Starting the Slowpocalypse (Books 1-3 Omnibus) Read online

  “Alright, let’s say I manage not to give in to fear or look weak, and still some gang of bullies wants to attack me—how should I react?”

  He nodded again. “It’s true, though they may be cowards, their numbers give them a sense of power out of proportion to the reality. They have a kind of group mindset that keeps them from acting with the same sense of self-preservation they’d have as individuals. So the key is breaking through that kind of thinking to destroy the group dynamic.”

  It made sense, and it was similar to how Kat had been thinking herself. “I have to force them to fight as individuals.”

  Tony frowned. “That’s not exactly what I meant to say. Singling them out and taking them out one-by-one isn’t enough. You have to really bring home to them the reality of the danger they’re in from you, and that means making them afraid. And I know it would be hard for you, but the only way to really do that in the kind of situation we’re talking about is to make them squeal. You have got to cause somebody pain, force them to cry out. That sound of suffering can get through to anyone.”

  Not what she’d thought. “I could do that if I had to.” At least she hoped she’d be able to if she had no other choice.

  He peered at her as they continued to circle. “I wonder. I’m not talking about tossing somebody to the ground. I’m talking about deliberately inflicting pain. Even with your own life or someone else’s life at stake, I doubt you could do that.”

  Kat noticed the angle of his foot shift and slid to the side, and the moment passed. “Like you said, I’ll probably never be in that situation to find out what I would or wouldn’t do.” She saw his right foot crossing behind his left as he stepped and let herself stop where she stood. “Wouldn’t those same tactics also work against a mob?”

  Tony shook his head. “Even cries of agonizing pain won’t pierce the mindless violence of the mob mentality. Unless you happen to be carrying a water cannon around with you, or a load of tear gas canisters, the only thing to do is get away. Run, hide, or run and hide. Just don’t get distracted.”

  As he made that last remark, he closed—feinted with a jab while kicking at her shin. Kat hooked his leg with her own and started to spin him around, intending to go for a chokehold, but he dropped as he turned and grabbed her shirt to pull her over him as he went. She twisted as she was falling, rolling off to the side and taking one of his arms with her, extending it and stretching him out flat. She came up to a crouch twisting his arm to lock his elbow and shoulder, pressing him into the mat.

  She’d done it. She’d pinned Tony so completely that the never-ending drill had finally finished with her in control for once. A sense of deep satisfaction coursed through her body. This was what it felt like to win.

  Then the bones of his arm seemed to melt in her hands, just for a moment, and then she felt his hand wrapping around her wrist and pulling her in. Tony had curled into a ball, and the next thing she knew, his feet were planted in her stomach and lifting her up and into the air. But his hand was still there, on her wrist. She focused on that single connection between them as she flew, feeling for the moment she could turn it to her advantage.

  Part 2 – Freshman

  1:35 p.m. Saturday, March 2nd

  KAT walked through the wide, bright spaces of the mall, following her friends but paying a lot more attention to the people shopping around them. Some were clearly other FedU students, some families out shopping together, but most were teenagers. Those not from the FURC likely all lived in this little boom town born of the inflow of money and jobs that had come when the FURC had been constructed. They’d even named the place Boom Town.

  A cacophony of jabbering voices against a background of imitation music created a constant wall of noise. No doubt the teenagers liked the stimulation, but it was one of the reasons coming to the mall was not one of Kat’s favorite activities. Her friends had wanted to shop here, however, and Kat needed new clothes, so here she’d ended up. Even though there were plenty of nice shops outside the mall. And inside the FURC too, for that matter.

  Sara and Ashley weren’t paying any attention to her or the other shoppers around them. They were chatting, about boys apparently, and contemplating the fashions displayed in various store windows, on which they occasionally commented—regarding the style, or lack thereof, of different outfits. Kat didn’t particularly care to talk about either.

  Then Sara glanced back to cast a malicious grin at Kat striding along behind them. “Kat completely lacks any sense of style.” She turned back to Ashley with a wicked smile. “Either that or she doesn’t use the flare she must have been born with, considering who her mother is. You would expect her to look at least a little glamorous, wouldn’t you? But here she is, wearing a loose-fit blouse and baggy jeans, completely hiding her figure.”

  Ashley shook her head. “Her mother?”

  “Didn’t you know? Kat is Caroline Sanderson’s daughter. Though you would never guess it to look at her, and most people don’t seem to know.”

  Ashley’s mouth fell open. “You must be joking. If Caroline Sanderson were her mother, why haven’t we met her?”

  “Why do you think her mother never visited her at the high school? Why would someone of her status have lowered herself to spend time with the likes of you and me?”

  Ashley blinked. “So we could get her autograph of course.”

  Kat suppressed a smile. She really shouldn’t be amused—it was bad enough that Sara had somehow found out that Caroline was Kat’s mother, but now her supposed friend was sharing that information. Not with the whole world, but she might as well be. Kat would rather no one knew, but it looked as if it was out of the bag now, and soon it would spread to everyone at FedU. Unless she could stop her friends from telling anyone else.

  Sara snorted. “Her parents are separated, and I hear it wasn’t pretty. But I also hear that the great actress is taking a break from the stage to come and teach drama here fall semester. That should be deliciously awkward.” She turned to give Kat another sly grin. “Shouldn’t it?”

  “My parents get on pretty well, considering that they happen to be separated.” Kat continued scanning the crowds as she talked, not bothering to look Sara in the eye. Of course, Caroline was capable of making any situation awkward if she wanted to. “I don’t think these jeans are baggy, either, just loose-fit. I like them that way, and I look just fine.” There was no use trying to explain to her two friends why she would only ever wear clothes that allowed her to move freely, ready to defend herself. Just in case it were ever necessary.

  Sara shook her head. “Did you hear that, Ashley? ‘Just fine.’ She could surely find herself something more stylish if she really wanted.”

  “I do like to look good.” Although what Kat considered looking good differed greatly from what her friends or her mother thought. Clean and neat, that was what Kat aimed for. And it was only her disorderly mass of hair that thwarted her. “I’m just picky about what I wear.” It was a challenge to find outfits that fit her requirements for freedom of movement and looked fashionable as well. Perhaps she would find something here at the mall. Anything was possible.

  Shaking her head again, Sara spoke to Ashley in a loud stage whisper. “Kat’s picky about boys, too. Do you remember her going on a single date in high school? And she’s yet to get herself a boyfriend here—despite all the smart, good-looking men to choose from.”

  Kat knew she shouldn’t respond to that. She’d dated a couple of boys in high school, briefly, but it was difficult to find anybody interesting compared to Tony. “So I’m discriminating—what’s wrong with that?” Then she regretted that she’d risen to Sara’s baiting. She didn’t care what they thought, and she should have kept her trap shut.

  Better to think about Tony, as hopeless as that was. Since she had wanted to see more of him, Kat had signed on with Security as a safety aide as soon as she’d arrived at the FURC, to fulfill her work requirement. But through a semester and a half now, Tony had hardly been a
round—just enough that she found it frustrating that he wasn’t there more. But at least she enjoyed the job.

  She knew her feelings for him wouldn’t go away and that they’d likely never be more than friends—if Kat wore an outfit that showed off her figure, Tony would worry about her catching cold.

  The only reason he didn’t worry about her driving around at night in one of their little electric carts was because there was so little trouble at the FURC. With everyone so well-behaved and her only job being to drive back and forth across the well-lit, well-traveled paths making people feel safe and carrying lone pedestrians to their destinations, Kat might as well have been sitting behind a desk doing nothing but paperwork. And yet she still had to have a partner along. If she had a bigger complaint about her job than the lack of time with Tony, it was the complete absence of any real excitement.

  “Kat.”

  She turned away from her inner grumbling and saw Sara had stopped to stare at her. And she met her friend’s eyes with a steady gaze. “What?”

  “You can get us front row seats, can’t you? Surely your mother will give some public performances while she’s at the FURC. And if you can get us backstage to meet her as well, then I’m sure Ashley and I could manage to keep mum about who your mom is—couldn’t we, Ashley?”

  Ashley nodded eagerly, which was likely meant to be reassuring, and Kat sighed. There was a whiff of blackmail to their request, more than a whiff, but she was certain to give in—it was difficult enough to have her dad as the director, the last thing she wanted was everyone knowing Caroline was her mother. And she felt confident her mother felt the same way about having Kat for a daughter.

  Just then a high-pitched scream cut through the noise around them and saved her from having to respond right away. Sara started running in the direction of the commotion, followed by Ashley and most everyone else. Kat rushed to catch up, hoping she’d be able to keep her friends out of trouble. Reaching the back of the crowd, she pushed her way through the throng to see what they were all staring at. But when she saw, she wished she hadn’t looked.

  Kat didn’t know who had screamed—one of the bystanders, presumably, because it certainly wasn’t the kid on the ground. In the big open space before the entrance to the store at the end of the mall, two teenagers were kicking a third, who was curled into a fetal position on the cold, hard floor and whimpering like a wounded animal. Three other delinquents stood there laughing, looking like they were waiting for their turn. The crowd stood well back with horror plain on their faces. But they kept watching.

  Searching around for somebody to help the boy, she noticed a mall security cop, but he wasn’t much more than a boy himself. And he’d withdrawn past the gate to the big shop. His face was so green, Kat felt sure he was about to be sick—he certainly wasn’t about to intervene. Hopefully he had called the real cops, but there was no way to know how long before they might show up. Meanwhile, that poor kid was still taking a beating.

  Someone had to do something.

  Kat found herself taking a step forward, toward the scene before her, and paused. Tony had always taught her to avoid trouble whenever she could, and here she was about to walk straight into a dangerous situation. Reacting to being attacked was one thing, this was something else entirely. But she had to do something.

  The first thing she needed to do was draw their attention away from their victim and give that boy a break from the beating. So she started walking forward again, away from the crowd and toward those bullies. And she felt fear with each step. She shook her head at herself and tried to ignore it. She knew she had the training to do what needed to be done, so why should she be afraid?

  They hadn’t noticed her yet, so she shouted out at them, “Hey! Stop that.”

  The three jokers just standing there were first to turn their heads to see her, and they stopped laughing. The other two delivered a couple more kicks to the kid on the ground before looking up. For a long moment all five simply stood and stared at her.

  Kat continued striding toward them—while her brain kept bringing up the different ways she might mess this up. She could get herself hurt, or in trouble. She could get someone else injured, or damage somebody more than she meant to. She could fail to save that kid.

  Brushing aside those anxieties, she focused her mind on options. The five bullies before her weren’t hesitating anymore—they abandoned their old prey and began to spread out as what must’ve looked like new prey approached. The three who’d been standing and laughing circled to the sides and behind her, surrounding her. They might be stupid, but they’d enough low cunning to form this trap. One she was blithely walking into—or so it must have seemed to them. She saw flickers of doubt on their faces. Prey didn’t usually walk into the jaws of predators.

  Kat believed. She trusted that everything would turn out all right.

  Having done all she could for the victim for the moment, she needed to focus on taking out his tormentors. Ignoring the three who were closing in on her from the back and sides, she decided on the two still standing in front of her. If she had to cause anybody pain—and that’s what Tony had told her she’d have to do—then she would show the couple who’d been beating the stuffing out of that poor kid what it felt like to be on the receiving end.

  She darted toward the beefy blond on the right first. He swung at her, but she slipped past that fist with ease and drove her elbow into his breastbone, then slammed her shin up between his legs.

  Collapsing to his knees, he gasped for air. That was no good though—they had to make some noise. Whirling to face the other one, he was already rushing at her, bent low to try and tackle her. She pivoted and brought her right knee crashing through the side of his face, and kept turning, grabbing his hand as he stumbled past her. And she bent back his little finger until he howled.

  She turned swiftly, taking his finger with her as she spun to scan her surroundings. He trailed after his finger, crying. She saw the three stooges, paralyzed and disbelieving, and the beefy blond, back on his feet and glaring at her like an enraged bull.

  Stomping her heel down and squashing the toes of the guy she had in hand, Kat wrenched his finger again and levered his arm to propel him sprawling toward his angry friend. The blond bully shoved his oncoming friend out of his way, feinted with his left, and swung his right fist up into her stomach.

  Kat relaxed and folded around his arm while he drove her back and up into the air. Then she turned and used her arm to twist his, levering his elbow up as she regained her footing and spinning his back to her. With a quick bounce and jerk, she popped his shoulder out of joint. Then she applied some more torque to his arm. And he started screaming.

  All of a sudden the three who had been standing and staring broke and ran, and the crowd parted to let them go. Disgusted, Kat threw the bleating bully into a pile on top of his friend. Then she strode over to the boy on the ground.

  He appeared to be in so much pain, she hesitated to touch him. She brushed her fingers gently to his cheek. “There now. Those guys won’t hurt you anymore. You’re safe, and help is on the way.” She sincerely hoped so, anyway. This kid needed medical attention, and fast.

  The boy’s eyes turned so he could look up at her sideways, and he managed to croak a couple words. “Thank you.”

  Kat shook her head, uncomfortable and unsure how to respond. “Now, you just relax. The pain will go away soon.” One way or another.

  The kid closed his eyes, and she stood up, backing away and giving him some room. Then she saw that her friends Sara and Ashley had come forward, as well as that mall cop. It was him she spoke to. “I hope you called an ambulance already.”

  He nodded with his mouth hanging open. “That was incredible—what you did.” He glanced down at the two who remained splayed out in a heap. “But I don’t think you want to stick around.”

  Kat snorted. “You can’t possibly think I’m worried about what those two might do.”

  The mall cop shook his head.
“I called the sheriff’s office. It’ll take them a while to get here though, since they always come in full tactical these days, as if it were war. And they won’t be happy about what you did to those guys, or that you did their job. And that’s on top of their not liking you people from the FURC to begin with.”

  Kat bristled. “Someone had to stop those guys. And I noticed you weren’t doing anything. You have a gun—you could’ve at least threatened them to get them to stop wailing on that kid.”

  But he was shaking his head again. “I’d lose my job if I got involved. I’m not even supposed to call it in, not if it’s only a disturbance in the common areas. As long as it stays outside the store, the owners don’t want the sheriff’s deputies showing up. It disrupts business.”

  Who would’ve thought this kid showed courage just in calling the cops? Not Kat. She had failed to realize how bad things were getting out here. “Well, I’m glad they’re coming—they can take care of those two at least.” And maybe track down the others, but that was their job, and she’d leave them to it. Why would they dislike people from the FURC though?

  He sighed. “But if you’re still here, they’ll probably take you into custody as well. Maybe just to ask you questions, and maybe they’ll let you go. But it’s not something I’d want to go through, and you never know.”

  Kat didn’t imagine she’d like how she’d be treated either. And although she was curious why they’d have such resentment toward the FURC, she wasn’t about to stick around and ask them.

  Glancing over to where the victim was still lying on the ground, she noticed a nice-looking older couple had approached to talk to him and help him wait for the paramedics. The rest of the crowd was gone already—likely to avoid having to deal with the authorities. Kat ought to follow their example.