“Who else is there?” Avi prompted.
“Well, there’s Brandt Evans,” Cade said. She finished assembling the rifle and set it carefully on the table. “We met him in Gadsden the day after the Michaluk Virus hit Memphis. He’s a Marine. That’s probably why Ethan likes to stick us in the lead on missions. Out of the entire group, we know what the hell we’re doing and what to look out for better than any of the others.” Cade’s tone wasn’t arrogant, just matter of fact, as if it were something they all acknowledged.
“And lastly is Nikola Klein. She’s the youngest in the group, but she is the best when it comes to scavenging for supplies,” Cade said, a hint of pride in her voice. “Ethan picked her up on a … well, let’s just call it a solo mission to Memphis. Lucky for her, too. I’m sure if he hadn’t, she’d be dead by now.
“You’ll probably meet all of them late this evening or, at worst, in the morning,” Cade added. “They’re all out on supply right now, and Theo is on the roof keeping watch. Ethan and I are the only ones here.”
Avi nodded. Cade picked up the weapon in front of her, snapped a magazine into it, and lifted it to her shoulder, holding it as if she were ready to shoot something. Avi hoped the rifle was unloaded, though the few holes in the dining room wall suggested that the opposite was a regular occurrence. Avi also hoped Cade was halfway as competent shooting the rifle as she was pointing it at walls. Avi’s concerns were alleviated a bit as Cade squeezed the trigger. The rifle clicked to signal it was empty. Cade nodded thoughtfully and set it on the table once again.
“What kind of gun is that?” Avi asked. She rocked forward onto the balls of her feet to get a better look at the rifle. Just the sight of the weapon made her nervous, which was ridiculous. She was supposed to be used to guns by now. Relaxation hadn’t kicked in yet, despite their constant presence in her life.
“This?” Cade asked. She patted the rifle and rubbed a hand lightly along it. “Oh, this is my baby.” She practically glowed as she talked about the weapon. “It’s a seven-point-six-two millimeter Galil sniper rifle,” she explained, speaking slowly and reverently. Avi lifted an eyebrow. Cade’s tone made her sound like she was reciting an owner’s manual long-since memorized. “Semiautomatic, rotating bolt, twenty-five-round magazine, with a ten-by-forty Nimrod scope. I hoard the ammo for this thing like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Cade, you’re starting to talk Greek again,” Ethan said. He chuckled as he came up behind Cade, teasingly flipping her ponytail with one hand. “None of us understands a word you’re saying when you get going about all your gear.”
Cade rolled her eyes and gave the rifle one last pat. “Philistine,” she joked, tilting her head back to look at Ethan. “When are we going to talk to the others?” she asked, her voice suddenly serious. Her vivid eyes slanted toward Avi.
Avi drew in a breath. So the woman had listened to their conversation.
“In the morning,” Ethan replied shortly. He beckoned to Avi again. “Come on, Ms. Geller. I’ll show you where you can get some sleep. You look like you haven’t had any real rest in days.”
“I haven’t slept, no,” Avi admitted with a nonchalant shrug, as if sleeplessness were a common state. She suspected that this group went without sleep much more regularly than she did, and she refused to admit that she was bordering on exhaustion. “It’s not really a big deal, though.”
“Yes, it is,” Ethan shot back. “As long as you’re going to be with us, you’ll be treated like one of us. That includes decent amounts of sleep and as much food as we can spare. If we decide to help you, you’d better get used to that.”
“Well, I guess I could do with some rest,” Avi conceded in the face of Ethan’s ire. She paused in mid-step. “When can I get my things back?” she asked, half-turning to Cade. The other woman rose from her seat.
“Oh, tomorrow probably,” Cade replied. She headed to the kitchen, adjusting her ponytail. “I’m going to sharpen your machete, and maybe we’ll get you something else to go with it. A backup, you know? You good with a gun?”
“Not very,” Avi confessed, embarrassed at the admission. Her colleagues had mostly kept her out of situations involving the need for guns. As a result, she was the equivalent of a pencil pusher rather than a warrior. She hadn’t had much experience with firearms.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cade said assuredly. “If you end up staying with us, worst-case scenario is we’ll teach you. But as long as you can handle your blade well, you should be okay in a reasonably small life-threatening situation.” Cade disappeared through the kitchen doorway, leaving Avi feeling vaguely unsettled. Avi hurried to catch up with Ethan, who had already climbed half the stairs and left her behind.
Ethan paused at the second-floor landing to wait for Avi. He leaned against the railing, his legs crossed at the ankles and his hands braced against the wooden rail behind him. “Ms. Geller,” Ethan said when she arrived. He started up the second flight. “I don’t suppose I have to tell you what will happen if you get in our way, either here or on a mission.” He kept his tone mild, but Avi wasn’t fooled. She heard the threat under his words. “We take our safety seriously, and we don’t need you interfering if you’re not going to help.” Ethan paused at the top of the stairs and looked at the closed doors in the hallway one by one. He nodded and led her to the second floor on the right. “This is where you’ll stay,” he announced as he opened the door.
Avi stepped inside and looked around the room. It was mostly bare of furniture, though there was a twin-sized bed on each side of the room. The one to Avi’s right had been recently used; the bed was unmade, and a hairbrush and toothbrush had been tossed carelessly onto the mattress. A satchel leaned against the wall near the headboard.
“You’ll share a room with Remy tonight,” Ethan said. “That is, assuming she gets back before sunset. Otherwise, she’ll hole up somewhere else and you’ll be here alone.” Ethan glanced over the room and added, “We’ll discuss your proposition in the morning, once everyone is back and has had some rest.”
Avi nodded and swept her eyes over the room once more. She opened her mouth to thank Ethan once again for his hospitality and consideration, but before she could get the words out, he turned on his heel and stalked into the hall, shutting the door firmly in her face.
Chapter 2
Cade looked up from her quiet contemplation of the front door as Ethan came back downstairs. He looked grumpier than usual, likely from lack of sleep. Cade could sympathize. She still suffered from chronic exhaustion brought on by the less than four hours of sleep she’d managed a night for the past year—when she was lucky. That sort of exhaustion could bring the strongest men to their knees; Cade had no idea how she was still able to function at times. But she was sure that if Ethan had an inkling of how tired she was, he wouldn’t be pleased.
“Is anyone back yet?” Ethan asked as he reached the bottom of the staircase. His tone suggested that he was unconcerned with Cade’s answer, but the expression in his eyes spoke of how worried he actually was about their companions.
The Israeli woman hesitated and glanced at the door again, debating how to break the news to Ethan. Straightforward was likely best. Ethan hated people beating around the bush when telling him bad news. Cade returned her eyes to Ethan’s face and shook her head slowly.
“No. No one,” Cade confirmed.
A spasm of emotion crossed Ethan’s face. He quickly schooled his features into a neutral expression. The twitch wouldn’t have been noticeable to most people. But to someone who’d known Ethan as long as Cade had, the look was obvious.
“It’s getting late,” Ethan replied simply. Cade looked at her watch, a frown crossing her face. The others were already an hour late. This didn’t do much to help settle her mind.
Cade knew exactly what—or rather whom—Ethan was thinking about as she read the time silently: Remy Angellette. Ethan likely wondered where Remy was, if she was okay, whether she would make it back to the safe house alive. Th
ere was always the risk that someone would leave and never come back. Ethan never failed to play the nonchalant, casual I’m-not-worried game whenever Remy walked out the door. It didn’t matter how simple her tasks were; he did it every time. Ethan did worry about the others—especially Nikola, because of her youth and how close the two had become over the past year—but for some reason, he fixated most particularly on Remy.
It was nice to see Ethan care for someone again, to see him let someone in after the death of his wife. Cade had seen the pain of Anna’s death truly hit him following his return from Memphis. Ethan had shut down and shut off from the rest of them for the better part of a week. After that, he became an automaton, almost emotionless and robotic, tough and uncompromising. It was a relief to see the façade begin to crack, but Cade worried that Ethan was considering something for which he wasn’t ready.
Cade eyed the front door for a long moment. Truth be told, she was worried too, despite her attempts to pretend otherwise. Before Remy, Gray, Nikola, and Brandt departed the safe house in search of much-needed supplies, they’d planned to return by six. But seven in the evening now fast approached, bringing darkness with it, and the only person they’d seen was Avi Geller, who was even now upstairs, presumably resting.
Cade sank into a chair and put her back to the door to face Ethan. It was a position she normally didn’t like; the training she’d undergone in the IDF and the experience she’d gained in the past year had taught Cade that putting her back to an entrance that could be breached was the fastest way to die. Disregarding her personal protocol, Cade did it anyway, simply to study Ethan’s face more clearly. She asked the question that had niggled at her mind since Avi’s arrival.
“What are we going to do?”
Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair. He was going to need another haircut soon, Cade thought fleetingly. “What do you think?” Ethan asked, moving to the front door and peering through the peephole again. “Would you be willing to go into Atlanta just so that woman can do her research?” The way Ethan said the word was loaded with contempt.
“I don’t know,” Cade admitted. She turned in her chair to face him and propped her head against her hand, watching Ethan as he lurked by the door. “I mean, what good will it be to know what happened a year ago? It won’t save any of us now.” Cade studied Ethan’s back before she added quietly, “And I really don’t think she’s telling us everything.”
Ethan straightened his shoulders and looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean just that,” Cade said. She, too, straightened and glanced at the ceiling, as if she could see through the wood, paint, and plaster to the woman above. “She seemed, I don’t know, evasive. Like she’s not telling us the whole truth. And a research project?” Cade asked doubtfully. “Since when are we in the business of playing escorts for someone who just wants to read some papers?”
Ethan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall beside the door. “So you think she’s hiding something?”
“I think that, at the very least, Avi Geller isn’t telling the entire truth,” Cade confirmed. “I don’t know if it’s intentional or not. But something about that woman makes me uncomfortable. Call it instinct or woman’s intuition or whatever you want to call it. That’s just how I feel.”
Ethan’s green eyes met Cade’s blue ones. “Do you think we should tell her no?”
Cade hesitated and then shook her head slowly. “No. I think maybe we need to get more information from her before we consider it either way,” Cade said. “A really long discussion with her would be beneficial.”
Ethan nodded, but before he could reply, a noise on the porch drew their attention to the front door. Ethan pushed off of the wall, and Cade retrieved a Glock handgun from the bag hanging on the back of her chair, checking to make sure it was loaded. Cade’s collection of weaponry had more than tripled since the Michaluk Virus began its attack on the world; if Cade wasn’t mistaken, the gun she held was the one she “liberated” two months prior from the police station’s evidence lockers. The lockers had been a goldmine of weaponry that people hadn’t thought to search. Cade raked in a significant haul that day.
“I want to ask Avi some questions as soon as everyone is back,” Cade said. She moved swiftly, joining Ethan by the door. As Cade touched the knob, three short raps came from the other side. The muscles in her shoulders relaxed. It was a signal from one of the others, a sound for which she and Ethan had waited on pins and needles. Cade lowered her gun, and Ethan unlocked and pulled open the door.
As the door swung open, Ethan’s disappointment was palpable. Nikola weaved her way around Ethan’s skinny frame, hauling in a bulging green messenger bag. Cade nudged Ethan aside, looked out the door to make sure all was clear, and then fastened the bolts and locks, securing the door once more.
“Have the others gotten back yet?” Nikola asked without preamble. She dropped her bag on the floor with a thud. Then she went to Ethan and wrapped her arms around him in a quick, tight hug before she retreated back to her bag, massaging her sore shoulder.
Ethan returned the hug, but he didn’t look at Nikola as he let go of her and started to prowl back and forth near the door again. “Not yet,” he answered shortly. “You hurt?”
“No, I’m fine,” Nikola assured him, giving the older man’s back a fond smile.
Cade shook her head at Nikola and took the girl’s elbow. She scooped the bag off the floor and led the teenager to the dining table. “Did you see anything we need to know about?” Cade asked, starting to paw through the bag, eager to see what Nikola managed to scavenge on this trip. Cade was glad to see the fifteen year old uninjured, but she and Ethan alone knew how desperately the supplies were needed. She hoped that Nikola had found something useful.
“As far as I saw, none of the infected are within three blocks of here,” Nikola replied, pushing Cade’s hands away from her bag. “I think we’re okay to stay a little longer, but we might want to think about moving sometime soon. Based on the ones I did see, they’re starting to get a little closer.” Nikola withdrew a small cardboard box from the depths of her bag. “I found us somewhere to get gas if we need it. There’s a station with manual pumps about two blocks away that might have some. People have been there before me, though. It was a total mess. I found this. I don’t know if you can use them, but it’s something.” Nikola handed Cade the box with a huge smile, obviously pleased with herself.
Cade frowned and took the box in both hands. She didn’t like the idea of the teenager roaming Maplesville alone, regardless of the girl’s athleticism and enthusiasm. Cade had repeatedly asked Ethan not to send Nikola out on resupply. Ethan never listened, of course; his philosophy was that everyone should pull their weight and it wasn’t fair for Nikola to remain at the safe house while the others risked their lives to put food in her mouth. Besides, Ethan liked to point out, Nikola was far more capable than a lot of people still alive. Cade had to admit that his observation was true, though she still didn’t like it.
Cade refocused on the box she held, rolling it between her palms to test its weight. It was oddly heavy for a box so small. She opened it, and her frown spread into a grin as several bullets rolled into her palm. “At the gas station?”
“Yeah. The gun was missing, though,” Nikola said regretfully. “I looked around for it, but then I heard something in one of the back rooms and got out of there.”
“Good job,” Cade said appreciatively. She examined one of the bullets carefully. “I think these will work for Ethan’s gun just fine.” She set the box on the table, dropping the loose bullets back into it, and then glanced at the man in question. Ethan still paced near the door and glared at it periodically, as if it caused him some great offense. “Remy isn’t back yet,” Cade murmured to Nikola. The teenager leaned forward to look inside her bag again.
“I figured as much,” Nikola said. “Anything interesting happen while I was out?” she asked distractedly.
�
�Yeah, actually,” Cade answered. Nikola’s head jerked up in surprise. Every time she’d asked the question in the past, Nikola always got a “no.” To get an affirmative response for the first time in months probably blew Nikola’s mind. “A woman showed up, said she’s been looking for us for about three months,” Cade explained.
“Looking for us?” Nikola repeated. She paused in her retrieval of a dented can of tomato soup from her bag. Her eyebrows went up. “You mean us specifically?”
“Exactly. She needs us for something, and Ethan’s going to discuss it with everyone as soon as they’re all back.” Nikola opened her mouth, and Cade shook her head. “Don’t even. Ethan will get into it when they’re all here,” she insisted. “He doesn’t like repeating himself.”
“Just tell me this,” Nikola requested. She let go of the bag’s flap and looked up at Cade with wide blue eyes. “Is it something major?”
“Very.”
“Wonderful.” Nikola rolled her eyes and set the can down with more force than necessary. “I hope it’s nothing complicated. I was really hoping for a nice peaceful winter here before we had to worry about moving. I like it here.”
Cade nodded in agreement, but before she could speak, Ethan lunged for the front door. Cade snatched her gun from the table and whirled around, hurrying to join Ethan as he fumbled frantically at the deadbolts that held the door closed. Cade aimed the weapon at the door in a precautionary measure as Ethan flung it open. He hauled in a young man by a fistful of jacket, swinging him into the room.
Cade recognized Gray Carter and lowered her weapon. Gray twisted out of Ethan’s grip and looked out the door; the wind blew his dark hair into his eyes as he scanned the street outside. Then Gray slammed the door shut and locked it. He sagged against the door, wheezing faintly. Ethan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Where the hell is Remy?” Ethan demanded. “I sent you two out together for a reason. Your job was harder, and I—”
The Becoming: Ground Zero Page 2