Chapter One: Proper Authorities
"He did what?" Max demanded hotly.
Alec closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose as though attempting to ward of a headache. "Notified the proper authorities," Alec repeated warily. "Reps from the CDC and the FBI will be here in less than fifteen minutes. Then there's the possible DOD and NSA involvement, especially if they decide this is some sort of biochemical weapon, not to mention the media turnout."
Max squeezed her eyes shut. "This isn't good," she said. "This place is gonna turn into a circus -"
"Oh, that's not the worst of it," Alec interrupted.
Max arched a disbelieving eyebrow. "You mean there's more?"
"The CDC is warning at the possibility of a quarantine. Two weeks, minimum."
It took a moment for it to sink into Max; for a few seconds she couldn't quite grasp the enormity of the situation. When she did, her eyes widened. "Two weeks stuck in Jam Pony? With Normal?!"
Original Cindy, who had taken it upon herself to rescue Max from what appeared to be an involved and somewhat agitating conversation with Alec, chose that moment to make her presence known. "Excuse me?"
Alec turned to the new arrival and shrugged. "The CDC are planning on a quarantine of the premises - and that includes the personnel inside."
"Why'd they do that?"
"Cause we've all been exposed to the unknown pathogen and could potentially infect everyone we come into contact with," Alec said.
"There ain't no way Original Cindy's gonna stick around for that kinda torture," she declared adamantly. "Sides, what in hell are you two so worried about? You ain't in danger of catching anything."
"We'll be stuck inside Jam Pony with no way to contact Terminal City," Max reminded her. She ran a hand through her dark hair, pushing it away from her face. "Enough time and investigation in this place could prove dangerous, especially since half the messengers are Manticore alumni."
"And it's not like we can just walk out of here claiming immunity," Alec added. "Might look a little suspicious."
"Oh, fuck …" Max interrupted suddenly, looking up at Alec. "White."
Alec's eyes widened. "He's monitoring CDC activities."
Max blinked. "How do you know?"
His eyes darkened. "I have my sources," he said shortly.
Deciding to ignore that for the time being in light of more pressing matters - potential exposure being but one of them - Max turned her attention back to the present situation. "What are we going to do?"
"We can't do anything until we know for sure that we're being quarantined. And then there's the chance that they'll figure out what's in the package within the hour and we'll be free to run merrily among the tulips."
"Shut up, Alec," Max snapped automatically.
At that moment, the Jam Pony doors - which had been immediately locked following Normal's call to the CDC - were arbitrarily flung open and all eyes turned expectantly toward the doorway.
A girl, no more than twenty and obviously pregnant, was leaning against a younger boy, her arm flung around his shoulders, her breathing laboured. Since they'd shut the door, the gentle sprinkling that had kept up the entire day had turned into a complete downpour in the later hours. This opinion was only reinforced by the blond dripping all over the bike ramp.
Alec couldn't help but grin at the absurd nature of the interruption.
His grin faded as the doors were flung wide open - the second time in the last five minutes - and a group of people in biohazard suits scrambled in.
"Oh, this should be interesting," he murmured.
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Interesting indeed.
Following the arrival of the CDC members, the Jam Pony crew had immediately been assembled in front of Normal's desk for an overview of their situation. The authorities had no idea where the package had come from; it wasn't supposed to be there - or anywhere else for that matter - nor did they have a clue as to what it actually was.
"This will involve testing of the pathogen," Dr Samantha O'Neill, a virologist from Atlanta, informed them. "Full biological testing can take anywhere from three days to three weeks - we have to cover every possibility, especially if it is a biochemical weapon. We do now know what we're dealing with, people, and it's our hope that we'll find out as soon as possible. Even if we do find the nature of the pathogen, you will have to remain in quarantine in the event of a contagion."
Of course, this was also part of the official statement that the government had made to the press. It wasn't enough that the media were having a ball with the transgenic situation - they apparently needed a couple of extracurricular activities as well.
In light of this lockdown at Jam Pony, and the promise of spending up to two weeks with the same people twenty-four hours a day for an entire fortnight, Max was not in the least happy. On the up side, she had Original Cindy, which somewhat made up for things. Also, having been late on a Friday afternoon, a great deal of the messengers had already left by the time the mishap occurred.
And then there was the pregnant girl and her young male companion who'd managed to get themselves caught in the crossfire. Gem, a pretty and vivacious girl on the way to single motherhood, and Dalton, a small and shy blond-haired cutie. For Gem and the baby's sake she could only hope the unidentified substance would prove to be harmless.
Alec came up beside her, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, I guess we're going to be seeing a lot of each other."
Max couldn't help but grin at the cheerfulness in his voice. "Shut up, Alec."
For a moment they stood in comfortable silence, surveying their surroundings and the people they would most likely be spending a substantial amount of time with.
Original Cindy sat by the lockers tending to Gem - she'd taken rather well to the responsibility of nursemaid - and chatting animatedly to Dalton.
Cece and Biggs were sitting nearby, in a huddled group of messengers. Cece, a blue eyed, blond haired transgenic, not to mention resident martial arts expert, sat propped up against a wall, legs stretched out in front of her. Biggs had wound his arm around her shoulders and was regaling a story or other, probably about the irrepressible Lola, judging by the expression on Sketchy's face. Biggs and Cece had adjusted well to the JP life and had immediately been integrated into their Crash-bound clique.
Kayla, a more recent resident of Terminal City, had just joined Jam Pony a few days prior. She was probably regretting that career move at this point.
Sketchy, naturally, had also been caught up in the quarantine - a fair assessment seeing as he'd been the cause of the damn thing in the first place. He seemed unperturbed over the events taking place. Indeed, after their esteemed boss had attempted to strangle the fluffy haired blond, things had quickly reverted back to normal.
Rhiannon, tall and blond, and quite possibly one of the ditziest girls on the face of the planet, sat with the rest of the group, giggling uncontrollably at something that Biggs had just said.
Marina Blanc, a petite girl with dark hair and equally dark eyes, sat in a corner of the room, alone, set apart from the others, her nose buried in a copy of World Weekly News.
Apart from his employees, Normal was currently seated behind the dispatchers desk scribbling furiously on a notepad, no doubt trying to figure out how to continue running the business despite the quarantine. He'd already had his fair share of panic attacks, especially considering he'd had direct contact with the … whatever it was. But he'd calmed down somewhat - probably due to the copious amounts of coffee the CDC had graciously provided.
If there was one thing that didn't bother Max about this situation, it was the fact that they got free coffee - and not that crap that was sold through the usual channels. This was black-market quality pre-pulse coffee. She was in heaven.
A laugh at her side reminded her that, no, she wasn't.
There was one more person that was sharing this little non-holiday.
Alec.
At least she'd be provided with entertainment and, failing that, a way to let off steam. Physical violence was a great stress reliever. Alec was mighty convenient, wasn't he?
Alec must have seen something in her expression because he stepped sideways to avoid any attack on her behalf. The girl was prone to attack his person for no apparent reason, and he didn't know what he could possibly have done to warrant an assault, but he wasn't taking any chances.
Finally, Max sighed. "What are we going to do for a fortnight?"
Alec grinned cheekily. "I'm open to suggestions."
Max crossed her arms and swept her gaze once more around Jam Pony, her home for the next two weeks. "Shut up, Alec."
to be continued …
A/N: Not the most thrilling of chapters, but bear with me while I set up the story. Oh dear, this could get involved, couldn't it?