Ripped Open (The Infected: Ripped to Shreds Book 2) Read online

  He'd panicked and started shooting, more or less. In this case it really worked out however.

  It made for a tense morning, as they all sat around listening to people on the phones for the most part. That lasted until about ten, when Proxy came in, realized what was going on, and turned on a television to see if there was news coverage of the whole thing.

  That part got everyone to go silent for a few minutes as they watched it unfold.

  Not for the normal reason either.

  The talking head on the screen, a rather gray looking man that had proto-jowls and a square looking head was talking to a spokesperson from Homeland Security.

  “So, you got information from unknown sources about the impending attack?”

  The DHS guy, looking more genuine than not, shook his head.

  “Not unknown. This was a joint operation, started last night by the IPB. Thankfully one of their Operatives was able to uncover this in time. These terrorists had managed to float under the radar almost perfectly. If not for cooperation from several agencies, including the FBI and NYPD on the ground, things might have gone very differently today.” Then he listed off the amount of bombs and arms found, and how close the people had been to moving out for the attack that day.

  Brian Yi blinked several times, and then actually smiled. It was a fairly pleased looking thing, accompanied by several cute, nearly cartoonlike, exclamation points that floated on the screen over his head.

  “Well, that’s different. We normally only get mentioned when we mess up.”

  The others seemed to agree with that sentiment, but things got better and crossed all the news stations. Except the hate channel, of course. No one even gave a second thought to that part of the days viewing experience. They avoided going into who got the original data at all, but didn’t blame the Infected for the terrorism either, which, everyone assured her, was big for them.

  Normally, even if a different group laid claim to the event, they tried to spin it so that things were laid at the feet of their favorite minority group. At about ten-thirty she stood up, and stretched, then shook her head.

  “I guess my work here is done for the time being? Let’s try not to have any major issues tonight? I need the sleep. Right now… I guess I need to get to my training with Hobbs and the others?” Brian nodded at her, still happy over how things had been handled. Yes, there had been death, but inside it was clear he understood what had really been avoided.

  The funny thing there was that everyone else kind of got that part too. It meant that Dave and Karen looked nifty that day, and that no one really thought that she was laying down on the job. Not even recalling the part where she literally had.

  Her intent was to go and change for the day, since she had time for a run, and possibly the torture that Hobbs thought made for a clear mind. He wasn’t actually wrong, though was a bit too glib about things. To him, coming from a different reality like he was, the ability to meditate was either about controlling your personal powers, or about resisting pain while being literally tortured. That way you wouldn’t give up any of your master’s secrets. In his case it had been even worse than that.

  He’d been an advocate at one point. His entire life had been about training to go and fight, or take torture, for those that would have simply died without such aid. It was, pretty much, why he could remain a good person to his own thinking, even after what they did to the man the day before. That was his duty to Lady Marcia, and the IPB. His people. If it had been required of him, he would have taken a beating or torture in their place as well, to protect them. Even if it meant dying. There was simply no doubt of that in his story.

  Which meant that, when she got outside to find that Denis, Kerry, Bridget and Hobbs were all standing there, soaking wet, having had buckets of ice water dumped over their heads while they focused with their eyes closed, she wasn’t that shocked. It was freezing out still, and she realized, Christmas morning. That had gone almost right past her. Nothing there was actually decorated or anything. She wouldn’t have gotten it then either, except that it had been in the background on TV. Along with the fact that Bridget was wearing a very wet Santa hat on her head at the moment.

  Nothing else. In fact, none of them were. Just standing out in the cold, shivering and trying to not notice it. That was fine for the others, more or less, since Kerry was cheating, and warming the air around her using her telekinetic powers. Denis was shivering, and not getting anything like that himself, but Bridget was fine, not really feeling all that cold, in particular.

  Hobbs looked at her, and for some reason expected her to try and get out of doing the work, even though she’d gone along with things so far. The original agreement she’d made with him required her to. Actually, that allowed him and his buddies to do her up the behind, if he chose, which to her mind meant that she just had to follow orders, even if they were insane. On the great side, as much as it would suck, this wouldn’t actually kill her. Most likely.

  The big issue was the public nudity though. Kerry had balked at that part, at first, being afraid that others would mock her for it. That, or sexually abuse her. Given her history, public nudity had always meant something bad in her life.

  Sighing she started to take her clothing off without being told, seeing that there were two extra buckets on the ground. She took everything off, and didn’t wait for Hobbs to do the work for her, just clearing her mind as best she could and upending the thing like a stupid kid on the internet. The heavy five-gallon bucket slipped in her grasp, over her head.

  Beaning her with the side of the thing with an annoying thwack. For a moment she only saw white, as most of the freezing water covered her body. The shivering started almost instantly. Then the next twenty minutes was all about her turning blue and trying not to die of hypothermia. While holding her mind as clear as she could.

  It wasn’t until they were finished, her body having mainly dried, that she noticed that Tobin had managed to skate on the whole thing. That was because he was having brunch with his mother. In the dining hall. That wasn’t such a shock to her really, since most people had families. The slightly jarring portion of things was that his mother was Christian Poures. A thing that almost no one at the base was aware of. Not even Kerry knew, and she was dating the guy.

  No, she just figured that Tobin and Christian were dating on the side, and that it wasn’t really her business. Not that she loved it, since Chris was a lot prettier than she was and might steal her man away. It took care to research it all, since alerting the telepath wasn’t going to go over all that well, she didn’t think. Oddly enough, hiding that she was his mother hadn’t been her idea, or even that of his billionaire family. It was the singer that had put the rule into play. To protect his aunt. She was Infected, but wasn’t out yet. Mainly due to her sucky feel good power. The woman, Nikki, couldn’t protect herself if the world turned on her, so Tobin did what he could to prevent that from happening. Even though it meant not getting to have the family he should have had.

  Still, that got her to think for a moment, and then take a shuddering breath.

  “I need a shower. Then we all meet for lunch? I didn’t get anyone presents. Honestly I kind of figured that I’d be dead by now, one way or the other. Still, I can sing off-key with the best of them. Or… If you’re all busy, I can sleep more?” She didn’t really care, either way. Not even about the fact that she’d forgotten the holiday. She, apparently, was working it. Due to her own desire to try and look good, too.

  So no one was to blame there other than herself. That meant not placing blame was a great idea.

  It was Den, who had equally chattering teeth, and a shriveled member that proved it was frigid out for him as well, who smiled then.

  “We’re watching a rerun of the Food Network Holiday Special. No presents, but I hear that Warren is planning to wear shorts with mistletoe on it? He’s gay, so you should totally pretend to take him up on that. It will serve him right.”

  There was a chuckle t
hen, as Bridget shook a bit, and then started to get dressed, her hat still more than a bit damp. It wasn’t freezing over, since she was just too warm for that.

  “It sounds like a good time to me. Um… My mom said something was going on last night? Anyone know what that was about?”

  No one else did, not having been in the loop. Still, part of getting along with people meant bringing them in on things like that.

  “Attempted terror attack on New York. We helped the FBI and the police stop it in time. No big thing.” She didn’t mention her part in it, since that would come across as bragging. With another group she might have done it anyway, but Bridget had basically fought a war by herself, not long before. It would take a lot to top that.

  Everyone had plans for the day, except her. Even Hobbs was going to go into town, to see some friends from home. His world. In fact, he was going to go and see Mary, specifically. Not that they were dating or anything. That was good, since the woman had been working with Braid to undermine Brian for decades. Making him fall in love with her, and then dumping him at the right time to try and mess with his mind. It hadn’t worked, thankfully.

  Cindy had met the woman about a month before, at Thanksgiving. She’d been strange, but hadn’t really seemed evil. Then, there’d been a serial killer at the meal, which kind of trumped a lot of things like that. Still, that idea of seeing familiar people got her to thinking, mainly about Sara, the little girl that was around the base someplace.

  “Oh! We need to all do something for Sara.” She was about to mention why that was, when everyone nodded, and Kerry smiled.

  Then she clapped her hands.

  “We should! I forgot we had a kid around. We didn’t even do up a tree or anything this year. Everyone was feeling a bit off, and… I don’t know, it just didn’t come together. That’s no excuse. We need to come up with something. What do we do?”

  That was pretty clear to Cindy, for once. Mainly because Bridget had an idea for the whole thing, which was rather shamelessly stolen. After all, it involved several different steps, the first of which was sending Bridget around to get funds from key people. That was Rachel Chambers, Prime, and Brian, to be specific.

  Then there would be a trip, via teleportation, to make certain the correct toys, clothing and so on were purchased. Possibly with time travel involved. The thing there was that the girl knew that no one would listen to her great plans, if she said them. So, walking toward the apartments, since they were all in the same building as far as that went, Cindy laid it all out for them.

  “I can kick in a bit. About fifty bucks?” She had more than that, having been paid once already, but the truth was that she didn’t feel like spending all that much on a girl that she barely knew. It was enough however, and not understanding the premise at all, Hobbs floundered a bit right in front of her as they walked along. He wasn’t willing to simply admit that he didn’t really understand his part in things. He would have gladly paid for everything, if it were his portion in the day’s events. It wasn’t a lack of riches for him, but rather not understanding how these people felt as to his part in the protection of young Sara.

  To him it seemed right, given that he was now responsible for Sara, however.

  When it had been uncovered that she was being abused by a powerful and important man, he’d been added to the group that punished him. Now Kerry, and the new woman, Cindy, were standing for her on this holy day. That meant he might be needed for that as well. Or, and it was possible, though he didn’t think it was likely, that only women were supposed to do such things here for the day.

  Denis hadn’t volunteered anything yet, after all.

  Cindy, instead of acting like it was a big deal, just explained to the man.

  “We don’t technically have to do anything. Really, Rachel, and maybe Brian, are responsible that way for her. It’s just that she’s the youngest one here, so it’s kind of traditional that she gets things, if we have the ability to provide them. That’s all.”

  “Ah! Thank you, Lady Cin. I was indeed most baffled by the concept. I too, could add funds? If that is not too lacking in fellow feeling?”

  Den shrugged.

  “That sounds about right. That, and be around for her is all that anyone could ask. We kind of fucked up on Thanksgiving. I kind of hid, and did some cooking, avoiding the idea. I didn’t even think of her, and should have.”

  Bridget made a face and then shook her head.

  “I should have made certain to bring her along with me. I… Yeah, so, I’ll go and do the rest of that? Grandma probably has things for her, so we might only need one or two big things that way. Let me see?”

  She ran off then, dressing still as she moved. It was talented, being a thing that Cindy couldn’t have managed. Worse, or better, the girl did it at about ten times the speed that Cin could run at all.

  “I should go running… Later though.” She’d missed the day before, being sidetracked like she had been. Even Hobbs just smiled at her, which he always did, and nodded.

  “Verily. We need not abandon tradition however. I have plans to go and see a person later, but could perhaps cancel that, if it is needed?” He didn’t actually want to, since he didn’t get to talk with anyone from his own world all that often, and missed home.

  A place he wasn’t allowed to return to. Reading up on that, scanning quickly, her eyes giving away what she was doing, if not who the data was about, looking straight ahead like she was. The reason, when she got to it was kind of big however. He, by himself, had stolen the power source for an entire world. To save the children that represented that from horrible things, but he’d still done it. When he’d been caught, his world, or the commanders from there, the leadership, had decided to simply banish him, rather than allow him a trial. That would allow him to fight back, and he was too good for anyone to risk doing that with.

  Plus, he’d taken in Proxy with him, and it had been pointed out, publically, that Brian Yi might step in for the Advocate himself, and that he simply didn’t lose. Not to the kind of beings they could bring to the battlefield at any rate. So the man had been sent away, forever.

  Honestly Mary wasn’t allowed to even talk to him. She however, didn’t care about the rules of that faraway place. She was too powerful to be cowed in that fashion. That left her as the only lifeline to the world of his origin.

  It took a while for her to get back to her room, and shower until she was warm. Then she dressed for the day, in real people clothes, instead of in fatigues. She wasn’t going to work after all, just lunch, and maybe even a party, or whatever they were calling the ad hoc things they might be doing. Most of the others had real friends there, after all. That meant people would be doing a lot of things together, she didn’t doubt.

  Leaving the losers like her all on their own.

  Which was fair enough. If she’d been at home, back in Vancouver, she would have been watching some television, and possibly eating a Hungry-Man Turkey Dinner. That was about all. So if she were basically doing the same there, that was fine with her. The real trick was being there for the others, at need. To make herself so useful, and desired as a friend, that they wouldn’t get rid of her too easily.

  Not that she hadn’t already kind of won that battle. Getting lazy now though wouldn’t help her solidify her position. So she put on her red pullover sweater, which looked shapeless on her tiny body, and a black skirt. It was a bit plain, but dressier than jeans would be, she thought. Making it look like she meant to be there.

  Then she went to the dining room, which had a regular seeming meal set out for everyone. The big deal, apparently, was going to come later that day. She could tell, because there was a hand written blackboard sign out, telling them to come at seven for dinner, which was an hour later than normal. There was hand drawn seasonal decorations around the words, even if it didn’t proclaim what the day was exactly. They were however, having a big meal anyway.

  Cindy grinned at Olga, and moved to sit by her, after getting
a plate with a hamburger on it. The thing had to be made up by her, but had what she wanted on it, which was a fair trade to her mind.

  “Merry Christmas.” She managed to sound like a real person, but Olga snorted a little at her over the words. She returned them however, even though it was clear that she didn’t think much of religion in general, or it’s false celebrations.

  That was fine though. Cindy didn’t either, but their job for the day was to fake that kind of thing, that was all.

  Chapter four

  Something amazing happened at about three in the afternoon. It wasn’t that people had actually remembered Christmas for little Sara. It wasn’t even that, for the first time anyone knew about, the small girl walked out onto the base looking short, slightly dark skinned and with dark brown hair. She even had large dark eyes that looked adorable. No, it wasn’t any of that.

  It was that Ms. Turner dashed into the rec room, where everyone was watching a rather uninspired food centered holiday special, to ask for volunteers who didn’t mind flying away from it all. Actually, they were needed in New York, just in case there was another attack coming soon. The surprise was that they were invited by Homeland, and that they asked for distinctive looking Infected for once. That was, they wanted it to be known that they were actually there.

  It was pretty close to the first time that had ever happened.

  The holiday was kind of ho-hum, compared to that news. People perked up, and while there had been a sort of forced, and fake, cheer to the whole event so far, several individuals perked right up, as soon as the whole thing was explained. Laughing, a violet colored lobster man raised a claw.

  “Oh, I’m in then. I’ve never been to a big city like that. I’ll need a camera.” He was, inside his own story, being funny or trying to be.

  Marcia nodded.