The Infected 3: Cast Iron by P. S. Power Page B

small bar next to it just inside the heavy doors that led to the beach. The Blue Boat. So that one was solved already. She noticed Lancaster and Reyes both look at the sign as well, so they apparently had the same meeting spot. In a way that was a good sign. If Morris was going to be that open, he probably wasn’t planning to attack them. If he did have plans like that he shouldn’t have invited her along. Of course the times could be different, set up so they each had individual meetings, but she couldn’t afford to ask. Not yet. There just wasn’t enough information to risk advertising everything.
    They needed to get together before the meet though, that was for sure. Hopefully the others had time for that and weren’t due for a separate meeting in the next hour or two.
    The beach was a brilliant white in the distance, well groomed, probably by the hotel staff. Footprints in the sand, but very little trash could be seen. Some, because people were pigs and left garbage everywhere they went, but someone had clearly made an attempt to keep things tidy. It was crowded, with thousands of people visible in front of her and to the sides, a riot of color and a lot of exposed flesh. She realized that her skimpy bikini wasn’t out of place at all, since it actually covered most of her behind. About a third of the women she saw and a small percentage of the men had a single string up their cracks instead. Her friends all looked like they were practically Amish compared to most of the people around them, covered as they were. Well, that was fine; they didn’t want to show off too much anyway.
    Scott walked alongside Charlot, close, but not holding hands and Karen was with Brian, who wasn’t wearing his body armor, but had long t-shirt on with shorts. His legs had scars in places, but no fresh wounds. She hadn’t really thought about that part of things. At the base he almost always dressed in the clothing she’d gotten for him, not brightly colored red vacation clothes. His power meant that he could have to fight at almost any time. He was free of that for a bit, supposedly, hence the lack of his nano armor, but he wasn’t used to showing off his scars. That it might have been an issue for him wasn’t something she’d taken into consideration. At the base no one would have thought twice about it, because they knew what he did. Here he could almost just pass as a regular guy for a while.
    The others just looked good. Except Level, who looked incredibly out of place. She was a giant black and brown armored form and that didn’t change just because she was on a beach. People had turned to stare at them as they made their way closer to the water, most of the attention going first to Lauren, then Tobin. After that each person was watched for a long while and at least a few people snapped pictures of them, most trying to be covert about it. It took a while, and some walking, to find a space big enough for them all to put towels out and still be together. Once they did Bridget wanted to run into the water directly, but waited for everyone else to settle first. Finally, with enough energy that Marcia felt a little envious, she jumped to her feet and grabbed Marcia by the hand, pulling her off her towel into a standing position, laughing.
    “Come on! Let’s at least splash in the surf. These others can watch Warren for a bit. Please?” She wheedled and sounded a bit like a little kid for a second, but something around her eyes gave away the fact the girl had something else in mind. To Marcia at least. Looking over at Chris for confirmation the blond woman looked up, her skin freshly oiled and wearing a golden yellow suit that was probably see through in the water.
    She nodded. Something was up with the girl for real then? Marcia smiled.
    “Sure kiddo. We shouldn’t go alone though. Brian, why don’t you, Mark, Denis and Penny come along to? Brian can buddy up with the invisible girl there, so we don’t lose her. Chris, you