The Becoming: Revelations (50 page)

“And what else did you do?” Cade asked curiously, smiling as she propped her chin in her hand, resting her own elbow on the arm of the chair.

“And that’s pretty much it,” Brandt said. He slid off the bed and knelt onto the floor at her feet, reaching out to lightly touch her stomach. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling … I’m feeling like I really want to go see Ethan,” Cade admitted. “Since he’s awake now. I want to make sure he’s okay, see how he’s doing. But I don’t want to go alone.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a little scared of what I’ll see,” Cade confessed, ducking her head slightly. She didn’t think she’d have been able to tell anyone else in the house that and not have to worry about getting a scoffing reaction. Brandt would understand.

The man lifted a hand and gently ran it over her hair before rising to his feet and offering the hand to her. “Come on, then. Let’s go see how he is,” he agreed. Cade gave him a grateful smile and took his hand, lacing their fingers together as she rose from her chair. She let Brandt lead her out into the hall and several doors down to a closed bedroom door. They paused outside of it and listened carefully before Cade reached for the doorknob.

The man in the bed resembled Ethan, but only vaguely so. What Cade could see of the figure under the blankets was horribly thin, almost gaunt; to say he was “malnourished,” as Derek described it, was an understatement of epic proportions. Cade couldn’t bring herself to move forward, couldn’t force her feet to take the steps that would propel her to her best friend’s bedside. She turned her head to look to Brandt, seeking … she didn’t know what. Comfort? Reassurance? The courage to take the few steps between her and the bed? Brandt squeezed her hand and gave her an encouraging smile before dislodging his hand from hers and gently pushing her forward. As she took that first stumbling step, a soft voice from the bed spoke up, breaking the silence in the room.

“Cade?”

He might not have
looked
much like the friend she’d known for eight years, but Ethan certainly
sounded
like him. Cade drew in a fortifying breath and moved forward, sliding to her knees beside the bed. She found his thin hand with her own and took it carefully.

“Fuck, Ethan,” she murmured, brushing a stray lock of hair from his eyes. “You look miserable.” She hesitated, her hand tightening just slightly around his, before she repeated the question Brandt had asked her only moments before. “How are you feeling?”

Ethan turned his head toward her and smiled. “Like I’m going to be okay.”

A novel is never written in total isolation, and
The Becoming: Revelations
is certainly no exception. So I have to take a few moments to say thank you to a few people who helped make this happen.

First, my family and friends: parents and sisters, for their never-ending love and support. I’m incredibly lucky to have you all.

To Permuted Press and Jacob Kier: many, many thanks for not only taking a chance on my books, but for dealing with my random-ass emails over the past two-plus years.

To my editor, Stephanie Gianopoulos, for helping me refine and improve on the manuscript during the editing phases.

Loads of thanks to my beta readers (you know who you are) for your own help and support with the book’s development.

To the Indie Writers Unite (IWU) and the Insiders: you’ve been there since literally the beginning, and you’ve offered help with everything large and small and gave encouragement whenever I needed it, and I can’t thank you enough for that.

To Rhiannon Frater and Dana Fredsti: holy cow, ladies, what can I say? You two are so amazing and supportive and helpful, it’s ridiculous. I firmly believe I would probably flounder without your help and advice, and I can’t thank you enough for it all.

And, lastly, to my readers: Thank you all. And keep an eye out for more adventures involving the crew from the Becoming series! As they say, this isn’t the end; it’s only the beginning of the end.

Jessica Meigs is the author of
The Becoming
, a post-apocalyptic thriller series that follows a group of people trying to survive a massive viral outbreak in the southeastern United States. After gaining notoriety for having written the series on a variety of BlackBerry devices, she self-published two novellas that now make up the first book of the series. In April 2011, she accepted a three-book deal with Permuted Press to publish a trilogy of novels. The first of the trilogy, entitled
The Becoming
, was released in November 2011 in paperback, eBook, and audiobook formats. It was also named one of Barnes & Noble’s Best Zombie Fiction Releases of 2011 and Best Apocalyptic Fiction Releases of 2011 by reviewer Paul Goat Allen.

Jessica lives in semi-obscurity in Demopolis, Alabama. When she’s not writing, she works full time as an EMT. She enjoys listening to music and spends way too much time building playlists for everything she writes. When she’s not traveling or writing or working, she can be found on Twitter @JessicaMeigs, on Facebook at facebook.com/JessicaMeigs, and on Goodreads at goodreads.com/JessicaMeigs. You can also visit her website at www.jessicameigs.com.