“Not. Strong. Enough,” Brandt said emphatically.
Ethan looked at Cade then, his green eyes pleading. “Cade, for the love of God, back me up on this,” he said. “I can handle it. I can. I’m a hell of a lot tougher than I look.”
“I know,” Cade agreed. “Atlanta proved that. I just…” She looked at Derek, feeling utterly helpless and unsure.
“I think, considering he’ll be with medical personnel the whole way, Ethan will be a suitable escort for Kimberly,” Derek said.
Ethan sat back in his seat with a satisfied gleam in his eyes. “Even Doc thinks I’m okay to go,” he said.
“But what about the side effects?” Brandt protested. “We still don’t know what this strain will do to you.”
“I think he’ll be okay, Brandt,” Kimberly spoke up for the first time. “I’ll be with him. If something goes wrong, we can handle it.” She glanced at Ethan and added, “Besides, there aren’t many people that I’d trust to have my back. At least he’s one of them.”
“Now that that’s settled, how are we going to get all of these people out of here before the infected get through the gates?” Isaac asked.
“I vote we do it house by house,” Cade suggested. “One house at a time, with armed guards with each group.”
“No, you should send armed folks to clear the path and then send more to escort all the elderly and children and pregnant women first,” Sadie said.
“Not all pregnant women are helpless, you know,” Cade grumbled, folding her arms over her chest, ready and spoiling for a fight.
“No, not helpless, but you’re front-heavy, and it would really suck if you got attacked and lost your baby,” Sadie said. “I’m sure you’re tough as nails when you need to be. You wouldn’t have gotten this far if you weren’t.”
Cade opened her mouth to argue—mostly on principle—but Ethan’s hand on her arm stopped her.
“I think Miss O’Dell is right,” Ethan said. “But we have to be careful about this. The last thing we need is people getting angry and panicking because they think we’re saying that some lives are less important than others. We’ll need to figure out the best way to explain this so they’ll understand without getting angry.”
“I’m not even sure any of this is feasible,” Brandt said. “Joseph’s group never came back, and that’s put us short on guards. We barely have enough to hold things together as it is.”
There was silence as everyone thought over the options. Then Brandt sighed and shook his head. “Shit, I don’t know. This is just…”
“Hopeless?” Isaac suggested.
Cade twisted in her seat to glare at him. “Don’t you say that! Don’t you dare even suggest this is hopeless! There’s always hope!”
“Look, we made it work getting these folks out of Atlanta, and we can do it again,” Brandt said. “We’re just going to have to get creative, that’s all.”
They all stared at each other, trying to come up with an idea. Finally, Brandt sighed and said, “I’m going to go to Dominic’s house and see what I can find out. If anyone has any ideas how to get these people out of here, let me know immediately. Kim, Ethan, I think you two have some planning of your own to do.”
Chapter 23
After the meeting, Kimberly and Ethan descended the basement stairs in silence. Neither had spoken a word since after the meeting, when they’d agreed to leave within the hour. Derek had gone down ahead of them, and when they arrived, they found him at the workbench, stuffing notebooks and file folders into a backpack and muttering under his breath.
Derek moved to the tiny refrigerator set underneath the workbench, pulling out test tubes and lining them in a small case he’d taken out of the mini-fridge’s freezer. Then he packed it into an insulated case, stuffed blue ice packs in with it, and sealed the case shut. He added the insulated pack to the backpack already full of papers.
“Listen to me carefully, both of you,” he began. “You have to get this to someone in authority as fast as possible. I’m not sure how long the cold packs will last, but I’m betting it won’t be as long as I’d like. Whatever you do, don’t open the insulation pack. We want to keep as much cold air in the pack as possible to help preserve the samples. You follow me?”
“Yeah, I follow,” Ethan answered. Kimberly nodded her own acknowledgment. “Which way should we go?”
“North,” Derek said. “You go north. I think we’ve already established that the CDC centers in Georgia—and probably Florida—are total losses. There are satellite CDC installations all over the place. Try some of those.”
Kimberly unfolded the map and spread it across the workbench. Derek grabbed a marker and started writing on the map. “Your closest bet is probably the facility in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It’s still close to the outbreak’s origins, so it might not have survived the initial wave of infected, but you can try there before moving on.” He paused, scribbling a street address onto the map, and continued. “Your next closest shot after that isn’t until Maryland. I figure maybe they had enough warning to lock down and fortify.”
“Maryland is a long way from here, Doc,” Ethan said. “A hell of a lot could happen between here and there.”
“And that’s why you’re going, isn’t it? So you can protect Kimberly and make sure that that whole hell of a lot doesn’t happen to her.” He circled an area of Maryland and wrote another street address beside it. “Whatever you do, don’t get killed. I don’t think I’m speaking lightly when I say the fate of the world could depend on you getting these samples into the right hands.”
“No pressure or anything,” Kimberly muttered. She folded the map and stuffed it inside her backpack, then slung the pack onto her back. She hesitated and then flung her arms around Derek in a crushing embrace. Ethan turned away, giving the two some privacy as they said their goodbyes. When she finally rejoined him, her eyes were shiny with unshed tears, prompting him to catch her hand in his and give it a comforting squeeze.
“You sure you want to do this?” Ethan asked.
“I’m sure I have to,” Kimberly replied. “There’s no one else who has the expertise that I do, except for Derek, and he can’t go.” She paused, glancing back at Derek as if seeking reassurance, and then asked, “Are you sure you’re willing to escort me?”
“You really going to ask me that?” Ethan asked. “There’s no one else in this community I’d even consider worthy of the task.”
Kimberly’s cheeks flushed red at his declaration, and she gave him a tentative smile. “Shall we?” she asked, motioning to the basement stairs.
“We shall,” he agreed.
Upstairs, everything was controlled chaos, everyone moving around with their own personal tasks. Sadie and Jude sat on the couch, side by side, methodically topping off the ammunition in what appeared to be every firearm in the house. Brandt was nowhere to be seen, likely on his self-imposed mission to track down Dominic and find out what was going on with him. Likewise, Cade and Isaac were missing. Ethan figured they were most likely upstairs.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ethan signaled to Kimberly that he was heading up to say his goodbyes.
He found Cade and Isaac in one of the upstairs bedrooms, Cade in a chair at the window with her Galil rifle resting against the windowsill. She stared through the scope mounted on top. Every few seconds, she would shift the rifle just a fraction of an inch, narrowing her blue eyes as she took in the view. Isaac stood beside her, binoculars pressed to his own eyes as he, too, studied the ground below. Cade looked up as Ethan stepped into the room, sparing him only a passing glance before wordlessly returning her attention to the scope.
Aw hell, she’s pissed at me, Ethan thought, the realization accompanied by a sinking feeling in his gut. He cleared his throat, and Isaac tore his eyes away from whatever he was looking at and smiled.
“Ethan, I didn’t hear you come in,” he said. “Something I can help you with?”
Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “Not real
ly. I just…I need to speak with Cade. Preferably in private.”
Isaac gave him a mock salute and stepped back from the window. “Not a problem. I’ll be in the room next door if you need anything.” He retreated, and the door clicked closed behind him.
Ethan stood silently for several long seconds, trying to figure out what the hell he was supposed to say to Cade when she was clearly mad at him. It had been so long since he’d had to deal with an angry Cade that he wasn’t sure he remembered how to handle one of her moods. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, contemplating the motionless woman in front of him.
Cade didn’t move, didn’t even flinch, as she said, “You are an asshole, you know that?”
“I’m…what?” Ethan asked. “What brought that on?”
“You’re leaving,” Cade said. “Again. You’ve barely been up and around again, and you’re already bailing.”
“I’m not bailing, Cade,” Ethan said. He tried to keep the defensiveness out of his voice, which was a struggle. “Kim needs help. I’m willing to give it to her.”
“Like there aren’t other people here who are perfectly capable of helping her? Why does it have to be you?”
“Come on, Cade. That isn’t fair,” Ethan protested.
“The hell it isn’t,” Cade muttered. “Just tell me why. Tell me why you think it has to be you to go with her.”
Ethan stared at the back of her head and steeled his courage before admitting quietly, “Because I think I might be falling a little bit in love with her. And because of that, I don’t trust anyone else to do this.”
Cade abandoned her task of staring through the scope and finally turned to look at him. “You barely know her, Ethan. How can you say you’re in love with her? This isn’t like with Remy, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ethan replied. “Because with Remy, it was just sexual attraction and infatuation, plain and simple. There was no love there between us, at least as far as I ever felt.”
“Oh, really?” she said doubtfully.
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Cade, cut it out. I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to work, so you can go ahead and hang it up right now. I’m going to go. She needs me.”
“I need you!” Cade exploded, startling him enough that he took a step backward. “You’re my best friend, or at least I always thought you were. But you keep bailing on me when I need you!”
“Name one time I’ve bailed on you, Cade, because I sure as fuck don’t see where I have!”
Cade’s blue eyes grew cold. “In Atlanta, when I got shot and you thought it would be a cute idea to stay behind and try to be noble.”
“I wasn’t trying to be noble. I was trying to save you.”
“And nobody asked you to.”
They stared at each other, and Ethan’s blood pounded in his ears. When he felt like he had a handle on his rage, he ran both hands through his hair and sighed. “Cade,” he started to say, drawing the word out as he pieced together his thoughts.
“Don’t you use that tone with me,” Cade snapped, her eyes still hard with anger.
“Cade! For the love of all that’s holy, shut up, would you?” Ethan demanded. “God, I’m trying to talk to you, and I’d like it to not be a fight. Please. For all we know, this is the last time we’ll ever see each other.”
“Why do you think I’m so mad at you?” Cade asked. “You’re leaving, Ethan. Again. You’re supposed to be my best friend, and it feels like you keep bailing on me. I know you’re not, but still, that’s what it feels like. And I’m getting tired of burying you.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Ethan said. “Believe me, I am. It just feels like this is something I have to do. I owe a debt.”
“To who?”
Ethan shrugged. “To Derek. To the community. To the world at large. I don’t know.” He scrubbed his hand through his hair again and closed his eyes for a moment. “I shouldn’t be here. I should be dead. I should’ve been dead months ago when I was attacked in Atlanta. That fate has tipped the balance in my favor makes me feel like I’m meant to do something with the life I’m fortunate enough to have.”
“But it’s a fool’s errand,” Cade protested. “I hate to say it, but it is. There might not be anyone left to do anything with them.”
“I think it’s more foolish to lose the possibility of a cure because we didn’t take a chance,” Ethan said.
Cade sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m being selfish. But it’s just so frustrating. If I weren’t pregnant, I’d be right there with you. But I can’t, and it makes me feel useless to not be able to do anything.”
The sound of footsteps hurrying up the stairs reached Ethan’s ears. Someone knocked on the door.
“Cade, you’re far from useless,” he said, ignoring the knock. “You’ve done so much for the people here and saved and protected so many lives. I don’t think you could call that ‘useless.’”
“Ethan?” Kimberly called from the other side of the door. “We’ve got to get going.”
Ethan still didn’t move for the door.
Cade stood and stepped toward him, throwing her arms around his neck. Ethan buried his face against the side of her neck. “You take care of yourself, okay?” he said, his voice muffled. He lifted his head and saw tears in her eyes; one escaped, and he swiped a thumb at it before anyone saw. “I’m not going to say goodbye, because I’m coming back,” he said.
“How are you going to find us?” Cade asked. “I don’t know where we’re going yet, so how can I tell you where to meet us?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Ethan said. “No matter where you guys end up, I’m going to find you, okay?”
Cade pressed her lips together and nodded, scrubbing her face harshly with a hand, as if wiping away further tears that hadn’t fallen. “Be careful out there.”
“I will. And you take care of Brandt, yeah?” Ethan added. “Man’s liable to lose his head without you around to keep him on task.”
Cade laughed. “Don’t remind me. We all saw how he almost cracked up when Alicia’s people took me. Man was a basket case.”
Ethan chuckled, and Kimberly knocked on the door again.
“You should go,” Cade said. “You’re right this is important.”
Ethan gave her one more squeeze and smiled. “I’ll be back,” he assured her.
“I’m counting on it,” Cade said.
Ethan walked out without looking back. The click the door made as it swung closed behind him felt as final as a gunshot.
Chapter 24
Remy awoke to the sound of gunshots, her brown eyes fluttering open as her mind tried to slog its way through the fog of sleep to the world of consciousness. She couldn’t remember where she was or what she was doing there, and she struggled to remember as she sat up.
She felt weak. So weak. Had she been sick? She couldn’t remember. She pressed a hand against her right temple and blew out a breath. Her skin was damp with sweat, and her hands trembled. She looked down and discovered she was in her underwear, both the bra and panties rendered almost sheer with sweat. She brushed a hand down her ribs, feeling the slightest indentations between them.
Another gunshot rang out, and Remy found herself halfway across the floor before she realized she had moved. Panting, she looked around the darkened room wildly, searching for the source of the sound.
“Where the hell am I?” she whispered, her voice hoarse and cracking. She slammed her eyes shut and forced herself to breathe; her lungs felt constricted, like a vice had been wrapped around her rib cage and was slowly being wound shut.
Another gunshot popped out, and then she remembered.
“Dominic!” Remy gasped. Then she managed to raise her voice and say his name again. “Dominic!” She stumbled across the room, bumping into the desk, trying to find a light. Her hand hit a bottle of water, and she picked it up, drinking greedily, trying to clear her throat of its soreness. Then she tried again. “Dominic!”
There were heavy
footsteps in the hallway, something banged against the door, and it swung open. Remy almost took a step back. Then she recognized the silhouette in the doorway, a flashlight in his hand.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Dominic asked.
“Yeah, I think—” Remy broke off and shook her head. “What’s going on out there?”
Dominic didn’t answer her right away. Instead, he stepped into the room and pushed the door shut behind him. He stared at her, and she eyed him back.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
Irritation rose in a wave. “What does it matter how I feel?” she demanded. “What the hell’s going on outside? I heard gunshots!”
Dominic sighed. “The infected that followed us here are trying to get inside, just like they were before. From what I’ve seen, a few of them have figured out how to come over the wall. I’m not going to say it’s not a big deal, because it is, but it’s not something I want you stressing about right now. How do you feel?”
Remy folded her arms over her chest, suddenly aware of how little she was wearing. “Right now? I feel cold. And underdressed. Where are my clothes?”
“You took them off while you were feverish,” Dominic said. He stepped forward and gently pressed the back of his hand against Remy’s forehead and cheek. “I think the fever’s broken. It didn’t last very long. Seems like it tore right through your system and burned out whatever it was after.” He retrieved another bottle of water from the nightstand and gave it to her.
“So what have I missed?”
“There was another one of those committee meetings,” Dominic said as he rummaged through a dresser. “From what I gathered while I was prowling around, they’re planning to evacuate.” He pulled free a pair of jeans from the top drawer and held them up by the waistband. He studied them before tossing them to her. “These should be about your size,” he said.
Remy caught the pants. “Should I ask why you have a pair of jeans in my size in your dresser drawer?”
“They got mixed up with some other clothes that got sent my way,” Dominic said, waving a hand dismissively.
The Becoming (Book 4): Under Siege Page 17