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Georgia In My MInd	By : TheByronicMan Category: M through R > Newsflesh (trilogy) > Newsflesh (trilogy) Views: 2033 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Newsflesh Trilogy or any of the related works published by its creator. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
I woke up feeling muzzy, not like me at all. Even after a night of drinking, I'm normally fully alert even before my eyes open. It's a survival trait. This morning I barely had the coordination to sit up. It must have been the drugs they gave me.
The previous afternoon was weird. It was like being just a spectator in my own head, hearing Georgia's speech patterns coming out of my mouth. Either that drug was more effective at eliciting cooperation than the good Doctor had led me to believe, or Georgia had her own reasons for going along with the program. Either way, she still wasn't speaking to me directly. I almost missed her. It didn't help that the last sixteen hours were the longest I'd been separated from George since I had found her again.
I managed to find the energy to stumble to the shower. That left me alert enough to get dressed and make my way to the cafeteria. I selected breakfast pretty much at random, then added two cups of coffee to my tray. Looking around the room, I spotted a table of security people and opted to join them. They seemed oddly hesitant to talk to me at first, but opened up a little when I showed genuine interest in their work. I was curious about how they avoided outbreaks in the big ape pens. It turns out that each of the monkeys has a viral monitor attached to a collar around their necks, equipped with a small explosive charge that severs the spine upon reading a positive result.
I finished eating and made my way to the small office that I'd spent so much time in the day before. Dr. Hebert was already there and greeted me as I entered.
“Oh, um, good morning, Shaun.” He seemed to have trouble meeting my eyes. I was starting to wonder if I had sprouted a second head or something.
“Morning.”
“Um, we should be getting your records in as soon as some people in California wake up. Until then, I would like to ask you some questions about your experiences with the other person in your head.” He called up a file on his tablet and set an MP3 recorder on the desk between us.
“I'd rather not talk about it, but I guess I have to.”
“Well, let's get started.”
He became more comfortable as we talked. The interview had the opposite effect on me. I had never gone into that much detail with anyone before, not even my sister. A couple of hours had gone by and I was just describing the last time Georgia had tried to kill George when I heard a commotion outside.
“Sir! You can't go in there!”
The door opened and Rob entered, dressed in full field gear. Dr. Hebert stood up and demanded, “What is the meaning...?”
Rob interrupted, saying “Sit down and shut up” in a tone of voice I'm not entirely sure a zombie wouldn't have obeyed. Dr. Hebert certainly did. Rob looked at me. “Shaun, I'm going to bet no one has bothered to tell you that Bobbie and George have been kidnapped.”
It was my turn to stand up angrily. “What the hell?”
“Didn't think so. All anyone knows for sure is that they aren't on the grounds and that one scientist and two guards are also missing.”
“We need to get out of here.”
“Just what I had in mind.”
Rob led the way out of the building. He had just stepped outside when I heard gunshots and saw him stagger. He turned to the left, flinging an arm up over his face, and I saw bullets impacting on his chest. At a pause in the shots, I rushed outside and saw a guard in the midst of reloading. He was just hitting the slide release when I grabbed his wrist and slammed his arm against the wall, catching the gun when he released it. Two more guards approached at a run, drawing their handguns on the way.
“Stand down, dammit!”
I looked to the right. Dr. Carrion was walking towards us, looking distinctly unhappy.
“You two, back to your posts, I'll handle this. You,” he said, pointing at the guard in front of me, “Go wait in the security office. Don't worry about the gun, you'd just have to turn it in anyway.”
I let the guard go, turning towards Dr. Carrion. I held the gun at my side even though I really wanted to point it at him.
“Shaun, I am so sorry. They revoked my access to the building and gave orders to the switchboard to keep me from telling you. I've been trying to find someone willing to take you a message.”
I let out a breath, hit the magazine release and worked the slide to eject the round from the chamber, then handed Dr. Carrion the empty gun. “I appreciate your help, but I am checking out now.”
“I think it would be better to let the police handle this.”
“Dr. Abbey said I could redeem a favor you owe her. Something about Hawaii?”
He sighed. “If Shannon is willing to call in that marker, she must think you're pretty special. Give me your arm.”
I complied. He slapped a drug patch on my arm and handed me a bottle. “There. That will clear any drug residue out of your system, and the aspirin will help with the headache you're about to have. Go. I'll make sure you get cleared through the gate.”
“Thanks.”
I followed Rob around the corner of the building, swallowing half a dozen aspirin on the way. He was gritting his teeth together and had his left arm pressed tightly against his side. I didn't see any blood so I figured it would keep for a while. The truck we arrived in came into view, and parked next to it was an identical truck with Anna riding shotgun and a woman I didn't recognize driving. Rob waved at them and they pulled out, stopped next to us long enough for Anna to hand Rob a set of keys, and headed towards the main gate.
He gave me the keys and said, “I think you're going to have to drive.”
I got into the driver seat and started it up. Rob was clearly in pain as he climbed in the passenger side. I drove towards the exit. The inner gate was already open, and closed as soon as I drove into the kill zone. The flying remote was waiting, so Rob and I unstrapped the monitor cuffs and I placed them on the drone. The outer gate opened and I stepped on the gas. The guard watched us drive past with his hand on the butt of his gun and an angry expression on his face, but he made no move to stop us. The other truck was waiting and I followed it onto the highway.
“Rob, are you okay?”
“No, but I'll live. Probably. Trauma plate caught all but the first three rounds. Those didn't get through the Kevlar, but they hurt like hell.”
I refrained from offering him some of my aspirin, because it would increase the risks from internal bleeding. “What happened to George and Bobbie?”
“They disappeared sometime overnight. Whoever was responsible buggered the cameras so no one knows exactly how it happened, but the missing personnel left around 2:30.”
“Any clues at all?”
“Someone claiming to be the kidnapper emailed me this morning. He says he'll trade Bobbie for you.”
“Sounds like a fair deal to me.”
Rob snorted. “Not going to happen, even if I trusted him to follow through.”
He pulled out his pocket computer and unfolded it on his lap before typing furiously. After five minutes he put it away, saying, “There, that should buy us some time. At least half a dozen media outlets will soon be reporting that I was shot and injured at Texas Biomed. They can't expect me to deliver you without getting some medical attention first.”
“How did you get to me?”
“Sarah smuggled us in past the city perimeter and told the guards at Texas Biomed that we were there to pick up the truck. She went to talk them into giving her the keys while I looked for you.”
We rode in silence for a few more miles. We had just passed an interchange when I saw flashing lights in the rear-view mirror. “Damn, we have cops on our tail.”
A light went on next to the radio and Anna's voice came over the speakers. “Rob, take the next exit. We'll run interference.”
“Anna....”
“Do it. You need to stay free to rescue Bobbie.”
“Okay.”
The other truck moved one lane to the left and dropped back behind us. The next off ramp was a long one, with k-rails to either side. I drove down it with Anna and Sarah following and the cops close behind them. They slowed down and stopped near the end of the ramp, turning to the side so that the patrol cars couldn't go around them. Rob directed me to take the turnaround and then guided me down a series of residential streets. During one stretch without turns, he used the truck's console to make a call.
“Karl? Sarah and Anna have been nabbed by the police. Could you get hold of my sister and have her get our lawyer involved? Also, ask her if she can get Dan to meet me at your place. Okay, thanks.”
A few more turns and we were on highway 281 headed out of town. “Are we going to have trouble getting out through the perimeter?”
“Outbound gates are automated. There are quite a few wealthy folks that have fortified estates out this way, and they don't like delays on their trip home. Jenny claims to have blown through the gate at 120 without a problem.”
A few minutes later I saw what he meant. The first gate was open, but as soon as we drove past it slammed shut behind us. I was amazed to see in the mirror that the gate followed us, sliding on tracks. The second gate tilted upwards as we approached, then passed overhead as more tracks carried it back behind us. I was impressed, the system ensured that no infected could get in, without needing sensors or active defenses. About ten minutes later I turned right at the Zombie Farm and headed down the narrow abandoned road. We had just passed the first creek crossing when an SUV with police markings pulled out of the brush and blocked the road.
“Go ahead and stop, Shaun. Don't give them cause to arrest you too.”
I stopped a few car lengths away. A solidly-built police officer got out of the SUV and walked up to the passenger side. Rob lowered the window and said, “Sergeant Fellers, aren't you a little outside your jurisdiction?”
“Nope. The creek is the county line, so this little stretch of road is in my territory.”
“Still, it's a long way from your usual haunts.”
“I figured you'd come this way, so I requested roadblock duty out here.”
“Looks like you were right.”
“Nope, I haven't seen hide nor hair of you, so clearly I was wrong. Maybe the guys outside Karl Traugott's main gate will have better luck. Say 'hi' to your sister for me.”
With that, he got back in his SUV and pulled off the road. I put the truck in gear and started moving, crossing the second creek bridge and continuing on towards the ranch.
As we approached an intersection, Rob said, “Take a left. If they're watching the main gate, we'll have to try to sneak in on the west side.”
I made the turn, and then turned off the road where Rob directed. We drove past the ruins of what had been a large house, then through a gate that opened automatically as the truck approached. A few minutes later I saw a flock of ostriches and realized we were back on the ranch. Rob had to activate the GPS on the truck's console to guide us to the main house, and even then we made some false turns. There were pairs of ruts crisscrossing the landscape, signs of frequent and aggressive sweeps for zombies. Finally, we reached our destination. I parked next to a car I hadn't seen here before. It resembled the ancient El Caminos some of the old hippies back in Berkeley had, but it didn't look like it could be more than a few years old.
As we got out of the truck, a young woman about my age came running towards us from the house. She was a little shorter than me, slender, and had a long blonde braid hanging down her back, almost to her butt. She could have been a model, but the muscle definition in her bare arms suggested she regularly lifted things heavier than celery sticks.
She tried to hug Rob, but he fended her off with his right arm. “Whoa, not a good idea right now.”
I said, “Has anyone ever told you that you have way more than your fair share of beautiful women?”
“I know, right?” the woman said, winking at me. “But I'm his sister, Jenny, and I'm available.” She gave me a frankly appraising once-over.
My string of 'open mouth, insert foot' moments when dealing with women remained unbroken. “Oh, hi, I'm Shaun Mason.”
“Nice to meet you.” She turned to Rob. “Okay, what have you done to yourself now?”
“Ran into a trigger-happy guard while I was picking up Shaun.”
She examined the bullet holes in the leather on his chest. “Pretty good grouping there, maybe I should hire him. Anyway, when I got the word to bring Dan out here, I figured you'd gotten yourself hurt. He has his gear set up in the dining room.”
“I asked for you to send Dan out here. Who's staying with Mom?”
“She has a couple of FBI agents hanging around outside.”
“Ah. By the way, Sergeant Fellers would have told me to say 'hi' to you for him if he had stopped us on the way here, which he didn't.”
“I guess he'll finally get that date he's been asking for.”
While they talked, we were walking to the house with me bringing up the rear. And speaking of rears.... I clamped down on that thought before it went any further. I was the last one into the house, and I followed the sounds of voices through the kitchen and into a formal dining room. It didn't look like it saw much use, and I felt a fresh measure of kinship with folks who would rather eat out on the sunny deck when most people would feel so much safer in the room I had just entered. Rob was removing his jacket with Jenny's help, while a stocky man about Rob's age was rummaging in a paramedic bag. Karl and Marie stood nearby.
Karl was saying, “I have a doctor on staff, he can be here in ten minutes.”
“I'm sure your doctor is good,” Rob said, “but Dan has more experience with this sort of thing. Besides, I don't think your doctor would care to be imprisoned at Fort Jefferson.”
Dan looked up from what he was doing. “What an ego, now he thinks he's John Wilkes Booth.”
“I wouldn't go that far, but I am a fugitive.”
“I notice you don't care if I get sent to Fort Jefferson.”
“You've been saying you needed a long vacation on a nice tropical island.”
“True.”
Karl chuckled. Jenny and I exchanged 'what the hell are they talking about?' looks. Jenny said, “Why don't we clear out and leave all the old people to their obscure humor?”
I nodded in agreement and we went out onto the deck. We passed a tall, imposing black man headed the other way. After asking if I wanted some, Jenny went to the bar and started a pot of coffee. I settled into a lounge chair and tried to relax.
Shaun?
“What?”
Jenny started to say something, but I held up my hand and she fell silent.
I think I know where George is.
“How?”
Jenny looked at me funny but didn't speak.
They were right, I was created to spy on you. I was required to memorize a list of locations around the country to steer you towards. One of them is near here.
“Why should I trust you? You betrayed us.”
They tried to kill you! That wasn't supposed to happen. I can't.... Georgia paused for a moment. I was going to say that I can't live without you. It might be a cliché, but for me it's literally true. But you can live without me. I'm ready to die if it means you will be happy and safe.
I went to the bar and found a pen and a notepad. “Give me the address.” I wrote it down as Georgia recited it, then tore the sheet off and gave it to Jenny. “George and Bobbie may be at this location. Any way you can pull some info on it?”
“Um, sure, Mom is big in real estate and has some contacts in Planning and Zoning. I'll call her.”
While she made the call, I went back to join Rob. Dan was apparently finishing up his examination.
“You've got at least one broken rib, and one of those bruises is awfully close to your bad kidney.”
“Well, do what you can to keep me functional for a while longer.”
“You need to go the hospital. Move around too much and you could send a splinter through your lung. And if that kidney ruptures it will dump live state Kellis-Amberlee into your blood stream.”
“I'm immune. I could eat half a cow, raw, and not amplify. Just tape me up or whatever it is you do for the ribs. I don't have time to go to the hospital right now.”
“God, you are just like your sister.”
“Hey now, there's no need to be insulting.”
“I'm not sure which of you I'm insulting more.”
As Dan continued working on Rob, I said, “The voice in my head gave me a location where George and Bobbie might have been taken.”
Rob looked at me. “Can we trust her?”
“Well, she did point out that the people trying to kill me would be killing her too.”
“Fair enough.”
The tall man from earlier flipped open an unusually bulky laptop, plugged in a small mouse, and said, “Give me the address.”
Georgia repeated it and I passed it on.
When I was done, Rob said, “Shaun Mason, meet George 'Iceman' Garwynn, freelance Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics expert. Just call him Ice.”
“It's zoned Commercial,” Ice said. “It's owned by a company that has the bare minimum required information publicly available. Satellite view as of eight months ago shows what looks like a warehouse with a few offices and a perimeter fence.”
Jenny entered the room as he was talking. “According to Mom's contact at P&Z, it used to be a GSA warehouse selling surplus government property. It was transferred to the CDC, which intended to open a zombie research facility on the site until protests by local residents caused the city to put a halt to the plan. It was then sold to a shell corporation.” She paused, listening to her phone. “There is no current occupancy permit, so no way to know what it is now being used for.”
Rob grunted as Dan wrapped another layer of tape around his ribs. “Ice, any way you can trace the actual owner?”
“Got a warrant and a forensic accountant in your back pocket? Didn't think so.”
“We need to know more.”
“Don't you dare ask that, Rob.”
“I have to. It's Bobbie.”
“Damn it Rob, you don't understand. You're talking about violating my professional ethics. I can't bend them just a little bit and still retain my integrity. It's like being a 'little bit pregnant'.”
“Bobbie is, by the way.”
“Bobbie is what?”
“Pregnant. About ten weeks.”
“Is it mine?”
“Probably not. She was careful to time things so that I would be the father. Still, we don't know for certain.”
“Damn you Rob.
“Damn me all you want, but don't condemn Bobbie and her child.”
“You know that ceremony you were planning for next week? Better make it a double.”
“Hell, Bobbie would like nothing better, but she didn't think you'd go for it.”
“Yesterday she would have been right.” Ice turned back to his computer and went to work.
Meanwhile, Dan had finished with Rob. “I should immobilize your arm, but I know you won't let me. Just try not to move it more than you absolutely have to. I suppose you want me to go along and patch you up afterward?”
“No. What Shaun and I will be doing is quasi-legal at best. No need for anyone else to get involved.”
“I can do something about that,” Jenny said. “Hey, Shaun, toss me a quarter.” I did so, and she continued, “There, you have now retained Philips Tracking and Recovery to locate one Georgia Mason, determine if she is dead or undead, and if so retrieve the body for interment. You can sign the contract on the way, making this little operation more legal and less quasi. Of course, that means I have to go with you.”
“Jenny....”
“Shut up, Rob. You're in no shape to play Lone Ranger on this one, and you need someone along who knows how you think. Squelch your little neuroses for once.”
“Okay, you win.”
“Damn right.”
The conversation subsided, with only the sound of Ice typing to fill the void. After a few minutes, Marie said, “Jenny, why don't you help me in the kitchen? I sense a testosterone-fueled bull session coming up, and that's going to require food.”
After they left, I leaned in close to Rob. “You seem a little hesitant about taking Jenny along on this.”
“I'm more than a little hesitant about taking anyone I care about into a dangerous situation. You know better than most people how that can turn out.”
I had a sudden vision of the bloody interior of our van that night in Sacramento, and I nodded.
“I was years younger and less mature than you were, and I had a lot of trouble dealing with it. I hate the thought of going through that again.”
I took a deep breath. “Have you considered that maybe the kidnapper might really trade Bobbie for me?”
“I have, but it doesn't matter. I'm not the type to sacrifice someone else, and I certainly won't do it on a 'maybe'. Besides, George has started to grow on me. She's like the little sister I wish I had.”
“I heard that!” yelled Jenny from the kitchen.
“You were supposed to!” Rob shouted back.
That lightened the mood a bit. There was just one thing that still troubled me, and I lowered my voice to keep from being overheard. “So you're sure Jenny will be an asset in the field?”
“Shaun, you and I have the luxury of hunting up a lone zombie to play with. My sister doesn't have the option. She goes out looking for a specific individual and they are usually in the middle of a pack. I wouldn't be surprised if she has more kills than I do, and I've been going out into zombie country for twice as long.”
Dan said, “No offense to either of you, I'd rather be out in the wilds with Jenny. And not just because she doesn't look at the infected as something to 'play' with.”
“If it makes you feel better,” Rob added, “She has an A-15 blogger license, and I signed off on her field certifications.”
“And you wouldn't do that for someone who didn't earn it, not even your sister. But why does she have a blogger license?”
“When zombie tracking was first made a licensed profession, it took a while to develop and implement training programs. In the meantime, they accepted military and police experience, Class A journalist credentials, and a few other things as proof of competence.”
“That makes sense. Now the most important question: Is she a good cook?”
Rob chuckled. “Not really, but she's a competent helper. Lending a hand in the kitchen gives her a head start on picking out what she wants.”
The conversation subsided as Marie and Jenny returned, bearing an impressive array of finger foods. Sure enough, as soon as Jenny's hands were empty she picked up a plate and started filling it while the rest of us were still looking over our options. But soon we were all happily munching away except for Ice, who spoke for the first time in half an hour.
“Tough bugger to find, but I've located their server. They have a serious firewall, but it looks familiar. Yep, I was hired to write a patch for that program last year. Let me check something.... No, they haven't installed the patch, so I can get in. Sloppy.”
I said, “Wouldn't it be easier to get in if they had put in your patch?”
He glared at me. “Are you suggesting that if someone gave me gobs of money to tighten their security, I would repay them by leaving a big, gaping back door in it? Since you don't know me yet, I'll forgive you for asking.”
I figured my best course at this point was to shut up.
He turned back to his computer. “Okay, I'm in. There are a lot of encrypted files, mostly video formats. I could probably unlock them, but it's likely to tip someone off.”
“Probably best to wait unless we get a clue that there's something in there we need to know,” Rob said.
“Yeah. I've found a building schematic. Karl, do you mind?” Ice gestured at the wall.
“Be my guest.”
Ice made a couple of mouse clicks and a section of the wall lit up, revealing it to be a large video screen. A floor plan popped up, showing a small warehouse. It was subdivided into separate storage areas, with an enclosed loading dock at the rear. There were smaller rooms at the front of the building, probably offices.
“What do you make of this?” Another mouse click and the diagram was overlaid with red lines running to every room. “It can't be a sprinkler system, that was on the original plans.”
Jenny said, “The lines originate at a high-pressure storage vessel and end at some kind of air vents.”
Rob looked over at her.
“What? While Mom was teaching you how to cook, I was with Dad learning how to read architect drawings.”
“Maybe it's some kind of self-destruct system?” Rob said. “Nah, nobody does that outside of bad movies. Hmm. Texas Biomed reported to the police that the kidnappers used some kind of knockout gas, maybe they have the whole place rigged.”
I broke my vow of silence. “Then we'll need some breathing gear.”
Karl said, “Still have some air masks from back when we used to burn carcasses out in the pasture. The smell was awful. They have twenty minute pony bottles.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
“Right. I'll get Big George to make sure the bottles are filled.” He got up and left the room.
It occurred to me that, counting the one in my head, there were no less than three people in the immediate area named some variation of George. I wondered if we would cross some kind of 'George Event Horizon' when we got my sister back. My musings were interrupted by Ice throwing another file up on the screen. It was a guard roster and schedule. It showed first names only, which was disappointing. Full names might have let us track down someone off duty for some pointed questions.
Rob looked at me. “Well, Shaun, how do we do this?”
“You're asking me?”
Do you see anyone else here who has done this sort of thing before?
Almost echoing Georgia, Rob said, “Everyone who has successfully infiltrated a secure facility and rescued someone being held captive there, raise your hands.”
Tentatively, I raised my hand. I was the only one. “I should point out that George was well on her way to rescuing herself when I stumbled across her.”
“Good point. We need to save them before they escape on their own, or we'll have to turn in our man cards.”
“If I have a man card,” Jenny asked, “Does that make me gay?”
That triggered a round of laughter, which gave me a little time to think. “They've got a pretty small perimeter. If that schedule is accurate, I don't think we can get through the fence and into the building between sweeps. We'll need a diversion.”
Rob sighed. “I'll be no good to you on foot, so I guess that part is my job. I'm pretty sure I can hold their attention for long enough.”
“Are there any cameras?”
“I was just looking for them,” Ice said. “If there are, they don't feed to the Web. Ah, here we go.”
A video image appeared on the wall. Ice clicked through different camera views. It looked like they had full coverage of the perimeter, one camera showed a van parked in the loading dock, and there were two views of of the broad hallway between the dock and the offices. Then a last image appeared and everyone gasped. It showed Bobbie and George strapped down to a pair of hospital beds with medical restraints. They were both wearing panties and t-shirts, probably what they had slept in, and looked to be unconscious. The video was grainy, but I would recognize George anywhere.

I hope that one day I'll be able to say that this trip was worth it. In a small way it has been. Shaun and I have grown even closer, and that is something I shall always treasure whatever happens. But it has come at a cost. Not to us personally, but to people we have grown to care about. A woman we've never met lies gravely wounded in a hospital, and two other people we have come to know on this journey are now wanted fugitives. Yet another faces the loss of her husband, charged with a crime that carries a mandatory death sentence.
And all because of me and Shaun. Had we just remained quietly in Canada only we would have suffered. But in our quest to ease our own pain, we have spread it tenfold to others. Should we quit and go home? Should we surrender ourselves to the enemy that hunts so that they will stop harming our friends? Or do we carry on and hope that we can find help for Shaun so at least their sacrifices will not have been in vain?
- From Expatriate Games, the blog of Georgia Mason
  
  July 29, 2042 (unpublished)
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Georgia In My MInd