The Becoming: Revelations

by Jessica Meigs

  “Nothing we won’t recover from,” Cade replied flippantly. Remy skimmed her eyes over the woman again and realized she was loaded down with guns and knives and ammunition magazines, far more than she’d brought on the mission. Brandt was similarly outfitted. Remy raised an eyebrow, but before she could form any words, Cade added, “We found a lot of goodies in Alicia’s room. Figured we’d take what we could, because we can use it. And hell, I found my rifle too!” She held the weapon up triumphantly, a smile crossing her face as she showed it off. “You guys okay?”

  Remy hesitated and glanced at Ethan. He shook his head at her slightly, almost imperceptibly, before going back to trying to get the little girl from under the bed. She turned back to Cade and answered, “Yeah, we’re fine. Few sticky spots getting up here, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

  Cade nodded vacantly, and Remy looked to Brandt. The older man stared down the hallway, no doubt at the abnormally small bodies littering the carpet. He didn’t look at her as he said, “Sticky spots, huh?”

  “Something like that.” Remy tried to not let her disturbed feeling over what they’d done show, and she faced Ethan again. He’d coaxed the toddler from under the bed with Sasha’s help, and he picked the girl up and settled her against his hip before nodding to the door.

  “What do you say we get the hell out of here?” Ethan suggested, extending his free hand to Sasha. She took it, clutching it tightly. “I’m tired of looking at this place.”

  “Where are the others?” Cade asked, her eyes shifting to the blond man behind Remy. “Don’t we need to look for—”

  “There are no others,” Remy warned softly, slipping past her into the hall. “This is all we’ve found.”

  “My God,” Cade whispered in horror. “All of them?”

  “Unless you want to pick through what’s left of them at the end of the hall,” Remy said irritably, “then yeah, that’s it.”

  “Fuck,” Cade breathed.

  “Let’s go out the way Cade and I came in,” Brandt suggested. “Then we won’t have to take the kids back through the … the mess.”

  “We should hurry too,” Remy said, glancing at the watch on her left wrist. “We’ve already been in here going on forty-five minutes. Isaac and Dominic aren’t supposed to wait longer than an hour.”

  “I know that,” Brandt muttered impatiently. “Look, me and Cade will take the lead and deal with anything coming at us from the front. Remy, you’re in the back. Ethan, stay in the middle with the kids.” He looked at them again, and his eyes met Remy’s. For the briefest of moments, she could have sworn he gave her a look that said he knew everything about what had happened while she and Ethan were separated from them, and her stomach flipped over. Brandt didn’t say anything further, though. He just motioned to them all and headed down the hall, tugging Cade with him and making for the stairwell door.

  Chapter 59

  Descending fourteen flights of stairs under normal circumstances was difficult enough, but Cade now faced the prospect of doing so while still aching from her encounter with Alicia and with two small children in tow. Easier said than done, most certainly. Difficult, especially in the darkness clouding the stairwell, but not impossible. Besides, she had Brandt at her side, and while she wasn’t going to say she needed him there—she had enough skills to do this on her own, after all—she certainly felt more confident with his assistance.

  The descent to the third floor took longer than Cade would have been happy with in any other situation. On the eighth-floor landing, they ran into several infected, and Cade and Brandt were forced to fight them back, killing them as quickly and quietly as they could. Another floor after that, the older of the two little girls grew so tired of climbing down stairs that she nearly fell, so Brandt picked her up and carried her the rest of the way, leaving Cade to take care of any more infected in their vicinity. Cade had no problem with the new arrangement. She could feel some aggression working through her veins, brought along for the ride with the adrenaline that hadn’t left after her fight with Alicia, and she really needed to work it out before it impaired her judgment in a more serious situation.

  Unfortunately, after her and Brandt’s mini-adventure on the eighth-floor landing, Cade didn’t run into anything else that needed to be put down to clear their path, though she caught the noise of infected somewhere beyond the door leading to the fifth floor. The group bypassed the door in favor of the third floor, with every intention of exiting on the street level. Cade’s side ached with exertion as she reached the bottom of the escalators that dropped her off on the street level. She immediately raised her newly recovered Galil rifle to scan over the tiled hallway in which she stood. It was, thankfully, clear of any sign of infected, and Cade let out a slow breath of relief before motioning to the others.

  “Come on,” she said, keeping her voice low in an abundance of caution. “Looks clear. I think we’re okay for now.”

  The others descended the escalators fairly quickly, and the small group hurried down the hall to the tiled lobby area facing the street. As they fanned out to check the exits, Brandt set Sasha down, rolled his shoulders, and headed for the glass doors to see how they were fastened shut. Ethan staggered from the dark hallway behind Cade, shoved the toddler he carried into Cade’s arms, and then stumbled to the valet desk and sagged heavily against it. Cade watched in alarm as he made his way around the desk awkwardly, then hunched behind it and vomited loudly enough that it drew the attention of everyone present.

  “Remy, watch the kids,” Cade ordered. She set the toddler down with her sister and hurried to the desk. With every step she took, her boots made soft clicking sounds in time with her heartbeat. Within seconds, she was at Ethan’s side, her hand on his back as he coughed and heaved into a trash can out of sight of everyone else. “Eth, are you okay? What’s wrong?” she asked, leaning down to look into his face as he wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and closed his eyes.

  “Street’s fucking blocked!” Brandt called out as Ethan opened his mouth to answer. “No way out this way.” Cade flicked her eyes up at him, and they met his across the lobby. Brandt’s forehead wrinkled as he frowned deeply, but he didn’t say anything further. Ethan straightened and wiped at his mouth again, his own eyes glancing to Brandt before he looked at Cade. His face was pale and sweaty, and he looked winded. He set his backpack on the valet counter and started to empty it of alcohol bottles and strips of white cloth.

  “You’ve got to get everybody out of here,” he told Cade. His hands shook violently, and he nearly dropped a bottle of whiskey as he pulled it from his bag. He barely looked at Cade as he started to pull the caps off of the bottles.

  “Shouldn’t that be ‘we’?” Cade asked uneasily. “Ethan, what are you doing?”

  “Not we,” Ethan said. “You. You and Brandt and Remy need to get the girls to safety. I don’t …” He swallowed hard and took a long, impulsive drink from a bottle. Cade raised her eyebrows, despite the nervousness stirring in her gut. “I don’t have very long,” he finally said. “Not very long at all. I’ve got … the medications are wearing off. I don’t have any more.”

  “Wait, Derek gave you four—”

  “I gave three of them to Remy,” Ethan interrupted, keeping his voice low. “She got bit, and I—”

  “She got bitten?” Cade exploded, her voice rising. All motion from the others ceased. Remy looked at her, wide-eyed and terrified, as Cade added in a shout, “Remy, get your stupid ass over here right—”

  “Shut up, Cade!” Ethan yelled back. He slammed a bottle of liquor on the counter. The thud echoed through the entire entryway. “Just shut the fuck up and let me finish, okay?” He took several deep breaths before speaking again. “You’ve got to get her out of here. You’ve got to get her to Derek fast. Exertion makes the medications wear off faster. I gave her three days’ worth of drugs to hold Michaluk off, but she’s been fighting, so with that and the run you guys are about to make … she’s got maybe two days.
You need to get her to Derek as fast as possible.”

  “What about you?” Cade persisted.

  “There’s not … not enough time,” Ethan said. He still didn’t look at her as he began shoving cloth strips into the bottles. “Not for me. Not with only one auto-injector left. You need to take it.” He pulled the medication dispenser from his bag and tried to push it into her hands. Cade resisted at first, but Ethan was so insistent that she gave in and took it, closing it into her fist. “You need to keep it with you and use it on Remy only if you absolutely have to. Don’t let her become one of them. One of us. Whatever.”

  “What about you?” Cade asked again, taking in a slow, shuddering breath.

  “I’ll be fine.” His promise rang hollow, even to Cade’s ears. “You can run pretty fast, right?” he asked suddenly.

  “Well, I’m no marathon runner, but I can get going at a pretty good clip when the occasion calls for it,” Cade said. Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Why do you ask?”

  “You’re going to need to,” Ethan explained. “Here’s my plan. Brandt said there’s a mess of those shits out there. I can almost guarantee you there is. I think the sound of us shooting in here drew that crowd of infected that had been gathering in Centennial to here. I’m willing to bet there’s dozens out there. Problem is, the minute you guys hit the street out there, they’re going to be on top of you. So basically, we need a way to create a diversion. I’m going to distract those sons of bitches while you get the hell out of here. Get to the sixth floor, cross the walkway, and go through AmericasMart. Get to the car. Do not wait for me. Or …” He hesitated, and something like hope flickered through his eyes as he looked up at her. He blinked, and the look vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. “If you wait, do not wait longer than thirty minutes, okay? If I don’t show up in thirty minutes, you leave. If you’re put in danger before that thirty minutes is up, you leave. No exceptions, no questions. If I can make it there in thirty minutes, I’ll be there. To … to say goodbye, if nothing else. If I’m not there, just go. I’m not worth putting you and the others at risk. Not in the slightest.”

  “I’d argue the point, but I know you’re not going to listen,” Cade said, even as her heart raced in her chest. She sucked in several deep breaths and impulsively pulled him to her in a tight hug. “You be careful, okay?” she said softly. “Don’t let them have you if you can help it. I’d love for my baby to meet his or her uncle sometime.”

  “Not going to happen, Cade,” Ethan said as he hugged her back just as tightly. “Not enough meds to get me to South Carolina. But the thought’s nice.”

  Cade pressed her lips together and shook her head, forcing herself to let go of him. She cleared her throat, determined not to cry, and shifted her gaze to Brandt. He didn’t look the slightest bit confused at the exchange. Like always, he seemed to know exactly what was going on without having to be told. Cade drew in a shuddering breath and focused on Ethan instead, trying to come to terms with the possibility that this might be the last time she saw her best friend.

  Ethan’s eyes flickered up again, scanning over the other four people in the lobby before returning to the task at hand. None of them seemed willing to approach after the audible outburst between them. He stripped the cap off another bottle and wedged a cloth into it. His gaze drifted across the lobby again. Cade followed it and realized he was staring at Remy. “Fuck,” he whispered. “Definitely not something I want to do.”

  “What is?” Cade asked quietly.

  “Leave her. Again.” Ethan’s eyes didn’t leave the young woman. “Brandt told me how messed up Remy was after last time. This won’t help. But still.” He sighed heavily and tore his gaze away from Remy. “How many men get to say they died twice to save the people they loved?”

  Tears pricked at Cade’s eyes, and she quickly banished them. “Hey, don’t talk like that,” she scolded. “You’ll be fine.”

  “If you say so, Cade.”

  “Well, at least let me pretend, okay?” She glanced up and realized Brandt was approaching. The look on his face was tight, worry lines creasing his forehead as he stopped in front of them and leaned against the valet counter.

  “If we’re going to do something, we need to do it soon,” Brandt said, his voice hushed. “I definitely don’t like what I’m seeing outside. There are more infected out there than I could possibly begin to count. I don’t see how we’re going to make it past them, outside the grace of God Himself.”

  Cade shook her head and murmured, “Ethan’s got a plan. It involves us running and him staying behind. Again.”

  “Figures,” Brandt muttered. Ethan’s cheeks flushed at Brandt’s criticism. Brandt didn’t comment further; instead, he picked up one of the alcohol bottles and examined the label absently. “So when does the plan get put into motion?”

  “As soon as possible,” Ethan answered. “I don’t have all that long myself. So we’ve got to get moving soon.”

  “And your plan entails …?” Brandt prompted. He raised an eyebrow as he looked from the bottle of rum he held to examine Ethan thoughtfully.

  Ethan waggled a bottle underneath Brandt’s nose. “Let’s just say I’m taking a cue card from your stack and leave it at that, okay?”

  Brandt snorted and set the bottle onto the counter. “So long as you don’t get any of us killed, I don’t care what you do. I’m sure the world could use a few less infected in the way of its recovery.”

  Ethan nodded and dug into his backpack, emerging with a pair of sturdy bolt cutters and handing them to Brandt. “Kimberly gave me these to use in case we needed them. When I give word, I want you to cut through the padlock holding the chain on the doors. The doors won’t stay closed for long after that, but we don’t intend for them to. I’m going to lob some Molotovs into them to spread them out and maybe kill a few while I’m at it. When I say go, you guys need to run for it, up to the sixth floor and down the walkway into AmericasMart, back the way we came. Don’t even worry about me. I’ll catch up if I can.”

  Cade struggled past the reminder of Ethan’s impending death, and her eyes flickered up to Remy. The younger woman was attempting to entertain the two girls they’d found, trying to distract them from the horde outside. It appeared, however, that she was failing spectacularly, as the younger of the two began to cry again. Cade shook her head at the helpless look that crossed Remy’s face and sighed, thumping her hand against the counter.

  “Okay, Brandt, you’re going to help keep up with the kids,” Cade said. “Carry the little one—”

  “Shae,” Ethan interrupted.

  “Carry Shae,” Cade continued with a deferential nod to Ethan. “The older one—Sasha—she can run on her own. Just make sure she keeps up.”

  “And what, exactly, are you and Remy going to be doing while I’m playing kid-rustler?” Brandt demanded.

  Cade gave him a slow smirk. “Why, making sure the path stays clear, of course.”

  Ethan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Shit. I don’t like this,” he muttered as he dropped his hand back down and set the bottle he held onto the counter. “Not much of a choice, though, right?” He started for the end of the counter with a shake of his head and muttered, “I need to talk to her,” before making a beeline for Remy. Cade and Brandt both watched him go, and Cade bit back a sigh.

  “Think his plan’s going to work?” Brandt asked, leaning against the counter and watching her closely.

  “Do we have any other options?” she asked pointedly.

  “Nobody’s presented any other options,” Brandt replied.

  “That’s because there are no other options,” Cade said, her voice hushed. She watched Remy and Ethan move away from Shae and Sasha. The two girls stood forlornly in the middle of the small lobby, Sasha hugging the toddler as Ethan talked to Remy in a voice that didn’t carry across the lobby.

  “Hey, look,” Brandt started after a long silence. “I don’t … I don’t want to end up like those two,” he finally
said. Cade gave him an odd look and raised an eyebrow.

  “What do you mean?”

  Brandt fidgeted in a way that Cade found adorably appealing, and she leaned against the counter, almost reveling in his discomfort. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled something out, palming it and taking a deep breath, trying to steady himself, before pressing the object into her hand. Cade felt a small, cold piece of metal in her palm, but Brandt didn’t lift his hand for her to see what it was. “Look, I just … I was going to do this after Gray and I got back from our supply run in Hollywood, after you were feeling better. Alicia sort of pre-empted that plan. And we had our argument, and I just …” He huffed out a breath, and Cade raised an eyebrow.

  “What are you driving at, Brandt?” Cade asked. “You know I don’t like it when people beat around the bush.”

  “I know, I know.” Brandt shook his head and said bluntly, “We’re going to be parents. There’s no getting around that, right? So we should start, I don’t know, acting like parents.” He took his hand away, and Cade raised her eyebrows in surprise as she saw he’d pressed an antique gold band into her hand. “Just think about it, okay? And if we get out of this shit, we’ll talk about it.”

  Cade barely stifled the smile that attempted to cross her face. “Brandt, are you seriously proposing to me in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?”

  “Hey, life doesn’t stop just because people started getting up and eating other people,” he protested. “And they’re not zombies. They’re just really violent people infected with a really nasty virus who want to eat our faces off.”