Infected 8: Impulse: A Whole New Day (2 page)

"Get ready for the blast wave! Then, like I said, get people out of here. Evacuate everyone. I can't believe that actually worked. They told me... But you get it. You never really think..." She waved at the base, getting a few nods from the cops that were standing around. They bought it, of course, since producing a giant explosion on that level pretty much took a nuclear device.

For most people.

This one had been made by Lancaster and Doug Tibs. Two infected IPB Operatives. Hopefully from far enough away that they'd both lived. That wasn't really certain, but Mary, who ran the good donut shop in town, had been with them, to get them away. She could teleport, so it was likely that they'd be fine. Not that Bridget wasn't worried about it anyway. Lancaster was a person that she'd known her entire life, and Doug was a teammate of hers. Mary...

Mary looked like a slightly glassy eyed hippy, most of the time, and seemed not too much older than she did. Perhaps twenty-five, to Bridget's sixteen. She was
also
her grandmother. Worse, the young looking guy that she
used
to have a crush on, Brian, had turned out to be her biological grandfather. Because
that
wasn't going to require therapy later. It was, as everyone liked to point out, a time travel thing. Not a game that had been played to mess with her head. It
still
pissed her off. Not that Brian would have ever been hers, since he wasn't half as into women as he should have been, but she'd made a
lot
of passes at him, over the first year that they'd known each other.

Complete with some groping, grinding, and a bit of kissing that he'd been more than a little reluctant to receive. The Director, Kevin, had known about the time part too, if not the part where they were related. Her Grandma had the whole story. Her
real
one. Rachel Chambers. The one that had raised her when she was little. She'd known the whole time, watched Bridget make a fool of herself and let it go on, without even suggesting that Brian might be wrong for her. There hadn't even been a hint.

The police had frozen in place, even as she ducked down, not really knowing if a blast wave would follow along or not. It wasn't
really
a nuke, after all. So far it had seemed pretty close to that, however. The roar that was approaching seemed like a good indication that there was, whatever it was, something huge coming.

"
Down
! As soon as you can get to your feet, start clearing the town! We have to protect the civilians!" She wasn't just screaming for effect, her voice going high again. She had to do it in order to be heard as a wall of air slapped the little city, making windows blow out. She was able to track it all as it came at them.

It was enough that most of the cops standing there ducked like she was, their eyes wide. At least one of them wet themselves a little. Bridget caught the scent on the fast moving air. She ignored it, since anyone could have that happen to them, if caught off guard. It was a reflex that let people lighten themselves for running, she thought. People didn't control things like that really, they just avoided situations where it came up, and then figured themselves brave.

The force of the whole thing was impressive. It made a thump against her body that was audible, at least to her. The others covered their heads, which she did too, belatedly. Her entire life had taught her that almost nothing in the world would really hurt her. That meant she had some odd reactions at times, compared to most un-Infected people. For Bridget, ducking was a
game
, not a response to danger.

Like standing back up, the instant the bowel loosening sound had passed. She knew that it was that, because her nose, which was a lot keener than most, detected that at least one of the people with her had lost control of that bodily function too. It stank, but she could forgive it. They'd need to be cleared out for quick action, after all.

"Go, go, go! Clear the town, we have about two hours before the radiation starts killing people. Move! Is the Chief in?" That was an important question. She had to ask it multiple times, because everyone was dumbfounded, but finally the lady cop shook her head. She had a nice braid in the back that was tucked inside her collar. A soft brown that shone a bit and smelled of being freshly washed. It contrasted nicely with the acrid odor coming off of everyone else there. Fear, mixed with panic and a sense of elation.

"He won't be in until later, about nine? On most days... Right,
move
. Everyone, get people heading out. Away from the blast area. We have a plan for this. Get on it. Get to your stations!" The rest of them started yelling similar things, which made it seem official, rather than like they didn't know what else to do, and just
left
the armed terrorist that had claimed to be responsible for the device that had gone off, standing there, alone.

Because it was okay to be a killer, as long as you only hurt Infected? That seemed to be the actual message. For a brief time she considered killing them all for that. It was hard to fight the feeling, but she'd been in training to do just that for a long time. It took focus, that, and time, but if she didn't respond to the feeling for a long enough period, she'd be good. Her first mode made good ideas seem irresistible to her, but she could weather it, if she worked hard enough. Most of the time.

Everyone was leaving her there, and she heard talk of busses being gotten. Ones meant to help move the people of the town away from the base when something like this inevitably happened. It... She felt insulted, overhearing the police yelling about it, left half deaf from the noise and pressure, but could she blame them on that score? They were probably right. Either the base
would
eventually be nuked, which had been attempted before, or something else would happen. A training accident, or an IPB Operative going off the rails.

Things like that did happen. Almost never on a level that required an evacuation, but standing there, seeing the fear on the faces of the people that were trying to save everyone, she could see how they might think that way. Infected people were scary, at times. Now that the war had started, it was just going to get worse, too.

It was tempting to wait for the police Chief to get there, and kill him, personally. He'd been attacking her people for a long time. This was working better though, she thought, than her original idea would have. It was a bit by the seat of her pants, but the idea of letting a made-up Anti-Infected group take the credit for the blast seemed like it would work better than her, an IPB Operative, being seen in town fighting the police. That one screamed
distraction
. Going this new way was far more realistic seeming.

Somberly, she raised the bag in her right hand, the green thing showing the black symbols that Denis had put there for her.

"We are the Totally Clean Christians! We will not let our kind suffer the Infected, anymore! Do not suffer a witch to live!" She practically chanted that for a while, not giving a proper name for the organization. Almost
all
of the hate groups called themselves something like that,
and
used the TCC logo that she had on her bag. About half at least. It was enough that people, looking wide eyed and scared, just nodded when they heard her. It made sense, to almost everyone. Then, slowly, over the course of an hour or two, people started to repeat what she was saying.

If it had been a real nuclear device, everyone in the town would be dead, she figured. Or at least getting sick. There wouldn't be radiation from this, but a panicked group of people fleeing the area worked pretty well as cover for that lack. The funny thing there was that no one even
tried
to stop her, when she left. At first she planned to simply walk out of town, but one of the thugs in blue pointed at a white bus with black letters on the side, sitting about fifty feet from the front of the police station.

"That's the last one. If you don't have a car, get on it.
Now
!" The order was a bit too stern for someone that was supposed to be trying to help her. He was also fingering his gun, though it still sat in its holster. Ready to shoot, if she didn't comply with his demands? She nearly just started fighting then, because ultimately she was herself, but nodded stiffly and got on the bus, which was about half filled with people from the area. Including two people that she recognized.

It was a shock, since they should have been taken out already, along with all her people. Unless no one had let them in on the plan? That... Was possible. They were just kids. Strange ones too, that might let something slip without realizing it.

The Elcampayns, Deidre and Edmund, both sat next to each other, their brown eyes looking scared, and determined, at the same time. Both searched by looking out the windows, as did the five or so other kids that were with them.

Since it was a school day, and they'd probably been headed that way when the evacuation started.

That got Bridget to blink, and even if there was room elsewhere she slid in next to Deidre without asking if it was all right. The seat was a bit tight with the three of them pressed in, but the other two simply moved over, Ed not even complaining that he was being squished yet. In fact, they just used her being there as an excuse to whisper, almost directly into each other's ears.

It was
incredibly
obvious, to her at least, since she could hear them both pretty easily. Most people couldn't and really, what they were saying wasn't really all that out of bounds, being similar to what the other kids were going on about, in the seats behind them. The adults mainly just seemed worried and tense. A few were crying, which suddenly made her feel like a heel, for scaring them like she was.

Not that her people, her friends and family from the base, weren't more important to her than people she didn't know. These, in the main, were the very people that allowed her kind to be persecuted, day in and out. Oh, sure, they weren't all chanting for her to die,
yet
, but it had happened before. Probably with at least a few of these people being there to lead the chorus, she was willing to bet.

Holding signs and rushing the fence of her home.

What
used
to be her home. The base was gone now, along with all her worldly possessions, so that it would look right. From the look of that explosion, there would be nothing but a collapsed hole in the ground left to inform the world that anything had ever been there. Possibly a small crater too. It made her feel sad, losing it. She'd never really lived anywhere else. Not for long. It had been a constant in her life. A place that would always take her in, and give her shelter and friends. Now...

It was a prop, being used to save her people. Her mother, and Clari. Burt the cook for Team Three, who was a bit grumpy as his first mode, but had about the lamest power ever. He could hear sounds about ten seconds before they happened. It wasn't all that useful, since it didn't give him enough of a warning or information to do anything, most of the time. So he was just distracted a lot and liked to work alone.

There were hundreds of people like that at the base. Technically operatives, but not really, since they weren't powerful, like she was.

If she had to give up her home, or even her life, to protect them, then it was merely what had to be done, wasn't it?

Ed spoke then, glancing at her first, but not giving any indication that he recognized her. The two kids next to her were dressed casually, wearing jeans and t-shirts. Normal kid wear for the continent they were on. She was the one that stuck out, being in a dress like she was. She fit though, she thought. Normally she looked too young, being tiny and having a kid's face, but the makeup was hiding that, along with her identity.

"Sister, we need to stay ready and wait for Mary to come and find us, as is the plan in case of being separated. I curse the foul luck that had us leaving before the dawn today. I think that perhaps you will not receive that extra credit for your class of history, after all."

The girl, who was fifteen, looked at her younger brother, and nodded.

"Agreed. We shall await Lady Mary. If there is no word for three days, then we are to seek out her mate, Advocate Yi. I must but hope that all are still living. That explosion was truly massive. I'd thought for a moment that a Wester device had gone off." There was a quick nod at Ed, then blushing, since it was pretty clear that Bridget had heard them and they weren't
exactly
using modern American English. They had a strange accent, that floated around, based on who they were talking too. With her, since she was a stranger, it would have been very formal, with thees and thous, at the moment. She was about to ask what the project for extra credit had been, when there was movement behind them.

A dark skinned girl that wasn't a lot bigger than she really was propped a worried face over the black vinyl, and reached out to gently nudge Deidre on the shoulder.

"Do you two have a ride? I... My dad is out of town for a few days. It's normally fine, but..." She seemed about to be in tears, so Edmund nodded at her, his face going slightly hard. He wasn't a
complete
tool, but he was from a place where things were often done very differently. An alternate reality, she knew. A different dimension that was similar to their own, but different in a lot of ways at the same time. Mary was from the same place, and so was Hobbs, her friend that was teaching her how to meditate. He was the best at it, making sure it never got too boring for her to handle.

"We will not abandon you miss, rest assured. You are under our protection, as are all of our town. May I enquire as to your name?'

The girl, who was a bit older than the boy that had been speaking didn't react to the strange words too much. She just nodded herself, clinging to what he'd said as if it meant anything. The thing there was that, once Ed gave his word like that, it probably did. No matter how inconvenient it was. Worse his sister was clearly agreeing with him.