The Becoming: Ground Zero (28 page)

Gray and Theo managed to wrap the deceased man’s body in a couple of sheets and carry it to the house next door. The location had been decided on after a short discussion on the best place to leave the body. Theo had argued that it’d be disrespectful to the dead to leave him exposed to the elements in the back yard—a favored suggestion of Remy’s, who still smarted over the scare she’d gotten earlier—so the others had left it to him and Gray to move the man to the empty house next door.

Theo wiped his forehead with his jacket cuff once he and Gray offloaded the corpse onto the flowered couch. “Bastard was heavy, wasn’t he?” Gray asked, panting as he dug into his jacket pocket for his inhaler. His words were casual, but Theo could hear a faint tremor in his voice. Gray had yet to get over his fear of dead bodies, something Theo had worked out of his own system while working as a paramedic. Some things never changed.

“Don’t call the dead names,” Theo admonished. He wiped at his face again and motioned toward the door. “Now come on. The others are waiting, and it’s almost completely dark outside.”

The two men stepped out of the house and headed to the cracked sidewalk, Theo’s senses on alert for anything unusual as they walked back to the house in which the others hid. Gray was silent, his hands stuffed in his pockets, obviously relying on Theo to keep watch. Sometimes, despite his intelligence, Theo wondered just how smart Gray was. He did a lot of things absolutely stupidly, like relying on others to ensure his safety instead of only counting on himself. But maybe that was just a reaction to being out with Theo; maybe he counted on Theo having his back more than the others.

“So what happened with you and Remy?” Theo asked. He scanned the road beside them for any approaching dangers. Everything was quiet and still, though; Theo didn’t think they’d have much to worry about in this area. He shifted his eyes back to Gray, but Gray was giving him a look so ugly it could have soured milk. Theo gritted his teeth and added, “Look, Gray, I can’t help you straighten out whatever the hell you’ve managed to cause now if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Gray heaved a sigh and shook his head. “Theo, it’s not something remotely fixable,” he argued. “I fucked up, okay? I found them together, and I overreacted. My temper got the better of me. I’m not with her, and I’m not supposed to care who she
is
with. It’s none of my fucking business. But I made her business the group’s business, and now she hates me, and it’s probably going to cause problems with group operations from here on out.”

Theo clapped Gray gently on the back and paused in mid-step to look at the house they approached. “I doubt it’s as bad as that, Gray,” Theo said. “Give it a week or so. Everybody will have forgotten about it then.”

“Except Ethan and Remy, and they’re the ones whose view on it really matters,” Gray argued. “And somehow I doubt we’ll all even be
alive
in a week.”

“If that’s your stance, then you shouldn’t worry about it,” Theo pointed out. “Because if we’re all going to be dead in a week, it won’t matter that you two got into a fight over Remy. None of us will even be alive to care.”

Gray nodded slightly to concede the point. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said softly. “Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, though.” He ran a hand through his dark hair and looked at Theo with wide eyes, appearing several years younger than his current twenty-three. Theo was reminded of when Gray was a teenager and would come to him for girl advice; that time in their lives seemed like a century ago. “I don’t think she likes me, Theo.”

Theo scoffed and shook his head. “She likes you fine, Gray. Everybody here likes you. You’re a great guy.”

“No, she doesn’t. They don’t,” Gray tried to correct him. Theo squinted at him in the fading evening light, trying to decipher the expression on Gray’s face. He was largely unsuccessful. “They all think I’m an asshole. A useless fucking tool who always has to have his own way.”

“Man, you really
have
been kicking your own ass over this, haven’t you?” Theo observed. He gave Gray’s shoulder a squeeze. “It’s not really that big—”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Gray interrupted with a firm shake of his head.

Theo let go of Gray’s shoulder and put both hands up defensively. “Yeah, sorry. I’ll leave you alone about it now.” He started to walk toward the house again, his feelings hurt over Gray’s refusal to confide in him. His younger brother used to talk to him about everything. Ever since Michaluk had caused them to throw their lot in with this group, though, his confidences had all but stopped, and now he was more secretive than ever. Theo wasn’t sure he liked the changes he’d witnessed in his brother; it just wasn’t the Gray he knew.

The two men were nearly back to the house when Theo glimpsed one of the most welcome sights he’d encountered in months, enough to raise his spirits and make him feel that much better about the situation they were in. It wouldn’t make up for Nikola’s loss—nothing would—but it would certainly help with their moods. Theo put an arm out to stop Gray, nearly clotheslining the shorter man as he rested his arm across his chest. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked, almost breathless with excitement.

Gray followed Theo’s eyes and squinted, approaching the white lattice crate that butted against the side of the house. It was approximately the size of an air conditioning unit, and if it was anything but what Theo thought it was, he seriously believed he’d cry. Gray, thankfully enough, gave Theo a hesitant nod in response.

“I think it might be,” Gray said. He shoved his handgun at Theo to hold and climbed on top of the box, working at the padlock with the thin screwdriver Cade had loaned him. It took some work, but Gray finally snapped the lock open and tossed it to the grass. He dropped down from the box and flipped the lid open, leaning to look inside. A grin spread across his face.

“It is,” Gray confirmed excitedly. He fiddled with a cap on the top and managed to dislodge it, leaning to shine his flashlight inside. “With a full fucking tank. It could last us all night, easily.”

Theo resisted the urge to let out a whoop of excitement. “Let’s crank this fucker up, then!” he exclaimed.

Cade sat comfortably on the living room sofa behind Remy, braiding the younger woman’s hair by the light of a skinny flashlight clenched between her teeth. Remy had her eyes closed, her head tilted back and nearly lolling on her neck with the soothing feeling of Cade’s fingers in her hair. Ethan and Brandt were at the coffee table, poring over the Georgia map and arguing softly over what they found. Avi hovered by the front door with a look of apprehension on her face, waiting with bated breath for Gray and Theo’s return.

“I still think this would be the best route,” Ethan said, shining his flashlight over the map spread out on the table. His finger tapped the paper, and Cade leaned over to look at the map for herself. She followed his finger with her eyes as he traced it along the route in question.

“It’s not. There are road blocks here, here, and here,” Brandt argued, jabbing his finger at the paper. “And unlike the one we dealt with yesterday, they aren’t ones we can easily climb over. I’ve been through right here.” His finger landed on a fourth spot. “It’s as clear as we can hope for. I think it’s our best chance to get through without having to go off road.” He grabbed the pen on the table beside him and started to write in the margins of the map. “What
I
am more concerned with is where we’re going to go
after
Atlanta if we
don’t
get picked up.”

Ethan let out an exasperated breath and shook his head. “Brandt—” he started, but before he could continue, the room flooded with light. Cade let out a startled gasp and threw her arm up to shield her eyes against the brightness. Remy stiffened, her shoulders squaring and her back straightening, fingers finding and gripping the hilt of her bolo knife tightly enough to turn her knuckles white. Cade put her free hand on Remy’s shoulder soothingly.

“What the fuck?” Brandt snapped. He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling fan, watching its blades spin lazily, casting rotating shadows across the ceiling. He got up and hurried to the light switch, slapping at it to turn the light off. The room fell into darkness once more as he drew his gun and stood by the door.

There was a sudden commotion at the front door, and Cade abandoned her spot behind Remy to point her rifle in the direction of the noise. Avi scrambled back, her machete in her hands, as the door burst open. Cade barely managed to stop herself from squeezing the trigger as Gray and Theo burst into the house.

“That fucker had a generator!” Gray yelped happily. Theo gave Gray a cross look and kicked the younger man’s ankle, but Gray didn’t seem to notice as he charged toward the kitchen. “I’m going to see if the water heater’s electric and if there’s water pressure.”

Remy sat up even straighter, if that were possible, looking alert and highly interested in Gray’s words. “Wait, you mean we might actually get the chance to take hot showers?”

A slow smile spread across Cade’s face as she thought of the luxury. A hot shower would be the most wonderful thing in the world; she hadn’t had a hot shower or bath since shortly after the Michaluk Virus broke out. It was too long to go without a nice, warm bath, and the lack of one was beginning to make Cade feel a little less human every day. But Cade had a feeling that something of that nature would be far too much to ask for. She was proven right when she followed Brandt and Gray to the kitchen, hovering in the doorway as Brandt turned the faucet on. It only gave out the occasional splutter as he turned it on full blast.

“No dice,” Brandt announced. “Best-case scenario, there’s air in the pipes. But I wouldn’t get my hopes up.” Cade let out a disappointed sigh, and Brandt gave her a smile in return.

“I, personally, am going to see what this guy
does
have that we can use,” Ethan announced. He headed down the hallway leading to the back of the house. Cade watched Ethan go, frowning as she skimmed her eyes over the straight set of the man’s shoulders and back. Her worry for him made her feel completely helpless.

A moment of silence lingered over the rest of the group. Remy let out a sigh of her own and rose off the couch. She casually smoothed her hands over her shirt and jacket before following Ethan down the hall. “I’m going to make sure he’s okay,” she said over her shoulder.

Silence continued after Remy’s departure, and Cade tore her eyes from the dark hallway to Gray. The younger man watched the hallway too, his eyes narrowed; Cade could read the jealousy on his face as easily as she could read an open book. The expression was enough to make Cade grit her teeth in anger, and the simmering irritation boiled over when she saw Theo pat Gray on the back.

“You’re not going to win any fucking points with Remy by acting like a spoiled brat every time she shows attention to someone other than you,” Cade spat out. Everyone’s eyes swiveled to land on Cade as she turned on Theo and took a step toward him. “And Theo, stop fucking validating his damned behavior. It’s pissing me off.”

Cade felt the others’ eyes on her as she let out a huff of irritation and marched straight to the stairs. Ignoring them all, she began to climb, intent on seeking a room in which she could hole up for the night and get away from her companions. She’d had enough of them for the day.

Remy’s search for Ethan didn’t take as long as she expected. She found the older man sitting on a dark green sofa in the office at the back of the house, his eyes closed and a pair of headphones in his ears. He didn’t hear Remy as she stopped in the doorway and examined the room. It was decorated in dark colors, reds and greens and browns, leathers and soft fabrics covering the assorted furniture littering the room. It reminded Remy of a lawyer’s overdone office. Or maybe a doctor’s office. The thought was a bit unsettling; she’d never liked either. She wandered to the dark mahogany desk and looked over the office supplies there, picking up a silver letter opener and tapping it over her knuckles as she turned to face Ethan.

Remy frowned as she stepped toward him, slipping the letter opener into her pocket. He hadn’t reacted in the slightest to the noise she made. She wasn’t making an effort to keep quiet either. It was a sign of how upset Ethan was that whatever music he’d chosen to listen to was too loud for him to hear his surroundings. That was incredibly dangerous, Remy knew. It opened the door for one of the infected to attack and kill him before he realized they were even there. Remy wondered if he secretly hoped that would happen. The thought was more unsettling than the idea of being in a lawyer’s or doctor’s office.

Remy moved forward more slowly and leaned to pick up the music player on the couch at his side. She bumped the touch-sensitive controls just enough to see the track name. Before she could read it, though, Ethan’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Remy nearly dropped the music player in shock, and her eyes darted to meet Ethan’s. Ethan looked up at her, his green eyes intense, and Remy swallowed hard as she saw the expression in them. She set the player back down on the cushion and gave him a reluctant smile, pulling one of the earbuds out of his ear. “What are you listening to?” she asked casually, sinking down onto the couch beside him and ignoring the way her heart raced from the startle he’d given her.