The Becoming (33 page)

And truth be told, if Cade and Brandt had succumbed to the Michaluk Virus, Theo wasn’t prepared to see them in the state in which the virus left its victims.

Gray still stared at him expectantly, still waited for him to offer up a solution to all of their problems. That was something he couldn’t promise. It was a responsibility he didn’t want. But rather than tell him that, Theo heaved out a sigh and glanced at Remy again. The woman reclined back against the sofa and watched both of them. The dark circles beneath her brown eyes made her appear pale and wan. Just looking at her cemented Theo’s decision.

“We’re going to stay here,” Theo said. “There’s no way we can manage travel, not with Remy’s ankle the way it is. We need time to rest and recover.”

Just hearing the words seemed to have alleviated the younger man’s worries; the deep crease in his forehead began to melt away. “Okay,” Gray said, giving Theo a short nod. “Okay. So. What do we do now?”

“Well, you could start by getting me something to eat,” Remy suggested from her perch on the couch. Theo looked at her, and she gave him a small smile. “Just something light. I’m hungry enough to notice, but I don’t want to eat too much. And maybe some water?”

“Of course,” Gray said. He abandoned his spot by the window and made a beeline for the supply bag that held their food and water. He leaned down and started to rummage in it, and he emerged successfully moments later with a bottle of water and a can of sliced fruit.

“Good choice,” Theo commented as he eyed the can of peaches. The syrup and fruit would do perfectly to help keep Remy’s blood sugar up and prevent her from getting weak or dizzy. It was exactly the same food that Theo would have chosen to start her out with. But despite the compliment, Gray ignored Theo as he sat down on the edge of the coffee table and offered the meager fare to Remy with a smile.

Theo’s own smile spread across his face at the sight. Gray had become totally enraptured with Remy’s very presence. Theo had first noticed it as Gray had helped him get the young woman out of the Jeep and into the safe house the night they’d rescued her. And in the two days since, Gray had nearly jumped through hoops not only to get Remy anything she asked for but to pull her attention onto him and keep it there; he talked to her endlessly about life before the outbreak, exchanging anecdotes, talking about movies and books and music and whatever else came to mind. Theo thought it was cute seeing his younger brother act like a bumbling teenager again.

The roar of a motorcycle outside the house distracted Theo from his thoughts. His heart jumped into his throat, and his ears focused in on the sound. Gray and Remy had both fallen silent behind him. Theo swallowed hard before he asked out loud, “Did you guys hear that? Or is it just me imagining things?”

“It was definitely not your imagination,” Gray confirmed. He stood and scooped up the handgun he’d laid down beside him before he walked swiftly to the door to join Theo. Both hovered by the door and listened intently. Judging by the sound of the engine, the motorcycle idled just outside the house. Theo put his hand against one of the two boards holding the door shut and glanced at his brother.

“Maybe it’s Ethan,” Theo suggested. “I mean, we
did
plan out where we were going to meet up, just in case he actually came back.”

“And he did leave on a motorcycle,” Gray added.

“Who are you talking about?” Remy asked. Theo looked at her curiously. She had sat up on the couch, her dark eyes watching carefully as her companions hovered by the door.

“Ethan,” Theo answered simply. He turned his attention back to the door. Gray took up the explanation where Theo left off.

“Ethan was sort of the leader of the group, I guess,” Gray explained, his tone a bit doubtful. “He seemed like he was in charge when we met him, anyway. He left to go back to Memphis to look for his wife. Said he’d come back in four days, max. We were just wondering if it was him or not.”

“Won’t know until we check, though,” Theo said. He used a screwdriver to pry the two boards away from the door; the nails groaned in protest. The door swung open slowly as Gray stood guard by Theo, his gun gripped firmly in his hands. “Don’t shoot that thing unless you absolutely have to,” Theo warned. Gray nodded and eased his finger off the trigger before he stepped onto the porch.

And just like that, Gray’s tense shoulders relaxed and he let out an incredulous laugh.

“Jesus, you came back!” Gray called. He hurried down the steps toward the blond-haired man at the end of the walkway that led to the house. Ethan Bennett sat astride his red-and-black motorcycle, which still idled directly behind the Jeep. Theo walked out behind Gray, but he stayed at the top of the porch steps to observe the scene and keep an eye out for any approaching dangers.

“Don’t call me Jesus,” Ethan retorted. He turned the key to cut the bike’s engine. Even Theo stifled a laugh at Ethan’s reply, and he leaned against the porch railing as he looked the man over.

Ethan looked surprisingly good for someone who had traveled so far so quickly. He was disheveled from the wind that had buffeted him for the entire trip, and his cheeks were flushed red. The ruddiness made him look younger and healthier. Ethan had acquired a brown leather jacket from somewhere; Theo didn’t remember seeing him leave with one on. Theo would venture to say that Ethan looked better than he had before he’d left.

But the biggest surprise of all wasn’t Ethan’s appearance. It was the young girl who climbed shakily off of the motorcycle from behind him. She looked at her surroundings with a lost expression, as if she couldn’t believe where she was, even as she pulled her helmet from her head. Theo’s fatherly instincts kicked in as he saw the look in her wide blue eyes, and he abandoned his spot on the porch to hurry toward her.

“Hey, sweetie. I’m Theo,” he greeted her. He put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Why don’t you come inside with me? You look half frozen. What’s your name?”

The young girl glanced back at Ethan uncertainly, but the man waved her on as he started to collect his supplies from the bags tied to the motorcycle. “I’m Nikola,” she answered as she turned her eyes onto Theo.

“Where are you from, Nikola?” Theo asked in a pleasant tone as he led her into the house.

Theo kept up the questions as he settled Nikola onto the edge of the coffee table and started to check her for any injuries that might need to be tended to. Remy watched curiously as Theo grilled the teenager about her health and medical history and allergies. Ethan and Gray walked inside as he did so, Ethan actually laughing at something Gray had said. Theo nearly dropped his stethoscope as he heard the sound.

Ethan’s good mood didn’t last very long, though. As he stepped into the house and looked around, his laugh stopped just as abruptly as it had started. His green eyes scanned every face present. They settled on Remy as a deep frown appeared on his face.

“Who is this?” Ethan asked.

Remy sat up straighter and offered Ethan her thin, pale hand. “Hi, I’m Remy. Remy Angellette,” she said. “Your friends were nice enough to dig me out of a hole.”

Ethan glanced at her hand but didn’t take it. Instead, he looked around the room again and frowned. “Where’s Brandt?” he asked. His voice grew hard and tight with the question, and he shifted his gaze across the room before settling it on Theo’s face. Theo swallowed hard. “Where’s Cade?” he asked, his voice growing several degrees colder. All signs of his good mood were gone.

“I … uhm…” Theo stammered. He looked to Remy and then to Gray. He tried to decide exactly what to say and, for that matter,
how
to say it.

“We lost them,” Gray spoke up, releasing Theo from the need to find the words.

Ethan turned on Gray, and his fists clenched at his sides as his jaw tightened. “You
lost
them?” he repeated incredulously. His voice nearly boiled with anger. “How the hell did you lose them? How the
fuck
do you
lose
two grown adults? And that better
not
be a euphemism for dead, or so help me God, I’m going to kill every single one of you.”

“Honestly, we don’t know if they’re alive or dead,” Theo interjected. “We got separated. There were infected everywhere, and they decided to create a diversion while Remy and I got out of there.”

“Got out of
where?
” Ethan demanded.

“It’s my fault,” Remy said in a rush of breath. Every pair of eyes in the room turned toward her. She shifted uncomfortably as she realized that she had been put on the spot. “I was trapped in an RV, and they came to help,” she tried to explain. “Things got really bad, and we made a run for it. We got separated, and there was an explosion—”

Ethan turned away at the word “explosion.” Remy’s dialogue stopped abruptly. Ethan started directly for Theo and backed him up against the nearest wall. He slammed him back against it with a thud before he held his hand out. “Keys. Now,” he growled.

“What about our supplies?” Theo asked, even as he passed the keys to Ethan. He wasn’t going to argue about the vehicle, but he didn’t like the idea of being separated from the supplies.

“Fuck the supplies!” Ethan yelled, his face inches from Theo’s. Theo resisted the urge to either flinch back from Ethan’s anger or hit him in retaliation, but only barely. Ethan grabbed his motorcycle bags before he stormed out the front door once again. Theo hurried to the door and watched as Ethan threw the driver’s door open and slammed the bags into the Jeep.

Theo continued to watch Ethan for a moment, his frown deepening and his forehead wrinkling in concern. He didn’t tear his eyes away from the older man as he spoke to Gray. “You’re in charge,” he said. “I’ll be back. Get Nikola some food and keep an eye on those two for me, would you?” He scooped up his shoulder bag and stepped out onto the porch.

“Where are you going?” Gray demanded.

Theo waved off Gray’s question and nodded toward Ethan. “I’m going with him. I’ll be back,” he repeated. He glanced at Gray, gave his shoulder a squeeze of reassurance, and then headed down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. He hurried to catch up with Ethan before the older man jumped into the Jeep and sped off.

Ethan barely looked at Theo as he reached the Jeep. “What do you want?” he asked shortly. He slid into the driver’s seat without waiting for Theo’s reply.

“I’m going with you,” Theo said. He circled the Jeep to the passenger side, his shoes crunching over the glass and gravel that littered the road. He was already at the door and pulling it open as Ethan voiced his objections.

“No, Theo. I’m going by myself. They might need you.” Ethan jabbed his thumb in the direction of the house. Theo scrambled into the passenger seat before Ethan got the wise idea to drive off while he stood in the street.

“They’ll be fine,” Theo replied. “Gray knows basic first aid. None of them need me at the moment anyway.
You,
on the other hand, are going to need some help, and I’m offering it to you.” Ethan stared at Theo, his jaw set in a hard line, and Theo stared right back at him. “You need to stop going off on your own, Bennett,” Theo finally said. “It’s not doing you any good. If we are all going to stick together and help each other, you need to get used to the idea of teamwork.”

“I can work with a team just fine.”

“Yeah, and you’ve done a shit job of proving it,” Theo argued. He pulled the door shut firmly behind him and buckled his seatbelt. “You’re taking my help. At the very least, I can show you where we last saw them. At best, I can help you get them out of there,
if
they’re still alive. And if they’re injured, then you’ll
really
need me.”

Ethan pondered Theo’s words. Theo was grateful that Ethan was at least considering what he’d said. Not that Theo planned to give him a choice in the matter. Ethan had already taken off on his own once, and they were lucky that he’d managed to get back to them in one piece. Theo refused to let Ethan run off again; he doubted that even Ethan’s luck would hold out twice.

Ethan sighed heavily and started the Jeep’s engine with a brutal twist of the key. “Fine then,” he snapped as he eased the Jeep out of its spot by the curb. “But if you fall behind, I’m not coming back after you. You’re on your own. Got it?”

“Got it,” Theo affirmed. He sat back in his seat and opened his bag to start an inventory of his medical supplies. Anticipation of the impending action built in his stomach, and he only hoped that he and Ethan were doing the right thing.

Cade’s head shot off the mahogany desk as she sat up straight and looked around wildly. Her elbow knocked a half-empty bottle of water onto the floor, but she ignored the warm liquid that sloshed out and splashed against her boots. She gave a few hazy blinks as she pushed her tangled hair away from her face and tried to remember where she was.

Cade scratched at her dirty hair absently. It was early evening, and she had dozed off in the office chair. Everything was silent. It seemed as if the sound of her breathing echoed through the room. Cade shook her hair back again and wondered where Brandt was. The idea that he had wandered off while Cade slept made her stomach burn. She stood slowly and rubbed her stiff back with one hand as she felt for her rifle with the other. It was on top of the desk, and she rested her hand against it for reassurance as she squinted in the dim room.

It took Cade a moment to spot Brandt. He slouched in a chair directly across from the door, his eyes closed, his chin resting against his chest. A handgun lay against his thigh, held there by the tenuous grip of three fingers. His breathing was rhythmic and deep; he’d fallen asleep while on watch. He hadn’t heard her startled waking, by all appearances, which made Cade nervous. It meant that he slept deeply enough that he wouldn’t hear any noises that might warn of coming danger. Even if he heard them, he wouldn’t react quickly enough.