FSE

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Chapter 10 Paul watched Nina as they walked past the small baseball stadium. He’d expected her to be more and more miserable the deeper they went in the affected area, but instead, her expression had become a neutral mask. If he didn’t know she was a nurse, he’d think she was someone who simply didn’t care that people around her were hurting. A gunshot came from the stadium, and the three of them startled. Three healthy, and wealthy looking men before the entrance to the field chased a group of shabby looking families away. Nina watched for a second without further reacting, then looked ahead as they resumed walking. Paul couldn’t imagine how she’d lasted this long before shutting down. From what she’d recounted of the days before she left the clinic, to get the staff out of their hands, it had been a stressful few weeks. He’d known medical students at the university who became utterly unaffected by people’s misery and pain after long days working the emergency room as part of their training. There was only so much someone could endure before becoming numb. He’d tried to help his friends among them, but had discovered that the best thing he could do was to give them the space to reconnect with their empathy, at which point they opened up and accepted the offered help. A fight erupted among a group of rough looking people. Paul fought the urge to intervene. Shila had warned him that her cloak couldn’t hold if he forced someone to notice him. And as good as it might feel to stop this one fight, it wouldn’t fix the problem. They needed Donal for that. “Shila,” Paul said, when they were in a quieter area, “let me ask if they’ve seen Donal. We can’t wander around aimlessly.” She did something on her phone, then nodded to him. He approached a group who had made a shelter by the opening of an alley. “Hello.” Two adults, a leopard and orangutan, stepped in front of the others and Paul raised his hands. “I don’t mean any trouble. I just want to ask you if you’ve seen Donal. He’s a squirrel, and he helps people. I need his help.” The orangutan shook his head, but the leopard pointed down the road. “Thank you.” A few blocks away, Paul asked another group. This one hadn’t, so they continued south. The one after that mentioned he might be on the west side. None of those he asked on the way could confirm it. Even those who knew who Donal was hadn’t seen him. Shila was cursing each time Paul stepped out from under her cloak. They were either wasting their time, or the Chamber was about to drop on their heads. When someone did know where Donal was, they found out they were only a couple of minutes behind the squirrel, and that he’d headed North along Wewatta. Shila finally looked and sounded like the world was no longer about to end, while Nina was… tired looking, but it had to be physical, since her emotions had shut down a while back by this point. It would take weeks of rest and therapy for her to get back to the person Paul had met at Donal’s doorstep, full of desire to help people. Sounds of a fight as they crossed an intersection made Paul sigh. There had been far too many of them. Shila’s cloak might keep them from being pulled in, but it didn’t mean getting close was a good idea. He motioned for them to head the cross street to go around the block. “Isn’t that a squirrel?” Nina asked, life returning to her. Paul forced himself to look, and as she’d said, a shabbily dressed squirrel was being assaulted. “I told you the Chamber was going to drop on us,” Shila cursed. “That’s n—” Nina replied. “I don’t think so,” Paul said, running to his aid. The street was lined with stores, and the one in front of the fight had its bay window shattered. Donal must have tried to stop them from looting the place. They ignored Paul’s approach, the cloak still protecting him, until he grabbed the Rottweiler’s arm and pulled him away, which cause the others to startle and shift their focus on him. He dodged a clumsy punch from a deer, threw one in return, and got in a lucky hit. The deer backpedaled, hand to his bleeding muzzle, and Paul barely sidestepped the rottweiler’s swing. A box hit the rabbit that was stepping in where the deer had stood. Shila grabbed another one off the ground, and it seemed to register with the looters this was no longer a four on one situation. Paul figured the metal cane Nina held in both hands played a part in them deciding to run off. “Wow,” the squirrel said, straightening. “You guys have great timing.” His jacket was old and the patching homemade. Some of the stitching had come undone in the fight, but the only injury was a cut on his cheek. He stepped toward Paul, smiling. Paul offered his hand. “It’s good to see you again, Do—” The kiss was as unexpected as it was passionate, and Paul tensed. When hands on the side of his face turned into arms around his neck, and the tongue pushed past his lips, he grabbed the other man by the shoulders and pushed him away. He didn’t know the squirrel anywhere near well enough for this to be okay. Donal looked at him in shock, then hurried to raise his hands up. “I have no idea what came over me.” “I’m sure,” Shila said derisively. “Tell me you’re Hines, and that we didn’t waste our time saving some random hobo looking squirrel.” “I am,” he replied flatly, “but if you think helping someone is a waste of time based on how he looks, I don’t know that—” Paul turned to see what Donal saw that caused his face to contort into a mask of pain. Nina was next to him, Merlin’s cane in her hands. “You aren’t bringing me good news, are you?” “That depends entirely on how helpful you are,” Shila replied. * * * * * “The Chamber?” Donal asked as they entered an apartment building. It had taken the few blocks needed to reach it to give the squirrel the rundown. “They’re who is behind this?” “What’s so hard to believe about that?” Shila asked in disbelief. The squirrel glanced at the cane, then was looking ahead. “How about we work on figuring out where they’re hiding, instead of—” “Providing help and comfort to those society has a habit of not giving a damn about?” Donal finished for Shila. “Donal,” Paul said, cutting off Shila’s reply. “Doesn’t dealing with the Chamber go further toward helping everyone? Once we know where they’re hiding, we can give the information to the Cormoran family and—” The squirrel’s snort stopped the golden tiger. “Okay, if there’s someone better, we can contact them instead. Other than the Brislow Thomas’s scared of, I only know about the Cormorans in Denver.” Donal sighed, opening an interior door that lead to a dimly lit hallway. “Normally, you would go to one of the families to deal with something like this, but the Cormoran are administrators more than anything else. But if what I hear is accurate, you’re not going to get anything done going to that Brislow guy, or any other security agency, no matter how legal or not they are. They’ve been overloaded with cases for a few weeks now. I guess the Chamber didn’t want them to be able to help.” “Still, we can tell them about it. The Chamber can’t be keeping every law firm in the state busy. Someone will know who to contact so they can stop this,” Paul said, and Donal looked at him over his shoulder with an expression he couldn’t decipher. “It’ll be easier to deal with this ourselves,” Donal replied. “No,” Shila stated, just as Nina had a coughing fit. “I’m okay,” the hare wheezed. “Weren’t you the one wanting to do just that?” Paul asked Shila, and got a tilted ear from the squirrel. “No, my plan was to take care of them when they came to us for that.” She motioned to the cane in Nina’s hands. “What he’s talking about is finding where they are, marching into their lair and baring out throats for them to smash.” “They’d be more likely to cut them open,” Nina said. “It’s more efficient,” she added as the disbelieving looks. “They way you spoke about them makes it sound like they like to be efficient.” “Who you want is Grant,” Shila said, focusing on Donal. “He’s the ‘I’ll take the bad guy down’ type. Not me. If we can’t get them to come to us, you’re telling us where they’re hiding and we tell qualified people. The kind of people who get off on this kind of stuff. Me and Paul were only supposed to be here, so you’d help me find out how to fix my problems.” Donal stopped and turned. “You really think this has nothing to do with you, Shila?” “I’m not some hero,” she spat. “I’m a hacker. I’m not even one of those white hats.” Instead of commenting, Donal turned to the door and knocked. Paul pulled Shila away to give the squirrel and whoever lived there privacy. A harried looking goat answered, and the two spoke quietly, both looking pleased by the time the door closed. “You think I don’t give a shit about this?” Shila spat. “Is that why you think I don’t want to get involved? I’m not fucking dead inside.” She motioned around them. “But this isn’t my thing.” She took out her phone. “This is my thing.” Donal turned to face her before another door. “What’s going on is everyone’s thing, Shila. The real question is if it’s going to be too late by the time those who can do something about it get off their scared, lazy asses, and do something about it.” “Doesn’t that mean you should help us, Donal?” Paul asked. The squirrel glared at Paul, then knocked and faced the door. When it opened as far as the security chain allowed, the Pomeranian in the gap was no older than eleven. “Hi,” Donal said, crouching. “Are your parents here?” The girl bit her lower lip. “My mom said not to speak to strangers.” “That’s wise of her. My name’s Donal. Is she here?” The shake of the head was small, but her slumping shoulder said much. “How long has she been gone?” “Long. She went to get food.” Donal pulled a small doll made of scraps of fabric from a pocket. “Can you look after Dolly for me? She’s scared of what’s happening. While you do that, I’ll see what I can do to find your mom, okay?” The girl nodded, and her features relaxed as soon as she took the doll, then she closed the door. “I’ll help.” He took out a phone as he stood. He closed his eyes as he tapped the screen, then placed it to his ear. “Lou. It’s Donal. I need you to keep an eye out for woman. Pomeranian who lives in the Santon building, apartment one-oh-four. She’s… still around. Not sure where, but within a few blocks. It’s the best I can give you. Something came up. I have to take off once I’m done with the building. Have some of your people drop by every so often. Thanks.” “I can do a search for her,” Shila said, already tapping on her phone. “Lou and his people will find her. You’re right that we have more important things do to, but first, a few things. One, I’m not a crystal ball. I can’t tell you where the Chamber’s hiding. That’s not how I work. Second, when I do find them. We’re going to be close to them. Do you have a plan as to how you’ll deal with being spotted?” Shila thumbed at Paul. “He takes them down, takes the viral or genetic staff, and brings this to an end.” “I still say this is insane,” Paul said. Nina had the decency to hide her chuckle behind a hand. “Look at yourself,” Shila replied. “You won two fights already.” “Against looters and muggers, and you sent these last one running. And it was mostly luck, anyway. And how do you expect me to take a staff from one of them?” “Clock him, or her, then take it,” she said with a shrug. “Look. This isn’t Italy, or even Grant’s usual stuff. They came for Merlin. All this was set up to force apotheosis on him, not go to war. You already have the best anti viral in existence, they can’t do anything to you.” “What if there’s another staff?” Nina asked, then immediately bit her lower lip. “You speak of them like they’re pretty big. What if they have another one there? Or if that one has enforcers or something like that? Can you protect Paul if the threat is… I don’t know, ordinary?” Shila looked at the hare with what Paul thought was some respect. “It’ll depend on what the staff does, if there is one. I’ll have to see what it does before I can write something to counter it. There’s no such thing as a ‘save Paul from everything app,’” “And just thugs?” Nina asked. “Physical’s not my thing.” “How about we instead make sure it doesn’t get to having to fight them?” Paul said. “Remember, this is about finding them and telling people. I don’t have to have to fight anyone.” “But I’ll look for something you can fight them with,” Donal said, “in case it gets to that. But before we start that search, the third thing we’re addressing is that you are going to help me check everyone in this building is okay. All you need to do is knock on the doors, get them to confirm they’re fine. If they say they aren’t, or you just suspect it, tell them to head to George’s Shelter. She’ll look after them. They’ll know where it is. Everyone in this neighborhood has had to rely on George at least once. Note any apartment you refer to George and give me the number once we’re done. I’ll make sure someone checks in on them later.” Paul looked at Shila, who looked appalled at the idea of interacting with anymore people. “I’ll pair up with Shila. Nina, will you be okay on your own?” Her nod was hesitant, but then gained confidence. Paul smiled. Maybe doing good in small ways like this would help her remember why she got into medicine. * * * * * Donal was on his phone as they walked away from the building. As he’d predicted, most of the people had been fine, but pleased someone thought of them. Only a handful, over about fifty apartments, had needed referring, and Donal was now arranging for someone to drop by. When the squirrel turned into an alley, Paul let the distance better him and Donal and Shila increase so Nina could catch up to him. She’d been lagging since the building. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I’m fine.” Her reply sounded forced. “You know you don’t have to keep going with us, right? You’ve been a great help, but this is going to be over soon.” He looked the backs. “And as you brought up, it might turn violent.” Her smile finally looked honest. “Doesn’t that mean you need me with you? Shila doesn’t strike me as someone who knows even first aid.” “If it’s online,” Paul replied with a chuckle, “I’m sure she can access it and suddenly be an expert. I know king-fu and all that.” The hare’s uncomprehending look told him she didn’t get the reference. He had to admit it was old. Maybe he needed to have someone other than Niel and Roland recommend movies. “How long have you and Shila been friends?” She asked. “Acquaintances, really, and only for a few days. My best friend is how I knew of her.” Nina stared at him. “Then why are you here with her? From what I’ve pieced together of her problems, they don’t sound any smaller than what’s going on here.” Paul shrugged. “She needed help.” “That’s very… noble of you.” That hadn’t been the word she’d intended to use, he could tell. Not that he blamed her. “I prefer to think of it as being decent.” He walked a little faster, and she kept up with him. “What are you going to do when this is over?” Nina ran a hand over the cane she carried. “Find a company that’ll let me do my own research, hopefully. If not, one to work for until I do.” “Nutrition and muscle development.” She looked him up and down, smiling. “You seem to be doing well in both of those.” He chuckled. “You haven’t seen my friends. I’m borderline beanpole compared to them.” He paused. “But it’s mainly for others. There are a lot of factors that get in the way of someone attaining the look they want. I want to figure out how to help them get over whatever hurdle they might encounter in their quest to attain the physique they dream of.” “You sound passionate about it.” He smiled. “I guess I do. Been thinking about stuff like that since my teens. It’s guided my studies, and now all I have to do is find people to support it.” She nodded and looked at him as if she intended to say something, but still hadn’t by the time they caught up to Donal, who seemed to be wandering aimlessly through Denver’s streets.