It’s a Brave New World Ch. 10

A few patients at this end of the hallway poked their heads out of the rooms, wanting to see what all the commotion was about. Mandy made a half-hearted attempt to reassure them nothing was wrong. Then she stiffened as she looked back down the hallway. "She's moving faster now."

I too caught a glimpse of Becky coming towards us. She was no longer stumbling along. Her steps were surer, faster.

In my arms, Abby saw the closing blonde woman as well and ordered, "Jason, go!"

I did not need any further encouragement. I took off down the stairway as fast as I could manage while still carrying Abby. Mandy followed right behind us. We rushed down the first two flights of stairs. Below us, I could see Harold and Cindy had just made it to the last set of steps when the sound of an emergency door banging open reached us.

At the risk of stumbling and dropping Abby, I started taking two steps at a time. I had just made it to the last turn when a loud thud came from above. From behind me, Mandy cried out a warning. "She just jumped down a full flight of stairs!"

Now at the exit to the first floor, Harold barreled into the door. He hit it with enough force to leave it rattling in its frame. Cindy was the next through. With Abby sagging in my arms and my back screaming in protest I managed to stumble our way through the doorway and into the first floor. Mandy was on the last step right behind us when the blur of something white with blonde hair slammed into the bare cement floor of the stairwell.

Becky.

With her immaculate colored dress still billowing about her, Becky rose gracefully from a crouched position and blocked the exit. Mandy, her eyes wide in disbelief, skidded to a stop before the woman and then stumbled back on the steps. Becky had leaped from the landing above, down the stairwell, and landed feet first. That had to be a fall of at least twenty feet. She eyed Mandy for a split second and then she was moving. Striding out into the hallway, appearing completely unharmed from her jump.

We had exited on the first floor of the hospital. Unlike the third floor, the hallway here was jammed packed with doctors, nurses, patients, and visitors. Trying to run through the crowd was impossible. But Harold was doing his best. Terribly frightened, the bearded professor was pushing and shoving his way past people, trying to get away.

"Stop that man!" bellowed Becky as thrust her hand out to point accusingly at the fleeing Harold. "I'm an MHS Agent! I order that man restrained!"

Only myself, Abby, and Mandy had seen Becky's miraculous landing in the stairwell. Everyone else in the hallway simply saw Harold and Cindy frenzied rush out of the emergency exit. They had initial reacted in confused alarm. Then Harold's aggressive attempt to force his way through the crowd was met with irritated annoyance at his behavior. But Becky's announcement immediate changed things. Several doctors and orderlies moved to intercept Harold. He tried to dodge and get past them, but Harold was quickly outnumbered. Many more people pushed themselves up against the wall, getting out of the way. Wide-eyed fear marking their faces at the sight of Becky.

"Under whose authority?" demanded Cindy. She had remained by the stairwell door with Abby and me. Now outrage and fury were spreading across her face like an angry burn as she faced down the would be MHS Agent. "You're not the police! You can't just order people to hold someone because you're from the MHS."

There was too much Cindy did not know or understand. Not that I could claim to have a mastery of the situation. But I knew enough to grasp the fact this far more than the MHS at work. Harold had said Becky was a 'Hunter.' My dad had used that word as well. Becky was also someone not of this world. And, if her strength and endurance were any sign, not entirely human either.

Turning to Cindy, Becky's wicked smile returned. "I remember you. You were at my rally today. Arguing for your right to use your Restricteral." Her disapproval reattached up a notch. "No wonder. You were engaged in more meaningless fornication upstairs."

Cindy snorted, "So what? Who the hell cares what we were doing?"

Becky strode towards Cindy. Clearly remembering how easy it had been for Becky to toss her across the room, Cindy retreated a few intimidated steps backward. Becky's voice went quiet and dangerous and did not carry to the surrounding crowd of spectators. "We care. We provide order for you. We help guide you. And your disobedience is not appreciated."

Before Becky could say more, Harold was brought before her. He was held by two doctors in white lab coats and rather burly looking orderly in dark blue scrubs. Harold's frightened eyes were focused entirely on Becky. One of the doctors holding him, an older man with fine thinning hair, had an anxious look of concern on his face as he approached. "Miss," he said, "what exactly is going on here?"

"I tell you what's going on here," put in Cindy. She was still guardedly keeping her distance from Becky, but there was a growing rage in her words. "This woman attacked me! And now she's trying to order you about, just because she claims to be with the MHS!"

A good deal of uncertainty entered the doctor's expression as he gazed over not only over Becky, but Cindy, myself, and Abby. "I think," he said slowly, "we'll be calling the authorities." He nodded to the burly orderly that was doing most of the work holding Harold. "Let's get security down here. I want these people held until we figure out what's going on."

"Unnecessary," replied Becky, looking rather bored. Then in a blur of motion, she backhanded the doctor hard enough to send him flying off his feet. He landed face first in a crumpled heap on the ground, a good five feet from where he had previously been standing. Startled cries of horrified amazement ripped the surrounding bystanders.

The other two men still holding Harold let go of him and began to wisely back away from the frightening MHS Agent. Harold stood alone before Becky. "Y-You won't g-get away with this," he stuttered weakly. "Your sect has broken the treaty..."

"Come now, Harold," she replied calmly. "You and your miscreants broke the good faith of the peace agreement years ago. We of Unity have been careful and patient in our response. Now you will be...corrected."

If I had thought Harold look frightened before, Becky's assertion that he would be 'corrected' caused him to go white in terror and literally start to shake in his shoes. Without actually thinking it through, I suddenly blurted out, "Becky, what the hell is wrong with you!?"

Becky stared at me coldly for a moment. At least both her eyes had returned to their normal crystal blue color. "I don't know you," she said. "You're not from this realm, are you? Do you know a variation of me?"

Not knowing what else to say, I snapped back, "I suppose so."

"Doesn't matter," she sniffed indifferently. Glancing at the quivering Harold. "I'm here for him. But all of you will be coming with me. I want answers."

In my arms, Abby stiffened. "Jason, what does she mean?" she softly moaned. "What is she going to do us?"

Abby's fear joined together with Cindy's earlier anger and began pooling inside me. Who knew what amounts of chemical pheromones were coursing through my body, spinning my hormones levels to heightened levels. Something dark and animalistic started stomping around in the back of my head. Eager to get out. My women were being threatened by this psycho version of Becky Walsworth. It made my blood boil.

As much as I wanted to think of myself as the big, strong, strapping man able to carry my Abby to safety, bringing her down to the first floor had been murder on my arms and back. But as I stood there, glaring at Becky, a surge of adrenaline started coursing through me. The strain on my muscles began to lessen as my heart pounded in my chest.

I was in no position to face Becky while still holding Abby. In what I considered a rather well execute move, I deftly pivoted and slide Abby out of my arms. Her slippered feet touch the ground, and she wobbled slightly as I let go.

As I turned back to face Becky, a worried whimper came from behind me. "Jason, what are you doing?"

I ignored Abby and took a menacing step towards the dangerous blonde woman. "You're not going to do anything. I'm not going to let you."

Becky's expression at my new-found aggression was hard to read. She was not amused, nor was she angry, or even coolly uncaring. The closest matching emotion I guess would have been slight puzzlement.

"Do you even understand what's happening here?" asked Becky. "Comprehend the seriousness of the situation?"

"I don't care," I growled as I took another step towards her. I was right in her face. By now my blood was thundering in my veins. My hands were balled into fists at my sides. Every muscle in my body tensing, ready to fight.

Her first blow came at me. It was just a simple swing of her arm, her palm out. Like someone who was trying to swat away an irritating fly. To my credit, I dodged the blow and threw out my own punch. Becky didn't even try to avoid it. I slammed my fist into her face, and she didn't even flinch.

I reared back to put my weight into my next punch when Becky threw out her own. This time I was not so lucky and did not avoid the blow. And now Becky was not trying to only slap me away. Her fist smashed into my side. I felt the air rush out my lungs. It was like being smacked by a bulldozer.

Stumbling, I tried to regain my footing, but my feet weren't cooperating. My body dodged and weaved, but certainly had nothing to do with the fight. I reached out, trying to find a wall to steady myself. Then Becky hit me again. I think blow landed on my jaw, for there was lots of pain on the side of my face. But now I was a more than a little blurry-eyed and couldn't tell for sure.

Shouts and screams were coming from around me. But cutting through the cries from the surrounding crowd, came Becky's voice.

"Do you think I like doing this?" She sounded very annoyed.

Dizzily I tried to find and face her, but before I was even close another hit came. I slammed into something hard. A wall, I think.

"I'm just trying to do my job," said Becky from somewhere above me.

The floor rose to find me, or I slumped to the ground. I wasn't sure which. Noises of a scuffle reached my ringing ears. I managed to raise my head and saw at least three people trying to restrain Becky from further pummeling me. I think one of them was Cindy. But their efforts were in vain. Without hardly breaking her stride, Becky threw them all off her.

Still ranting as she stalked towards me, Becky snarled, "But you people just make it so difficult."

Towering over me, Becky glared down. Her face was red and twisted into the ugliest of sneers. My view of her kept fading in and out as I woozily tried to get my bearings. A small round disk bounced into between us and came to a stop right in front of me. Emitting a high pitch whine. My already spun around senses could not even begin to guess what this new sound meant.

And then the world exploded into darkness.

***

Consciousness slowly ebbed back to me. For a while I just floated, my mind far too scrambled to make sense of anything. The first thing I could clearly feel was something warm and soft pressed against my left side. Then I felt a similar supple warmness pushed to my right side. Time passed and the feeling of coziness switch from left to right and then back again. Eventually, my addled senses concluded the pleasant softness I was enjoying was on both sides of me.

Sounds started to trickle into my ears. A rhythmical vibration was the first thing I made out. Followed by a steady droning noise. That brought along with it a feeling of motion.

Then there were voices. The words sounded squeaky and distant. Initially, I could not make them out. But as I lay surround by the comfortable warmth, my ears started to tune in. A man and a woman were speaking.

"Indeed," said the man. "There are a number of hominid variations. In fact, the Neanderthals make up one of the significate factions in the Consortium."

"That's wild," replied the woman. "But there are other nonhuman type members?"

The man agreed. I knew his voice from somewhere. It took a moment, but my slow mind finally produced a name. Harold.

"Like...say...dolphins?" asked the woman. I knew her voice as well. This time the name came faster. Mandy.

"Oh yes," said Harold with a note of contempt in his reply. "A bunch of elitists assholes if you ask me."

They continued talking to each other, and I got the vague sense they were in front of me. I knew something had happened but was not sure what. Or why. It was hard to hold on to any thought for more than a few fleeting moments. I drifted, not focusing on anything at all. Then the continual whirr sound changed in pitch, and the feeling of movement shifted for a few seconds. I was pressed into the softness on my left side. The warmth was inviting, and part of me wanted to slip back into the quiet darkness I had arisen.

But that was not to last. The gentle, cozy feeling on my left side started speaking. "Hey, we getting any closer to finding a place to stop for the night?"

It was a woman's voice. Also familiar.

"Let me check the map," I heard Mandy reply.

I tested my mouth. A low, raspy "Mehhhh..." came out.

"Jason?" spoke up a new voice on my right side.

I worked at opening my eyes. It took some effort, but I managed to get my eyelids working. Dim, washed out light trickled in and I blinked several times. I stared at a dark gray, smooth surface lit up by a cone of light. Outside the illuminated grayness, there was nothing but dark. At regular intervals, rectangular white stripes slid by on the left side of the otherwise featureless dark plane.

"Where?" I managed to get out.

"He's waking up," said the voice on the left side of me. This time my mind put it together as the identity of the speaker. Cindy.

The warm, soft feeling on my right side grew close. I could feel hands on my arms and chest. A silky-smooth whisper came in my right ear. "Oh love, are you alright?" Those words buzzed in my ear, and I felt my heart pump a little faster. That was my Abby.

A similar feeling occurred on the left from Cindy. "Hey sweetie," came the gentle tickle in my left ear, "how are you doing?"

I think my nose finally kicked in and started sending signals to my brain. A delicious wet spiciness filtered around my nostrils. I let out a little sigh. Someone's hand, either Abby's or Cindy's moved up my leg. Going from a casual touch to a bit more intimate. That got my heart into gear.

"I feel..." I started and then stopped as I took stock of my body. There was a stiff soreness on my right side. A slight ache in my head. Then I felt my stomach gurgle unhappily. I was hungry. In fact, I was starving.

"I'm hungry," I finally said.

"To be expected," said Harold. He was to the front and left of me. "I accelerated your metabolism to repair some of your injuries. Your body has burned up a good deal of calories."

"Injuries?" I repeated. My head still felt thick. Like it was encased in cement. I had feeling something was wrong, but I was not sure what had happened.

"You're right Professor," said Mandy. "His memory is shot."

I managed to focus on Mandy. She was sitting in a chair in front of me. Her dark hair was tied back in a simple ponytail. She had turned in her seat and was giving me a sympathetic smile. "You probably feel like your head has been in a blender."

"Yeah," I agreed after running her analogy through my still foggy brain. "What happened?"

"You fought an enhanced Hunter without any weapons or training," replied Harold without turning in his seat. He was focused on the flat gray surface in front of us. I noticed he was holding on to something round.

I blinked once, and then again. My vision cleared just a bit more. Details of my environment finally started making their way into my addled mind. The underlying rumble was the sound of a vehicle's engine. I was in the backseat of a car, along with Abby and Cindy. Mandy was in the passenger seat, and Harold was driving. It was night, and the illuminated flat grayness spread out before us was the road.

"A rather remarkable feat," continued Harold. Then letting just enough time to give a dramatic pause, he added, "An incredibly stupid accomplishment, but nonetheless remarkable."

Bits and pieces of what had occurred at the hospital began to reassemble. I remembered going with Harold, looking for Abby and her friends. Then finding Abby and Cindy together. The image of Cindy caressing my redhead's snatch was a particularly nice one. But then came yelling, and a lot of running. Someone in a white dress. My memory sort of shorted out after that.

"I was fighting someone?" I asked with a frown.

"You called her Becky," supplied Cindy. "We saw her at the MHS rally this afternoon. If you remember, we didn't exactly see eye to eye."

At the mention of the lovely blonde's name, it all came back to me. Becky finding us in the supply room, her strength and then her ability to shrug off Harold's stun weapon. Our attempted escape and then my fight with Becky. Well, not fighting, more like getting my ass thoroughly kicked.

With some foggy areas still in my brain, I questioned Harold. "How did we get away from her?"

Harold explained. "While she was busy throwing you around, I put my hydrostatic stunner into an overload. The resulting blast incapacitated her long enough to allow our escape. Unfortunately, you were caught in the same explosion. You've been out for the last couple of hours."

"What is she? How is she so strong?"

"She's like a cyborg," said Mandy. "Augmentations to her body that increase her strength, speed, and endurance. Something Unity apparently does to their Agents." She was looking down as she spoke, ostensibly studying a map in her lap. Folding it away, Mandy addressed Harold. "There's a small town about fifteen miles down the road. They'll likely have some type of hotel."

I boggled at how Mandy knew such things about Becky. Abby helped make sense of my puzzlement. "Professor Williams has been explaining things to us while you were out."

Cindy chimed in, "Yeah, crazy, wild things."

"You told them about yourself?" I asked Harold.

A heavy sigh came from Harold. "Our circumstances have grown very dangerous," he replied. "Both for myself and the four of you. Additionally, Ms. Wilcox was most adamant that I clarify my relationship with you and the situation at large."

"All I did was threaten to beat you over the head with your own satchel if you didn't start telling us the truth," grumbled Cindy.

I looked at her. She sat with her arms folded, giving the back of Harold's head a dirty look. She noticed, and her irritation slipped away. Putting her head on my shoulder, she said in a softer voice, "My parents never trusted the MHS. Always believed they had an agenda, but never in a million years would they think the MHS worked for a multidimensional group of psychopaths."

Running through the number of revelations Harold had told me earlier, I came to easily the most shocking one. The truth about the Pale Plague. "You told them...?" I offered my question to Harold without saying the actual words out loud.

"Yes," confirmed Harold quietly and solemnly.

"The Plague being made...done deliberately," said Abby with a shake of her head. "It's the stuff that conspiracy nuts talk about. Nobody ever took them seriously."

"And yet it's the truth," replied Harold. "It's quite likely the MHS on behest of Unity helped squash research into the plague to prevent anyone from learning of its artificial nature. Made sure anyone who suspected the truth was ridiculed and scorned."