"Hey CJ," she suddenly called across the room, "can you spot me?" She was gesturing towards the bench press.
"Yea, no problem." He walked her way, still trying to think of how to ask about Andy and Tucker. Finally he just decided to just be up front about it.
She was sitting on the bench when he reached her. "Can I ask you something KN?"
She smiled, and it was hard for him to remember what a bitch she could be when she did that. "Shoot man."
"Two of my friends didn't come back from the labs today. You wouldn't know anything about why they're keeping them would you?"
She sighed, "Nah man, nothing." She ran her fingers through her hair, angling her head towards the corner of the room, watching him. Sighing again, she tilted her head towards the corner again as if stretching her neck, this time though, she angled her eyes towards the corner of the room too, hoping he'd get her meaning. It was like watching a light bulb suddenly flash on when he finally noticed the surveillance camera mounted discreetly in the corner.
He nodded then, "Just let me know when you're ready to start."
"Let me grab a drink first." She reached for a bottle of water that she'd set at the foot of the bench, it tipped and rolled towards CJ, instinctively he bent to retrieve it. She leaned forward at the same time, her mouth coming close to his ear, whispering, "They're watching, follow me when I go, we'll talk where it's secure." He handed her the bottle, hoping the shock he was feeling wasn't mirrored on his face. She was actually going to help him. "
Thanks," she said. After taking a drink, she set the bottle down again and took position on the bench. They spent the next hour spotting for each other and using the various machines that the gym had to offer. Finally, Briggs yawned and said, "Well, I think I'm finally done for the night. Or I guess I should say morning. You need an escort back to your quarters? It's on my way."
Guessing she was putting on a show for the cameras CJ responded, "Yea, that'd be good,
I'm ready to call it a nightmyself. Besides, you're a lot better looking escort than that Evans guy." As soon as he said it he felt like hitting his head against the nearest wall, thinking to himself, 'Great CJ, piss off the person you're asking for help.'
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Wow, end of the world and you're trying to pick me up?" Then she laughed. "Come on rent-a-cop, let's go."
Together they exited the gym. Private Evans was waiting to escort CJ back. Briggs looked at him and said, "Take a hike Junior, I've got the baby-sitting detail for you," glancing down at her watch she continued, "the chow hall should be open, why don't you go grab some breakfast I'll cover till you get back." With that she started walking, motioning for CJ to join her.
He started to speak when they were out of Evans' earshot, but she shook her head, they walked further, turning a corner where she stopped at a door, looking closely at the frame before opening it and motioning him inside. She looked both ways down the hall before closing the door. "There's no surveillance in here at the moment, so it should be safe to talk." He looked around trying to get an idea of where they were at. "My quarters." She supplied before he could ask.
"So do you know what happened to my friends?"
"I'm not certain, but there's some pretty bad shit going on down here"
"What do you mean bad shit?"
"Our operations commander has turned control of you civilians over to the researchers. The head researcher is a sick fuck by the name of Franklin Steiner, if you can believe that."
"Frankenstein." CJ half laughed.
"More or less. Anyways, as near as we've been able to figure, we suspect that Steiner and his peons are using survivors like you and your friends for guinea pigs."
"How so? Who is 'we' and what the fuck is going on!"
"Keep your voice down in case you've forgot we're trying to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. Now then, when we arrived, Cowboy said that the researchers had managed to contain a couple of those creatures for study. What he didn't say at the time was how they got them. Turns out that they were two of the last animal caretakers left here at the facility, and they were purposely exposed to the same chemical that started all this shit.The vaccine that they're working on, they've been injecting it into selected civilians who've been brought in and then putting them in the pens with those creatures to see what happens. As for who 'we' are, that'd me, Cowboy, Masters, Davis, Steele, your friend Kenneth's brother Henry, and Marshall."
"So you're telling me that Andy and Tucker are as good as dead." It was more a statement than a question.
"I don't know for certain, but I'm not going to jack you around, it's not looking to good. Now,
we better get going before someone gets suspicious. I'll try to keep you informed on what we learn concerning your friends."
"One more question before we go."
"Make it fast, we've already spent more time than we should have."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
She paused for a moment, then answered, "I've been killing people most of my adult life,
it was my job and for the best interests of my country," she gave him a rueful smile, "or at least that's what my superiors told me. But this is something different, it's like cold blooded murder. After all this shit that's gone down, I can't stand by and watch this kind of pointless slaughter, not when the human race is on the verge of wiping itself out already. Now let's go."
CJ followed her out of the room, watching as she paused and did something to the door frame again. At his questioning look she said, "I don't like people invading my privacy, they'll still try to plant their bugs, but when they see this, they know I'm expecting it." With that cryptic remark she began walking away, CJ hurried to catch up.
"So what are you gonna say if they notice how long it took us to get back?"
She looked at him and grinned, "That your a decent fuck who makes up for having an appalling lack of stamina in other areas." CJ couldn't keep his jaw from dropping. "Relax rent-a-cop." They walked the rest of the way in silence.