The Becoming: Ground Zero (35 page)

“I see him,” Cade whispered, spotting the faint glimmer of a hunting rifle’s scope as the sunlight reflected off of it. She edged closer to the corner of the building, and Brandt hooked an arm around her waist to steady her.

“Take your time,” Brandt murmured in her ear. “Don’t worry about the infected. Just do what you do best.”

Cade nodded and closed her eyes for a moment before she let out a slow breath, repositioning the rifle, taking aim. A shot rang out, and she fell back, pushing Brandt backward; the tall man staggered back and fell against Ethan, who barely caught himself against the dumpster beside him. A shard of brick shattered off the wall near Cade’s head and cut into her cheek. She wiped furiously at her face as a trickle of blood oozed down her cheek. “Jesus, fuck!” she yelped in surprise before she could stop herself.

“Are you okay?” Brandt asked urgently. She looked back at him, and Ethan recognized the look of determination in her eyes as her face flushed with anger, her chest heaving with adrenaline. Nothing was going to stop the woman from taking out her target, not now that he’d pissed her off so badly.

“Yeah,” Cade replied. “Brandt, are you absolutely fucking
sure
that there were no survivors last January?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because there is
no damned way
a regular hunting rifle would have that kind of fucking range,” Cade bit out, sliding back to the corner. “And there’s no way anybody would have that kind of skill unless they were trained to handle a rifle like that.”

“So what does this mean?” Remy asked, trying to avoid being seen while studying the building at which Cade had aimed.

“Means we’re fucking stuck here until I shoot the bastard,” Cade grumbled.

“Unless the infected get to us first,” Brandt said with a sigh, his arm looping around her waist again.

“Not an option,” Ethan retorted. His tone didn’t allow for any further argument.

Cade gave both men dirty looks, and Ethan snapped his mouth shut before Cade had the brilliant idea to point the rifle at
him
. The woman positioned herself at the corner once more and aimed her rifle at the window. She took a long time making sure she had the man in her sights, and then she squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out, echoing around the alley and the street beyond. A long moment of silence descended on them as Cade squinted at the building.

When an answering gunshot struck the brick near her again, Cade swore loudly and colorfully. “I’m not spending all damn day here trading bullets with him!” she snarled. “We don’t have fucking
time
for this!” She looked past Ethan and narrowed her eyes. Ethan stiffened and turned to see a red fire escape winding up the side of the building beside them. Cade made a beeline for it, reaching for the lowest rung of the ladder. “Brandt, help me up this thing,” she ordered.

“Where are you going?” Brandt demanded, storming after her.

“On top of this building where I’ll have a better view of the fucker!”

“So he can have a better view of
you
in return?” Brandt said. “No
fucking
way am I letting you go up there, especially not with a damned bullet hole in your side!”

Cade whirled on Brandt and staggered wildly, putting her hand to her head as she stumbled sideways. Ethan reached out and caught her, steadying her on her feet as she slurred out to Brandt, “Do you have a better idea?”

“I don’t know! How about something that
doesn’t
put you in direct danger?” Brandt replied.

Cade glared at him as she clung to Ethan’s arm; the older man looked at his friend with concern as she blinked hard, squeezing her eyes tightly shut before opening them again. “Name me one fucking place in this city that
isn’t
dangerous,” she managed.

A sharp burst of gunfire rang out from the street. The echoing sound of footsteps sprinting wildly over the pavement followed it. Ethan sucked in an involuntary breath and looked to Brandt, his eyes wide. “What in the hell was that?”

Brandt swore and slung his rifle over his shoulder. “Looks like we’re going onto the roof after all,” he said, motioning frantically to Remy. “Come on, get going,” he ordered.

“Wait, what is it?” Remy demanded, even as she obeyed Brandt’s order. She jumped up to grab the bottom rung of the ladder and started to climb, aiming for the first landing, where the metal stairs began their zigzagging ascent to the roof.

“Infected,” Brandt answered. “They’ve heard the shots and figured out where we’re at.”

Ethan bit out a curse and bolted for the ladder, leading Cade to it. “Go faster, Remy,” Ethan urged, motioning to Gray. “You’re next. Then Brandt and Cade.”

Gray made a face at Ethan to express his displeasure at taking orders from the older man, though he didn’t bother to complain vocally. Ethan ignored the look and watched Remy intently as she reached the first metal platform and started to scurry up the stairs. Once her boots hit the middle of the flight, Gray began his climb. He only made it up two rungs before the first of the infected reached the mouth of the alley. “Guys, we’ve got company!” Gray warned, climbing faster.

Brandt, Cade, and Ethan all turned as one, Cade still clinging to Ethan’s arm, to see four infected coming into the alley with the slow deliberation of a hunter stalking its prey. Cade lifted her rifle to aim at the nearest one, but the movement sent a fresh wave of pain through her side, and she let out an involuntary cry. Ethan shifted in front of her protectively, barking orders as he took aim with his own gun.

“Brandt, up the ladder. When you get to the top, I want Cade to go next,” Ethan said. “She’s going to need help getting over the top of the building, and I don’t trust anyone but you to do it.”

Brandt nodded and grabbed the ladder’s rungs, starting to work his way up them. “Good to know you trust me with her, Ethan,” he said, attempting a half-joke despite the tense situation.

Ethan smirked and opened fire on the infected.

Cade’s side hurt. It hurt more than she thought anything could hurt. And it hurt even worse as she lifted her rifle and stepped away from Ethan to join her cover fire with his. She still felt woozy, but she forced herself to put the dizziness aside, aim her rifle, and squeeze the trigger. The recoil jerked her shoulder back and twisted her side, and she bit back a pained whimper.

“Cade, go,” Ethan ordered, pausing to reload. The end of the alley slowly filled with infected, and they approached at an almost cautious pace. Their eyes glared hatefully at the man and woman standing defiantly at the end of the alley. “I’ve got it from here.”

“Not leaving without you,” Cade said, squeezing the trigger again, shooting down the infected as quickly as she could, despite the dizzying pain in her side.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Ethan insisted. He fired two more bullets into the growing crowd. Then he turned and pushed her toward the ladder. “Now go.”

Cade looked up and saw Brandt above her, beckoning with both hands. “Come on, Cade, get up here,” he called. She glanced back at Ethan and then started to haul herself up to climb the ladder.

Ethan suddenly grabbed Cade by the arm and pulled her back to him. Mindful of the wound in her side, he pulled her close and hugged her tightly. He pulled back after only a short moment. Cade felt a tugging at her hip, and she glanced down and realized that Ethan had taken the hunting knife from her belt and was even now gripping it, blade down, in one hand.

“Be careful. I’ll catch up,” Ethan said.

“Ethan,” Cade said almost desperately, shaking her head.

Ethan flipped the knife over to point the blade at the sky. “Go. I’ll track you down and give your knife back later.” He pointed to the ladder sternly. “Go. Now.”

Ethan waited until Cade was halfway up the fire escape ladder, out of reach of any grasping hands, before he raised his gun and opened fire once more at the mass of oncoming infected. A surge of adrenaline churned into his veins as he stood tall, his back straight, elbows properly relaxed and finger depressing the trigger in rapid succession. He made every shot count.

Two infected men staggered toward Ethan, well in the lead of the others in the horde. Two well-placed shots quickly put them down. Their momentum carried them forward an extra step before they collapsed to the pavement. Ethan didn’t wait to see if they were dead; he immediately turned his fire to the ones behind them, taking careful but quick aim and squeezing the trigger again and again.

The sound of gunfire echoed loudly in Ethan’s ears, until he could no longer hear the snarls and growls of the crowd before him. The sound became so rhythmic that he startled when his gun ran dry. He reached for the spare magazine of bullets Cade had always ensured he had on hand. But he didn’t quite manage to finish reloading his weapon before the infected were on him.

When they hit, it was like being struck by a large wave of limbs and flesh. Ethan’s breath slammed out of his lungs, and he tried to suck in a desperate breath. Hands pawed and clawed at his skin.

Flooded with adrenaline, Ethan barely felt the pain as fingernails tore into the skin of his right forearm. His gun was wrenched from his fingers by scrabbling hands, and it clattered to the ground below. He raised the knife he’d taken from Cade in his left hand, and he hacked frantically at the hands that grasped him and the faces raised up toward him.

Somewhere above him, Ethan heard a woman’s voice scream out his name. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he recognized it as Remy’s.
No, no, God, don’t watch this,
he pleaded silently, even as he slashed repeatedly at his attackers.

When the force of their bodies lifted Ethan off the ground, he knew the fight was lost. But he continued on, determined to distract the infected from his friends’ escape for as long as his body would allow. He thrashed free and staggered back, limping painfully as a surge of agony ripped up his leg. He stumbled backward, nearly falling to the ground, and slashed the knife at the air in front of him again.

They were coming toward Ethan more slowly now, step by creeping step, a pack that knew its prey was cornered. The pain in Ethan’s leg grew more intense with each passing second. Blood ran down both legs, and a steady stream eased down his right arm. The pain was unbearable.

Even worse than the pain, though, was the knowledge of what was now in his blood, what was working through his system, fighting to take away all that made him Ethan Bennett.

Michaluk.

He’d never hated a word more.

Ethan reached to pick up his gun, hoping to feel it in his hands, hoping to manage to slam the magazine into the weapon and use one of the bullets on himself. He knew that the moment he took his eyes off of the infected, it would be his death.

He took a step toward the gun. His fingers brushed its cool metal.

The infected rushed him.

As they bore him backwards away from the weapon, and as their teeth sank into his flesh again, Ethan could imagine he heard gunfire from somewhere nearby.

No, Remy, get out of here,
Ethan thought as the cold hands bore him up. Then pain overwhelmed him, sending him into blessed unconsciousness.

Cade made it halfway up the fire escape’s stairs before the pain and blood loss made her collapse. Brandt had watched her ascent from the roof, and as she fell to the rusty red metal landing, he was over the edge of the building and running down the steps as fast as his boots would carry him.

When he reached her, Brandt saw blood oozing through the bandage covering her wound, staining her shirts a deep, vicious red. His stomach turned in fear. Gunfire erupted on the street below, but Brandt didn’t chance a look down. He merely scooped Cade into his arms, made sure her rifle was secure, and began the climb to the rooftop again.

Gray was at the edge of the building when Brandt arrived, and he helped Brandt wrestle the nearly unconscious woman onto the roof. Brandt gave Gray a grim yet grateful smile and hauled himself over the ledge before he took Cade in his arms again. “Gray, get that door open,” Brandt ordered with a short nod to the rooftop access door.

“Where’s Ethan?” Remy demanded, striding toward Brandt, a hard look he’d never seen before in her dark brown eyes. Brandt could tell that Remy already knew the answer; she was merely hoping Brandt would tell her something different. Brandt, frankly, wasn’t in the mood to play her games.

“He stayed behind to give the rest of us a chance,” Brandt said gruffly. He shifted Cade’s weight more firmly against his body, looking past Remy to Gray. The other man attacked the access door with a surprising level of fury, kicking at the locked door with the heel of his boot over and over again.

Remy stared at Brandt for a second longer and then ran for the edge of the roof. Brandt swore and nearly dropped Cade as he set her down as gently as he could manage. He ran after Remy, wrapping both arms around her waist to stop her. Remy let out an indignant shriek.