The Infected: Ripped to Shreds (Book 1): Hush

by Power, P. S.

  He knew, now that Turner had squealed on her about wanting to kill him, which she picked from his thoughts directly. His words, at any rate. So there would be no letting down of his guard that way. Worse, he was off the base and three states away. He did know what was going on with Sam, the imposter, and was with Proxy, trying to find out what, exactly the man knew about whoever it was that had changed him into the thing he'd become.

  The perfect mimic.

  It was true that she'd finally gotten that something was wrong and had worked it all out, but there were probably only a handful of people in the world that might have made that connection. That she'd been there to do it, and hit on things at the right time was happenstance. Unless, as she read from Lancaster himself, Proxy's power had set that part up. It was another thing that had been kept out of the news, but many things that happened around Brian Yi really did seem to be compelled into being by his reality warping power.

  It was neat, of course.

  The only good side of things that day, at least as far as she was concerned, involved her getting up before the sun, planning on that run. It was nice in a way, because at six-thirty, when someone pounded on her door, loudly, she was already up and dressed for the day. It took some focus for her to be able to read who was on the other side of the door, and what they wanted, but she recognized the old fashioned parchment looking text. There were overlays of illustrations, all to do with fighting, which gave the whole thing away.

  The text portion, in all black ink, spoke of both meditation, and what was planned for her that day. By Hobbs, who grinned when she opened the door.

  "Good morrow! I did not know of a set time to alert you to the day, so sought this hour, for first approach. I see that you have prepared for a run? That is an excellent use of our time. We should go and see to recruiting the others that shall accompany us this morn? All are here, within this building, so it shall not take ere long." Then the man went still, his face fixed in a pleasant expression, even as the words on the page above him told of how he expected her to balk at the idea.

  She really had been planning to run, so it didn't seem like too much to ask.

  "Sounds good. Who all is going?"

  The answer, to start with, wasn't Bridget, since she needed to run about as much as she wanted to get to the food quickly. Her body didn't get out of shape, it seemed, and exercise didn't help her to do better that way. She mainly practiced and just did physical things for fun, and to burn off extra energy.

  Plus, it was hard for her to wake up in the morning, so Hobbs didn't really want to bother with it, knowing that rest would be more valuable to her.

  His words came along with the text that hung above him.

  "We should have Denis with us, as well as young Kerry. I was asked to see to her aid by her brother, who wishes the best for her. That..." There was a shrug then, and muscle moved under the gray sweat shirt the man had on. It was clear he worked out a lot from that. "She might be nonplussed to see you this day. Do you wish to reset our time for this? I hate to lose the light of day, but we must see to safety."

  That wasn't wrong, so Cindy checked with Kerry's story, and while the girl could be a hot head at times, she wasn't exactly evil or anything like that. She didn't even blame Cin for ratting her out. That was what Hobbs feared might happen, but the girl wasn't that kind of person, being better than that, in the main.

  "We should be fine. If not..." She wasn't afraid of much, and knew that there wasn't particularly going to be a beating for her from that direction. It probably meant she was being too cocky about things, but she had a smile on her lips when she spoke. "Well, then I'll leave the area. I don't think it will come up though."

  The man smiled, which was genuine looking, and hid his real fear that Kerry would actually go for Cindy, who was in his care that day. It would mean that he'd have to battle the other girl, which given her powers, would lead to death as a likely outcome. He couldn't give her a chance to bring them into play, so began to try and run through several different tricks that would allow him to do just that. Then he went over more that would let him keep her alive.

  To that end they went to collect Denis first. The man was already awake, and didn't complain at them or anything. Instead he just looked at Cindy and smirked a bit.

  "So, ready for the wheel of torture?"

  It was clear that he really meant that, too. It seemed that what Hobbs often did as far as meditation was closer to trial by ordeal than anything else. While holding your mind still, or focused on a different topic. That day it wouldn't be too bad, however. Not to save her, in particular, but rather so that they could get Kerry to go along with them. Cin had already agreed to do what Hobbs wanted, including painful and humiliating sex acts. While he did expect her to have a problem eventually with what she was told to do, the man also expected her to try, at least at the beginning.

  She was on the first floor of the building, and her door was outside, having only a small covered porch area to keep the rain or snow off. Walking to the front, Cin knocked for them, blocking the door with her body. That meant she was seen first when the telekinetic got to the door, her face a bit blank seeming. That was how she hid from the world, rather than being a prelude to attack, which was what Hobbs feared was happening.

  "Hey! We're just about to go for a light jog. Hobbs thought that it might be good if you came along? There's some kind of meditation thing after, and we don't want you to feel unloved, after getting in trouble like you did. So, five minutes to change?" That was asking a lot, but the girl would have said yes to almost any demand at that point. Being included in a running club wasn't exactly some big hardship for her or anything. She ran daily anyway, or close enough to it.

  As soon as she came out, dressed in sweats that said Team Two on them, like what Hobbs had on, being all in gray, they started to move. It was a slow pace, with Hobbs in the lead the whole time. Denis was right behind him, and Cin was in the rear.

  Following along, trying not to fall back to far. Thankfully she was in decent shape, since these people weren't really cutting her any slack that way it seemed. Even as they ran, Hobbs started to call out things.

  "Focus all of your mental being into your right foot, as it is covered by your shoe at that location. Let not your mind fly from this. Hold steady there, and do not fail." His voice was almost dead calm, which was due to his meditation on his foot, of all things. Like he was telling them to do.

  Then, roughly every mile, or so, which was about half a lap around the interior of the fence that surrounded the complex, the fellow had them change to a different object of focus. They weren't all body parts either, which made it harder. Trying to focus on the scent of the number three for instance, was pretty much impossible. That was the point however. It wasn't about actually doing it, but forcing their minds to keep going back to something very abstract and hard to hold in place.

  On the sixth lap, which was just under twelve miles, they were allowed to stop and have some water. Of course they had to follow each swallow of it with their mind as it went down their throats, since it was part of the program for the day. Denis was pleased with how nice Hobbs was being to them, and figured that it was really for the girls. Not because they weren't tough in their own way, just because they were new, and it wouldn't do to scare them off.

  Not until the second or third day at least.

  Then, just standing in the open, on the cool morning, the sun coming up, but made dim by the clouds, they practiced fighting. That was a lot different than what she was used to, the techniques nearly alien to her. Which, she understood after a moment or two, checking with her power, they were. Even given that there was a lot of crossover in things. Just emphasis on different movements.

  Hobbs toned down what he was doing on purpose, staying just ahead of whoever he was working with, skill wise. So close that it probably seemed to the others like they were nearly as good as he was. It wasn't the truth. The man was at least fifteen times better than she was fo
r instance. She wasn't horrible, but the difference that was really there stung her mind. To Hobbs it was nearly like she was untrained. On the good side he did think she was better than Kerry and nearly as good as Denis. That wasn't enough to overcome her lack of size totally however, so the other man would win in a fight, unless she managed to start the conflict without him knowing about it.

  The problem there was that all three of these people were bordering on paranoid as far as attacks went. With her, but also with life in general. They'd all been in enough fights that they couldn't really help it.

  After about four hours of work, Hobbs led them into another round of meditation, then let them go with a wave.

  "After we cleanes our bodies, we should meet to break fast. Do either of you know what the plan is for today, as far as the security we are to proved?"

  She didn't know anything, but Denis nodded, and waved toward the front of the place.

  "I need to go see Lauren. She's a friend of mine. I can't believe any of this. Bridget... I mean, I kind of get it, but..." There was a long pause. "Her arm. Her body, really that's all she has, you know? I don't know..." He was thinking that she might kill herself, but the fact of the matter was that the woman very nearly couldn't manage to do that. She could, in theory, drown herself, but it was clear that Denis didn't want that to happen. He was, after all, the traitor's friend.

  Cindy didn't have that problem however. The woman could have done anything in the world, and she'd picked to go against the people that were actually there for her, all the time. That was up to her, and what she'd chosen, but that didn't mean that those she betrayed weren't going to hate her now. They should, really.

  Being soft on her now wasn't going to help anything. That would just let others think it was all right to do the same thing, since no one ever got in trouble for it. Losing an arm was a good starting place, but it probably wasn't going to be enough, long term.

  Worse, they had some great mimics out there now. Any one of them could be replaced, at any time, and only a handful of people would even know about it. Most of the telepaths would probably be fooled by whatever had been done, too. Cin doubted that Trivia would be, but like her, the woman couldn't know everything, about everyone, all at the same time.

  What she could do, probably, was find the source of these things. Cin had tried with Sam, but to no avail. He honestly just didn't know that kind of thing. Everyone else had gone quiet at the mention of Lauren, but no one spoke out loud about what seemed obvious to her.

  Kerry could do things like fix car bodies, and even cracks in rocks. She could rip things apart on the atomic level, then reassemble them. Perfectly. If she could do that, which it was clear she could from her own mind, then fixing even an armored arm would be doable. She just needed a basic plan for it. Medical would have x-rays of the woman's entire body, and probably have pictures of what that was supposed to be like.

  With that, there was no real reason that Kerry couldn't fix the woman, if she wanted. It was clear that she didn't even really need to consciously understand what exactly she was doing. Having the right data would be enough for her to work it all out.

  The thing there was that the girl didn't know that about herself really. All the signs were there, and some part of her understood it to be fact, but her conscious mind didn't. After all, she was only a class four. That had been driven into her by the people at the base, even if it really wasn't true. She was closer to a five, in actual fighting power. Maybe even a six.

  Denis knew that, but still hadn't worked out how to get his friend her arm back.

  It was really tempting not to explain it all to them, since it wasn't her business. Then, faking that she was on their side, as well as she could, was part of her personal survival plan at the moment. Finally she shrugged, and looked from one person to the other.

  "Kerry, you need to get with Lauren's doctors and rebuild her arm for her. I mean, if Director Turner signs off on that. It might be better for you to wait on that, so she can't fight as well? You can do it at pretty much any time." She stopped for a bit, reading more on that, since Kerry actually knew all about it on a deep level. Actually, there were things in there that were very nearly frightening to think about, that she could do, if she wanted to and had anything like an imagination.

  Thankfully she really didn't. Otherwise the woman could potentially make things explode. As in nuclear detonations, with nothing more than her mind.

  That let Cin nod a few times, only to find Hobbs doing the same thing, smiling. He didn't really mean it, but it wasn't about him being dour or sour inside. It was just his default position. A way of throwing his enemies off their guard. He practiced it all the time, so that when he was in pain, or struggling to survive, it would always seem like he was gleefully playing.

  Now however, he was actually trying to prop the girl up. She'd betrayed them, due to her weaknesses. That he hadn't seen it coming and helped her earlier, was, to his mind, his own fault. It was a failure that he didn't plan to repeat, if he could help it. At that moment it meant making Kerry feel needed again.

  "Ah! That is no doubt the truth. Yes, we should see what Lady Marcia says, and if it be her will, seek to give such aid to Lauren. She has lost her way, only, I believe. All can do that, from time to time. We should seek to help her find us again, if it may be done." The whole little speech was all for Kerry.

  A thing which wasn't lost on Denis, but truly was on the sandy haired blonde girl.

  "I... Don't know if I can do that."

  Cindy snorted then, and shook her head.

  "Look. If I say you can, then you can. You don't even have to do that much. Just look at some pictures and have some working material around. For this I'd suggest her arm. The one that was ripped off? It should be made of the same stuff, making the whole thing easier for you. Not that it will be that hard. Think about it, have you ever known me to be wrong about anything? Information is what I do." That presupposed that what she read was real, which there was no guarantee of, but breaking the girl down right then wouldn't get the work done.

  So, instead, Cin waved at them.

  "Showers first, then we should eat and run this past Turner?" She was asking, but sounded so forceful about it they all nodded.

  She really wasn't hungry yet, but met them in the dining hall, and then walked with them toward the front office. She was in slacks and a button up shirt, since it was a work day for her, and no one had given her nifty fatigues yet. Hopefully she wasn't expected to buy the ugly things for herself. Everyone else had them however, and nothing would tell the world that she was one of the group as well as fitting in like that.

  No one said anything about her clothing however, even when they managed to pick up Bridget on the way to the office. She was cute looking, in her little tan outfit that said Chambers over the left breast pocket. She had on tan boots too, and did look very military and official. The younger girl didn't say anything as they all got inside, though she was taking a chance to glare at Kerry a bit over something. Probably the whole selling them out for drugs thing, but it could have been something else.

  Which as it turned out, it was.

  As soon as they got into the office with Director Turner, the girl half growled at them.

  "They want Kerry to grow Lauren's arm back. Bad enough they already saved her life. I don't think we should risk it." There was no doubt in her words that Kerry could pull it off, just that she didn't think it was a good plan. "If anything we should take off the other one to keep her in check."

  That got Denis to glare, at Bridget, clearly not all that happy to hear about her ideas on the topic. Kerry shrank into herself, as if she weren't the most powerful being in the room... Which it turned out, she wasn't. Hobbs just stood there, smiling, the stress of the whole thing causing his mind to prepare for battle. That meant a lot of illustrations and plans to join up with Lady Marcia, if it came to blows or use of powers. The thing there was that he didn't think they could win, if the others were tr
uly against them.

  Still, that was where his loyalty and honor lie. With the Lady of the IPB. His commander now.

  No one else was thinking of taking it to blows, however. Denis was about to try and calm everyone in the room down with his power, and Kerry froze, not even able to run for the door. She was far too scared for that at the moment. Bridget was just arguing, and Marcia was trying not to make things worse, by rolling her eyes.

  Finally, after several heated minutes of boring conversation that had nothing to do with her, Cin shrugged, and cleared her throat.

  "Or we can go and tell Lauren that she'd been being messed with? That it wasn't one of the IPB Agents doing it at all? I'm willing to bet that she'll come back to our side if she knows that. No one really wants to be the bad guy, after all. If we let her know that, it might make a difference."

  Then Bridget spun on her, and tried to slap her in the face. The move was faster than Cin could dodge, or should have been. The trick there was that the girl's own psychic powers told her what to do to get out of the way, very exactly. She even had enough time to read the instructions and get the timing right, which made it seem like she was ducking the moves, all three of them, perfectly. There was dodging too, and a half twist, but she got them all right.

  Which got her growled at, until the girl realized what she'd just done.

  "Oh, crap. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!"

  Marcia nodded, standing there, with her arms crossed.

  "Yeah, you just got lucky. So much so I should toss you in the brig for doing it. That would have killed her if it landed. If you'd done the same thing with Kerry we'd be cleaning up a big mess right now. One way or the other. Now, calm the fuck down, and stop acting like an idiot? I like Cindy's plan for this one. Go and actually talk to Lauren, and let her know what's going on. If you think she can handle it, get her arm back for her. Do you understand that Bridget? This isn't the right time for you to be trying to exercise that little grudge you've been carrying around for years. If your dad can forgive everyone for trying to kill him, then you can too."