Infected: Die Like Supernovas (The Outlaw Book 2) (8 page)

“He told me. His name is Lee and he’s my friend!”

“The guy from Craigslist is your friend?” I asked, faking surprise.

“Isn’t that a wild coincidence?”

“That’s bizarre. His device really helped. It completely incapacitated Ta…that guy on the roof.”

“Were you injured in that fight?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I nodded emphatically. “Badly. That guy is awful. He’s huge. And mean. That’s why I want you to stay safe. Here. In Glendale. Away from the city.”

“So you
can
get hurt,” she mused. “Does that mean you don’t have real super powers? Like, really really no super powers?”

I chuckled and said, “Really really, there’s no such thing as super powers. But…I am abnormal. I’m weird in ways I’m still learning about.”

“Like what?”

“That’s a secret too.”

“Are you friends with PuckDaddy?” Katie asked.

“Why do you ask that?”

“Because he was erasing all the video of you. Right? Wasn’t he helping you out?”

“Not exactly,” I shook my head. “It’s all hard to explain.”

“Were you scared that night? When you were kidnapped and PuckDaddy erased the evidence?”

“Yes,” I said. “Very. A lot of the Outlaw stuff is scary.”

“So PuckDaddy is a bad guy?”

“My life is…complex. I don’t know if he’s a bad guy. But he’s not a friend. I don’t have any real friends. At least the Outlaw doesn’t.”

“I’m your friend,” she smiled.

“Thank you,” I smiled back. But she couldn’t see that. “I need to go. Remember why I came here,” I said and I stood up. “Stay away from people you don’t know well.”

“Before you go,” she said and she help up her phone. “Can I take a picture of you? Or just look at you in the light? I can barely see you.”

“No,” I snapped. I snatched her phone and tossed it into the grass near her bedroom door.

“Hey!” she laughed.

“No pictures.”

“Why are you so bashful with the media?” she teased me. “The world loves this stuff.”

“It’s best not to take ourselves too seriously,” I said. “Especially me. I won’t be around for long.”

“Why not?”

“I need a favor. It’s important. Don’t tell anyone I was here. No one. Okay? Not even the guy from Craigslist,” I said, doing my best to impart severity.

“Okay. But then I want a favor too.”

“What?” I asked warily.

“Promise me you’ll come back to visit soon. When you can stay longer. This has been the best ten minutes of my life! I know I’m still a teenager and you’re a grownup…but…this is nice, right? We can be friends. I feel like we’re a great fit.” She smiled so big my heart almost burst.

“I promise that…I will come back if I can,” I said and then I vanished, leaving her in the dark. I was long gone in a matter of seconds but even across the distance I could hear her sigh.

Chase Jackson’s phone was vibrating when I returned home. I had a text from Katie Lopez.

>>CHASE!!! I miss you SO much!! I have so many things to tell you but I can’t!!! AUGH!!! Please come visit SOON!!

Girls are so weird.

But that. Was. The best thing. Ever!

I was going back soon. A promise is a promise! Woooooooo!

A week. A week went by and I was stewing.

No word from Carter. No clues about PuckDaddy. Silence from Tank. Natalie hadn’t texted. My girlfriend was affectionate but distant. Katie and I kept revolving around each other in a weird, tense, unspoken, hot relationship. She never mentioned the Outlaw visit. My Dad was feeling good. I went to bed early each night and I hadn’t suffered any more migraines.

All the nothingness that kept happening was driving me crazy. I was boiling over. In the past I always preferred quiet Saturday nights. Tonight I was doing jumping jacks. I was wired. I’d already attended a boring party with Cory and came home. He persisted in going to bed at a hideously early hour. Now I had nothing to do. But I could probably dig up something reckless, if I wanted. Which I did.

I was contemplating throwing pebbles at my girlfriend’s window or, even better, throwing bricks at Tank’s but thankfully the Outlaw’s phone beeped. It was Lee.

>> Outlaw!! Your vest is ready!

I’m on the way.

Boom!

The motorcycle tore silently across the suburbs on a high-pitched cushion of air. So much speed, so little sound. It’s touchpad display glowed cheerfully. I parked a few blocks away and ran to Lee’s backyard.

He was waiting, trembling, delirious with excitement. It was just me under the mask. Calm down, Lee. You’re making me feel guilty.

“Outlaw! You’re here, dude!” he quietly shouted at me.

“What do you have for me?” I growled, even quieter.

“Here.” He handed me a heavy gorgeous black vest.

“It’s NorthFace?”

“Nothing but the best for you, dude.”

“NorthFace makes bulletproof vests?” I asked, examining the thick vest. It was a work of art that glistened with zippers and buckles.

“Basically I bought the nicest ski vest I could find and then modified it. This is made out of bombproof ballistic nylon. I sewed in flexible kevlar plates, but kept all the pockets. I figured, Mr. Outlaw, that this could be like your Bat Belt.”

I chuckled, staring at the vest in wonder. I loved it.

“It’s an avalanche-proof vest, but I took out that airbag. I can put it back in if you want.”

“No. That’s okay,” I replied.

“I sewed in some elastic around the edges, so it’ll stretch a little bit, for when…you know, when you…get bigger?”

“When I get bigger?”

“Right, dude? I’ve seen the video analysis,” he said, unsure of himself, his voice quavering a bit.

“What analysis?” I asked.

“I mean…sorry. It’s just, that, on the videos it looks like you get bigger. Taller. …don’t you? Sorry, dude. I thought…”

“It’s fine. Forget it.”

“I feel dumb now, dude. Is it supposed to be a secret? Ahhh. My bad, you know?”

“Lee,” I said quietly. “This vest is perfect. How much do I owe you?”

To my surprise, he looked deeply offended. “Dude. I made this for you. Actually I made two vests. Now we both have one.”

“You need a ballistic vest?” I smiled through the mask.

“I figure,” he stammered a little awkwardly. “I figure that if I keep helping you, I might get shot at too. You know, dude…like we’re….like we’re partners?”

“Partners,” I grinned.

“You think Natalie North will like the vest?”

“Maybe I should go ask her.”

Back at the motorcycle, I stuffed my black shirt into the storage compartment and zipped on the vest. Perfect fit. Bet I looked super fly too.

I wasn’t interested in Natalie North romantically. My life was outlandish enough. But her opinion mattered to me. She was really the Outlaw’s only friend.

I took Highway Two to Interstate Five, pushing the bike close to 100 mph. Tonight I was the Outlaw, and the Outlaw soared. I flew down Natalie’s off ramp near Chinatown, found my favorite hidden parking spot, and climbed up the wall. I didn’t analyze this superhuman feat; just went straight up and over.

Are you home?
I texted her.

Two minutes later,
>> No, but I will be soon. Why?

Coming to visit.

>> It’s about time! =) See you soon.

Her rooftop was monitored. I knew that now. The Outlaw had hoodwinked thousands of people into believing he actually existed, and so they set up cameras to spy on him. Instead of climbing to her roof I hid in the shadows below, on top of the adjacent structure. I crouched down to wait. The ambient city noise filtered up to me and I smiled, enjoying it from above.

Five minutes later my phone beeped. A new text message. From an unknown number.

>>Hey moron what r u doin

What on earth? Only three people knew the Outlaw’s phone number, and I didn’t recognize these digits. Had to be a mistake.

>>Thats right Im talking 2 u

Wrong number,
I replied.

>>im savin ur life dummy get the heck out of there

Could this person really be trying to communicate with
me
? The Outlaw?

>>u think carter was messin around with u? Shooter gonna burn ur ass

Whoa! I jumped up. Whoa whoa
whoa
!! Shooter? Carter?
Who is this???

>> y r u wearing ur bike helmet instead of the mask?

You can see me?
I asked, glancing around, completely freaked out.

>>im everywhere. now move

Who are you????

Just then, Natalie texted me.
>> I’m coming up the elevator right now!

Come to the roof, then walk down the fire escape
, I told her.

>>get out of there now idiot
, the stranger texted me again.
>>b4 natalie north gets there

Talk to you later
, I replied.

>>wait!!! listen, stoopid!

>>i don’t know y im even bothering but…

>>turn your helmet speaker on

>>pair the helmet’s bluetooth with your phone

>>trust me

I sighed but did as he asked. The stranger spooked me too much to ignore. I paired the bluetooth headset with my phone, so all calls would be routed to my helmet.

Natalie North came hurrying down the stairs. There were several reasons why she made over five million dollars per movie, and one of them was her appearance. She was so pretty it hurt.

“Hi stranger,” she smiled.

“Hello Natalie,” I said.

“Whoa. Your costume is different.” She hugged me and then stayed there.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text you for two months. That’s not how a good friend acts.”

“Let us be clear about one thing, Outlaw,” she said into my vest. “I will not fall for you again. I am over you. Well, truthfully, I’m as fascinated by you as the rest of the world, and I’m very covetous of my position as girlfriend of the superhero. But I’ve…matured in my understanding of our relationship.”

“I understand,” I said, even though I did not. At all.

“Just kidding, let’s make out.”

I laughed. That was funny. And made my heart skip a beat. But no. I had Katie. No! I mean, I had a girlfriend. Not Katie. I couldn’t stop
thinking
about Katie, though. At this moment I couldn’t even remember my girlfriend’s name.

“I was out on the town,” she said. “My publicist states that for the sake of my image and media presence I need to go out, pretend to be a
bon vivant
, frolic merrily and hang out with guys and let the whole world take photographs.”

“Makes sense,” I said.

“No it doesn’t. Nothing about my life makes sense. I even brought a boy home with me, just so magazines can gossip,” she said and looked up at me. “I wish you’d take off the helmet, so I can see your face. Or at least your eyes.”

I flipped up the helmet visor so she could see my eyes and said, “You brought a boy home?”

“He’s only a close friend. He’s gay, actually. But the tabloids don’t know,” she said and stepped back to examine at me. “Why the costume change?”

“Do you like it?” I said and I held out my arms to the side.

“Very much. It’s quite dashing. You have nice arms. But…”

“But what?”

“I remember you being bigger than this,” she said, with a confused grin. “I vividly recall feeling minuscule when I sat in your lap.”

“I believe,” I said slowly, carefully, thoughtfully, “that I might be able to…increase in size?”

“Wow!” she laughed and clapped her hands. “Really?”

“That would explain why my shoes have split in the past. And why I look bigger in some pictures,” I said, thinking out loud. “But it might only happen when my heart rate speeds up? Or my adrenaline is pumping? I’m not sure. I haven’t figured this out yet.”

“Like the Incredible Hulk?” she asked. “So you really have super powers?”

“No,” I said. “No super powers.”

“Then how on earth could you increase in size, silly?”

“I’m not positive that I can. But I might. And it’s from a disease.”

“A disease?” she asked, concern wrinkling her forehead. “What kind?”

“I don’t know the technical name,” I said. “I don’t know much about it at all. I know it’s rare. As it takes over my body, it activates certain organs and does weird stuff and makes me stronger and quicker.” The truth just kept pouring out of me. I hadn’t planned on sharing my secrets, but the control I could exercise over my body was…diminished, at the moment. I was able to mask my voice to a dark growl, but it was hard. I had too much energy!

“Sounds similar to the movie
Phenomenon
,” she said, her eyes raised to the sky in thought.

“I haven’t seen that one.”

“Great film. John Travolta has a brain tumor that engages more and more of his brain as it grows. The tumor makes him much more intelligent.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “It does sound similar.”

“Except he dies at the end.”

“Yeah, me too!”

“That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking,” I said. “Almost always fatal.”

“No,” she said, her hands going to her mouth. “Please be joking.”

“Very high mortality rate.”

“No no no no,” she said again.

“But. I plan on beating it.”

“Have you been to the doctor?” She took one of my hands between both of hers.

“No. It’s extremely rare and most people just die from it and nobody knows why.”

“Have you told anyone? Does anyone know?”

“You’re the first,” I admitted.

“Gosh. You must feel so alone, all the time. I forgot how much we have in common.”

The phone rang. In my helmet. It startled me so badly that I jumped. It must be the guy who’d been texting me.

“Hang on,” I told Natalie and then I answered the device in my helmet. “What?” I growled.