The Infected 1: Proxy (47 page)

"Here... if you need anything else, just let me know, all right?" Less than a minute later she came back with a glass of water and another with something dark and bubbly in it, soda?

Taking an experimental sip he discovered it wasn't coke or anything he recognized, but something smooth and sweet, a bit like vanilla and cherries. It was good, so he took another sip, then started eating the food in front of him, one dish had fish, another steak, the last thin slices of roast chicken breast and a lot of vegetables. When he got through half the main courses two men walked over trailing behind Karen.

"Brian!" She scurried over when she saw him and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "My god, what happened, we've all been worried sick about you!" Leaning in she kissed him again, this time more warmly, causing the men behind her to smile.

Not knowing who they were Brian tried to short hand the whole thing.

"Um... I went for a swim in Canada, and had to, um, have a discussion with some class fours?" He didn't know if she'd get it, but her eyes went wide. Behind her, the stately looking man, about sixty, but still fit and strong looking, who stood on her left raised his head a little and went still.

"I see..." He said quietly. "And how did this "discussion" go?" Well I take it, since you've returned to us?"

Brian took a bite not wanting to be rude, but starving again now that he had food in his system. He chewed carefully and swallowed before answering.

"The immediate situation seems to have calmed down, but we don't know if something else might take place, requiring further... negotiation. I'm sorry about all the hedging here... I... well, this is possibly sensitive stuff and I don't know what I can say to who here... My fault for not keeping up with things I'm sure, I hope you can understand?"

The dark man on the right bowed, his clothing looked expensive, as nice as anything Brian had ever seen on anyone. He carried a few extra pounds and had black curly hair, graying at the temples and a thick accent when he spoke.

"I'm William Washington, ambassador from Liberia, a small country in Africa." The smile was large and toothy, but seemed genuine.

Brian nodded, "By Sierra Leon, Guinea and the Ivory coast. Declared independence on July twenty-sixth, eighteen forty-seven, first President Joseph Jacob Roberts..." Brian put down his fork and held his head for a second. "Sorry, you don't need me to recite grammar school history lessons about your own country... I haven't slept or eaten, before this, for six days... I'm not always an insufferable know it all... honest!"

The other man laughed and clapped the ambassador on the shoulder.

"And here William thought he'd have to educate everyone in the country about his home." He looked at Brian for a few seconds. "Oh! Sorry, I'm Tom Roberts, one of those pesky senators that pops in for lunch every now and then. Our food seems to be taking a while to get to the table so we thought we'd come and visit..."

Brian looked down at the plates in front of him and took a bite of the chicken strips, they were moist and tasty, he swallowed and looked at the men.

"I think I stole it... I came in and told the hostess, you know, about everything, and she came out with food... I'm sorry I didn't..." Brian felt bad and embarrassed but the Ambassador just laughed, waving his right hand a little.

"Don't be silly. Eat! None of us is so big of head that we can't see to the needs of someone truly hungry before our own."

Brian liked this guy, he realized. He seemed nice and put up with the hardships Brian made for him like a pro. Probably why he was an ambassador to begin with.

A few moments later he woke up to find Karen shaking him gently, holding his shoulder.

"Brian?" She sounded really concerned.

"Oh," yawning hugely he threw a hand over his mouth a second too late. "Sorry, I don't think I can stay awake much longer. I just needed food before I crashed..."

Apparently he'd fallen asleep again, since he woke up with his face in a plate of mashed potatoes. They had garlic mixed in and little flecks of green too. He'd never realized how comfortable a plate of food could be before. Karen set him upright and mopped off his face with a napkin. He heard talking, but it sounded too far away to understand, so he didn't bother. After a few minutes he found himself moving and made himself walk where Karen told him.

That he was used to, from running each day. Run, stop, walk, go the other way. Even if he felt tired he knew to trust her. At least when it came to walking. Nice as she was, he knew he'd still have a problem with her if a fight were breaking out, half expecting her to hit him with her powers.

Then he fell on something soft and warm, people helping him get under some covers he tried to murmur thank you before everything went away.

He roused a little later, in the dark. Feeling safe and warm and almost went back to sleep when he heard something, a slide of fabric on skin. He froze, then slowly reached for the gun in the small of his back. It wasn't there. The knife was gone too. He nearly panicked, then relaxed and took a deep breath, ready to fight.

"Brian? Are you awake?" The voice was soft... feminine. Karen.

"Uh, a bit. Sorry. Where are we?"

"My room. You fell asleep at the restaurant and we didn't think you'd make it all the way back to your own, so we brought you here. I just have to change... is that all right? I don't want to bother you..." Concern colored her voice.

He rolled over, assured that all was well and went back to sleep.

Brian woke with a start, sitting up, bolting out of the bed carrying the covers with him. He rolled on the floor, hit a wall and kicked his feet free, hands rising in front of him ready to fight, or defend against at least, whatever had touched him in his sleep. Blinking his eyes he looked over at the unfamiliar space, a white sheet draped over Karen who turned to look at him in the dim light.

"Hey, good morning. You were so peaceful looking when I got in last night that I didn't want to wake you, so I just crawled in, I hope that's all right?" She looked up at him sleepily and then looked over at the clock. "I won't be needed for a bit, press stuff, briefings at seven, do you want to go with me to breakfast? I have an extra toothbrush around here somewhere. Don't worry, it's just part of the multi-pack I bought, I don't have so many guests here that I have to keep extra toothbrushes handy all the time." She grinned at him, her mouth quirking a little bit.

"That..." As if answering for him, his stomach growled just then. "Sounds really good, if, you know, you don't want me to just leave? I already put you out. Thanks by the way. I was really out of it. I don't even really know how I got to the first floor. I know I pushed four. Planning to see if I could buy something to eat there..." He trailed off, knowing he sounded lame. Probably better to just stop than to keep compounding the damage. Plus, she may cut him some slack, since it was only six-thirty in the morning. He'd been at a really late lunch, so he must have crashed at about four. Fourteen hours of sleep. Well, he felt all right, ready to meet the day, with some food and possibly drugs to prop him up. Just coffee today, Brian decided, unless something came up. He didn't want to push himself too hard after the last week.

Karen smiled, looked at the mess of covers on the floor, and shook her head, walking out of the room into the bathroom to get him that toothbrush.

Ten minutes later they were both roughly ready to sneak over to the restaurant and eat something, dressed in real clothes, a requirement for team one, but Karen not wearing any make-up at all. Technically that was a requirement too, for the team members that needed it. A couple like Argos and Prime just didn't at all. She did, but could get away with skipping for breakfast sometimes, as long as she sat in the corner. Brian looked at her doubtfully.

"Who told you that you needed make-up for breakfast? You look great. Now me, I look like something dragged out of a puddle, which is really pretty good all things considered." His smile was lopsided but firm, as if he knew what he was talking about. Karen chuckled, which, given the time of day, seemed pretty nice of her.

They hid in a corner like she promised and got all the way to the end of the meal, their server, a friendly older man in a waiters uniform, who looked slightly familiar to Brian for some reason, having just taken away the used dishes and brought extra coffee when Prime, Charlot and Bridget came over. They all looked good, Bridget having dressed up again. It made her look like a tiny twenty year old, her make-up reshaped her face somehow, making it less pointy and rat-like and a lot cuter. Not that she didn't look cute the other way, just that this looked... hot, he admitted to himself. If he hadn't known she was only fifteen he could have gotten... confused. Charlot moved to the front of their little family group.

"Karen! Good to see you up. We need you in the press area by eight-forty-five. Some new information has come in, so we pushed everything back. Brian... I believe nothing is scheduled for you today, R&R after your ordeal, but if you could remain ready to go in front of the cameras? We can forgive a little blurriness around the edges, but pressed and neat, maybe some make-up?"

Brian shrugged.

"Sure, but try to keep things free from three to about, oh, seven or so?"

"Certainly... may I ask why?" She asked Brian, but her gaze went to Karen. It was a meaningful thing, slightly sly.

Smiling Brian pointed at Bridget.

"Today, from three or so on, is the quasi-official, if woefully late, b-day celebration for one miss Bridget Chambers. Whole big thing, cake, ice cream and all the people that aren't taken up by this...thing." He turned to Bridget. "That is if you can come. I got vetted by Christian who read my mind on the subject and Charles who stood there acting threatening. I passed... my intentions have been proven pure, which should be of comfort to your parents." He solemnly raised his left hand, right going over his heart, Scott smiled at least.

Bridget jumped up and down for a second, then got herself under control.

"You remembered me? After everything you went through, you came back and thought about a party for me? I think I might just cry..." She did, but only for about twenty seconds, smiling the whole time. Darting forward she kissed Brian on the cheek and said she wouldn't miss it for anything. Then the Chambers left as a group. They looked... closer than Brian had thought they were. More like a real family.

That settled he just had to figure out who to find for the other stuff.

He hugged Karen, putting off talking to her about things with Becky, knowing that he needed to soon, because too many people knew about it to keep the whole thing quiet any more, including her own team leader... And Charles, who had no reason not to cause problems for Brian right now. Not that he'd blame the guy after their last meeting.

Brian had worn his weapons to breakfast, so he could go straight to his own room, where he found a new set of black fatigues laid out on his bed. No note or anything. He shaved, re-brushed his teeth, and showered in about ten minutes, then hand washed the flex armor and hung it up to dry.

"Hey Becky? If I have to go anywhere, do you think I can get enough of a heads up to get changed? I can put this back on wet right now but..."

Becky laughed. "Who knows? I'll give you what warning I can. Get back into it as soon as it dries. After this last bit I'm surprised you didn't shower in it." This came as a voice only, with no ghost girl attached. Eerie. Brian smiled at the thought. Well, at least the voices in his head chanted supportive things, like "don't give up" so far.

Once dressed he went to first Christian and then Jason's office, finding them both empty. No one else was around either, except Mark in the kitchen.

"All right, the cake is nearly ready, that gives it about six hours to set? That should be fine. Want a peek?" Beckoning with a hand the smiling man got Brian to walk through the door. He didn't know what he'd expected, but this wasn't it. This was...

"Incredible Mark. I can't... It's perfect..." It was too. Covered in layers of white and cream colored frosting, it looked delicate and complex, without looking like a wedding cake at all. It was also huge, enough for everyone in the place at least, with seconds for most of them.

Mark outlined his plan, the ice cream, three kinds, which he'd made from scratch the day before, music selections that Tobin had come up with, and invitations to everyone in the facility.

"Most of them will have to drop in, because of things, but... yeah. I think it should about come together. I even have her three favorite movies and a projection thing to play them on the wall of the common room."

Brian thanked him six times and then again after he asked where he could find everyone else, since he should probably stay in the loop, if he could. Mark told him there were two meeting places, but right now everyone should be in the press room on two.

He decided to take the stairs, trying to buy himself some time and wanting to get the extra exercise, at about floor seven he saw Penny walking down the stairs slowly gripping the hand rail tightly. Her leg wasn't in the splint any more, and probably hadn't been for a while. She looked thinner than she had when they first met, well, when he'd first seen her at least, but cute. She'd cut her hair, this time it looked really good, even, about shoulder length, she wore it straight down right now, blond and bobbing a little as she came down toward him.

"Hi! Are you coming to Bridget's party later?" He asked her suddenly, not able to think of anything else to say.

She shrugged and looked away. "Does anyone want me to?"

Brian stuck his tongue out, teasing her, and walked up. "Of course! You're our friend, why wouldn't we want you to come? More to the point you're my friend and Bridget thinks your cool. That's good enough for me. I don't think anyone will object, do you?"

Her eyes looked tired, like she hadn't slept in a long time.

"I'm your friend? Really? I mean, you said you'd talk to me again and then... well, you didn't. I know you're busy all the time now, but I guess I hoped we could hang out or something..."

"Is it really a surprise? I was always your friend you know, even when I was mad at you. But that's way back when, weeks ago at least." He put his hand out to shake hers.

Instead of shaking his hand she grabbed him suddenly, nearly causing him to fold into a hip toss and send her down the stairs, Brian stopped before anything bad was even noticed by the girl, ending them in a tight hug, her head rested against his left shoulder.

"I thought... When you left, Lauren and Marcia saw you, we all know what that means, but then you didn't come back...I thought you died Brian. That you went somewhere and fought to the death trying to save someone that would probably never even know you did it. I couldn't sleep hardly, thinking about you dying like that, all alone..."

Holding her he swayed gently for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of her warmth in his arms and her scent, mainly her shampoo he realized. Some kind of flower.

"Oh no. Not me. I stayed in control the whole time. As best as I could at least. But I never lost control. Not really. It got close... I nearly gave up, but I held on. In the end that made all the difference I think."

She shifted, pressing the side of her face against his, still holding him around the neck. "Keep trying to not die Brian. Please. I need you..." She whispered into his ear, so softly he could barely hear her. It felt like an incredibly strange thing for her to say after the way that she'd already shot him down, but he let it go. After all, that he couldn't figure out what was going on in her mind shouldn't surprise him overly. He'd never been that good about guessing what women were thinking anyway.

"Well, no dying today at least, I hope. I have to go and try to help sell the world on the idea that they're all safe and everything is happy and joyous. So, see you at the party? Apparently everyone's invited... even me." He kissed her on the cheek and started walking again, not waiting for her answer.

Floor two buzzed with activity, a room, not the one where press conferences were held at all, but three doors down, was easy enough to find, since it had been converted to a kind of war office. At the front of the room six white boards had been filled with facts about the specific-infector incident. Everyone in the room spoke at once creating a babble that was hard to understand.

Brian walked in and started reading the boards, not knowing what else to do in order to get up to speed, an old habit he'd developed as a child. When in doubt, if possible, read. The data was mainly familiar, the only new additions of note were that the Canadian authorities had confirmed both the location and the nature of the creatures, and were sending a sample to them, one of the dead they pulled out of the water and that the power class level for each specimen examined was higher than initially reported.

Class five.

Fuck.

That many class fours would be... devastating if they got into a city. With their power levels, being class five meant they had to be nearly invulnerable to normal weapons as well. Armored somehow at least, or healing so fast it just didn't matter how badly they got hurt. Brian hadn't noticed because he hadn't really been in a position to take them on anyway. Well, until he lucked out and found what may be their only weakness. If they attacked, en-mass, the military would have trouble taking them out.

They could probably do it, eventually. They had weapons that could take out a tank and while invulnerable sounded cool, it didn't normally mean a person really couldn't be hurt at all. If nothing else a big enough fuel air bomb or nuke should work. The fuel air bombs were the go to solution, naturally. Nearly the power of a nuke without the radiation. They should also be weak to weapon zed gases, unless of course they had super-healing going on, then that might not work.

Still, it explained the buzz. At least no one was screaming about another event yet. Brian suddenly wanted to go put the flex armor back on, just in case, wet or not. There was talk about something bad, but Brian couldn't catch enough to understand the threat yet. He sat at a large table, a deep brown wood that looked almost black with thick glass on top to protect it, looking around and trying to sort things out.

Charlot ran up to him. "Brian, thank god you're here. We need to brief you and get you in front of the cameras. Now. I'll let... someone else explain. I don't think I can do it and maintain my dignity right now." Her voice turned so cold at the end that Brian felt like he might be attacked at any second. Instead she hugged him and pulled him to his feet, pushing him out the door in front of her. Once in the hall she took him by the hand and drug him to a small room about the size of his bedroom, so not really small, just little compared to where he'd just been. In it sat the same people that had surrounded him in the warming tub the day before, with the addition of Charlot. This then, he realized, made the core power group at the base.