Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 319: Club Star Texas

Channel 34-Voilence erupted in the historic district of New Orleans as armed military assisted by allies met with a violent group of infected. Attacks were traded back and forth until one of the infected set off a massive explosion, causing the destruction of several city blocks. Reports are still coming in of survivors and dead and we will bring the the latest as it comes to us.

Channel 28- Day 28 of protests calling for the equal treatment of the infected have been seen popping up in cities all over the country and the world. Police and national guard were called in to help keep the peace, but in more than one city, violence erupted between the two sides.

Channel 14- The government has now passed laws for the segregation of infected from the general population until such time as a cure for their condition can be found. The president, under massive pressure from both sides of the aisle, signed the bill that would, in effect, allow federal and local law enforcement agencies to force those who have been identified as infected to be transferred to a safe, quarantine zone to ensure not only their safety, but also the safety of the common civilian. The bill would also allow for prosecution towards those who knowingly hid or protected a certified or uncertified infected, with penalties ranging from massive fines and/or up to twenty years in jail. When we attempted to reach out for comment from those who have been fighting for the protection of the infected rights, we have not received any comments back.

Channel 07- The department of infected control has been granted extra judiciary protection in the apprehension and detention of infected or those thought to be infected. This had been a major talking point as there had been more than one recorded and posted incident of innocent being hurt and even killed while trying to find out if they were, in fact, one of the infected. Civil rights leaders, while speaking up about the cruelty being shown those not yet identified as infected, didn't say much about the actual treatment of the infected themselves. Police and FBI raids at known locations and businesses where infected were known to be has resulted in finding empty buildings and long abandoned houses. While the work is in progress, citizens are asked to remain vigilant towards new neighbors and new people moving into a neighborhood and to make sure that they carry their identification papers on them at all times.

Channel 08- In an interview with Agent Wallace who was on the ground over a year and a half ago at the first known massive battle with the infected, the head of DIC has claimed a massive success in the round up and protection of both the infected and normal citizens. Each day they receive dozens of phone calls and leads allowing them to continue finding and isolating the infected who have been dodging the law. Agent Wallace would also like to remind viewers that using the reporting lines to make false claims against neighbors for personal vendettas could potentially end up with strict penalties for those making the claims. "Although we know that in most cases, neighbors are just trying to be prudent, we also don't need to come out and test the same people several times just because they are "weird," "strange," or "should never have been able to afford the property they purchased." The line is only to be used to report actual sightings and suspicions."

Channel 12- With the number of strange, mutated creatures showing up in remote areas on the rise, special interest has been put into new types of home and business security including electrified fences, remote turrets and alarms along with conventional cameras. Local police are also upping their efforts to hire more personal as the need for rotating, heavily armed patrols has skyrocketed. Anyone interested can sign up with their local stations and receive a bonus as long as they complete the mandatory two weeks of paid training. Even if you decide the job isn't for you, as long as you remain as a reserve, you will get to keep your weapons, body armor and liability protections for the duration of your time as a reserve.

Channel 05- Costal cities are being abandoned in droves as people attempt to sell their once coveted property and move inland. This is the result of a large number of aggressive water based creatures who have appeared at beaches and resort areas and have attacked in massive waves. While some areas are being bought up and turned into training facilities for practically free, others have been left abandoned and deserted as even the local infrastructure has fallen apart. In contrast, massive mega cities are started to rise up inland with many focused especially around lake and river access. For some costal cities that are too big to abandon such as NYC, massive military installations have arisen as our solders had faces many hard battles to hand on to these few places.

Official Announcement from the White House-

"Our nation has changed so much from even a few years ago that it might be hard for some Americans to even recognize that we, as a country, are still strong. While other major nations around the world have struggled hard with the growing threats from not only within their boarders, but also from their coastlines, we have continued to prosper and will do so for many years to come. The nature of our economy has shifted with the benefits from these mutated beasts becoming more apparent while one of our primary industries, weapons, remains in strong demand around the world. We will continue to protect the rights of every citizen while we adapt to the new world..."

...

"Hey. Dean... Dean...?" A voice called out the the bartender. A short yet big busted waitress was trying to get Dean's attention while he was watching the news report and zoning out. After the waitress poked him though, Dean's attention turned to her.

"Hey. Get with it. We've got tons of drink orders. Here baby..." And she passed Dean the slip with all the orders written on it while he got to work filling them. The young waitress shook her head while watching him work. His hands were amazing fast and flexible while he had the drink menu memorized to the point where even if it was some obscure thing they wanted, he knew how to make it. The other waitresses always tried to get their orders filled by this handsome young man since not only was he nice to look at, but he also filled the orders so fast that they were able to serve almost double the amount of customers because of it. While the other bartenders were a little jealous because of this, his ability did allow them a bit more freedom to flirt with the guests and make connections and recommendations to them, thus vastly helping to improve the guests experiences with the bar staff and bringing in a much larger amount in tips.

Although they all wanted him to chat with guests as well as the management had commented several times on wanting to see it, Dean himself was a silent sort of individual who didn't really do small talk. Fortunately, Dean had an amazing smile that always seemed to put people at ease, even when his lack of speaking did not.

It was a fair trade off in everyone's eyes. And the waitresses couldn't have been happier since this meant they got to have Dean all to themselves.

"Thanks sugar. You doing ok tonight?" The large breasted young waitress asked having seen Dean watching the news update.

"Yes. Thank you," Dean responded with a smile, although a bit shyly. The waitress had to grab her drinks and run after that, knowing that being around him too long would cause almost any woman's blood to heat up.

"I swear bro. If you asked for volunteers to snuggle with you at night, the girls would literally fight it out with each other or all hop into your bed together. Why the fuck is that? You're not that much prettier than me," Mike commented after handing over a couple of beers to his waiting customers.

"Who knows man. Who knows?" Dean responded back with a smile, before taking the next slip of drink orders.

"Maybe it's that way you talk all short and cryptic like. Maybe that's it?" Mike suggested while piling up the used glasses and sending them back to be washed.

"I NEED THESE DONE UP ASAP," Mike yelled back having one of the dish washers come up with a bin of freshly washed glasses to exchange out for the used ones.

"I don't sound cryptic," Dean argued back while staring at Mike. Even while not paying attention, his hands didn't stop moving..

"I need some more iced up," Dean commented while Mike got some freezer ready and set them in to chill.

"Sure. Sure. Well whatever. This looks like it's going to be one hell of a summer," Mike said, looking around at the packed venue.

The two guys were just a few of the two dozen bartenders who were stationed along the huge bar to serve customers. This particular venue they were working was the bar stationed near the floor for the huge stage that was used to host everything from live musicians, comedians and several other types of performances, all for the many members of Club Star, the largest lakeside resort in Texas. With their state of the art facility and security along with several clothing optional beaches and pools, Club Star was one of the most successful inland resorts built after the closing of most of the coasts. Even places like Hawaii was overrun with just the largest island still belonging to humans. Due to these recent events, inland resorts were all the rage. If there was any downside to it, the lakes which used to be public affairs were now all being owned by a select few who treated them as being worth more than oil fields.

Due to the exclusive nature of the club, everyone working there not only had be young and good looking, but there was also strict body requirements. Only one or two tattoos that weren't offensive were allowed while the employees had to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. If you gained too much weight, you were put on leave until you once again looked the part and if you failed to meet requirements for too long, you would be let go. Although there had been lots of critiques about such practices, as the resorts were private affairs, they were able to easily get around the issues.

Their dress also reflected their desirable bodies. Even though they were inside, the men all wore tight fitted shorts and were shirtless, minus a colored vest. The women who worked there all wore tight one piece swimsuits as two piece sets didn't allow for them to have anywhere to put order slips.

Not that it hadn't been tried.

"So tell me the truth. How the hell do you work these late nights and are still able to get up to exercise in the morning. All I want to do is sleep since I always end up nursing a hangover... and here we go again..."

"CLUB STAR'S FREE SHOTS. ONE ON ONE." Came the announcement, causing a surge of people to line up at the bar while each of the bartenders made a signature drink.

As with almost every other time this happened, the line in front of Dean was the longest as he smiled and got to work, mixing several ingredients together before laying out thirteen glasses, twelve for the customers and one for himself.

He then proceeded to pour the drink out of the mixer into the glasses, the strange whitish clear liquid causing those who lined up in front of him to frown.

"What's this?"

"What's he trying now?"

"This is their top mix master?"

Comments came one after another while Dean stood there and let them talk. Seeing him smile while they looked at him, the crowd settled down.

Finally, when it seemed like all the noise at the bar had died down while everyone looked on at Dean's strange concoctions, Dean the took a desert spoon and lightly tapped on the top of all of the glasses, one at a time down the line.

Sudden gasps could be heard as the milky clear substance in each of the glasses turned a different color until the thirteen glasses in front of him went from being a fiery red to a deep purple.

"Rainbow shot anyone?" Dean asked in his melodious voice, causing everyone to cheer while wondering how the hell all of these drinks were poured from the same mixer?

Everyone grabbed one shot, leaving Dean with the deep purple shot that he took himself, smiling the entire time. Everyone was wild as they each described a different, but wonderful taste. Everyone was buzzing while asking Dean how he did it, to which he just shrugged his shoulders and kept on filling the order slips presented to him.

"I swear dawg, it's magic what you do. And I can't believe you won't even tell me..." Mike complained, but with obvious amusement in his voice.

"Just a little trick of magic. Slight of hand. I've tried teaching you before," Dean replied, laughing.

"Yeah. And that went just wonderful. Blugh. I still can't forget that taste... How the hell did you learn that shit is what I want to know," Mike asked, stopping suddenly.

Dean didn't reply and just kept on going, making drink after drink. Mike was one of the few people Dean worked with who knew his secret and how much it haunted him. He also knew Dean didn't like talking about it.

Dean had lost all his memories and was unable to remember anything before one year ago.