Underground Page 8

  As if being found out meant he had to go back to being a slave. Which probably wasn’t wrong. The reason Gift, Dan and C. C. were with her, Clover and Pod was all about keeping them safe. If they had a healer, they’d need to do the same thing.

  That Gift could probably do that too, heal people, was in the mix. If wishing for teleportation powers was a thing, then healing would be as well. She didn’t mention that, not knowing how to really put the trick, or wish, together.

  Mindy practically whispered.

  “This is… Amazing. It will really help. I’m… Honestly, I’m a bit freaked out about it. We’ve never had these kinds of resources before. I don’t know how everyone is going to react. Should we keep it secret or…” She looked at Complex, then the rest of them, as if she wanted their opinions on the topic.

  Pam-Pam laughed a bit. It was sinister sounding, of course. Mean, nearly.

  “I hear you on that one. We can set everyone here up, with pretty much anything they need. People have to not be assholes or morons about it, though. What are the odds of that working for us?” She felt edgy about the whole thing, since it was a real problem.

  Even if Mindy wasn’t going to run off with all the funds they’d gotten in that day.

  She shook her head, trying to clear it.

  “Really, we should tell everyone. Then put out a basket with bills and different things in it each day. Not all of it, but I’d rather people get greedy and grab from the bin they’re allowed to instead of trying to sneak in and fight us for it. We can put Ryan in charge of that part of things. No one will think that us pretty people are ripping them off or cheating them that way.” Nero worked for that too, but even if he couldn’t go out in public too easily, the man was going to be counted as good looking by a lot of the others there. Possibly if he worked in a strip club as well.

  Getting her attention with a half wave, Complex agreed with her.

  “No shit, little sis. That’s probably what will bring things down on us, eventually. Um, Ryan? I don’t know who that is, off the top of my head. Which probably means I’m just as bad as people fear. There aren’t that many of us. I need to do better that way.”

  There was a snort from Nero, and a wave at the other man.

  “Nonsense. No one thinks that you’re anything other than a good friend. Possibly a saint? We’re only here because of you. Everyone knows that.”

  That was true, so Pam-Pam nodded, but didn’t get to speak, since her all black friend was still going.

  “Ryan is also called King Rat. He’s a good man. Steady. One of our best guards. He works pretty much every day, too. I had to pull rank last month to get him to take a few days to himself. I agree, we should make things available to everyone, even if they can’t all use it. We should take requests from the ones who can’t or won’t go outside, to make sure they have what they need.” The words were smooth sounding. Cultured.

  When Pam-Pam spoke, she sounded a bit like a gutter rat. A term she decided never to use around Ryan, just in case it was insulting to him.

  “I have that one. I got a list from pretty much everyone yesterday. Really, there’s stuff on it, but a lot of it is just junk people want, but don’t really need. Better computers, television, stuff like that. Dan was working on improving the internet yesterday, but I haven’t tried it yet.”

  Complex just started nodding at her.

  “He nailed it. Totally. I don’t know how, but we’re on a trunk line now. I was up watching Netflix all night. It worked perfectly. I wasn’t the only one doing that kind of thing, either. I don’t know if we can get cable that way.” He turned to look at Mindy then, staring a bit. As if telling her something with his eyes. “Dan picked to fix the internet for us. The thing is that even asking him to do anything will kind of force him to, so I don’t know how to bring it up. We aren’t going to abuse the man, so if he doesn’t select that for himself, we won’t have it.”

  Gift rolled his eyes, but pulled a paper out of his pocket. Then he shrugged.

  “It’s not on the list for today. He does want to rewire the electrical system, however. He’ll need to get with you on that, of course, Complex. It’s here on the sheet. I don’t know how to bring up specific things like that either.”

  Pam-Pam closed her eyes, then rubbed at her face. She didn’t have any makeup on, since she wasn’t planning on going out that day. She pretty much only did that kind of thing when she needed to attract a John to rob. That, or, she supposed, if she ever wanted a date.

  “Right. That one is actually hard. If you suggest that it’s time to eat, he’ll practically run to the food line. The same with anything else. He’s super sensitive that way. Sometimes he’ll be forced to do things that other people are just joking about. I think we should focus on the list he writes for himself each day. Gift is working with him on that. It still isn’t perfect. I don’t know if ordering him to have fun works for him. I mean, he’d dance the night away and smile, but does it make him happy to do that?”

  No one else knew the answer to that one, either.

  Mindy, instead of being a mind controlling freak, looked at the floor.

  “I’d been told about that, but hadn’t really thought about what it would mean for him. He isn’t the only person here with that kind of thing going on. It’s all different, but people have needs that are hard to work with. It’s frustrating.”

  The words got a sneer from Pam, along with a glare. Even if the lady was right. Most Infected people were either dangerous or pains in the ass. Sometimes both. It was why they had to be there for each other.

  Then, as if trying to cover for her lapse, Mindy sighed and waved at Pam-Pam.

  “Dan is one of your people, so we’ll leave that to you? Make sure no one abuses him and all that. You’ve been doing a good job that way, so far. A great one, really. This…” She waved at the cash in the plastic bins. “We need to separate your portions first. How are we doing that?”

  She looked at Nero, who yawned again.

  Pam-Pam rolled her eyes.

  “We don’t. If we have a basket out, we can grab cash if we need it, like anyone else. Is that good, Gift?” She glanced his way, but got an instant nod in return. Then she went on. “Right now, we need to secure what isn’t going out and get Nero tucked into bed. He’s been up for days. That has to suck.”

  Most of the people in the room nodded then.

  The night man blinked a bit, smiling politely.

  “We should get with Ryan first? He’s out on guard right now, in position one. I can go get him. We need someone to take his watch. Who do we have for that?” It was interesting, since he looked at Pam-Pam, as if she knew that kind of thing.

  “Um… Clover might be able to do it? He’s sort of been on guard duty with Dan and Carrot Cake. Gift here too, but not as much. I can stay with them though, as long as we aren’t under a real attack. Stunning people only does so much.” She made a little tapping movement, to show she meant her power.

  Which got a nod from Nero, who actually had some understanding of what she could do.

  “Can you ask after that for me? I should secure all of this in the vault. Well, the parts that people might want to steal. I like your plan for the older things. We can find a collector or a shop and make it their problem.” He grinned at the idea, as if it wouldn’t benefit that sort of person.

  Then, spreading that kind of thing around a bit, even to normies, wasn’t a bad thing. Especially since they couldn’t really use it themselves. It was that or dumping it somewhere.

  She was already on her feet, but headed toward the door.

  “I’ll get Clover in on this and see if Ryan can come visit with us here. I have no clue how long that will take. Can you stay up?” She didn’t even know if the man should. He looked fine, but it could be hard to tell if he was exhausted or not. It wasn’t like she could see the dark circles under his eyes.

  She was waved away, which wasn’t an answer at all. Still, she hurried away, not knowing wher
e to find Clover and the others, in particular. It took her about twenty minutes of walking, since they weren’t in the central area or their rooms. She had to ask around and found Dan, C. C. and Clover outside, with Dan up a wooden electrical pole. With a leather belt on, working away at something.

  She glanced in that direction, wondering if it was too dangerous for their buddy to be doing. It looked like a poor idea.

  “He’s… Fixing the electrical system?”

  That got a nod, from C. C. who pointed behind them at a metal box, near the top of the stairs going down.

  “Just the outside part of it. We should be able to have real things now. Even television. Dan said he’d put that on the list in a few days, once the rest of stuff is cleared up. I need to learn to do something useful, too.” She shrugged and looked at Clover, as if it might have been something they’d been talking about already.

  If that was the case, they didn’t share what they were going on about with Pam-Pam.

  After a moment or two, she got Clover’s attention, his goat like yellow eyes seeming alert, if nothing else.

  “Anyway, can you take over for Ryan on guard duty? He’s getting a promotion, kind of. I’m on guard duty for these two. Gift is in with Nero and Complex, in the main office. That’s where Ryan needs to get to.” It made it sound a bit like he didn’t have a choice, which wasn’t the case at all.

  Stomping a hoof a bit, his hairy leg bare, other than his pale fur, her friend bounced in place a little.

  “I can do that. Now? Or…”

  That got a rather annoyed look for the man. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he could be a dumbass from time to time.

  “That works. If you don’t mind?” She managed to sound almost human, for the moment. That was enough to get the other guy to run off. Moving at least three times faster than what would be normal. They were outside, but other than satellites and flying people, no one was going to be able to see him easily.

  Which didn’t mean much, if the cops were going to come at them again. They had drones and things like that. Thinking of the idea got her to look up into the gray sky. The ground was more or less dry, but it was clear that it had rained earlier. As Clover vanished in the distance, she noticed that there didn’t really seem to be anything there, above them.

  Which was good, she guessed.

  Pam-Pam should have felt awesome, since it seemed like they’d really scored that day. They had enough money to run on for months, if not longer, just in what they’d done that morning. She could just point at the ground and hum, making it happen again, even. Not that she was going to do that.

  After all, it was one thing for them to hide money away in their secret underground bunker. If they got cocky with it, flashed the cash around too much or left big piles of the stuff lying around outside, they might draw attention they didn’t want.

  True, collecting money up like they were, that others had lost and didn’t know about, would be hard to go after them for. That didn’t mean that no one in the government wouldn’t try, if they knew about it. Like the IPB. They didn’t need much of a reason to go after Infected people at all. Suddenly coming into enough money and food to keep themselves alive might be enough to trigger that crowd into action, if they weren’t careful.

  That reminded her of what Ryan had mentioned the day before at dinner. That they needed to be ready to leave. She’d spoken to a few people the night before on the topic, so it had been spread, but she hadn’t packed a bag for herself. That needed to be taken care of. Some supplies, too. Maybe even some cash.

  Just in case.

  Chapter six- Clover

  Scratching at his right leg, the hair there being thick and rough, instead of soft or silky, Clover clopped over to where Ryan was hidden. The other man poked his head around the corner of the pillar he was tucked behind. The man was good at his job, but he could smell him from across the room anyway. A scent of soap and some kind of deodorant.

  King Rat was a real pro, so made sure that he didn’t carry too much of a scent profile with him. If a standard human had been right next to him, they wouldn’t have noticed anything at all. Even at that, if he hadn’t moved, Clover wouldn’t have picked up his location. Not easily at any rate. His eyes were fine, but only about as good as anyone’s would be. They looked funny, having vertical slits but that didn’t lend him any special abilities or gifts at all.

  His nose was keen enough to make up for that lack. He didn’t let on about that, but he was probably better off that way than a bloodhound. His hearing was at least as good. If that was a goat thing, no one had ever mentioned it to him. Then, he wasn’t one of those. He was satyr, at least in looks. Whatever had caused him to pick that from mythology, it hadn’t left him with a constant erection, so there was at least that one small mercy. He was hung like a horse, which made it hard to get a date. Even if the lady were willing to look past his appearance, most weren’t ready for what he had under his loin cloth.

  He whistled. Using two short sounds to indicate he was a friendly. He got that back, with Ryan stepping out to look at him fully, even if he’d already been made by the rat-man. The man was more than just good at his job. Probably one of the best they had for the position, in fact. King was decent in a fight, as well. Not to mil-spec, but muggers and people wanting to freak bash would be wise to leave him alone.

  “Clover? Is something wrong?” There was a twitch of the nose, then a look around, as if they might be under attack.

  Clover felt bad, letting him think that, even for a moment. Not that he could shout out why he was there at a distance. Not if he wanted to hold to operational security.

  “Nothing like that. Pam-Pam and Nero want you down below. From the sound of it, you’re getting a promotion. Probably to something minor, since we don’t have that many jobs here. Still, it sounded like a good thing, not something to worry over. I was asked to take over from you for the time being. How much time is left on the shift?” Clover didn’t really care, being willing enough to do his part for the day.

  It would just help to know that the person coming in at a certain time might not be there to kill him. That was all.

  Ryan didn’t look at a watch, but tilted his head a bit.

  “About half an hour? They probably should have just waited, unless it’s really important. I haven’t seen anything all day. No one is out or anything. What do you have?” They went back far enough, years in fact, that it made sense for them to ask things like that.

  He grinned then.

  “Dan is working on the electrical system. The whole place is getting wired inside, it sounds like. After that, he said he wanted to get cable for all of us. I’ll have to find a T.V. Pam-Pam might be able to help with that. She gets things for people.” They had power, in places inside. Even the common room in his quarters had an extension cord, a bright green thing, that let them run a few things at a time. People mainly used what power they had for the computers.

  Head coming up, Ryan scoffed a little.

  “I can’t afford that kind of a thing. Can you? If so, I’ll be camping at your place, once you get that cable in.” It was meant as a joke, as if he wouldn’t be welcome.

  They were friends. War buddies, after a fashion.

  “That works. I don’t really have that kind of cash lying around. A few bucks. Let me see what I can find that way? We can go in on it together, maybe?”

  That made the most sense, though Ryan just shrugged, as if having something as normal as a small television set was beyond what was reasonable for people like them. A thing that was the truth, or had been in the past. He hadn’t seen a working screen that wasn’t a laptop in over three or four years, himself. Most of them hadn’t, most likely. Even the ones who could pass for normies might not have.

  It just wasn’t the life that they lived.

  King smiled at him, shaking his head slowly.

  “Best not to hope. That kind of thing leads to thinking you’re as good as other people and who knows what will happen
if we go down that road?” There was no tone of joking to the words.

  Because it really wasn’t that funny. It was pretty much just how they lived.

  “I know. Anyway, I have this here, for now. I need to get back to my real job, watching the others, unless you’re not doing this any longer. Then I might need to take over here for a bit. Not that I can do what you do.” He was okay on guard duty.

  Ryan was brilliant at it.

  “I do have mad skills for this. Thanks, Clover. I’ll find out what I can. We should, you know, meet up. At dinner maybe? I mean, if my being there didn’t gross out your friends last night?”

  On that one, Clover got to smile and mean it.

  “No one said anything about it. I’m not sure that Pod loves rats all that much, but even she didn’t seem to have a problem with you, after a bit. Then, she lives with me, so, you get me, none of them are hard to get along with that way. C. C. even thinks you’re cool, if you can believe that.” She’d mentioned it, several times, in fact.

  A thing that King waved aside, as if the girl couldn’t be interested in a rat man for anything, including friendship. That was a bit low in self-esteem, of course. Sure, the man was also a rat, but the whole picture had come out looking good, more or less. Cute, really. Standing up, even the tail worked for him.

  Not that Carrot Cake was going to be hitting that, any time soon. That one was mainly due to the fact that she was too young. If anyone tried to sleep with her, they were throwing down with Clover over it. A thing that a lot of people didn’t understand would be a problem for them. He was a goat man, but the truth was, he’d been a fighter before he’d popped and done several tours in the Middle East.

  Plus, the truth was that he was probably a class four. It was a thing that he’d never mentioned to anyone there at all. Not even Ryan, who’d been around him forever. He was pretty much bullet proof and healed fast enough that even if he was hurt, that only tended to last for a few hours. He’d been cut to the bone once, only to have the wound closed inside ten minutes.