Jessica Meigs - The Becoming (9 page)

“What happened?” Gray asked, trying to pull the mask back down. Theo kept his hand on it, preventing him from moving it, as he answered.

“Breathe the meds in, damn it,” he snapped. “Jon and I had an MVA to work. The patient was insane. Kept trying to attack us. We’d tied him down to the stretcher, but he still kept coming, and…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I killed the guy.” His voice cracked, much to his disgust. He shook his head again and looked away from Gray, focusing his gaze on the trauma bag and the supplies stuffed haphazardly inside it. He started to idly push them into some semblance of order.

“I’m sorry,” Gray said. He shifted to sit with his back against the wall and closed his eyes again. He pulled his knees to his chest and reclined his head back on the sheetrock. “What the hell is going on? It’s like the whole fucking world’s gone crazy tonight.”

Theo pressed his lips together and looked at his brother, studying him closely for any further signs of distress, even as he thought over what he’d said. “Maybe it has,” he said. “I’m thinking maybe…I don’t know. Some sort of biological attack? Maybe nuclear?”

“Maybe,” Gray said. His voice was heavy with doubt, and Theo silently agreed. It was a ridiculous idea. Nuclear accidents didn’t make people behave this way.

“Damn, I wish you had a television,” Theo muttered. He pulled a pulse-ox from his bag and took Gray’s hand, slipping the sensor on the end of his finger and turning it on. “You got any idea what the hell might be going on?” he asked as the device cycled through its processes, measuring Gray’s blood-oxygen levels and heart rate.

“Zombies,” Gray said promptly. “It’s got to be zombies.”

“Zombies?” Theo asked incredulously. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I think you’ve been watching too many horror movies, Gray.”

“Jack said the same thing,” Gray said. “But seriously, Theo, what if I’m right? I mean, April. She was dead. Totally stone-cold fucking
dead.
I know how to check for that kind of thing. I picked up on all that from you. She was dead. No way someone could have survived that kind of blood loss. And she
got back up
and came after me at about the same time the other ones from outside managed to get into the bar. No way that’s possible unless it’s zombies.”

“We’re not living in a Romero movie,” Theo said. But even as he spoke, his thoughts flickered back to the patient from earlier in the evening and what he’d said to Jonathan at the time.
“He’s got the vitals of a dead man, but he’s kicking like he’s still alive.”
“Zombies don’t exist,” he added, despite his internal misgivings. “No way. It’s not physically, humanly possible.”

“They’re
in
human and
un
natural,” Gray countered. “That’s why they’re called the
un
dead.”

Theo sighed and shook his head. “Just sit back and breathe, okay?” he said. “I’m going to try to find a radio, get some idea of what’s going on out there. When you’re feeling better, we’re going to try to make it to Mom and Dad’s house.”

“We need weapons,” Gray said. “Guns or something. A headshot is what’s supposed to kill zombies, right?”

“I thought I told you to shut up and breathe,” Theo retorted. He noted Gray’s oxygen saturation and turned the pulse-ox off, shoving it back into his bag. He stood from the floor and stretched, then gathered the plastic packaging in which the supplies he’d just used had been wrapped. He looked Gray over one more time, noting how much better he already looked—the blue tinge to his lips was gone, and he didn’t look quite so pale and desperate anymore—and then he glanced at the kitchen door. “I’m going to see what food you’ve got,” he said. “We should get supplies together while we can. You stay here and relax and let the drugs do their work.” After Gray acknowledged his order, he retreated to the kitchen.

Once the kitchen door was shut behind him, Theo slumped against the wall beside it. He buried his face in his hands and let out a slow, shuddering breath. The horror of what he had done in the ambulance and what he’d seen happen to Jonathan and what he’d come across on his trip to Gray’s apartment pounded at his temples, and he struggled to block the images from his mind. He couldn’t protect his younger brother if he was too focused on the hellish thoughts rattling through his brain. Because ultimately, Gray was his priority, and he was going to do whatever it took to keep him alive and healthy.

Even if it meant committing murder.

Theo shoved away from the wall and went to the nearest cabinet, opening it and looking into it without really seeing what was in front of him. His mind was spinning in circles, carefully going over everything he knew about survival, considering everything he would require in order to do what needed to be done to keep them alive. They would definitely need better weapons; he wasn’t sure the fire axe and crowbar he’d pilfered from the ambulance would continue to be reliable means of protection for them.

Theo wanted a gun.

The thought was a foreign one to him. He had certainly never shot a person before. He didn’t have much experience with firearms, not past the little instruction his father had given him as a teenager. He’d never been one to be interested in instruments that could cause injury or death. Gray, on the other hand, had gone out hunting with their father on more than one occasion. While shooting deer was worlds apart from shooting a human being, Theo thought maybe Gray could do it if necessary.

And Gray’ll be a far better shot than me anyway, that’s for sure,
he thought wryly.

Theo focused in on the cabinet and grabbed a couple of packages of ramen noodles as he looked around to find a pan. It didn’t take long for him to get the noodles boiling on the stove, and as he continued to empty the cabinets of any food available, the kitchen door squeaked softly behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Gray standing in the kitchen doorway, the mask still on his face and the oxygen tank in his hand. Theo took a moment to simply study him, noting how much better his color looked.

“You okay?” he asked after completing his examination. Gray nodded and set the tank on the counter beside him as Theo added, “I think you’ll be okay to take the mask off now. You look a hell of a lot better than you did a while ago. I still want you to take it easy, though. No need to push for a relapse.”

Gray smiled and pulled the mask off, dropping it on the counter by the tank with a sigh. “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice still a bit hoarse.

“Making us something to eat,” Theo answered. He snagged a fork from the dish drainer by the sink and stirred the noodles. “Figure it won’t do us any good to starve to death while waiting on everything to calm down outside.” He shrugged. “Besides, I didn’t get the chance to eat my dinner before the…before the whole mess with the ambulance.”

Gray tucked a lock of his dark hair behind his ear and grabbed one of the chairs at the two-seater dining table, spinning it around to sit in it backwards. He looked up at Theo, the reluctance in his eyes visible even from his position by the stove. “Didn’t you have a partner?” he asked quietly. “Like, the guy who drove your ambulance for you?”

“Yeah,” Theo said. He didn’t really want to talk about this. Not even with Gray. The snap of the gunshot was still audible in his ears. He turned his back on his brother and stirred the noodles again, lifting some with a fork to see how done they were.

“Where did he go?”

Theo sighed and turned off the stove, grabbing the flavoring packets. “He’s dead,” he said. “Got shot in the head.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry,” Gray murmured. He tapped his fingers rhythmically against the back of the chair. “What…what’s the plan, Theo? What are we going to do?”

“I want to get us to Mom and Dad’s,” Theo said. “I don’t want to wait around too long. Things might get even worse the more time passes, you know? And there’s TV and Internet and those generators that Dad bought after the hurricanes. And a heck of a lot more supplies, too.”

Gray seemed to get more animated at the prospect of doing something proactive. “So when do we leave?” he asked almost enthusiastically.

Theo took a moment to spoon the hot noodles into two bowls before he answered. “As soon as possible.”

Chapter 11

Gray shivered almost uncontrollably as he followed Theo out of the apartment building’s front door three days after the chaotic night that took out everything resembling civilization. He’d found another jacket before they’d left the apartment, and he wrapped it tighter around himself as he looked around the street warily. The morning still hadn’t fully dawned yet, and the street was cast in a haze that left a bluish tint over everything. The air smelled damp and faintly smoky. He wrinkled his nose and gripped the crowbar Theo had given him in his right hand. He didn’t like being outside at all, not even with his brother’s company. It felt too dangerous, like he had someone watching every move he made. He could practically feel eyes on his back, drilling between his shoulder blades. As he fought off the chill from the cool February air, Gray hurried to catch up with Theo, who’d begun to walk down the street at a brisk pace.

“So where are we heading again?” Gray asked, matching his pace to Theo’s and silently hoping he’d manage to continue to keep up.

“Did you not listen to a word I said this morning?” Theo asked with thinly veiled annoyance.

“Actually, no. I was too busy eating my breakfast.”

Theo rolled his eyes. “We’re heading for the ambulance base,” he said. His eyes darted around in a manner that, at any other time, would have struck Gray as paranoid. As it was, Gray was sure that his own eyes were doing the same thing. “My car is parked there. We need to get it so we can make it to the house.”

“We could walk to the house,” Gray suggested. He wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of going deeper into the hostile city just to pick up Theo’s car. Especially since there were so many other options around them. “I can make it.”

“I would rather we not risk it,” Theo replied. “I only have so much albuterol and O2, and I want to save it for a really bad emergency.” He cast a sidelong glance in Gray’s direction, and Gray shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny. “That said, we do need to get you some inhalers, don’t we?”

“And where do you propose we get some of those?” Gray asked. “It’s not like we can just walk into a pharmacy and get a prescription filled.”

“True, but we
can
just walk into a pharmacy,” Theo said mildly. “Nobody said a pharmacist had to actually
be
there.”

“Isn’t that breaking and entering?” Gray asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked Theo over. His brother had never struck him as the type to advocate illegal activities, and now here he was, proposing that they break into a pharmacy to steal asthma inhalers. Wonders never ceased.

“Oh, come off it, Gray,” Theo said with a stubborn lilt to his voice. “You should know by this point that I’d do whatever it took to keep you breathing.” He paused, then added, “Besides, it’s not like we’re going to get
arrested
for it. The police, I would imagine, have more important things to deal with right now.
If
the police are even still operating.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then why don’t we just take one of these cars?” Gray asked, waving his hand at the street around them. “It’d be better than walking all the way to the ambulance base for yours. I could hotwire one and get us moving out of here a hell of a lot faster.”

Theo raised an eyebrow and looked at him with undisguised curiosity. “You know how to hotwire a car?”

“Damn straight I know how to hotwire a car,” Gray said with a laugh. “It’s one of the first things I learned how to do to a car.”

They walked silently as Theo thought Gray’s words over, considering their options. Gray constantly glanced back and forth between his older brother and the street around them. He was starting to feel antsy; he wished Theo would hurry up and make up his mind so they could get someplace
other
than the street. He didn’t like the looks of anything around them.

“You haven’t ever actually, you know, stolen a car before or anything, have you?” Theo asked suddenly.

Gray laughed again. “No, of course not!” he protested. “Do I really
look
like the type of person who would run around stealing—” He broke off his speech as he caught sight of movement in the corner of his eye. He tensed, grabbing Theo’s forearm to bring him to a stop, even as he turned in that direction. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Theo asked. He tugged his arm free from Gray’s hand and shifted the trauma bag against his back, moving to stand in front of Gray protectively, much to Gray’s annoyance. If he didn’t know any better, Gray would have thought that Theo believed he couldn’t take care of himself.

“I saw something moving over there,” Gray answered, pushing his annoyances aside. He pointed toward the coffee shop across the street; the shop itself was dark, the front windows broken and the glass littering the sidewalk and street. “I don’t know what it was, though.” He shuddered. “Not sure I liked the way it was moving, either.”

“What do you mean?” Theo asked. He lifted the axe in his hands. Gray could see him grinding his palms against the wooden handle.

“I don’t know how to describe it,” Gray admitted. “He was moving sort of…I don’t know, jerky? Like he didn’t know how to walk right. Like he was hurt or something.”

Theo suddenly looked even more alert. “Hurt? Think maybe they need help?”

“I vote that we just keep moving,” Gray said. Something about the whole situation, something about the way the figure—however brief his glimpse of it had been—had moved…it made him uneasy. He snagged Theo’s arm and pulled at it. “Come on, let’s just go. Don’t even worry about whoever it was. Every man for himself and all that shit, you know?”

Theo let out a huff of breath through his nose, visibly hesitating, wavering between moving on like Gray had suggested and going with his nature and tracking down the possibly injured man and helping him. Finally, he shook his head and tugged his arm out of Gray’s hand again. “Okay, fine. You’re right. We should just get moving like you said. We don’t have time to worry about anyone else right now. We’ve got our own safety to deal with.”