The Becoming: Ground Zero (10 page)

Cade sat up straighter and locked her eyes onto Brandt’s. It was the first time in the entire year Cade had known him that she recalled him talking about his ordeal in Atlanta in any detail; it was the first time Brandt gave her more than just cryptic remarks and allusions that she couldn’t catch hold of well enough to build a detailed mental picture. “What … what is it like there?” she asked. She took his hand and held it tightly between hers. Brandt gripped hers in return, his fingers curling over her hand and pressing into her knuckles.

Brandt drew in a slow breath, and Cade mimicked his action. She held the air in her lungs as he licked his lips and pressed them together. He hesitated, and for a second, Cade wondered if she’d asked the wrong question. Maybe, even after a year of dealing with the infected, Brandt still wasn’t ready to talk about what happened to him in Atlanta.

But then Brandt began to speak, low and soft. Cade let out her breath and leaned in closer. He kept his eyes downcast as he tried to dredge up the words to describe the conditions of the city the year before, when the Michaluk Virus was fresh and new and victims were numerous.

“I don’t know how to describe it,” Brandt started. “So much happened back then. So much that I don’t want to think about.” He paused and squeezed her hand again before he continued. “But we’re going to need to know about it. Everybody needs to know what it’s like there, so we can all be prepared. Though I’m not sure there’s enough preparation you
can
do for something like Atlanta.” Brandt glanced at Cade, as if checking to see if she was listening, and then he shifted his eyes to the living room below.

“I was in the city when the quarantine failed,” Brandt admitted. Cade drew in a breath and shifted closer to him, her hands still clutching his. “It happened on January 24, 2009. That’s the date the world officially ended, I think. Beginning of the end or whatever. That’s the day the last battalion fell to the infected, anyway. Every single one of them, down to the last man. A lot of them fought and died, but just as many froze. Mostly the lower-ranking soldiers, I think. They didn’t see the infected as a danger on the level they should have. They just saw unarmed men, women, and children. They didn’t realize that the
infection
was a weapon. The teeth and nails of the infected were just as deadly as any knife.

“The orders had been to hold the quarantine at all costs,” Brandt continued. “No one in or out, no exceptions. When the quarantine was put in place, the government found a way to shut down the landlines, the cell phone towers, the Internet, anything with a connection to the outside world. They didn’t want word about what was going on in Atlanta to get out and cause a panic. They were about to give orders that would not have gone over well with the general public. ‘Shoot to kill,’ they said. ‘Don’t let a single soul out of the city.’ The men didn’t have a choice. Everybody in the city was a potential weapon against the rest of the world.”

“Jesus,” Cade breathed quietly. Her horror at his words and the terror she imagined he must have felt bled into her own voice.

“When everything fell apart, when everybody was dead except for me, I just … I ran,” Brandt confessed. “I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t have any supplies. I didn’t have any water, any food, appropriate clothing. Nothing. Just the clothes on my back and the ammo in my guns. Everybody was dead. I couldn’t get in touch with a soul. Communications had deteriorated so badly or been eliminated so completely that calls for help weren’t going through. I wasn’t going to stick around and let those things kill me.”

“I wouldn’t have stuck around either,” Cade agreed. “I would have booked it the hell out of there.”

Brandt fell silent, struggling with whether or not to continue. His fingers were wrapped around Cade’s so tightly it hurt, but she didn’t say anything. She simply gripped his hand in return. “By all rights, I should be dead,” Brandt whispered. “I fucking cheated death once, and I’m worried that it will catch up with me when we all go into that city.” Brandt swallowed and added quietly, “But that’s not my worst fear. My worst fear is that the people closest to me are going to die. That … that
you’re
going to die.”

Cade let out a nervous laugh at Brandt’s words, shaking her head. “Brandt, come on, you know we’re totally going to live through this,” she said confidently. “
All
of us. I mean, hell, look at all the shit we’ve survived so far. Exploding RVs and jumping off buildings, and what about that incident with the escalator last fall?”

Brandt smiled slightly, reminded of one of their more interesting adventures. “We should have never gone into that mall. I thought it was going to turn into a very bloody reenactment of a scene from
Dawn of the Dead.
”

“I was thinking
Aliens
myself,” Cade admitted with a wry chuckle. “That movie used to give me really weird dreams about being dragged under escalators and shit. Don’t ask me how I equate
Aliens
and escalators. It’s a long, strange story.”

Brandt snorted. “You really don’t do well with horror movies, do you?”

“No, I really don’t,” Cade said. “Which is funny in a morbid way, because we’re living in one. But in my defense, I was nine at the time. At that age, I
definitely
couldn’t handle horror movies.”

Brandt cracked a genuine smile, and satisfaction settled into Cade’s gut. Her mission was accomplished. She had dragged her friend away from whatever dark pit he had been staring into. Cade gently released his hand and patted him on the knee. “So what should we do now?” she asked casually, leaning to look off the side of the stairs. Theo was just below, sorting through his ever-present navy-blue bag of medical supplies, a deep frown on his face as he shoved first aid equipment around inside it.

Brandt shrugged and flexed his fingers. He stared down at the hand Cade had held, as if he couldn’t believe her hands were no longer there. “Pack?” he suggested. He stood with a heavy sigh. “We’ll probably be moving soon, so we need to go ahead and get everything ready.”

Cade’s own shoulders slumped as she too rose to her feet. For reasons unknown, Cade felt like she’d been dismissed. It was a ridiculous feeling; Brandt was still likely emotionally rattled by the pending trip to Atlanta, and he’d never been very good at expressing his emotions. Cade knew this, just like she knew nearly everything about his life before the outbreak. Which was why she didn’t understand the feeling of dismissal she had. She shook the sensation off and motioned with her hand.

“Come on, then,” Cade said. “You can help me get all the guns packed up. I’m not lugging those damned heavy bags around by myself.”

Theo jammed a can of beef stew into the duffel bag on the counter, trying to stuff it in amongst the other cans and packages of food he’d already managed to fit inside. He was frustrated, and it showed in the way he packed the bags of food—as if the cans of tomato and chicken noodle soups and canned meats and ravioli had caused him some great injury. It took almost everything in him not to throw one of the cans across the room. He set the can onto the counter—a bit more heavily than he intended—and breathed in, slowly and deeply. He was shaking. He closed his eyes and gripped the edge of the counter, trying to calm himself down.

“Are you okay?” a soft, unfamiliar voice asked from behind him.

Theo took another moment to himself before he opened his eyes and turned around. Avi Geller stood just inside the kitchen doorway, looking uncertain and sheepish.

“I was just … I came to see if you needed a hand with anything,” Avi tried to explain awkwardly. “If I’m interrupting—”

Theo shook his head and motioned for Avi to come inside. “No, no. It’s okay. I was just thinking too much. I’m fine.” He cleared his throat, looking back down at the bag. “I’m just working on packing food for the trip.”

Avi joined Theo at the counter and gave him a small smile. She watched for a moment as he tried to fit the can of stew into the bag again before she spoke. “You really might want to think about getting another bag for that. I don’t think it’s going to fit.”

Theo huffed out a breath, blowing his long blond bangs out of his face, and gave Avi a shrug. “Yeah, I know. Ethan said we only have room for five bags of food. I’m trying to fit as much as I can into each bag.”

“The bags are kind of small,” Avi commented quietly. She picked up the last empty one and peered into it.

Theo swallowed. “There’s almost not enough food to go around,” he confessed.

“Because I’m here?”

“No,” Theo said, shaking his head again and zipping the bag closed. “No, it’s not you. We were getting low on food before you got here. Ethan and Cade think I’m not aware of it, but considering I keep tabs on everyone’s health, I figured it out pretty quick. They’ve both dropped weight, noticeably in Cade’s case. She’s lost at least seven pounds in the past two weeks, if I had to take a guess at it.” He rested both hands flat on the bag, feeling the rough material under his fingers. “I think they’re cutting back on their food for everyone else’s sake.”

“That’s very noble of them,” Avi commented.

Theo dragged the heavy bag off the counter and dumped it on the floor beside the kitchen door. “No, it’s very
stupid,
” he corrected. “Incredibly stupid. If they get malnourished, that increases their chances of getting sick. And I don’t have the proper equipment to deal with that.” Theo sighed and shook his hair out of his eyes again. “Not to mention, it does nothing to keep their strength up.” He returned to the counter and began to pack the last bag. “I write out meal plans for a
reason,
” he muttered, almost to himself.

Avi passed Theo a can of clam chowder. “You must have the hardest job out of everyone here,” she said sympathetically. “Even more so than Ethan. His job might be to lead all of you, but your job is to keep them—including Ethan—healthy and alive.”

“It
is
a hard job,” Theo agreed, “especially when everyone here is stubborn as a fucking mule.” He grimaced. “Sometimes I feel like my mother. ‘Eat your vegetables. Clean your plate. I put that food there, and you’re going to eat it or I’ll shove it up your ass.’ I’m not old enough for this shit.” He chuckled and shook his head. Even Avi let out a soft laugh. A comfortable silence fell between them as they packed the food, Avi passing boxes and cans to Theo and Theo stuffing them into the bag, grimacing as he played what amounted to a complicated game of Tetris with the groceries.

“So Cade says that Gray’s your brother?” Avi asked. Theo glanced at her, but she was focused on the box of breakfast pastries in her hands.

“Yeah, my younger brother,” Theo agreed. “The only family I’ve got left.”

Avi gave Theo a slight smile. “You’re incredibly lucky, you know,” she said. “I don’t think there are a lot of siblings left like you two. I think you’re only the third or fourth set I’ve met.”

“Third or fourth?” Theo repeated, surprised. “That’s all?”

“The attrition rate is very high,” Avi said cryptically. “Nothing that can be helped.” She passed Theo the pastries, and he stuck the package into his bag. The silence that fell this time was heavier, laden with tension and unspoken questions. “Gray is the only reason you’re going, isn’t he?” Avi asked, breaking the silence again.

“Honestly? Yeah, he is.” Theo rubbed a hand over his cheeks, scratching through his beard. “I have to protect him, you know? I mean, he’s my baby brother. I grew up kicking bullies’ asses for him, and now I fight the infected for him.” He shrugged helplessly. “He’s only going because of Remy. I don’t think he considered my feelings on the matter. He should have known I’d follow him in, even if I didn’t want to go.”

Avi leaned against the counter and rested her elbows on the tile. “Are he and Remy seeing each other?”

Theo barked out a laugh and rested back against the counter, crossing his arms. “Oh hell no. Gray’s too chicken shit to approach Remy about how he feels, and Remy refuses to get involved in a relationship with anyone.”

“I can kind of understand that, though,” Avi said. “Relationships tend to end … badly nowadays.”

“To put it delicately,” Theo murmured.

Avi laughed. “Yeah, definitely putting it delicately,” she agreed. “I can see why she’s not getting involved. I’m a lot the same way, though I’m not going to lie and say it wouldn’t be nice.” She shrugged. “If the right situation and the right person came up, who knows?”

“Same,” Theo said, shaking his hair back from his face. “If I make it out of Atlanta in one piece, I think I’d like to find someone out there. I mean,
somebody’s
got to work on repopulating the world, right?” He chuckled again and sighed. “I wouldn’t mind having kids someday. I love kids. Always wanted some.”

Avi gave Theo a little smile. “Me too. I mean, I’m thirty. Definitely not getting any younger, and the world isn’t getting any better.”

Theo was surprised to find out that Avi was older than he by five years. He thought she was closer to Gray’s age. He chose to not comment on it, though; instead, he looked sadly at the floor. “You never really see kids anymore. At all. Nikola is the youngest person I’ve seen in a year. That includes all the people we’ve dragged out of infected areas.”