one that Kenny had been using the day before. She snagged a cheap black pen from the bag of them too, so she was actually set.

  Then she started working on a list.

  Becky came over, and read it out loud, over her shoulder.

  "Contact Charity and Will. Get together with Chief Benton and check in. Check on computers, get price estimate... you know Rat-rat, this looks almost like a grownup's to-do list. I expected number two to be about ice cream, to tell the truth."

  Bridget sighed. "We can't afford things like that right now. As it stands Marcia and I pretty much need to be getting eighty percent of our fuel by drinking oil. Speaking of which, we should both top off the tank and get it done. In case you feel envious Becky, it's disgusting."

  "Oh? That makes me feel better. Since I can't eat at all anymore. I can taste what other people do, but I think I'll get Chris to skip that for me, this time."

  Bridget chuckled, and headed into the other room, seeing that it was the man that glowed purple who was sitting at the phone table. They were the same lines that they had in the back, so he hadn't been doing anything really, except looking at the others in the room. It was Phoebe and Sinclair, for the time being. They were washing the walls, which seemed to help. She could see the water in the yellow mop bucket they were using turning a dingy gray at least.

  Heading over to the stack of vegetable oil containers she took two, then turned to the others.

  "Make sure that everyone get's something to eat? Oh, and Wren mentioned that some of you had people to call. Phoebe, will you make sure everyone gets that done?"

  The girl surprised her then.

  "Sure. I'll get to that as soon as everyone comes in? A few have already done it." Her face worked furiously then and she blurted out the rest. "Cunt licker. Rat faced tramp."

  Bridget just let that last bit wash over her, not caring about being called names. Not even the one that was probably closer to what the other girl actually thought of her than not.

  People had commented that she looked a bit like a rodent for a long time.

  "Great. Thanks. I appreciate it. Oh. So... While I have you both here, Director Turner asked me to get you both to sign on, full time. By name. We need to get Sinclair trained up so that she can be the new Proxy and healers... Vanish. We want to keep an eye on Phoebe. So, consider it? If we really have to send Sinclair in like that, then she'll need someone to look after her. All our doctors..." She started to walk away, not finishing the sentence, but then shook herself, and continued. It wasn't all acting, but she'd actually forgotten that everyone wasn't really dead.

  Now that was some good acting. That, or a sign of early onset dementia. She did use cell phones a lot, so it was probably that one. Grinning at her own thoughts, if briefly, Bridget sighed and looked directly at first Lisa and then Sinclair.

  "You don't have to stay with us. If you do... I don't know what will happen. It could be bad, or it might save your lives. Probably the first one." Turning again she put down the oil containers, then headed outside, not really knowing why she was doing that when her list clearly told her that she needed to be getting on the phone and making contact with several people. It was like she was being drawn there though, and her body just motivated itself along, not caring what her responsibilities told her to do.

  Stopping in the door, or trying too, didn't work, and after a few seconds she was walking down the street, to the right. It was still light out
, but that would be fading soon. For a moment she didn't understand why she was moving that way, until she started running, a sense of panic behind her. Forcing her to flee for her life. Then she got the basic plan. Someone was screwing with her brain, making her go this direction. Away from her friends.

  That could mean anything. It might have been about getting her away from them for an attack, so she couldn't protect them. On the other hand, when she rounded a closed convenience store and entered the back parking lot, the scene in front of her told her a lot.

  Looking at the three women in front of her, she paused, then nodded about twenty times, faster than should have been possible. It probably looked like her head had started to vibrate in the air. With a lot of focus, she drove her mind into a blank state, and forced her breathing to slow. It wouldn't do for her to be under the thrall of the one that was trying to control her mind.

  Poorly. At least now that she got the idea. It was the short, dark girl on the left hand side of the line. Bridget almost snapped at Charity for being a traitor, but held her tongue and looked at the other two, since they were the bigger threat.

  Braid... and Trivia.

  "If it isn't my old nemesis, Snookiepants." This was directed at Trivia, who was the tallest of the other three. For some reason those words got her to smile, then shake her head.

  "Nemesis? Moi? Not at all, cutie. In fact I'm here to help broker a peace treaty, after a fashion. It seems that Brian Yi is gone for the time being, which is letting Devorah see the future far more clearly. Except for things right around you. Do you know why that is, in particular?" It had the tone of probing, which shouldn't have been coming from a woman that literally knew everything. So she was either trying to instruct Bridget, in a high handed and evil seeming way, or knew that she just didn't know why or how that could happen and was letting Braid in on that too.

  No one would be caring too much about Charity, except Bridget. She hated being betrayed. It was her third least favorite thing. Right next to having to kill traitors and bok-choi. It tasted really bitter to her sensitive palate.

  So did the anger that was building in her heart. Charity was supposed to be her friend. A new one, sure, but they'd been buds, right? She was with Braid though and didn't even seem to feel a bit guilty over what she'd been doing. Spying on her. On all of them. Probably sabotaging them, at Braid's command. Subtle things being put into play, to mess them all up. Forever.

  Braid was standing on her own two feet, looking pretty healthy, which meant that either Bridget had failed to do her job even a little the last time they'd met, or she had a secret to share herself. Waving in her general direction Bridget ignored the question she'd been asked.

  "New legs? Do you know a good healer? Those are always in demand. Perhaps one related to Liz?" It was just a guess, and the woman didn't seem to desire sharing her secret that way, which was indicated with a shrug.

  "Why would you care? As far as I can determine you'll never need the aid of such a being. Not personally. We came to enlist you to our side, Bridget Chambers. We have something that you want, and all we ask in return is that you leave this place, and do not return for five years. You're young and that seems like a long time right now, I know, but the fact remains that you being here will harm my plans. I cannot tell how, but as soon as Yi left, I found yet another set of obstacles to my rightful path. With you standing right at the heart of them." There was no sense of rambling or real madness behind her eyes. Just a clarity of purpose that sent a chill down Bridget's spine.

  A literal one. Her whole body tried to go goose-bumpy over it. That didn't work, since she was too warm, but she got the idea. The lady was a freak. Worse than most Infected ever got.

  "Nope. Not interested. So, plan b?" Which was her rushing Braid so fast that nothing would save her. Charity gasped, and tried to run, as Devorah smiled gently and looked away, which got Bridget to do the same, in case she was being snuck up on. She wasn't.

  Braid chuckled though, as if her doing that worked for her plan, somehow.

  "We have Clark Clarkson, and are holding him in a secure facility. He's unharmed, but if you attack us, or seek to save him, we'll have no choice but to kill him first. Is that enough to get your attention?" There was a pause, as Becky appeared behind the woman, her face enraged.

  Trivia looked back, her eyes going wide, but she didn't speak about who, or what, was there. That was fine really, since Becky, while a sweetheart, probably couldn't really do much to Braid. Not beyond distracting her a bit.

  Bridget however could do that as well, by finding an action that no one would think of as serious. A thing that she would never do, in a million years, that Braid might well have discarded from her own idea of what was real. How she knew to even try that...

  Well, honestly, it was a guess. A raw and probably stupid one that would end up with people being killed. Like Clark. Her old boyfriend. They'd been in love, once, but no one else had understood that, so they'd called him a child molester.

  Which, Bridget knew, now that some time had passed, was actually correct. He probably hadn't even really liked her particularly. She was just the only girl with the right parts that was willing to do him. That had caused him to do things that he might not have, otherwise. At least she tried to tell herself that. She still loved him, and didn't want him to die.

  There was no other choice though, was there? If Braid had already set them up to be betrayed, by Charity, then what else would she be willing to do?

  "Fine, kill him. I'll take..." She shrugged, and raised a finger to point at Charity. "Her. I suppose you have her father, too? You can't use that against me. You have to understand that." Without hesitating, even as she cringed inside, a white nimbus of power formed around her hand. With a thought she let the line touch Charity's head, drawing a perfect bead on her and tracking even as she ducked.

  Then she removed her skull with a flicker of intention. There was a sickening pop, and a red wave of blood as Trivia screamed.

  "No! Bridget! What are you doing?" There was real fear in the words, as Bridget reoriented on the remaining two women. The body of the girl that she'd thought of as a friend, crumpling to the pavement still as she did so.

  "I'm making sure that you both realize that you can't force me to do anything. I'll kill you all, even if it means losing everything. Braid. Devorah... Your vision of what the world should become is flawed. If we follow your plan, then in a few thousand years the world will be dead. All of humanity gone. Except for me, sitting there, with a tiny handful of survivors. Don't you see? I have to stop you. No matter what the price is for it. Now, die, please."

  The fight this time was different, since she focused on Braid, and Tesseract didn't come to save her nearly as quickly. She started with energy blasts, but didn't manage to hit the woman, who scurried away slowly, but managed to be exactly in the right places to not be killed.

  Becky, looking hard, appeared in front of her suddenly, which made the older lady gasp.

  "Not so fast, bitch. The world of the dead has some news for you... We don't like your plan. You have more enemies than you can see, or know, and we won't stop until our side has won. Now, like the Rat-girl said, fucking die already." She slapped the woman, which rocked her from her feet, even if the move couldn't have carried a lot of force behind it. Ghosts, at least Becky's kind, just couldn't do much that way. Still, hitting a person that thought they could see what was coming, when they were missing things...

  Actually, that worked really well.

  Bridget suddenly understood that one first hand, when a big fist caught her from behind. In the back of the head, and from the angle the person behind it was huge.

  Bald too.

  "Sorry love. I hate to be that kind of man, but there you have it. The other side made a better deal than yours did. For one thing, I get to be free." He punctuated that last word with a kick that caught her in the legs and didn't hurt her even a little. When she got to her feet, Braid standing at the same time if more
slowly, she rolled her eyes and jumped in with a back fist.

  One that should have ripped a new hole in his leather jacketed middle. It, naturally, went right through him. When you could walk through walls, that kind of thing was probably a given. Still, he didn't fall into the ground, did he? She glanced at his feet, which looked to be resting on the surface of the paved parking lot. Not hovering above it.

  "There are some people you just can't beat, sweetie." His words were smarmy, and annoying, both at the same time. It was probably making Becky all wet with bad boy naughtiness powers, but it didn't do much for Bridget at the moment. She actually hated loudmouthed jerks, herself.

  Shrugging slightly, Impulse cleared her throat.

  "Ah. Well, let's see then." The energy blast took time to prepare, but not that long. Less than half a second. She didn't aim for his middle however, but his feet. After all, if he wasn't falling into the ground, something had to be holding him in place. She was betting that something down there was solid. The bottom of his flesh body, and the shoes beneath that, at a guess.

  He yelped, screamed, and fell into the ground suddenly, not stopping. He did make grabbing motions first, but she just stepped out of the way, and watched him vanish. It was nearly instant.

  That might mean he'd be back in five seconds, or that he was going to die soon, because hurtling through the Earth like that meant not having air. She wasn't certain which, but was surprised when Trivia looked at her like she was gone in the head. That Bridget had totally lost it.

  "He's dead... I... She really will kill Clark. Even if she dies here, so does he, there are orders."

  "I know. Or guessed. It can't affect me. Sorry, Devorah. This ends, now."